Hoofbeats & Maple Treats - A Breyer Collector Club Event!

In May, Breyer announced their latest destination Collector Club event - Hoofbeats & Maple Treats, held in Toronto, Ontario! This is the first time the physical event will be leaving the country - the Australian True Blue event in 2021 was entirely virtual. 

Entries opened today for tickets - I entered, but I'm not expecting to be picked. I was lucky enough to be pulled off the wait list for Spokes & Spurs last year, and getting to go two years in a row seems too good to be true. 

While we don't know exactly yet what the ticket models will be, the terms and conditions reveal that like Spokes & Spurs, both the Traditional and Stablemate models will be portraits of horses guests will get to meet. The traditional model is Legacy, a show jumper, and the Stablemate is Tamarkuz, a Thoroughbred. 

We did get a sneak peek of the Traditional model before BreyerFest - it appears to match up with the Bristol mold. It's an odd choice since Bristol was also used for the Seattle Soiree as Redmond, but I suppose the owners probably had some say in the mold. 

Best of luck to all those entering! 

The BreyerFest Files: The One Where I Talk About BreyerFest

 📂 The BreyerFest Files 📂

Another BreyerFest is in the books, and therefore it is time for a post reflecting on the event.

I'll try not to make it too sappy, but it's me and I love all parts of BreyerFest SO MUCH.

Since it’s not a NAN year this year, I didn’t take the whole week to spend in Lexington and instead drove down on Wednesday. Carpooling got off to a later start than I would have liked, but I still got to see some friends at the CHIN and picked up some prepaid models before crawling off to the Airbnb.

This year, the BreyerFest Open Show was a two day show for the first time ever! Minis and Performance showed on Thursday and all other divisions showed on Friday. Since I’ve got an ideal table spot, I decided to do both days of the show, meaning for the first time ever I’d be showing non-minis at the Open Show. I had already decided before the split was announced that I wanted to do both a Stablemates Collector Class entry and a Novice Collector Class entry (I’ve never claimed sanity). I was immensely pleased with how my entries turned out, and I was thrilled to bring home a seventh in the large and intensely competitive Stablemates Collector’s Class. The string brought home four NAN cards across two days, which is pretty good for a show of this size! 

Saturday and Sunday are my park days. Saturday morning was spent running through the Breyer Store line and coordinating Special Run pickups. Our Airbnb crew took a quick offsite lunch to drop off purchases before heading back to our NAMHSA booth shift. It was an honor to be asked to volunteer for the booth. I got to talk about one of my favorite aspects of the hobby (live showing) to people who may not have live shown before! I was asked to make posters and flyers for the booth, which was very flattering! I volunteered for shifts on Saturday and Sunday, and it was rewarding to give back to the hobby. 

Sunday in the park was much more chill - I got my NAMHSA booth shift out of the way early, admired the upcoming releases in the Collector Club tent, then made my way toward the guest horse barns. Unfortunately, it was a bit too sunny for me to spend much time there, so I parked myself in the food truck area with some friends to wait until the raffle. I had every intention of NOT buying Sunday raffle tickets, but when peer pressure was applied I caved and bought a single ticket (it did not win, but his name would have been Peer Pressure LLC). I took a nap Sunday night in lieu of Sunday night CHIN shopping, and drove home with Sarah first thing Monday morning. 

BreyerFest, for all its chaos and jam-packed schedules and insanity, is the one time of year where I feel completely at home. I’m lucky to have a hobby where I have so many friends who just get it. I think I got to see most everyone at least in passing, and if I missed you I apologize (if it helps, I never made it to the 400s to shop this year). Until next year, my weird little niche hobby pals. <3

This Week in Breyer: July 21-26, 2025

 We had quite a few Breyer happenings this week! Rather than post daily, I decided to do a wrap-up post instead. 

First, Breyer released the numbers for the BreyerFest variations on Wednesday. The micro runs were all runs of 75, as predicted. Most of the variation splits were 50-50, with the exception of Future is Bright and Hoopla, whose splits were 75-25. The split for the decorator Shindig turned out to be a micro run of 75 pieces as well. Unless I get extremely lucky secondhand, I'll be waiting a while to add one of those! 

