usan
Rudnicki Hurst of Mudhorse Sudios began collecting model
horses as a child, and was introduced to the more formal club
and showing world through an article in Horse of Course
magazine that featured Alison Schroeder Benuish's World of
Model Horse Collecting (WMHC) and Flying Hooves Express
newsletter, which she joined in 1979.
Susan read customizing articles in the Model Horse Shower's Journal and attempted some horses with, in her opinion, marginally successful results. In the mean time, high school took up a lot of her life so her hobby efforts were curtailed for a few years.
Surprisingly, Susan got back into the hobby in a big way when she started college, which is when many hobbyists "grow out of it." Most of her renewed enthusiasm was due to her luck of meeting Elizabeth Bouras of Amarna Productions. At that time, Liz lived very close to Susan; Liz was happy to take Susan on as a customizing protege and thus, she was able to jump rather rapidly to professional customizer status.
Susan usually paints horses in acrylics using an airbrush, although she's dabbled in oils using brushes (thanks to Betsy Andrews for her encouragement with that). Susan would like to be able to create more horses than she currently has time to do, and she'd love to do another resin. Susan is trying to make more time in her busy schedule for the models.
Although she had a real Quarter Horse gelding, Coyote, for many years, Susan personally prefer more animated breeds such as Saddlebreds and Arabians. Susan no longer owns a horse, but rides in a weekly lesson working on Dressage basics.
Outside of the hobby, Susan's a supervisor for a large mutual fund company, and recently received her MBA from Villanova University. Susan spends a good deal of time with family and husband Rob.
If you would like to get in touch with Susan, her email and snail mail addresses are below:
Mudhorse Studios
Susan Rudnicki Hurst
Top: Wall Street Trader, chestnut Saddlebred stallion customized from the Breyer Traditional Proud Arabian Stallion with a Black Beauty head and cast as a limited edition resincast.
Bottom: Coyote, liver chestnut Quarter Horse gelding customized from the Breyer Traditional Stud Spider and owned by Susan Rudnicki Hurst; created in 1996. This is a portrait model of Susan's (real) horse; halter by Corinne Herb. One of the few models Susan has done in oils
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