Beloved Olive

Second Post of the Day

As I was sitting in Church yesterday morning waiting for the service to begin, a message came through on my phone. I'm so glad that I took a quick peek. Jennifer Buxton had sent me a devastating message.

Her sweet mare, Olive had colicked and not made it.

Oh, my heart. Having gone through something similar just six months ago, I understood the sorrow that Jennifer was feeling.

Jennifer and Oliver on their three year anniversary together. 

Jennifer, Olive was so lucky to be yours. She had three very happy years while in your care and she was beloved by many people, myself included. I grieve with you at her loss. 

Please take care, my friend.

Love,

Lynn

Coming Full Circle (and Beyond)

No, I am not branching out into tack sales, especially tack for live horses, not model.

But yes, there was a lovely bridle plopped down on my sales table Saturday among my sales items and my show string.

Shannon Rodgers had dropped by and was making a delivery - one that had had quite a circuitous, cross country journey before landing in the middle of my pouches.

Special delivery for Dani Boiko! She was also going to drop by and pick up an order of haversacks that I had made her, so Shannon asked if I minded if she left the bridle there for Dani. Of course not! Both women are friends and I don't mind helping them out.

Soon Tiffany Purdy was at my table chatting to Shannon, Dani, and me, and the story of the bridle began to emerge, at least, as I understand it.

Tiffany has an older mare, Sassy, that she'd recently put back into training. To prepare for that, Tiffany had bought three new bridles for her mare. Then, Sassy became ill, the bridles were not needed, and Tiffany passed all three bridles on to Jennifer Buxton for her mare, Olive.

Two of the bridles, the prink and the black, fit Olive well, but the purple bridle did not. (Photos of Olive and the bridles by Jennifer.)

Since Olive already had several bridles, Jennifer did a give away on her blog to get the bridle into the hands of someone who could use it, be it for tack making, use on a real horse, or as horsey decor for home.

I entered, Dani entered, and Shannon entered along with a host of other folks. Shannon was the lucky winner and so Jennifer mailed the bridle to her.

Now, here is where I am not clear - the bridle going from Shannon to Dani. I do know this - Shannon is a very generous lady, and it would not surprise me if she'd originally intended to keep it herself but then found out that her friend Dani had wanted to win the Tiffany/Jennifer bridle to use for her own horse.

And so arrangements were made for Shannon to drop it off at the October GLC show where Dani would pick it up. Since Dani was also picking up an order from me, my table became the drop-off spot, and since Tiffany was at the show judging, we all ended up standing around my table, talking and laughing at the circuitous route that that bridle had taken to get to Dani.

Talk about coming full circle!

Other things to talk about? Breyer is in full steam ahead mode: they've released the 2024 retired list of models, opened the Collector and Deluxe Collectors Clubs, dropped a new model for their Wild Animals Series (Mangoky, a Lemur done on the Valegro mold), and switched BreyerWest in Denver to BreyerMidwest in Salina, Kansas. Their annual holiday catalog has begun arriving in homes and photos show that  Hagen Renaker's original Zara has been shrunk down to Stablemate size! (Fellow blogger Kirsten Wellman has an excellent article about this and its historical significance here.)

Hobbyists who track when things are released are saying that the BreyerFest 2025 Celebration model should be revealed in early November. Personally, I am expecting it to be a "Wow" model - it will be celebrating Breyer's 75th anniversary and I think this will be a very special BreyerFest as a result.

As always, stay 'tooned! (And good luck keeping up with all the Breyer news!)

Jennifer's Blog Entry

 Kindness. Gratitude. Friendship. All emotions brought on by just one blog post. And it wasn't one of mine. It was written by my dear friend, Jennifer Buxton. 

This morning I'd rolled over in bed and briefly opened my eyes, startling when I did. Tammo's furry face was right there looking intently at me - who knows how long he had been sitting there staring at me, hoping that I would wake up. 

I knew that look, so I grabbed my shoes and hustled him outside. (Pepper hot on our heels.) Sure enough, he REALLY needed that middle of the night trip. 

But then when we came in, he was absolutely SURE it was time for breakfast. Um, nope, not at 3:30 in the morning, big guy! Go back to bed!

I was wide awake at this point, so I settled into my reading chair and pulled out my phone to check social media.

Jennifer's notice of a new blog post popped up and I clicked on the link to read what she'd written. And the tears began to slide down my cheeks. 

There are parallels between our mares and our relationships with them - rescue horses, both sweet with a little sassiness on the side, very attached to their owners, and very much loved by those owners. 

Earlier this summer (ironically in June, the same month I lost Abby), Jennifer had her own touch and go experience with her Olive, one that came soooo close to losing her mare way too soon. 

Jennifer gets it. She understands the closeness and love that you can share with a horse, and the gratitude you feel for that relationship. The feeling of contentment after time spent together. And so on.

Thanks, Jennifer. That was a lovely post. And I am so glad your sweet Olive pulled through and has recovered so well. She is lucky to be yours. And you are lucky to have her. 

Love and hugs,

Lynn

Help Needed if You Can

Fellow blogger Jennifer Buxton's mare, Olive, colicked badly on Thursday. She had colic surgery and is doing okay but is not out of the woods yet and has a long road to healing ahead of her. Heather Malone has set up a Go Fund Me account to help Jennifer with expenses. Interested in helping? Here is the link. Thanks.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jennifer-with-olives-recovery