Charleston and the HSO House

 For Spring Break, March 3rd thru 12th, we went to Charleston SC.  We were our own tourist guides and treated ourselves to a fine walking tour of the old city south of Broad St.  In the process we discovered a house with a horse-shaped-object (HSO) in every window -- and none of them were Breyers or Stones!  We also availed ourselves of the city's excellent horse-drawn carriage trade - of course I am including a few harness shots.   This destination choice, so different from our normal canoe-trip ones, was made necessary by the timing of George's classes this semester... and by the discovery of the timing of flood season in our otherwise-chosen-destination, NC's Lumber River.

Although this post has a huge number of pictures, it shows part of one day, out of those ten days of our trip.

I'll start in White Point Garden, the park at the end of most of the tours in Charleston.  It's a fine slice of trees and greenery, fountains and lawns, and it had lots of azaleas.  My husband is crazy about flowers, so the timing was perfect.  I loved this fish fountain -- I have a soft spot for Victorian decorative design (it must be the ragtime carousel fan in me).  There are more famous fountains in the city, but this was my fav.
The walking-tour part of Charleston has a lot of alleys.   I put in a great deal of research to come up with a good route, but in the end we just followed our noses.

 Something extremely delightful to encounter was fully-grown mango trees.  I buy mangos and eat them and plant the seeds, and I've sprouted a few.  But I'd never seen the mature adult tree.  Here they were, in all their tropical glory.

 

As one who has raised and watered and struggled over a potted mango sapling, this was amazing to me.   Those little yellow blobs:  baby mangos!

More alleys.

The ironwork on the many gates and fences and doors was intriguing to one who is always seeking patterns and designs.  I'm sure there is a book somewhere on just Charleston ironwork.  We snapped a few gates:

 The sense of a private garden 'just around the bend' is very strong.  To one with imagination it is a pleasure to peer through these fences.

 

 OK I'm leaving out some of the most important parts!!  Naturally we had to sample the horse drawn services.  As I said on my FaceBook,  I chose Old South Carriage Company.  It was the best bet for us and we were given a very good ride.  Note for other customers:  we got lucky and drew Zone 1, the best of the 3.

My husband pointed out that at a walk, pulling 8 people, our draft horse outpaced a jogger.  I had not noticed.
We didn't actually shoot pictures while on board; however, we did get these.  The horse's name was Ben.  Since we live in Central Pennsylvania, imagine our pleased surprise to discover Ben was of Amish origin.

As a harnessmaker, what was interesting to me was the sidestrap.  I'd never seen it run through the rein terrets and fastened to the collar.

Which just goes to show that after 38 years of studying harness and making models of it, you can still find something new.

Charleston is truly a beautiful city, and for southern charm it is well preserved.  We staged several passes through the lower blocks, walking for a total of about 5 hours.

 

This one is called the Gate of Swords.

 This was a personal fav.

Since both of us are ship-loving romantics, and since this tour is highly personal, you will not be surprised at the next 3 shots.  The outer boundary of the lower city is the sea.  What should we spot but a cargo ship coming in -- it instantly drew our attention (and our lenses).

Naturally, we had to watch it all the way in, which took a fair amount of time.

You do know, I hope, that the current incarnation of the Timaru Star is a cargo ship?  Of course, this was not her; but it still was very interesting to us.  Must tell this story sometime (see my earlier blog post, How the Timaru Star II got its name).

Back in the city, we found many beautiful flowers, doors and other objects.

Did I mention I like Victorian decorative design?

And that George likes flowers... ?  The flowers were just getting started, and the rest of our week featured great masses of azaleas, amoung others.

There are two natural endings for this post: the graveyard and the HSO house.  I think I will put them in that order, though it's rather arbitrary.

 The public is able to stroll through this graveyard.  The carving on the large cross was well worth studying.

Somewhere south of Broad St, in the eastern half, deep in the brick houses zone, we came upon this:

There had been the odd lawn statue about - I had seen pigs -- but this was indubitably equine.  Except none of them were Breyers.  Nothing modern at all!!  To my startled eyes it became clear that this house's collection was intentionally nineteenth-century... but that the urge to collect and display horse shaped objects transcends any such limits as mere time and place...

All but one of the objects were horses, of one sort or another.  Who needs plastic?

Even the white shed on the left had one.  Material?  I could only guess.
This one looked wood.

 And this one had to be brass.  Just like a doorstop I had at home - the other side is probably prettier.

This one also looked wooden.

This one amazed me.  It looked ceramic.  I pride myself on recognizing familiar horse molds, but I'd never seen 'hide nor hair' of this.  It was big!!

More oddballs.

This one, again, I think, was wood.  There must be a relationship to those carved-fish signs, and by extension, to ship figureheads... (and we're back to the TSII again, somewhat roundabout!).

This one was clearly metal.

And here my photo tour ends.   Hope you enjoyed your time in the city!


If you ever get to Charleston, be sure to wave at this house for me.

Thoughts on NaMoPaiMo

This post is about NaMoPaiMo and its inspiratrix, but it's illustrated with horses I've created, past and present.  Because of what Jennifer did, I'm showing off models I haven't thought about in decades...  photos buried in boxes and scrapbooks for close on to 40 years.  I honestly thought I did not need to paint a horse, but the desire to show off is irresistable.

Black and white I could do.  The stockings & muzzle were tough

In a bare 3 years one person has inpacted my hobby far more than I ever thought possible.  This, from a platform I sometimes think a majority has dismissed as outmoded and old fashioned!  Blogging -- how slow, how hard to keep up with.  Yet Jennifer Buxton has made blogging nothing less than her kingdom.  Over the years she's shared dam' near everything with us, far more than most of us would dream of sharing: from family matters to dogs' deaths to model showing and collecting triumphs, to tackmaking and live horse riding and the births of foals, she's shared it all.  Somehow that 'daily dose' habit has stuck with her, and I, never a newspaper reader, find myself as irrevocably hooked as the most addicted news fan.  Writers, reporters and journalists the world over are paid to do less.

Tiger Lily, sold somewhere in CO  circa 1980

We are immeasureably enriched by what she has chosen to share -- and I haven't even gotten to the 3 years.

Her first bravura feat was the Winter Photo Challenge, in January of 2015.  Remember that?  It lasted for a month and nothing like it had been tried before.  She set up a fairly simple framework of rules and expected somewhat less than 50 entrants.  She got 200.  It blew up wildly and became so popular that it risked completely burning her out.  I shudder sometimes to think how close we came to doing that.  Through no fault of her own, the thing became so much bigger than she'd forecast:  she became Den Mother to all of us, a public symbol, almost mythological, like a goddess.  Her vote of approval became the most desperately needed accolade.  The demands on her time and attention were immense, and reached well beyond what any one human being could answer.

Taken in a hotel at a show, Phoenix, AZ in 1982

The end result was a kind of fantastic Yellow Pages, a Directory of most of the online hobby who blogged at all.  Everyone who cared to enter had a place within this edifice.  I still visit the Winter Photo Challenge today when I want to look up some half-familiar artist.  It was incredible fun.  It put names and faces to so many stable names, nicknames and monikers I'd seen, and it opened my mind to the existence of other amazingly skilled and promising tackmakers out there....  for starters.

You would think Jennifer would rest on her laurels after that.  But no.  She was just getting started.

What happened in 2016?  The  Jennifer Show, that's what -- a show like no other.  I was unable to attend, so I can't personally report on it, but I was sufficiently moved (or inspired) to send one of my last 2 copies of my book as a donation prize.  The level of trust here was very high.

Fake fur mane and tail, painted-leather silver

Speaking purely personally (and a good deal emotionally), I cry:  that show was everything NAN should have been.  There went a great deal of resources and much political will.  By its success I cannot help drawing the bitter conclusion that Namhsa was unable to retain its high position, and had much of the available spirit drawn off into a fresh new start further West.  Would my hobby thus re-invent itself every 20 years or so??  Is it simply too thin on the ground to maintain a permanent show framework?  Must it evolve constantly, wherever it can, as new centers emerge?  We have not been thick enough on the ground to maintain a permanent museum:  the dispersal of Black Horse Ranch (Karen Grimm) shows that.

Etched in 1983 to go with the Overo Paint

 Jennifer could have rested on her laurels again after that second stroke of great power.  (It also showed she could play duets, as we musicians say:  She could work as part of a team to put on a larger performance.)  Did she rest?  Well... four months later came the third Masterstroke.

Once again it took a month and had a simple framework of rules.  Once again she was expecting about 100 participants, but drew more than 600.  Once again the thing got completely out of hand, went viral, went international and wound up in a great symbolic act.  An edifice was built wherein everyone had a place.  National Model Painting Month!!  Once again, to be able to receive her accolade, though but a few words, was worth all the fuss and effort.

