Local horse selected as Breyer model

O’Leary’s Irish Diamond, a famous Flathead stallion, has gone global as the Irish Draught inspiration for a 2010 limited edition Breyer Horse model.

His owner Melissa Cason-Kinney said the announcement was made recently as the 2010 model horses were shipped to stores and collectors worldwide. She was thrilled when she received the model incarnation of her rare breed stallion.

“I think it’s awesome,” she said. “When I saw it for the first time, I got goose bumps and tears in my eyes.”

O’Leary’s Irish Diamond’s fame as the number one Irish Draught stud in North America brought him to the attention of Breyer, a premier producer of plastic model horses. The company also was impressed that he earned the highest score ever given an Irish Draught stallion by the finicky Irish Horse Board.

The stallion remains a superstar among the Irish, who consider these horses their national breed. He has been featured in many publications including the Daily Inter Lake’s 2008 St. Patrick’s Day edition.

According to Cason-Kinney, this notoriety helped Breyer find her horse last March. The process began with an e-mail.

“I got an e-mail from Breyer Animal Creations, read two or three sentences and deleted it,” she said.  “I get so many e-mails, I thought it was spam.”

A few weeks later, she received a phone call from Jennifer Tutko of Breyer, who informed her that O’Leary’s Irish Diamond was in the running to become a new model horse. She asked Cason-Kinney all about her horse, explained the process and asked if she was interested in participating.

“I said ‘Of course.’ What a dream come true — to have your own Breyer horse,” she said.

Cason-Kinney sent photos and more information, then learned that the stallion had made the short list for models. More photos were shipped and e-mails exchanged.

The artists needed very specific details about any unique markings. They wanted up-close photographs of everything.

“It was down to the stripes on his hooves and the patch on his chin,” she said.

From this information, the artists created three mock-ups for her approval. A model finally was accepted for mass production last June.

“The back of the package is all about Irish and our farm,” Cason-Kinney said.

Owned by Cason-Kinney and her husband Skip Kinney, their farm is located on the Swan River off of Montana 83. Since acquired in 2006, O’Leary’s Irish Diamond remains a star attraction of their business, Kinson Stud.

His fame should spread around the world with the limited-edition model scheduled for release to retail outlets before Christmas. It’s listed on the www.breyerhorses.com Web site for $44.99.

The description details his impressive pedigree linked to equine stars such as Custom Made, the horse that helped earned 2000 Olympic gold as David O’Connor’s eventing mount.

As part of the selection, Cason-Kinney, her husband and O’Leary’s Irish Diamond receive a trip to Lexington, Ky., in July to attend BreyerFest. The event held at the Kentucky Horse Park attracts about 15,000 vendors and collectors every year.

“We sign autographs,” Cason-Kinney said. “People really get excited to see the live horses. There’s like a whole community of collectors.”

The honors may keep coming for spirited stallion in 2010.

According to Cason-Kinney, he has also been nominated by the North American Irish Draught Society to represent his breed at the World Equestrian Games scheduled in Lexington Sept. 25 to Oct. 10.

Cason-Kinney will ride the stallion in a demonstration of the versatility of the breed. Throughout history, Irish Draughts have served for everything from artillery horses on battlefields to all-around farm, hunting and family transportation horses.

Irish Draughts almost became extinct until breeders formed the Irish Horse Board in 1976 to bring them back from the brink. The popularity of Irish hunters, created by crossing draughts with thoroughbreds or warmbloods, helped save the breed.

The World Equestrian Games gives Cason-Kinney a huge opportunity to market her stallion to hunters and other breeders from around the world.

“It’s like the biggest of the big equestrian events you could ever get into,” she said.

Now 15 years old, O’Leary’s Irish Diamond has from five to 10 years left as a stud. So far, the towering 16.2 hand stallion has fathered over 100 youngsters, all dappled gray like himself.

Cason-Kinney expects his new fame as a Breyer model and World Equestrian Games invitee to fuel demand for his services. She said he had a busy season this year before the new notoriety.

“He’s got some beautiful offspring,” she said. “I get calls all the time for people who want to buy 2- or 3-year-olds but nobody sells them.”

For more information about O’Leary’s Irish Diamond, go to the Web site kinsonstud.com.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com.