Dust Ponies: Musings about the Model Horse Hobby: Quest Fulfilled (Sort Of)

'Way back in March when I first set out on this blog I made some mention of the heartbreaking Hartland story and how I had Hartland samples from every era of the company's existence except something from Sheryl Leisure's Hartland Collectibles L.L.C. era.

Recently, while perusing Lisa Perkins' new Hartland site, I noticed that she was clearing out some old inventory acquired at the time she purchased the old Hartland horse molds. The horses she had had clearly been through the wringer, having been bounced around uncared for at least eleven years, if not more. But I spotted one on the list that I thought I'd take a chance on because it was a model produced by Hartland Collectibles L.L.C., even though it is essentially a body now. The horse is a pearly palomino 9-inch Saddlebred, originally produced from 2001-2004. The poor thing was probably not sold at that time because she leans drunkenly to one side. Before Lisa uncovered her, who knows where and how she had been stored? Her scuffs and scrapes tell a story of the rough treatment she undoubtedly received.

At the moment, selling bodies to customizers is what the new Hartland Horse and Cowboy Company specializes in. Most of their bodies are made through a 3-D printing process, and require smoothing and finishing from their new owners if they want to repaint them. Broken bodies are also being sold in body lots for those who are interested in doing some repair work as well. In terms of original finish horses, the options so far have been limited, and exotic decorator colours usually outnumber the realistic horse colours on offer.

But it's early days yet -- the company is obviously going through some growing pains, but they have big plans for the future. They've already come up with a few new molds for 3-D printing, and are currently sourcing a new injection molding company to mass-produce the older plastic bodies. Resin versions of some horses are also in the works.

Anyway, I was happy enough to buy my poor neglected little Saddlebred if only to have a sample model from the Hartland Collectibles L.L.C. era. As I mentioned before, these horses seldom come up for sale, and when they do they tend to be very pricey. Despite her tipsy tilt, my new Saddlebred stands just fine, and she can be a placeholder for her species on the shelf until a better bargain comes along.

So, to review, I now have horses from: