Accuracy and documentation

Because I show a lot of uncommon breeds (and common breeds in uncommon colors), I am a fan of providing documentation. Creating short, informative cards so that a judge can better understand what my model is intended to portray is a challenge that I enjoy. 

Here is Lascaux, the model in the picture. 

Sarah Rose's Libretto painted by Kim Naumann

I show Lascaux (and other horses with Iberian type and appaloosa patterning) as Spanish Spotted Saddle Horses. Because that is a relatively new breed, and because the name is easily confused with the (very different!) Spotted Saddle Horse, providing documentation with the entry is important.

The Spotted Saddle Horse is an American gaited breed closely related to the Tennessee Walking Horse

 

Here is a close-up of Lascaux's documentation. It is typical of the documentation I use as a shower, and I prefer to see when I judge. It covers the very specific information I believe the judge needs to put the entry in context; it is not a book report on the breed.

I have written a lot of articles and a handful of books about breeds and colors over the years, but it never occurred to me to offer pre-made show documentation. I know that others have begun doing this, though, because entrants have told me they purchased their documentation. I learned this when I asked about incorrect information, and the answer was, "Oh, I did not write that." 

Usually, the errors are minor. I have joked that I am going to make custom Post-it notes that say, "This is not a silver," to attach to all the misidentified photos. Using sooty palomino or liver chestnut to illustrate the existence of silver dilutes in a breed is not going to change a placing—assuming, of course, that the breed really does have silver dilutes. 

Nope, not a silver!

Also not a silver.

More recently, however, I encountered documentation with errors that were on a completely different level. I am always hesitant to share details about negative situations because I do not believe publicly shaming someone is helpful. In this case, however, even I do not know who created the documentation. The exhibitor said she received it with the model. What I do know, though, is that it opened my eyes to the potential for a problem. 

That's because the phrase I usually hear right after "I did not write that" is "But the horse placed well using this at the last show."

As judges, we often take documentation at face value. After all, the whole point of laying down documents is to give a judge information that they might not already have. We expect almost encyclopedic knowledge from our judges, but there is so much out there. Documentation is supposed to help make the job more manageable. 

But what if judges cannot trust what is provided? What if exhibitors, or documentation writers, are just making things up? 

The "tobiano" Finnhorse

The model in question was a copy of Emilia Kurila's Ukko, painted in buckskin tobiano. He was being shown as a Finnhorse with documentation that claimed that the breed could be pinto-patterned. That is not untrue. Finnhorses sometimes have flashy white markings, and some do have belly spotting. There is even one instance of a dominant white stallion with a near-white phenotype. 

Vekselin Ihme, a near-white Finnhorse born from two chestnut parents

This is also the breed where splashed white was originally described in 1933. Although the color was thought to have been lost, it was later confirmed to be present in modern Finnhorses by testing. 

Illustration from the 1931 paper that first described splashed white

Finnhorses do not, however, have the gene for tobiano. The idea behind Valto Klemola's 1933 paper was that there were two different kinds of pinto, one dominant (what we now call tobiano) and one recessive (what we now call Splashed White 1). The form of splashed white present in the Finnhorses, Splashed White 1 (SW1), behaves in an incompletely dominant fashion. Horses with one copy look like they have 'ordinary markings', which is why Klemola thought of it as recessive. The horses looked like pintos when they had two copies of SW1. That was what made it different from the dominant (tobiano) pinto. 

Klemola used pictures of Scottish cart horses (the article was written while he was at the University of Edinburgh) to illustrate the tobiano pattern. The splashed white horses were descendants of the Finnhorse stallion Eversti. The whole point of the discovery was that there was a pinto pattern in Finnhorses that was not tobiano. 

Needless to say, finding a tobiano Finnhorse on the table was not something I expected. Finding documentation claiming this horse was proof was something else entirely. 

The documentation claimed that the horse in the picture was "Gold Charm," a Finnhorse stallion "standing at Blazing Colours Farm." None of these things are true. 

I recognized the horse. That's El Dorado Gold Charm. You can see this picture and more from the same photo shoot here. He is a registered American Saddlebred. I knew about him because one of his tobiano lines (he is homozygous) is a bit of a mystery. He's also buckskin, which (unlike palomino) is a little uncommon in his breed. 

