Wednesday, May 31, 2017

A little more from the BF 2016 open show and the Calumet collection

After the collectors classes are dismantled, the collectibity classes begin in earnest which means I don't get much time to photograph models during the show. We (my sister and I) show in the main Collectibility division as well as in the collectibility sections in the Foal and Mini divisions. It gets a little hectic to say the least. Nonetheless, we were lucky enough to do well with a couple of models.

My sister won overall reserve champ in minis with this mega-rare silver electroplated G1 SM ASB in the only known original box. These models were made in 1975 for Breyer's 25th anniversary, and very few are known to collectors.


And after many years of trying, I finally won overall champ in the collectibility division with my 1971 test run palomino Proud Arabian Mare. She is one of my most favorite models, and I'm embarrassed to say I got a little choked up when she was announced as the winner. :)


After the show, we headed back to our hotel for dinner and tasty adult beverages.


Once we were recharged, we headed over to the CHIN to shop and socialize. Our first stop was the Artisans Gallery where we visited with our friend Kristina Lucas Francis for a few minutes. Kristina, along with collector Ed Alcorn, has resurrected the Hagen-Renaker Collectors Club, and she had some interesting HRCC goodies on display.

SR prize for the HRCC photo show held in August 2016
2016 SR Roan Lady available for purchase to HRCC members only
On Saturday, we had no obligations other than to have fun, so we drove out to the Kentucky Horse Park to see the Calumet Collection in the International Museum of the Horse, something I had not had time for in past years. As a life long racing fan, it was a thrill to see the trophies, the paintings, and the historical ephemera that have been preserved by the park. The history of Calumet Farm is a large part of the history of horse racing in 20th century America. The farm produced two Triple Crown winners, 8 Kentucky Derby winners, 7 Preakness winners, 3 winners of the Fillies Triple Crown, and countless other champions.

Some of the beautiful Franklin Voss and Richard Stone Reeves paintings:

Bull Lea, Calumet's super sire who produced great horses like Citation,
Armed, Coaltown, and Twilight Tear
Twilight Tear, the first filly to be voted Horse of the Year
The great mare Bewitch
Calumet's champions and trainers (L to R): Citation, Jimmy Jones, Armed,
Faultless, Wistful, Bewitch, Ben Jones, Fervent, Two Lea, Ponder, and Coaltown
Calumet's famous "devil" red and blue silks.


And the halters. I got goosebumps when I saw these.

Bull Lea's halter
Citation's halter. Yeah. Seeeeerious goosebumps.

And, of course, the trophies. I love how the KHP recreated part of Calumet's famous trophy room.

Whirlaway's Triple Crown trophy
The trophy room---80 years worth of winners
The Triple Crown collection---8 Kentucky Derbies, 7 Preaknesses, 2 Belmonts,
and 2 Triple Crowns. (Several of Citation's trophies are out on loan to the
traveling "The Horse" exhibit. I saw them when it passed through The Field
Museum here in Chicago in 2011.)
The Eclipse Award won by champion 3 year-old filly Our Mims in 1977.
She was a half-sister to the great Alydar.
Speaking of Alydar, one of Calumet's last great horses, there was a display devoted to his mighty rival Affirmed just beyond the Calumet collection gallery. I was delighted to be able to see a Richard Stone Reeves painting up close. He has long been one of my favorite equine artists.


Affirmed's halter and shoes
Some of his many trophies
And a lock of his mane
This ended up longer than I thought, so I'll save the pictures of the Breyer test runs and real horses for the next post.

Tuesday, May 30, 2017

BreyerFest 2016 Open Show: Collectors classes and other nonsense

I have worked at, judged, or showed at the BreyerFest open show since 1994 (the second year of the show). It has grown substantially since those early years in the dirt of the covered arena, and naturally, with an expanded class list has come longer hours in the show hall. I joked on Facebook a couple of years ago that I still remember the days when the show didn't start until after the sun had risen. Not so anymore. The 4:30AM wake-up call to get rolling for the open show is always brutal, and the amount of coffee needed to get myself and my sister functional has a tendency to make us a tad punchy early in the day. We swear no decorators were harmed in the making of this post.

Coffee? Check. Mascot? Check. Sanity? Uh....
As collectibility nerds, the day always starts with collectors classes for us. I wasn't able to identify how they all placed, but here are some pictures from the early morning madness. The theme entries:

1st in theme
2nd in theme
3rd in theme
4th in theme
5th in theme
6th in theme
And some of the collectibility entries:

1st in collectibility
2nd in collectibility
3rd in collectibility
5th in collectibility
6th in collectibility
And the novice entries. I only know who got first; I'm not sure how the other entries placed, but I included them anyway. Enjoy!


1st in novice










More from the open show and around the Kentucky Horse Park next time!

Wednesday, May 17, 2017

Breakables 2016: Clinky goodness!

I didn't get as many pictures at Breakables as I had planned, but here are some of the clinky lovelies that were there.

Our DW Hagen-Renaker Clydesdale

JoEllen Arnold's incredibly rare HR Racehorse

My sister's HR Black Bisque Zebra and Crowntail Bird

Custom Glaze Sadie Shoofly (a Lynn Fraley sculpture)

CMG Royal Worcester Arkle to appaloosa

CMG RW Welsh to dappled buckskin

CMG RW Quarter Horse to bay splash white

CMG RW "Prince's Grace and Foal" to appaloosa

Our Nymphenburg "Fallen Horse" winning in both breed and
collectibility in the European Chinas division

Part of Yashka Hallein's impressive collection

Heather Malone judging an amazing Arabian class

My sister's entry in the Keith Bean Memorial Challenge

Jo Ellen Arnold's KBMC entry full of fabulous rarities

BreyerFest pix up next! Finally! :)