"And there was a place for them within." -- Alan Tempko, author of Notre Dame

Etched in 2003

This goes beyond hobby.  This is how myths begin, legends are born and religions founded.  What words can I find?  She has been more than a tackmaker, a blogger, a teacher, a collector or a shower.  She's more even than an enabler, which is my word for good administration (in my family administrators are automatically bad).  She has earned my trust, and I shall be safe, within these parameters so carefully and so skillfully bounded, yet boundless in imagination.  'Spirit mother' comes to mind.  'Enabler' is a word I have reflected on before.  I used enabler to refer to an especially admired supporter of shows, who has since passed on.  It seems clear to me that were he to return today, he would be quite pleased with his protege.  Yes, Jenn, I believe you have channeled the spirit of Jim West.

Etched in 2005, with a pattern developed by Gerhardt

 When triumphs are larger than life, it is true there are no words.  Leave her alone for a while.  Let her catch her breath.  A sabbatical is called for.  I tell you I have a truly terrible fear we might indeed burn her out.

 Were she to do no more -- not another post or show or sharing - I should still be so deeply awestruck by what she has accomplished.  I use and refer to her work in some fashion nearly every day.  Braymere has admittedly changed my life.  I can only wait and see what might happen next.
Long live the power of the Braymere!!

Gilfoyle (Not!) on Copperfox

What could go better with my new Copperfox than my newly-gotten Gilfoyle-McGroarty saddle?! 

NEWSFLASH - Keren G-McGroarty claims she did not make this saddle!!  March 15.  Who Dun It?? 

NEWSFLASH - from the future -  November 15, 2017 - Kelda Goerte of Red River Saddlery made this saddle set.  Thanks to Frances Stevens for this information!

Both were made in England.  This is a short post which celebrates a fortuitous combination.  But I made the saddle blanket.  : )
Friends will know I received my first Copperfox last fall (Oct 2016), one of the "Marble" Connemara mares.  I absolutely loved her.

Ever since then I'd been eyeing the Copperfox catalog and thinking about the exchange rate.  When Copperfox announced a sale that ended at Christmas (2016), I decided to make my move.  All along I had been drawn to only two of their four molds.  Finnegan, while an excellent performance prospect, was not quite so close to my heart as the Connemara; call him a solid second place.  I suppose eventually I shall pursue Finnegan (especially if he turns out to be anywhere near a pair with True North, Breyer's new mold by the same sculptress), but in the end, I chose another Connemara.
I loved the bay, Cadno.

When Cadno arrived, I was marginally less smitten than I had been with the Marble; but only marginally.  He was a very nice horse and I was delighted with him.  He didn't seem quite as sharply molded; and it took me a while to appreciate his grey hoof paint.  He was more matte than I had subconsciously wanted - I seem to have a serious crush on gloss.  But his color was gorgeous, every bit as luscious as I had been led to believe.  The model is wonderful.  It was sculpted by the same artist as Geronimo.  When you hold Cadno next to Geronimo, you learn how much Geronimo has been 'softened,' smoothed down, and how much muscle detail was lost on him compared to the Copperfoxes.

I named my bay Canto, a word which means 'song.'  It also means "Can too!" as an expression of confidence, which was important to me.

The saddle was first seen on MH$P.  The pictures were dark, but I fell in love.

photo by Lynn Norbury

I did not know much about Keren Gilfoyle-McGroarty, other than she had been around forever and that she was from Great Britain.  The overall level of detail on the set was awesome.  This was really the first time I'd paid serious attention to the work of this artist, for which I am somewhat ashamed.  I determined I had to have the saddle, and luck was with me - it came home that fall (Sept 2016). 

What makes me fall in love with a particular saddle?  For one thing I collect pieces from artists who have matured to the point of having their own distinct style and a pretty high level of detail.  I can only afford one piece from each, so it should be a representative saddle.  I really like saddles that look so real you could 'sit in them and ride away' and be comfy when you did.  The suede seat, then, was a strong draw, one of those subliminal things!  This particular set had that balance of silvering and tooling which I like.  It had the unmistakable stamp of a quality piece of model tack: every part was in scale with every other part, and all the parts expressed the same artistic vision.  For a bonus, it had the most glorious bling, jewels set on to the silver - something I'd rarely seen in real life (and loved when I did).  They too were not overdone; there was a masterful sense of restraint.
But perhaps the best bonus of all was that I had nothing like it.  When availability crosses with quality with liquidity (none of which is guaranteed!), it's time to bite.

