Breyer Horses Water has arrived – Last in Ethereal Series

Water has arrived from Breyer Horses – Last in Ethereal Series. Pre-orders will be shipped no later than tomorrow.

Breyer Horses New Arrivals at Golden Oak Stables

Arrivng today from Breyer Cloud Challenge of the Stallions; Stablemates Tractor Play Set; Heads Up Horses Windancer Book; and Horses Her Way Wind Dancer Book.

Golden Oak Stable’s New England Fall Live Open Breyer Horse Show

Golden Oak Stables is proud to announce the first annual New England Fall Live to be held October 24th, 2009!

New England Fall Live is an all Open level NAN Qualifying show which means that any horse that shows at New England Fall Live and wins a first or second place qualifies to show at the National year end show in Kentucky. The national show, or NAN, will be held the week of Breyerfest next year in Kentucky. Any and all persons wanting to enter are welcome, no matter your showing experience though!

The class list is extensive for NEFL, with over 120 classes! NEFL is an all Breyer show which means that only Breyer made horses will be able to show. There are dozens of Performance classes, in both Original Finish and Custom, for you to show off your creativity! So dust of your tack, start making some props and get ready to impress! Our Performance judge has a long history of judging real horses and will bring her knowledge to us!

The Original Finish Halter class list is huge! With dozens of classes it will be double judged, which means two judges will be judging the horses on the table for each class. One judge will judge the horses based on their breed and the other will be judging based on the rarity of the horse. So thats double the chances of winning and double the ribbons!

The Custom class list is one of the most extensive Breyer only custom class lists around. Most shows force you to show custom Breyers along with Artists Resins, where they hardly have a chance. Not NEFL! We’re excited to see your custom Breyers. So bring them out! The custom class list will also be double judged, one for breed and the other for workmanship, again, double the chances of winning, double the ribbons!

Speaking of ribbons, NEFL is going to be prize central! There will be cloth flat ribbons awarded for all 1-10th place horses, over 40 divisional championships that will be awarded with rosettes and trophies and then of course grand champions and reserves! You won’t see more prizes at any show this year!

So get your ponies out and send in your entry. We’re already starting to fill up and space will be limited, so please get your entry in as soon as possible. Information about NEFL can be found on the Golden Oak Stables website. Previous showers of Golden Oak Stables shows will receive a special gift the day of the show and $5 off their entry, as a thank you for all the support for the past year!

Hope to see you there!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

Event Report: Golden Oak Stables’ Workshop Day

Saturday August 29th was a busy day at Golden Oak Stables. The doors welcomed 17 eager hobbyists to learn all about model horses.

Golden Oak Stables’ first annual workshop day started off with prop making. Linda Carrier artfully lead the group through making a set of speed poles for their horses. Everyone completed a set of three that they took home to use with their own horses. Linda is a familiar face to Golden Oak Stables judging at all three of our previous shows.

After prop making was finished we stopped for a pizza lunch complete with chocolate chip cookies!

With stomachs full the group sat back down for a class in halter making with Bev Lynch. Bev is a new face to some but with her large amount of real horse experience she’s quickly showing her talent for model horses. Some attendees brought favorite horses to make their halters on while others borrowed horses that would be used for the etching class. At the end of the class everyone had a new halter for their horses at home and had learned how to complete the project at home as well!

Our last workshop was led by myself, Stacy Becker, and was Etching. Etching is a form of customizing model horses where you use a craft knife to “draw” on the individual hairs of a horse. Everyone took to this like a fish to water and there are some true etching talent in the audience that day!

At the end of the day it was truly a rewarding experience for all instructors to teach skills to a new group of hobbyists, and it seemed like most everyone was happy with their newly found knowledge. We are looking forward to our next event, our first NAN Qualifying open show on October 24th 2009! Hope to see you there!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

Back to School Special – Free Wristband and Pen; Stable News; Workshops

Back to School Special – Free “I Love Breyer Horses” Pen and Free “I Love Breyer Horses” Wristband
Receive a FREE “I Love Breyer Horses” Pen and a FREE “I Love Breyer Horses” Wristband with your $50 order ( Minimum order $50). No Coupon necessary. Value $4.50. Quantities Limited. Expires September 2, 2009

