The first fairy-tale mare in my herd

I finally managed to motivate myself to finish the long-started project of restoring the glory of my first unreal, fairy-tale mare. Meet the unique Allegra.

On arrival

This horse came to me by accident, I was interested in the Champion which was on sale with her. I had no idea what model it was, I wasn't interested in it at first - I was focused on the Champion. Besides - a pink horse?! This was absolutely not my target. I assumed I would leave it to be repainted, because I'm not interested in colorful horses.

The package arrived on July 15, 2021.

Allegra and Champion out of the package

Model puzzle

After unwrapping the bundle and admiring Champion for the first time, I started looking at the pink horse. I really had no idea what kind of horse I got.

At first, I thought it was a model from the 2000s. But as soon as it came into my hands and I could examine it organoleptically, I realized that it did not match the new millennium Mattel horses - the plastic was too solid, the hair did not look tangled, additionally, I felt that it isn't the worst quality and the painting didn't look like modern either.

The first pink horse that came to my mind was Marzipan from the 2001 sleigh set. But... somehow it only half-matched.

Marzipan and sleigh set, 2001 (src. ebay.com)

The color of my horse is similar, but less intense. The hooves are metallic and purple, but... the markings on the legs are missing.

2001 Marzipan (src. ebay.com)

Hair of similar length, but not the same color and Marzipan has no holographic highlights. In addition, the eye color is also different.

In 1995, there was also a pink horse - Barbie Flying Hero - but it didn't match either - my horse has a pink-pearl colour, has shorter white hair, and purple, not gold, hooves. The holographic highlights are white - not pink like Flying Hero's. The eyes seem similar, but not the same.

Flying Hero horse, 1995 (src. ebay.com)

And nothing seemed to match, so I decided to ask more experienced people for help. I posted photos of the horse on Instagram, asking if anyone had any idea what it might be.

And then an Instagramer, invaluable in the field of Barbie horses - Pingellienchen - wrote to me that it was a rare European variety of Allegra - a horse from 1993. So this horse is already 30 years old!

Allegra and Butterfly in Barbie Journal (src.Flickr)

About the model

Allegra, also called Star Allegra, accompanied Barbie Pretty Surprise, which is shown on her original box. Most often, you can find its white pearl variety. In the Barbie Journals she appeared alongside Butterfly.

Barbie Pretty Surprise and Allegra (picture from the net)

Barbie Pretty Surprise (src. ebay.com)

Thanks to the courtesy of Baltazar, who has a huge collection of various toys, I can show you what Allegra's box looked like:

Front of Allegra box (photo by balto8a)

Back of Allegra box (photo by balto8a)

White Allegra - photos by Baltazar:

Its equipment included:

🐎 pink horseshoes

🐎 light purple bridle with reins

🐎 purple saddle pad with a pink iridescent ruffle

🐎 iridescent pink saddle with neighing sound function

🐎 4 pearl hair clips with iridescent ribbons

White and Pink Allegra - side by side:

As soon as I found out that I have such an unique horse, of course I gave up the idea of repainting it. I've planned to repair her original painting and make some accessories. It was not a priority project, it developed slowly, by the way, and eventually now I managed to complete it.

Washing

At the very beginning, of course, Allegra was washed. She wasn't particularly dirty, but her hair was dusty.

Combing

Then I took care of her hair. It wasn't easy, but it wasn't the fault of the hair itself, but of the holographic fibers woven into it, which pulled out very easily when combed. I didn't want to strip her of those fibers, but it was really hard not to pull them out. In the photos below you can see the already combed mane and what has fallen out of it. The tail is still before combing.

As you can see, the waste was not large and unfortunately it mostly consisted of these shiny fibers. After the mane, it was time for the tail.

A lot of shiny hair fell off again. But the overall waste was not large, as it were - a horse from the early 90s - so the material is solid.

After drying, my Allegra started to shine - and I saw a quite nice pink horse in her.

Accessories

An idea for her accessories slowly emerged in my head. At first I started constructing a bridle and reins.

I've used decorative flowers from this hair ornament

The base of the bridle - its most important parts, including the noseband - are made of pink iridescent material. It reminds me a bit of those iridescent ruffles and ribbons in her original accessories.

To emphasize its typically girlish charm, I incorporated lace and sequined flowers from a children's hair ornament into the bridle.

The reins are made of the same materials. I also added pastel rhinestones.

Immediately after that, I started composing decorations for the mane and tail.

The decorations are quite unique, I made them partly out of paper. I used paper roses and added paper leaves. I added lace, bows with iridescent glitter and ribbons with beads.

I've created second similar set, which went to a collector overseas. I created it with her Allegra in mind. It is purple - I wanted them to have a similar structure, but with the colors reversed. My set is pinker. In the photos you can see the second set on my Betty, who is like Allegra's sister not only from Barbie catalogs - look at their eyes.

My Butterfly with the second set of accessories

Betti and Allegra

I must add that Allegra eventually got the saddle that Beti was wearing when she came to me. Finding an original Allegra saddle is not easy, most often it comes with a horse, so I don't even dream of such an opportunity. That's why I assigned her a pink saddle, which did not match Beti herself at all, as it clashed with the bright, even neon color of her markings. However, it fits Allegra like a glove. This is a saddle from a newer model, a horse from the Meadow Mares series from 2001 - Hummingbird.

Photos source: https://item.fril.jp

At this stage, Allegra's project was stuck for a long time, although to be honest - the only thing missing was a saddle pad. I had a plan in my head, but I lacked the materials.

Filling gaps in painting and a saddle pad

After two years, during the renovation of the Botties, which required the preparation of paints in similar shades, I returned to Allegra. In the meantime, she got a new name - Lagherta - her white hair reminded me of the heroine of a well-known series about Vikings.

First, let's look at hers painting defects:

After filling the gaps in the eye painting:

The paint on the hooves was also chosen correctly:

A saddle pad was also created. It consists of three layers of fabric - although the middle one is hardly visible. I used a pattern from the Princess Collection series (2003) as a basis. The top is a slightly transparent pink fabric, the middle is a pink fabric with white flowers pattern, the bottom is made of soft plush. The whole thing is trimmed with a pink transparent ruffle, finished with a lace and decorative fabric roses. I also added iridescent glitter on the top side.

Since two years have passed since I last worked on this horse, I decided to wash her hair again. I used a brightening shampoo with an optical dye. Allegra looked almost like Brietta (the pegasus from the movie Barbie - The Magic of Pegasus). By the way, I remember that before I found out that it was Allegra from 1993, the thought of transforming it into Brietta had crossed my mind.

I didn't dare to crimp her hair again, even though my old Barbie looks perfect in the waves. However, I have fewer dolls and their hair withstands storage better than horses'.

Photos

The grass in the garden is a bit too high, Allegra almost drowned in it. The photos don't do it justice, but when you actually hold it in your hands, you can somehow feel that it's a horse from the 90s.