Breyer® Will Introduce New Tennessee Walking Horse Sculpture in 2008
(Pequannock, NJ – Aug. 21, 2007) -- Bluegrass Bandit is known to steal the show when it comes to Western and English Trail Pleasure classes, and now the 2002 grey Tennessee Walking Horse mare, is primed to steal the hearts of Breyer collectors when she becomes the first-ever Tennessee Walking Horse mare to be released by Breyer Animal Creations®, makers of the world’s finest model horses. The new sculpture, a collaboration between Breyer master sculptor Kathleen Moody and Sommer Prosser, both of Phoenix, Ariz., shows the champion mare at a flat walk. The new model will make its debut in the January 2008 Breyer catalog and should be in stores in January as well.
“We have wanted to introduce a new Tennessee Walking Horse for some time now,” said Stephanie Macejko, Breyer Vice President of Marketing and Product Development. “When we learned more about Bluegrass Bandit’s credentials, we knew that she was the perfect horse to honor as the portrait model for this new sculpture!”
Bluegrass Bandit is owned by Chip, Bonny and Jared Carrier of Gobblers Knob Farm in Franklin, Ky., and is trained and ridden by Jared Carrier. Gobblers Knob Farm breeds, raises and trains championship Tennessee walking horses. Jared Carrier, a college student, attends Western Kentucky University.
At the Tennessee Walking Horse National Celebration in 2005, Bandit was crowned the World Champion in Youth English Trail Pleasure and in Amateur Owned and Trained (AOT) Western Trail Pleasure. She finished by claiming the World Grand Champion in Western Pleasure and was voted the Trail Pleasure Horse of the Year by Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse magazine. In 2006, she was the World Champion in AOT Western Trail Pleasure, AOT English Trail Pleasure and Western Trail Pleasure (Canter), as well as the Reserve World Grand
Champion in Western Trail Pleasure. Bandit and rider/owner Jared Carrier, 19, won all of their classes in five of nine competitions and won the Amateur Owned & Trained (AOT) Pleasure High Point Award.
Bandit has been shown lightly this year in preparation for The Celebration and the fall shows, but she has continued her winning ways with top ribbons at the Shelbyville Spring Fun Show and three blues at the International Pleasure & Colt Show in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
“Bandit is a special horse and companion and we are honored that she was chosen to be a Breyer model,” said Jared Carrier.