Do That Conga: Indian Pony

I’m *almost* ready to dive into one of the big congas (Sham, Lady Phase, Wintersong, Big Ben, Stone ISH, G2 Appaloosa) but I’m not quite there yet. I’ve been struggling with my mood a little bit lately; the holidays are hard, winter is hard, work is hard, and I miss my cat. I’m usually 5-6 posts ahead of schedule, but I’m barely keeping up now. It’s just a rough spot that happens around this time every year; nothing to be done but push through it.

The Indian Pony is another one of my accidental congas. I only had one of her for a really, really long time, but she has slowly grown her ranks to nine strong. Here they are, as always, in order of acquisition.

 

 

I think this gal is the first to repeat appearances in the blog. That’ll happen from time to time; many of my models fit into multiple categories. This is #711898 Sundance, a Toys “R” Us special run. I already talked about her in this post so if you want to read more, go check that out. She was my only Indian Pony from around her time of release (1998) until 2011.

 

 

This is #1363 Shasta Moon, the Collector’s Choice model for the first half of 2009. I bought her in April 2011 from Shady Acres, a tack shop in Pittsburgh that seems to be an on-again-off-again Breyer dealer. I haven’t been there in several years, but they had a goodly amount of stock (both newer and older) in the early 2010s when I was just getting back into collecting. Shasta Moon was a great show horse for me for awhile; her show name was Penumbra. She’s since been retired due to a developing seam split on her back.

Next to join the Indian Pony conga was #701903 N’iekeni, a run of 3000 models for Mid-States retailers (like Rural King) in 2003. I’ve always thought this color was super pretty; a nice, soft, dark-headed roan will get me every time. She’s always commanded a high price on the secondary market, which stays true today, looking at recent eBay sales. I lucked into one for a good price in September 2012 through Model Horse Sales Pages. I don’t show her often; when I do, I keep her assigned name from her previous owner, which is Native Watercolors.

 

#701725 Miigwan was also a Mid-States special run, though her quantity is unknown. She was produced in 2013 and I got mine in November 2013 with the help of my friend Penny, who picked her up from the Rural King in St. Clairsville, OH, as she was passing through.

 

 

This is #174 Indian Pony, a regular run from 1973-1985. I bought her through Model Horse Sales Pages in February 2015 from a friend of a friend. I liked her lighter color and softer, smaller, lighter spots. I’ve shown her occasionally under the show name Tanis.

 

 

In 2020, Breyer celebrated their 70th anniversary and released a line of five traditional molds to celebrate (similar to what they did this year for their 75th anniversary). This lovely bay appaloosa, #1825, was one of those models. I bought mine from Paint Pony Studios’ website when they had a massive sale on them, something like 50% off.

 

 

Ah, this girl. As a bay roan on a mold I really like, #929 Cheyenne, a regular run from 1995-1996, was on my want list for a long time. Somehow circumstances never seemed to line up right for me to buy one.

I think that’s because I was supposed to have this particular model.

Leslie Rothhaar was one of the first few people I met when I re-entered the hobby in 2010. I went to my first show (CRAB) with her. She was a serious collector and a fantastic artist, painting all kinds of models under the studio of Towns End Art. She was particularly known for painting Carol Herden cows, often used by performance showers. 

After Leslie passed in February 2022, her daughter Ginger started to slowly disperse some of Leslie's collection. Ginger attended our very first Are You Kitten Me Live benefit show as a vendor. It was a super busy day as both a judge and co-hostess, but I made time to stop by Ginger’s table, and lo and behold - there was a Cheyenne, just waiting for me to take her home.

 

Totally worth the wait to give a model from my friend’s collection a good home. 

 

 

With these last two, I don’t have exact acquisition dates. I don’t even know who came first. I’m super, super bad at keeping track of ponies I buy at shows or win in raffles at shows, and these two are victims of that. First up is #301168 Sayen, a Tractor Supply special run from 2021. Her show name is Havasu.

 

 

And then there’s the glossy version of the 70th anniversary release. Her number is #8224 and she was produced for the 2021 Collector Club Appreciation sale. I did participate in the sale that year and received the glossy Fighting Stallion, who was my first choice. When this one appeared in a show raffle, I couldn’t resist putting a bunch of tickets, and was the lucky winner. I just don’t remember what show had her in the raffle.
 

Indian Ponies that I would like to add to the conga someday: the red dun JCPenney SR from 1988 (as long as I can find one that isn’t shrinking/oozing), #1284 Leotie, and the Connoisseur line #90139 Cassiopeia. Those are reasonably obtainable. The only unobtainium Indian Pony on my wish list is #712055 Niilhassi, a run of only 15 models from the Sunshine Celebration event.