The real eye-opener was the claim that he belonged to Blazing Colours Farm. A lot of model horse hobbyists might recognize that name. More would likely recognize it if they saw the stallion at the center of their logo. 

That is Sato, the 2011 BreyerFest Guest Horse. Blazing Colours breeds colorful Thoroughbreds and sport horses. They do not breed coldblooded trotting breeds like the Finnhorse. Interestingly enough, they do have a cremello Thoroughbred stallion named El Dorado, but not Gold Charm. 

The documentation not only named the farm, but also provided a link. Because everything about the claims was throwing huge red flags, I did check the link. It was dead. (Most judges do not have access to the internet while judging, so do not do this on your documentation!)

The whole incident left me deeply uneasy. Horses with incorrect breed attributions have become increasingly common thanks to sites like Pinterest. What made this one unusual was the full-page backstory that went with its breed designation. I could not figure out how someone could mistakenly identify a buckskin tobiano Saddlebred stallion as a Finnhorse (a coldblooded trotting breed) owned by a famous Thoroughbred farm in Canada. 

I still do not know how the documentation came together, but I would like to urge entrants to check the accuracy of anything they did not personally create. As much as I dislike saying it, I would also recommend that judges not necessarily take papers next to entries at face value. At a time when what is real and what is not is harder than ever to determine, it doesn't hurt to be a little skeptical. 

The scourge of AI slop

Every equine artist I know collects reference pictures. My own collection numbers in the hundreds of thousands. I started collecting images in the late 1970s, cutting out magazine pictures and "relocating" my favorite horse libraries one xerox at a time. 

But the internet was a game-changer. That was when my reference collection went from several boxes of papers to a box of external hard drives. 

In the past, the biggest issue with using the internet to collect reference pictures was misidentified breeds or colors. That changed with generative AI. Now, realistic-looking photos can be fake. That is what the image at the top of this post is. Here it is with the original. 

That's the Arabian stallion Marwan Al Shaqab. Because he's a well-known horse, and that's one of the more recognizable images of him, quite a few people pointed out that this was an artificially generated image. 

That probably won't stop artists from painting models with patterns based on the image, or judging from encountering documentation showing that "pinto Arabians can look like this." Interesting photos spread through the model horse community. Trying to get the word out that one of them is misleading can be an uphill battle. 

Just ask me how many times I've talked about the horse on the left, and how often I still see his picture on documentation. No, he is not a buckskin silver. He is a cream-diluted horse turning grey. The horse on the right is a silver-diluted buckskin. 

Silver and cream interact, making the black areas of the horse look warm and brown (right) rather than cool and silver (left).

At least Alen's Smokey Bandit—the buckskin grey Tennessee Walking Horse—is a real horse. 

 At the moment, there are still things that tell someone when an image isn't a real horse. Probably the most consistent error is headgear. The programs do not recognize that there are two different groups of equipment—halters and bridles—so it tends to merge the two things. Even more telling, though, is that it cannot seem to distinguish bits from other metal hardware. Lead clips are likewise a mystery to it.

If the unrealistic appaloosa pattern wasn't instantly suspicious, the "snaffle bit as halter ring" is a good giveaway that this image is fake.

Generative AI struggles with pinto faces, and often substitutes "white grey with markings" in areas that would have pink skin.

But as AI-generated images get more sophisticated, artists—and anyone trying to evaluate realism in art —are going to face challenges. It will not be long before very convincing images, and even videos, will be out there. Eventually, the consistent "tells" will improve. 

Evaluating images

As AI-generated images become increasingly difficult to identify visually, how can artists avoid using misleading references? 

Here are my rules of thumb:

1. Professional-looking photos are usually marked by a photographer. Look for a signature or logo. Be on the lookout for partially removed watermarks; they are more common in AI images than you might expect. (See the first image on this post for an example.) 
   
   
2. Generally speaking, you want to see a clear connection between the horse pictured and the account posting the image. That might mean the poster is the owner, breeder, breed association, event, or photographer.
   
