People, Ponies, & Places Plus a Pup

Second Post of the Day

(How's that title for an alliteration! Proud as punch of myself this morning! Haha!)

My sister Leslie sends out a daily family photo to our sibling email group, something Steve, Jenny, and I all look forward to.

I'd never before seen this photo of my very first horse, Amy, with Leslie.

Taken at Leslie's farm in Brookston in 1993, it was the last photo taken of Amy as she died several days later. Still beautiful despite the grizzled face at 28!

Me with my penpal, Sue Seese, in 1976 at Prophet's Rock. She'd flown out to visit me, just as I'd flown out to California to visit her the previous summer. 

If you were in the hobby in the early 1970s, Sue's name might be familiar to you as she was a first generation hobbyist along with me and Beth Dickinson, the other penpal in our trio of friends. Beth is still active in the hobby, live shows in Region 10, and attends BreyerFest every summer.

The photos Leslie sends us each day run the gamut as she digitizes and discovers people, ponies, and places from our past. 

Another fun one was our Honeywell grandparents, Earl and Georgia (he called her "Georgie") on their first date in 1924. 

Early in her career as a historian/anthropologist, Leslie traveled and presented at various conferences around the country. Sometimes she shares pictures from those events.

Several times she was asked to present about Annie Oakley, 

and was lucky enough to be allowed to handle some of Annie's own artifacts when she did.

One time she was doing a mini museum about Annie Oakley at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association, and was loaned many of Annie's things by the Annie Oakley Foundation. Les had then asked if I would loan her some of my model horses for the mini museum, so I can proudly brag crow say that my ponies sat side by side with Annie's things!

Wondering how Miss Rosie is doing as she settles into her second week with us?

She is absolutely devoted to Nash and he is very tolerant of her puppy-like antics. (Lisa was told that it was thought that she was two, but we think that she is much younger than that.) He is delighted to have companionship and a playmate and at the end of the day, they both sleep hard. (Um, so does Lisa if you catch my drift.)

Rosie is learning to walk on a leash, to tell Lisa when she needs to go outside, and to respect boundaries. She's come a long way in all of those areas, and is a sweet and friendly girl who just loves everyone and hopes you love her right back. (We do.)

"Hey, Pepper! Why are you under the table? Can I join you? Can I play with your toy? Do you wanna be best friends? I love you so much! Can you scoot over and give me a little more room?" 

Snugglesnugglesnugglesnuggle. (I see some Dogs of Our Lives posts comin' on!)

We have yet to hear her bark. Not once. A play growl once that was more like a squeak but that's it. Even when Nash and Tammo are protecting the homestead, and she's right there beside them and in the thick of their commotion, she hasn't uttered a peep.

I looked up the traits of Shar-Peis and apparently they do not bark much. Not a bad thing, not at all, but it has surprised us. 

She's fitting right in, and clearly making herself at home (the foot sticking out is Lisa's) and we are happy to have her with us. 

Off to go work on the quiet book. I'm working on the very last page and I should be able to finish today! Of course, then I have to make the cover...

Stay 'tooned!

Tri-State Horseplay - the Connections

As promised, here are the connections I made with the photos that I posted yesterday. Keep in mind that the point of the game was to look for things that made me think of horses, real or model.

Easy Connections

Easy peasy - Churchill Downs is the location of the Kentucky Derby!

Kentucky has been offering horsey license plates for years. (Lucky Kentuckians!) This was the first time I had seen the foal plate.

As we were driving down 65, I shifted in my seat and caught sight of my shoes. They're covered in colorful horses. Not something I would usually count since they are right there in the car with me, but I love these shoes and decided to count them anyway!

Not Too Hard But Don't Rush Through (that's a hint, LOL)

A nice normal Kentucky state sign as we cross into the state. Kentucky = horses in my mind. But if you look more closely at the sign, the small letters say, "Unbridled spirit." Bridle = horses. (Another connection.) Unbridled spirit = wild horses. (A third connection.) Breyer's new Beowulf popped into my mind. (A fourth connection.)

