“Real” Breyer Horses: The Saddle Club

The word “real” is stretched a little bit this week when referring to “The Saddle Club” but to its fans, The Saddle Club is as real as any horse alive. Stevie, Carol and Lisa have become friends to many in their nearly 25 years.

The original Saddle Club was a series of novels written by Bonnie Bryant in 1986. Bonnie was a horse lover that had spent little time with horses aside from her time at summer camp in upstate New York. The books vary a bit from the television show that most people are more familiar with in a few ways, the main being set in Willow Creek Virginia. The other main difference is the coat colors of the horses. Starlight was originally a dark bay with a star and Belle was also a bay. They are portrayed a bit differently in the show. The book series saw 101 novels and countless other spin-offs.

The Saddle Club television show began airing in 2001 and after a hiatus of 5 years, returned in 2008 with a new cast and show! There have now been over 70 episodes shot and its still going strong. The television show is shot in Victoria Australia and features actors and actresses from Australia, although it does air all over the world. In the television show Stevie’s horse Belle is a chestnut and Carol’s horse Starlight is a bright buckskin. These are the two main difference in the show and the books. The show has also seen the begining of a successful music line performed by The Saddle Club girls! They even performed at Breyerfest!

Some collectors will remember that Breyer created a The Saddle Club line of horses in the mid 1990’s, that was unfortunately discontinued by 1998, but in the past couple years we’ve seen the line return with new horses! The line features traditional horses featuring Prancer, Belle and Starlight, a classics line that also features horses with accessories, a plush line and stablemates! You can take a look at the entire line on GoldenOakStables.com which features tons of Saddle Club horses, dolls and accessories.

The Saddle Club may have started as a book series that horse lovers from a generation past fell in love with but with both a television show and a new Breyer line, there are many young girls that are finding the series over 20 years later! I’m sure we’ll be seeing more of The Saddle Club for many years to come!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

Golden Oak Stables NEFL Breyer Horse Show – October 24th 2009

We’re only about a month away from Golden Oak Stables‘ first all open NAN qualifying show and we’re filling up quickly!

If you haven’t taken the time to enter now is the time. NEFL is the only live show in New Hampshire and has a full class list as well. The show features over 100 classes as well as double judging in the Halter classes, that means there will be nearly 500 NAN cards that are up for grabs and over 2000 ribbons! Not only are ribbons up for grabs but there will also be dozens of trophies and rosettes. The NAN cards are on their way, the trophies are here and the ribbons are on order!

Our judges are exceptional! We are proud to be honored with talented and knowledgeable judges that have wealths of knowledge to share. Our judges range from having years of model horse experience, to years of real horse experience, and for our custom classes we have hobbiests that are experts in the field of art as well as horses. As always with Golden Oak Stables the focus will be on learning, and there is no doubt that our judges will teach us all many things!

If this is your first show don’t worry! We have many first time showers as well as many experienced showers already. All ages and experience levels are welcome.

Our show is NAN qualifying, which means that any horse earning a first or second will be qualified for the nationals show in July of 2010. The nationals show takes place in Kentucky the week of Breyerfest, so if you are headed to Breyerfest next year and have a few extra days, you might decide to take your winning horses to the national show. Who knows, you might just go home with a national champion, and all from just showing at NEFL! Information can be found at NAMHSA.org .

Whether its your first show or your hundredth, this is a great show to attend. You won’t find a show with more “Breyer Only” classes as well as having classes for just about any performance entry you can think of! And don’t even think about leaving your customs at home, there are dozens of classes for them too! Mark your calendar and fill out your entry form, NEFL is coming up and filling quickly! Contact me for more information and for a special incentive for those of you that have attended a previous Golden Oak Stables’ show!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

New Breyer Horse Releases for Fall 2009

Today we’ll take a little break from our regularly scheduled “How-To” to take a look at the fall releases for 2009. Not to worry, we’ll be back with the second half of last week’s “How-To” next week.

The fall of 2009 has brought many exciting and new horses to the Breyer lineup. From famous racehorses to horses with stories that will surely become favorites for years to come, each of these models fits into the Breyer line of champion and famous horses in its very own way

Secretariat, one of the most famous race horses of all time was brought to us in the late summer/early fall of 2009 and has become wildly popular already. His dynamic position and wonderful story has created a place in collectors hearts already. The Secretariat is done on the Smarty Jones model and is sculpted by Sue Carlton-Sifton.

