Milestones

August has been a month of milestones for Sage and I.

In just the first two weeks, she's had her first ride by someone other me,

her second ride by someone other than me,

her first ride outside the ring,

her first ride outside the ring with me...

and today was her first bareback ride.

I am so pleased with my little roany hony.

Also today, I noticed that my blog had reached a milestone of its own. 

Six thousand posts! That is so many.

I honestly don't know how I've stuck with it, but I'm glad I have, and I am thankful for every single person who has accompanied me on this very long, very wordy journey.

Sage's August milestones have been rewarded with treats.

The blog gets a giveaway. 

my prize, not yours

I haven't decided exactly what the prize package will be, but it will definitely include a full set of Jennifer Show medallions.

Also, a vintage Breyer or two, should the winner want that.

All the usual rules apply. Every comment left left on this blog during the entry period equals one raffle entry. Old post, new post, multiple posts, it just doesn't matter, but if you're posting anonymously, be sure to include your name. I will choose a winner on August 22.

First things first

A while back, my friend, Angelo, legally changed his name to Alexey. I asked if I should be calling him that on my blog, and he said, no. He was still Angelo in the hobby, and he'd let me know when that changed.

This week, he let me - and everyone else - know. Henceforth, I'll be using Alexey.

Anyway...  Alexey got home from BreyerFest on Tuesday, and I went to his house after work to participate in the grand unpacking.

Of course, there were some equids.

But also, there were foxes,

birds, bunnies,

chickens...

and - of course! - deer.

He got me a few things, too. 

Here's a studio picture of my BreyerFest 2026 haul, minus the dog who was hiding on the prepping table.

I also got a Flinka, but she's not staying.

Instead, she - and this big pile of miscellaneous loot - will go to one lucky Braymere blog reader.

Entry is simple: Every comment left on this page equals one raffle entry. Old post, new post, multiple posts, it just doesn't matter, but if you're posting anonymously, be sure to include your name. I will choose a winner on July 25. 

Bag of extras

Sharp-eyed readers might have noticed a few extra miniatures in yesterday's spoils of the day photo.

They're fish.

More specifically, they're bags of fish.

These are more blind bag toys.

Angelo's kryptonite, for sure.

As he was buying our Series 1 Make It Mini Animals, he also - accidentally - acquired a whole bunch of these.

These are more bags of fish than any one person needs, so some of them came home with me.

Truth be told, I don't need this many bags of fish either. Accordingly, I've decided to give some of them away.

But that's not all! Between the two of us, Angelo and I ended up with four baby capybaras.

I immediately googled capybara litter size and learned the range is one to seven, with three being typical. I decided three was the correct number for my capybara family.

Angelo being Angelo didn't want the fourth, so that one plus his ball full of stuff will go with the fish.

All the usual rules apply: Every comment left on this blog will equal one raffle entry. Old post, new post, multiple posts, it just doesn't matter. However, if you're posting anonymously, be sure to include your name. I will choose a winner on Friday, June 12.

Get the boot

Not gonna lie: I was a little surprised by how few people wanted the hot dog costume.

That's okay. I drew the winner today, and it's going to Dani Boiko, who seemed to want it a lot. I hope she turns into a model horse costume!

I also hope I finish turning mine into a model horse costume

This month's third giveaway is another quirky one. It will be interesting to see if this is more or less popular than the hot dog.

Here it is: A single, full scale, open front, jumping boot. It's brand new and completely unused, but it does not have a mate. This makes it completely useless for real horse purposes, but I thought maybe there's a tack maker out there who would love to add this to their reference collection?

It comes with a Dover catalog for even more tack making inspiration.

If you would like to own one LeMieux boot, please let me know in the comments section of this post. I will choose a winner sometime this week!

Hot diggity dog

Every year about this time, Piper and I go to PetsMart and choose one small animal costume to turn into a model horse costume. This year's pickings were pretty slim.

That's okay. I still haven't finished the 2024 costume.

Last year, I bought the hot dog.

I'd hoped to use it on little Olive in the Halloween class at Candyland Live.

Sadly, the costume was a poor match for the model's big mane.

I ended up going with a miniature version of real Olive's costume.

That was so much more work, but also a much better choice.

I never did finish the hot dog, so that will be this year's project. I think it will look delicious on Winslow.

But here's the thing: I actually have two hot dogs. Before I realized it would not work on Olive, I misplaced the first one. I looked and looked but could not find it, so I went back to the store and bought a second one. Of course, after that, the first magically reappeared.

I absolutely, positively do not need two hot dogs, so the second one is this month's second free blog giveaway. If you would like a hot dog costume for your guinea pig or model horses, comment on this post. I will choose a winner later in the week.

P.S. The winner of this month's first blog giveaway is Sandra Gibson. Congratulations, I will get your bear in the mail before the end of the month!