   
3. Look for motivation for sharing. Is the horse being offered for sale or promoted at stud? Is the owner sharing a recent success? Are they asking for input about color, ancestry, or breeding? Posts using AI images are often clearly trolling for engagement. (Responding to them is a great way to get the scammy "Forgive me, but I noticed how clever/pretty/interesting you were and just had to reach out..." replies.)
   
   
   
4. Look for a name. Owners and breeders usually identify their horses. Sometimes you'll need to find the original post to see this text. It may not be visible when viewing photos using the "media" tab.
   
   
5. Unless you are looking at historical photos, be somewhat cautious if you only find one image of a particular horse. 

Captions from AI images (left) often include emojis and hashtags. Captions for real horses (right) usually have identifying information.

Reliable images

Here is an example of an unusual pattern reference that checks all five "likely real" boxes. 

I should note that while this breed, the Freiberger, is known to have a dominant white mutation (W1), the expression of that pattern is typically all-white or near-white. There has also been an unusual splashed white Freiberger with a sabino-like pattern, though that horse was sterile.

This type of patterning, which falls within what I call the "patchy sabino" phenotype, is not something I have seen in W1 Freibergers—or any Freibergers to date.

However, the images are watermarked by the photographer (#1). The group where this first appeared, Freibergerpferde suchen (Seeking Freiberger Horses), is run by a non-profit that helps breeders find buyers (#2). The motivation for the post is, obviously, to sell the foal (#3). The foal's name, sire, and damsire are all listed in the description (#4). Finally, there are multiple images of what is clearly the same colt (#5). Those facts make this a much more reliable reference for painters than the image at the top of this post.

Collect from reliable sources

General interest horse groups on social media—and particularly Facebook—are some of the worst offenders for providing steady streams of fake images. If the group has the adjective "Beautiful" followed by a horse-related noun, or an adjective followed by "Stallions", or "Love" anywhere in the title, it's probably best to treat images there with a lot of skepticism. 

Facebook can still be a good source for reference images if you know where to look. What I look for are the following types of groups:

• Breed associations
• Breed appreciation sites (this one requires caution, especially for color breeds)
• Breeder pages
• Equine photographers
• Breed-specific color groups
• Breed history groups

I am also a big believer in looking beyond social media sites. Some of the best resources for reference images are auction catalogs, sales videos, and stallion directories, all of which are typically found on independent websites. 

A list of reliable image sources

Social media sites are a lot more likely to push AI-generated content into user's feeds. There are good resources for photos, but it takes some work to find them. With that in mind, I am assembling a list of reliable sources from the categories I've listed above. Once that is finished, the list will be added to the blog's "pages" list with the Horse Breed Reference List. 

Sections - Stock Breeds

Breyer Canción in red dun overo, designed by Lesli Kathman for the 2024 BreyerFest Auction

Criollos

The first section on the Horse Breed Reference List is for Stock Breeds. Of the traditional sections included on the list, it is the one with the fewest changes. The only real surprise might be the absence of Criollo breeds, which have often been included in this section in the past. 

I made this change based on the difference in body type. Readers might remember there was a silhouette of a Criollo in the first post on body shapes. Here it is again, paired with the original photo. The horse is Meli, a champion stallion from Chile. 

I have placed this image where it can be compared with the Breyer's Canción mold. They aren't that far apart in proportions. 

Now compare Meli's outline with the Stone "Ideal Stock Horse". In years past, it was not uncommon for showers to attempt to show this mold as a Criollo. 

The Canción mold was sculpted to be a Paso Fino. Using traditional model horse categories, the Pasos (a "Gaited" breed) and the Criollos (a "Stock" breed) would seem unrelated. Their silhouettes tell a different story. They have a similar body shape because they share common Colonial Spanish origins, and because breeders of Pasos and Criollos are both seeking a rounded, compact type.

One of the founders of the Chilean Horse, Aculeo Alfil II, showing the same compact type seen in Meli (right). 

Mustangs

American model horse shows often separate generic, range-bred mustangs from Spanish Mustangs. The latter designation is for those mustangs that retained their Colonial Spanish traits, either because their herd was isolated or because they were part of a preservation program. Generic mustangs vary dramatically in body shape because their genetic heritage is mixed. 

