2024/2025 Winter Coloring Contest
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August Round-Up: The 2000s & Breyer at the Olympics
In case you missed it, as part of Breyer's 70th birthday celebrations, we're taking a stroll through Breyer history all year round on our social media channels! August was our first dual theme, because there's just SO much Breyer history to talk about, but such little time! We tackled both Breyer in the 2000s (a great time to be a fan, with lots of new sculptures and ideas!) and Breyer at the Olympics (celebrating Breyer's models of Olympic equine icons past and present).
Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter- right now, we're featuring a fan-favorite subject: fantasy and decorator models! Some of our most ambitious designs have been unrealistic colors, and it's great to revisit these "fantastic" models.
Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock
2000 marked Breyer's 50th anniversary - a huge milestone! The very first Breyer model was produced to be mounted over a clock, and for this iconic anniversary we decided to update this design for the new millennium.
The original #57 Western Horse atop a Mastercrafters clock.
Photo by Kirsten Wellman
Photo by Kirsten Wellman
Kathleen Moody sculpted our American Saddlebred Stallion to adorn this clock - he has since become a collector favorite! The clock was produced as a limited edition for the year 2000, as seen on the cover of the 2000 Breyer Dealer Catalog. That year at BreyerFest, Grand Champion winners at the Open Show were awarded this clock with a unique twist: instead of a clock with the regular run palomino, their clocks were mounted with glossy dapple grey Saddlebreds painted similarly to that year's BreyerFest Volunteer Model.
The first Breyer model was a palomino that could be considered Saddlebred-type, then our 50th anniversary brought us the golden palomino clock horse, and now for our 70th anniversary we have a palomino racking Saddlebred as part of our celebratory lineup - notice a pattern here? *wink*
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The 2000 Breyer Dealer Catalog, featuring the palomino "Clock Horse" American Saddlebred Stallion. |
An alternate dapple grey version of the clock |
The Dancing Horse
Valegro is certainly among the greatest Olympic heroes of recent memory. With his longtime rider Charlotte Dujardin in the saddle, this Dutch Warmblood gelding captured the hearts of Great Britain (and soon the entire world) with his record-breaking dressage scores. The pair won a total of three Olympic gold medals - one as part of Team GB and one in individual dressage at London 2012, and another win in individual dressage competition at Rio 2016. Valegro's retirement ceremony was held in December 2016 at the London International Horse Show to rapturous applause from fans.
In celebration of his incredible Olympic gold medal wins, Breyer released a special limited edition of 3,000 golden Valegro models in 2016. Also pictured is a special prototype model which was released in very small quantities at the 2015 Central Park Horse Show, before the model's general release at the beginning of the following year.
Breyer's Gold Valegro model pictured alongside the exclusive early release Valegro, only available to fans at the Central Park Horse Show in New York City.
The real Valegro meets his Breyer model!
Seeing Double
In 2001, subscribers to Breyer's Just About Horses magazine were introduced to Mosaic, a pinto sporthorse with a loud and detailed pattern that had never before been attempted on a Breyer model. Mosaic was the first in a series of 50 "Connoisseur" models, a tradition that continued for ten years in the pages of JAH. Each Connoisseur Series model was strictly limited to 350 individually numbered pieces, with winners drawn by random lottery.
Mosaic, Connoisseur Series #1 (2001) and Thrillseeker, Connoisseur Series #50 (2011).
Here, Mosaic is pictured with Thrillseeker, the 50th and final edition of the Connoisseur Series produced for the final quarterly print issue of JAH. As you can see, our Lonesome Glory mold perfectly bookended this iconic collection with two beautiful pinto patterns!
The Connossuer Series lives on today through both the Premier Collection, which combines Connossieur-level decoration with brand new sculptures for the Breyer line, and our Collector Club Web Specials, which are produced in similar piece counts to the original Connoisseur models and are also sold via random draw. Following the molding innovations of the late 1990s, the Connoisseur Series marked a major turning point in the equine artistry that Breyer was capable of producing.
The original JAH advertisement for Mosaic.
Tabletop Olympics
From 1999 to 2001, Breyer produced a very special series of fine porcelain models as part of Breyer Gallery: the USET Olympic Equestrian Disciplines Series. Each of these sculptures capture every tiny detail of Dressage ("Expression"), Cross Country ("Courage"), and Show Jumping ("Precision"), with each rider clad in the traditional colors of Team USA.
All three of these sculptures were created by Susan Carlton Sifton, and each was limited to 2,500 pieces. They were also packaged with a hardwood base and engraved nameplate for an extra touch of elegance.
"Expression" the Dressage competitor (1999-2001), "Precision" the Show Jumping competitor (2001), and "Courage" the Cross Country competitor (2000-2001).
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