The lives of show horses are not always stable, if you’ll pardon the pun. They’re often sold as they move up or down the competitive ranks and can undergo many changes of owners, riders, trainers, routines and locations.

Brunello, the celebrated Hunter Champion with local ownership, has been a very lucky exception. Since the Hanoverian gelding was imported from Belgium in 2007, he’s lived on the same farm with the same trainer and the same rider. And not just any trainer and rider: National Show Hunter Hall of Fame trainer Jack Towell and top Hunter rider Liza Towell Boyd, a winner of numerous national and international championships as a child, junior, and professional. Remarkably, Brunello has even had the same groom and acknowledged “best friend,” Alberto Ramirez, for his entire life here.

And when there was a brief danger that Brunello might be sold in 2010 by his former amateur owner, a Towell client, Landrum horsewoman Janet Peterson stepped up to partner with the Towells and keep the big chestnut where he was.

After three near misses, Brunello and Boyd won their first USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship Finals at Kentucky Horse Park in 2013. Then, at a point when many show horses would be retiring or at least slowing down, they won again in 2014 and 2015, when Brunello was 17. No other horse or rider has won more than once.

Brunello was named U.S. Equestrian Federation National Horse of the Year in 2014 and 2015, and was second only to Triple Crown Winner American Pharaoh in the Chronicle of the Horse year-end 2015 Horse of the Year selection, covering all disciplines.

Now Brunello has achieved something even rarer: he’s been immortalized as a Breyer© Horse Model. As any horse-crazy kid or adult collector could tell you, that is the pinnacle of horse world stardom.

Securing a Breyer for Brunello started as a grass-roots effort by the Tryon Riding & Hunt Club after his 2015 Hunter Derby Championship “three-peat.” TR&HC took to their Facebook page and other social media to get fans across the country to “like” the Breyer for Brunello idea.

You can imagine that Breyer gets suggestions for new models just about daily, and they have to be picky. But Brunello’s accomplishments, the “Breyer for Brunello” campaign, and fan response were all impressive, and when Mark and Katherine Bellissimo of Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC) lent their support (after having worked with Breyer on a special edition George Morris model), the Breyer for Brunello became a reality.

So it happened that the Breyer Brunello Portrait Model was introduced on June 10 in a center-ring ceremony under the lights at TIEC’s George Morris Arena during a $50,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby. Breyer honored co-owners Liza Boyd and Janet Peterson, and groom Alberto Ramirez, by presenting them with the first official Brunello models.

The following day Liza autographed Brunello Breyers for a long line of kids and adults at TIEC, while Brunello himself greeted and posed for pictures with fans. For a horse that’s known for being less than friendly to other horses, he clearly likes people, and being the center of attention.

The initial limited edition of 400 Brunello Breyer Models sold out at TIEC and Breyer is planning to release another model of him later this summer. Visit www.breyerhorses.com for more information.

~ Written and photographed by Judy Heinrich