Water is the last in the Ethereal series released by Breyer over the past two years. Breyer first teased us with a glimpse of the Ethereal series in 2003 with a small photo in Just About Horses.This series that has been in the works for many years has finally come to a close with a beautiful finale. Water is done in a beautiful dappled blue roan. Water, as well as the rest of the Ethereal series is the epitome of quality and beauty in the Breyer series and is not to be ignored!

Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions is the latest release that Breyer has done featuring the famous mustang stallion’s herd. The cloud series can be seen on PBS and a new special is airing on October 25th, be sure to check it out! The Challenge of the Stallions set features four classic size horses, the two adults are featured on molds sculpted by Chris Hess and the foals are two new sculptures that have been added to the Breyer line within the last year or so.

Wild Blue and Little Prince are both new horses that feature stories to go with them. These new horses along with their novels are sure to become not only popular stories with horse lovers but classics for years to come. Both Wild Blue and Little Prince are classic scale and feature beautiful paint schemes. They both are also sculpted by Chris Hess.

Last but certainly not least Breyer has added three new additions to its ever popular Stablemate line. The Stablemate tractor playset includes a longhorn, llama, horse, farmer, his tractor and more. A new fancy Stablemate trailer set was also released this fall in a pink and yellow color scheme. Lastly for the Stablemate line was a new ranch set, the Cherry Creek Ranch Set. This set offers three horses, animals and accessories.

Breyer has created so many interesting and dynamic models for the fall its hard to guess what they might have in store for the new year, only time will tell! As always you can take a look at the entire Breyer line at Golden Oak Stables‘ website.

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

Real Breyer Horses: Thee Desperado

Breyer is famous for creating champions in plastic 1/9th scale, and Thee Desperado is no exception. Not only is the real Thee Desperado a well deserving and amazing Egyptian Arabian, but his Breyer horse is also a favorite among collectors! This became clear at Golden Oak Stables’ workshop day when many participants were very excited to get their hands on one!

Thee Desperado was born in 1989 he was thrust into a hard life early. As happens occasionally, his mother refused to nurse him and they called in experienced help. Shawn Crews from Arabians Limited was called in and she immediately saw him as a star seeing something different in him. Well, he didn’t disappoint! Thee is one of the most famous of the rare Egyptian Arabian line and holds the honor of being the top producing sire for that particular line of Arabians as well as a national champion many times over. His offspring live all over the world including the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia.

Desperado’s showing record speaks for itself, in 1993 he was honored with top ten placings at both the United States and Canadian Nationals. Then in 1994 he was named Region 9’s Grand Champion Stallion. Then at Scottsdale, one of the most famous Arabian horse shows, he was named Unanimous Grand Champion Stallion. Capping off a great year he ended with a win of the United States Reserve National Champion Stallion. Quite a way to burst onto the scene for a little “Runt” colt!

After taking the show scene by storm he went on to stud. From 1996-2006 he was even named the Overall Leading Sire of the Egyptian Event. His foals have gone on to show and compete well and one even became a film star! Thee Cyclone, a son of Thee Desperado, was selected n the lead role for Disney’s IMAX representation of The Young Black Stallion!

The model Thee Desperado is done on the Proud Arabian Stallion mold that was sculpted by Chris Hess and introduced in 1971. The Proud Arabian Stallion is a stylized version of an older style Egyptian Arabian, very appropriate for Thee Desperado. The Proud Arabian Stallion (Sometimes shortened by collectors to PAS) has been made in many colors over the years, but has never been given the honor of being such a famous stallion! He’s full of energy and pride and makes the perfect representation of Thee!

Breyer produces many champions each year, but Thee Desperado is a champion that stands out among many, from his beauty to his offspring, he’s well on his way to becoming a horse that will live far beyond his years on earth.

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

All About: Breyer Classic Models

The Breyer Classic Models are some of the easiest to collect and sometimes the easiest to forget about. Breyer classic models are approximately 1:12th scale and about 6 inches tall. They are made of the same plastic as the traditional models and are hand detailed just like all Breyer models are. In recent years there have been new sculptures each year making many new models for collecting.

In 1975 and 1976 Breyer commissioned the use of five Thoroughbred sculptures, three Arabian sculptures, three Quarter horse sculptures, and three Mustang sculptures from the Hagen Renaker company. The Hagen Renaker company was a porcelain figure producer that created mostly animals. They gained popularity in the 1950-60’s for their beauty, their horses were sculpted by Maureen Love Calvert who is often hailed as one of the most talented horse sculptors in Breyer’s line up making her models very collectible. The Arabian, Quarter Horse, and Mustang sculptures were all released as family sets. The Thoroughbreds were released induvidually as famous race horses along with one addition, Ruffian sculpted Chris Hess in 1977.

