Liebster Award

I've gotten an award! I was totally taken by surprise, since I only created this blog this month, but hey ho! I was given this award not once, but twice, by Cedar Wood Stables and Horse Girl. I thank you both very much! As does Cash. I took so long getting round to sorting out this award because I wanted to take some photos to celebrate. Alas, my 1:9 scale paper hats didn't look very good when perched on Cash's head, and now it's raining outside, so you'll have to be happy with this photo from earlier this year.

And so, on to business. 

Here are the rules:

– Put the Liebster Award logo on your blog.

– Thank and tag the blog who nominated you.

– Answer their questions and come up with 10 new ones for your nominees

– Nominate 8 blogs (with less than 200 followers*), let them know you’ve nominated them, and link them in your post

– No tag-backs

Cedar Wood Stables' Questions

(You may want a cup of tea at this stage.)

1. Do you ride horses? If so, how often and what disciplines?

The short answer is no. The long answer is that I've always wanted to never allowed to for financial reasons. These days, though, my self-confidence that I can even get on a horse is in the toilet. I'm probably too plump as well. If there is a discipline I would love to be a part of, however, it would be driving.

2. How many pets do you have?

I refer you to my other blog, The Dogs of Greenhill Farm. I have five dogs, a pony, and a pet sheep, along with a few more hundred sheep who aren't quite as friendly. This is my favourite photo of Blue Belle to date:

Isn't she a cutie?

3. Do you customise model horses? What do you use?

Not really, I throw acrylic paint at them sometimes and hope for the best.

4. Favourite book/series?

Horse-wise, War Horse is an amazing book. I'm a fan of many TV programmes, including Doctor Who, Sherlock, Person of Interest, Supernatural, House MD, the odd British police drama, QI, not to mention the comedies and other dramas that I've forgotten to mention. Oh - Blackadder. I write fanfiction.

5. Best model horse memory?

In the living room one day I created a little field for my Schleich horses using VHS tapes. It was the same day I got the then-new Dressage Hanoverian mare. You know, the bay one with the moulded on leg bandages. I just remember playing with them all afternoon. There are other memories, but that's one of my fondest.

6. Model horse/horsey inspiration?

Pretty horses in Breyer and Schleich catalogues.

7. Worst model horse buy?

Every time I run low on money, I think every horse I've ever bought is a bad buy. I do have a pair of Traditional Breyers (Sara Moniet and Pinto Sport Horse) that would fall into this category. I'm trying to sell them.

8. Favourite horse/dog/cat colour?

I'll flip this a bit, and name breeds instead. Horse: Shire, Suffolk Punch, Shetland Pony, Percheron, Friesian and Haflinger / Dog: Border Collie! / Cat: I like the furry ones. Persians, are they? And the ones with three colours. Tortoise shell, I think.

9. What’s your dream horse?

One day I will have a Suffolk Punch. No one can stop me.

10. Any other skills/hobbies?

I like photography a bit...

And I like to draw cartoon horses sometimes. A Shire in harness...

And my Blue Belle in cartoon form...

Horse Girl's Questions

1. What is your favorite place to be?

Gosh, that's a tricky one. I love being at home and spending time with my animals, and at the same I love going to somewhere new (preferably with a dog and a camera).

2. How long have you been blogging?

I've been blogging about my dogs for over five years, and my models for about five minutes.

3. What would your dream home be like?

Clean and tidy. Big but not too big. The colours would match. Each room would have a different colour scheme. There would be lots of shelves for models things. I'd have an office. I'd have a broadband connection (did you know I can only use the internet in my granny's house because there is no phone line to my own house?). There would be a big sofa.

4. How many blog posts have you made?

One my other blog, 604 - on this one, 11. If I remember my high school maths correctly, that is 615 blog posts. Now there's a scary thought.

5. What’s your favorite colour?

I always say I don't have a favourite colour, and yet I seem drawn to blue things...

6. Who is your favorite Harry Potter character?

Er... I've never read/watched Harry Potter. This annoys my friends greatly.

7. Have you got any pets and what are their names?

I refer to a question above. As for names: Jess, Teddy, Pip, Ben and Sheila are the dogs, Blue Belle is the pony, Suckie is the pet ewe, and there are a handful of other sheep with names as well. Dave, Gloria, Norman, Nova, Brian, Malcolm... I like giving sheep human names. It makes me laugh.

8. Have you ever fallen of a chair? (don’t ask)

(I shan't.) I'm pretty sure I have, but I've blocked out the memory due to shame/embarrassment.