The earlier pictures of the bridle reveal my troubles with getting the bit right on the off side.  Yes, the earpiece is too big for this horse, and that forelock doesn't help.  On the near side, everything laid beautifully on the head.

 The braided-floss reins had amazing buckles with silver tips, something I rarely see (and didn't own).

The blanket, of course, is the 'Vibe' I finally finished in late January.  It had been under construction since May of 2016!  which meant sitting around in its little blanket kit box for months, while I dragged it on every trip, to Kentucky, to Florida...  Something about the bright colors just hit it off with the amazing bright jewels on this saddle.  I suspect they are AB, aurora borealis, so they have peach and purple and green and gold tones, just like this Vibe.

The black elements of the saddle balanced with the black of the blanket.  Black is an extremely strong color, yet in this case each piece used it perfectly.

Keren had made her own silver for this set, a clue as to how old it was.  It is not a material I am familiar with.  I am still trying to learn more about when this saddle was made, and under what circumstances.  It is at least 20 years old from what the seller told me.

Minor repairs were necessary with lifting silver on the cheekpieces, breastcollar and cantle.  On the whole, this saddle has been remarkably well preserved.

I am grateful to have it!

Blanket Collection 6

My stable blanket collection has continued to grow 'beyond rope and fence;'  there are enough new ones, acquired over 2016, to justify two posts.  This Collection 6 will be the first of the two.  I have two huge spreadsheets on my computer devoted to blankets.  One of them tracks everything Breyer ever put out (or tries to), while the other merely tracks what my herd possesses.  That's a lot! and every matte adult who wants one now has a blanket.  This has completely changed the appearance of my shelves; for so many decades my horses were bare.  But there are still many who don't, or can't, have blankets... foals and odd sizes amoung them.

This sixth chapter will also take a look at pieces that are not exactly blankets.  In the process of collecting stable blankets I've acquired adjuncts: coolers, dress sheets, duplications, non-Breyer pieces and race tack sets are some of them.  In particular, Breyer's No. 2492, Race Tack Set, will be featured.

Let's begin where Blankets 5 left off, with my collecting in January of 2016.  I had noticed, in my haunting of eBay and MH$P, something that becomes familiar to every collector of Breyer:  Factory Variations!  Here's the 1995-through-1999 Breyer Catalog picture for No. 3952, the Plaid Dress Sheet:

from 1995 -1999 Breyer Catalog

This handsome blanket-like cover is clearly a smart red-and-black (actually darkest-blue) plaid pattern with a leather (velcro) tab fastener at the chest and a red ribbon loop under the tail.  There is a velcro belly strap, red, beneath.  I had long wanted to have one.  I also wanted to know (somewhat less enthusiastically) why so many of them were for sale.  Generally, when you see a lot of something for sale years afterward, it means that folks weren't exactly thrilled with it.
What was its texture?  How thick and/or flexible?  What did it look like underneath?
And more interestingly:  Why were there two kinds of 3952s??

In March I acquired a 3952 that matched the catalog:

I found out these Dress Sheets were of a very stiff material.  Age had not softened it, even though it was relatively thin.  The underside was dark and rough.  I like my blankets to 'hug' the horse, to wrap around him in softly-fitting folds, but this fabric was neither huggy nor loose.  One mystery solved: I could guess why they weren't kept around.

But the other mystery was the Dress Sheet I'd picked up in February:

Sold to me as Breyer No. 3952!  Seen online just as much as the other!  Carrying the exact same tag, bearing the exact same leather chest tab, same tail ribbon, belly closure, and cut in the exact same pattern!  It took some time for the difference to dawn on me, which undoubtedly was what Breyer was counting on.  This version has a thin yellow stripe in the middle of its red stripes.  The plaid is different.
Underneath this blanket is the same darkest-blue surface.  But the fabric is a little softer, smoother and more flexible than the other.  Not a whole lot... but there is a detectable difference.  This sheet is lighter and more bendy.  Five years is a fair long time for a Breyer blanket to run...  I'm guessing they simply ran out of one material and substituted another.  Less likely is the thought that Breyer detected how poorly one was selling.  This remains in the realm of speculation.
For my own records I'm calling it the Yellow Stripe version, or 3952y.

In a blanket lot deal I acquired a No. 3953, the Dark Green/Black Dress Sheet:

This is a twin to the No. 3952.  It ran the same 5 years, 1995 to 1999.  I'm happy to report this blanket is of softer and more 'huggy' material, without the stiff dark lining of the 3952 (non-yellow-stripe), and thinner.   It is self-color inside, unlined, and a fine toy value.

