Brooks, JAH and 2026 Premier Club!

 Good news, readers! I have a lot of stuff to talk about today, but I'll start with my Brooks! Behold! 

What a beauty. Buckskin pinto is a great color! 

He is not as yellow in person. 

Have I mentioned I love this color? He looks so good! 

He's so pretty! I love him. And he doesn't have any flaws! Good stuff. 

Another exciting development is that my JAH is here! I didn't scan the cover (for anyone that didn't want to be spoiled). I'll keep the contents to myself for now (I've already covered most of the reveals), but we did get this tidbit:

Ooh! A new Show Arabian for the Kid's Club! Yes please! We barely ever get new releases on that mold, so another one makes me happy. 

And lastly, the 2026 Premier Club is now open for signups! Feast your eyes on this photo of Georgina that's (spoilers!) on the back cover of this year's JAH:

Her head doesn't look too small in this photo, so I'm leaning toward keeping her. But I'm not going to join the club until the end of next month, because I feel like it helps encourage Breyer to release more information about the club to entice more people to sign up. I don't think we'll get to see all three releases beforehand like we did last year, but it would be nice! 

TSC special runs and the Killingtons!

 Good news, everyone! All four Tractor Supply special run models can now be ordered on the TSC website, including previously-available Colby and Brooks and now including Emery and Martina! Here's Martina:

Another pretty Forever Saige to take the sting out of not (so far) getting a Pitter Patter? Don't mind if I do! 

In other news, this year's winter decorator was also released today! 

It's Killington and Little Killington, previously seen in this year's JAH! The only thing better than a holiday silver filigree is TWO silver filigrees, right? Too bad I don't collect the Fighting Stallion or I would be all over this. Collector Club members have early access, so if you're a member, go forth and purchase before they go out of stock. Early access ends 11/6 at 10am EST, so if you haven't purchased by then, you'll be competing with the ravening hordes. Good luck! 

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! 

Hoofbeats and Maple Treats Day 1: So this is Canada, eh?

 Greetings, readers! Well, the first day of Hoofbeats and Maple Treats is over, and what a day it was! I had a leisurely morning in my hotel room sleeping in until the late hour of 8:30 AM, when the loud banging noises outside my room became too loud to ignore (not sure what they were working on in the hallway). Since I didn't have the foresight to rent a car so I could do some sightseeing (not realizing Niagara Falls is only 1.5 hours away), I spent the morning relaxing in my room and playing some Witcher 3. All too soon, it was time to head downstairs and get signed in for the event...and here are our special run models for the event! 

Of those, Caesar and Pitter Patter are the only ones I want. But they're both in the blue group, so I'll only be able to pick one (if they aren't all gone by the time I get up there). I don't want either of the models in the green group, but maybe I can partially trade one of them toward the one I don't get from the blue group? Who knows. 

Anyway, after signing in was done, I went up to my room and unwrapped my event models!



 













After more Witcher 3, I went back downstairs to get on the bus to Woodbine. Here's a not-so-great photo of Woodbine in the distance!

The rest of my photos are on my other camera, so that's all you get for now. After hors de'ouvres and a few races, and some exploring of Woodbine, we headed back to the hotel. And that's it for the event for today! More tomorrow, obviously. 

In other news, this year's JAH is showing up in people's mailboxes! I don't have photos of the revelations yet, but there's a silver filigree Fighting Stallion and mini Fighting Stallion set, and one of the releases in next year's Vintage Club is a lamp featuring the Vanner Foal. Both things I don't need to buy, woohoo! 

And in other, other news, this month's Collector Club newsletter was released today as well! If you're a CC member, check your email to read it. This month's feature story is an article on the creation of Arachne, and there's a spooky Halloween giveaway as well! Lastly, there's this sneak peek:

Something coal-related? Hmm, what could it be? Guess we'll find out eventually. Happy Halloween, everyone! 

Colby and Brooks!

 Alert, alert, alert! Colby and Brooks are now available to order on the Tractor Supply website! Go go go go go! People were having some trouble ordering earlier today, but the issue seems to have been resolved. I ordered a Brooks as fast as I could and it already shipped! I'm looking forward to seeing him. No sign of the other two special runs just yet, but I'm sure they'll show up eventually. 

In other news, I did receive my Riah on Monday. He was the gray version, but due to what seems to be a common tail issue, he had to go back. 

It's hard to see from this angle, but not only is that white stuff at the base of his tail, but it also goes down onto the tail and was even present at the base of his mane, forelock and down onto his face. So, he had to go back. I've seen a lot of Riahs with this issue posted online, so hopefully Breyer has enough replacements for everyone, because...this is pretty egregious. 

And lastly, Hoofbeats and Maple Treats is coming up on Friday! Woohoo! I'm flying to Toronto tomorrow, and I'm excited to be able to report from a collector event for the first time since 2016. And I'm looking forward to finding out what those boutique models are! See you all soon. 

2026 Celebration Horse!

 Exciting news, readers! The 2026 Breyerfest Celebration Horse was announced today - behold! 

As many people predicted, it's a Fjord on the Astrid mold! Huzzah! I love her two-tone tail and her soft brown shading. There's been some grumbling that she looks similar to Sweetwater's Zorah Belle, but I kinda feel like we're going to have to get used to releases on this mold resembling each other, because there just isn't a lot of color variation between Fjords. Similar to how we're going to have to get used to having more than one black release on Goffert (still on two so far). 

But anyway...yay! I love her. Though this does mean there's going to be a glossy one I'll need to get my hands on, but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. I'm just glad we get to find out the Celebration Horse/Model this early! We used to have to wait until January - what a drag!