Vintage Club Gawain

Vintage Club members received notice on July 7 that Gawain was in stock and ready to ship. Many were concerned as BreyerFest was just around the corner and they didn't want to have him arrive at their homes while they were in Kentucky. Fortunately, Breyer lengthened out the usual ordering window to July 28, a three week window.

Since I was not attending BreyerFest in person, I went ahead and ordered mine as soon as he dropped.

It's no secret that I am not a unicorn lover, but I do like flockies and this boy is pretty.

But his hair was a mess when he arrived. The mane was free in the box as was the tail, although the tail had been partially wrapped around a leg to keep it in place.

His tail was worse than his mane - there were long uncurled pieces that dragged way behind him on the shelf - I gathered those as best I could and lay them alongside his tail when I set him on the shelf.

Concerned that the color from the wreath of flowers might transfer onto his coat, I took them out of their bag for a picture and then put them back into their bag for safekeeping.

And then I popped a loose plastic bag (open at the back for circulation) over Gawain and tucked him alongside his Steha counterparts.

Even with the messy mane and tail (and the fact that he is a unicorn, LOL) I like him and am happy to add him to my collection.

More on Marney's Marker

There is indeed more to the story of Marney Walerious's marker at Kentucky Horse Park - there were two of them! Nancy Kelly did some more research and here is what she discovered:

The original tree and marker; photo taken by Nancy Kelly in 2006.

Before the Atec Arena was constructed and before the restaurant was built there was a road on the edge of the park sort of in the southwest area. The first Breakables Live was held around there someplace, in a tent, and there were trees lining that road with markers, one of which was Marney's. I remember "visiting" it after the show.

The original stone. Photo by Nancy Kelly.

The marker you showed a picture of was that marker. It was larger and thinner and suffered a lot of damage. We had heard it was actually broken.

Then construction the Altec (completed in 2010) and the restaurant caused them to remove the marker, first putting it in storage, even losing it for a time, then at some point a new marker was ordered and placed near the Man O'War memorial.

The second stone marker, heavily damaged by mowers. Photo by Nancy Kelly.

When that area was reworked the current marker was then relocated to the present location. This marker also suffered damage, but not as bad as the original, thinner one.

Thanks, Nancy, for finding and sharing more information about Marney's marker. I hope to visit it next year at BreyerFest.

Round Up!

Tim and I have a joke that every time he travels, something happens with the horses. And honestly, that runs pretty true most of the time. So when he left town ten days ago, he sent me this tongue in cheek text.

Unfortunately, Two Socks was not listening when he had that chat with them. When I arrived for yesterday's barn check, I saw this - was Two Socks in the nursery paddock?

Yep! She sure was! And the stinker had the nerve to happily whinny at me when she spotted me.

I stood there in surprise, wondering how I was going to get her back in with the herd. And where was her mama? Apparently she had walked to the water trough with her two "aunts," Abby and Dolly - Sultanna was grazing out in the west pasture with Hokey.

Before I could grab a halter and retrieve Two Socks, she gave it away that getting into the nursery paddock was not a new activity.

She pushed her head through the wires of the fence, lifted the top strands up with her shoulders,

and calmly ambled down the lane to come say hello.

I've been saying all along that she is a bold and confident filly, but I did not anticipate this! A quick check showed me the fence was down in several places and I suspected that the electric wire had shorted out.

Tim has an ingenious system of gates and lanes so that he can configure access to pastures as needed. It is also very helpful when you need to close off a pasture quickly.

That system saved me as I began scrambling to shut off the area where Two Socks had gotten out. (Thank goodness she only got into another pasture and not out to an unfenced area!)

Much to the horses' disappointment, I closed off the lane to the trough and did not hang around to pet them and feed them treats. 

But since now they had no water and with it already in the 90s, I needed to make sure they had access to some. 

I walked out to the small paddock and dragged the rubber trough all the way back to where the horses now were. It was so hot and I had to stop a couple of times and catch my breath.

I got the hoses connected and stretched them out from the spigot by the new barn all the way out to the closed section of the lanes system.

Twenty minutes later (I sat in my car with the air conditioning on high) and the herd was safe and sound with water to drink.

My quick barn check had turned into an hour's worth of barn work and I was overheated and exhausted. Those errands I'd planned to run after the barn check could wait - I went straight home, hit the shower, and drank a lot of cold water. 

I will go out a couple of times today just to be sure that Two Socks (and the others) are where they are supposed to be. If they aren't? Well, I guess I will figure it out as I go.

Marney's Memorial at Kentucky Horse Park

Have you ever been at BreyerFest and heard people talking about "finding Marney's stone?" 

Guest blogger and author Nancy Kelly spent some time last week doing some research while at BreyerFest and got some photos that will answer that question. Here's what she has to say.

Of the four founding pillars of the model horse hobby (Ellen Hitchins, Simone Smiljanic, Linda Walter, and Marney Walerius) Marney was the one closest associated with Breyer. She served as a consultant to the Chicago company, providing valuable feedback to improve their products. 

