Saturday, January 8, 2022

Firefly and Hawkeye

     The last models of the Breyer premier club for 2021 are Firefly and Hawkeye. And they are cute. That sassy little foal just makes me happy. Too bad I really don't collect foals. I love his whole look, his attitude, his color, but I very likely won't be keeping him. Firefly is also an amazing model, who will likely be quite versatile as a performance horse. She is very tack friendly, but I don't love roan horses. Especially red roan horses. I have so much pink in my collection that it is a bit tricky to find things to use with her. 
    I have seen people complaining that she is not actually 1:9 scale, since she doesn't necessarily fit in the tack they have. But I have seen, and ridden, vastly different sized horses at the barn where I used to lead trails. Very short horses where it was easy to hop on bareback and super tall horses where even getting a leg-up was hard. Horses come in different sizes. Lucky for me, so does my tack collection. 
     I got this black saddle set from Joan Yount sometime this past summer I think. It is actually the saddle that fits the best on Ansel (he's a bit tricky to fit) and it also fits really nicely on Firefly. Though this is so far the only western saddle I have put on her. I was also excited to see that the bridle that came with the saddle fits her so well. And she looks nice in black tack with some turquoise for an accent color. 
     Next it was time to try some English tack. Because of course it was. The first bridle I grabbed looked to fit her fairly well 
     I may even have other bridles that fit her better, but this was an excellent first try, with no adjustments.  I didn't love the saddle on her though. I don't know what it was but as soon as I put a doll on her everything looked very unbalanced. So I switched it. 
     I put my larger pony saddle on her, and a youth doll, and everything worked perfectly. Though I was reminded my youth doll needs her legs adjusted and a new neck. I can't shorten the stirrups anymore, so I need to lengthen the doll's legs, lol. And her neck needs to be bendy and then I will be happy. 
     Even with the need for adjustment the doll looks really nice on this horse. I think I could have gotten an adult rider to work as well, if I had switched to a different saddle. That particular one wasn't working on her, it doesn't mean another one wouldn't have been fine. 
      I am still not 100% sure that I will be keeping Firefly, or Hawkeye. Right now I have nowhere to put them and I don't absolutely love the color. It's incredibly well done, I just am not the biggest fan of red roan. But she sure is a cute little model. I think I'll just have to think on it for a bit. One of the Breyerfest special runs that has so far been revealed is a set with the Firefly and Hawkeye molds. Both super cute paint horses. I may just need to get a pickup person this year. 

 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

By "not 1:9" do they mean height, or overall size? Is she more like Giselle? Thanks.

Anne Field said...

Anonymous, the people who claim that she is not 1:9 seem to be claiming that because she is smaller than Geronimo or Lady Phase. But again, not all horses are the same size and Firefly is a beautiful 1:9 scale horse that just might not fit in the same tack as larger 1:9 scale horses.

timaru star ii said...

Your color sense of putting black & turquoise with red roan is spot on!
Your sense of balance is also on target. That first English saddle you tried had its seat-center too far back and was tipped too far forward. (It might also have been too big for the horse.) That was very subtle, yet you knew "somehow"!

While the paint version is very attractive, I like the roan even better. I'd be dunning you for Firefly (oh pun!) except I'm low on funds right now. In truth, saving for other ponies.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Anne! I wasn't sure. I love the variations in size, as I too ride varied heights and weights on real horses. :) I am scheduled for a pick up on Elbe.