Sometimes the best weekends happen in the middle of the week.
Thursday, August 6, 2026
Midweek weekend
Tuesday, August 4, 2026
Preparations
Seth and I are expecting a number of out-of-town visitors this week, including our niece, Gray, and two of her barn buddies.
Of course, I want to take them to the barn, and of course, I want Gray to ride Sage again. Except this time, I want it to be a real ride, no lead ropes involved.I held my breath as he asked her to walk forward, but Sage moved out willingly.
The Shirmar herd
I'll never forget the first time I visited my friend, Trisha parents' house. There were horses everywhere: On the walls, on the towels, on the toilet seat and, of course, on the shelves. I almost fainted when I walked into the living room and saw what looked like a whole wall of Hagen-Renaker Amirs, Zaras and Zillas.
"Whoa!" I gasped. "Are those...?"
Trish knew where I was going and quickly cut me off. "No," she said matter of factly. "They're knock-offs. My grandma painted them a long time ago."
And for years, that's all I knew about those horses.
Now, thanks to Kristina Lucas and her excellent Muddy Hoofprints blog, I know a bit more.
This explains why no generational size loss has been recorded in Shirmars; they were all first gen. Some were allegedly plaster castings, but some were cast in ceramic and fired to bisque. I have handled a Shirmar that was identified in one HR book as plaster, but it was actually bisque. Collector Laura Behning had a complete family set of Shirmar's renditions of Amir, Zara, and Zilla, and confirmed that they were hollow ceramic, not plaster.
Shirmar's castings were made for the hobby painting market, just as holiday-themed white bisque and plaster sculptures are sold today, by craft supply shops. However, a telltale sign of a bisque Shirmar is a huge, unplugged pour hole in the belly.
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| Amir's pour hole |
Also, a couple of the models have been attached to bases.
Trisha told me that this trophy used to have a Gladys Brown Edwards topper. Sadly, that broke so Marie replaced it with one of the Zaras.


















































