The Obligatory Introduction

Hello, there. Thank you for finding my blog.

Just to get this out of the way up front, I am in no way affiliated with Breyer Animal Creations or Reeves International, though they certainly do know who I am.

And who am I? I’ve been a Breyer collector since 1974, and a model horse hobbyist since 1978. From time to time I’ve taken a few brief hiatuses to pursue other interests, but the model horse hobby has always been there for me whenever those interests become … less interesting.

In fact, I think what makes the model horse hobby such a strong and persistent presence in my life and the lives of my fellow enthusiasts: it encompasses so many different activities (showing, collecting, tackmaking, customizing, "pedigree assignment") that it’s hard to get bored by it.

I’ve been around long enough to have participated in most of these "hobbies within the hobby," but my primary interest and area of expertise - as you may have guessed from the title of this blog - is the history of the Breyer Horse.

It’s a long, convoluted and incredibly intricate history that hobbyists such as myself have spent hours, days and years reconstructing. Like most small, family-owned businesses, Breyer didn’t keep the best documentation - or sometimes, any documentation at all, especially in their earliest days. We have records of things that don’t seem to exist, and things that exist for which we have no record. And there are seemingly endless variations in color, markings, finish and mold - some explainable, some not.

All absolutely and endlessly fascinating to me.

As for my credentials, I’ve written numerous articles for hobby-oriented magazines and newsletters, including Just About Horses. I publish a free newsletter devoted to Breyer History, the MGR Sampler, that I distribute once a year at the hobby’s de facto convention, BreyerFest.

I’m not currently attached to or collaborating with any other Breyer History, guidebook or web site. Yes, I’m working on my own, but as my life is not as neat, tidy or secure as most, I am uncertain (if and when) of completion. This blog is my small way of making accessible what I know in the meantime.

I can’t make any guarantees to a regular schedule or series of topics, as I’m sure my life will get in the way from time to time, but I will promise to make every effort to be interesting.