Contest Alert: Show us your Derby hats!

It’s Derby week, and Horse Nation has teamed up with NickerDoodles to give you a chance to win a framed, custom portrait of your horse by artist Melanie Eberhardt and other great prizes!

Here’s what you need to know:

The Kentucky Derby is this Saturday – it is America’s greatest sporting event! There are so many glorious aspects to Derby day – beautiful horses at their athletic peak, jockeys wearing brilliant silks, mint juleps in frosted glasses, millions of fans cheering their favorite to the finish line. But wait, we forgot to mention another key part of the Derby celebration – THE HATS!

PEOPLE OF HORSE NATION, SHOW US YOUR DERBY HATS!

HorseNation.com and NickerDoodles are pleased to sponsor a Derby inspired contest – send us photos of your best Derby hats. We’ll pick the top 10, then YOU choose the winners – Win, Place and Show!

Rules? We don’t like rules so let’s keep this simple. Just send a photo of you and your best dog-gone, block-buster, milliner-crafty-inspired Derby Hat to [email protected].

Entries must be received by midnight, Monday, May 6.

The top 10 will be posted at HorseNation.com and voting will take place May 7 through the 12^th.

The winners will be announced May 13^th.

So what’s in it for you?

The admiration and respect of the horse lovin’ people of HorseNation for your millinery abilities! And … we have a few prizes too.

• Win

A custom, framed portrait of you and your horse by artist, Melanie Eberhardt (creator of NickerDoodles). See samples of Melanie’s equine portraiture work at melanieeberhardt.com.

• Place

A likeness of you and your horse will be featured in an upcoming NickerDoodle posted on HorseNation.com.

• Show

An OTTB T-shirt designed by Melanie (Race Horse, Sport Horse, MY Horse). T-shirts are also available for purchase melanieeberhardt.com.

A big thanks for NickerDoodles for sponsoring such a fun contest and we look forward to receiving your entries!

About Melanie:

I am an artist in Atlanta. When I’m not painting, I’m riding horses. I have 3 retired Arabians and a snotty pony at home. They keep me on my toes. Three years ago I bought a young OTTB straight off the track. My new fella, Bubba, and I are learning dressage. Sadly, I’m the weak link on Team Bubba, but I learn something every time we ride so it’s all good. I started NickerDoodles to document the horsey antics that abound within my world. I’m very fortunate to balance my life with things that I love – painting and riding – and NickerDoodles gives me a forum to share. If we’re not laughing at our horses and ourselves, we’re probably crying. I prefer to laugh! I hope everyone enjoys NickerDoodles.

Please visit my central website: www.melanieeberhardt.com.