Breyerfest Excess

A recent article in the New York Times about Breyerfest brought back fond childhood memories of days spent circling my tiny bedroom with horse models, all made by Breyer, a company that is still going strong after all these years.  My "Cantering Welsh Pony Model" is now highly collectable and my "Midnight Sun" model still reigns.  You can read the entire article here.  But the article really hit a nerve for some reason.

(Midnight Sun for Sale on Etsy)

 (Grazing Foal - Vintage Model - on Etsy)

If you weren't a horse crazy girl then maybe you aren't familiar with this rite of passage.  Every year, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, the masses converge to buy and sell Breyer horse models and the associated products.  It's like Christmas for collectors and for girls who would never part with their coveted models that now include horses like American Pharoah or the famous show jumper, Snowman.

(Snowman)

(New York Times photo)

Like everything else in America, we've commercialized, supersized and created markets for things that never existed 30 years ago so we can have more.  While we were happy cantering our models around the yard, with jumps made from sticks and straws, you can now buy just about everything you never thought you needed for your Breyer horses - saddles, halters, blankets, barns, horse trailers, riders, riding clothes - they have thought of everything. They come now in several sizes or scales so you can three collections instead of just one.  There's nothing left to chance. 

You can even buy handmade boots for your Breyer horses on Etsy.  Got to love that entrepreneurial spirt!

 (Boots on Etsy)

Some of the traditional models are still around like Misty of Chincoteague which you can buy most anywhere with the book or movie, and foal.

I guess it's logical that this market would grow and expand and create a need for things we really don't need at all.  That seems to be evolution of most everything in America now and maybe that's why we can never have enough. But at least the market still exists for little girls who only want to canter their models around in lieu of being able to own the real thing.

As a side, note, there's even a Breyfest Tote Bag that you can buy off the web site in case you didn't make it to Kentucky.

(Breyerfest Tote Bag)

Happy Monday!