Stock horses are common across the range of the American mustang, so that is the typical body shape. For that reason, generic mustangs have traditionally been included in the Stock Breeds Section. It should be noted, however, that models that depict mustangs of a different body type might be more suited to a different Section. For example, an obvious draft cross mustang might find a better fit in the "Light Draft and Cob" class. Ideally, show holders and judges would be open to these kinds of class placements. 

Instructions for entrants

The Horse Breed Reference List lets entrants know that the breeds listed should show in this section. It also tells them that the breeds listed as part of a group (Australian Stock or Other American Stock) should go in those classes, if they are offered. By omission, it tells them that their Criollos and their Spanish Mustangs will show later in a different section.

If a show holder looked at the rationale for moving the Criollos to the Spanish Section and disagreed, they could use the Editable Breed Reference List and add them back. 

Options for structuring classes

For the show host, the reference list offers different ways to group breeds within a particular Section. Large sub-sections appear in boldface. Sub-sections could be split into two different Sections if that fits a show holder's needs. The Stock Breeds Section does not have any of these sub-sections.

More specific breed groups appear as bulleted lists under the group name. The Stock Breeds Section has two of these: Australian Stock Breeds and Other American Stock Breeds. The intent with groupings like these is to offer show holders flexible options to expand the classes in the section. Currently, a Stock Breed Section might look like this:

1. Appaloosas
2. Paint Horses
3. Quarter Horses
4. Mustangs
5. Other Stock Breeds 

In a situation where the next "Brioso moment" happened with Australian Stock Horses—to use a potential example—the expanded class list might look like this:

1. Appaloosas 
2. Australian Stock breeds
3. Paint Horses
4. Quarter Horses
5. Mustangs
6. Other Stock Breeds

Adding the group, rather than a specific Australian Stock Horse class, might give a more robust class because breeds like Walers and Brumbies could fill out the numbers. Also, notice that the last class is still "Other Stock Breeds" and not "Other American Stock Breeds" (the other breed group in the section). That's because the last class should always be a catch-all for the section's type. This prevents realistic horses from ending up in the Other section. Ideally, that should be reserved for other equids, decorators, and fantasy equines. 

Breed groups can also be used to avoid losing a class that has not been well-supported. Say after using the classes in the first example, a show holder notices that there just haven't been as many generic mustangs lately. Instead of dropping the mustang class, she might change her class list this way:

1. Appaloosas
2. Paint Horses
3. Quarter Horses
4. Other American Stock
5. Other Stock Breeds

This way, a few Colorado Rangers and Camarillo White Horses might fill out the class. A show holder could call that fourth class "Other American Stock". Entrants should know that mustangs are an American breed, even though they are not on the bulleted list. If a show holder is concerned about confusion, they can use the editable list to add mustangs under the Other American Stock group. 

The next Section is Light Breeds, but I might take a break and share some of my adventures with National Retro Vintage Month (NaReViMo). 

Horse Breed Reference List

The Horse Breed Reference List can be found on its page listed on the right sidebar. You can also access the formatted PDF by clicking on the image above. 

The list represents the way I would sort the different breeds based on body shape, genetic relationships, use, and showing traditions. It is offered as a resource, but I want to stress that there are numerous ways to sort breeds. I will explain some of my choices in subsequent posts, but there isn't one "right" way. For example, I debated whether to place Finnhorses and Coldblooded Trotters in the Harness Racing sub-section or the Light Draft and Cob section. Arguments could be made—and were made!—that these are both cold-blooded breeds. It is even in the name of the Trotters. In the end, I went with their traditional use. I was also swayed by what I knew might better balance the size and competitiveness of the different options. Those pragmatic considerations might be different in some regions or even for certain specialty shows. 

That is why there is also an editable version of the list. It allows show holders to use the same basic framework while also making changes that fit their specific needs. My only request is that the silhouette graphics remain with the formatted list and not be added to an edited list. This will reduce confusion about whether an entrant has the correct version of the list for a particular show. 

Aside from that one request, feel free to use this list in whatever way might be useful. 

"Like with like"

One of the lasting controversies at model horse shows is whether or not certain breeds are horses or ponies. I have pointed out that whatever they are called, in genetic studies, Fjords and Icelandics cluster with breeds widely understood to be ponies. 

