Bartley couple doesn't horse around with collection

Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette

BARTLEY, Nebraska --Harold Moore has a horse figurine collection that would make any cowboy proud. Maybe not so much his wife, who can spend up to five hours dusting it.

"I broke a tail once, but Harold didn't complain, as he knows I do the dusting," Mirian Moore joked.

For so many horse figurines -- about 1,000, the Moores estimated -- you'd think their house would be jam-packed. Not so. Somehow, they make it all work, with several floor-to-ceiling shelves, a roomy basement and judicious arranging. They have to, to make room for Mirian's pig collection.

Mirian and Harold Moore have amassed quite a collection of horse and pig figurines through the years. "I love her 'cause she's mine," Harold says of his wife of 62 years. (Lorri Sughroue/McCook Daily Gazette)

Harold's collection includes Breyer horses, noted for their attention to detail and life-like poses. Her collection includes just about everything, including a pig-shaped ice cream scoop, a cookie cutter, wall hangings, plus hundreds of other china, ceramic, glass, plastic or plush figures.

Both of their histories are reflected by the collections, as Harold used to break horses when he was younger and Mirian used to farrow pigs and help with the litters.

And it spans many years, with Harold and Mirian snagging their finds at auctions and yard sales. After they quit, friends and families picked up the slack.

Most of the horses are displayed side-by-side upstairs, on shelves and book cases. The pigs are more casual, displayed in the bathroom, tucked into corners and on top of cupboards.

Downstairs, there are more horse figurines, lined up on more shelves. And more pigs. Plus the keychain collection, with hundreds of different keychains strung on a chain.

Harold and Mirian are the first to admit they have a lot of collectibles, but some have been designated to family members, they said.

As for the rest of it, it will have to be dispersed somehow when the time comes.

"That's the kids' problem," laughed Harold.