The Story of Athena - Part 5

This email is not a prank. 

“I got an email last spring, and to be honest I thought it was a prank,” Amanda recalls her experience from when the Breyer team first reached out to her. “There is no way they could know who my horse was. It just couldn’t be them.”

Amanda Googled the email address to be sure it was real (it was) and when she realized that the team from Breyer had, in fact, sought her out, she started to cry and called her husband at work. Amanda shared Athena’s story and some photos with the Breyer team. A few days later, a Teams meeting was scheduled and Amanda and the Breyer Events Team met (virtually) face to face for the first time. 

“Next year’s BreyerFest theme is Against All Odds and we think that Athena would be the perfect fit to be the Celebration Horse,” Amanda was told. “Her story really embodies the theme of the event and we look forward to sharing that story with our fans.”

Amanda could not think of a better theme for Athena to represent. After being told Athena only had a 30% chance of being ridden after her leg injury, she beat those odds. When Athena started showing, Amanda was told Athena could never be a show horse and would never do well. But she did it. And she didn’t just do it – she crushed it. When Amanda was told her horse would never hold a world championship title, Athena has done it ten times over now. Athena has beaten all the odds.

After hearing Athena’s story from Amanda and delivering the news about BreyerFest, there was some crying on both sides of the screen. Amanda recalls what a surreal experience the whole meeting was. After spending her childhood as a Breyer girl, playing with her own models, now her horse was going to be immortalized as a Breyer model for a whole generation of children to play with.

“I grew up playing with Secretariat and Trigger and Rugged Lark. I looked up to those horses – they were my heroes. Those were horses I dreamed about riding,” Amanda recalled. “There aren’t even words to describe knowing that there will be little kids playing with Athena. It’s the most incredible and humbling experience. I hope that she’s an inspiration for others. I am so deeply honored for Athena to not only be recognized by Breyer for her achievements, but to see her for her potential. To have her immortalized in this way is beyond my wildest dreams.”

Amanda and Athena look forward to meeting their fans this summer in Kentucky at BreyerFest!