My Earliest Hobby Days

In October, 1970, this was my introduction to the (fledgling) formal hobby.

I was an avid reader of Horse and Rider magazine and it ran an article about Ellen Hitchins and Simone Smiljanic's photo showing club, IMPHSA. (The International Model Photo Horse Show Association.) After reading the article, I wrote to Ellen at the address listed in the article and joined her club.

Those were heady days when the hobby was in its infancy and collectors were "meeting" each other through photo shows and pen pal corresponding. Live shows back then were very localized, backyard affairs. (Go here to read about the local live shows my friends and I held in the 1960s.) Photo showing allowed us to find other collectors and form lasting friendships with other hobbyists around the country and even the world.

I even bought a few customs to show. The first was Pace's Hi Hopes, a r/r/h done by Sherry Cook. He won multiple championships in the 1970s and is one of my never-sell pieces in my collection.

The 1980s were busy times for me as our six children were little and there was no time or money for photo showing. But I remained part of the hobby and then in 1988 when the kids were all a little older, began photo showing again.  Live showing had become more than simple backyard shows by then, and I started live showing in the early 1990s.

A snapshot of part of my collection taken in 1994.

Model horse collecting and showing brings me happiness and I will mark my forty-ninth year in the hobby next month.

Maybe I'll do something special in October, 2020 to celebrate my fiftieth year.