9. What  brand of model horses do you have the most of if any?

I'd say Schleich outnumbers Breyer by a fair margin. It occurs to me that I've never counted. Shame on me.

10. What is your favorite horse colour?

I like palomino, and I used to call that my favourite colour, but any colour goes, really.

Now, my 10 questions:

1. Do you have trouble coming up with names for things?

2. Is there a model which is your total, absolute favourite?

3. Have you any rules when it comes to buying a new model?

4. Do you have any pets? If so, tell us about them.

5. Tea or coffee?

6. What is your favourite horsey film?

7. Have you every bought a horsey magazine?

8. How open are you to people about your model horse collection?

9. What song is stuck in your head right now?

10. Can you tell us a joke?

And the nominees are...

Last Alliance Studios

Chestnut Heartbeats

Desktop Stables

Josine Vingerling

Many Mini Hooves

All of you feel free to ignore me.

Phew, that took a while. Thanks once again to those who nominated me!

The Collector

Brogue is quite the model horse collector!

I thought it would be fun to unearth my Mini Whinnies collection and give Brogue a new hobby. He really likes this little Quarter Horse mare.

It's like looking in a mirror...

This is one of my favourite Mini Whinnies. I cannot tell you why because I don't know myself. There's just something about him...

Brogue has good taste in models.

Where We Once Roamed

I thought it would be a good idea to take photos of Laire in some of the older parts of the yard. I ended up sticking around the lambing shed. It's one of the oldest buildings. At one corner of the lambing shed is a pair of stables for, what would have been at the time it was built, a pair of working horses.

Laire is standing on the concrete blocks that now turn the stable door - that once led into the shed - into a solid wall. Behind her is one of the pens where the ewes wait to have their lambs. At this time of year it's home to a vintage tractor.

Just outside the lambing shed.

Inside the lambing shed itself:

She fits in with these environments better than I expected. Maybe one day real working horses will roam the farm again.

High Key / Mid Key / Low Key

Best of Irish

When I first saw the Best of British Irish Draught, I knew it was a must-have! But I had to wait until I'd achieved something before I got it. That is my new rule: I must achieve something before I can spend money on a horse. The achievement that allowed me to purchase this horse was completing fifteen days of pet sitting.

So this is Liam, the Irish Draught:

He is a beautiful, rich shade of chestnut with some fantastic shading.

His eyes are his best feature - just look at them! Breyer should paint all of the horses' eyes like that.

When I brought him inside his eyes came to life.

Beautiful boy!

Black & Blue

I am loving Breyer's Best of British series. When I saw the set with the Shire horse and Corgi dog, there was no question that I would end up with one. I was disappointed with the paintjob on the Corgi - his tongue wasn't even painted pink! The model horse, however, is beautiful, stands surprisingly sturdily considering the position he's in, and did I mention he's beautiful?

He is flawless - I love him! I've called him Thor, because he needed a brave, strong name. Thor reminds me of a Shire from a set of British Breeds Stablemates that was released in 2010, I think it was. He's black too, with dapples, and little silver shoes. Here he is, standing up to a Dalek:

In my head they are best friends. They stand together on a shelf in my room, together with the cheeky Dalek. At first Thor and little Prince were scared of the Dalek. Thor was always steering Prince away from danger.

I love this mould so much. I would conga it in a heartbeat.

Prince is my favourite Stablemate - he is the only one I have on display. I like his eye whites, and his dapples, and his cuteness.

It took a while, but now Thor, Prince and the Dalek are besties. Follow the leader, Abbey Road style...

Between a rock and a hard place (or a hoof and a Dalek):

Now the gang is ready to save the universe (my room) from evil!

(And you may be asking, "Why?" Well, I wanted to take photos of my lovely new Breyer horse, and I thought my photos were getting a bit samey - time to be unpredictable! I looked around my room for inspiration. I was already going to take photos of Thor and Prince together, but then I realised that my little Dalek had something in common with both of them. For one thing, his colours, and for another, you can't get more British than good old Doctor Who. I went out just as the sun was going down, and that's why the lighting changes as this post goes on. Pretty, isn't it? I've got another Best of British model to photograph yet. Photos soon!)

British (Heavy) Horsepower

I recently made the decision to restrict my model horse buying to either ponies or heavy horses since those are the two groups of breeds I find the most interesting, so the Breyer Stablemates British Draught and Pony set was right up my street. Plus it had a Suffolk Punch in it. So how could I not?

