A Little (Personal) History

Well now that the ice has been broken, I guess I should introduce myself and share a little about my background in the hobby. Warning: I'm likely to be verbose and rambling. You've been warned.

There's no real definition of what it means to be "in" this hobby. There's plenty of ways you can participate and they're all equally valid, which is one of the great things about it. So how long have I been "in" the hobby? I don't know. I'd usually date that back to about 1998, when I was old enough to really collect models rather than just have them as toys (still a valid way of enjoying the model horse hobby!). That's also right around when I started showing. I kept up my collection and showed fairly frequently until I packed everything away for college and starting a career.

After about a decade long break from any sort of model horse related activities whatsoever, I leapt back into the hobby both feet first in 2016. You see... I was lucky enough to go to the Kentucky Derby in 2015 in person.

Slight backstory here. I owned and loved an OTTB for almost 20 years. He was my heart horse and the best horse I will ever have the privilege of owning. He was trained and treated amazingly as a racehorse and found a new career as a hunter after he left the track. Both my sister and I started in Short Stirrup on him and competed up to the A-circuit Children's Hunters. He was a team horse for my IHSA team in college. I rode him bare back in a halter and lead rope, we did trails, we evacuated the barn for fires twice... this horse was a literal saint.

Literal saint horse

If I ever got another horse, I would definitely want it to be another OTTB. So yes, I love Thoroughbreds and I loosely follow racing. Santa Anita is my local track and everyone I know there takes good care of the horses and really cares about them, including finding them new homes if racing isn't for them. Yes, there are some bad people in racing, but there are bad people in every sport, and racing keeps the Thoroughbred breed alive in this country.

Anyways, back to 2015. We went to the KY Derby. It was amazing. American Pharoah won and went on to win the Triple Crown.

Blurry photo of American Pharoah before the race. My digital camera in 2015 was not the best.

When 2016 rolled around and the season started up again at Santa Anita, I went in early April as I do every year for the Santa Anita Derby and the Derby Day 5k (it's awesome, you start in an actual starting gate, run through the Arboretum, and finish on the synthetic track at the actual finish line). As we always do, my friend and I perused the gift shop between races. AND THEY HAD BREYERS. Not just any Breyers. They had American Pharoah! And not just one - a Traditional model, a Stablemate, an Ornament, and a Resin! So, having no self control whatsoever, I obviously bought one. And then I bought more...

That was the slippery slope back into model horse-dom. Less than two weeks later I realized I was an adult with my own paycheck and the ability to travel where I want, and I bought BreyerFest early bird tickets. There's nothing like growing up and realizing things you never thought possible as a child are suddenly in reach. Thus my return to the hobby was cemented.