More About the Roan...and the "More"

Aside from the Roan AQHA horse, the week wrapped up with a lot of other good news and happy finds.

For instance, the dental work I need will be far less extensive – and less expensive – than I anticipated. Yes!

On the way home from the dentist I stopped at the local Salvation Army and found eight yards of matching vintage feedsack fabric that is perfect for that quilt rehab project I picked up at the flea market about a month ago – and drastically cheaper than the stuff I was pricing on eBay.

But back to the Topic du Jour: The Roan.

I know some of us are upset with Reeves and how they have been handling the release of information about the AQHA release, going as far as accusing them of various nefarious things up to and including deliberate deceit.

Well, yes and no.

As I’ve explained before, there are real horse/model horse people who work at Reeves, and there are the proverbial people who can’t distinguish Chestnut from Bay. It’s pretty clear to me that many of the responses I’ve seen posted and reposted were more from the latter than the former.

But it is true that they are not being terribly consistent with the release of information – and possibly using that inconsistency to stoke our enthusiasm. For instance, the text on the web site reads thus:

Breyer's American Quarter Horse is an assortment of beautiful colors: sorrel, bay, palomino, roan and dun.

https://www.breyerhorses.com/index.php?pageId=6864

The social media responses have been largely variations of the same theme; when asked what colors the release will be coming in, the following text appears to be cut-and-pasted in:

1. Sorrel
2. Bay
3. Palomino
4. Roan and Dun

(This is what’s made many hobbyists assume that Reeves couldn’t tell the difference between Roan and Dun.)

On the promotional page for the AQHA Foundation, we get a slightly different story:

Breyer is proud to honor the AQHA’s 75th anniversary milestone with this very special limited edition model. Featuring custom packaging and a silver logo on the belly, each model is airbrushed by hand in a variety of colors. Just as in the real horse world, the Breyer AQHA horses are most commonly found in sorrel and bay, but you might also be rewarded with a palomino, bay roan, grullo, black or more! Models are shipped randomly so you'll receive a wonderful surprise and a beautiful model and you'll feel great about your support of the Foundation.

https://www.breyerhorses.com/aqha75

Wait a minute: “…black or more!” Gah!

Anyway, it’s clear that Reeves does know the difference between Roan and Dun; the numbered color categories text above is, I believe, how they categorize/assort them for shipping: X number of #1, Y number of #2, and so on, with #4 being the “any and all other colors, including Roan and Dun”.

I like how the Foundation page text also states clearly what I’ve been assuming all along: the color release proportions will be similar to that in real-world Quarter Horses: lots of Bays and Chestnuts, some Palominos, and a smattering of everything else.

For the record, I have no idea what the actual production numbers are, or will be, for each color. I think the Grulla, Roan, and the (currently hypothetical) Black will still be relatively rare, because they are relatively rare in Quarter Horses in real life.

The Grullas seem a little more common right now, but that could just be an artifact of knowing where to mine for them: Tractor Supply stores. I found my Roan at a small, locally-owned hobby store; if that’s where the Roans (and “more”) are being targeted for release, finding them will be inherently a little harder.

It’s too soon to tell, however, based on such a small sample size. It would make sense if they did send the rarest of the rarities to stores like that, rewarding loyal and independent stores with higher demand items both to encourage foot traffic and drive more holiday and year-end sales.

As for what “more” entails, I have no idea if, when, what: Buckskin, Dappled Gray, Perlino Dun, Cremello, Silver Dapple and Dunalino are just some of the viable and still previously unused options for this mold.

I think that the Black ones, if they do exist, may be like the Black Fun Foals - factory repainted pieces of colors that are still in stock by the end of the year (Bays, Chestnuts?) My theory is that the Black will be the rarest - like the Fun Foals!

Or end up being casually tossed into the Ninja Pit next year to destroy us all.