Project Puppers

Just as you rarely see a stable of horses without a resident barn cat or two, so too you rarely see a rider who does not also have a doggy companion.

In general, dogs make better companions for people than for horses.  The reason that so many of them can work well around horses is that their pack mentality makes it important to them to please their people, and if their people clearly want them to play nicely with horses, they're quite willing to do so.

Of course, like all generalities there are exceptions to this rule -- dogs who seem to automatically  bond with horses and horses who claim dogs as buddies of their own.  Some dogs also naturally seem to like tagging along with working horses.  Trotting along beside of or in front of a horse and rider offers the same thrill as a walk -- new sights, new smells, and the simple release of energy through action.  Many dogs are also highly task-motivated, so when called upon to accompany a rider or group of riders hunting or herding or pursuing some other purposeful activity, these dogs are very happy to lend a helping paw.

"Ballyhoo's Brigadoon Belle Reve"

Just as with their line of cattle, Breyer's initial canine offerings were meant to stand on their own as models admired in their own right, and were not viewed as potential companions to the Traditional line of model horses.  Many of the early dog sculptures actually stand as tall as or taller than the horse figurines released at the same time.  From the first Boxer to the huge "Jolly Cholly" blood/basset hound to the smaller 70's film stars Benji and Tiffany, Breyer's earliest doggies came in a variety of scales, but none really worked as equine companions.  Only Benji, as a mutt, could conceivably be re-imagined as some sort of lurcher or wolfhound cross who could sort of stand in scale with a Traditional Breyer horse.

All that changed with what I'm calling "Project Puppers" -- the introduction of the Companion Animal series to the Breyer line-up in 1999.  While the Companion Animal line also included some cats, a goat, and a miniature donkey, the emphasis was clearly on providing in-scale canine chums for Breyer horses.  Unlike Breyer's first in-scale cattle, which were conceived to go with Breyer Classic scale horses, Companion Animal dogs were designed to pair with Traditional size models.

"Ballyhoo's Bitsy"

Initially, the packaging and promotion of the Companion Animals explained how these dogs could be seen working with horses in real life.  The Jack Russell, for instance, was promoted as an excellent barn keeper, the Golden Retriever as a trustworthy buddy for young equestrians pursuing outdoor activities, the Labrador as a good all-around farm dog, and the Welsh Corgi as the riding companion favoured by the British royal family.

With later additions to the Companion Animals line, the link to horse-keeping was not always as obvious.  The Australian Shepherd, the Border Collie, and to some extent the Shetland Sheepdog were all obvious herding helpers, the Dalmatian a well-known carriage companion, and the Foxhound and Beagle both hunting companions.  But when it came to such animals as the Great Dane, the Irish Setter, and the Rottweiler you had to put your imagination to work to figure out how to pair them with performance horses.

"Ballyhoo's Bingo Dali"

Just as with their cats and cattle, Breyer eventually added Stablemate scale dogs and Pocket Box dogs to their in-scale canine offerings.  But the Companion Animal dogs remain among the best that Breyer has to choose from when it comes to finding furry friends for your horses.  

"Ballyhoo's Barkie" (a Pocket Box dog)

As with the Classic cattle, the Breyer Companion Animal series as a stand-alone line has been discontinued, but Companion animals continue to appear in all kinds of gift sets -- most recently the Camping Adventure Set which features a gold and white Shetland Sheepdog.  So we definitely have not seen the last of the Companion Animals and, as Martha Stewart would say, that's "a good thing." 

Schleich Q & A

Recently the owner of an independent American toy store contacted me to comment on one of my previous posts about Schleich horses and asked if I'd be interested in learning more about Schleich.

Of course I was interested!  The more I know about the various lines of model horses out there the happier I am.

Scott Mazerall. President and CEO  of Maziply Toys (whose business card says "Owner and Fun Specialist") generously consented to answer all the questions I wanted to ask him.  So I thought about it a bit and came up with some questions that I thought Schleich collectors might want answered.

What follows is a list of my questions and Scott's answers.  Before I get into those, though, you might want to know that Maziply Toys, located in Kingston, Massachusetts recently became the first Schleich Flagship store in New England.  What this means for the Schleich horse collector is that Maziply Toys offers one of the largest selections of Schleich figurines available in the United States.

Trappings of a Flagship Store. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.      

If you're interested in more information about Schleich beyond what's in this blog, there's a good description of how Schleich figures are created on the Maziply Toys website. And now, on with the Q & A:

Popularity of Schleich Products

Q: I see that you carry the full line of Schleich products -- dinos, fantasy pieces, farm animals, wildlife, horse club pieces, etc.  Of all the various Schleich lines you carry, which would you say are your best sellers?

A: From the perspective of individual units sold, Wild Life makes up 33% of our sales. However, from the perspective of gross sales, Horse Club is our highest grosser with 23% of the gross sales.  Here is spreadsheet data that shows all the lines:

Line	Unit%	Gross Sales%
Wild Life	33%	20%
Farm World	20%	14%
Eldrador	14%	18%
Horse Club	13%	23%
Dinosaurs	11%	15%
Bayala	8%	10%

Q: Recently I've noticed that Schleich has started offering blind bags or surprise bags in some of their lines -- for Farm World for sure.  How popular are these?

A: Blind bags have experienced incredible interest over the last few years. Schleich is no different. However, I have noticed that the blind bags are bought by a broader range than our typical Schleich customer. They invite both the Schleich enthusiast as well as the blind bag enthusiast. I will note that Schleich has not gone super aggressive on blind bags as some other companies may have.

Schleich Horse Club blind bag. Image courtesy of us.schleich-s.com.

Q: How many times during a year does Schleich generally add new pieces to their lines?  Are there specific months we can look forward to for collection updates?

A: This can vary, but here's a breakdown of this year: January: 34, March: 3, July: 25, September: 3, October: 3. As you can see, January and July are the big launch dates for new Schleich products. We do and will carry all of these.

Q: I know that Horse World and Farm World both have Advent Calendars in their line up.  Do all lines have Advent Calendars?  If not, which ones do and which ones don't?

A: This year, we can expect to see advent calendars for Horse Club, Farm World, and Dinosaurs.

Q: What sort of feedback or requests do you get from your customers in general terms?

A: Before we carried the full-line, we would often be asked about products that we didn't have in stock. Now that we are full-line, we don't run into that really anymore. I would say that people are always eager to know what comes next. We are also often asked how many Schleich figures we sell after seeing the amount of dedicated space to the brand in our store. While we don't give exact numbers, I can tell you that Schleich is consistently a top 5 brand for our store.

Schleich Horses

Q: Do you ever watch the YouTube videos that show how people interact with their Schleich horses -- by displaying them on shelves, building elaborate stables for them, and/or featuring them in storytelling videos?  If so, what do you think of these?

A: I absolutely love the passion that I see from collectors. As one of the largest toy stores in the United States, we carry a variety of collectible products. It's always amazing to see the commonalities between how collectors take care of and put pride into their collections. I have seen some pretty amazing things over the years from collectors.

Q: What, if any, is the difference between horses offered in Farm World and horses offered in the Horse Club?

A: Schleich Farm World is more focused on farms, working horses, and Rodeo. Schleich Horse Club may be a variety of horses, but is more story-driven with its four riders and their passion for horses.

Q:  When an older horse mold is replaced (like the 2020 Friesian replacing the older Friesian) are the older molds permanently retired or can we expect them to pop up again sometime?

2020 Schleich Friesian Mare. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.

A: Schleich does not typically reuse a mold. When they release a horse, they design it from scratch. If you take a look at a specific animal through the years, you can see that it is always evolving into a better product. By reusing a mold, that takes away that opportunity for Schleich, which is why they will typically create an entirely new mold for newly released animal figures.

Q:  Schleich used to produce additional lines that featured horses, like a series of Mounted Knights and a series of Historic Western figures.  Will we ever see a return to that sort of thing?

A: Only the future holds the answer to those questions. However, I can tell you that between now and the end of the year, you should not expect this on new releases.

Q: Do you have any information on anything Schleich horse collectors might look forward to in the upcoming months?

A: For Farm World, expect to see Vet-related playsets and the 2020 Advent Calendar. For Horse Club, we can look forward to Mia's Vaulting Set and the 2020 Advent Calendar. Most of the new horses for 2020 were released earlier in the year. I'm unable to comment at this time on potential releases in January of 2021.

Collecting Schleich

Limited Edition Gold Donkey. Image courtesy of us.schleich-s.com.

Q: I've noticed that Schleich often comes out with Exclusive Edition horses for their various markets.  Do you ever carry these?  Also, lately, they've been doing festive Limited Editions, like a gold donkey (Christmas 2019) and a red rabbit (Easter 2020).  Do you carry those?

A: Yes, we do carry these. There are is also the Golden T-Rex from recently (possibly 2018) and an 80th Anniversary figurine is expected later in the year. We carry the full line, and this includes specialty exclusives. We may run out of certain SKUs from time to time, but they are always restocked if it's still being manufactured.

Q: I think you mentioned to Schleich that it would be a nice thing if they would feature their sculptors by name every once in a while.  Many model horse collectors seek out similar plastic ponies designed by sculptors known in the hobby, like Deborah McDermott (CollectA), Brigitte Eberl (WIA and Bullyland), and Maggie Bennett (Lanard).  Have you heard anything more about Schleich starting to feature their own sculptors?

A: I have attempted to dig into this but have not really gotten any names or information. To be fair, the world has gone through significant change over the last few months, so this may be something that I can get better information on down the road when the world starts to get back to normal.

Q: Are you aware of any good collectors' guides for Schleich figures (aside from the yearly catalogues) in which collectors can keep track of their collection?  It could be an online source or a printed book.

A: This is actually something we have been researching to potentially put together on our website for our customers. It's quite a task and may take some time before we are finished. That said, there are actually 2 catalogs released each year from Schleich: 1HY and 2HY.

Schleich Packaging

Q: I've seen Schleich animals and figures sold in closed boxes, open-front boxes, and loose on a rack.  Do you know how the packaging decisions are made?

A: Single animal figures are typically loose with the classic Schleich flag attached. Smaller sets that usually consist of an animal with a couple of accessories are usually in an open-front box (lately they have been plastic window boxed) and the larger sets are closed boxes.

Closed and Open Front boxes. Images courtesy of triplemountain.com.

Q: Is Schleich looking into getting into more environmentally friendly (recyclable) packaging?  I know the cardboard boxes are recyclable, but I've also received Schleich figures in plastic bags which generally are not.  Do the animals sold in open racks come in plastic bags which are removed by the retailer before display?  If so, is it a recyclable type of plastic?

A: I know that Schleich has taken steps through the years to improve the balance of being environmentally friendly and the protection of the products from manufacturing to the end customer. Yes, loose figures arrive at the retailer in a plastic bag. We remove the ones that go on the shelves but leave some with them on in case we ship them for online orders. It provides additional protection during shipment.

Bonus Question

Q: What is your favourite horse sculpture and why?

A: Oh my! That's like asking a parent which is his favorite child! Each sculpture has its own beauty and characteristics that make each special. But I will say that I really like the mustang 13805 from Farm World. So many mustang figurines follow the cliched rearing pose. While these all look great (as did Schleich's older mustang), I really appreciate that they just went for a simple, yet strong stance that not every other manufacturer has been brave enough to go for.

Scott's current favourite. Image courtesy of Maziply Toys.

Breyer's Classic Cattle

Cattle of one kind or another have been part of Breyer's animal line-up almost from the beginning.  But the cattle were not originally designed to be in scale with the horse figurines.  Like most of the other animals originally produced by Breyer, early cattle were designed to attract specific breed and bovine fanciers who weren't concerned with model horse performance set-ups.  The early cattle were meant to stand alone and be admired in their own right.

Once Breyer horse performance showers started to look for cattle to use in their western set-ups, they focused primarily on repurposing and customizing the Breyer Traditional calf, released in 1972.  Although admittedly a bit large when paired with Breyer's best stock breeds of the time, it would pass with a push.

Roping Calf image courtesy of Carrie Olguin/Keri Okie Entertainment

It wasn't until 1997 that Breyer added cattle specifically designed to pair with its horses.  These were the Classic scale Roping Calf, the Classic scale Cutting Calf (or Heifer), and the Classic scale Bucking Bull.  Though paired with a rider rather than a horse, the Bucking Bull was crafted in scale with the newer Classic horses, and could conceivably be paired with a horse carrying a pick-up rider.*

All of the new Classic cattle, and the performance horses that went with them, were created by Carol Herden, already well-known in the hobby for her excellent resin bovine sculptures.

Cutting Calf image courtesy of Carrie Olguin/Keri Okie Entertainment

With the release of these three animals, Breyer's Classic horses had the honour of being the first to have beefy companions crafted especially for them.  

Starting in 2004 with the Collectibulls bucking bulls, later joined by a farm bull, a cow, a longhorn steer, and a calf, Breyer's Stablemates were sold in sets that included Stablemate scale cattle as well.  But the Classics beat them to the punch when it came to being paired with in-scale cattle creations.

Bucking Bull image courtesy of Identify Your Breyer

Although there are only three molds in the Classic cattle collection, they have been released in a variety of colours, so it's easy to assemble a small herd of Herdens.  Your choices include the Roping Calf in black and tan; the Cutting Calf/Heifer in black and white, red and white (two versions), tan and white, and red; and the Bucking Bull in black, grey and brown.

Unfortunately, none of these animals are currently in production.  Will we ever see them again?  Only the folks at Breyer/Reeves know for sure, and they're not telling.

*Since posting this article I have found out that the horse and rider in the bull riding arena actually function as back-ups to the rodeo clowns.  If the clowns fail to distract or control a bull after the rider is off, the cowboy on the horse can move in swinging a lasso to drive the bull off in right direction.

I Meme What I Say, and I Say What I Meme

Recently the Hagen-Renaker Collector's Club, which I subscribed to for the first time this year, held a fun little "meme" contest on their Facebook page.  The challenge was to write a meme around a picture of a Hagen-Renaker (H-R) piece or pieces.

Curiously enough, I just started playing with memes at the beginning of the pandemic quarantine.  Knowing that my friends, like me, were all trapped in their homes craving diversion I started writing and sending them memes written around pictures of my cat.

One of my cat memes

A meme (pronounced "meem") is a term that derives from the word mimeme, which originally meant cultural norms transmitted from person to person, in much the same way that viruses spread.  In social media terms, a meme usually refers to the "viral" spread of a concept through the Internet.  Most social media memes involve funny or witty comments written to accompany pictures of people or animals.  Possibly because of their peculiar mix of dignity and goofiness, cats make some of the most popular memes.  So it just made sense to me to start with pictures of my cat.

Having had a lot of fun thinking up funny captions for my cat pictures, I leapt at the chance to try making memes with H-Rs.  I don't have any kind of sophisticated photo editing program on my computer (it's a memory issue) but doing what I could with a simple paint program I whipped up a few memes, and then I found myself in a quandary:  I could only submit one meme to the contest, but which one should I choose?

In hindsight, I don't think I made the best choice.  It didn't get any "likes" after it was posted and I think some people may have found it in poor taste. Or perhaps they simply could not see what I saw in the picture.

Ironically, perhaps, the two winning memes submitted were both were both written around pictures of H-R cats -- one a pair of cats (for Multiple Pieces) and one a single cat (for Single Piece).  Just goes to show you: when it doubt, meme a cat.

Despite my less-than-stellar showing, I still find myself hooked on memes.  You can bet that now, whenever I'm bored and looking for something funny I can share with my friends, I'm going to go through my model horse pictures and see what I can do with them.  It's a fun, creative challenge and a good mental exercise that involves looking at familiar things in a whole new way.

In a way, some of the photo sharing challenges of the past couple of months, like Sarah and Kirsten Wellman's "Shelter and Share" Photo Challenge and Lauren Hoeffer's "Monthly Photo Challenge" have involved creating model horse memes.  Although all participants were working with the same theme, many of them focused on creating humorous pictures to illustrate the concept of the day.  Jennifer Buxton's "Braymere Custom Saddlery" blog posts for April and May display a wealth of creative meme-like challenge entries.

Do you create model horse memes?  I heartily recommend it.  Even if they circulate no further than your immediate circle of friends, they're worth the time and effort.  Creating them is an easy way to stretch your creative muscles and to multi-purpose all those model horse photos you have sitting on your computer or in "the cloud."

I really meme it!

Virtual Countdown

5 ... 4 ... 3 ... 2 ... 1 -- only 26 more days until Virtual Breyerfest!

I have to admit, I'm getting kind of excited.  This will be the first Breyerfest I've been able to attend in 20 years.  I'm looking forward to getting in on the fun this year rather than sitting at home dealing with intense spasms of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out).

Of course, my participation is subject to certain restrictions.  As an international participant, I'm not allowed to enter most of the contests, raffles and shows, and because I chose to buy a single-day 4-pack rather than a standard 3-day ticket, I won't get to order any special runs or NPOD (Ninja Pit of Death) grab bags, receive the Celebration horse, or participate in any workshops.

However, I knew most of that going in when I made my choice.  I had a lot of good reasons for opting out of the 3-day ticket:  I don't really want the Celebration horse, I didn't see any Special Runs that I just had to have, and I probably wouldn't have entered any of the shows anyway.  I'm a bit disappointed about missing out on the NPOD and I probably would have attended a workshop if I could have, but as far as contest and raffle entries go -- there's nothing I could do about that.

"Skye" image courtesy Identify Your Breyer

I'm really looking forward to getting my full set of single day Stablemates, though -- with Skye being the one I'm most eagerly anticipating.  As for the stuff on offer as Store Specials and Fling! Souvenirs, so far I only have my eye on one thing: the Best of Breyerfest Stablemate Set.  But I'm also going to keep my eyes open for any of the promised "other surprises" that are supposed to come along with all adult tickets.

I want to watch every film in the Equus Film Festival, attend all the seminars, and, if possible, view the entries in all the shows and contests, including the auction if there is one (and I don't think Breyer would want to cancel it since it's such a huge charitable fundraiser).  I want to see the virtual Guest Horses do their thing, along with any other performers who were booked for Breyerfest 2020.  I'm keen to see what they'll be offering in terms of virtual tours -- of stud farms, the Kentucky Horse Park, and the like.  I toured these places back in 2000, but I'm sure a lot has changed since then.  The KHP museum is always changing its exhibits, so I'd like to see what's on display there this year.

Image courtesy of Identify Your Breyer

In anticipation of the big weekend I've been trying to do all my "virtual Clarion" shopping ahead of time through the Facebook page entitled "Not Going to Breyerfest 'Clarion'."  It's a clever concept, with all sellers assigned separate "rooms" in the "Clarion" to sell their wares from.  But it didn't work terribly well for me.  My original plan had been to visit every room to shop for bargains or items I didn't know I needed until I saw them for sale, but that approach eventually became as mentally exhausting as touring the real Clarion (then called Holiday Inn North) in person had been physically exhausting back in 2000.  And it's not quite as much fun as real room shopping is.

Image of Clarion Hotel Lexington courtesy of www.clarionhotellex.com

When shopping in person, it's much easier to haggle with the seller if he or she is not busy.  You can negotiate a better price for buying in bulk, or see if you can get the seller to move on the price based on the item's condition or how desperate you feel the seller is to move out inventory.  Of course, you can try these things virtually too, but it's much easier to negotiate face-to-face than it is through instant messaging.

Also, the delightful thing about shopping the Clarion in person when you come from outside the country is the ability you have pay cash and take your new items home with you after the 'Fest -- no waiting and no shipping costs involved.  With the virtual Clarion there's plenty of each, and with the current unfavourable exchange rate and huge increase in shipping costs, plus the COVID-19 postal slow down, the paying and waiting are something you really have to take into consideration when shopping.

I feel like I'm done with the virtual Clarion now.  I ended up buying four items: two of which would have been difficult for me to get any other way and two of which ended up being impulse buys which I may come to regret, but I was very impressed by their pictures and their price.  And that's another problem the virtual Clarion has that the real one doesn't -- you don't get to examine the items in person before deciding to buy.  