I unearthed a pair of my model tractors to act as props. The period after the Second World War, through to the Sixties, is the time of farming history I find most fascinating. Horses still played a major part in the day to day work on the farm, but were being squeezed out by tractors. Soon the horses were gone altogether. It makes me sad that there isn't a draught horse on every farm anymore.

The Clydesdale from the set, which I have decided will be a Shire.

The Suffolk Punch, my favourite horse breed.

The Shetland Pony is adorable.

And last but not least. the Highland Pony.

I had some fun with the tractors too. For those who may not know (and how could you not?), the Ferguson TE20:

And this one I call simply; Shades of Brown: Chesnut, David Brown, Bay and Skewbald.

I've had these tractors for approximately ten years, maybe more, maybe less. I was surprised how well they looked considering how much I played with them. You could say they are vintage in their own right!

Halters for Chex and the Heavies

I think I've mentioned this before, but I am fascinated by miniature tack. When I saw Desktop Stables' shop on Etsy, I decided to go shopping! I actually recieved these over two weeks ago, but I've had a few laptop problems, so I'm only getting around to putting these on here today.

For Cash, a bright blue halter to match his blue eye.

For Trooper it is a bright red halter to match the uniform of his police rider.

Phoenix's halter is orange to represent flames.

Brogue missed out on his own halter because of his wild mane - you could say he's untameable!

I am thrilled with them. For their size they feel very sturdy. They even came with matching leadropes!

Now Chex and his Heavies look really colourful.

It's a slippery slope from here, I'm sure.

Laire and Bonnie

I've gotten a few horses I didn't particularly like recently. The first was the Pinto Sport Horse version of Gem Twist. In catalogues I'd always admired the pose and when the chance came to get one new in the box for a little over £21 I didn't hesitate. But as soon as I'd gotten it out of the box I didn't really like it. I don't what it is about it. I was disappointed as this was the first time I'd bought a Breyer Traditional I didn't like. I didn't even photograph it properly, and that's a bad sign if ever there was one!

I photographed Sara Moniet, and again she is a lovely little horse... but I don't love her. She doesn't mean anything to me. Both the Sport Horse and Sara came out of their boxes without a single flaw, yet my Trooper had a few box rubs here and there, and I have fallen in love with him... I want to sell the two I don't want, but I've got no idea where to begin.

When I'm in the mood to buy a new horse, I look at independent retailers - I find online shops specialising in farm toys to be the best places to look. That's where I found the discontinued Gem Twist, and where I found these two...

My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I saw them for sale. They must have been sitting in a warehouse for some time. They're very happy I rescued them and set them free! Because of my recent disappointments with model horses, I bookmarked their page and checked in on them regularly to make sure they were still available. I took over a week to make my decision and save up a little bit of money for them. I bought them last Sunday for £39.99 with free delivery, and they arrived by courier on a damp Wednesday afternoon in perfect condition. And when I opened the box there was that little spark, and I knew these two were keepers.

I love them both already. I have to admit I was so happy that evening I had a little play with them. I haven't played with my toy horses for at least five years, probably more, but these two brought it all back. I struggled with naming them, because I wanted their names to suit them and have a Scottish connection like with Brogue and his Irish name. The foal found her name first, and she's called Bonnie, which means "fine" in Scottish, according to this website. Mum took a little longer to pin down, but I found a name for her too. Laire is a Scottish word for "mare" apparently, says the same website.

I've had to wait for the weather to allow me to photograph them, and I at last got round to it yesterday. It wasn't as windy as it usually is around here, and they both have all four massive hooves on the ground, so I chanced taking their photos in the yard.

(Please ignore out of scale grass in the background. Oops.)

This is where family fittingly comes into the story. When I was taking Laire and Bonnie out of their box, my dad, who doesn't like horses, said that they were really nice. My mum wanted to display them in the kitchen, and that was a resounding no from me. I brought them across the lane to show my granny, and she thought they were the nicest horses I'd gotten yet. When I was taking some photos of the little horses in the yard, my Granny came out of her house just to make sure they were alright! My dad echoed my granny in saying they were the nicest horses I'd gotten yet. I've never had such approval for a pair of plastic horses before. I'm not quite sure how to react, but it is very nice to hear!

Little Bonnie is very adorable.

Laire is beautiful too.

The best thing about these two is that they will always be together.

I'm very happy with my new girls, and they have restored my faith in model horses. And if you've read through all of that, well done you!