Pace's Hi Hopes

I came across this photo online yesterday of a gorgeous Appaloosa.

His name is The Secret Pardon and he was a 2009 National ApHC champion. He's beautiful, but the real reason he caught my eye is because I have this photo in my binders:

This is Pace's Hi Hopes, who I got in 1971.  My very first custom (done by Sherri Cook), he cleaned up again and again at photo shows in the 1970s and has multiple championships, reserves, and even a grand championship or two to his name. I was fourteen when I got him and had saved my babysitting money to purchase him at a whopping $12 (about $75 now.)

When I saw the photo of the real horse, I was struck by his pose and color and their similarity to my model, but as I pulled out the old show photo, I could see that they were not quite as alike as I had initially thought.

Paces Hi Hopes is no longer competitive and hasn't been for several decades. Still, he is one of my favorite models, and represents the photo showing era of my life back in the earliest days of the hobby. He is now displayed proudly in my china cabinet along with my Hagen Renakers. 

And who knows? I may pop him into one of the Vintage Custom Model Equine Congress shows, just for fun. Perhaps he will make a come back, nearly fifty years later!