More Drainboarders - Woodgrains!

I spent some time this weekend taking my woodgrains off the shelves and checking their hooves for drainboarding. Unlike the realistically painted models with the drainboard pattern on their hooves, the woodgrains have patterns that are harder to discern. The reason? 

 

The  black painted hooves that most of them have. This early woodgrain race horse has nicely painted hooves

but the black paint has done some puddling under them. You can just barely see the drainboard pattern and some of the drainboard wood bits under its hooves.

Woodgrain model after woodgrain model,

I would see that black paint under the hooves, some with more, others with less like this Semi Rearing Mustang.

Having said that, my Brahma Bull did not have black hooves.

The drainboard pattern is much easier to see on him.

 

Same with my no muscle Clydesdale.

He's got lots of patterning and shelf bits on his hooves.

 

The Family Arabian Mare with brown hooves.

All four feet are like this. (The first time I saw a woodgrain's feet in this shape, I thought it was dirt, not drainboard detritus. And honestly, it does still look like dirt to me even though I know it's not.) 

While examining my Family Arabian Stallion, I got got a sad surprise and something I'd never seen before on a model.

A layer of the paint was lifting up and peeling off. That is a first for me with any model.

Front hooves of the FAS. (With apologies for photo quality.)

My Family Arabian Foal has drainboard hooves but I noticed something else about him as I examined him.

The belly spot is commonly found in woodgrain models, but this foal has a chin spot, too!

When I flipped my Shetland Pony to check her feet,

 

I got all three - drainboarding, belly spot, and chin spot.

More black hooves (usually found when the piece has white socks)

and we see black paint puddling a bit, drainboarding, belly spot, and chin spot. 

The Running Mare is an exception - she has the black hooves but no white socks.

Paint puddling, drain boarding, belly spot, and chin spot.

Her foal (my first woodgrain and a gift from my dad when I got my braces on in 6th grade) is another exception to the white socks.

 

Lots of paint puddling but you can still see drainboarding, and a belly spot but no chin spot.

Finding the drainboard pattern on the hooves of the Fighting Stallion is a challenge regardless of whether he is a woodgrain or a realistically painted piece.

The early pieces came with foam pads on the hooves and tail. These were added after the painting process and cover most of each hoof and the bottom of the tail.

My first woodgrain Five Gaiter

Paint puddling, belly spot, chin spot, and drainboard pattern.

Five Gaiter number two

No paint puddling, drainboarding, belly spot, and chin spot.

Those are all the vintage woodgrains in my collection. Missing are the Stretch Morgan, Donkey, Belgian, Western Pony, Polled Hereford, Longhorn, Walking Hereford, Buffalo, Elephant, Poodle, and Boxer but they are on my list of things I am looking for. (Especially that Stretch Morgan!)

While it was interesting taking a closer look at the drainboard patterns found on vintage Breyers, I had not expected to find chin spots on some of the woodgrains. The belly spot is commonly known among hobbyists, but I'd not heard anything about chin spots. I'd like to do some research and see if I can find any information about them.

It's quirky things like chin and belly spots, drainboarding, hand painted mane tendrils, and more that make collecting vintage Breyers so fascinating!

Polish Drafters

A friend of mine snagged me after church last week saying, "Lynn, I have to show you these pictures! We were in Poland last week and when I saw them, I thought of you and knew you'd want to see them."

Wondering what the "them" was that she was referring to, we slipped into an empty pew and sat down.

She was right - I did want to see "them."

 Polish draft horses pulling carriages in Krakow!

"I knew you'd want to see these horses. Look at the tassels and decorations on them- aren't they cool? We went for a ride in one of the carriages while we were there, too."

Cindy also asked me about the shoes the horses were wearing and mentioned how odd they looked. I don't know a lot about shoes but I do know their purpose and my guess was that part of it was to keep the horses from slipping on the cobblestones. 

I don't know why the shoes extend beyond the hooves as you can see in this photo (although I have seen that in draft horses here.)

Cindy asked me what breed the horses were, another question I could not answer for her, so I did some research when I got home. 

