| Pamela McDowell |
| For Neighbours |
Thursday, March 27, 2008
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The scene is frozen in time: a grandstand full of spectators, a glowing scoreboard and racehorses charging down the track. The surprising thing is that the horses are only a few inches tall. These tiny equines are the stars in an intricate diorama Krysta Turner, 14, crafted for her 4H project last year.
"The challenge is to take a model horse and make it look realistic in its surroundings," Krysta explains.
The horses are plastic or resin models, most frequently manufactured by Breyer. What looks like a child's toy to some, holds completely different potential for a collector or modeller. A Breyer modeller is striving for the same kind of detail and realism as a model railroader, but with an equine subject.
"It's amazing what the kids learn through the model horses," says Tammy Turner, Krysta's mom and a Southpaw 4H leader. "We had a saddle seminar, we've learned about different breeds and performance classes, and the rules of a real horse show."
This educational component is what prompted Dick Chute, owner of Castle Toys, to begin promoting the model horses as a hobby through the Breyer Fun Day. "The kids are learning all the time," he says. "At the Breyer Fun Day they get to rub shoulders with others who are into the hobby. They can learn how to show. They can learn about the qualities of a horse or a particular breed."
The 11th Annual Breyer Fun Day is scheduled for Saturday, March 29, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Castle Toys, 101-5718 1A St. S.W. Organized much less formally than a show, the day involves a diorama contest and four simple categories in each of three age groups.
"We see people from as far away as Lethbridge and Riley every year," says Chute.
The day is a way to kick off the model show season, with the local circuit including events in Lethbridge, Edmonton and Calgary. These one or two-day events are organized very much like real horse shows, with halter classes for the different breeds and genders as well as performance classes. Classes may be judged by a real horse judge or a Breyer judge.
In the performance classes, modellers strive to duplicate scenes from virtually any equine activity, including jumping, driving, cutting, roping and rodeo events. The tack, riders and others elements of the diorama can be purchased or hand-crafted for a truly unique look.
The halter classes require less in the way of extras but more attention to the condition of the model itself. In the halter classes, a scuff mark or scratch will lose points for your model, as will rough seams, a foggy paint job or indistinct markings.
"The horses are all hand-painted or airbrushed at the factory which can cause variances in the models," explains Twyla Wehnes who has been collecting model horses for 30 years and showing them for about half that time. Wehnes also judges and has been faced with over a dozen seemingly identical models in a single class. "That's when a judge has to get picky and notice the tiny details," she says.
And it is possible to improve upon the model that comes out of the box. Like many modellers, Wehnes paints, etches, remakes and sculpts the original factory piece into something completely customized. She has taught others, including Rayvin Brewer, an employee at Castle Toys and avid modeller, some of these techniques.
Perhaps Brewer's most striking remake is a Shire.
"I cut its mouth to open it up, then sculpted teeth and a tongue and closed it again," she says. Breaking off and re-sculpting manes, swapping heads of different models and even thinning a plump broodmare to the physique of a svelt stallion are all challenges she has welcomed. Brewer has customized models for clients in Australia, England, Scotland, the United States and Canada, but not all end up in the shows. "Sometimes they are just collectors who don't even know about the shows," she says. "And sometimes they want a model that looks just like their own horse, like a pet portrait."
For Brewer and Wehnes, the model horse hobby has become an art form. In fact, Wehnes is a professional artist, having majored in painting at the Alberta College of Art. In the upcoming 2008 Calgary Exhibition and Stampede, six of her paintings will be displayed in the Western Art Gallery.
"The mediums really feed off each other all the time," says Wehnes. "The model horses can help me get the angle right in a painting. Some are anatomically bang on and great tools for me."
Much of Wehnes art focuses on horses. A self-professed city girl who should have been born on a farm, she's done it all, including riding English, western, saddle seat and jumping. She even worked at Heritage Park driving "the big guys." For all of these modellers, working with the Breyer horses is a hobby and an extension of their first love: horses.
"It's a great hobby," says Krysta Turner. "If you really like horses, then you can have mini horses in your house all the time."