In 2014 Breyer had the bit between its teeth on company branded blankets, and came up with this jewel, the Dover Saddlery blanket.

I first saw this gem on a blogspot, Alyssa Monk's Bits and Spurs (thanks for sharing Alyssa!).  Naturally it wasn't in any catalog!  As I understand it, you had to buy a certain amount, say $300.00 worth, of Breyers at the Saddlery before you could get one.  I thought I'd have a long hard hunt for this little delicacy of premium swag -- the odds were against me -- but then in March 2016 I saw it go by on eBay.  A dealer had several, still in bags.  Miracle.  It is a very nice piece, based on Breyer's classic Quilted Blanket pattern, which is big enough to fit everybody.  There is only one belly strap and only one emblem, on the near hip.  The rings near the tail are, presumably, for the owner to tie their own rump strap closure to.  I confess I leave them alone on my blankets, treating them as decoration.

Green Trio:  left to right:  "Vixen" Christmas 2014; Dover Saddlery 2014; and Green WeatherBeeta, unknown but assuming 2014.

2014 was a good year for green Breyer blankets!!

In June 2016, trying (and succeeding) to get a Green WeatherBeeta for a friend, I landed a multi-blanket lot that included these:

Breyer has offered several Race Tack sets over the years, starting with The Black Stallion fever in 1982.  This red and gold one is No. 2492.  It was carried from 2004 to 2008, and this is the Breyer Catalog picture for it:

from 2004 - 2008 Breyer Catalog

Nice of them to tell you about the 'Grey horse not available!'

It's an attractive shot.  But I couldn't get the hood to fit my Lonesome Glories.
I tried and tried.  The back stuck up and the white leather (it is real leather) eye-rims blocked vision.

 It just didn't work.  Breyer tack is usually ridiculous, but this was a new low.

I needed a longer head, held more forward, with more distance between eye and ear.  After a frustrating time, I found one whereupon it fit a little better:

At least it's a race horse!!

This Race Tack Set hood fits so much better on Cigar that one can't help wondering whether it was actually designed for him.  Cigar debuted in 1998, so this idea is well within possibility.

Two more blankets for Chapter 6.  Breyer was issuing Limited Edition stable blankets as early as 1996, as we know from my Tseminole Wind blanket (see Blanket Collection 3).  Here are the 1999 BreyerFest 10th Anniversary blankets, much fancier, in two colors and (apparently) in a much larger piece count.  That year the Celebration horse was Molokai.  (According to ID Your Breyer, 4200 Molokais were released, so that is my only clue as to how many blankets.)  He was then a recently introduced mold (Big Ben 1996) and my index card box has a curious card in it recording a "Molokai Blanket" as part of my bonus for participating in the Hobby Round Tables that year!!  Unfortunately I could find no such thing!  (I may have been confusing it with the Tseminole Wind blanket.)  Today, what I was seeing on eBay and other places was this:

And this!

Halter by Jaapi

Proof, if it is needed, that the first BreyerFest was in 1990 and not 1989.  (I thought it was.  What do you get when you subtract 10 from 99?)  It nicely illustrates what my husband calls the "picket fence problem," counting zero as one.  : )

Incredibly, these two blankets seem to be the first manifestations of what would later appear as the Show Blanket Collection in 2000, 2004 and 2008 -- blankets which would set the standard of what a Breyer blanket is, in cut and pattern, up unto the present day.  Back in 1999 it was truly cutting edge, all the rage.  They have a double binding, allowing two colors, so that each blanket uses three colors in all.  The material is heavy, thick and smooth, a polyester type fabric which lends itself beautifully to the embroidery and logos.  Later, with the Show Blanket Collection, Breyer would add fancy rump darts.  These early ones had merely a self-color slanted dart.  The pattern fit many models well, although the fairly narrow neck opening would be troublesome and the long back would wrinkle up on some.  The front is entirely velcro closure - an extravagance of velcro, very easy to use - and there is a belly ribbon, non-adjustable, of velcro.

It took me some time to find these 2 blankets; they are quite rare by now, especially the blue version.  My white one arrived in Feb of 2016 and it had a large purplish stain on the back.  I spent a morning getting rid of the stain.  Rubbing alcohol and patience finally did the trick.  Bizarre as it sounds, I am convinced the stain was caused by grape candy.  : )

In future posts I hope to catch up on the Blankets, showcase other tack artists and recently acquired saddles, tell curious model horse tales and share more tackmaking.  As ever, thanks for your patience. Enjoy!