These models gained in popularity and new molds were introduced in the 80’s including an Andalusian family and famous book series horses including The Black Stallion and Black Beauty. These were sculpted by Chris Hess who sculpted many Breyer models. In 1992 Breyer introduced yet more Classic models. This time is was the Mesteno series. The Mesteno series was sculpted by Rowland Cheney and began a series of famous mustangs. Over the next five years Breyer released a new sculpture each year in the Mesteno series for all to collect. These models are fanciful and very artistic. The last installment for the classic series in the 1990’s was a series of famous western working horses sculpted by Carol Herden.These models are high energy and dynamic sculptures that are popular mounts for performance lover.

The new millennium brought a whole new life for the classic models. 2002 brought a favorite for many, a Shire Sculpture created by the ever popular Kathleen Moody. Breyer then introduced a second set of Kathleen Moody’s sculptures into the line in 2006, the American Quarter Horses. This same year Breyer’s rights to the Hagen Renaker molds expired and we lost some of the most favorite classics. This has created some desirability for the models and they are becoming very popular. Breyer has continuted to release new sculputres into the classics line including a Morgan family and a Warmblood family. In 2008 they created the first series of haired models available through the Breyer line.

Breyer’s classic models have become popular again and easy to collect. With variety and value they are an easy choice. Take a look at all the variety that the classics offer on GoldenOakStables.com. You might just find they not only allow more shelf space but they also are full of life and just a blast to collect!

~Stacy

How To: Breyer Horse Restoration-Touchups on a Bay Horse

At some point we all end up with a model or two in our collection that might have been played with a bit and has some rubs and marks. This is very common for Breyer horses. Those of you that were at Golden Oak Stables’ workshop day in August may have seen me doing touch-ups on a few horses there. This is very simple to do with a little practice!

For this project you’ll need.

• Acrylic Paint
• Water
• Paper towels
• Breyer horse
• Paint Brush
• Q-tips

You’ll first want to clean your horse really well with water to get any dirt off, you want the cleanest canvas possible to start your project on.

Once your horse is clean you can begin to work with the paint. For this dark bay horse I only used two colors, a medium/dark brown and a black. By using acrylic its completely washable if you should mess up. Mix a color that you think is closest to the color that your horse is. When you do have that color, start putting a light layer of paint down withe either your paintbrush or Q-tip. You’ll find one that works best, for this project Q-tips worked best for me. Your first layer might be too light, if you can see white still through the paint put down a second layer.

Moving onto the ears and nostrils are some of the most common places for rubs to occur. On a dark bay horse these places will most likely be black. Using the black I began to put the color on the nostril as well as the ear tips lightly.

Here you can see where the black on the eartips are. They still need to be blended in with a bit of brown on the opposite side so that it isn’t noticeable where you have painted the horse. Using the Q-tip blend these colors together so that the black line you see evens out.

Once you’ve touched up the places that are needed let your horse dry completely. As you can see here, he’s almost done!

The ear tips and nostrils look brand new, you can barely tell that they ever had rubs!

This example of a Breyer still has a few spots on him that need removed. These are white and black marks that are on top of the paint, not through the paint. These are very common too. Next week we’ll go over how to get those off and turn this guy into the handsome boy he once was!
Good luck!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

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.

Real Breyer Horses: Cloud The Wild Mustang

Many horse and model horse lovers alike have fallen in love with the story of Cloud the mustang. Cloud was recently captured in a roundup by the Bureau of Land Management and people all over the world are fighting for this horse to be returned to the wild, including Breyer!

Cloud is a pale palomino, wild horse stallion, living in the Pryor Mountains of Montana, a range the Crow Indians call the Arrowheads. Cloud has been documented from the day of his birth by Emmy-winning filmmaker, Ginger Kathrens. Her films about Cloud, “Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies” and “Cloud’s Legacy: The Wild Stallion Returns” air on PBS’s Nature series and represent the only on-going documentation of a wild animal in our hemisphere. Ginger’s Cloud chronicles have been compared to Jane Goodall’s work with chimpanzees in Africa. Ginger has written two books about Cloud.

Cloud touched the hearts of many defending his family and fighting for his freedom. His stunning, nearly white, coat was stunning and while it made him beautiful it also made him an easy target for predators. America gained the right to see the tough life of some of America’s last wild horses. Wild horses in America face many challenges including predators as well as their grazing lands constantly being reduced. In August of 2009 Cloud was victim of a BLM round up and his future is uncertain. Many are pushing for him to be released with petitions and protests.

