Horses of a different dimension

It is the North American Nationals and the tension in the room is palpable. Equine sculptures line tables and stand waiting in velvet-padded stalls for their class. Judges examine every minute detail of the animals, the tack they wear, the position and attire of the rider dolls. It all must be perfect. These are the cream of the crop, and any one horse may represent hundreds of hours of labor by multiple artists, and thousands of dollars’ of investment.

The model horse hobby evolved along with the horses themselves, with origins much more humble and less competitive than today. Breyer Molding Company began creating lifelike animals from cellulose acetate in the 1950s, and almost every child in America would eventually have at least one. By far the most popular were horses.

In the 1970s, long before the creation of the internet, model horse collectors began simultaneously doing a curious thing; photographing their models in quasi-realistic settings. Then those individuals found each other, mostly through newsletters about real horses, and soon, through printed and mailed publications that were devoted to the model horse. “Live” shows, although rare in the beginning, and photo shows began to evolve from this spontaneous acceleration of the hobby.

Breyer began interacting with their audience and responding to the demand for more models in more sizes, better painted and more realistically sculpted. The Peter Stone Company emerged to give Breyer some competition among serious collectors, finding their niche with models produced in very small to one of a kind color runs and tremendous attention to detail. Meanwhile, equine sculptors emerged, creating resin cast models and “clinkies” - china equine models.

And then came the World Wide Web. No one ever looked back. At last, model horse enthusiasts enjoyed unlimited access to each other. Online photo showing was born as soon as the technology was in place to share photos. Live shows could now attract many more participants. Artists could sell their resin and china productions to a world wide audience. Customizers could display their work to everyone.

Gradually, the most popular method of photo showing shifted from mail-in shows to online venues, primarily because it is less expensive, and involves less labor. Several groups still host mail-in shows, however; the most successful and popular being the Model Equine Photo Showers Association (MEPSA) which has been in existence for roughly two decades and which hosts a very organized, professional show series, culminating in the annual International Championship Show.

Participants compete in a series of qualifier shows throughout the year. Horses who place first through third in the qualifier shows are allowed to enter the MEPSA Championship Show. This highly anticipated event includes rosettes, ribbons and prizes, and those prizes may be custom painted resin models, show-quality tack, highly sought-after original finish Breyer and Peter Stone models, and many other model horse related items. This year’s show had fifty contestants including international entries from Europe and Australia, somewhere close to ten thousand photos, and was judged by nine separate judges.

Original finish models - available at places like Tom’s Toys in Montrose for under $50.00 - still dominate the show, with one of a kind custom models being the second most popular category of model equine.

Southern California model horse enthusiasts of all persuasions will have a chance to meet up in the Angeles National Forest next year, May 15-17, 2015 for the first annual Models in the Mountains weekend, which will include artist workshops, indoor and outdoor model photo sessions, possibly a small “live” model show, and camping, hiking, mountain biking, nature photography and bird watching. All ages and all levels of collectors are welcome.

MEPSA website: http://mepsa1.tripod.com/news.html

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Models-in-the-Mountains-2015