Stable News – Publishing Brand New Articles 3 times per week
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Recent Articles – click titles to read articles
Real Breyer Horses: Big Chex to Cash (August 19, 2009)
Breyer Horse Fun Facts (August 14, 2009)
Real Breyer Horses (August 12, 2009)
Breyer Horse Collecting: Display Options (August 10, 2009)
How to: Choosing Breyer Horses to Live Show Part 1 (August 7, 2009)
Real Life Breyer Horses: Sergeant the Mule (August 5, 2009)
Breyer Horse Showing: Introduction to Photo Showing (August 3, 2009)

August 29, 2009 – “Hands-on” Model Horse Workshops & Breyer Fun Day
*** Prop Making *** Halter Making *** Etching ***
click here for more information

Event Schedule Click here for more information
August 29, 2009 – “How to Workshops” & Breyer Fun Day
October 24, 2009 – Open Model Horse Show & Breyer Fun Day

Sergeant and Secretariat have Arrived!

Arriving today from Breyer the Fall Collector’s Choice Sergeant and Secretariat. Pre-orders for both will ship on Monday.

Breyer Horses “How to” Workshops scheduled for August 29, 2009

Golden Oak Stables is proud to announce our first Workshop Day! Our workshops are handss-on, for each workshop entered you will not only get to participate along with the instructor but also take home your project. All materials are provided for each workshop. Workshops are open to all ages but parental consent is required. Cutting, gluing and other techniques will be used and while effort will be used to create workshops that are friendly for all ages. parental judgement should be used. The workshop day will begin promptly  at 10am and lunch will be provided. There will be a short break around noontime. Workshop topics are:

Prop Making – Participants will learn hoe to make, paint and complete a set of Speed Poles out f wood tht can be used in a variety of performance classes or play. The cost of this workshop is $10 and participants will take home a set of traditional size speed poles.

Tack Making – Participants will learn how to assemble and complete a stable halter for their models. Please bring a traditional size model from your collection to use a model for your halter. The cost of this workshop is $10 and participants will bring home a traditional stable halter.

Etching – Participants will learn how to customize their horses using the technique of etching. Etching uses a obby craft blade to etch individual hairs into the model. Please note: this workshop uses a sharp hobby blade and care needs to be taken, for this reason the workshop is recommended for ages 13 and up. The cost of the workshop is $25 (Traditional Horse Included to etch) and participants will being home a custom etched traditional size Breyer Horse.

Breyer Horse Model Horse Showing: Introduction to Popular Original Finish Models

Showing model horses can be a wonderful experience, but it can also be a little intimidating for someone who is new. Meeting others of similar interest and having a day to look and spend time with lots of plastic ponies is a great way to get to know people in your area and to make great friends. Even though model horse shows are friendly and welcoming, most of them still have a great theme of healthy competition, so knowing what models to bring and which to leave home can help you bring home the ribbons!

Today we will focus on Original Finish showing. Original Finish Breyer showing is a common division offered in nearly every model horse show. The term Original Finish refers to models that have their original factory finish and have not been altered from the state that they left the factory. All Breyers that you purchase new are classified as Original Finish. Original Finish classes and shows are very popular and nearly every shower has shown Original Finish (Or OF as its abbreviated) at one time in their showing career. The most important thing to remember when it comes to Original Finish showing is that every judge is different in what they feel makes one horse better than another. Judging is extremely subjective and judges won’t always know the correct answer to everything, but most are extremely knowledgeable.

While I can’t tell you what model to bring to win every time it is shown, some common molds and models that tend to do well time after time, all over the country and under all different judges. We’ll focus on those today. Original Finish models are commonly referred to by a mold name, which is the name of the original release of the mold; this is the system we’ll be using today.

