We have a guest blogger today! Shannon Calls written up some information about the Ideal Quarter Horse, localize to Lady Phase and close cousin to Stud Spider. Thank you, Shannon, for the information, pictures, and links!
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My friend Lynn posts in a blog every day. That is amazing to me. She has been doing this for years, blogging about teaching before she retired and now horses real and model. Before we became friends I found and read her horse blog. We became friends through a shared friend, fellow model collector and real horse owner Kelsey Kramer and also from me reading the horse blog and messaging Lynn occasionally about things she posted.
Thursday April 27th Lynn blogged about going antiquing and finding a bay Breyer that looked like no other Lady Phase model she owned. I messaged Lynn to let her know her new bay Breyer was in fact the Ideal QH Mold #497 not a Lady Phase mold model. This model in particular is the #499 Offspring of King P - 234, a 1997 limited edition. I mentioned that I, too, had that model and that it came with an AQHA registration form to fill out and send to AQHA and register your model. I had done that back in the day and my young self found fun and registered my model as Custom Maid.
Lynn replied she too had thought maybe the bay model was the Ideal QH but it didn’t look the model she had on that mold and sent me a photo of the new bay and a palomino model.*** Again I had to reply, well the palomino is not an Ideal QH model but it is fact Bold Impression from 1997 and was the Breyerfest Celebration model on the #66 Stud Spider mold.
To this Lynn replied, “This is interesting. Why would Breyer have 3 molds so close?” Laughingly, I replied, “Well, it is Breyer so who knows,” but I also shared my deeper thoughts on the situation. The teacher in Lynn asked me to write a guest blog on my thoughts. I said I didn’t have time but she would not take my excuse in true teacher fashion. So, my thoughts on Breyer stock horses follows.
Stock horses are popular in my opinion. The AQHA is the world’s largest equine breed registry (https://www.aqha.com/-/aqha-and-apha-match-stride-in-new-collaboration). Also, horses that are famous or owned by famous people also seem to appeal to collectors. So in 1976 Chris Hess created the portrait model of champion Quarter Horse mare Lady Phase #40 owned by singer Lynn Anderson and in 1978 Hess also created the portrait mold of Stud Spider #66, a famous Appaloosa stallion owned by the actor James Brolin, thus a trifecta of stock horses, famous horses and famous persons!
Both these molds in having been sculpted by the same artist and of stock horses they do have a degree of similarity. The original molds both sport the short tails that were the fashion of stock horses of the 70s. LP is a leggier QH while Stud Spider is more of the short legged bull dog QH style but both are unmistaken as stock horse representatives. Interestingly to me LP (who is a favorite of mine) has had many releases and has enjoyed tail variations bringing her into the modern QH era. It’s debated which tail is preferred, the swish or long bushy tail, but both tails are in tune with the current tail trends.
Meanwhile poor handsome Stud Spider has many releases but less than LP and he still has the 70s same look. Maybe he will show up in the Vintage Club eventually? Will he see a new modern era tail at some point?
Now back to Lynn’s new bay model horse on the Ideal Quarter Horse #497. The mold was introduced in 1995 and created by a different artist, Suzann Fiedler. Still certainly unmistaken as a standing stock horse similar in style to the LP and Stud Spider molds but the touch of a difference can be seen since the artist is not Hess.
The IQH from the off side.
Breyer was doing a series on the foundation AQHA sires and Suzann Fiedler created this model for the series. Why Breyer didn’t just use the LP or Stud Spider mold for this series I cannot answer. I can only speculate they wanted to try out new artists and introduce a new mold even if was going to ultimately still be a similar standing horse. This mold still has the short style tail which to my guess would be due to the inspiration of the original Orrin Mixer Ideal QH painting which has the short tail, also the AQHA foundation sires the mold was created to represent also most likely had the short tails.
The foundation sire models could all be registered with AQHA which to me was a fun perk. A second series on this mold was run in 2015 by Breyer as limited runs to celebrate the 75th anniversary of AQHA. Several matte colors were offered and some were randomly glossed as a fun twist. Sadly, I feel this mold doesn’t get much love due to collectors labeling it bug eyed.
So, yes, I agree with Lynn the 3 molds of Lady Phase, Stud Spider and the Ideal QH with their short tails and standing poses upon a quick glance all do look similar but since they are all stock horses, that’s ok and upon a closer examination differences do appear.
As a final rambling to my post, I will mention the premier club models on the 2016 Geronimo #733 by Mooning Piglet Studios and the 2021 standing Quarter Horse mare #809 by Morgan Kilbourne. Wow, more standing stock horses! Both by popular artists of the modern era, both showing the current breed type of stock horses, and the variation seen in the stock types today. Geronimo is the tall leggy variation while the mare is the smaller stock type: think hunter type vs the reiner type of stock horse as the variations at each end of the spectrum in the stock horse type depending on what the horse was bred to perform.
There is a whole mix of the type in between ends of the type spectrum too. The stock breeds are really being bred to type for the events they are wanted to perform and that’s a lot of events with a lot a variation but in the end, the basic look of stock horse should still be seen and that type gives the real horse the structure to do so many things.
Of course, there is the extreme halter type of stock horse to consider too but I don’t want to get into that loaded topic. I own and show a quarter horse so I am well versed in the types and the extremes (https://www.aqha.com/disciplines-overview1).
Anyway, to the point of this blog post. I want to point out that I don’t think either Geronimo or the standing QH mare get lost among LPs, Stud Spiders or the Ideal QH because their modern production methods make the molds stand out, although they still have the clear stock horse look as intended.
Geronimo is currently being used in a series similar to the AQHA 75th anniversary series featuring the Ideal QH mold. He is representing the aptly named Ideal Series showcasing the art of Orrin Mixer in the various stock breeds. All the releases in the Ideal series so far have also had matte finish RR releases and special glossy releases just as that 75th anniversary AQHA series. Orrin Mixer Art Inspires New Series of Breyer Horses - AQHA is First Release | Equine Chronicle.
The standing QH mare has a 2023 release continuing Breyer's tradition of portrait models in Ebony Shines with the foal Charize. https://www.breyerhorses.com/collections/new/products/ebony-shines-and-charlize
Well, Lynn, did I do a good job? Thanks for reading my thoughts on the Breyer standing stock horses.
Shannon
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You sure did, Shannon, and thank you! (A+!) Below are some extra links that Shannon thought would add more information to this blog post.
*** Due to a miscommunication on my part, Shannon believed that I thought that Stud Spider was the Ideal Quarter Horse. I do know who Stud Spider is (I have two of them!); when I went back and looked at the text chain between us, I can see why she came to that conclusion. The model I did not recognize was the IQH.
Some artwork by Suzann Fiedler.
Orrin Mixer in the Quarter Horse Hall of Fame.
The Mixer Horse: The Story Behind the Ideal American Quarter Horse
Excellent guest blog! I have always wondered why Breyer would produce so many models that have such a similar appearance.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading this article, I pulled up ID Your Breyer several times on my phone, for each of the different standing stock horses. So I could compare them one to one to one. I can see why Lady Phase is so well loved. I like the muscling on her over that of Stud Spider. Unfortunately, the original Ideal American QH is at the bottom of this Stockhorse list for me.
The newer Geronimo is handsome; he looks like a younger stallion compared to SS. There’s something about Spider’s stance that looks more natural to me.
As for the Standing Quarter Horse Mare, she is my favorite of this small group. I think it’s the relaxed head and neck, she looks so natural. Second for me is Lady Phase – she looks natural, but at attention, with ears pricked forward. And my third choice is Stud Spider with his realistic stallion stance and look.
Thanks for leading me down this moment of comparison!