IDEAL PRESS RELEASE
OREGON STALLION HONORED AS “BREYER MODEL"
Lake Oswego, Oregon – IDEAL, pronounced E-DE-ALL because that’s the way it’s said in Germany where he was born, is a stallion with so many fans that the Breyer Model company has released a scale model of him. Owned by Carol Ives and Michelle Ives-Purdy, mother and daughter, IDEAL ‘stands’ at The Ultimate Piaffe Horse Farm at Lake Oswego, Oregon. IDEAL is the number one Oldenburg Stallion for number and percent of premium rated foals in his registry.
Until being singled out for the honor of being Breyer Horse Model #1200, the handsome stallion’s popularity was gauged by the nearly five hundred offspring in the USA, Canada and Mexico he has sired. From the earliest days IDEAL caught the attention of the equine press including.Laura Hildenbrand author of Sea Biscuit who compared the young stallion to Secretariat for similarity of gaits and physique.
Breyer Horse models have been captivating collectors since the 1950’s. Hundreds of thousands of collectors world wide were introduced to the hobby as children getting Breyer models for Christmas. Reeves International, parent company, won’t release figures on the number of IDEAL models being crafted, but they do say thousands have are hand painted and are being delivered world wide. Breyer manufactures and ships 5 million horses each year, not including Special Editions, tack and accessories.
Tamra who heads a collectors organization with a popular web presence at www.Breyertrs.com, says, “This is a growing hobby and IDEAL has made a beautiful addition to the Breyer model." The gentle personality for which he is known and reportedly passes on to his offspring seems to have been captured by the sculptor. Lea says, “Just looking at the model makes you just want to hug him."
“We have only seen pictures of the model in various stages as we authorized each development, but we are waiting to see the real thing like everyone else." Says Carol Ives. “Ever since the collector’s organization put up a sneak preview picture on their website, our phone at the Ultimate Piaffe has rung steadily with congratulations from well wishers and folks insisting we would surely have a stash of models to make available. The closest we can come is direct callers to IDEAL’s website www.ultimatepiaffe.com where we have pictures and the story and promise to post information on the availability of models, hopefully in time for Christmas. However, this is jumping the gun a bit, because officially IDEAL is a 2005 Model.
The BREYER representation of IDEAL freezes his image as he appeared in 1996 when his points were darker and dappled shades of Gray transformed into more Snow White. As robust and fertile as ever, IDEAL has assumed a more regal tone.
The word Piaffe in the Ives family farm name is a reference to a dressage movement. A reference to the primary of the Olympic disciplines Carol and Michelle had in mind for the colt which in 1988 had been selected for important to the USA to improve the breeding stock in America by introducing the blood lines of famous European sport horses Incchallah, Zeus and Furioso II. Mrs. Ives says, “We choose dressage as a career for IDEAL because Michelle was competing at FEI (International Level) in that discipline. But fate seems to have taken a hand. A breeding operation was the furthest thing from our minds. In fact, were it not for a canceled vet appointment for gelding, things would have turned out a lot differently. One of the stories that caught the attention of horse magazines recounts the Ives getting a letter, in German, telling the story of how IDEAL (whom the Ives had named Wolf not knowing he already had a name) was chosen for import to Carolina where he fell into the hands of a shady character who made off with millions of dollars and clouded the title to ownership of a number of high born young horses. Reading like a movie script, the families anxiety was raised as the FBI and Interpol entered the investigation and queried the Ives about IDEAL pedigree. There was great relief when IDEALS ownership papers finally arrived along with the background letter they took to a travel agent to translate. That was the was the first time his new owners knew anything about his intended destiny. Carol and Michelle felt that they had a responsibility to perpetuate the blood lines and the gelding was permanently canceled. We had no idea where this was going to lead us or all of the attention IDEAL would garner. Let alone even dream that he would become our very own living breathing BREYER MODEL.
At his 100 Day Stallion Test in 1990 at Rancho Murretta. (where he was Reserve Champion) IDEAL scored 9’s on his jumping. That has come through in his offspring. One of his son’s, Montana, was the five and six year old jumping Champion for the Nation of Mexico. He has hunter’s jumpers, combined driving dressage horses, competing in USA, Canada and Mexico. There are IDEAL offspring in neafy evert State with a number are clustered in Florida … just about as far away as you can get from the small Oregon town IDEAL and the Ives call home. Fresh chilled or frozen semen is shipped every other day via air.
IDEAL was bred by the Burgermeister (Mayor) of Oldenburg Germany. Michelle Ives-Purdy quips, “You can’t get more Oldenburg than that". Michelle and her husband Darrell, who run the family with Mrs. Ives, visited the Burgermeister in Oldenburg a few years ago taking him pictures of the IDEAL showing his progress from a State Premium Foal born and branded on Oldenburg, selected as a stallion candidate and documenting his odyssey to become recognized as a top improvement stallion and one America’s top horses.
The geneses The Breyer Molding Company is traced back to making model horses in fifties for Mastercrafter Clock Company. Mastercraft had a mold for a standing horse in western gear that they wanted produced for their clocks. The story goes that when the firm was unable to cover the molding expenses, Breyer kept the mold as payment. Then began making the Western Horse individually for Western Stores and the C. W. Woolworth Co. Customers asked to buy the statue sans the clock and Breyer complied. The models sold well, and Breyer Animal Creations was born. Reeves International of Pequannock, New Jersey bought Breyer Animal Creations in 1984.the privately held company continues to produce them today.
The rarest models are definitely the Breyer Connoisseur Model Horse Series (other than Breyer's one of a kind models they'll offer at BreyerFest). These horses are exclusive to the "Just About Horses" magazine readers (official publication of Breyer). Each Connoisseur Model is limited to 350 pieces. Collector, Tamara says “One of their Connoisseur models holds a value of $650 according to the identification book. But, I've seen them go much higher on Ebay. As for the most popular models... she continues, I'd have to say that movie models seem to be really popular the past few years including Spirit & Rain from "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" in 2002, Seabiscuit & War Admiral from "Seabiscuit" in 2003, and now Hidalgo from the motion picture this year
The IDEAL Model 1200 is being released in what is known as the Traditional Line which retails for between $30 and $50 dollars.
Creating a BREYER model is labor intensive. Initially, artists sculpt a clay model, which is then used to produce steel molds. The steel molds are expensive to produce, and are very fragile. Cellulose acetate pellets are melted, and then injected into the molds under high pressure. Models are then cooled before they are assembled and finished. Each model is initially painted with airbrushes, with final touches on every single model is done by hand. As many as twenty artisans handle each individual from start to finish a process which hasn’t changed after 54 years. Even today, no two Breyer Model Horses are ever exactly alike!
Reeves’s Breyer Animal Creations® dominates the model horse market in volume, sales and distribution.
Published by DOT Communications