On Thursday, Breyer released the numbers on the surprise models. 

I'm pleased to have been close with my predictions for the numbers on the glossies and the decorator! Hopefully the price on the decorator will come down soon and I can snag one. 

Also on Thursday, Breyer announced the final Exotic Destinations Web Special of 2025 - Salzburg!

Salzburg is a run of 600 pieces on the Belgian mold. His cost is $195 if selected to purchase. He's absolutely lovely, but not a need for me, so I offered my entries to a friend. 

Finally, Breyer announced a Christmas in July sale, with Collectors Club members able to purchase special run models. Cardinal and Magpie were both available, but sold out within the first few minutes. At the time of this writing, Tobias from the Stablemate Club is the only other model sold out. I picked up a few regular run Stablemates I was missing, but there was nothing I really needed from the sale! 

Stablemate Sunday: BreyerFest 2012

 For the first Stablemate Sunday since restarting the blog, we're pulling up the one that's been in the drafts since I abandoned this blog. This month, we're highlighting the 2012 BreyerFest Single Day Stablemates, one of my personal favorite sets! 

The theme for BreyerFest 2012 was British Invasion, coinciding with the Summer Olympics held in London. All four of the Single Days featured realistic coats with a glossy finish, and came packaged in a small bag. Each is a run of 1,000 pieces. I was mostly out of the hobby at this time, so I had to track these four down second hand. Because of this, I only have bags for two of the models (Moonraker and London Pride). The other two bags are on my list to track down for collectability purposes, but they're currently not a priority. 

Carling

Carling is a chestnut pinto on the G4 Drafter mold. At the time this set was produced, the mold was fairly new - the G4s had been released in 2010 for the World Equestrian Games. Carling is probably my second favorite from the set - his color is lovely, and he's been a fairly good show model for me! 

Moonraker

Moonraker is a blue roan on the G2 Clydesdale mold. The coloring on this guy is stunning, and the gloss makes him pop. He hasn't made his way into my show string, as there are so many fabulous draft molds in the Stablemates lineup, but maybe one day I'll pull him out. 

Butter

Butter is a lovely palomino overo on the G3 Friesian mold sculpted by Jane Lunger. For whatever reason, this guy was the hardest for me to track down of the set - I only managed to find him when a friend kindly gave me a duplicate from her collection. Like Moonraker, I haven't shown this guy yet, but maybe he'll find his way into the rotation soon! 

London Pride

The final horse of the set is London Pride, a black sabino on the G3 Belgian mold. London Pride is without a doubt my favorite of the set. She is a usual member of the show string, and is a solid shower - she went overall reserve champion in breed twice for me last year. I gave her a well-deserved year off to rotate in some of my other draft horses, and next year I'll probably rotate her back in. 

Show Report: Island Time Live 2025

 🌴Island Time Live 2025🌴

Content originally posted to Instagram and Facebook April 14, 2025

This weekend I traveled up to Catawba Island for Island Time Live, hosted by my wonderful friend Angie. This show is so much fun and so well-run, you'd never know it's only her second time hosting. This year I had the honor of judging the custom classes in addition to showing some of my own herd (thank you to Sarah for handling the traditionals until I was done!), and when I say the customs showers brought their A-game, I'm not joking. 

This show may be on the smaller side, but the competition is FIERCE. I was lucky to bring home two sectional champions in the mini division, and the raffle luck was on my side, as I came home with three raffle wins! As I was dropping tickets in for the plush, I said aloud he was friend shaped, and I guess the universe agreed with me 😅 Gay Prancer also collected a boatload of pirate treasure in the my favorite model class and came home with a ribbon himself. He keeps saying he needs a pirate costume now 🤣 

The show kept itself moving along well! I estimate I was done judging by 2pm, and we were out of the show hall by 6, and had plenty of time for dinner at Twin Oast Brewery with the best show crew 💜

If you can ever make it up to Island Time, I highly recommend it! Angie runs a fantastic show, with top quality judges, fierce competition, a beautiful drive in and out, and one of the best lunch spreads I've had at a show. Can't wait for next year! 🥰 🏴‍☠️

The Champions: 

Psychotic Love Theme - OF Breyer Mini Gaited Collectability Reserve

Tarnished Coat of Arms - OF Breyer Mini Draft Breed Reserve

Gay Prancer and his pirate booty in the fun class! 

