What Inspires You?

What inspires you in your customising? Today I'm going to be sharing some inspiration pictures of real horses that might provide you with a bit of inspiration for your next custom. Some are really cool colours, some are really cool poses, each one is lovely and each one would make an amazing custom. I've even included some that would be very unusual performance set ups.

First up we have this palomino with a really cool flick in her mane. This would be a great minor custom, it would be even more amazing in mohair!

Second we have a really cool performance idea, this would be an absolutely amazing performance set up. I can see the Breyer Traditional Akhal Teke working really well as a base model for the horses

Third we have a Marwari foal who is insanely cute!

Fourth we have a three for the price of one!

Fifth we have a really nice face marking on a palomino pinto. You could combine this with the flicking forelock in the first picture and it would make an amazing custom

Sixth we have this really cute pony, I love the out of control mane but I also love his thin stripe, it is a really unusual shape and I do love a little bit of pink on the nose

Seventh we have this lovely bridle, plaits and bow combination. Again I think this would make a really nice performance set up

Eighth we have a cute pinto Icelandic, I do love a pony with a coloured head and then almost completely white body

Ninth we just have a cute foal with quite an unusual coat colour, a really good example of how different foal's coat colours are to adult horses

Tenth we have this mane, again this would be a great minor custom idea. Would look really nice on a sport horse/Thoroughbred style mould

Eleventh we have a really nice dapple grey, lovely dapples on this girl. I wish grey horses just stayed one colour! I'd love a grey like this one but I am not dealing with white greys, waaay too much effort!

Twelfth we have another really cool facer marking. A very dramatic marking on a chestnut, would suit a variety of colours but imagine this on a black!

Thirteenth is another really nice dapple grey. A good reference to combine with the one above to get the face colour correct

Fifteenth is the pose on this foal, this would make an amazing resculpt

And finally we have this really cute mare and foal pair. There are a few resin mare and foal sets that I think would suit this well

Are you going to have a go at attempting any of these pieces? Let me know if you are! I'd love to see what you create

Collector's Resources

I thought for today's post I would share a few websites that are invaluable to the model horse collector. Most of these websites are sites that give you information for cataloguing your models.

If you haven't already catalogued your collection then this is definitely something you need to think about doing. There are several reasons for this. Firstly it will help you remember who is who! It seems like a little thing but as your collection grows you may lose track of names, you can't be expected to remember two names for hundreds of models! A catalogue will help you quickly identify a model. Secondly it is important for insurance purposes. Many insurers will ask for this if you have specialist insurance in particular and it is important to keep an accurate up to date catalogue of your collection including values. Finally (and on a slightly morbid note) it is important for your family to know what you have, what it is and what it is worth for when you pass away. This will make sure that if they choose to sell they get a good price for your models and also that any future owners get things such as show results.

The hardest part of cataloguing is often identifying exactly what you own and how much it is worth, so I've put together this list of handy websites to help you identify each model horse in your collection.

But first a note about value. The most important thing to remember when valuing is that old mantra of "something is only worth what people are willing to pay". I find the easiest way to get an idea of a model's value is to look at how much that model has sold for for other people (of course this is really only applicable for OFs but this post is mainly geared towards that). To do this visit eBay (I use ebay.com rather than .co.uk as more Breyers sell through this) and do a search for the item name or number. For example "Breyer Brass Hat". Then on the left hand side click the little box titled "completed items":

Now look for items where the price is green. This will give you an idea of the average selling price for that item. Obviously you need to adjust a bit depending on the condition of your model but this is a great way to start valuing things. Looking at it I can see that this model is selling for between $20-40.

OK so onto our resource link! Obviously these are all external links and I accept no responsibility for their content. At the time of posting I didn't die when I clicked on them but you do so at your own risk!

General

MH$P - https://modelhorsesalespages.com/

If you aren't sure what something is general searches on MH$P can help you to identify the model you have. You can also use it to help get an approximate value if the eBay method isn't working for you.

Model Horse Gallery - http://www.modelhorsegallery.info/

This contains information about a huge range of makes and models. Great to delve into if you really aren't sure what something is!

OF Plastic

Hartland Horses - http://hartlands.com/horses.html

This website is good for identifying Hartland horses.

Identify Your Breyer - http://identifyyourbreyer.com/

One of the most comprehensive lists of Breyer models in an easy to use format. Invaluable for looking up information such as release dates, product numbers and product names.

Stone Horse Ref - http://www.stonehorseref.com/

This website is good for identifying older Peter Stone models.

China & Resin

Beswick & Royal Doulton Horses - http://www.beswickandroyaldoultonhorses.com/collectables/horses

This is a sales site but is really helpful in trying to identify Beswick model horses as it includes product names and numbers.

CTF Models

G1 ID Machine - http://mylittlewiki.org/wiki/G1_ID_Machine

This is quite useful for identifying older G1 My Little Ponies

Grand Champion ID Site - http://www.angelfire.com/on/raventyde/grandchampion.html

A rather old website but still good for helping you identify Grand Champion model horses.

My Beautiful Horses - http://mybeautifulhorses.awardspace.com/index.html

This is a rather old website but it is really helpful if you want to ID My Beautiful Horse models. Again I've used it successfully for charity shop finds.

Strawberry Reef - http://www.strawberryreef.com/

This is a great site for identifying My Little Ponies. It can take some time to search but I've managed to ID all my random charity shop finds using it!

Toy Dreamer - http://www.toydreamer.com.au/schleich1.asp?toytype=farmlife

This is an Australian sales website but it has an incredibly comprehensive list of Schleich model horses. It contains information such as product name, number and release dates. I've used it to catalogue all my Schleich models.

I hope that helps you on your quest to identify your model horses and start cataloguing your collection. If you have any questions or want to recommend a website that you think will help others drop a comment below.