Horse daddy

Before he met me, Seth's life was completely horse-free.

He was pretty sure he'd touched a horse at least once - probably at the American Royal - but he'd never  sat on one or spent any real time in their presence. I found that completely unacceptable, so almost immediately, I took him to the barn, took him to a horse show and took him riding. 

on Sadie, 2009

Seth has had a lot of horse time in the years since then. 

with Santana, 2015

In truth, it's probably more than he ever wanted, but - like Carol - he adapted.

on Tom, 2019

In November 2021, I finally got a horse of my own.

Within a month, Seth let me know that Olive was his horse, too.

He didn't have any interest in riding her.

Theirs was a relationship built on leading,

feeding...

and construction projects.

Every so often, he'd send me selfies of him and Olive while I was at work.

"What are you doing at the barn without me?" I'd ask.

His answer: "I'm visiting my horse."

Olive was a lot of horse, but Seth wasn't afraid of her...

even when he probably should have been!

Olive died in December 2024. 

Six months later, Sage joined the Buxton family.

Sage is a much easier horse than Olive.

Still, for whatever reason, Seth is not as confident with her.

It's okay. These things take time.

Time and repeat exposure.

Seth came to last Sunday's barn party to take pictures of Sage and me. 

After we'd worked our way through the most difficult obstacles, I tossed him the lead rope and said it was his turn.

"I'm not wearing the right shoes," he protested. "What if she runs over me?"

"This isn't Olive," I reminded him. "Your feet are safe."

And they were!

Sage was mildly concerned about the Bozo the Clown punching bag.

But being Sage, she got over it quickly.

Seth's feet were never in danger.

"Hold it up higher!"

"As high as you can go!"

Just a man, his new pony and Bozo the Clown.

Happy Father's Day, Seth! Your wife and your one thousand pound daughter sure do appreciate you!

The Olive garden

Before she was a Stone Horse, Olive was a medallion.

In 2022, Melanie Miller a small, two version Olive medallion as part of her Trick or Treat collection.

Of course, I needed a whole herd of them.

not all of them

I took them to BreyerWest and handed them out to any artist who would take them. 

"Paint them like Olive," I said. "I want a whole herd of Olives."

Currently, there are four members of the Olive garden.

Stephanie Blaylock's was the first to come home.

Talk about setting a high standard! I love everything about this one, from the correctly placed and rendered brand...

to the black felt backing.

Tara Reich's is next.

I love the understated simplicity of this one, the richness of her chestnut coat against the dark olive background.

Kristen Cermele is the only artist who got extra instructions. I told her, "Olive's markings but maybe olive colored rather than chestnut? Do what you do."

Look what she did!

I don't do favorites, but this one...

Jenn Constantine's medallion arrived earlier this month.

The wintery scene is just perfect...

and I appreciate the fun backside effects.

Of all the collections within my collection, this is one of my favorites.

Closing this post with a gentle reminder to all the artists who have one of my Olive medallions. I still really do want these! I love your work and would love to see your version of Olive. However, I also understand if this is just too far down the to-do list. If that's the case, I'm happy to take her unpainted self back. Just let me know!

The impossible dream

Years ago, I signed up to judge the Youth/Novice Stone and Youth/Novice Performance divisions at the Springamathing Live Show. As it turned out, this was a pretty easy assignment. Both divisions were a sea of empty...

and nearly empty tables.

Seeing that had a lot of time on my hands, the show holder asked if I could step in and judge Stone Collectibility. I felt completely unqualified for the task, but everyone assured me it would be okay, so reluctantly, I agreed.

Before I stepped up to the judging table, I walked around the room and asked people about the criteria for Stone Collectibility. In particular, how did you decide which of the fifty models in the one-of-a-kind class was most collectible? Weren't they, by definition, exactly the same amount collectible?

There was a lot of discussion about molds, customization, finishwork, documentation and desirability, but no overall consensus other than do your best and don't overthink it.

I did that, and mostly, it was okay. At the very least, no one complained too loudly.

This was a long time ago, but I still remember one specific entry. It was a plain chestnut Foundation Quarter Horse - nothing special to look at - except its documentation explained that it was a one-of-a-kind factory painted portrait of the owner's real horse.

"Oh," I thought to myself. "I can not imagine anything better - and more collectible! - than owning an original finish portrait of my own horse."

Bear in mind, this was May 2011. Aside from photographing the occasional horse show, my life was completely horseless. Horse ownership - with or without portrait models - seemed completely out of reach. The impossible dream.

Well, that was fifteen years ago. 

A lot of things have happened since then, including not one, but two horses, both with original finish Stone portraits.

It hasn't been the easiest road, but I am forever grateful for my two beautiful mustang mares and their amazing and extremely collectible Stone counterparts.