On the other hand, I have to say that I didn't miss the Clarion crowds -- wonderful as it is to make new friends and renew old acquaintances at Breyerfest, I found that the Clarion was not the best place to do that.  Every time I ventured down one of those labyrinthine halls, I found myself elbow to elbow with a host of strangers, many of whom were fully prepared to shove me aside to get to an item they had their eyes on.  Sellers rarely had time to chat, and the noise level often made conversation difficult anyway.

Anyway, aside from scheduling my weekend activities, which I won't be able to do until Breyer releases a bit more info, I feel like I'm pretty much set for Virtual Breyerfest now.  Let the countdown begin!

Breyer's Barn Cats

When it comes to choosing companions for your model horses, you can't do much better than a barn cat.  Of course, horses will bond with all sorts of animals -- ponies, donkeys, goats, roosters, and geese being among the most popular.

Companion dogs can be a risky business.  Some horses, especially those that work or go on trail rides with dogs like cattle dogs, hounds, and carriage dogs, can become quite bonded with their canine companions.  But an overactive, boisterous dog, or a dog with a strong prey drive that simply cannot resist chasing and nipping at horses will bring a horse nothing but stress.

Cats, on the other hand, are almost ideal barn buddies.  Even though they are all tiny lions, horses don't seem to see them that way.  Many will happily let kitties doze on their backs in the warm sun, and in return the cat will work to keep a stable's rodent population down, thus preserving much of a horse's food and bedding.

Breyer's model cats are not necessarily meant to be barn cats, although that's a reasonable occupation for cats in the Traditional "Companion Animal" line.

My Pocket Box Himalayan Cat

Breyer's first cat, the oversize, comical Chris Hess Kitten, is almost life-size and is clearly not meant to be a companion to any of Breyer's horse models.  But the two "Companion Animal" cats -- the stretching and the walking (both sculpted by Kathleen Moody) -- would make excellent barn cats.

The sculptors of the itty bitty Stablemate kitties -- lying, sitting, and standing -- are unknown.  Although called Stablemate companions, these cats also pair nicely with some of the CollectA horses.

My scrawny Stablemate Sitting Cat

The Pocket Box line offers a variety of cat breeds, all roughly in scale with the three Stablemate cats.  Although in real life some of these cats are better known as show cats than barn cats, the sculpting is scruffy enough that all of them could conceivably do double duty in a barn.

My Pocket Box American Shorthair tabby kitten

Real life barn cats are usually feral or semi-feral, but a good barn owner will treat them with the same consideration as they would any working animal and not just throw them in a barn and expect them to fend for themselves.  For the cats' safety and that of anyone they encounter, they should be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, provided with a weather-proof hiding spot and have daily access to fresh food and water.  Barn cats will still hunt rodents if fed -- in fact, they will have more energy for the hunt -- and the provision of these essentials will encourage the cats to stay in the barn and not go looking for greener pastures.

Fortunately, Breyer barn cats need no care or feeding.  All they require from you is a little imagination when you want to work them into your model horse displays.  And just like real life barn cats, once you give them an equine buddy to cuddle up with, they will soon make themselves right at home in your stable.

Canadian Hobby History 101

The hobby history portion of Nancy Kelly's book Exploring the Model Horse Hobby (reviewed in my previous post) inspired me to embark on a new quest -- exploring Canada's model horse history.   

I've only had time to scratch the surface so far, but already I can tell you that we haven't been very good curators of our own history, and that's a shame.  So with this post I hope to do my part by starting to bring our story together.

I mentioned in my last post that while I have, over time, held subscriptions to a number of American hobby newsletters, I preferred to subscribe to our own Canadian newsletters.  But having only "discovered" the hobby in 1987, I assumed there had been older newsletters circulating in Canada before I joined the hobby.

The two newsletters I subscribed to were, first, the Canadian Model Express, edited at that time by Mary Ann Dalton, and later The Model Dispatch, a relatively short-lived newsletter edited by Tierney Read.