The Sokolski and the Szutumski are the two main Polish draft breeds, but neither of them are spotted. Are the two with spots mixed breeds? Or is there a spotted Polish draft breed I cannot find?

If anyone knows the answer to the shoe or breed questions, feel free to post in the comments section or email me at horsiemama8@gmail.com. Not only am I curious about the answers, but Cindy would like to know, too! 

Sewing, Two Machines at a Time!

I mentioned that I was working on Christmas ornaments for my family. I'm using my embroidery machine for them and got ten done yesterday so I am making good progress. Since family members read my blog I can't post pictures, but I will after they open them Thanksgiving Day.

I've rearranged my sewing tables so that I can use both machines at once. As a result, I also have gotten a lot of haversacks sewn. (I sold half my inventory at the GLC show and am trying to replenish my stock.) Here is a peek at what I've stitched up this week.

For Shelf Eaters

My NaMoPaiMo donation fabric from a few years ago.

I had a remnant left and it made a nice haversack.

Rainbow Star Wars.

Betty Boop. Not my usual choice in fabric, but her horse was too cute to pass up!

Rosettes. This fabric would be nice to make into awards for champions and reserves at a show.

Christmas Pokemon? Fabric a friend gave me so I'm not sure, but I do really like all the bright colors.

For Traditionals

A Halloweenish fabric. This one sold five minutes after I posted it on the Horsiemama Mercantile page.

A haversack sized for Traditional foals as well as Classics.

I have a soft spot for primitive (and chubby) horse depictions!

 

Pink Ponies & Donuts. (I made two of these.)

Rainbow Star Wars again.

Holly & Berries Horses

For Classics/Traditional Foals

Cupcakes

Orange Fighting Stallions

Traditional foal to show scale of print and size of haversack.

Western Pleasure Horses

Candy Corn Unicorns

Cream Girls Playing Model Horses

Stablemates

I just finished six Stablemate haversacks late yesterday afternoon and have not taken sales photos yet, 

but here they are, still on the ironing board.

And here is today's stack to make, all prepped and waiting next to the sewing machine. 

New fabrics are scheduled to be delivered today. Since I don't sew on Sundays, I'll wait until Monday to start cutting them into haversacks. Can't wait to open that package - it's a lot like getting a box from Breyer!

Poetry & Ponies

Yesterday a friend posted a poem online, a poem that happened to be one of my favorites and one I'd taught in my classroom every November. (The author credited is incorrect; this lovely poem is actually by Elizabeth Coatsworth.)

Ice in the bucket? Frost by the gate?

Yep, it's November in Indiana! Yesterday when I checked the horses' water, there was a thin layer of ice stretched all the way across the trough. It's time to get the water heater installed for the coming winter.

Despite the chilly weather, Abby loves one of the best things about Fall.

Apples! Local Son Curt had saved a bunch of large cores for her after fixing a treat for his family.

She is always happy to eat apple cores, and these were especially juicy. Licking the gate after a treat, any treat, is something Abby has always done. Gotta get that juice that dripped on it!

Despite the fact that I only rarely offer them treats, Two Socks and Hokey hopefully ambled over. 

Like Abby, Hokey is in his twenties. He's still sound and looking good as we head into the winter months.

I laughed and snapped a quick photo when I saw how the mares were standing together. "Let's take a selfie, girls. Left foreleg out, everybody! Show those pretty pink hooves!" (L to R, that's Sultanna, Two Socks, and Abby.)

Over in the northeast pasture are Tim's newly planted trees . He's also done some reseeding in a few areas, too, and covered those areas with straw.

As the poem says, the earth is "sinking to rest." Winter is coming and soon it will be much harder for me to get out to the barn as the roads become icy and snow covered. 

I'm making the most of my barn time now while I can. Brrrr!

 

News of All Kinds & a Question at the End

Good News! 

Mountain Mama's family have plane tickets to come for Thanksgiving! From a real ticket site this time and not from scammers! Our family is thrilled that they will be joining us after all. (And I am looking around at my house and realizing that I'd better get some cleaning done!)

