Roman

Believe it or not, I just opened up my Vintage Club San Domingo Roman. Not for lack of wanting, but… you know, long stories.

Of all the 2018 Vintage Club releases, Roman was the one I was most ambivalent about. In spite of my love – or maybe because of – my fondness for the Medicine Hat Pinto pattern, I’ve had surprising difficulty finding just the right #67 to add to my herd.

Though this difficulty hasn’t soured me on the mold itself, as I appear to have quite a non-San Domingo San Domingos hanging around this joint: the no-spot Appaloosa Oxydol, the 1994 BreyerFest Bright Zip, the original Montgomery Ward’s Special Run Black Gold from 1985, the QVC Special Run Traveller, and the Happy Canyon Trail Horse Domino…

I even contemplated buying a 1997 Volunteer Model Moccasin at one point, when one came up on the market a few years ago at a not-unreasonable price. I am very fond of my Commemorative Edition Domino, and having his Buckskin “twin” had a pretty strong appeal to me.

Until I looked at my bank account, and came to my senses.

Another point of ambivalence I had with Roman was his color: it was extremely similar to the Sham Quinn from the year before. There were significant differences – Quinn had dappling, pearlescence, and a less extensive pinto pattern – but releasing two models in such similar colors in two consecutive years felt odd to me.

Then a third point of contention came out of the blue earlier this year. I learned that my Grandfather Louis Jankowiak was good friends with a man named Roman.

Specifically, Roman Gribbs. Who was, for four years, the Mayor of Detroit. Someone with a rather complicated historical legacy.

Finding out – twenty years after his death – that Grandpa Louis was ice-fishing buddies with the Mayor of Detroit was (and continues to be) kind of disorienting, and I’m still not quite sure how or what to think about it. It certainly explains some things, but still leaves other things a mystery… (not all that unusual for that side of the family, to be honest.)

But then I opened my Roman today – because it was that kind of day – and most of my ambivalence was washed away, at least for the moment. Gosh, he’s pretty!

Sometimes a pretty horse is a pretty horse, and it should be left as that. There’s no need to make it complicated, or conditional.