I wrote about one of those studies in 2011 for the Equine Tapestry blog. There are different ways to evaluate genetic relationships, and some breeds shift around depending on the method or the sampling set. The connection between Icelandics, Fjords, and Shetland Ponies is remarkably consistent.

Not only do these breeds cluster together, but they are genetically distant from most other breeds. Sources can be found here (left) and here (right). 

Even without genetic testing, the body shapes tell the same story. Here are four silhouettes of grade horses that happen to be pony-sized (under 14.2 hands). 

The horses in this group were collected at random from online sales sites between 2016 and 2017.

Here are four Fjords. Like the grade horses in the first picture, they were randomly selected based on the criteria described above: standing straight with visible legs and hooves. 

The Fjords in this group were collected at random from the pedigree site sukuposti.net.

Look closely at the proportions and angles of the head, neck, and shoulder. They are typical of many pony breeds. To better illustrate this, I’ll swap out the images on the right side for a Shetland Pony (top) and one of the grade horses (bottom). 

Notice that when ponies are enlarged to the same size as horses, they appear more massive.

The proportions and angles on the Fjords are closer to those of the Shetland than the grade horse. That’s why a model like Breyer’s Stablemate Fjord Lyric has a body shape suited to a wide range of pony breeds, but does not make a convincing horse. Meanwhile, a Stablemate-scale mold that has a generic horse shape, like Prince Charming, would not make a convincing Fjord.  

Variation among ponies

There are pony breeds that have more horse-like proportions. This often happens when ponies are bred for dressage or jumping. Austrian-bred Haflingers are a good example. Here is the stallion Woodland with his silhouette. 

There are still traces of pony type there. For some breeds, retaining “pony type”—especially the head—is prioritized even when a more refined “riding” pony is the goal. However, sport pony breeds do tend to have a different body shape than traditional pony breeds. 

One of the changes that I have advocated for with the new breed list is splitting the Pony section based on these differences. At the moment, shows tend to split ponies based on regional origin. Using body shape, one possible class could be “Traditional Ponies” for breeds with true pony proportions. In a class like that, a judge might expect to see molds like these. 

Breyer's 2025 Premier Release "Rowan" and Regular Run "GTC Blazing Ethel"

Meanwhile, ponies like the Austrian Haflingers would have a class for “Riding Ponies.” Molds like Breyer’s German Riding Pony would fit there. 

Breyer Winterfest "Mouse" (braided version of the German Riding Pony mold)

With regional splits, all three of these models would go in (often quite crowded) UK Pony class. 

If someone chose to show Rowan as a Nordland—which is a reasonable breed assignment for that mold in that color—then he would go in the European Pony class. The Blazing Ethel and Mouse would stay in the UK Pony class together despite being quite different in type.

Analyzing breeds using silhouettes can reveal surprising, and sometimes uncomfortable, truths about what breeds look like. Even so, I believe that prioritizing body type when setting up classes increases the chance that judges will be evaluating “like with like.” I also think that when showers and judges encounter an unfamiliar breed in a class, having the sections and subsections tied to body type provides some basic information.  

The Breed List

I plan to post the official breed list to this blog over the weekend. There will be two versions: my suggested list in PDF form and an editable list in DOC form. Showholders are welcome to use either one based on their needs. Once they are up, posts covering each section in more detail will follow. I want to stress that the list simply groups breeds based on their body shape, genetic relationships, and traditions (use and turnout). It does not offer a suggested classlist. I wanted to keep the information simple. I also believe that is something showholders are best suited to decide, based on what shows in their region and what matters most to their entrants. However, I will discuss some of the options in those posts because I believe that conversation has value. So please feel free to comment when the time comes!

Body shape & breed type

I have a system I use for understanding breeds that are unfamiliar to me. I start by collecting conformation photos of typical examples. What I am looking for are images where the body is straight (not angled away or taken from above or below), the lower legs are visible (not covered by grass or the horse’s tail), and the head is facing forward. The goal is a complete, undistorted profile.

Making Silhouettes

Once I have several profiles, I print the images out on ordinary copy paper. If you have access to photo editing software, you can reduce the image’s opacity to save toner.