Not Good News 

After a three month hiatus and settling back into my normal life's routines, I had two migraines yesterday. I had suspected that this might happen as a few of the symptoms had recently resurfaced, but I was hoping I was not going back into the daily migraine(s), droopy face/speech issues, and lack of hand coordination routine again. That was a seven months that I'd rather not repeat, but in reality I had suspected that whatever this is would ultimately return. 

Fingers crossed that the recent symptoms are just a fluke. Prayers and good thoughts are welcome and appreciated!

Helping News 

My friend and former teaching colleague, Kathy, became ill and asked me to take her to the doctor. She brought her guide dog, Tate with her, but left him with me in the waiting room while she saw the doctor.

I always love to spend time with a guide dog - they are the smartest of the smart, passing many tiers of intelligence tests before qualifying to be trained as a guide. They are even taught "intelligent disobedience," which means that they will refuse to do something that puts them and their blind partner in harm's way. (Such as refusing to go forward into the path of an oncoming car.)

Tate slipped under my chair as trained and I pulled out my Kindle to read while we waited.

Except that there was a bit of a problem. Tate is one of the biggest Labrador Retrievers I've ever seen and he needed two chairs in order to fit underneath as his training dictated. 

He shifted around quite a bit before he was happy that he was finally completely underneath. It was sweet and funny at the same time. Good dog, Tate!

Celebratory News

Speaking of guide dogs, our dog Pepper retired from her guiding partnership and came to live with us four years ago October 30.

She's an amazing dog and is very bonded to me now. Guide dogs are trained to focus on and be with one person, and while she loves Craig, I am the one she has transferred that strong allegiance to and keeps tabs on.

Even now, at 5:00 AM, she has followed me upstairs and is lying by me as I write. Trained as Tate was, she used to go under my desk while I worked, but I retrained her that it was okay to be next to me instead. There just wasn't room under my desk for a stretched out, snoozing Lab and my feet together!

Happy Anniversary, Pepper. I cannot imagine life without you. 

Horsey News - Can You Help?

Did you know there are wild horses in Missouri? I did not until yesterday. Hawkeye Daughter Sarah, a wildlife photographer, is going there next week to photograph them and asked me for information about them.

Since I don't know anything about them, I'm reaching out here. If you do, or have links to information about them, please send them to me at horsiemama8@gmail.com. Thanks!

November Begins with a High and a Low

It's November 1st and despite the fall leaves still found on many of our trees, I'm feeling Christmassy and have begun my Christmas sewing!

I always make ornaments for our grands and give them to the kiddos on Thanksgiving Day, so I pulled out the embroidery machine and got busy experimenting with pattens that I might use.

Almost all our kids are coming for Thanksgiving along with my siblings so it will be quite a crowd. (29 is the current count.) I can hardly wait!

Thanksgiving, 2021

Mountain Mama Jessica and her family are flying in from Utah to join us. Knowing her dad excels at finding good deals for anything, be it groceries to plane fares, she asked Craig for help in finding tickets for her family. He was all over it, spent a lot of time looking at fares from a variety of airlines, and found some tickets at a really good price. Jessica approved, the flight was booked, and we ticked that off our to do list.

Except... it was a scam. 

The first indication was an email notice that the tickets were "in the process of booking." Then a notice came that the booking agent was "so sorry," but someone else had grabbed the tickets before us and so we did not get the flight. 

HOWEVER (and here's when the realization hit us that we had been scammed), the booking agent could offer us tickets on another flight "for a good price." Yeah right, they were double and triple what we'd just paid. It was a bait and switch scam!

Jessica got online and did some digging; instead of being an Indianapolis booking site vetted through Kayak as Craig had thought, it was an overseas company that was not on Kayak's list of reputable booking sites. Their tickets had been a popup masquerading as part of the Indy site when he'd looked at options from the reliable site. (Scary how easily scammers can get to you like that.) 

He's now cancelled that credit card and let our bank know it was a bait and switch set up so it looks as though we will not be out any money. That's good news, but Jessica and her family now don't have a flight here for Thanksgiving.

 

The kids' table, Thanksgiving, 2021

Craig and Jessie are going to try again today to find affordable tickets that will fit into the days they have off from work. Hopefully they will find some that are affordable, work for the days Jessica and Andrew have off, and are NOT a scam.

Wish us luck.