Traditional scale Breyer family sets of model horses have been offered almost from the start of the company. Family sets in Traditional scale rarely began as an intentional set. Most of the time, one horse in the family, either the stallion or mare, made a debut, and in subsequent years the companion adult horse and foal were added. Each model horse was sold separately in the Traditional scale stallion, mare and foal sets. Collecting complete families offers the model horse collector the chance to obtain the same colors, finishes and releases and show families in various classes at live and photo shows.
Breyer Traditional Scale Family Sets
Here's a brief overview of the Traditional scale family sets offered by Breyer over the years.
- Proud Arabian Stallion, Mare and Foal: Mold #215, the Proud Arabian Stallion, was sculpted by Chris Hess and introduced in 1956. The original colors included Alabaster, a white body color with light gray mane and tail; mahogany bay, a rich bay color with black points; and dappled gray. The mare in the family set exhibits lovely Arabian characteristics and was sculpted by Maureen Love Calvert, a popular equine artist whose work appears in the Breyer plastic toy horse line as well as Hagen Renaker china and porcelain sculptures. The original mold was changed slightly in 1971, and current or recent horses produced and issued as Proud Arabian mares are from the post-1971 mold. The foal, standing almost foursquare at attention with his tiny tail sticking straight out, was sculpted by both Hess and Calvert. This set proved very popular over the years and has been issued in matte, semi gloss and glossy finishes; colors ranging from Alabaster to Woodgrain, which mimics wood; and almost every color in between. The models were sold separately and are easy to find today, although you may need to search harder for an old mold Proud Arabian Mare in mint condition.
- Family Arabian Stallion, Mare and Foal: The FAS, as he is fondly known, entered the model horse collecting world in 1959. He was released in glossy Alabaster, glossy bay, and glossy palomino, but other colors quickly followed. The mare and foals joined the stallion in 1961 and were issued in similar colors. The entire set was sculpted by Hess. This set is extremely common and it is easy to find even older colors inexpensively on the secondhand market.
- Clydesdale Stallion, Mare and Foal: The lovely stallion with his braided mane and tail looks like everyone's classic vision of a draft horse. He was introduced in 1958. The mare, standing at attention, joined the Breyer herd a decade later in 1969, along with the foal. All were sculpted by Chris Hess.
- Running Stallion, Mare and Foal: The mare started off this family in 1961, followed by the foal in 1963 and the stallion in 1968. All were sculpted by Chris Hess.
- Stock Horse Stallion, Mare and Foal: After almost a decade without a complete family introduction, Chris Hess sculpted the Stock Horse Family. The stallion launched in 1981, the mare in 1982, and the standing foal in 1983 and the action foal in 1984. This is one of the few families that have two different foals that match the stallion and mare, making it an interesting set to collect.
Collecting Breyer Model Horse Families
You can start with one Breyer horse and add onto the set, acquiring a family over time. A chance find of a Breyer Clydesdale Stallion in bay at a flea market may lead you to acquire the mare and foal in bay to complete the set. Part of the fun of collecting families of Breyer horses is finding all of the colors and finishes available and completing each little family. As with all aspects of model horse collecting, just start with whatever catches your fancy. Buy what pleases you, and you'll never go wrong!
Dates of each Breyer horse release in this article were taken from the Breyer Animal Collector's Guide, Fifth Edition, by Felicia Browell, Kelly Korber-Wimer, and Kelly Kesicki. This is an excellent collecting guide that not only lists dates but also average values for each Breyer horse.