Breyer's Classic Cattle

Cattle of one kind or another have been part of Breyer's animal line-up almost from the beginning.  But the cattle were not originally designed to be in scale with the horse figurines.  Like most of the other animals originally produced by Breyer, early cattle were designed to attract specific breed and bovine fanciers who weren't concerned with model horse performance set-ups.  The early cattle were meant to stand alone and be admired in their own right.

Once Breyer horse performance showers started to look for cattle to use in their western set-ups, they focused primarily on repurposing and customizing the Breyer Traditional calf, released in 1972.  Although admittedly a bit large when paired with Breyer's best stock breeds of the time, it would pass with a push.

Roping Calf image courtesy of Carrie Olguin/Keri Okie Entertainment

It wasn't until 1997 that Breyer added cattle specifically designed to pair with its horses.  These were the Classic scale Roping Calf, the Classic scale Cutting Calf (or Heifer), and the Classic scale Bucking Bull.  Though paired with a rider rather than a horse, the Bucking Bull was crafted in scale with the newer Classic horses, and could conceivably be paired with a horse carrying a pick-up rider.*

All of the new Classic cattle, and the performance horses that went with them, were created by Carol Herden, already well-known in the hobby for her excellent resin bovine sculptures.

Cutting Calf image courtesy of Carrie Olguin/Keri Okie Entertainment

With the release of these three animals, Breyer's Classic horses had the honour of being the first to have beefy companions crafted especially for them.  

Starting in 2004 with the Collectibulls bucking bulls, later joined by a farm bull, a cow, a longhorn steer, and a calf, Breyer's Stablemates were sold in sets that included Stablemate scale cattle as well.  But the Classics beat them to the punch when it came to being paired with in-scale cattle creations.

Bucking Bull image courtesy of Identify Your Breyer

Although there are only three molds in the Classic cattle collection, they have been released in a variety of colours, so it's easy to assemble a small herd of Herdens.  Your choices include the Roping Calf in black and tan; the Cutting Calf/Heifer in black and white, red and white (two versions), tan and white, and red; and the Bucking Bull in black, grey and brown.

Unfortunately, none of these animals are currently in production.  Will we ever see them again?  Only the folks at Breyer/Reeves know for sure, and they're not telling.

*Since posting this article I have found out that the horse and rider in the bull riding arena actually function as back-ups to the rodeo clowns.  If the clowns fail to distract or control a bull after the rider is off, the cowboy on the horse can move in swinging a lasso to drive the bull off in right direction.