SUNDAY, APRIL 17, 2011
The Favorite
If you guessed that my favorite color of horses for collecting was black, then you are correct. So, which piece out of my collection of 400-500 horses is my favorite? This one:
Why do I love him so? I honestly don't know. His color is gorgeous - this photo does not do him justice. He's a high glossy charcoal color with white points (not a realistic horse color.)
Maybe it's because I earned him, and the anticipation of working, counting my money, and saving up to purchase a new horse for my collection is what makes him so special. (Notice I don't call Frosty "it.")
I clearly remember the day I bought him. My friend, Bobbie, and I took the bus downtown to Hertz' Pet Shop. They carried Breyer horses among the parakeets and other pets. I always loved to go in there and gaze at the horses for sale, wishing I could buy them all. And Mr. Hertz had made an eight-horse hitch with the dapple gray Clydesdale (the same mold as Hercules in the last post), and had that on display. Bobbie and I would drool over them and wish we had the talent to make a harness hitch and do the same thing.
That particular day, I walked in with my hard-earned babysitting money knowing I would be able to buy one of those horses I was always wishing for. And Frosty was my choice.
Forty-two years later I still love him. To me, he is just as beautiful, just as perfect, just as emblematic of the ideal horse as he was when I was eleven. If I had to get rid of my collection, he would be the last to go, and even then I would try to hang onto him somehow.
That's who my favorite horse is.
Frosty
I saved my babysitting money to buy him in 6th grade. That was 1968-1969! Back then, I earned 50 cents an hour regardless of how many children I babysat at once. (The Maglones with their five boys got a bargain using me!) Frosty's cost was $5, so it took me TEN hours of babysitting to earn him.Why do I love him so? I honestly don't know. His color is gorgeous - this photo does not do him justice. He's a high glossy charcoal color with white points (not a realistic horse color.)
Maybe it's because I earned him, and the anticipation of working, counting my money, and saving up to purchase a new horse for my collection is what makes him so special. (Notice I don't call Frosty "it.")
I clearly remember the day I bought him. My friend, Bobbie, and I took the bus downtown to Hertz' Pet Shop. They carried Breyer horses among the parakeets and other pets. I always loved to go in there and gaze at the horses for sale, wishing I could buy them all. And Mr. Hertz had made an eight-horse hitch with the dapple gray Clydesdale (the same mold as Hercules in the last post), and had that on display. Bobbie and I would drool over them and wish we had the talent to make a harness hitch and do the same thing.
That particular day, I walked in with my hard-earned babysitting money knowing I would be able to buy one of those horses I was always wishing for. And Frosty was my choice.
Forty-two years later I still love him. To me, he is just as beautiful, just as perfect, just as emblematic of the ideal horse as he was when I was eleven. If I had to get rid of my collection, he would be the last to go, and even then I would try to hang onto him somehow.
That's who my favorite horse is.
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