Amethyst Hill

It all started with a single model...Justin Morgan.  When I was seven, I recieved the boxed set of the model of this famous founding sire of the Morgan breed along with the book by Marguerite Henry  Justin Morgan Had a Horse.  Being only seven, I uncreatively gave him the name Justin.  There also was a Breyer catalog inside the box and I spent many hours looking it over and dreaming of getting more horses so Justin could have some friends.  Later, for my birthday I recieved a couple more horses:  A palomino Western Prancer and an Appaloosa Yearling.  Now I had a herd, and Justin's adventures became more exciting.  Though the only dolls I had were Barbie and Big Jim who weren't very good riders.

Years passed, and for each birthday and Christmas I recieved another Breyer, but I still didn't know any other collectors or that there was more to do with my Breyers than play with them.  By the time I met my best friend Lisa MacLeod I still only had a very modest herd consisting of: A sorrel Five Gaiter, San Domingo, Proud Arabian stallion in bay, a palomino Quarter Horse foal, a chestnut Classic Arabian Stallion, and a white Stablemate arabian mare.  Though Justin, Western Prancer have since succumbed to broken limbs and a few bad attempts at repainting.  The palomino QHF has been repainted gray appy, but the others remain OF and are still part of my collection.  It was my friend Lisa who told me Breyer's weren't just toys and the two of us began reading Just About Horses.  We were amazed to learn how many other people, all over the U.S. and other countries were involved in the hobby and actually showed their models in photo contests and live shows.  It didn't take long for Lisa to get an old camera and we started taking photos of our own models, and showed them under the fictional name of Sunset Stables.