Introducing Our Mascot! What Should We Name Her?

After almost a year of secret work behind the scenes, we're excited to introduce you to Triple Mountain's new mascot!  She's a life-sized Leopard Appaloosa model horse, made in Nebraska just for us, who now greets visitors in front of our Hiram, Maine, store.

So, here's where you come in:  She needs a name!  We can't keep calling her The Big Horse... She deserves her own special name.  We'd love for you to submit your name suggestions to Eleda by email (click here) through August 24th.  Then our team will narrow them down to our favorites and email everyone a poll so you can vote on which one will become her official name.  You could be the one to name our mascot!

But wait, there's more!  If you get to visit our store, we welcome you to take a photo with her and post it to our Facebook page, along with where you traveled from to meet her.  Here is Ava, who was visiting from Chicago, after she snagged a new Classic Mustang and some other awesome horses in our store:

She's also gotten to meet some folks from Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Newfoundland, Canada already!  (Go ahead and post your photos with her to Facebook if you like, folks!)

And, she's more than meets the eye...  She's also a little bit of a treasure hunt!  Hidden among her regular Appy spots, you may find a heart, a star, a state of Maine, and more, so come on up and see if you can "spot" them all!

Here's her story to help inspire some name ideas:

Our sweet mare was born in Nebraska at a family-owned business called Fiberglass Animals and Objects LLC.  The awesome folks there planned her creation over the winter and brought her to life this spring.  We asked them to make her unique - Most of their horses are geldings, but we wanted a mare, and they gave her a long swishy tail for us, too.  Here she is on her first day, enjoying the sun in their field in Nebraska:

Then, the first week of July, she was loaded up, along with a variety of friends heading to other destinations on the East Coast, and presumably, freaked out drivers all the way across the country!

I'm not sure I'd want to be following them with a buffalo staring at me the whole way... and how about that baby moose up front?  I'm not even going to talk about the terrifyingly large rooster. 

Anyway, they arrived safely and with much fanfare on July 5th.  Now, you need to understand that I've wished for a life-sized horse statue since I was about... four years old.   So to see Patrick and Gaye driving in with her, well, it was a really big deal!  They're the owners of the company, and they delivered her personally.   They were so sweet, and when they left us, they were heading out to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary!  (Happy anniversary!)

I *may* have walked around the rest of that day with a big grin, singing, "Horse, horse, horse, horse, horse!" 

Yep, I might have.

We made a stall/studio for her in our home garage to keep her secret until she was painted.  Here she is, waiting to be painted:

Painting party day was another awesomely fun day!  I wish you all could have been there!  I was joined by my friends Julia and Kay, and we spent a whole day channeling our inner Bob Ross with a "happy little spot here and a happy little spot there."  We've all customized models, but we all agreed we'd never had so much fun as painting this big girl!

Face in progress:

Then she was ready to become our star!

I'm happy to say that June (who is something of an Appy expert, and unfortunately couldn't join us for the painting party) approves of our happy little spots:

...and Amber, who visited from New Hampshire, found all her hidden "treasure hunt" spots after she picked up her new Mustang and friends!

So, to get you started, here's her State of Maine spot:

Where is it?  I'm not telling - You'll have to find out for yourself if you come to visit!

So, got some name ideas yet?  Click here to email Eleda before the 24th and we may pick your name to call her forever and ever!  Be sure to include your name so we can give you credit for your name idea.

I can't wait to find out what you pick for her name!

~ Eleda

P.S.  If you've always wanted a life-sized horse and can afford the price tag (around $2000) delivered, I highly recommend the folks at Fiberglass Animals and Objects LLC.  I was first introduced to their work in 2003 when Portland hosted an art exhibit called Lighthouses on Parade.  I painted one of the lighthouses, and was impressed by it sturdiness and quality.  When I discovered that these guys had made the lighthouses, they were a shoe-in to make our mascot for us!  It has been a fun process from start to finish.