Competitors came from miles around to show their entries in the “Pocket Change for Ponies” model horse show at the Becker Baptist Church last Saturday afternoon.
Entry fees and all other proceeds from the event are going to the Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation, according to organizer Aimee Schulz, a group which provides medical care and foster homes for horses and other hooved animals.
Like coin collectors, vintage firearm enthusiasts and vintage motorcycle riders, the model horses inspire a genuine passion in their owners, and the competition at shows is as intense at ribbon-awarding time. The Becker show features three judges and a variety of classes from outright beginners to seasoned exhibitors, and the results mattered in every case.
The horses are all amazingly well-rendered, even more so in the modified classes in which owners can change coat colors, position of limbs, facial expressions, stance and confirmation to attempt to achieve the perfect representation of a particular breed. Some of the rarest examples from top-of-the-line manufacturers like Breyer® and Stone® can sell for $4,000 to $5,000 in the current market, depending on condition and scarcity of a particular model.
Former Minneapolis dweller and current Fargo, ND resident Megan Fritz made her trip to Becker worthwhile, for example, winning the first-place ribbon in the “modified” class under the watchful eye of veteran judge Ruby Kennedy of Clear Lake.
Becker veterinarian Dr. Tanya Lewis entered a number of her model horses in the competition as well, adding a “Reserve Grand Champion” title in the modified class event to her collection. Mike Schulz said Lewis and his daughter Aimee had first become model horse collectors after a trip to a major national model horse show in Frankfurt, KY, in the heart of the blue grass horse country several years ago.
A good placing in a regional show like the one in Becker can lead to points and a chance to compete at the national level, organizers said.
Most of the exhibitors have real horses as well, including Aimee’s Hall of Fame and national title-winning miniature horse “Lulu” and Lewis’ 30-year-old Arabian/American saddlebred mix “Dusty” and her antic miniature donkey “Emmit.”
For more information on model horse shows and collecting, go to mnmodelhorseshows.weebly.com. The Minnesota Hooved Animal Rescue Foundation also has a website with adoption and donation information, and they can also be reached by phone at (763) 856-3119.
