Like-Minded Sisters

In many ways, my sister and I are very different. She's tall, thin, and blonde, and I am short, heavy, and a brunette (with very white legs.) 

 Our interests do not mesh until it comes to horses. Then, we are very much on the same page!

 Me, Ryder, and Leslie in the big barn at The Farm at Prophetstown.

She is helping me introduce Ian and Mila to the delights of being a barn rat and spending time with the farm animals, especially the horses.

Ian, me, and Mila.

"Ouch! This straw is prickly" cried Ian as we sat for the picture. (Our work is cut out for us.)

But perhaps with two like-minded sisters, we will help Ian and Mila find the joy of spending time in a barn and with horses.

SciFi and Horses

While sorting through my hobby closet and the Star Trek and Star Wars collections, I came across something that I had been looking for.

 Tek Lab by William Shatner, a book that was a gift from a horsey (both real and model) friend.

I read the book years ago (it was published in 1991), and it wasn't quite to my taste, but it isn't going anywhere. Sue had Shatner autograph it for me.

William Shatner is a horseman, and he is the real deal. He rides and he drives; he knows his stuff. (He's even been to BreyerFest.) Sue had world-class Quarter Horses that she competed on the AQHA circuit, and she kept them at the same barn where Bill kept his Saddlebreds in the 1990s. Sue, Bill, and his wife Nerine became good friends as a result of their horse connection and frequently socialized together.

So, when Bill's second book in the Tek (gotta love that play on words with "Trek" there) series came out, she felt comfortable asking him to autograph a copy for me.

He was nice enough to comply, and I still get excited when I open the cover and see that autograph. Er, because of his horsey connections, certainly NOT because he was Captain Kirk in Star Trek. Yeah, I get excited because he is a well known horseman.

Cough cough.

When Sorting Leads to a Decision

I thought I was ready for the Muncie Swap Meet this Saturday. I had my sales models all tagged and packed, and had posted on the swap meet page what I would be bringing.

Then, I decided to sort out my Star Trek and Star Wars collections. (My "theme" for my first year of retirement is sorting and downsizing - I have plans to go through every closet in this house and pare what we have down to the bare minimum.)

Well, the Star Trek and Star Wars things are in the closet of my horse room, and one thing led to another. Soon I was also sorting JAH magazines and other hobby publications.

 My Just about Horses collection goes back almost to the beginning of the publication.

I poked through them until I found this particular issue which I will be keeping. Why?

 See the photo on the upper right? The girl on the right is my daughter, Jessica. She is attending the 1995 Lincoln Land Live Show in the novice division, the show that I used to put on when we lived in Illinois. This issue of JAH stays with me!

I also found a lot of BreyerFest programs that had been carefully tucked away.

And dealer catalogs dating back to 1993.

I sat back and looked at all these publications that were now spread out all over my craft table. Fun to look at, and good to have saved, but...

And this is when I began thinking long and hard. Perhaps it was time to get these items out of their tubs and into the hands of other collectors, those who joined the hobby more recently than me and were not around when these were published and available.

It was the box of Vintage Club boxes that helped me make my decision.

They are fun to have and collectors' items, no doubt about that. But I was simply storing them. And for what purpose? It hit me that, by the time they had much value (twenty years or so) I probably would no longer be collecting. In twenty years I will be eighty; is it realistic to hang on to something I really would rather not store until they have some value?

Talk about facing your own mortality - and who would've thought that that would be prompted by model horses?

But there it was. Chances are that I will not be the one to enjoy these saved boxes. I will be too old.

Recently there has been some talk, prompted by the dispersal of Karen Grimm's collection, about how we really are simply caretakers for the pieces in our collections, and that the time will come, as it did for Karen, when they must be passed on to a new owner.

Decision made. Pass them, the JAHs, the dealer catalogs, and other things on NOW. Let go of things that I am keeping simply because they are collectible, and keep that which I love and have out to enjoy. (And I do love my models - sitting in my office and puttering on the computer surrounded by wall to wall shelves of models brings me great happiness.)

The magazines and other ephemera are now packed for Saturday's swap meet.

Her Mottled Skin!

Appaloosas are my favorite breed. (Next is Lippizaners. How is that for contrast?) I love the breed's history, and find Appaloosa spot patterns fascinating. And, I absolutely love the breed characteristic of mottled skin.

Which Abby exhibits very well!

Many of the spots in her coat change as she grows a winter coat and then sheds it out, but those on her skin do not seem to change. For example, that blue-grey spot on her right nostril is one of my favorite markings on Abby, and it is constant and unchanging. 

It's a great place to plant a kiss.

Lush!

It's the end of June and summer is in full swing, but the weather conditions in Indiana have been favorable to growing, and so the pastures are deep and lush.

 In some places, it is knee deep on Abby!

You can get a sense from this photo of Trouble and Hokey enjoying the loafing shed as to just how well the pastures are flourishing.

My favorite Hoosier wildflower, Fleabane, grows along the fence rows. I can't help but smile whenever I see it.

Tim has about nine acres divided into eight pastures with two barns and a loafing shed. Even with six horses on site, that is plenty of room to sustain the herd without supplemental feeding of hay or grain.

There are other areas, like the lane to the new barn, that could be temporarily fenced should the need for more pasture arise.

But in the six years I have kept Abby at Tim's, that has never happened. Summer after summer, with Tim's good management skills, the pastures are able to sustain the horses.

Abby could not be in a better place.

Thirteen Shops!

Lisa and I went antiquing yesterday and we went to thirteen shops! We traveled to three towns, one of which we had never gone to (and which had eight of those thirteen shops, with three more that were only open Saturdays and Sundays.) It was quite a day.

 As always, I was looking for horse shaped objects...

 ... while she searches for old Christmas ornaments...

... and red transferware.

Which is very difficult to find - we found blue (the most common color), green, and even purple and black, but red is highly popular right now and we have come up empty our past two antique outings.

 I found very little this time myself, although there were a few horsey items, including this clock (which is very common.)

And I found that the Lefton pitcher I inherited from my grandmother was part of a complete tea set (priced at $190 and not including the salt and pepper shakers or the saucer!)

I only made one personal purchase during our thirteen-shop mega jaunt, and ironically it was at the very first place we visited.

 I found this lovely spatter dapple Old Timer for only $5!

 He has no hat, but is otherwise in excellent condition. 

And the pinking on this piece is stunning! He has a USA mark so he was made post 1970.

I have no regrets on spending an entire day antique shopping with Lisa. Despite my only finding one Breyer, and she only finding four Christmas ornaments and no red transferware, we had fun, and discovered some new places to shop.

An Old Haunt

I was driving out in the country last week and came across an old but familiar haunt.

The sign was still up, marking the property, but the horses, trailers, pastures, and ring were no longer there.

The We Like It Ranch! A place that used to own a lot of Paints and that held small, unrecognized horse shows several times every year way back in the 1970s. I used to show Cee and Amy here when I was a teenager.

Since Craig and I moved for his work at the University of Illinois for twenty-seven years, there are gaps in my local knowledge and I do not know what happened to the people who had raised horses here or why the ranch is virtually gone - aside from the sign, you would not know that it was once a very nice horse property.

I do love the vintage sign, though. It is a part of the area's horse-history, and I would like to see it preserved somehow.

My Desk Pony Comes Home

In early June, 1998, I was hired to teach at Yankee Ridge Elementary School in Urbana, Illinois, the town where we were living at the time. I had done my student teaching in that building, and Laura Cresap, the principal, interviewed and hired me as soon as school closed for the summer.

I was given some orientation, shown my new classroom, and left alone to begin moving in. I remember sitting down at my new desk and pulling open the pencil drawer. To my surprise and delight, I found a little blown glass horse inside, left behind by a former occupant of the classroom.

Smiling, I pulled it out and cradled it in my hand. A leg was broken, but that didn't matter - finding a horse in my new desk just had to be a good luck omen for me!

That little horse has resided in my teacher desk every since. When we moved back home to Indiana in 2006, it came with me to my new school, Hershey Elementary, and I have literally seen it every day of my career.

As I began packing up my things for retirement earlier this month, I pulled the little blown glass horse out of the drawer and set it gently aside where it would not be broken or forgotten. I decided that it would be the last thing to leave the classroom. Just as my career began with this little horse in my desk, so it would end.

And it did. It's home now and put away in a tiny curio cabinet with my Hagen Renaker mini Circus Ponies, a poignant reminder of a wonderful time in my life.

Those I Love

These are the people I love more than any one else in this world.

When I look at them, I see the eternities.

New Sales Assortment

About a year ago, I put my sales/trade models into one large tub, all wrapped and ready to travel, instead of keeping them on shelves and having to find and pack them when I was heading to an event. I made a spread sheet to keep track of everything, and while that still needs some tweaking, it has made things easier when I have people over (like for Happy Trails or my student and her family popping in) or when I am going to a show. I just bring out my sales tub, unwrap, and display!

In a week and a half, I am heading to Muncie, Indiana for a swap meet. And with already having had my own small live show this month plus inviting the kids over last Friday who took a few pieces, I discovered that I needed to add to my sales pieces as well as update that spread sheet.

The new assortment of things for sale or trade.

I  find that my collection is "tiered" in my mind, ranging from things I would never sell (childhood carpet herd pieces, gifts from my children) to things that I have bought at antique shops specifically to get into the hands of collectors. In between are those things that I might like having personally but am happy to part with for a fair price, or duplicates that I got because I was upgrading or making a conga of variations. Those tiers make it easier to organize and decide what might be offered for sale and what remains in my collection.

Having said that, the sales tub contents are very fluid, so what actually goes to Muncie may be very different than from what's on the table at the moment!

Fresh Pasture? Or Apple Spaghetti?

Tim had the same idea as me this morning - heading out to the barn early before it got too hot. (High 90s today, heat index in the 100s, humidity... A heat advisory has been posted.) He went out to rotate pastures; I went out to check on my girl and give her some apple spaghetti (apple peelings) from the apple crisp I had made yesterday for Father's Day dinner.

The horses were now in the northwest pasture and munching away. I wasn't too worried when I arrived. After all, Abby always comes when I call her.

 I whistled and then called her name. She did deign to lift her head up and look at me, but then she went right back to grazing.

Hmm. Well, I didn't want to walk out to her as I had left my barn shoes at home thinking she'd come up when I called.

And not only was I wearing good sandals, the gate had some heavy chains wound around it - a deterrent to the people who had let the horses out twice. I did not want to wrestle with those. I knew I could get them off, but getting them back securely for safety? I wasn't so sure. Cut through the old barn and paddocks? Possible, but I'd be walking through a layer of manure. In my sandals. Nope!

 I called her a few more times but was utterly ignored.

Which is fine. I will bring her the apple spaghetti tomorrow.

Sharing the Horse Love

This spring, one of my students did a project for an assignment and included her sister's Breyer Stablemate in her project. One thing led to another, and today she, her mama, and siblings came out to meet Abby and then come over and see my collection.

I didn't even get a chance to show them that Abby always came when she was called - she saw the car coming and beat us to the gate! (My student is in the purple shirt.)

She sticks her tongue out at the oddest times! And I love the smile on my student's face. Her little brother looks like he's not interested, but he's really watching the rest of the herd milling around together as they decide who gets to go first into the barn for some cool shade.

 Abby has a sweet personality and is very gentle around people, especially kids.

After giving Abby her peppermints, we toured Tim's buggy and carriage collection.

They loved the 1832 paddy wagon that he restored! This one gets borrowed for parades and festivals. People love getting into the barred cell in the back of the wagon and having their picture taken!

 Her littlest brother tried out the antique pony saddle that Tim stores in his barn office.

Then we headed to my house so that the oldest sister could see my collection.

When she squatted down to see even the smallest pieces on the bottom of this curio, I knew she had a serious love of collecting!

And I was right. When she walked into my horse room, she began pointing out things. "That's a Vintage Club piece, Magnus." "Oh, look! This one is from BreyerFest. Did you know that this year's theme is racing?" "Have you ever gone to BreyerFest? I want to go some time." "You show your models?? I want to show sometime but the shows have been too far away." And she chattered on and on about collecting!

I gave them all some pieces for them to take home and enjoy. I would much rather they go to people who will be thrilled to have them and appreciate them rather than be taken to Goodwill (or worse, thrown out) when I am gone.

The mom and I are going to chat about some nearby shows that have novice divisions and see if we can't introduce her to showing and more of the hobby.

Whoa!! What a Find!

No reins, so saddle, some large rubs... Wait! Look at those eyes! What is up with that??

Those are the thoughts that went through my mind as I spied this Western Horse while antiquing with Lisa Wednesday.

Not only are the eyes unpainted, but the bridle and breastcollar are, too!

And look at those bright white hind legs - that's unpainted plastic. Might this be a model made with chalky plastic?

What an odd piece! I began thinking that I might have found something special, so I snagged him and bought him. ($8.50!)

 A close up of the white hind legs.

 And the front ones.

The USA mark is in the right place for a Breyer Western Horse.

  Judging by the rounded conchos on the bridle, I knew it was not a Hartland.

 The undersides of the hooves are show that it is not a basecoat chalky.

 I decided to more closely examine the mane and tail.

 Parts of the tail...

... and mane seem unpainted.

Chalky plastic? Factory reject that escaped? Unfinished piece sold legitimately through Breyer's parking lot sales? I don't know. But I am going to check with Western Horse guru (both Breyer and Hartland) Sande Schneider as well as the folks on the Facebook Chalky page and see what their thoughts are.

Regardless, I have found something unusual, and am pretty excited about that!