The BreyerFest Files: BreyerFest 2025 Haul

📂 The BreyerFest Files 📂

BreyerFest 2025 was a whirlwind! It felt like my schedule was jam-packed, but I still had time to get some good shopping in. I went in with a general idea of an ISO, but basically let my heart tell me what to buy. 

We'll start with the things I pre-bought or pre-arranged to pick up at BreyerFest! Quite a few of these are set completers, which is very exciting!

The charcoal G1 Draft and the Freshly Baked Stablemates came from my friend Kenzie. The two cookie Stablemates complete my set! The Brighid and Beltane, glossy bay Zayn, G2 Stock Horse, and G1 Arabian Mare came from my friend Tegan. The G1 Draft and the G2 Stock Horse are both from the First Silver Cup Collection, which I've been slowly piecing together. I'm now just one horse away from completing the set! The dapple gray G1 Arabian Mare was from my friend Sarah. She's a no stamp! 

The 2004 G1 Arabian Stallion and the Pony Gals Stablemates came from my friend Heather. Funny story, I actually paid for the G1 Arabian Stallion last year, and Heather couldn't find him before BreyerFest. I see her frequently, so it wasn't a huge deal, and she finally found him and delivered him to me! Finally, the black dapple G2 Thoroughbred I found in the Clarion Facebook group for the right price and snagged as quickly as I could. 

My other CHIN purchases definitely had something in common - they're pretty much all Love molds! There was this fantastic table at the swap meet filled with G1s and I got a lot of lovely pieces. I was thrilled to upgrade (most) of my classic Quarter Horse Family - the bay mare is inferior to mine, but the stallion and baby are definitely upgrades! The palomino Glitz is an upgrade to my copy as well. 

As a collectability nerd, I was pleased to add the Little Bits Saddlebred with hang tag to my collection as well. The G2s are both set fillers - the Pony from the JAH Collection and the Warmblood from the 2004 TJ Maxx Horses of the World set. Due to the Event Stablemate Four Pack selling out on Friday, I had to pick up a set in the CHIN. Luckily, I found a set from a friend for under cost! 

My Love mold kick continues with both Denver and the 2001 BreyerFest Silky Sullivan. I found the Silky Sullivan in the Swap Meet, and initially passed on him due to cost. Imagine my surprise when I went back the next night and his cost had been slashed by over half! I practically threw money at the poor seller! Now to track the rest of the set!

Now this girl wasn't actually a purchase. This is Gladwin's Lucky Grey Lady, the 2003 BreyerFest Celebration Horse. She was on my ISO list for BreyerFest. While I was driving down to Kentucky on Wednesday, I received a message from one of my hobby friends that she had found me a big gray horse. What horse? Gray! What scale? Big! How much did it cost? Money! I get to the Airbnb and discover a NIB Gladwin's Lucky Grey Lady! My friend refused to let me pay her back, insisting that she got the horse for a deal. I eventually did pay it back by finding a horse on her ISO for a deal. The plastic pony friendship barter system at work!

This year was a very light Special Run year for me. The Special Runs leaned heavily toward Moody sculpted molds, and while there are some of those I love, the ones in the lineup were not my favorites. The Store Specials were much more to my taste with the Cleveland Bay, the new Welsh Cob mold, and the Stablemate set. I ended up with two All-Access tickets, mostly for the second chance at a surprise model. The master list has never failed me, and I was selected for my top Special Run choices - Life's a Journey, Future is Bright, and two Seize the Day Surprise models. 

My Future is Bright had the long mane variation, though honestly I would have been fine with either. I pulled two matte silver bay surprises from the line, and was able to trade one with a friend for the sooty palomino, my first choice. I'm a casual Totilas collector, but most of the colors didn't speak to me. The matte silver bay can stay for now, as he might grow on me. I'll also be searching for a deco at some point, but I'm waiting until numbers come out and the market settles. 

