Give Me an "F"

Today we take a look at one of the "F" horses in our alphabetical tour of my collection.

"F" is kind of a fun letter to play with.  There are lots of great words that begin with the letter "F" that might make good horse names, or the start of a good horse name: "fly" and "flying," "flower and flora," "fun and funny," "fast," "first," and "flash," for example.

At last count I had over 30 horses in my collection with names beginning with the letter "F."  I also use "F" for the names of all my model cats, although I only have a few of those.

Given the wealth of "F's" I have to choose from, I found it a bit difficult to pick one out for today's feature.  But I finally settled on "Fluffernutter," a Made in Japan (MIJ) trotting mare.

"Fluffernutter" my trotting Morgan mare

 Not much is known about this spritely little mare.  A friend found her in a garage sale, and I bought her from that friend for a grand total of $7.

She's definitely Made in Japan -- she has the tell-tale rolling eyes and the sturdy (some would say clunky) conformation of the typical MIJ horse.  But with no stickers and no stamps it's hard to say which of the many Japanese manufacturers made her.  A consult with the Collecting Japan Animal Clinkies Facebook group turned up the possibility that she may be a Relco, but that still doesn't tell you a lot.  She would seem to date from about the mid-'60s to '70s, but that was a time when MIJ products were flooding North America, so there's nothing special about that.

Despite that, there's something special about this mare, at least in my eyes.  She's performing a pretty good jaunty trot, where most MIJ horses display painfully disjointed gaits when sculpted in action.  Like many MIJs (as well as some early Breyers) she's not a true bay as she lacks the black leg points, but her coat is this really lovely roasted peanut butter shade, which, together with her big fluffy tail inspired her name.  It didn't hurt that her expression makes her seem a bit "nutty" too.

"Fluffernutter" is, of course, what you call a peanut butter and marshmallow creme sandwich.  I've never actually tasted such a concoction, but I remember hearing about them as a kid and pining for one.  I don't remember ever seeing marshmallow creme in the grocery stores of my youth, though, and even if it had been there it was certainly something my mother would never, ever have purchased.  Besides the fact that it would have been bad for her kids, she was never one to buy a prepared food when she could make the same thing herself -- simply by melting marshmallows.

It turns out, according to Wikipedia, that a fluffernutter is really a New England creation, which is perfect since I had already decided to make my high-headed trotting mare a Morgan horse -- another New England creation.

I can easily imagine her as someone's backyard Morgan, called "Fluffy" for short, toting tots around the pasture and teaching them to ride.  This is the same sort of scenario Kathleen Moody is said to have had in mind when she sculpted Breyer's "Marabella" with her messy braid and fond, gentle expression.  "Fluffernutter" has a bit more fire than "Marabella" but I can still see her a lesson horse, although one with a little more devil in her.  Where "Marabella" is maternal, "Fluffernutter" is mischievous.

She's also, and probably always will be, a bit of a mystery.  But no matter where she came from, I'm glad she finally came to me.