Tha mi air bhioran! A plastic Highland Pony!

Photo shamelessly yoinked from Breyer's announcement

I mostly blog about vintage models here, but I can't help but squeal "tha mi air bhioran!" (Scots Gaelic for "I'm excited!")*  about this amazing new Premier Club reveal for 2025. Sculpted by Kelly Sealey with a soft creamy dappled dun coat designed by Tammi Palmarchuk, this new Highland Pony model dubbed Rowan is a dream come true. I adore the Native pony breeds of the UK and Ireland, and I have been hoping for a good plastic Highland Pony sculpture for literally decades. Even more exciting, Rowan will be available in two distinct variations---as a loose maned Highland Pony stallion or as a lighter-framed, braided and clean-legged sporty pony mare.

I had not planned to join the Premier Club next year---money is extremely tight---but I'm going to have to find a way to swing these ponies. I am an ardent Celtophile, and I have a soft spot for Highland Ponies in particular. Back when I was in college in the late 1990s at the University of Georgia, I was lucky enough to visit Bill Begg-Lorimer who imported the first breeding pair of Highland Ponies to the United States.

Quartz of Croila as a youngster with Bill

Nora of Croila and Bill

Sadly, Bill passed away a short time later, and his pony herd was dispersed. Quartz proved to be a well-regarded stallion here for over a decade before being exported back to Europe in 2013. (I don't know what became of Nora.) I'm sure both ponies have crossed the rainbow bridge to greener pastures by now, but they left a lasting impression on me.

Not being able to afford a real pony myself, I actively searched for an appropriate Highland Pony model instead. Unfortunately, at the time, there simply weren't many options. However, the summer after I met Quartz and Nora, I did find one of the few models actually sculpted as a Highland Pony, this handsome dun Beswick chap. I found him for sale in a room at BreyerFest, and I felt sure it was fate.

In the intervening 20+ years, Donna Chaney of Animal Artistry has produced a few lovely Highland Pony resins (and a few more that can pass as Highlands with a little work), but the hobby has lacked a widely available, mass-produced traditional scale pony of the appropriate type. Finally getting a proper plastic Highland plus a lovely sport pony alternate version to boot is such a terrific addition to the Breyer line. I can't wait to see them as regular runs in more fun colors, and I am itching to get my hands on extras to paint my own little herd of Highlands.

Now if only I had more shelf space!

 

 

 

* pronounced "ha me ay-r virrin"