I also always pick up the BreyerFest plush, the BreyerFest pin and a mug every year as a souvenir. For the plush, I always try to look for a fun number. This year I found nearly my birthday (12/10) - there was a 1209 and a 1211, but no 1210. I took home 1225 instead 😁

I've also got a pair of Shindigs on the way, but as of this publication I'm not sure which I've received. I have my fingers crossed for one of each! 

One of the very fun things about BreyerFest is how many non-model things and trinkets you can come home with. In the wake of Taylor Swift's Era Tour, friendship bracelet making and trading took off. This year people traded additional trinkets and stickers as well! I had Gay Prancer buttons to pass out, as I didn't have the time or energy to make bracelets before BreyerFest. The Girl Scout cookies are the only thing I didn't trade for - the cookie sale was offered by a Lexington hobbyist looking to benefit her daughter's troop. I take advantage of any opportunity to stockpile Tagalongs when I can, and I'm excited to try the lemon cookies! 

I have a funny story with the BreyerFest mug - I couldn't carry it with my Special Runs so my friends took it and checked out with it. We were sitting in the front row of the Covered Arena when my friend's husband passed it back to me, and it slipped right out of its poor wrapping and into the Covered Arena! One of the helpers for the next horse demonstration kindly retrieved it for me and thankfully it was unharmed. 

BreyerFest 2025 Variation Split Speculation

A quick blog post today, just because I want to get in writing my thoughts on the splits before Breyer reveals the actual numbers. 

As an anniversary year, multiple variations were expected to appear in the BreyerFest Special Runs. Indeed, most of the Special Runs had a split! Three models did not have a split - Life's a Journey (the Collie), Good Times and Great Friends (the mare and foal), and Hats Off To You (the Old Timer). Without further ado, let's get into the predictions! 

It's worth noting that all but three variations were revealed on the Breyer live broadcast, so that gives us an additional idea of rarity. 

Get This Party Started

Get This Party Started is a black frame overo on the Connemara Mare (Croi) mold. She is a run of 2,300, and was only available to in-person ticketholders. She has two color variations - a buckskin and a blue color shift. The buckskin was revealed on the BreyerFest live broadcast, but the blue color shift was not. I have also seen significantly less of the blue. I've also seen less of the buckskin than the black, but not significantly. I previously was of the mindset that the "micro runs" would be 100-200 pieces, but the more I'm observing, I think the run might in fact be 75 each. I'm thinking 60-40 for the remaining two colors. 

Prediction: 1,335 black, 890 buckskin, 75 blue color shift

Let The Good Times Roll 

Let The Good Times Roll is a glossy sooty buckskin leopard appaloosa on the loose mane version of the Show Jumping Warmblood mold. He was available to all ticket holders, and is a run of 2,500. He only has one variation - a matte version on the braided version of the Show Jumping Warmblood mold. I'm guessing 60-40 for this variation as well, but I would not be surprised if it was 75-25. 

Prediction: 1,500 glossy loose mane, 1,000 matte braided mane

To The Ties That Bind Us 

To The Ties That Bind Us is a Wedgewood apploosa with Breyer silhouettes in the blanket pattern, done on the Silver mold. He is a run of 2,200 pieces, and was available to all ticket holders. Like Get This Party Started, To The Ties That Bind Us has two color variations - a gold version and a silver version. I'm thinking he's split along the same lines as the Croi, so we'll say 75 for the silver variation and a 60-40 split of the remainder. 

Prediction: 1,275 blue, 850 gold, 75 silver 

YOLO

YOLO is a dapple gray on the Vanner mold. He is a run of 2,400 pieces, and was only available to in-person ticket holders. He is the third and final special run with a third variation. His revealed variation was a belly spot variation, and his micro run was a holographic colorway reminiscent of 2021's holographic Uffington. Like the other two, we'll be going 75 for the holographic and 60-40 for the remainder. 

Prediction: 1,395 solid, 930 belly spot, 75 holographic

Future is Bright 

Future is Bright is a palomino on the new Criollo mold. He introduces the long mane variation of the mold. He is limited to 2,200 pieces and was available to all ticket holders. He has a mane variation, with part of the run being on the roached mane version of the mold. I'm guessing a straight 50-50 split for this guy. 

