As a kid, Lauren Chumley didn’t have a pony. The family wasn’t into horses, and her parents weren’t paying for her to ride.
But as Lauren pointed out, “Little girls that like horses are going to like horses, whether you have horses or not.”
Her enthusiasm wasn’t going to be denied, so she took the route of many other little girls and got a Breyer model horse. First one, then about 299 others.
With the exception of a Clydesdale that proudly stands on the mantel of her Pittstown, N.J., home, her collection now lives in boxes, treasured keepsakes stored away but not forgotten.
“I liked the realism of them, the different breeds, I liked the educational aspect,” the trainer said explaining her childhood involvement. Breyers fascinated Lauren during her non-riding days because she enjoyed reading about all the different breeds represented, along with the history of the real horses depicted.
“Breyer did such a good job. I just ate all of that up,” she recalled. “It was my only access to horses.”
These days, she runs barns at two locations (“I still have too many horses,” she chuckles) where her business involves training, selling and competing 60 of them. And wouldn’t you know it, more than warmbloods are in the mix.
She used to work for a Norwegian Fjord breeder, so it’s no surprise to see her on one of those intriguing individuals. But her best-known horses include a Morgan, Avatar’s Jazzman, who does dressage and evented, as well as Nikolas, a buckskin German riding pony who is a dressage specialist.
Both are made famous by becoming Breyer models, but Nikolas has been elevated to new stature by being named the 2022 Celebration Horse for Breyerfest, July 15-17 at the Kentucky Horse Park, and on the livestream as well. He’s also the program’s coverboy.
Breyerfest took a break from running as an in-person event during Covid, so the 33d edition marks the first time in two years that fans are welcomed to the horse park in Lexington for the event, entitled Breyerfest: Prost!, meaning “cheers” in German. Of course the German theme was a natural for Nikolas as a centerpiece. To carry out the concept, there’s an Oktoberfest tent, complete with polka band and beer Garden.
Jazz and Nik will be performing together at Breyerfest. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
Nikolas and Jazzman, both owned by Melissa Dowling, are appearing together at Breyerfest, doing a Grand Prix pas de deux with Lauren’s assistant, Jessie Hayes, on the Morgan. They are available for autographs and photos as well.
The duo is among 200 equines brought in for Breyerfest, which also offers numerous exhibitions–including Sylvia Zerbini and her lovely troupe of white horses.
Crafts and vendors fill out the offering, while a live broadcast studio brings the event to 128 different countries for those who aren’t among the 35,000 people from all 50 states to come there in person.
Stephanie Macejko, vice president of marketing and product development for Breyer’s parent company, Reeves International, noted it is unusual that someone has had two of their horses become models.
She explained, however, “When we were looking for a horse a little bit different for our celebration model,” Nikolas emerged as the perfect choice for the Celebration horse, which comes with an all-access ticket to Breyerfest on site, or with traditional online access.
Sylvia Zerbini and her white horses will be part of Breyerfest. (Photo © by Lawrence J. Nagy)
“He was really unique, ” she pointed out.
“He sort of fit the bill; the German theme, his beautiful buckskin coloring. And Lauren we had known from doing Avatar’s Jazzman.
But there’s more to the selection than looks.
“One of the key aspects of being a Breyer Celebration Horse is they have to be good around people,” said Stephanie.
The Breyerfest experience is “very hands-on for the kids. It gives kids and adults an opportunity to meet their horse heroes, get their photos taken with them and talk with their owners and trainers,” she noted.
“It’s great to see kids having the opportunity to get the exposure to the horses.”
Having models made of the horses she rides has great meaning for Lauren.
“Jazzman was the first one, he’s a special guy. I thought it was really cool that he’s immortal now. There will be kids who are never going to see him who will know who he is. Maybe somewhere out west, or who knows where, some kid will read about Jazzman and the crazy stuff that we did. Who doesn’t want to make their special horse immortal?” Lauren asked.
She likes the idea that kids will recognize Nikolas the way they have recognized Jazzman because of the model.
“Oh my God. Is that Jazzman? Can we take a picture?” kids say when they see her with the Morgan at a show.
“It’s kind of fun,” she said.
Nik, who is 11, did his first Grand Prix last year. She is hoping to take him to Dressage at Devon this autumn, but notes that he’s still green at it and there’s more work to do.
“Just because you start Grand Prix–as I describe it to people–it’s like you finally cross the desert and you arrive at the other side. And then you realize you’re at the base of Mt. Everest; you’re not even halfway done!”
Avatar’s Jazzman with Jessie Hayes and Nikolas with Lauren Chumley stand by their models. (Photo © 2022 by Nancy Jaffer)
She has the encouragement of Alice Tarjan, her best friend, who is short-listed for August’s dressage world championships. In turn, she has groomed for Alice at Aachen last year and Rotterdam this summer.
“I am so happy to be able to help at all,” she said. “It’s an honor and privilege to go to those shows with her and help her out.”
So will there come a day when Alice will be grooming for Lauren at a big show?
“It would be my life goal that I could be good enough that Alice has to wrap my horse for me,” Lauren said with a chuckle.
Lauren didn’t start riding until she was 12, when her grandmother hit her 40s and decided she wanted to ride. She took Lauren with her to the stables at the Quantico Marine base in Virginia, where her husband was stationed.
“My parents are still mad at her. She was taking lessons and I tagged along and that was the end of it,” Lauren said. After that, she started taking lessons at home and “everything snowballed from there.”
The model of Nikolas was created by artist Brigitte Eberl of Germany. It’s a brand new sculpture from the woman who has produced likenesses of such dressage stars as Valegro, Salinero and Totilas.
“I usually tap Brigitte when we’ve got a particularly high-end dressage horse or a horse of the Olympic disciplines,” said Stephanie, noting that Brigitte, who also does bronze work, will have an exhibit at Breyerfest.
Jaime Potkalesky, who handles events for Breyer, notes Breyerfest will have a bigger footprint than ever, with many more model horse shows. People are glad to return after Covid, she said, noting many have posted along the lines that ” We cherish this year because we’re so lucky to be back and so lucky to be able to keep getting together with our friends.”
On the virtual side, “This will be the first time ever that people who can’t make it to the horse park will be able to experience what it’s like. It’s as close as you can get without being there,” she said.
Having her horses represented in the Breyer collection means a great deal to Lauren, who saved her money from babysitting, dog-walking and mowing grass to buy more models when she went to Breyerfest in her youth. Once at the event, she would stand on line for hours to get autographs, and now it’s her autograph that’s being sought.
Asked how she would have reacted if a time traveler could have told the horseless Lauren that in the future, her horses would be Breyers and that one of them would be on the cover of the Breyerfest program, Lauren responded, “I would have thought you were crazy.”
Isn’t it nice when reality turns out to be even bigger than a dream?
