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BreyerFest '99 Report
Double K Ranch

BACKGROUND
This year was my SECOND BreyerFest. In 1998, I stayed at the Holiday Inn (HI) and sold stuff from my room. For those of you who haven't seen it, the hotel is transformed into a kind of mall, with people selling model horses out of their rooms! Signs and posters advertizing businesses and room numbers are everywhere. What an experience! This year, however, I decided to chill out and stay at the Marriott Griffin Gate.

THURSDAY
I *knew* it was going to be one-of-those-trips when--after a 7 hour drive--my boyfriend (Michael) and I pulled into the Marriott lot, got out of the car, and heard the rear car wheels squeaking! Not knowing *what* it was, we decided to get a rental car and drop mine off at the mechanic's...BUT not without going to the Artisan's Showcase first! It was there that I fell in love with "FN Cool," Candace Liddy's new Classic Stock Horse Mare in a funky all-out cutting position (below).

A black Paint one called to me, "Take me home...RIGHT NOW!!!" but I waited until after we took the car in. She was still there when I returned, so she became my first purchase of the day. The Artisan's Showcase was small, and I really missed Rio Rondo this year :-(::: especially since I wanted to buy some buckles and bits!

At HI, I stopped by Laura Pervier's (Lone Wolf Star) suite and told her that if the car bill wasn't too high, I'd return for the beautiful black Leopard NorthLight Small Shire I'd been drooling over for the past month. I really don't collect drafters, but his coloring reminded me of a horse I used to ride.

While there, I found an awesome Conversation Concepts creature I *HAD* to have. The figurine, called "Horsefeathers," is part of a line of misfit animals. Some others include: a sausage dog with a horse head, an African Gray parrot body with a greyhound head, and a white tiger body with a giraffe head! "Horsefeathers" sits on a branch with leaves and has the body of a toucan and the head of a horse. The chest marking and blaze on it's face is yellow and orange! It combined my love of birds and horses, so I couldn't pass it up.

I picked up a Stone button at the P.S. Cord & Company hospitality suite and bought a PS Turquoise Performance Horse and a Reckless Obsession WPH. If a Stone spotter saw you wearing the button during the weekend, you could win a prize. I didn't win, probably because there were no spotters at the mechanic's garage *LOL*! The new variation Bright Zip is cool, too (lighter and more spots). While wandering the rooms at the HI, I met several people from the Haynet and Cascade discussion board. I followed the signs to Timberwolf's (a.k.a. Yvonne Johnson's) room and had a blast talking with her! She showed me some t-shirts she designed along with her CM SM Quagga, new SM-size western pleasure original sculpture, and armature for her next sculpture!

FRIDAY
Off to the Kentucky Horse Park! We had SR tickets for 9:00 and 10:00. When we arrived at the tent around 9:15, I was surprised to see the line was so short...until I realized it was the 10:00 line! I *walked* in while my boyfriend waited in line in the hot sun for 45 minutes! The following items were available to choose from:

Inside, I saw ALL the special runs, but was set on getting Tiki and some key chains. Yvonne was there, too, commenting on the limited number of bulls and porcelain San Domingos, but my brain cells were elsewhere...I was OBSESSED with having Tiki for my tour foals! We took turns standing in the checkout line, shopping, and checking on our guys. Michael was beet red when I brought water to him and later told me he didn't hear a word I said about which SR to get! (He ended up with Tiki and Oreo.) I managed to get Wahoo King, a companion goat, and a Cigar mousepad (free with $100 purchase). I realized too late that if you bought $200 worth of stuff, you could get a free beach towel! I planned on returning to the tent later to get the holiday ornaments and Zippo Pine Bar, but the lines were too long and the prices were slightly high, IMHO.
I managed to find a nice (small amount of overspray) Hank the Ranch Horse at the gift store on the way out :o) The good news of the day was that the car bill would be small! *Whew!* Two brake springs had popped (I had new brakes installed a week before we left) and were now fixed. Unfortunately, the car's A/C didn't seem to be working. We blamed it on the 100 degree heat and didn't think much of it at the time...remember this.

I didn't go to the BreyerFest reception, but did visit the HI swap meet which was huge and crowded! I finally got to see DeeAnn Kjelshus and her beautiful repaints/resins. I bought Breyer buttons from a woman who made fake decorators. Her booth was SO COOL! After repainting the horses, she returned them to their original boxes. I kept blinking, trying to figure out if they were SRs or test runs! It was like a dream. Someone else was selling a gorgeous etched Big Ben, and many people were selling CM SMs. I left with the new bay pinto Paddock Pals Arabian. In the HI hallways, I found Red Roan Ranch (what a great vendor!) and bought Red Roan Renegade, the PS Performance Horse in red roan.

I really wanted to stay for the Peter Stone auction, but was too tired. The auction was held at the HI with auctioneer Dale Chupp of Shipshewana, IN. It started late (after 7:00 PM), and I didn't stick around to bid...me and a credit card at an auction don't mix!

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