Breyer Madison Avenue

Breyers are like potato crisps: you can never have just one...

Yeah.

 So, I'd like to introduce you to my latest model. She's sculpted on the Rejoice/National Show Horse mould, and I believe she's the Madison Avenue model, but she could just as likely be the warehouse find/reissue version. I'm not really bothered either way.

   She's second hand, and has a lot of small rubs and scratches. You can see the most obvious two on the base of her tail and her off side hip. I can probably touch in the one on her tail with some brown/black paint, but her imperfections really don't bother me. In fact, as someone who only collects Breyers as a hobby, I'd rather have the imperfect models and let the pristine/immaculate ones go to the showers and competitors.

Probably the biggest thing that attracted me to this girl was her colour. She's got this fantasticly shimmery buckskin coat that wonderfully highlights the contors of her sculpting. I love the way her golden pelt is darker and lighter in places, and the juxtaposition between the rich tones of her body and the dark chocolate black of her points is just superb.

  I'm a big fan of solid colours in horses, so I like the fact that she only has a few white markings as highlights. I also like the fact that the markings on her legs are all different lengths. I feel that it really adds character to the model.

 The mould itself is really lively and animated. She feels like a very sassy, energetic mare, but at the same time very dignified and proper. It just feels like she's begging to be harnessed up to a light trap or prancing around a showring in hand.

 Because she only stands on 2 legs, her exaggerated tail is essential to balance the mould. Despite this, she's actually very stable and no more prone to tipping than any other model. Her long, thin tail does seem like a potential snapping point, though, so I'll have to be careful with her in that respect.

 Her off hind leg is actually drawn under her body as well as forward, and I like the fact that there's a very obvious slant in her hips to emphasise her movement.

 Her hooves seem a bit pale to me, but that might just be with age or exposure to sunlight.

 She's got an intelligent head. I love the way her ears are pointed in different directions. She's definitely listening to something behind her (her driver/rider, maybe?) whilst focusing on where she's going at the same time.

 I think it's a bit of a shame that her eyes are just plain black with a white edge. She's got such large, emotive eyes that it would have been nice if they were a bit more detailed.

 The black tips to her ears are a really nice touch, and something that customisers often forget buckskin horses have.

 

Her mane and forelock certainly seem tack-friendly, and she's got the large bridlepath traditional to the National Show Horse breed. I can't tell whether it's her golden colouring, her energetic pose or just the joy that comes with a new model, but every time I look at her I can't help smiling.

Most of my models quietly wait for me to find the right names for each of them. But true to her lively, sassy nature, this girl got tired of me procrastinating over naming her, and told me to hurry up and call her 'Jewel' already! I couldn't argue with that, so her showname is now Persian Jewel. I've got to say, it'll be nice to have a mare with a bit of attitude in the herd :)

2015 Schleich Tennessee Walker Stallion

Here's the 3rd and final model of the new 2015 Schleich horses I recently purchased. He's the Tennessee Walker stallion, and since he looks so refined and elegant I decided to name him Solitaire, or Sol for short.

 Whilst not a new mould, the 2015 Tennessee Walker stallion features a brand new coat colour. This wonderful pale buttermilk buckskin with ebony black points really suits the mould in my opinion, and I love the contrast between the light creamy body and the satin dark points.

 As far as I can tell, the only change made to the mould is the updated branding on the belly (if you've got both, have a look at the underside of their bellies, you'll see what I mean). I think the horse is meant to be walking, turning to his left as he goes, but I might be wrong. His hooves are wonderfully painted and quite realistic.

 The shading on his coat is quite subtle but very effective. It's lovely to see shading, especially as some of the newer Schleich horses lack it. Colour wise, his coat is very similar to the Schleich exclusive Tennessee Walker mare (which sadly I don't have, so I can't show you them side by side), which makes me think that perhaps she was the inspiration for this model. I think the pale buckskin colour really suits her too, though I don't really like the high black points on her legs, so I'm glad they limited the stallion's black to below his knees.

 My boy has a bit of a flaw in his paintwork on his off (right) side, right in the middle of his belly. I think it's a blob of paint, but I'm not too concerned about it. Maybe I'll just call it a scar where he was wounded and the skin and hair grew back a little thicker in that spot :)

 The rich black of his mane and tail make the hairs look super silky here. I almost expect them to be soft to the touch :)

 The mould isn't flawless. The ears are too big and the legs are too thick, but since the mould is one of the 'older' generation of Schleich horses he's perhaps somewhat more realistic than many of the newer models. It'll be very interesting to see if Schleich continue to reuse some of the older moulds in new colours.

 Since the mould already has horseshoes sculpted on Schleich have painted them on this model. This makes him one of the only 2015 horses to still have horseshoes.

 Compared to my chestnut Tennessee Walker stallion this boy's eyes seem to be painted in a bit more, making them appear slightly larger and fuller. His mane and forelock have been painstakingly painted, so there are very few flaws to be seen.

 I love his face. He just seems so alert yet serious, ready to perform his duty at his rider's command.

 Here he is beside to original flaxen chestnut Tennessee Walker stallion. Personally I think the pale buckskin colour really suits this mould, and maybe even looks better than the original chestnut on him.

Overall I'm really, really happy with this stallion, and very glad I added him to my herd.

2015 Schleich Mini Shetland Stallion

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a couple more of the 2015 Schleich horses that I liked. Here's the first, and probably my favourite, of them. He's just so cute!

 I'm extremely happy with this little man. Whilst many of Schleich's horses can be a bit off (or very off) with their conformation, they have better success with their pony moulds. And there is absolutely no doubt that this stallion is meant to be a Shetland pony.

 To be honest I'd never heard of a 'miniature Shetland' before, but from what I can gather they're not a separate pony breed to the Shetland. Rather, the miniature version is simply smaller than average, standing at around 7-8 hh at the withers (regular Shetlands average 10-11 hh).

 Because of this, and because they are very strong willed and said to be, for their height, the strongest horse or pony breed in the world, they're not recommended as a children's riding pony. Instead, miniature Shetlands are often trained to be guide ponies in a similar fashion to guide dogs, or performance ponies in shows or circuses. With this in mind it's not difficult to see why Schleich chose a rearing pose with this boy.

His colour is a little difficult to define. Whilst the cream body and brownish points suggest an amber champagne, he lacks the speckled nose or hazel eyes of a true champagne. With this in mind I think he's probably a buckskin, but I can't say for sure.

  As you can probably see from his mane and forelock my boy isn't painted perfectly. There are strands of hair that have missed the paint altogether. But that really doesn't bother me that much. His adorable pose, his sweet face and his thick pony mane just make me smile affectionately every single time I look at him :)

 It was a little difficult to name him, but not because I couldn't find a name that fits. Rather, I had many, many names that all could have worked for this little guy, and narrowing them down to just one was what took the longest. In the end I decided, partly based on his colour, to name him Peanut. And to reflect his cheeky nature, his show name is May Contain Peanuts :)

 Like the rest of the new moulds, this stallion lacks horse shoes. But that's a good thing; unlike the larger horses and ponies this boy isn't a riding horse and therefore wouldn't need the added protection on his hooves.

There's the faintest hint of a smile on this little chap's face that, combined with his cheeky rear, just makes him seem so mischievous and adorable. Had they painted him in a dark bay he'd look just like Tucker from Racing Stripes!