Breyer Friesian Models

I finally have had a chance to sit down today and try and get caught up on postings. Soon summer will come to an end and I will no longer have the time to work outside like I am. Thus I am trying to make use of all the daylight I can.

Today I wanted to take the opportunity to share with you a little bit of insight about the Breyer Models and how they relate to the real horse they may be designed after. There are many of the Models that really are fictional, but there are others that are designed after the "real thing". We are most familiar with the newest ones such as "Roxy" from BreyerFest as well as "Alborozo" from 2008. The reason these come to mind so easily is because of all the publicity they have gotten.

However, there are others that should not be forgotten either. One of these is the Friesian Mold. Now this mold may not be considered the most attractive or the best version done of a live Friesian; it is smaller than the larger traditional size Models and lacks the action that a live Friesian normally has. That being said, some of them are still pretty popular around Christmas time when everyone is thinking "sleigh rides" through the snow. You can read a little more about the Friesian models on our website here.

The reason this one comes to mind for me is because I had the rare opportunity to ride a rather large Friesian Stallion a couple weeks ago. Yep, that's little ole me up there in the saddle of this huge 17.2 hand stud! (I still can't believe I did that!)

Now if you compare the picture of the model to the real Friesian, you can see some similarities. However, myself, I do believe the first Friesian Mold is a bit small to be realistic. But you can't forget the smaller size of Alborozo or Secretariat either. Maybe it is just the talent or temperament of the Artist who was sculpting the mold. Don't know.

As for the Friesian models, the newer Mold I feel is much more comparable to the the live horse than the older first mold. Even though Breyer has used the first mold for a variety of fairly valuable models such as Fire Magic, the 2005 BreyerFest Celebration Horse. Fire Magic is a rare Bay/Brown Friesian; rare because the purebred Friesian is normally always solid Black with no white or any other color.

The solid black is the only color allowed into the Friesian Registry and the only way to "get" any other color is by crossbreeding the Friesian with another breed such as Paints, Pintos, or Appaloosa's. You can find out more by going to www.royalknightfriesians.com where they stand Torben, the stallion I rode as well as Apollo. They also do crossbreeding for color and have some pictures for you to enjoy.

So I guess the point of this post is to help us all think about the details of the models, and how comparable they are to the actual breed they represent. I can tell you that the power and knee action on a Friesian is a great deal higher than that of a Quarter Horse! And it takes a bit of getting used to when you're sitting so high!

Until next time; enjoy your collecting!