This post was conceived when I saw the new Mustang mare Volo, in plastic, boasted about on the Stone Horses page. I could barely restrain myself from blurting:
"I'd be a lot more congratulatory if I could have received the expensive Stone I paid for back in December -- !!!" My birthday is three days away. Horses listed in the sale right alongside the one I bought, such as Lincoln and Two N Renn, have already been shipped, landed and boasted about. I thought for sure that April would provide enough time for her to arrive: four months plus.
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Pirouline, Bugler |
Pirouline, left, my only FCM Stone, obtained in 2007. Bugler, an etch job by me [the mane and tail], Stone Tennessee Walking Horse, obtained in 2007.
But then, being who I am, never far from an awareness of how long and how often I've made my own customers wait (ouch!), I started to ask myself questions. Didn't I already have a palomino Trad Stone? Could I perhaps perform a kind of sympathetic magic, bridling a Palomino with the intended show-off tack piece, photographing her and posting about it? (Hasn't there been a pattern that when I complain, fulfillment follows all too quickly?!) Swiftly the corollary followed: Just how many Trad scale palominos did I already have, anyway? I'd never counted them, never yet gathered them all together,... unlike my infamous Palomino Stablemate collection, which was all in one place and numbered 62,... 😏
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Hartland Narcissus, BHR Niflheim, SM Gold Charm |
Though I am vehement about not liking Gold Charms, a few had still sneaked in. In back, a 9" Hartland ASB (acquired 1991); a Black Horse Ranch resin pony (acq. 1995); and the only Stablemate to make this post, also the only official Gold Charm I own, acquired a few years back. (I don't name my Stablemates.)
Now I'm about the most embarrassed model horse collector, for I truly had no idea how many I already had. I last counted my herd decades ago, finding about 400. Today's survey indicated close to one-tenth of my entire collection was palominos; and that there were a great many similar colors. Palominos in every shade from orange to palest peanut butter were here, stallions, mares, geldings and foals, Perlinos, pintos, Copper Wedgewoods, Gold Charms, Silver Bays and the grand old Florentines, highest of the high. I even turned up a dun. I had Breyers, Stones, Hartlands, a BHR resin, a remake and a resincast. They spanned my entire collecting life from 1979 to last year, full 46 years. They would make one heck of a blog post.
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Flicka, Caruso, Sun-Lemon |
I would begin with the palominos from my childhood. Flicka the Family Arab Mare started it all, acquired 1968. She originally belonged to my sister. Like every model horse Janet ever had which I wanted, she eventually wound up in my hands. Trade, sale, gift or outright steal, history does not reveal. Caruso the matching Fighting Stallion was aquired in 1980. The foal, with the delightful childhood name Sunflower Sun-Lemon, was acquired in 1970. You may think he's a rarity with his pink hooves, like his mother. But those hooves are actaully nail-polish repainting by a determined artistic teenager. Caruso's hooves are, I believe, genuine original finish.
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Blaze Hartland QH, DH the 5-Gaiter, Corinna |
We're still in the 1980s of my acquisitions here. Blaze, a Hartland 11-inch Series Quarter Horse, was gotten in 1989. Great color if I say so! DH, which stands for Dacono Hornblower (can you tell I love naming horses...), the magnificent orange-palomino 5-Gaiter, was acquired in 1985. He managed to break his off fore, but I love him anyway: he is the definitive bright orange. If it's relevant, I marched in the Tournament of Roses in 1977 and fell in love with silver saddles on palominos then,... The palomino Running Mare, DH's wife, whom I named Corinna, was obtained in 1982. For some reason she was not at the top of my list of favorites and today is stowed way back on a hidden shelf.
The 1990s were years of Hartlands for me. If we're going by year of acqisition, let's take a look at some side-along palominos, the wonderful Copper Wedgewoods (or copper chestnuts) of that company.
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Rex, Wakatanka, FireHawk |
Rex, leftmost, is another 9" ASB, acquired 1985. Wakantanka, Hartland 11" series ASB, I got at the first BreyerFest in 1990. FireHawk is a 9" Arab, acq. 1996. Both Wakantanka and FireHawk were partially repainted by me in an effort to restore their color.
In the 2000s, things changed a bit. Stone released one of their most lovely colors, what they called Walnut Woodgrain. I was fortunate enough to snag two of these poems, showing the Arab to a NAN gold cookie.
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Maple Sugar, Solis |
The Stone Pony, whom I named Maple Sugar, was acquired in 2008. The Arab, named Solis, was one of only 10 (expensive in those days!), and I acquired her in 2002. Can't complain much now eh --!!
I see I'm leaving out the Silver Bays. Here's another sub-collection within the broader class of palomino-alikes in my herd. Ever since Breyer came out with this color I've been in love with it. The photos don't do them justice; the Strapless is glossy and all have pearly manes and tails.
