Hoofbeats and Maple Treats Day 3: Not today, Satan

 It's all over, folks - the festivities have all wrapped up and I'm back home, sitting in front of my computer wishing it could have gone on longer. So pretty much just like Breyerfest! 

Anyway, this morning everyone in the Mulled Wine group lined up promptly at 8:30 AM - or probably earlier, due to the number of people already waiting when I got there. Then, after an excruciating few more minutes of waiting, the all-important starting number was drawn, in the style of the old Breyerfest special run line tickets. I had number 20, so I was hoping for them to draw, like, 5, or 15, or even 50 (or 20, but that seemed like too much to hope for). Instead, they drew the fabulous number of 21...which means I was at the very end of the line. It was the closest I've come to crying over plastic horses since the Sunday raffle debacle. It was a terrible feeling, and I immediately assumed I wouldn't be able to get either Caesar or Pitter Patter. 

Fortunately, from the updates I got from various people going through the line, Caesar seemed to be among the least popular of the special run models. So when I got into the room, I was thrilled to see two Caesars left on the table! The person ahead of me grabbed one, and that left the very last one for me! Huzzah! So in the end, I guess the terrible line draw didn't really matter. 

After I got Caesar, I grabbed Poutine (hoping to trade him for something else) and then it was all over! I did stand around near the special run line with my Poutine hoping someone might want to trade for him, but no such luck. It seemed extremely unlikely that the leftover line would have any Pitter Patters, so I went up to my room and packed up all my stuff, then went to lunch with the new friend I'd been hanging out with all weekend. And then we went to the airport and flew home, and here I am! I hope everyone else that attended had a good time - it really was a great event! 

Hoofbeats and Maple Treats Day 2: Last Surprise

 Well, readers, day 2 of Hoofbeats and Maple Treats is over! It was a fun day full of farm tours, jumping demonstrations, fine dining and of course the silent auction and centerpiece raffle. Most of my photos from the farms are on my camera, but here's a not-so-great picture of Legacy in her stall:

That's it for the farm stuff, so let's get to everyone's burning question: What's the centerpiece model? 

That's right - a beautiful glossy metallic bay Big Ben! I already forgot his name, unfortunately. He had a lot of subtle dapples that were hard to capture in the low light (though I do love the "candlelit" aesthetic). 

What else to report? Let's see, there were the silent auction lots:
Design Your Own Breyer (final price: somewhere in the vicinity of $8,000)
Set of four Birds of a Feather models (Flamingo, Sparrow, Magpie and Oriole)
Full set of Santino models
Bondi and Fair Dinkum set
Test version of Lanin with full mane
Set of four glossy Breyerwest/Breyermidwest models

Here's the test Lanin:

I do like him better with his full mane! He sold for more than $2,000 though, which is more than I'm willing to pay for any Stablemate. 

They also had all of the special run models available for viewing, plus the Celebration Model Flinka! Behold:

She looks much more grayish in person, and her box design is really cute! 

Anyway, here are the special runs in no particular order. I'll start with Caesar: 

What a beauty! Here's his other side:

Woohoo! I was mildly concerned that the braids wouldn't be painted, but fortunately they are. Here's Queen City:

Still nothing I need, but she does look nice. Next, here's Trillium and Bunchberry:

They're also quite nice, but I just don't collect the molds. Next, here's Pitter Patter:

Not going to lie: I can't decide if I like her or Caesar better. They're both really nice! Hopefully I can get at least one of them tomorrow. 

Next, here's Poutine:

Also nothing I need, but maybe I can trade him for something tomorrow. Him or Niagara:

The colors on these are all really nice, but most of them are molds I don't collect and/or I cleared out of my collection long ago due to space restrictions. Oh well - I'll be crossing my fingers for a good line draw tomorrow. I wasn't lucky enough to win a centerpiece model this time, but congrats to all the winners! See you all tomorrow at the boutique!