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Once upon a time... okay, it was 1981. My friend Jolene bought a horse from Nancy Strowger. Nancy had bought her from Kathey Maestas who did the remaking and hairing. Nancy repainted over her original paint job and then sold her to Jolene, who named her Candy O and told me I would just die when I saw her. And I did. I swear, a light shone down from above on her spot on the table when I first saw her. All through that Live Show I pestered Jolene to sell that horse to me. For YEARS, even after I moved and took a few years off from the hobby, I would call Jolene and ask her to sell me that damn horse. She would say "never well okay $500.00". I didn't have that kind of money. Eventualy Jolene and I lost touch...
Then in 2000 I was looking around Elizabeth Bouras' site,
popped into her Strowger page and WOW there was Candy O!!! Elizabeth had found her by accident on eBay just
a few months before when Jolene was apparently selling off her models. I emailed Elizabeth IMMEDIATELY and told
her my story and asked her to please promise me that if SHE ever sold her, to let me know first. And in February
of 2005, Elizabeth needed money and emailed to ask if I still wanted her. DID I?!?!?! Heck yes!!!
The box arrived on February 14th, 2005 and I almost cried a little when I pulled Candy O out of the box. She looked
rough but finally, after 24 years, she was mine. That was the best Valentines Day EVER. :)
Candy O has traveled a long road... from being a multi-Grand Champion in Live and Photo Shows in the early 1980's, to becoming a vintage custom in need of TLC today. If anyone has any photo results, old hobby newsletters that list her, anything at all, I am looking for old records for this grand old mare!
Photo from the 1981 ERC show where she was Grand Champion. Courtesy of an article on model horse showing in the Nutshell News magazine, January 1982.[The original photo was printed from a flipped negative... thanks to modern technology, the photo has now been flipped back!]
This is how Candy O arrived when she came to me in 2005. :( She was bald when Elizabeth bought her back in 2000 and thankfully for me, she never got around to "fixing her up". I was able to put 24 years of pining away for her to work as I lovingly restored her... of course, I spent an entire year looking at her first![pardon the flash]
Candy O has hair again! After Her Highness demanded my attention a few weekends ago, I took off the last few hairs that remained from her mane and tail, touched up a few paint dings [happily her paint job is in very good original condition] built her a new tail bone, dusted off the base and gave her the new mohair 'do. I *tried* to give her "big '80's hair" but my technique is so different these days from what we did back then, I fear I failed to make her mane poofy enough... but the tail is pretty '80's big! GO ME! :D