Elfin size - 1:9 scale - foal scale
Overall dimensions: 6" long-from hoof to hoof x
2.50" tall at ear tips
MODEL SIZES: details on all sizes/scales

Solid cast with stainless steel wire reinforcement. 

Newborn foals always look like they don't fit their legs. Their leg bones are 80 to 90% of the length that they are going to be once they are full grown. The Skippy foal model is a newborn that is meant to represent a stock foal that is perhaps only a few hours old.

The Paint that Ain't
Skippy! [APHA "Skipn Sweet Dreams"] was born on April Fool's Day in 1995. He was born during a horse show. People called him "Bullwinkle" and one woman actually asked his owner if she had considered euthanizing him just because he was born a solid colored Paint horse.

He may look famliar to you... Skippy!'s photo has been used on Wikipedia for years, as an example of a solid colored Paint horse.

For the most part though, people did like him because he was the first baby born on the ranch. He was (and is!) a total social butterfly. He loves to stick his face in everyone's business, poke other horses, and just generally be perky, social, and happy.

Skippy! had issues with strangles-like symptoms that resulted in costly vet work and isolation (which is his worst enemy). It was discovered later that he didn't have strangles or anything like that. About 9 or 10 years after the issues with abcesses around his throat and fevers (the strangles stuff) his air way totally swelled up. He couldn't breathe, Mary's family hauled him to the vet and he cut a hole in his throat on the trailer which Skippy promptly started breathing out of. They found out that this issue was due to a mass in his vocal chords. What they found was a tooth covered in layers of tissue and mass. It was only then that they made the link back to the issues he had with "strangles" when he was 3-5 years old.

Skippy! nearly died in the hospital twice. First when they accidentally shot something into the wrong vein and he got a strong dose of something to the brain, rather than to his body. He dropped to the floor immediately in the chute but they were able to reverse it. Thankfully only flesh wounds. They had to remove a lot of his vocal chords with the mass, and they said he'd never whinny again. But he can still wuffle and nicker. He also almost died due to depression related issues in recovery. His will to live had faded. Mary's dad brought Sweetie to the vet and Skippy! perked up. Progress was then made in his healing process.

Skippy! always loved dressage. He also liked to jump - but not like you'd think. He loved ground poles and would hop over them. So at the end of a lesson Mary would drop the reins to the buckle and he'd take the queue from her seat to know he could "pick a jump" and go over it. One day he picked a 2 1/2 footer... But he launched himself over it in the most humble fashion. Then did some crow-hops afterwards like a touch down dance. It made Mary happy that there was something that made him happy. He loved lateral movement too. When he discovered how to move away from leg pressure he thought it was so cool, and never hesitated to move laterally between cones and other obstacles.

Mary says, "Skippy! taught me so much, he taught me that there's more to a horse than color. There's more to a horse than what the horse can do for you. It's about the animals, their presence and energy, and what you can do to share that bond with them. He is like a brother to me. Someone I disagreed with but always loved, even when we didn't see eye to eye!"

Skippy! is still around, with his momma, and after some additional issues (an abscessed tear duct... then an issue with a spider bite that caused a fever of 105 and his leg swelled to the point where his skin nearly split) he is actually doing remarkably well.

Skippy! is always happy, always friendly, and just such a sweet guy. There is inspiration in his courage and positive spirit!

© All rights to the sculpture of Skippy! reserved by Seunta LLC.