An Introduction to the Model Horse Hobby

Whenever I tell friends that I collect model horses, I get a blank stare. When I add, "It's like the people who like to make model railroad setups, or dollhouses, only it's about horses," they start to nod. Friends visiting my home often ask to see my model horse collection. When I open the china cabinet in my office and display the tiny equines (and felines and canines) prancing on the shelves, faces soften, hands reach out to touch the china, plastic and metal beauties. It's as if my guest's inner child comes out to play, if only for a fleeting instant, at the sight of a Breyer or Schleich model horse.

Model horse collecting is indeed akin to model railroad enthusiasm or making miniature dollhouses. Lesley Shepherd, a miniature expert and editor at About.com on the Miniatures channel where I used to be a Contributing Writer, not only makes amazingly realistic dollhouse scenes, but she makes historical replicas, tiny scale restaurants, shops – you name it. It's like a whole world in miniature.

Therein, I think, likes the fun of model horses. Many model horse collectors, myself included, grew up yearning for a horse or pony to call our own. I can remember grabbing the Troll Book Club catalog we received in school in second or third grade and scanning it eagerly for books about horses. It was through these pages that I met Mokey the Summer Pony, Misty of Chincoteague, The Black and all the other wonderful horses of the imagination.

It was through my Breyer horse models, however, that my creative spirit met my imagination in the fusion of interests that only the model horse world can satisfy. I received my very first model horse in 1974, when my older sister, herself a former collector, gave me her Hartland black and white pinto pony that came with Tonto the Indian (long since lost). She also gave me the Breyer palomino Family Arabian Stallion (stenciled mane variation.) In my imagination, I rode the palomino stallion through countless adventures, across meadows and through forests.

Many models follow the first two, including cheap dime store plastic knock-offs of the Family Stallion, flocked models with glass eyes and real hair tails, and of course, Breyers. I'd take the public bus with my older sister to Roosevelt Field Mall, clutching my Christmas money in hand, and spend what seemed like hours deliberating over the Breyer horse models on the shelves of K-Bee Toys. I remember as if it were yesterday the day I purchased El Pastor, the Paso Fino; the mahogany bay Proud Arabian Stallion; the classic scale Lipizzaner.

One of the best things about buying Breyer horses in those bygone days before their acquisition by Reeves International were the tiny, full color catalogs included in every box. My copies quickly became worn soft on the edges, the paper faded to white where I'd spent hours holding it, thumbing through the pages, dreaming about owning every single model horse made. It was in the back of one such catalog in 1978 that a little ad caught my eye for a new magazine Breyer produced call Just About Horses. I ran to my dad with my $2 of allowance money, one whole week's worth of allowance. "Can I have a check?" I asked my father.

"Whatever for?" he asked in surprise.

"I want to subscribe to a model horse magazine."

When the new magazine arrived, I was in heaven. Horses, horses and more horses! Real horses on the cover – and inside, more Breyers.

To my astonishment, there were people showing Breyers in pretend horse shows called photo shows (live shows were in their infancy then and certainly out of reach for a grade school kid like me.) There were articles on how to take photos of your model horses for shows, and classified ads listing potential shows. In those days, you sent away for a show class list by mail. If the recipient was fast, you'd receive your class list in about a week. Then you had to mail in your photos and your money plus a return envelope. It would take weeks to enter a photo show!

My older sister had a 35 mm camera, and so I drafted her to take photos. One cold winter day I dragged a blanket onto my neighbor's lawn – he had shorter grass than we did – and we took pictures of my Appaloosa yearling, complete with rubs from Barbie doll legs on the barrel, my Family Arabian Stallion, my Man O'War and a bunch of other horse models. I followed the instructions and entered the pictures. Much to my delight, I won many of the classes! I had no idea at the time, but Mary's 35 mm close up photos were ahead of their time among the blurry, six-foot distance entries.

Since that time, of course, the hobby has matured and progressed with lightning speed. Today live shows are perhaps more popular than photo shows, and the majority of photo shows are held online. Live and photo shows provide opportunities to collectors to complete in halter and "performance" classes with their model horses. Models are judged on similar conformation, breed, and color standards in halter classes as their living counterparts. Performance setups include tack (saddles, bridles, saddle pads, etc) suitable for the discipline and class, as well as props such as cattle, rider dolls, carriages and carts, fences to jump, barrels to race and a whole lot more.

Miniature enthusiasts often enjoy the craftsmanship of these props. Model horses are not in the same scale as dollhouse or railroad miniatures, so all props must be hand-crafted (although now companies such as Breyer do mass-produce saddles, bridles, fences and more as toys to accompany their model horses.) Many people enter the model horse show world fascinated by their favorite Breyers and begin to dabble in creative aspects of the hobby, such as tack making, customizing, repainting models, or building props and dioramas.

What can you do with model horses? Below is a short list of all the creative avenues the hobby provides. You can:

• Collect – one make such as Breyer, Peter Stone Models, Schleich or The Lakeshore Collection. Alternatively, you can focus your collection on your favorite horse breeds such as draft horses, Arabians and more.

• Create – tack, props, jumps, sets and dioramas. Leatherworking enthusiasts often enjoy the challenges of making mini saddles and bridles. Some tack makers add beading and embroidery to their skills and make intricate historical and ethnic tack for horse models such as Native American costumes, Arabian costumes, and historical gear. Woodworkers can make propos, sets, carts and carriages, jumps, barns, fences and more. Doll making is another fun aspect of the hobby.

• Customize – customizing model horses means repainting, repositioning, or adding a realistic hair mane and tail.

• Show – photo shows are now held online, enabling entrants to quickly and easily upload photographs to club websites for judging. Live shows such as Breyerfest attract hundreds of people annually who bring their models to a show hall, place them on tables, and await judging. As with all aspects of the hobby, realism is the goal, and the most realistic models and props are highly sought-after and tend to win the prizes.

If you're interested in the model horse hobby or you've held onto your Breyer horse model collection and now you're an adult, you can learn more about the hobby online. There are clubs such as TOPSA (Totally Online Photo Show Association) and bulletin boards like Model Horse Blab and Fallen Leaves where collectors interact. There are websites selling model horses ranging from toy companies to high end, fine art limited edition artist resins at EquinArt Creations. You can learn just by jumping in and reading more about your favorite aspect of the hobby.

Whatever you do, don't throw away those old Breyer models. Even if you decide not to go as crazy as some collectors who amass thousands and thousands of models, you never know when those horses will call to you, softly nickering in your imagination from the cardboard boxes in the attic. Then the model horse bug will bite, and we - the creative horse enthusiasts worldwide called model horse collectors - will be here for you!