When I sent out a question to my fellow Canadians about newsletters that existed before these two I found, to my surprise, that no one could really remember any others.  The Canadian Model Express, however, had a much more venerable history than I knew. 

The newsletter started when a couple of Canadian collectors, Valerie Hargreaves Ganzert and Andrea Pratt, who had connected through the pages of the American Model Horse Shower's Journal, decided that Canadians needed a place to connect outside of advertisements placed in American magazines.  Some time between 1973 and 1975 they established the first Canadian model horse club, the Canadian Model Club & Registry (CMC&R), and its membership newsletter, the Canadian Model Express.

Over time the newsletter has passed through several editors, starting with Andrea, followed by Bobbie Mosimann, and then Mary Ann Dalton.  No matter who ran the show, though, the newsletter was really the creation of all its contributors -- columnists, news reporters, live show reporters, reviewers, showers and advertisers.

Most Canadians, though, were introduced to the hobby by finding each other in the advertisements or pen pal pages of American publications -- Bobbie Mosimann, for instance, was the first Canadian to write Simone Smiljanic about the hobby when she read her article in The Western Horseman magazine. She met Mary Ann Dalton in 1968 via a pen pal page and through Mary Ann met Michelle Grant.  Together these three formed the founding core of the hobby in Alberta. 

As more and more Canadians discovered the CMC&R and the Canadian Model Express, core groups began to crop up all across the country. In British Columbia hobbyists were brought together by theThunderbird Live Show, founded by Cathy Tweeddale Mitchell.  In Alberta there was Lethbridge Live founded by Bobbie Mosimann and later the Calgary Connection.  Saskatchewan had Saskatoon Live, hosted by Jennie Seaborn, and Manitoba had the Keystone Classic founded by Ivy Olensky.  

One of the earliest shows in Ontario was the Trillium Live, hosted by Stephanie Robson in Guelph, and then there was Maritime Madness, co-founded by Debbie Gamble-Arsenault and Elinor O'Brien, which moved from province to province around the east coast bringing hobbyists in the Atlantic provinces together.

Additionally, Canada had the honour of hosting the first two official BreyerWest shows after the experimental Breyerfest/BreyerWest shows of 1991 (when Breyerfest was held in four different cities, two of which (Redmond, Oregon and Pomona, California) were located in the West.

BreyerWest 1999 Big Ben and most of his swag -- photo by owner.

My copy of the Fred Stone poster.

The world famous Spruce Meadows equestrian facility in Alberta played host to the two Canadian BreyerWests.  In 1999 the featured model was a regular run "Big Ben," but he came loaded with swag.  The model was signed on the belly by creator Kathleen Moody and Big Ben's show jumping partner Ian Millar, sported a special red Champion blanket with red shipping boots, and came accompanied by a VHS tape called Big Ben ... A Glance at Greatness and a large poster of Ian and Ben by artist Fred Stone.

Two views of the flyer for BreyerWest 2000

For the following year, Breyer produced a special run model available only at BreyerWest 2000 -- a classic "Keen" painted to represent the show jumper "Advantage Chrysler," and signed on the belly by rider Linda Southern-Heathcott (daughter of the founders of Spruce Meadows).  Like Ben, Advantage Chrysler, who had competed for Canada at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, sported a specially embroidered blanket, this time in blue.

Advantage Chrysler with blanket

As for the people considered to be the founders of the hobby in Canada, aside from those already mentioned, the name of Lisa Sharpe was frequently mentioned.  As one collector put it, "Lisa Sharpe was definitely a force for the hobby in Canada and the U.S.!  She has been an international judge, competitor, sculptor, show organizer and all-around ambassador."  Another said, "If it was not for Lisa Sharpe I would not have even known model horse shows existed in Canada."

I myself was introduced to the hobby in a number of different ways.  I have already told the tale of my "discovery" moment.  Following that I connected with a couple of other Canadians through ads in the back pages of Breyer's Just About Horses, and finally to hobbyists locally and across the country through participation in hobby newsletters and attendance at live shows.

And that's as much as I know so far about the roots of the hobby in Canada.  I encourage anyone who has more to add to the story to reach out to me through the comments section of this post.