Are you a horse lover, or do you know one?  If you are,The Trail of the Painted Ponies is the collectible for you.  First started in Sante Fe New Mexico,The Trail is spreading across the country like Wildfire.  And yes, Wildfire is one of their highly sought after Ponies.

There are currently 7 heards of Ponies to date.  I am a new collector , so the following info might not be 100% correct, but it should be at least 95%.  The Trail adds a new herd of around 8 Ponies twice a year, not encluding their Christmas heard of 4, which is released  before Christmas. They also retire(discontinue) about 6 Ponies near the same time of the realase of the new herd. I guess I should mention that these Ponies are 6"figurines, originated from life size Ponies made, and auctioned off for charties in New Mexico. Each of these Ponies also have different talented artist that design and paint them. There is a story behind each Pony too.

Retired Ponies??  These are the ones that are going up in value everyday. But first let's talk about edition numbers.  Each Pony is given a number.  The numbers start with 1E/0001-1E/9,999. Then 2E/0001-2E/9,999 and so on. Some Ponies are already in their 11th edition. Yes!! 11E/????. There is also pre E Ponies. These were the first ponies made, where no edition number was put on them till 3,600. Good luck finding these precious Ponies.

Now, for the highly sought after retired Ponies. Like I said before, The Trail retires around 8-12 ponies a year.  The first group of 6 Ponies were retired in March, 2004.  Then 5 more in September of  2004. There are 27 retired Ponies to date,not encluding Christmas Ponies.  Retired Ponies of 2004 are your most sought after collectables. Although these Ponies were sold in stores for less then $30, they are now going for $200-$400+. Some of the retired Ponies have less then 10,000 available.  Most retirees have around 15,000 available.

I have never collected anything in my life,but have fell in love with The Trail of the Painted Ponies. My favorite thing about my cross-cultlral journey with my Ponies is the artist and stories that are behind each one. I have also made several new PONY PAL friends. The artist that I have come in contact with  have been some of the nicest and most caring people that I have ever met. And besides having a Pony on The Trail, they also have beautiful art work. These artist have opend my eyes to the totally awesome world of art.

You will not find many, if any items of mine, for sale on eBay.  I only sell items to help finance my new found love of art and Painted Ponies. Be careful in starting your new colledtion.  The Trail has a way of  taking ahold of you and not letting go. Thanks for reading my guide. I hope it was helpful.  

Happy Painted Pony Trails and Happy Bidding!!

Robin