Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!

Remember the scary sound the giant made in the story, Jack and the Beanstalk? Well, there are no giants around the old barn, but I had a Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum! moment yesterday when I stepped into it yesterday.

Sultanna, the lowest member in the herd pecking order, was the only horse outside when I drove down the lane leading to the old barn. Abby was inside with the others, and so I pulled aside the heavy wooden door and entered.

Fee! Fi! Fo! Fum!! The horses and I were not the only ones in the barn! There were two large, freshly dug holes in the dirt of the barn aisle.

I stopped right in my tracks. I did NOT want an encounter with a panicked wild animal in the closed confines of the barn.

Who made the holes? Raccoons? I did not think so. They can be found in barns, but they don't dig holes - they live in the hay or make dens tucked into things that are stored in the barn.

Possums? They don't dig holes, either, although they, too, can be found in barns. (Or in my garage. That was a surprise early one morning!)

I settled on the idea that we had foxes in the barn - we had had a pair last year that lived close by and had a litter of kits, and they do dig holes. Perhaps they had decided to move into the barn this year?

Meanwhile, Abby was nickering at me, anxious to see what I had brought for her to munch. I did not want to step over those holes to get to her, so I went outside and whistled for her to come. Always eager for a visit and her treats (although not necessarily in that order) she came outside  and ambled over to say hello.

After I got into my car, I sent Tim the photos, although I was pretty sure he already knew about the holes. He did, and had another guess, one that I had not considered. He thinks we have skunks! Yikes!

If Tim is correct, then I am doubly glad that I did not hang out in the old barn any longer than I did!

Another Factory Repaint?

Yesterday I shared photos of my two black Bucking Broncos and my thoughts that they may be factory repaints of a grey Bucking Bronco. This sweet Classic Arabian Foal may be a factory repaint over a grey color, too.

Check out that unusual factory splotch on her left knee. Note that it's painted over some grey color.

A front view of the black paint over a softer grey color. The ending lines of the black color on the legs are very sharply defined.

Another view of those lines on her legs.

Can you see the grey spot on the point of her hip?

Another view (sorry for the blurry photo.) That's not a rub - it's a place where the black color did not cover the entire surface.

 More grey color is revealed under her belly.

You can see a spot under her belly where the black paint does not cover the grey underneath it.

I think it's safe to say that this sweet girl is most likely another factory repaint. I have an email out to a knowledgable friend about these three and am waiting for her to finish looking through her own research and at her Broncos and then let me know her thoughts. I'll share those when I hear from her. But I can say, the more I look at this foal and the two Broncos, the more I think that they are factory repaints.

Factory Repaints - Black Bucking Broncos?

Breyer is well known for recycling a finished model that did not sell well and repainting it to sell again. Some lucky people have discovered that their ordinary sorrel 5 Gaiter was actually a wedgewood, or their bay Running Mare a copenhagen.

There is some speculation that some of Breyer's black Bucking Broncos may actually be repainted grey ones. The grey was only offered in 1966 and then disappeared. I have two blacks that are definitely odd and I have been doing research on them to see if perhaps they are factory repaints.

 This first Bronco is the one I strongly suspect is a factory repaint of a grey.

Look at his face - partially blacked over with plenty of the grey still showing. There's also a definite spot of black paint on his upper lip below his nostril OVER the grey color.

 And look at his shoulder and the grey that extends down his foreleg.

It is definitely grey and not the white of bare plastic. Compare the color to the bottom of his right front hoof or his left hind sock to see the difference.

My second black Bucking Bronco may also be a factory repaint. His bald face has black splatters which may or may not be an indication, but look at his lower lip. The near half is grey while the off half is black. You can see the sharply delineated line between the black on one half and the grey on the other.

The first Bronco has grey hooves, and you can see a darker grey on the other one. But, can you also see the black paint line around the edge of his off front hoof?

His hooves have been partially painted black, so that they're grey as well as black. 

The research that I have done says that these models only came with grey hooves, not black.

 A better view of the partial grey/partial black hooves which shows mostly grey from this side,

and mostly black from the other.

I have been chatting with a knowledgable hobby friend and she is looking at her Broncos and the information that she has on Breyer's painting jobs and will then get back to me. I'll post what she says when I hear back from her. In the meantime, I lean towards calling them both factory repaints.

Tomorrow I will show another piece, also black, that I suspect may be a factory repaint as well.

A Pony Pal Visits

Our daughter, Jessica, and her husband and children are moving from Virginia to Utah, and as they drive across country with their things, they stopped by Monday for a quick visit and to spend the night.

The local grands came over to see them, and we had a pizza dinner and then popcornpalooza and watched a movie. (Popcornpalooza is popcorn mixed with M&Ms, gummi bears, pretzels, goldfish crackers, and anything else you want to toss into the mix. It is HUGELY popular in our family.)

Pony Pal Cambria requested a tour of my collection and I let her select a ribbon that I'd won at Silver Star Classic. She promptly hung it on her shirt.

I'd also made the kids care packages with things like fun pads, snacks, and small toys to keep them entertained as the family drove across the country. If you look at the bag, you can see that my pony pal is also taking home a palomino Grazing Mare. (Her brother, Titan, got the matching foal.)

Cambria really does seem to have the horsey gene. Time will tell, but her Grammy has her fingers crossed!

Silver Star Classic - My Placings and a Bit of Irony

I only took twenty-one models to Silver Star Classic. I am mostly a vintage collector and so my models generally do not do well against the newer Breyers that are produced now.

Still, nearly half my models won a ribbon despite the fierce competition, a pleasant surprise.

In 1997 Stone held a breakfast for collectors who were attending BreyerFest and gave out these woodgrain models to those of us there. He often does well in Stone collectibility classes.

I was pleased that Straight Bet placed in a strong Andalusian class.

My Wish from the 2018 Holiday Wish and Wonder set won the Other Pony/Mix Pony class at her live show debut.

The Breyer collectibility class was huge and tough; I was happy with these results.

Windsong Georgia took second in her first showing. (I love this piece!)

And how ironic is this? I dislike unicorns, but my flocked unicorn won the Breyer Fantasy collectors class!

I popped him into the show tub at the last minute and hurriedly typed up a card, but I did not expect to win the class.

He topped my wedgewood Toys R Us special run Pegasus who often wins the Breyer fantasy classes. Since he won, I've gotten some teasing (probably well deserved) from friends who know how much I dislike unicorns. 

I do hope this show comes back for a second show next year. Lauren and Andrea Maultsby did a terrific job on it, and with the show being held in central Indiana, it is accessible to many, many hobbyists. Congratulations to Lauren and Andrea!

Silver Star Classic - Photos of the Fun & the Entries

Lauren and Andrea Maultby did such a nice job on last Saturday's show.

 There was a room off the show hall that was absolutely stuffed with raffle items!

 The assortment was so large, I lost count of how many there were

 but I think it was over forty. 

There was also a silent auction (the table on the right)

And fun games to play, all with the chance of a prize.

Plus, everyone got a door prize! (I got the horseshoe tea towel on the bottom right.)

Here are photos from some of the classes:

 As you can see, the competition was stiff!

Tomorrow's post will be the last one about the show.