Every day

Every day I wake up and think, "Today I'm going to write a blog post." Then - before I even get out of bed - I make a mental list of possible topics. 

No surprise, real horse subjects top the list.

It's not quite all Olive.

I also have updates on some old familiar faces...

and one important introduction.

There are hobby topics I want to write about, as well.

After all, BreyerFest is coming.

So, too, is BreyerFest tack.

There's so much I want to say while I'm lying there in bed.

Then my feet hit the ground, and somehow, it all kind of goes away. 

There is a point every evening when I realize that although I really meant to write a post, I did not. 

But not today. 

Today I finally wrote something.

Tomorrow I'll try to do it again.

Seven month Oliversary

Today Olive and I celebrated our seven month Oliversary.

This month's focus has primarily been desensitization. We've made a lot of progress with spray bottles and bikes.

There's still room for improvement, of course, but she is so much less reactive now.

Remember how much she used to fear golf carts and the golf course?

That's a nonissue these days.

About once a week we work on trailer loading.

This was last week...

and this was today. Again, there's lots of room for improvement, but I'm really pleased.

I'm also pleased with how well she's going under saddle.

Weeeee!

Overall, this has been a fun and productive month.

Happy seven month anniversary, Olive. You really are the best pony.

Barn beers

A couple nights a week, I go back to the barn after dinner and spend some quiet time with Olive. 

Mostly, this amounts to taking her for walks/grazes around the retention pond.

Ryan often joins me. He's still not a horse guy, but he enjoys playing with the cats...

and drinking a beer with Olive.

About a week ago, I went outside to raid the garage beer fridge prior to one of these excursions, and was surprised to discover some unfamiliar but intriguing cans.

These looked like barn beers...

but it turns out that they're actually model horse beers!

and nonalcoholic, too!

I didn't drink one, but Seth said they were pretty tasty. I hope he buys more soon. If he does, I'm going to make him drink at least one of them with Olive.

Sometimes it's like that

When it comes to the hobby, I am a lifer.

My participation and investment may vary, depending on whatever else is happening in my life, but I'm always going to have horses on my shelves.

When I got Olive, I thought, "Welp, no new models for a while." I stopped looking at MH$P and went no notifications on most of the hobby buy/sell Facebook pages.

I honestly thought 2022 would be a no major purchases kind of year.

Then I was presented with an opportunity that was way too good to pass up.

What can I say? Sometimes it's like that.

So anyway... Here's the newest member of my herd, a Rose Reiner painted by Nikki Button.

He arrived yesterday, and I am completely smitten. 

I didn't mean to buy a big horse this year, but I'm really glad I bought this one. Thank you, Aislinn, for making this possible. I absolutely love my pretty new boy.

P.S. A horse this nice deserves a really good name. I have a couple ideas, but I'm not one hundred percent sold on any of them yet. Suggestions are always welcome!

Brand celebration

Last month, I wrote a pair of posts about mustang brands. The first was all about how to read the alpha angle code used by the Bureau of Land Management.

The second was all about Olive's brand and how much I love it.

I asked readers on the Braymere Custom Saddlery Facebook page to share pictures of their mustangs' brands.

photo by Amy Williams

I was thinking 1:9 scale...

photo by Brenda Summers

but a few people sent pictures of their full scale mustang's brands.

photo by Erika Baird Xochimitl

Lexie Lawrynovicz's mustang Salty's brand looks like it was written with invisible ink. So cool!

On the other end of the spectrum, this is Shelly Nelson's much missed mustang Sijin. She came from the Red Desert in Wyoming and had a "messed up" freeze brand.

Her portrait model, also by Shelly.

Here are a few more model scale freeze brands. This one was painted by Christine Lewis,

this by Erika Baird Xochimitl...

and this by T. J. Hurst.

Last but not least, here's one from my own collection. This is my first real completed custom. I did the resculpting and Cindy Evans supplied the finishwork.

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed photos. I really enjoyed seeing all your brands.

Friday favorites

June is Pride Month. This is how needle felt artist, Tomás Varela, marked the occasion.

He writes: As a Certified Gay™️, I felt like I had to do something to celebrate. I have mixed feelings about Pride Month, (mainly the corporate side of it) but I saw a perfect excuse to make the rainbow zebra of my dreams.

This 1:12 scale zebra measures approximately 10cm at the withers. He is made out of British wool, with English glass eyes and hand sculpted and painted clay hooves. 

He is fully poseable...

and his stripes... well, they are just amazing!

Truly, this little guy is perfection from one end...

to the other!

He's also for sale.

Bidding is currently open on Tomás' Needle Neddies Facebook page.  Ten percent of the proceeds will be donated to SAYiT, a British organization whose core function is to transform the lives of LGBTQ+ young people and young people affected by HIV through supportive group work, youth action, education and influence. 

Congratulations, Tomás, on creating the rainbow zebra of your dreams, and thank you, for sharing him with all of us. Happy Pride Months!