Prediction: 1,100 long mane, 1,100 roached mane

Hoopla

Hoopla is a bay tobiano on the Bristol mold. He is a run of 3,000 pieces and was only available in the online BreyerFest store. There is a finish variation on him, with part of the run being glossy. It's still early to tell, as a lot of online orders have not made it to their homes yet, but I've seen significantly less of the glossy. I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's a 75-25 split. 

Prediction: 2,250 matte, 750 glossy

Shindig

Shindig is a shaded gray sabino on the Giorgio mold. He is the online exclusive Stablemate, and is a run of 3,000 pieces. He has a fantastic rainbow color variation. Like with Hoopla, it's probably too early to tell, but I'm guessing 75-25 for him as well. 

Prediction: 2,250 gray, 750 rainbow

Seize The Day Surprise

The Seize the Day Surprise this year was on the Totilas mold. It has 7,800 pieces total, and was available to all ticket holders. There were six different colorways for him, with four being available in both matte and glossy. Those four are the silver bay, the sooty palomino, the palomino pinto, and the dapple gray. There was also a blue roan, available only in matte finish, and a blue decorator only available in a glossy finish. I can't begin to guess at exact numbers for these guys, but I'll rank where I think they fall in rarity. 

Prediction: 

• Matte most made to least made: Silver bay, dapple gray, palomino pinto, sooty palomino, blue roan 
• Decorator probably ~600-650 pieces 
• Remainder of glossies an even split, probably around 350-375 of each color 

As I said, I am least certain about the number predictions on the micro runs. 75 seems like a really low number for the scale BreyerFest has grown to since the 30-piece micro runs in 2019. The micro runs in the 2021 and 2023 Special Run lineups were all at least runs of 200. I would not be surprised if my prediction is entirely off and they turn out to be runs of 150-200. 

Hopefully Breyer releases their numbers soon! 

The BreyerFest Files: Collector's Class 2025

 📂 The BreyerFest Files 📂

Welcome to the BreyerFest Files, where I talk about my BreyerFest experiences! Today, I'm going to talk about my two Collector's Class entries. This year was my third year entering the BreyerFest Open Show, and with that experience under my belt, I decided it was high time I tackle a Collector's Class. 

Because I've never claimed sanity, I decided on two entries - one Novice entry and one Stablemates entry. I'd had a few ideas rattling around my brain for the Stablemates entry, but for Novice I had just one. Little known fact, I'm a person with fairly good raffle luck. Between that and my stubborn ability to wait for and find good deals on models, I had the ideal theme for a Novice entry - Feeling Lucky! All of the horses in the display were models I'd either won in a raffle, bought for cost at an event, was given as a gift, or found by chance in an eBay lot. 

While I'm immensely proud of how this entry turned out, the other entries brought their A-game and mine didn't place! And that's okay - the entries that won were all very deserving! 

The Stablemates Collector Class was on Thursday before the Mini Show, and I had slightly higher hopes for this one, even though with 41 entries it was the largest Collector Class in the history of the Open Show. I had a vision for this one. 

A little known fact about me - I work at a library, and part of my job includes cataloging magazines, meaning every week I get to browse People and Us Weekly. I was inspired by the "Who Wore It Best" spreads - where two celebrities wear the same outfit and the public votes on who wore the outfit better. I knew I could translate this to model horses and finish work. 

I curated a list of modern paint jobs and vintage models that would match. I only had to buy two horses - the splash G1 draft and the black blanket Native Dancer. I pored over the little details - the red carpet, the font choices (the font used for the vintage models was created in 1950, just like Breyer!), the magazine "spread." One thing I was adamant on was giving the public the ability to vote - it's the whole point of the spread! I eventually happened upon a QR code linking to a live Canva poll - for those curious, the vote was split 50-50! 

My hard work paid off - I came home with 7th in the Stablemates Collector Class (purple! my favorite color). Two of the judges approached me later to say how much they liked my entry, and how well-thought out it was. 

All in all, I'll definitely create an entry for the Stablemates Collector Class next year. I'm on the fence about doing a class with the big guys - while I have collectable pieces, I'm not certain I have the money to compete at this time. There's only so far creativity can go in a class judged on collectability. But we'll see - maybe some point in the next year I'll have an incredible idea! 

