Stablemate Sunday: BreyerFest 2016

Since the BreyerFest reveals started rolling out at the beginning of the year, I've been in BreyerFest mode! I swear, the year goes BreyerFest prep mode January through May, BreyerFest mode June and July, and BreyerFest recovery August through December! I love seeing the reveals, I love the rush of getting my live show entry in and figuring out how I want to spend my time. Are there workshops I want to take? What lectures and seminars are there this year? It's such an incredible experience that I spend the whole year looking forward to. 

And since I'm in the BreyerFest spirit, let's take a look at the 2016 Single Day Stablemate Assortment. The BreyerFest theme that year was Carnival, coinciding with the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. The models were all named after states in Brazil. There were 1,750 made of each model. 

Sao Paulo is a bay roan pinto on the G5 Running Mare mold. This was the first plastic release on the mold - she was originally seen as the porcelain Esperanza from the 2002 Spirit Collection. Due to this, the mold is a little stylized and noodly, as she was based on the cartoon character. This also was not the first time a mold debuted as a BreyerFest Single Day model. 2013 saw the debut of four new molds - Rivet, the Loping Quarter Horse, the Icelandic, and the Eberl Andalusian. Nor would it be the last - Tushar the Cob would make his plastic debut in 2017. The Running Mare would show up again in 2016 as Mini Geronimo, the Premier Club's free Stablemate. 

Bahia is a black leopard on the Rivet mold. This marked Rivet's second use as a BreyerFest ticket model after being introduced as a Single Day in 2013. Like the Running Mare, Rivet also showed up as a Club Model later in 2016. Rivet was used as Riptide, the Vintage Club bonus Stablemate. 

For a Stablemate, he is extremely detailed, with mottling on his muzzle and groin areas. He's definitely my favorite of the bunch (I do love the Rivet mold!). He's also the only one I show. Like many of my show models, he has a Taylor Swift name - Down Bad, for the song of the same name. He's been successful, and has multiple NAN cards in breed.  

Para is a bay tobiano on the G2 Andalusian mold. Like Rivet, this is the mold's second use as a ticket model, though much less recent than Rivet. The G2 Andalusian was actually the first Single Day ticket model, as the glossy dark bay Amando in 2004. I think his color is lovely, but he rarely makes it to a show with me. Breyer has leveled up their Spanish Stablemates molds, and I just find him to be less competitive in breed and collectability than other models in my collection. I do usually keep him out on display, because I like looking at him! 

Amapa is a dun on the at the time newly released Valegro Stablemate mold. I love his darker shading on his face around his bald face, and his subtle leg barring. He hasn't yet shown for me, but I thought about trying him last fall, and I think I will try him in the spring - we'll see how it goes! I just think his color is so nice that he deserves a chance on the show table. 

It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Mini Collectability #4

We're at the top of our fourth cycle of the Friday judging clinic, which means we're back to my favorite topic - mini collectability! 

As always, my personal judging history and credentials can be found on my About Me page. 

This week, I'm doing something a little different in our mini collectability class. Previously, I've presented mini collectability classes that would be double judged for breed, rather than similar run types. For our class this week, we're switching it up! All of the horses in this class are Stablemates from the various Clubs Breyer has. I've picked one from each - the Stablemates Club, the Premier Club, and the Deluxe Collector Club. 

Horse A: Virkie - Stablemates Club Gambler's Choice - 2023 - Unknown amount made

Horse B: Corazon - Premier Club Bonus Stablemate - 2015 - ~750 made

Horse C: Fandango - Deluxe Collector Club Stablemate - 2023 - Unknown amount made

Think about collectability - what horse is the rarest? Which is in the nicest condition? Which horse is most desired by the hobby at large? When you're ready, my placings can be found under the jump. 

Conga Time! National Show Horse

It's Conga Time! Today, we're looking at my National Show Horse conga. Sculpted by Sommer Prosser, she's one of my personal favorite molds and has been since I was a child. 

I love the motion and flow of the sculpture - she's so beautifully done, and I find her to be a harmonious blend of art and functional horse. Like Sham and Lady Phase, I typically try to add to this conga at BreyerFest. 

My first horse on the mold was the 2008 Color Crazy Mare and Foal Set (the variation with white markings). She and Naranda sparked my love for the mold, and I still have them both today!

Gwendolyn was one of my childhood grails - I didn't get her as a child, but I did eventually pick her up as an adult. 

Like Thunder was my first foray into low runs! I got him in 2015 or 2016 I think? My timeline is a little fuzzy but I know I was in college. 

Charisma is another like Gwendolyn I coveted for a while. According to Facebook photos, it looks like I picked her up during BreyerFest 2022. Something about this specific shade of palomino and her pinto pattern is very pleasing to my eye! 

This is the 2014 Warehouse Find web special! You can tell the difference between her and the original Madison Avenue by the VIN. The Warehouse Find will have one, while the original Madison Avenue was retired before it was required.

The Regular Runs (L-R): Snow Princess, Naranda, Color Crazy (white markings)

BreyerFest Models (L-R): Rejoice, Gwendolyn, All Glory, Namaste

Special Runs (L-R): Like Thunder, Warehouse Find, Charisma, Champagne Toast

Collection Spotlight: Juniper

We've got one of my favorite models again today for a collection spotlight - Juniper! 

Juniper is from the first set of Berry Pony Web Specials, released in 2016. He was the third release, with entries opening in May. There were 350 made of him. Done on the Flash mold, Juniper is a blue roan blanket Appaloosa with an irregular star and snip, a sock on his right front, and white at the base of his tail. 

