Breyer's Barn Cats

When it comes to choosing companions for your model horses, you can't do much better than a barn cat.  Of course, horses will bond with all sorts of animals -- ponies, donkeys, goats, roosters, and geese being among the most popular.

Companion dogs can be a risky business.  Some horses, especially those that work or go on trail rides with dogs like cattle dogs, hounds, and carriage dogs, can become quite bonded with their canine companions.  But an overactive, boisterous dog, or a dog with a strong prey drive that simply cannot resist chasing and nipping at horses will bring a horse nothing but stress.

Cats, on the other hand, are almost ideal barn buddies.  Even though they are all tiny lions, horses don't seem to see them that way.  Many will happily let kitties doze on their backs in the warm sun, and in return the cat will work to keep a stable's rodent population down, thus preserving much of a horse's food and bedding.

Breyer's model cats are not necessarily meant to be barn cats, although that's a reasonable occupation for cats in the Traditional "Companion Animal" line.

My Pocket Box Himalayan Cat

Breyer's first cat, the oversize, comical Chris Hess Kitten, is almost life-size and is clearly not meant to be a companion to any of Breyer's horse models.  But the two "Companion Animal" cats -- the stretching and the walking (both sculpted by Kathleen Moody) -- would make excellent barn cats.

The sculptors of the itty bitty Stablemate kitties -- lying, sitting, and standing -- are unknown.  Although called Stablemate companions, these cats also pair nicely with some of the CollectA horses.

My scrawny Stablemate Sitting Cat

The Pocket Box line offers a variety of cat breeds, all roughly in scale with the three Stablemate cats.  Although in real life some of these cats are better known as show cats than barn cats, the sculpting is scruffy enough that all of them could conceivably do double duty in a barn.

My Pocket Box American Shorthair tabby kitten

Real life barn cats are usually feral or semi-feral, but a good barn owner will treat them with the same consideration as they would any working animal and not just throw them in a barn and expect them to fend for themselves.  For the cats' safety and that of anyone they encounter, they should be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, provided with a weather-proof hiding spot and have daily access to fresh food and water.  Barn cats will still hunt rodents if fed -- in fact, they will have more energy for the hunt -- and the provision of these essentials will encourage the cats to stay in the barn and not go looking for greener pastures.

Fortunately, Breyer barn cats need no care or feeding.  All they require from you is a little imagination when you want to work them into your model horse displays.  And just like real life barn cats, once you give them an equine buddy to cuddle up with, they will soon make themselves right at home in your stable.