If you thought the 2002 year was a bit confusing, wait untill you see 2003...

This year, depending where in the world you live, you might see different horses for sale then someone else (I told you it was confusing). While Alpha's site shows us one type of horse, another crop has already come up for sale in the UK. We in North America seem to have it the worst; we had to make to awaiting the second have of the 2002 horses... which actually didn't arrive untill 2004... except in Canada, which got nothing. Can we say lack of organization on someone's part? Wouldn't I like to know who! But it wasn't all bad... not entirely. There were some lovely horses, if you happened to be in the part of the world where they landed. There was a brand-new Rearing Stallion pose available in the UK - shown here as they Bay Arabian - and he's just dandy! Maybe it's a sign of good things to come?

Don't forget to see all the new families - GC Family Pages!

New 2003 Horses Abroad

Europe, the Uk, and Australlia were the lucky recipient's of the Grand Champions only truly 2003 Horses. Though there might be some debate over whether the people at GC are running out of ideas, it's just nice to have horses! To the right we have some of the horses, as sold Grand Champions UK.

Like most non-north american releases, these horses did not come with biocards, and in many cases, names. The bays on the left are called Holstieners, but in fact are the same as the Wuttemburger, so we might imagine them to be the parents of the mail-order foal. In that case, the stallion is "Captivation", and the mare "Moment by Momment." On the right, we have nameless Mustangs.... dosn't that mare look familiar though? We'll get back to that later.

Above are two more horses from abroad, thanks to Kathryn for the lovely picture. They are the Sorrel Quarter horses, and there actually seems to be a nice difference in colour from the North American set, though the mare only by a shade or two.

So there you have it... horses that look like other horses that look like other horses. Which is great if you didn't get the Holstieners from '00 or any preivous sliding stop stallion. And what about the wavey haired mustang mare? She bares a striking resemblence to the Lusitano Mare. Nice horse, but what's new?

While somethings remained unorigonal and dull, there were some highlights to this set - well, two to be exact, but oh what a highlight! Despite being partnered with a re-released Princess Perdita, the Eruopean Lippizanner family had two new arrivals. One is the cute-as-a-button black lippizaner foal (at last, they get the colour right!) Just how long as this been in the making? And last but not least, the even more stunning is the Lippizanner Stallion, featuring an ALL NEW REARING POSE! He is called a "Special Edition" Stallion, though we have no idea what edition he belongs to. He comes with white english tack and a dark red saddle blanket, like the mare above. Like the UK, Austrailian horses do not come with bio-cards and are unnamed. And don't forget this flashy black Lippizaner foal - at last, the very colour he should be!

So there you have it.... a mix-up year of grand-champion porportion! (and that's hardly a good thing). With luck, we might even get something really intresting for 2004 (or horrendous - see Horse Country) Whatever it is, I hope the are beautiful horses, and I hope they come to Canada!