Before I had real horses, I had model horses. I would save my money, pennies at a time and when I had enough, I’d get my mom to drive me to the one store in town that had Breyer models (and sometimes some other brands). I loved those horses! They all had names, pedigrees, and I showed them for a few years. My Barbies (who were pretty useless at riding), got to be trampled in herd stampedes, grooms and stall cleaners. I had a Johnny and Jane West, who were ok, as they had bendable arms and legs (and could sort of ride). At one point, I had almost a hundred model horses and I dipped my toes into repainting and remodeling them (with not very good results).
Time passed, I got a real horse and my models became dust catchers and finally were stored away. When I had a house of my own, I got them all but ended up selling most of them to buy a ton of hay in one of our lean times.
Now I have one or two left and the real ones take up most of my time. BUT,
I have a new model horse sitting in a place of honor on my trophy shelf.
Years ago (probably in 2002 or 2003), a well known model horse maker asked my friend Jas if she could come and see a live Akhal-Teke with the idea of making a resin model of him. Khan (Astrachan) was with Jas at the time, competing and siring foals, while I was raising small children. Jas said yes, so the model maker spent some time with Khan, took a bunch of photos and ended up making a very popular model of him, named “Khan”. At the time, I couldn’t afford one of her models – an unpainted one went for around $500, and I just couldn’t justify that. I’ve seen some of these painted models go for up to $2500 in the years since. Fast forward to my birthday this year (Feb 17, 2015).
My friend Shannon Mayfield, who paints and sells model horses, along with competing with her real ones, posted that Sarah (the original model maker) was issuing a mini version of the Khan model. 4 inches tall and unpainted. I asked Shannon if she would paint it for me, as Khan (the real one). She said yes. Shannon also owns one of Khan’s real sons, Asil Tumay, aka Tommy. I got my ‘mini-Khan’ in the mail the other day and it is stunning! The detail is amazing, especially since he’s such a petite guy. She captured his shading, metallic glow and beauty. Thank you Shannon!
He’s sitting on my trophy shelf, but I think I need to make him a special box, so nothing (cats, talking about you) will knock him over and break him.
The real Khan isn’t all the impressed. I told him about it and he asked for more scratches and mush. And a cookie. He is now retired at age 25 and doesn’t have quite the svelte figure he used to. He’s fine with that. Me too.
Photo of Khan at age 19 or so. Karen Wegenhenkel photo.