He's actually stunning with the little details - his face marking is very unique, and his eyes are some of the most realistic I've seen on an OF Breyer - with iris, pupil and sclera. He also has hoof striping, pinking in his snip, and his spots continue off of the whites of his blanket. 

Juniper was actually the first ever Web Special I was drawn for! As I said, I got back into the hobby seriously in college. Juniper was released at the end of my sophomore year, and I fell in love immediately. I was absolutely thrilled to be drawn for him, and he definitely contributed to my enduring love of the Flash mold. 

His show name is Blueberry Pie. Despite this, I think I've mostly only entered him in photo shows. It's possible he went to some of my first live shows, but I can't recall off hand. I show him as a North American Sport Pony because they allow all colors, but even that is a bit of a hard sell. When I have multiple better pony entries, it makes it hard to bring him along, even for collectability. That being said, I think I might try to take him out a couple of times this year just to see how he does! I know I have some horses qualified for NAN, so I can easily give them a break and rotate him in. 

I only have two of the Berry Ponies at this time - Juniper and Strawberry. At some point, I definitely want to add a Bramble - I'm not a huge collector of the Traditional Croi, but I think Bramble's color is just lovely. I'd also like to add Jujube and Bilberry, as I'm fond of both of those molds and think the colors are very well-executed. Actually, the entire series was well done color wise, but some of the molds just aren't my jam and that's okay! 

It's Friday, I'm a Judge! Breed: Arabian

Happy Friday judging clinic! We're back to mini breed land today. I thought I'd carry over the same class from the traditional scale breed class last month, so this month we're once again looking at an Arabian class! 

As per usual, my judging credentials can be found on my About Me page.

As a refresher, let's look at what we're looking for in an Arabian. According to the Arabian Horse Association, the breed standard is as follows: 

• Comparatively small head with a straight or preferably concave profile, small muzzle, large nostrils, round expressive dark eyes set well apart, small thin and well-shaped ears
• Long arched neck set high, moderately high withers, short straight back, deep chest, comparatively horizontal croup, natural high tail carriage

Arabian stallion

Horse A: G1 Arabian Stallion

Arabian mare

Horse B: Akilah

Arabian mare

Horse C: Zara

Evaluate these three against the breed standard. When you're ready, my placings are underneath the jump. ↓

Monthly Round Up! January Additions

January was another very light month for additions! Club memberships hit me hard, I'm still making time payments on a very cool model, and the market hasn't had much I've wanted. That doesn't mean I didn't add anything! 

I did make a trip up to one of the local dealers, Sir Troy's. They're a fabulous dealer, with great stock and multiple locations. While there, I met up with a few of my hobby friends for a little hobby day. 

Life is always good with hobby friends

My friend Sarah has had a bit of a rough time of it recently, so we decided to take her to the local hobby store and out to eat to cheer her up. We also ended up making a trip to Michael's as well. My friends both participate in NaMoPaiMo and needed to pick up some supplies. I'm not brave enough to tackle NaMo yet, so I was keeping an eye out for things I could use in my Collector Class entry this year and getting my steps in. 

Sir Troy's was a success! I didn't mean to come home with two traditionals. Salvino was one I was hoping to pick up - he's one I've wanted to handpick for a while, and Sir Troy's had six to choose from. This one by far had the best shading, and he has nice masking to boot! The Legend was unexpected, but he was marked down due to the plastic on his box being cracked so he came home with me. The horse was completely fine! 

These Stablemates were also ones I was looking to handpick. The Missouri Fox Trotter was one of two in the assortment I'd be looking to show, and I found one that had nice mane masking and color. I'm still looking for a Clydesdale from that assortment to handpick, but the other four will probably end up tossed in as extras in my Stablemates Club orders this year. For the Deluxe set, I was looking at four horses to possibly show - the Georg, the Cassidy, the Kit and the Fjord. I only had two sets to choose from, but the Fjord and the Kit in this set were so nice that it came home with me. I'm glad I waited until I could find a nice set!

I haven't talked about it as much on this blog (yet) but Flash is one of my favorite molds. I knew I would need the Christmas horse at some point. Although I'm trying to buy from Tractor Supply less, when they had the Christmas horse marked down to over half off I knew I wasn't going to find a better deal. While I was there, I also picked up a few regular runs on the cheap to use as show donations. Supporting the live shows you attend is so important, and this is such a great time of year to grab donations when stock is being marked down to clearance prices. 

Live Show Secrets: The Art of Breyer Collectability

Today on the blog, I'd like to continue de-mystifying things about live showing model horses. You may recall my first post in this series, about what makes a model "LSQ." I was pleased with the reception to that post, as I had always planned on making this a series. There's so much that goes into live showing, and sometimes the information seems overwhelming and hard to find. There's so much that experienced showers take for granted and expect everyone to know. With this series, I hope to make live showing more accessible to new showers, and help experienced showers level up their game. 

Today I'm tackling what we all know is one of my favorite aspects of showing - collectability classes. What makes a winning collectability entry? How do you select an entry? What does your documentation need to have? 

I'm in a uniquely situated position to talk at length about this topic. In addition to my hobby credentials found on my About Me page, my favorite hobby niche is OF Breyer Stablemates collectability. There have been multiple shows where I have received public callouts and documentation awards for the quality of my collectability entries. I don't mean this to sound like a brag - it's a skill I've worked hard to hone, one that I'm proud of, and one that I'd like to share with everyone. 

So, let's dive into it! Like the with the LSQ post, we'll first examine what collectability is - what do judges look for? After that, we'll go through the process of putting together a collectability entry from beginning to end.