Grand Wood Carving Man o' War

I’m feeling much better, and Vita - sensing the opportunity - reverted back to her old, bad ways. So far this week she’s eaten my toothbrush, stole my cough drops, knocked over the kitchen trash can (multiple times) and pooped in the house.

Some of it may have been a response to getting a haircut on Monday; everyone tells her how pretty she is, and it goes straight to her head. (Seriously, she knows. Her groomer used to show Wire Fox Terriers, and is always cooing to her what beautiful little dog she is.) You know how some pretty girls are, think they can get away with anything.

The schedule for the rest of the week got weird, so I can’t do anything much longer than post a picture today. It’s an interesting one, though:

While it’s fairly well-known that the #36 Racehorse is based on the Grand Wood Carving sculpture of Whirlaway, it’s less known that the #47 Man o’ War is also based on a Grand Wood Carving sculpture.

I haven’t been fortunate enough to locate myself a Whirlaway, but this Man o’ War turned up on eBay a few years back, and I was delighted to be the winning bidder at a not-unreasonable price. Although mass-produced, technically, they were expensive new and are not easy to come by now.

The only other horse I’ve seen for sale, in person, was in an antique shop in Lexington. (It was an Alsab!) I’ve seen several more on the Internet, but not at prices I feel comfortable paying. If I do locate another, it’s going to be a happy accident and not a planned one. 

Some other time - when I have more time - I’ll talk about the relationship between Grand Wood Carving sculptures, Breyer Woodgrains, and Chris Hess. I want to do a little more research on the subject, too.