This afternoon, we went to see our friend Jackie, who lives in a nearby town, works as a nurse, and is an active artist and poet. She has a new interest, which surprised and fascinated me – the collection and restoration of some of the plastic ponies she collected as a child. They are called Breyer horses and have been loved nationwide for decades.
She and other artists collect, paint, photograph, and re-imagine them. She is one of the ponies in her collection; she isn’t the person who painted it. Jacke bought it and is working on her pony art.
From what we saw, she’ll be just as imaginative and exciting. Jackie was a writing student of mine a few years ago; she is the real deal, a gifted writer, poet, and animal scholar.
It was a sweet afternoon, we went out for Thai food and on the way home, Maria and I stopped for some seafood at the Adirondack Seafood Company, the same one that will bring lobster rolls to the Cambridge Farmer’s Market tomorrow. I’ll be there. Today I bought lobster meat, cod cakes, crab salad, two cuts of Salmon, and three crab stuffed crabcakes.
We’re eating way to Christmas. The day after Christmas, we are heading to our honeymoon site, a beautiful inn in Vermont, for two days. I paid the final deposit today. We love this place and feel safe and rested whenever we go. On Tuesday, I’m going to the Mansion to interview one of the residents. Thursday, I’m going to see Faith at Subway, and on Monday, I’m going to help Casey Page finish painting her horse trailer/ breakfast food cart. Then, ChristJackie’s horse touched me; how wonderful it is to turn beloved toys into beautiful art.
Another post that hits home. I grew up rabidly collecting these horses, making all kinds of tack for them, then later when I discovered groups that repositioned, repainted and competed with them, I had several successful years enjoying that. They really are artists – I was outclassed after a while as the quality of realism , which included not only the horses themselves but the backgrounds and tack, reached an unbelievable height. Not to mention the quality of the photography .Thanks for reviving the memories of an enjoyable hobby.
OMG so did I. I adored horses and had many mainly ceramic ones.
Jon, I look forward everyday to reading your posts. I have resetteled..at 79 into a small communnity on the mountain ina Mexican town.. In wisconsin, \\i onverted an 1845 home built by William the Cooper from Vermont. It was very similiar to yours but I did add a large kitchen. . Now I live in a tiny adobe home with my 2 rescue dogs. Thank you for recommending these two books. Without your recommendation, I woulld never have known. I shall order them right away.
Thanks Dee, I appreciate hearing from you. You sound like someone worth knowing. I love the idea of the tiny adobe home with 2 rescue dogs.. Please stay in touch.
These are Breuer horses. I had an extensive collection as a child– they meant so much to my imagination! I’m thrilled that Jackie and other artists are giving them new lives. Who knows? Maybe I’ll join them!
She loves working with them…
Chris, I think they are called Breyer horses
https://www.breyerhorses.com/?kw=breyer%20horses&cpn=37499739&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiA1fqrBhA1EiwAMU5m__WmHbTSApAScrh4Hg4FuN4epkvgNCAEVzKDfznrHz3D_8N2iIH40RoC0uMQAvD_BwE
Yes! My tablet auto corrected to something else.
You or your friend might enjoy the Portland Horse Project, they are a group in Portland Oregon. They tether plastic horses to the old rings on the streets of Portland and take photos of them, great fun to look at.
Carolyn, thank you so much for sharing this! I hadn’t heard [“herd”? 😉 ] of the Portland Horse Project before, how whimsical & delightful! All part of “Keeping Portland Weird” in a good and interesting way. I love visiting Portland and next time will be scanning the curbs looking for horse rings & tethered critters. What fun, and what a lift to passers-by, something we can all use as we go about our lives. Now I need to find out if our nearby Victorian-era cities have horse rings and maybe start the same thing here, in homage to the Portland project!
Jon, thank you for sharing the Breyer horse art; what a fun, creative hobby to indulge in! As a formerly horse-crazy kid, I collected lots of plastic horses too. Still have my very favorites – and I just turned 70, so still that kid at heart.