• Flash is a spunky little horse that makes a fantastic Morgan, he also makes a good Connemara Pony, New Forest Pony and a variety of other large, sport pony type breeds.
• Silver is a fan favorite. He can be shown as a myriad of things; most commonly he’s shown as a Mustang but he also makes a good Arabian Cross.
• Ruffian was created as a portrait of one of the most famous Thoroughbred fillies to ever live, but she actually makes a much better stock horse, breeds such a a Quarter horse or a Paint horse.
• The Clydesdale Foal has been around since the late 1960’s but is still the most accurate draft foal that Breyer offers. Depending on the color the foal can be shown successfully as a Clydesdale, Gypsy Vanner, or a North American Spotted Draft Horse.
• Breyer’s American Saddlebred mold makes a perfect American Saddlebred stallion. Because of the position the horse is in, he is limited to being shown as a Gaited breed, so an American Saddlebred is a good choice.
• Lady Phase is the quintessential stock horse mare. She makes a perfect Quarter Horse mare if she is solid colored, an excellent Paint horse mare if she is pinto colored and a wonderful Appaloosa if she is spotted. You can’t get much nicer than Lady Phase!
• The new draft horse Wintersong is a beautiful draft stallion with loads of personality. Due to the large amount of feathering on his legs he’s limited a bit when showing, but makes a great Shire. He could also make a good Clydesdale.
• Keltic Salinero is the portrait of an Olympic champion Hanovarian, he makes an outstanding Hanovarian but could also play the part of just about any European Warmblood.

This is just the tip of the iceberg of beautiful Breyer models. All Breyers have beautiful qualities to them, and its the judges very difficult job of deciding which one happens make a better representation of the breed compared to what others brought out to the show that particular day. Every show will be different, every judge will be different; one day your horse might place first, and the next show he might place last. Just as long as you remember to have fun, and to ask questions, your showing experience will be a fruitful one.

Event Report: Summer Break Live – Breyer Model Horse Show.

Saturday June 27th marked the third all novice show hosted by Golden Oak Stables in Concord, NH. We welcomed 25 eager showers along with numerous other attendees that took the chance to participate in the Fun Day activities and to take a look at all the beautiful models. The show began bright and early on what was one of the first sunny and warm days in June. Showers from as far as New York brought their best show horses to compete and learn about models and their real life counterparts.

Model horse showing is nearly identical to real horse showing, except with model horses small exceptions are made. There are two main divisions in model horse showing, Halter and Performance. Halter is when model horses are judged based on breed standards that are identical to their real horse counterparts. In halter, there is no tack requirement and a halter is permitted but not necessary. In performance classes the model is set up with tack and props to recreate a real horse performing in a working activity. Popular classes for performance center on the english and western disciplines, but there are often classes for many other events including harness and native Arabian costume.

Saturday morning brought Original Finish halter and performance. The classes were stuffed to the brim in most cases and the competition was fierce. Popular classes, as always, were English Performance as well as Arabian and Warmblood halter. Halter classes were a mix of new and vintage models alike. The performance classes also were quite a mix, with some showers choosing to use handmade tack and others choosing to use Breyer tack. One of the entries that was honored with one of the top prizes in Performance was a miniature horse that wore simple Breyer Classic scale molded plastic tack. The tack was quite accurate and the model was shown in a very correct way. It goes to show that fancy tack doesn’t matter. It is more important for the tack to fit well and for the setup to be correct.

We had a short break at 12:30pm for lunch as well as holding our fun classes. While fun classes didn’t qualify for anything besides having a good time, there were lots of fun horses that were brought out. My favorite class was the “Most Beat-Up” horse class, where horses that were “Very Loved” were showcased. We also had fun classes for other animals, first Breyer horses, favorite Breyer horse, fantasy horses, and an anything goes class where showers could showcase their imagination!

After lunch we followed up with Custom Halter classes where Breyer horses are custom painted to resemble real horses as accurately as possible. Customized horses can be any scale, from Mini Whinnie to Traditional, and can be created using just about any medium such as acrylic painting, airbrushing, pastelling. Along with custom halter we also held a few Collectibility classes which is similar to Halter but instead of breed guidelines, horses are judged based on the condition and rarity of the model. Showers brought beautiful rare models that were quite impressive and difficult to judge!

The day ended around 4pm after all the prizes had been awarded and horses began being packed up for their long rides home. The day was filled with beautiful horses, great friends and friendly competition. Each show provides not only a great opportunity to learn but also a great opportunity to get together and interact with others with shared interest. Our next event is planned for August 29th and will be a hands on workshop day. Topics to be included are Customizing, Tack Making and Prop Making. And, in October will mark our first annual Open show! Information for both events will be available shortly.

~ Stacy

Customer Service Recognized as Exceptional

Since inception Golden Oak Stables  has strived to provide the best possible customer service and our customer feedback validates these efforts with a A+ (4.93 out of 5 scale) ranking. Just check it out!!