Amanda posing with the Stone Horses photo wall at Little Horse Show in 2025. She is holding her “Deputy Judge”, Chicken Elizabeth Nugget and his custom “nametag”.
Hello everyone! In celebration of the 30th anniversary, each month I’ll be exploring a part of general Stone Horse history in addition to the Tribute Series. But before we dive into company history, let me start by sharing a little about myself and my journey with Stone over the years.
If you don’t know me, my name is Amanda Reed, and I have been passionate about model horses since I received my first “proper” models at age 9! I had plenty of play brand horse toys before then, but upon learning about the world of model horses as collectibles via a collector catalog, I was immediately smitten.
I gradually learned more about the hobby over the first few years as my parents and I discovered online model horse retailers who sold not just new, but retired models as well! Along the way, I was led to various hobby publications and entered my first live show in the fall of 2003 as a young teenager. I cannot recall exactly when I first laid eyes on a Stone Horse, but the first one I owned was Van Gogh, the gray appaloosa Arabian from 2001. My parents purchased him from The Ginger Horse during Equine Affaire in 2003.
Over the following years, I slowly acquired more Stones along with other brands I collected. As a teen and then college student during my early era of Stone collecting, I was limited in budget, so my collection wasn’t large. My herd was mostly sourced secondhand from other collectors or purchased from vendor booths (including Stone itself) at Equine Affaire and our regional championship live show.
I actively added new Stones to my collection into the early 2010’s and gradually tapered off in favor of other priorities. In fall 2023, a collection of a hobby community member who had passed early that year came up for sale (by someone else who would also become a friend!) This person had an extensive collection, including many Stones. I picked out a few from that collection over the course of several trips to the store & local swap meets. It was great timing that this sale reinvigorated my interest in Stones – once Erin & Volo Artem took over, I was all in!
A photo of Amanda at a live show in fall 2004, including several of her early Stones – Midas (TB), Van Gogh (Arabian), HH Silver Sultan (Arabian), Woodgrain Pony, and Golden Nugget (ISH).
Though my family & I went to KY in 2004 for the first time, I didn’t have enough awareness of Stone to think about crossing the parking lot to attend Equilocity. I do recall the beautiful offerings in the Stone suite at the (then) HIN! I returned next to KY in 2012, but I was only there for NAN so once again I didn’t get over to EQ. In 2017, I brought my mom, cousin, & cousin’s kids with me to KY. With our schedule, it wasn’t possible for me to attend EQ, which was held at the Fairfield at the time. In the current era, I’ve been traveling to KY annually since 2023, and making EQ a part of that experience since 2024.
Live shows, model collectibility & history, and bringing newcomers into the show community are my largest focuses within hobby involvement! I’ve judged live shows since 2012 and hosted since 2014. Some career highlights include co-hosting my region’s championship show in 2017, judging at NAN & EQ in 2024, and judging for Stone’s LHS in 2025. My annual Novice & Intermediate level show will have its 10th edition this year. Nothing makes me happier than seeing the folks who start out at my shows go on to have many hobby accomplishments they can be proud of and developing lasting friendships within the community!
Though I am not an accomplished artist like the folks at Team Stone, I typically participate in the annual NaMoPaiMo event each February and find time for painting sometimes outside of that. Last year, I skipped it in favor of creating an Art of the Horse entry, whom I love very much and feel proud of everything he taught me. Otherwise, my hobby involvement beyond just collecting also includes photo shows, data nerdery (such as hobby related surveys & predictions), and of course, writing. I’m proficient at Horse Tetris - every time I think I’m running out of room, I make my displays more efficient!
I look forward to our journey through time this year – I am honored to be your guide! Each 4th Friday, tune in to the Blog for a new installment in this series. There’s a lot to celebrate and reflect upon!
