We have even more that has been revealed!!
Meet Oseburg!!
The medieval Scandinavian longship was an engineering masterpiece of its age, used for centuries by the Norse for fishing, trading, and raiding. Contributions of fiber artists cannot be understated as a single 1,000 square foot sail took hundreds of hours of labor by multiple people. Flax or wool was harvested, spun, and woven and then treated with animal fat to become water resistant. Longships were a months long process to build, they were a prized possession those that were an incredibly important individual were able to be buried with one by a community. The Oseburg ship burial is one of few of burial mounds discovered and uncovered form the middle ages. Burial was around 834 and was excavated in 1904 and 1905 and has been researched heavily the last 120 years. The burial was found to have an extensive amount of grave goods including sleighs, a cart, bedposts, chests, household goods, and tools. There was also found the remains of animals such as horses, an ox, and dogs alongside richly dressed women of stature all in the 70 foot hull.
This Oseburg is done on the popular Othello mold in a dark seal bay to match the dark finish of longships with a strip of white for a snip on his snout. Othello made his last Breyerfest appearance in 2023 as the store special/limited edition model Tilly and was last used as a Breyerfest special run back in 2020 as Ash. When he was first revealed many noticed that the article stated his coat was in a glossy finish despite the stock photos showing otherwise leading to many to speculate he is the matte/glossy finish split, that statement has since removed from the post but many have missed where a couple of times the post refers to this model as a she which there is a female version from 2023 when used for FVA's Grand Design aka "Tilly", but again the stock photos suggest otherwise. This now makes me wonder if some will be female and some male, whether intentional or not, on top of possible coat finish split. I guess we will have to wait and see. Though in any case I do like him and it's nice to see this model in a deep coat and reminds me of the Budweiser clydesdales despite those being a brighter bay and having to have lots of white on their body. SO he is one that I do really want to get, plus I really like the mold as well.
Meet Ojvind!!
The Gotland Pony originates from the island of Gotland off the coast of Sweden dating back to 1200 BCE. This is one of Sweden's oldest and rarest breeds and is managed by the Gotland Agricultural Society and still roam the Lojsta moor. They have adapted over time to the thin, sandy soil and limestone bedrock of the island and historically have been used for farm and agricultural work as well as road horses as they have great stamina and a great trotting ability. Today the Gotland is a popular amongst children and excels in harness racing, jumping, dressage, pleasure riding, and driving.
Most Gotland ponies live in Sweden, but there is a small herd in Kentucky with a special stallion to bring awareness to the breed as well as help preserve it. Ojvind (pronounced as
œyvind) is a 7 year old Gotland stallion who is passing on key genetics to help the breed flourish in both the U.S. and in Sweden. Gotland ponies were first imported to the U.S. in the 1950s, in 1989 Leslie Bebensee bought the last the last breeding herd and brought them to her Farm, Kokovoko Farm in Kentucky. These sweet athletic ponies won her heart and her focus turned to preserving the Gotland in the U.S. In 2020, Leslie received an email that her herd contained bloodlines that had been lost in Sweden, this lead to a trade for a stallion form the old bloodline sin Sweden in exchange for four colts out of her mares. The little stallion that came all the way from Sweden was Ojvind!!
Within 11 months of his arrival, he had his first foal on the ground. Aside from passing on old genetics, he also passes on his sweet temperament, athleticism, and loyal personality to each of his offspring. Ojvind was trained for both riding and driving and has taken everything in stride, proving how smart and easily trainable the Gotland is. He has also come to represent his breed at Breyerfest for the past three years as part of Kokovoko's demonstrations.
Leslie loves to educate people about the Gotland breed and knows how important awareness is for the preservation of this breed. Ojvind's arrival has created new partnerships between the U.S. and Sweden to ensure the growth of the breed for future generations.
Ojvind is depicted on the new Highland Pony Stallion mold. It features his wild bay coat in a matte finish. This is the first portrait and Breyerfest release for this mold, the other version, the British Riding Pony mare with braided mane & tail, has yet to make an appearance.
He is cute and Breyer hasn't done a Gotland at all to my knowledge, I think the only Gotlands I have are the ones in Star Stable. So I will definitely be adding him to my herd.
Meet Midnattssol!!
There is a place where the sun doesn't fully set during the summer, the evening hours blend with the early morning then the sun rises once again for the new day. In the northeast parts of Scandinavia, as well as Iceland & Greenland, there is sunlight for 24 hours a day for the summer solstice. This phenomena lead to the region being called "the land of the midnight sun". This can be seen in Reykjavik at Arnarholl Park in Iceland, seems like Breyer really likes this place, I guess I'll have to check it out in real life at some point in my life.
Midnattssol means "midnight sun" in Norwegian. He is on the new Murgese Stallion, aka Cosimo, mold. He is in a dark bay sabino-frame coat and has blue eyes. I do like him and I do like the mold since he came out last year, I feel he could double as another latin country based breed like a Criollo, but I could be wrong. So I will be getting him.
The final special run has been revealed!!
Meet Wanderer!!
In Norse mythology, Odin is the most well known and represented. Archaeologists have found many artifacts made in his image in burial grounds, old settlements, and all have been pieced together tracing the lives and cultures of Germanic pagan peoples dating back to the Roman occupation of the 1st century. Odin is also the most well known even to those who don't fully know the mythology, he is mentioned in countless sources that date back 2,000 years. He has also been given many nicknames during this time. They all describe him as fierce, wise, father, husband, son, brother, blind, grey haired, deceiving, spear wielding, hooded, hanged, oracle, walk weary, and many more. The wanderer is depicted as a cloaked one eyed old man, with a beard and his spear Gungnir and accompanied by two ravens, Hugin and Munin. A wise old man that can see between worlds and time and having sacrificed one of his eyes to Mimir's well to gain wisdom of the runes.
This Wanderer is on the popular Fireheart/Mustang Stallion mold in a deep blueish purple coat with a spear like shaped stripe on his face, a magical looking right eye, and two raven feathers added to his mane. I do like the mold and I do feel its being over used but I will get him as I like the deeper blue color, reminds me of my Na'vi character I made in a game as my character has the western Na'vi coloration which is blueish purple compared to other Na'vi, and I like the addition of the feathers as I can see that adding potential for future releases. I am also curious about his supposed magical eye and want to see that inperson, also I could use a complete conga of this mold as long as they keep releasing models on this mold.
That's all I have for this post, see y'all in the next one!!
(info and pictures come from and belong to Breyer & rightful owners)
