First Official Fleetstreet Max Breyer Horse

Just a few days ago, the Equine Chronicle reported that Alisa Bernhard had received the first official Fleetstreet Max Breyer Horse. Today we sat down with Alisa to talk about the process of turning her record-breaking Paint Horse into an official Breyer model.

“I got the call last year in late August,” Bernhard says. “Breyer told me they had chosen him after my cousin had written in suggesting that Max be made into a Breyer. At the time, I didn’t even know she had done that.”

Unknown to Alisa at the time, her cousin had written a short story about Max and decided to send it in to Breyer. What undoubtedly caught the attention of Breyer horse executives, was when Max broke the record for having the most World Championship titles in APHA history.

Max and Alisa broke the record in 2008, bringing the grand total to 21 World Championship titles. And any rumors about Max being a “one-trick pony” can be dispelled by the fact that his titles have been earned in a wide variety of events such as Working Hunter, Hunter Hack, Equitation, Equitation over Fences, Trail, Western Riding and Horsemanship.

In addition, Max and Alisa have racked up numerous All-Around and Top Twenty titles over the years.

• 2003 All-Around Youth at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show
• 2004 Reserve All-Around Youth at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show
• 2005 Amateur All-Around at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show
• 2006 Amateur and Open All-Around at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show
• 2008 Amateur All-Around at the APHA World Championship Paint Horse Show

Also, Max has accumulated approximately 8,500 points in his lifetime and has been named number one on the Top Twenty four different times. While many APHA exhibitors may be familiar with the extensive show career of this highly decorated Paint Horse, most people do not know about his history.

Fleetstreet Max was born in the middle of the day at the Bernhard family ranch in Wisconsin. He is by Fleet Machine and out of a Quarter Horse mare named Cash Bar Maiden.

“We still own his mother and had his grandmother until she passed away when she was 27,” Bernhard says.

Max has a few full siblings, two of which are owned by Bernhard herself.

“One is a hunter pony with color that is currently for sale and the other is a 4 yr old breeding stock mare,” she says.

As far as Max is concerned, he his happily enjoying his semi-retirement in Pilot Point, TX. Alisa says she takes Max to a few shows a year to compete in Open events for fun and teaches lessons on him once in a while.

“He is just hanging out, living the life, not doing anything in particular,” she says. “I really barely ever ride him, except right before we go to a show. He trains up in a matter of days.”

One of the duties of being a special edition Breyer horse is doing a guest appearance at Breyerfest 2010. Max and Alisa will receive an all-expense paid trip to Breyerfest 2010, July 23-25, at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Alisa says the pair will spend their time doing daily performances and signing Breyer models for children and die-hard collectors alike.

“When I was a kid, I collected Breyers religiously,” Bernhard says. “Back then, I would have killed to be able to go to Breyerfest.”

She says the one downside to Breyerfest is that it will be like a petting zoo for Max, who would rather be admired from a distance. Unfortunately for Max, that is the price of fame.

Because she is the owner, Breyer gave Alisa the first official model and a free case of twelve replica Max models.

“I don’t get any royalties or a percentage,” she says. “But, I think it will be a high seller. It looks a lot like him.”

She says Breyer was intent on making sure that Max’s distinctive markings were reproduced perfectly.

“They sent me an actual rough draft of the Breyer and wanted me to compare it to him,” she says. “I had to take a Sharpie and draw on markings because they wanted it to be really exact, even down to the little bit of roaning on his cheek and hip. It even has a blue eye.”

Breyer was so serious about the accuracy of Max’s markings that they asked for Alisa to send them multiple pictures of him from every angle. However, there are a few differences between Max the model and Max the original that couldn’t be helped.

“They only have a certain number of molds and they paint them to look like different horses,” she says. “So, his mane is on the left-hand side, and he is clearly stallion. But I’m not going to complain, I just had to laugh.”

If you would like to own a little piece of Max, his model will be released sometime in May or June, and maybe with a little coaxing, a few lucky people can get theirs autographed.