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left to right: Metallica, Taliessin, Mistral, Rapadura |
Uncalled For/Metallica, my first Silver Bay, on the Strapless mold, was acquired in 2005. [Breyer name or names / my own personal name for the horse] Next to her is my latest, on the Dundee mold, Romeo/Taliessin, acq. 2023. Minstrel/Mistral, the Harley D/Latigo/Loping Quarter Horse, was obtained in 2019, the same year the beautiful Celeste/Rapadura came into my possession.
A palomino halfway to Cremello and pearled occurred with Winter Wonderland/Zosina. Here she is with a couple other miscellaneous palominos:
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Solana, Zosina, Colavita |
Solana, the Peruvian Paso special run, was obtained in 2005. The beautiful Winter Wonderland/Zosina, one of Breyer's Christmas Holiday horses, was acquired in 2017. I made the base myself; the name comes from a novel by Isak Dinesen (The Angelic Avengers). On the right, my only palomino dun, the lovely Miss Independence/Colavita, named after (what else? a brand of spaghetti!), was acquired just last year, 2024. She's headed for another etch job: I've taken the grey out of her mane but have yet to attend to the tail.
Now that we're in the 2010s, and beyond, another equally impressive, palomino-like color appeared, and I fell for it just as hard. This was Breyer's idea of a Perlino or Cremello.
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back to front: Albedo, Kiss Away, Shazadah, Marimba, unicorn foal |
Alert readers will spy Uffington/Albedo at once, in the back. I got him in 2021. Just in front of him is a very recent Cremello, Girls Rule the World/Kiss Away, acquired in 2024. The Perlino Quelle Surprise/Shazadah, one of my favorites, was my first of this color, obtained in 2017. In front of him is a genuine resincast, painted by yours truly during National Model Painting Month of 2020, as a Perlino. This is the mold Mufida, sculpted by Margarita Malova of Russia, named Marimba by me.
And the unicorn foal is that rarest of all models, one I can't find my registry card for--!!!! Now isn't that just like a unicorn! Don't think a card was made, I don't know his name, I don't know exactly when he was bought -! What, no name?! There was but I've forgotten. I got him from Devon Frinzi online last year and that's about all I know. However, I do know that Albedo is his father, and his mother is Eclipse. Perhaps a celestial name,...
Ahem. Back to palominos.
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Laird Crown Imperial, DH |
Somewhat naturally, there is a palomino Hamilton in my herd, a glossy with minimal dappling, acquired in 2020. Since I knew who Laird Hamilton was (the man, a famous surfer), I could not resist incorporating his name into this most lovely of all my palomino stallions. Still, only one as brash and bold as this could carry off such a moniker. Laird C.I. has appeared in a blog post about peanut butter palominos
here. Speaking of which, here are the culprits:
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Valhombra, Caxambas |
You would think these two were brothers. They were sculpted by the same artist, Sue Carlton Sifton. Left is Carrick/Valhombra, obtained in 2013, and right is Chadwick/Caxambas, on the Emerson mold, obtained nine years later in 2022. I truly loved the Emerson mold and now I have five of them.
I mentioned a remake back at the beginning. How can I talk about palominos without saluting my most famous one, on the frontispiece of the Guide?
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Alcatraz (officially, TS Aureo Alcatraz) |
This is a custom remake by none other than Laura Rock Smith, in the year 1985. The color reference was a magazine clipping showing an Absorbine bottle -- I'm not making this up. Laura pulled off an amazing triumph and I have loved him from that day to this. He has glass eyes,
one of my few model horses to do so.
I also mentioned Florentines. This photo shows two Vintages and one Modern decorator. I have other Modern decos.
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left to right: Glory Morning, Lille, Goldenear |
I like to think I rose to the occasion naming my 5-Gaiter. She is the wife of the Fighting Stallion, whose name reflects the story of Gold Ear, the first Decorator in my life. Someday I hope to post that fantastic story. Gold Ear is no longer with us but I have these two, both acquired in 1979, the year my tack shop began offering to the public. I was nineteen. The Hackney, Giltedge, a comparitively recent acquisition compared to them -- 1997 -- is named Lille, pronounced Lilla. I wanted to name her after Dr Lilly of dolphin fame, but I already had a couple of Lilys in the herd.
So here we are. My greed -- desire for the new mare, below -- and my awareness of that greed -- you already have thirty-four Trad palominos and palomino-alikes! -- perfectly balance each other.
I will conclude where I began, with a bridle on a palomino Stone. Almost by instinct, I turn to where I feel safest, a place that holds me steady even at BreyerFest, where greed runs rampant. It is a place rich in tack. This bridle was made by Emma Harrison of England, acquired circa 2016, right when she quit the hobby (and, as far as I can tell, quit this life). Can you believe it: everything was hand-braided from thread. I am indeed fortunate to have some of her work.