As fear of the Covid-19 pandemic began to spread early in March, Jaime Potkalesky, the senior events manager for Reeves International, was getting nervous about the prospects for BreyerFest.
Breyer is the signature brand of Pequannock-based Reeves, which annually stages the popular July gathering that brings 30,000 model horse fans to the Kentucky Horse Park for a three-day celebration.
Enthusiastic crowds have flocked to the Kentucky Horse Park for BreyerFest over the last 30 years. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
By the end of March, Reeves Vice President Stephanie Macejko, Jaime and their team “started to realize this virus is affecting the country in a way we’ve never seen before.”
It was decision time. One of Stephanie’s favorite things to do on Saturday afternoons at BreyerFest involved walking through the Kentucky Horse Park’s parking lot and seeing license plates from nearly every state and Canada on cars decorated with slogans such as “Breyerfest or Bust” and hashtags like “Ponies from Pomona.”
Suddenly this year, the obvious question was, “Even if things were opened up, would people want to travel?”
The company had a few choices.
“Do we cancel, postpone to September or pivot to a virtual event? It was an emotional decision,” said Stephanie explaining “the ability to connect with our fans on site is such an incredible experience that it felt really like, `Oh no, how are we going to do this?’”
“We were all devastated and there were a lot of tears shed,” Jaime recalled.
The team soon realized the right strategy for the 31st edition of the event July 10-12 was to go virtual and “rewrite the playbook for BreyerFest.”
As soon as the concept was announced, it clicked.
“We had such a great reaction that it was very affirming,” Stephanie reported.
“People were so excited they’d still have something to look forward to. Ticket sales increased immediately. We are providing as much as we possibly can all of the benefits of the real event being live,” said Stephanie.
The theme this year for Breyer’s 70th anniversary is Celtic Fling, which ties in with the salute to BreyerFest’s special Celebration model of Ballynoecastle RM, the Irish-bred gelding who is the U.S. Eventing Association’s all-time high point earner.
Ballynoe Castle RM at his 2017 retirement ceremony with rider Buck Davidson.(Photo © 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
The eventer, known to his friends as Reggie, retired three years ago to the Pottersville Farm of his owners, Cassie and Carl Segal, after a stellar career with rider Buck Davidson, who can be seen with the Seals in an interview on the website when BreyerFest gets under way.
Reggie in retirement with his pal. (Photo © 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
Advance sale tickets are no longer available, but tickets will be sold during the event at this link
The company headquarters in Pequannock is being turned into a live broadcast studio for BreyerFest, with host Kimber Goodwin bringing 15 years of on-camera experience in racing and horse shows. Her interviews with horse people will be interspersed among special demos, workshops and seminars. Topics range from how to draw horses to repainting your models and making a miniature bridle or saddle.
A feature will be model horse shows, with the virtual approach enabling more people to participate than normal in a live experience, where classes might be limited to 25 or 30 people.
The Celebration model of Ballynoe Castle RM. (Photo courtesy of Breyer)
An auction and shopping also are available, as they would have been at the horse park. The traditional evening celebration show has been pre-recorded and will feature Irish step dancers, bagpipers and an exhibition of horse breeds with roots in the British isles.
As Kimber noted, the great thing about the virtual BreyerFest is that “we can reach a whole new audience.”
She collects stories about the horses to make them “relatable” to her audience, which enjoys hearing tidbits about their preferences, such as the horse that liked apple pie.
Kimber, the first graduate of the University of Louisville equine management program, was recruited for her BreyerFest gig by Jamie Saults, who is the producer of the show and the floor director as well.
The idea, Jamie said, “is to make it as similar as possible to the live experience.”
Jamie, who worked 10 Olympics as a researcher and statistician for TV, got involved with Breyer horses in 1995 when she was employed by the U.S. Equestrian Team and suggested the organization sell a Breyer horse for a fundraiser at a competition. Despite some raised eyebrows, the USET went ahead with 500 models of Pieraz, Valerie Kanavy’s endurance world champion. They sold out in a half-hour.
Super hobbyist Jane Steinkamp started collecting Breyers in 1973, when she got the Man O’War model and named it Secretariat, after the Triple Crown winner that year.
Jane Steinkamp and some of her Breyer horses. (Photo courtesy of Jane Steinkamp)
She and her daughters, who played with Breyers instead of Barbie dolls, have been going to BreyerFest on a “girls’ vacation” roadtrip from her Indiana farm since 2002. “It was awesome. The kids had a great time and I had a great time, so we made it an annual event,” Jane recalled.
Naturally, she was “really disappointed” when she heard her 19th BreyerFest had to go virtual this year. But after switching gears, she decided, “We’re going to have Breyerfest in our basement.” Jane will share it with daughters Melissa Steinkamp, 28, and Molly Steinkamp Bates, 26, who had already asked for time off from work for their annual trip before the live event was cancelled.
They’ll have plenty of company–Jane displays “at least 1,000” models, though she doesn’t have an exact count of how many she owns. They’ll be coming off the shelves in her Breyer room to share the virtual experience with the family.
This is only one wall of Jane Steinkamp’s Breyer Room at her Indiana home. (Photo courtesy of Jane Steinkamp)
Nothing can replace the live fest for her, though.
“People come from all over,” explained Jane, a saddlebred owner who works in human resources. “There might be someone from California or Connecticut that you won’t get to see this year, but thank goodness for the internet, because it’s easier to keep in touch.”
By next year, it is hoped that things will be back to normal and BreyerFest once again can be live at the Kentucky Horse Park. But it also will have a virtual component that enables those who can’t travel to enjoy the experience.
Just having a live show won’t be sufficient in the future.
“The model horse hobby exists so well on line,” explained Jaime. As she noted, “The chances are that your closest hobby friend doesn’t live in your town. We’re bringing BreyerFest to where the hobby exists. I can’t see ever see having an on-site only event ever again, we will always have a virtual component too.”
As bad as the pandemic has been, on the flip side, it has made it necessary to think about doing so many things a different way. In the process, as Jaime noted, that has “opened up a lot of people’s lives.”