Horse Cave is a town in Kentucky which has a cave (named Horse Cave) whose opening is located right in the center of town. Why is the cave named Horse Cave? No one really knows but there are legends such as it was a place where people often tethered their horses nearby, or "horse" was a descriptor in the 1800s and 1900s for "big" (think horse laugh) and the cave is huge, etc. 

I can't see PAM and not think of Breyer's Proud Arabian Mare. Funny story on this photo - we'd just pulled into a Love's to get some gas and this semi rolled past us and on into the truck parking area. Craig changed direction and followed it back so I could get this picture.

These panels are for gates (the ones on the front of the bed) or round pens and temporary enclosures (the ones on the back of the bed) for horses and other livestock.

A very hurriedly snapped (and almost missed) billboard with an Amish grocery and bakery advertisement.

I could follow this truck for miles and not get tired of looking at its painted back doors!

Another billboard with several connections. One, it's advertising a boot shop. Secondly, when I got my first horse Amy, Murphy's Oil Soap was highly recommended for tack cleaning. (I did a quick search online and it still is.)

The "Seriously, Lynn?" Connections

Sharpshooter Annie Oakley starred in Buffalo Bill Cody's shows. She was quite a horsewoman, and her connection to him became a connection to Breyer - Isham, Buffalo Bill Cody's favorite horse was produced for TSC in 2003. Isham was named after Liz (Isham) Cory's great uncle who was a close friend of Buffalo Bill.

Leslie and I loved Annie Oakley when we were girls, so much so that our mother made us cowgirl outfits so we could be like Annie, galloping around the back yard and off into the sunset. (L'il sis Jenny couldn't keep up with us but she tried on her trusty mount Bluey.)

The last connection to Annie Oakley, and one of my biggest thrills ever, was when some of my model horses were borrowed to use in a display of Annie Oakley's things for a museum back in 2016.

This semi was probably the hardest connection to figure out unless you collect Hartlands. Stevens bought the Hartland Company in the 1990s and produced model horses for a while then sold the company to (if I remember right) Paola Groeber. It's been sold at least one more time since. 

Like the Amish grocery and bakery, this very last photo was almost missed and thus is blurry. The tire cover with the rearing horse and "Palomino" caught my eye, but later as I looked at the photo closely, I saw the word "Pony" on the left in between the small red lights.

So, that's the horseplay that was going through my mind as we trundled down and back to Tennessee! Try it yourself on your next trip - it's fun and to helps pass the time.

Me and Annie Oakley

What girl from my generation didn't know who Annie Oakley was?

Back in the 1960s, I had a cowgirl outfit my mother made (complete with a felt hat) and a "pearl" handled cap gun. My sister, Leslie, had the same, and we spent hours together cantering around the yard on our pretend cowponies doing our cowgirl duties and shooting 'em up, just like Annie did.

So, when I was asked to loan some of my horse collection for a display with Annie Oakley's things, I wasn't going to decline!

They are currently included in an exhibit at the National Muzzle Loading Rifle Association's annual get together and competitive shoot along with artifacts loaned by the Annie Oakley Foundation and the Tippecanoe Historical Association.

(The common denominator? My sister, and fellow cowgirl, Leslie, who else?)

I have to admit, I am really excited that some of my horses are being included with an exhibit of Annie Oakley's things!

 One of the two glass display cases of my collection. (I am trying to get Leslie to take a photo of the second one.)

 Antique sidesaddles and rifles.

 Some of Annie Oakley's personal items.

 Literature on display.

Leslie and Rick walking through the display while a visitor examines rifles.

Past presidents of the Annie Oakley Foundation. You can see the second glass case with my horses in the background.

I also loaned Leslie some horses that I keep for my grandchildren to play with - pieces that are okay to be "loved hard" and can handle being galloped across the carpet. There is an area in the exhibit for children to do some hands on things, and they are being used in there. She called last night and said the display has been a big hit, and that the children especially are enjoying the horses.

Yep, me and Annie Oakley, together at last. And riding into the sunset after we've done our cowgirl duties.