My Butterfly (1990/1993)

Butterfly is a horse that appeared in the early 90's. Some sources say tat it was 1990, but it appears in the 1993 Barbie journals. I also read that it was a horse that was only available in Germany - unfortunately I don't know if this is truth. It wasn't the object of my interest, in my childhood I even didn't know about its existence. Butterfly hadn't got a lot equipment, which still does not impress me, I believe that it is one of the poorer models from that time. As a lover of the butterfly theme, I believe it has much more potential than what Mattel presented. However, it is a classic and I have to accept it as it was created.

Picture from Pinterest

Horseshoes, saddle, reins and bridle, plus a saddle pad and four butterfly hair clips with colored strands of hair. Butterfly has appeared in Barbie's journals alongside Allegra. She is also similar to her.

picture from Flickr

My Butterfly (Betty) came to me on December 8, 2021. I found her advertised with the other horses, but managed to persuade the seller to detach her from the kit. I was interested in her because of hers pretty good condition and of course - an attractive price.

Her hair was braided so there was a chance it wouldn't be damaged. She had an original bridle and also an original saddle - but not hers - it belonged to one of the horses from the 2000s.

After removing the saddle and harness, I saw a large number of various stains, scratches and other artifacts.

Beti's eyes are huge and very much like Allegra's.

After this preliminary examination, the colored filly landed in the bath.

The safest way to detangle long unraveled braids is to untangle them while wet with a conditioner.

The Butterfly has a very delicate pink-cream color. The markings on the legs are bright pink, the hooves and eyelids are purple, the eyes are blue, and the hair is golden blond in shades of orange and pink.

And my Butterfly was very clean and brushed. Well, but she had no equipment other than a bridle. The saddle did not match the original bridle in any way, it was made of flexible material, supposedly pink, but not in the same shade as the bridle, which was identical to the horses from the Ski Fun series - bright. The original Butterfly saddle was the same as the Ski Fun, so I decided to borrow it from Blizzia. Okay, but that's not the end - there was also a saddle pad, reins and pins missing.

In the original, the saddle pad was purple with colorful butterflies and a frill. I was looking for the right material for a long time, and finally I figured out a way how to make the desired pattern on the material - an iron-on foil for printing came with the help. In my vision, the saddle pad was supposed to be similar to Blizzia's - with a breastplate and a frill instead of a fur. I made the hair clips from children's hair elastics, ribbons, beads and colored strands of hair - just like in the original. I made the reins out of some random string that I found at home. I love all kinds of leg warmers, but in the case of Butterfly, they would cover its markings.

This is how my own version of the Butterfly outfit was created.