Model X

I thought I was having a pretty productive weekend, but then I attempted to do my taxes and hit a brick wall.

Ugh. Another appointment to schedule this week!

While putting my live show documentation away this past weekend, I found a very interesting photograph: someone who bears a striking similarity to the custom I’m rehabbing!

According to the information on the back of this photograph, this particular model (a Morgan Mare named CID Teresa Diamond) was done by Kathleen Maestas. Aside from the gender issues (my model is very much a stallion!) the painting style of my little rehab project isn’t anything like hers, so any similarities here are due to the fact that they were done in the same era (the mid- to late-1980s) using similar materials and models.

Some artists back then also had a habit of replicating customs, either their own or (sometimes) the work of others. Especially if the original did well at a live show, or had received multiple purchase offers back in the day of published sales/stock lists, monthly newsletters and SASEs. 

With some variations for personal preferences, of course: I want it just like Model X, but with two hind socks and a blaze!

And if you’re wondering, yeah, it wasn’t considered cool back then, either. But it did happen. I believe at one point Karen Grimm even attempted to formalize/monetize the process a bit and make standardized customs called “Hacksaw Originals” that were also slightly customizable to customer preferences.

I don’t believe that effort lasted long: this was shortly before drastic customs and (a few years after that) resins became de rigueur. And some of the “standard” bodies she came up with were a little odd. Like a Family Arabian Stallion with a Five-Gaiter’s head and neck kind of weird. 

I mean, points for creativity at least…

Nevertheless, I did do a little bit of a double take when I saw the photo: I’ve found photographs of models I’ve bought before (and sold after!) so it wouldn’t have been a complete shock if it was him. The hobby – and the number of active hobbyists, showers and customizers – was smaller than it is today, and to be honest there aren’t all that many of us even now.

That’s why “unique” models – like Customs and Test Colors – have an uncanny knack of reappearing after so many years. Most of them haven’t strayed that far to begin with! 

And before I go get my (several) appointments out of the way this week, let’s also remember that collectors and hobbyists are not interchangeable terms. There are a vast number of people who collect, but the actual number of people who go to live shows, customize, attend BreyerFest on a regular basis, or inhabit various Internet hangouts where model-horsery takes place is only a small fraction of that.