Show Report: River City Classic 2025

 🌧 River City Classic 2025 🌧

Content originally posted to Instagram and Facebook April 6, 2025

The 2025 show season is off to a great start! On Friday I traveled the 8 hours (including stops) to Evansville for the River City Classic, a show hosted by my good friend Angela. My friend Kelly has sung this show's praises for as long as I've known her, but the timing hadn't lined up for me to attend. And I decided that this year, I was GOING to make it, and not even my broken arm was going to stop me. I packed up my mini string and some select traditionals for Kelly to run while I tackled judging. 

So of course Kelly got sick and wasn't able to attend 😅 luckily, Kelsey volunteered to save the day and ran my traditionals for me, even taking pictures of my horses who placed when she got the chance. She's a literal rock star and I'm SO grateful 🌟 

The herd did SPECTACULARLY. The highlight was of course my no stamp dapple gray G1 ASB taking collectability champ in the mini division, and I collected quite a few collectability sectionals in addition. I was especially proud of my OF Breyer string. Angela splits out rare Breyers into their own double judged division and most of my trad string ended up there, but I did bring 12 horses for the regular OF Breyer division. The classes were intensely competitive, but I'm proud to say I came home with 9 horses who placed, 6 who came home with at least one NAN card, and a sectional collectability champ and breed reserve champ. Quality over quantity definitely pays off! 

Overall, I just had such a wonderful time, with great people, great food, top tier judges, a number system that made recording results so much easier (Important when you have a healing broken dominant arm), and the cutest kitty housemates. It's definitely a show I'll return to as often as scheduling allows 🥰

The Champions:

DWS Mister Waternoose - OF Breyer/Other Draft Breed Reserve

Say It Right - OF Breyer/Other Foals Collectability Champion

Twin Telepathy - OF Breyer Mini Foals Collectability Reserve

Eras Tour - OF Breyer Mini Sport Collectability Champion

It Ain't Me - OF Breyer Mini Sport Collectability Reserve

Golden Child - OF Breyer Rares Mini Collectability Reserve

Himbo - OF Breyer Rares Mini Breed Champion

Marvelous Time - OF Breyer Mini Stock Collectability Reserve

Tiffany Twisted - OF Breyer Mini Decorator Collectability Reserve

Psychotic Love Theme - OF Breyer Mini Overall Collectability Champion & Spnaish/Gaited Collectability Champion

Adding Some Structure

I am very quickly realizing that if I want this blog to last more than a month this time then I need to set a schedule and stick to it. I like the direction I was going with when I started with themed posts - find the explanations here. 

Right now I'm planning on reposting the show write-ups I've done for 2025, as it's long form content that I've already created and it would be silly to waste them. Currently the plan is to post those on Fridays, and then going forward the show reports will be posted the Wednesday after the show. Once Fridays are free, it's likely I'll find another post to fill that slot.

Wednesdays will be "planned posts" days following the themes established in the link above. It will rotate between Collection Spotlights, Conga Times, Monthly Round-Ups, and Show Reports, though there will not be a set rotation. I may add other themes as I come up with them. 

The last Sunday of the month will be Stablemate Spotlight time. 

Breyer News posts will be made as close to real time as possible, but consequently they will be much shorter. 

I have a decent amount of content from BreyerFest that will be posted to my model horse Instagram and personal Facebook pages, so those will be edited and condensed for blog posts as I get the chance. They will not be subject to the same posting schedule as the other posts, and will instead be posted as they are finished. 

My first attempt at this blog had me posting at least three times a week, and it burned me out quickly. I'm hoping this easier schedule will keep my motivation high! 

The first show report goes live Friday at noon, so I will see you all then! 

Let's Try This Again...

 Long time, no talk! 

Turns out, I'm not very good at maintaining a blog, but we'll give it another shot. I'm trying to post consistently on my model horse Instagram account (you can find me @maciems.collection), so I'll try cross-posting some of those here, as well as longer form content that won't fit elsewhere. 

We'll see how it goes. 

My mascot Gay Prancer in my preferred habitat - a library