Breyer has been a cloud supporter for many years now creating Breyer horses of Cloud and his family to help awareness of the famous stallion, his family and their plight. Currently there are two sets available, Cloud’s Legacy, and Cloud: Challenge of the Stallions, both available through Golden Oak Stables. Both sets are family sets featuring adults and foals from Cloud’s family including Cloud himself. They are featured on Breyer classic scale models and each includes for horses, two adults and two foals.

Cloud’s story is one that has touched many and with his recent capture might turn into a tragic story in the end. More information can be found on Cloud on PBS.com and you can watch the latest documentary in October. The Breyer models are not only fitting tributes to Cloud and his family but they have also helped to create publicity to this very important issue.

One day we may not have any wild horses in America, much less the world. As horse lovers its our job to preserve the mustangs and their legacy.

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

How we “Play” with our Breyer Horses

If you have Breyer horses you play with them in some way. Some of us collect to admire, some of us collect to pretend, some of us collect to compete, and some of us do all these things! No matter what you do with your horses, if you are having fun with your horses, you’re playing!

Collecting just to collect horses is very common. Often collectors try for all of a favorite mold, creating a game out of seeing if they can get as many of one mold, or sculpture, as possible. This sometimes includes any regular run horses, and sometimes people take on the challenge of trying to collect every single model, including very rare and limited models. This can take years to do when there are only 5 of a certain model! Often collectors just collect what they love and let their collections amass. I’m one of those collectors!

Playing with our horses is something that most of us have done at some point, especially those of us that were kids at some point in our collecting life. Even pulling out horses, re-displaying them, or trying on tack is simply, playing with our horses. In the digital age many adolescents have taken to the internet website YouTube to create videos and movies about their horses. Some collectors are creating movie series about their models that are as intricate and well written as some of the movies we see on television.

Lastly, some of us compete with our models. Model horse shows are commonplace in the Breyer horse hobby with shows all over the country and the world. The thrill of competing is a great reason to collect. Many collectors do not have the time or resources to ride or compete with real horses, and find an easy way to do something very similar. Breyer horse shows are also great places to socialize with other collectors and a great way to see other beautiful models!

No matter why you collect or what you do with your models, we’re all doing the same things overall, we’re playing! Sometimes collecting or showing can get stressful, and its a good idea to remember that in the end, we’re all just playing.

For those of you in the Concord, NH area, Golden Oak Stables’ New England Fall Live Breyer show is filling up quickly! For more information visit here.

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com

How To: Tacking Up a Breyer Horse

Most of us all have a few pieces of tack lying around our stables and you might not know how to put it on properly. Whether for play or show its fun to be able to put tack on properly.

I’ll be working with Breyer’s Elegance Dressage tack set which is the crème da’ la crème of Breyer tack, there are many options of Breyer tack that is available through Golden Oak Stables. Any kind of tack will work, but the more realistic the better. The only difference will be that some Breyer tack has one large buckle for the girth and some will have smaller buckles that fit under the saddle flaps.

Once you have your tack and horse picked out start with the saddle pad. Those of you that have tacked up a real horse will have a bit of an advantage, tacking up a Breyer horse isn’t much different than tacking up a real horse. Place the saddle pad on the horse so that its centered on the back and sides and so that it isn’t hanging over the hind quarters. Once you have that centered put the saddle onto the pad, again making sure it is centered. Place your hand over the saddle and pad to keep it in place and lay the horse on its side so that the un-done buckles are facing up. Fasten those buckles tightly, but be careful not to break the tack. Pick your horse up and straighten the blanket and saddle again.

The bridle is a bit more difficult to put on. If possible buckle the noseband prior to putting on the bridle and place the reins around the neck. Slide the noseband up onto the horse and pull the crown piece over the ears. Adjust any of the buckles so that the straps fit snugly. Buckle the throatstrap. If your bit is a separate piece you’ll want to put a little tacky wax (Found at any drug store as dental wax) on the corners of the mouth and placing the bit in that spot.

Once you have your bridle on you might want to pull your reins tight and sticky them in place too with some wax.

Now that you can tack up your horse, you’re ready to play or show! Take a look around online for pictures of real horses tacked up, it will help you get all the details exactly right. Good luck!

~Stacy

Email Stacy: Stacy@GoldenOakStables.com