Bridle Rosettes - Circus Style

I do not like circuses. Even though my sister and I dreamed of being bareback riders and performing in a circus when we were children, and even though I have attended several, I just do not care for them.

So why do I have such a love for circus ponies and horses? I have asked myself that question many times, but I have no answer. My dad did have a circus pony named Oh Boy. (Here is a blog post about him.) But I don't think that's it (after all, my dad loved tractors and owned eight antique ones when he died, and I am definitely not a tractor aficianado!)

I think think it's simply that I find them charming. And so I collect those that I find, some realistic (think Donna Chaney's lovelies) and some not (the huge Freeman-Leidy clinkies.) The Hagen Renakers, the Shikens, the Ringling Brothers/Barnum and Bailey Breyer knock-offs... I avidly collect them all.

But these are a first for me:

Circus pony bridle rosettes! (Photo from eBay auction.)

I was doing a search for circus ponies and these popped up. I watched them for a while, and then decided to put in a bid for them.  They arrived Wednesday and are beautiful!

I am not sure what I will do with them - I'd thought a necklace maybe but now I think I like them as is. And as I have done research on bridle rosettes, I have discovered a whole new world of collecting, including a blog by a woman who collects and researches them. 

I don't think this is the beginning of a new collection for me, but...