She also hosted the Model Horse Congress, an epic live show for years, judged at other shows, produced a newsletter, and did so much to advance the hobby. 

Marney judging at her Model Horse Congress.

When she died in 1992 a memorial plaque was purchased and placed under a tree at the Kentucky Horse Park, the site of BreyerFest. 

Unfortunately, over the years the plaque suffered damage due to being hit by mowers, moved to new locations, and weather. 

Full view of the tree that stands above Marney's marker.

Her friend Kathy Wells started a fund-raising campaign to purchase a permanent indoor plaque. After a few years it became a reality. 

The park had built a new barn, the Miller Barn, which housed a board that displayed such memorials.

I wanted to find both plaques while at BreyerFest this year. I remembered the location of the outdoor plaque and was able to take a photograph. It is in even worse condition now, but still readable. 

I then set off to find the Miller Barn but no one on the grounds knew where it was. I finally found an employee who knew that the Miller Barn is way over by the Altec Arena, so I hopped in my car and found it! 

When I finally stood in front of the board to take the photo a feeling of peace came over me for a moment. Kathy Wells said, “That would be Marney communicating.”

Thanks, Nancy for sharing. Now I hope you can answer a question that I have.

Wasn't there another stone for Marney? I have this photo in my files. Do you know its story?

Hopefully Nancy can tell us more.

Stay 'tooned!

Covid Hits BreyerFest

 A few days ago I wrote, "The biggest story to come out of this year's BreyerFest no doubt will be the Saturday night auction."

Well... I may have been wrong. While the $65,000 auction model was (and is) a huge story, another one is emerging.

COVID is spreading through many of those who attended BreyerFest.

(Our tests from early June.)

It's a concern when so many people are getting sick, but with FAMulous just a little over two weeks away, it's an even bigger concern for Allison and me. She and I are going to have a Zoom meeting and talk about back-up plans should we have judges and entrants who are ill and no longer able to come.

Action Stan (Allison's husband) looks at all the FAMs donated to our show at BreyerFest as they pack up their car for the drive home.

The Monday of BreyerFest week I had had FOMO and seriously reconsidered my decision to stay home - I even talked to Teacher Daughter Lisa about heading down to Kentucky with me. In the end, though, I decided to stick with my original decision and stayed home. I'm glad I did.

I wish all the best to those who got Covid at BreyerFest or were exposed there and are now testing and hoping to stay healthy. Covid is not fun, and I hope that you feel better soon.

BreyerFest: Final Bits & Pieces

(Some final wrap up on BreyerFest with a bit of a surprise at the end.)

Even though I filmed my own seminar and had watched the final video multiple times at home, I decided I wanted to stream it and see what it looked like coming through virtual BreyerFest.

Like everyone else, I had to pay $5 to watch it, but I felt that was a small price to pay for being a part of BreyerFest. 

Never did I think I would be a presenter at BreyerFest, but it happened and I am still excited about it.

This was a test photo for the seminar - too colorful and busy plus, if you are doing something for Breyer, it's a good idea to actually USE a Breyer to demonstrate!

While sewing and listening to the live stream Saturday morning, Kimber gave some stats about Friday's virtual part of BreyerFest and I quickly wrote them down. There were attendees from 72 countries, with the top five listed in order. I think that bodes well for continuing to have a hybrid version in the future.

Breyer is going to mail my ambassador models soon.

I knew that I would receive one of the Ben Nevis models (the 2020 volunteer horse) for stewarding the Prost! Adult Novice Photo Show, but what I would receive for teaching a workshop was mystery. (Photo from Breyer's blog.)

I was thrilled when I heard that it would be the Lippizaner mare in a glossy black! She is one of the non-vintage molds that I like and collect, and black is my favorite horse color. (Photo from Google search.)

Now, here's a bit of a puzzle... Next year's theme has been announced, but take a close look at the screenshot of the announcement currently posted on Breyer's BreyerFest Blog.

Dates are to be announced? Normally Breyer announces the dates by the end of BreyerFest. And there were dates in an earlier version of the announcement. The Clarion has already taken 2023 reservations for those dates, but clearly something has changed. (My guess is that another event wants the same dates and areas of the park as Breyer and there is some negotiating going on.)

Changing the dates would be a headache not only for Breyer, but for many, many hobbyists who attend annually and plan their work, school, and vacation schedules around BreyerFest. And for the Clarion, too, which has already gotten many reservations for next year for the retracted dates.

Definitely stay 'tooned on this one.

A Hobby Loss: Susan Renaker Nikas

Susan Renaker Nikas, daughter of Maxine and John Renaker (the founders of Hagen Renaker) has passed away. She was the last CEO of Hagen Renaker and had just retired in December when the factory closed after 75 years of production.

I didn't know Sue, but I sure knew the horses her factory produced. A few of my favorites from my collection follow.

Here is her obituary. Rest in peace, Sue, and thank you for all the lovely horses.