Pancho

Has to be something short today; another last minute schedule change, plus I need to get some long overdue non-horsey paperwork done and out the door by Monday.

As for the not remembering that there was another Woodgrain Stablemate keychain, I blame that on the schedule. I’ve had to write a lot on the run, without my source materials at hand, and often without my minimum daily requirement of sleep. (Barring any last minute changes, the next two weeks look significantly better. Whew.)

Plus, keeping track of Stablemates is hard. I used to be so on top of them, until the G2s arrived.

In compensation for my error, here is a picture of my Pancho, one of the few truly rare Stablemates that graces my collection:

Prior to its "discovery" in the 1990s, I had heard rumors of a Black Quarter Horse Stallion, but chalked it up to either cases of mistaken identity, or small batch painting errors. Sometimes small batches of Stablemates were painted the wrong color, but since they were otherwise fine and saleable, they’d be packaged and distributed anyway.

(The two I remember hearing about were Silky Sullivan in Black, and Swaps in Bay.)

Hobbyists were justifiably a little skeptical of the Panchos: a previously unknown early Special Run Stablemate, in Black? When I came into possession of one, though, there really wasn’t any doubt about the authenticity. The little details - mold flow lines, flashing, and the quality of the overspray - told the tale.

As always, and in person inspection beats photographs, every time. The only saving grace of the initial controversy, for me, was that it allowed me to secure one for a not unreasonable price.