The Breyer SpotLight: Your Horse Model Market Resource

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  • Personal Note: Winter is on its way....
  • Updates: Help for selling models online
  • Article: “Setting Up Model Scenes” by Diane Maccani

Personal Note from Bonnie: Winter is on its way ...

I hope you all have had a wonderful summer, able to enjoy family time and maybe even a vacation with the kids. It seems as though this year winter is going to be on us sooner than we think. The mornings are colder and I am starting to miss the sun early in the morning when I awake. It makes me think - are we ready for Christmas?

I know it may sound like a foolish question, however, now that the kids are back in school and everyone is getting back into a regular routine, it won't be long before Christmas is here. I mean really; how quick did summer fly bye?

Help for selling models online

Now here is why this should matter to you….. IF you are planning on selling your Breyer Models there are things you need to do now to be prepared. Things like getting good photos before the light changes with the season, running ads for your cheaper models now so that your name is familiar before December hits.

In case you missed the page, we have recorded a bunch of very useful information for you here:

Master Mind Recorded Calls!

We are in the process of updating the information on this page and restructuring the first call. After all the work is done the price will go up. I don't know how soon this will happen; depends on my work load with other things. So right now you can take advantage of me being wrapped up in work with horses and wheat and still get the package at its starting price.

Please remember as well: all the information contained within these calls can be used on any site anywhere. Such as the Facebook Market place:

Facebook Marketplace

And now for today's great article by Diana Maccani:

Setting up Model Scenes

My fun in model showing is building the 'scenes.' For a class as simple as western pleasure, it is easy. For a diorama, it can get as complicated as you like.

NAN rules say pleasure classes are judged with just the pleasure horse with tack or tack and rider displayed on the show table. Some exhibitors place a fence behind the horse to portray the show pen. When showing my western and English pleasure horses, I display them on a small board with a fence and sign with the name of the show. I also put sand on the board to make the footing realistic. If you are concerned about scratching up your horse's hooves with grainy sand, used coffee grounds works well too. I've done very well with my realistic pleasure scenes. If I was ever to go to a large NAN show, I'd probably have to leave the board behind, but at the smaller ones we show at, it works.

Western and English performance classes, working classes, jumping, and games give you a better opportunity to build those 'scenes.' These are usually displayed on a board of some type. Rules say they can be no larger than 18” x 24”.

  • Fences, jumps, trail obstacles, barrels, poles, etc are all part of these set-ups. The more realistic, the better you will place.

  • Make sure your props are in scale to your horse.

  • Again, sand is often used for arena footing.

  • If it is a pasture scene, I've found grass paper you can buy for railroad scenes works very well and looks realistic. By adding sand (or coffee grounds) to it, you can also make those scuffed up areas you need for some scenes.

  • A scene I did with two girls cantering their Welsh ponies across a field with their dogs had a rock fence made from small rocks from our driveway. It was a crowd favorite.

  • My favorite scene I've built so far is our Bear in Camp scene. This one had trees (branches) with a picket rope between them to tie the horses, which were rearing back with fright at the bear. A tent with a rock fire ring with real wood (small branches) was at one end. Camp equipment was spread around and a black lab was watching the action. Dan (doll) was raising his gun to scare off the bear and Ann (doll) was crawling out of the tent in surprise. Ann didn't want to stand so having her coming out of the tent solved that problem. Rocks, small bits of moss, sand, and crushed up leaves made the ground realistic. The dolls, tent, and camp equipment were my grandsons' Hunter Dan play set. They are the same scale as the models.

www.netlinkenterprises.com, a link to buy the bear camp props

Winter scenes are fun too. White batting makes great snow. You can find plenty of trees to scale that are made for Christmas village scenes. We've shown a winter scene with a cowboy dragging home the family Christmas tree on his horse. The stump of the tree he sawed down stuck up through the snow.

Building scenes for model shows is fun. Let your imagination roam and see what you can come up with.

Diane Maccani is a lifelong horseman and the author of a thirteen book series, What the Cowgirls Do! Her books take you into the ‘real world’ of showing, rodeo, and ranching in today’s horse industry. Check out her website for more information about the series and how to order:

www.tamarackfarmpublishing.homestead.com

Thank you Diane! Until next time, enjoy Collecting!

Bonnie

Breyer Horse Collectors


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