French Connections

Such a long week, but capped off nicely with a picture of the latest and greatest BreyerFest release - this year’s Platinum Star, Haute Couture:

It’s the Marwari with a few mold modifications: different mane, different tail, and the much-rumored-about "normal" horse ears. And one of the most fabulous leopard appaloosa paint jobs ever.

"Runway-thin" and sporting a bold and daring print? High Fashion, indeed! It makes sense to me, thematically. Plus, I think he’s pretty, and a lot of other hobbyists apparently think so too. 

It’s funny, just a few days ago I remembered I had a scrap of vintage rayon fabric with stylized pink and brown racehorses; I pulled it out to see if I could repurpose it into a scarf, since I can’t afford my own (real) Hermes. I wanted to find a few pieces of haute couture to wear around BreyerFest with this year; while I have (we have some pretty fashion-forward people in these parts) I’ve found nothing I could squeeze into my modest budget.

When I first saw the sneak peek photo earlier in the week, I assumed that it’d be a different "French Connection" being played up with it: the Georges Seurat-themed pony I was hoping for. How better to honor the artist who created Pointillism than with an Appaloosa, right?

Seurat did do a few paintings with horses, most famously The Circus, ca. 1890-91. Maybe they're saving the artists for the Stablemates or something....

There’s a third possible "French Connection" that could be made to work with this release: the possibility/likelihood of the French cave painting horses depicted spotted (rather than dappled) horses. There are several articles online about it, but I like this one because they used an actual - and accurate! - Leopard Appaloosa as a reference model:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/science/spotted-horses-in-cave-art-werent-just-a-figment-dna-shows.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

So while Haute Couture itself doesn’t specifically depict a French breed, a little bit of research and creative thinking can make it (quite) French in spirit.

While I understand the desire for more French breeds (I want a Merens Pony!) I’ll take a nicely executed "theme" horse like Haute Couture over an existing mold made to "fit" a specific breed. Or a new mold that will be nitpicked to death before it even gets officially released.

Want? Yes, want. Like everyone else, I’m fluttering between hope and dread over the possibility that this one gets the half gloss/half matte treatment.