Step 1: Outline the horse using a fine-tipped black pen. You only need to include the nearest set of legs. Try to get an accurate line for the neck, but do not include the mane. Leave enough of the tailbone to indicate where and how the tail attaches to the body, but otherwise omit the tail. If there is feathering on the legs, do not try to guess the shape of the legs and hooves under the hair; include the feathers in the outline.

Step 2: Using a Sharpie or other thick black marker, color in your outlined shape. When you are done, you should have several silhouettes of the breed you want to know more about. The image at the top of this post shows a pair of finished silhouettes: one Saddlebred (front) and one Kladruber (behind).

What makes silhouettes useful

By outlining the profile of the horse’s body—and just the body—and coloring it black, you are removing distractions like tack, turnout, and color. All that is visible is the shape of the body. Most importantly, the proportions of the body parts to one another, and the angles at which they connect, are easy to see. Breed type is primarily determined by these variations.

Silhouettes like the Brazilian Campolina below can help train your eye to recognize what makes a particular breed distinctive.

Along with a distinctive head, Campolinas have significant bone while also looking tall and lanky.

It is also true that without the distraction of superficial things like turnout or color, similarities (and differences) between breeds become more obvious. 

Although also Spanish in origin, the Criollo has a very different silhouette than the Campolina.

Returning to the pair of breeds at the top of this post, here is a Kladruber (left) and a Saddlebred (right). The two breeds are not closely related, but they are similar in some respects. Both have high-set necks, an upright carriage, and long, tubular bodies. 

When comparing silhouettes, it is sometimes helpful to add a guidelines for anatomical landmarks.
Here a baseline insures the horses are standing level, and the withers and top of the croup are marked. 

The Saddlebred shares these similarities with another carriage breed. Here, the same Saddlebred silhouette is paired with one of a Friesian. Once again, both breeds have high-set necks and long, tubular bodies. You can also see the similarity between the Friesian and the Kladruber above. 

Both the Friesian and the Kladruber were originally ceremonial carriage horses. When the Czech Republic revived the black strain of Kladrubers, one of the stallions used was a Friesian named Romke. Although the two breeds were developed separately, their body shape comes from the breeding goal, which was the creation of a stylish driving horse. 

In that respect, their purpose is not that different from modern American “hitch” horses. That is why so many draft horses in the United States have a similar upright, tubular body shape. Their form comes from the purpose for which they are most often bred. 

By American standards, this Percheron is more moderate in type. Some are even more "hitchy" than this. Photo courtesy of Kim Smith. 

Saddlebreds have never been primarily bred for harness, but breeders have prioritized a similar upright frame and style of movement. That has given them an outline that is a little different from the other American saddle breeds that are more closely related to them. Here is the Saddlebred compared to the silhouette I most often use in publications to represent American saddle-type horses, which include Morgans, Walking Horses, Foxtrotters, and Mountain Pleasure Horses. 

Saddlebreds are more closely related to these breeds than to either the Kladruber or the Friesian. They share bloodlines and similar show and turnout traditions. However, their body shape is slightly different. That is why Breyer’s ‘Hamilton’ mold is not necessarily suited to other breeds that can be trained to rack. The body shape of that mold fits the typical silhouette of a Saddlebred, which looks different from the other saddle breeds. 

Comparisons like this can help model horse hobbyists develop their eye for breed type. That leads to better breed assignments. I also believe using body shapes like this can give a more rational breed list. I am going to post one more example of what body shape can tell us about breed relationships. After that, I will explain how body type was used to create the breed list. 

Breed lists & show structures

"Gezellig" is a Vanner customized by Ruth Sheridan of Portmanteau Equine Art. (Photo courtesy of his creator.)

Gypsy Horses are the breed that judges see throughout the showing day. The first ones usually end up in the Carriage Breeds class. This makes some sense, since one of the more popular hobby names for this (problematically-named) breed is “Vanner.” The next place they appear is one of the classes in the Draft section. It’s also possible that a few stragglers will later show up in the Other Purebred/Mixed Breed class in the Others section.

You could also argue that because “NAMHSA considers breeds that routinely fall at 14.2 hands high or less to be ponies” (NAMHSA Breed Cross Reference, p. 1), they should go in the Pony section. Ruth said she has shown Gezellig (pictured at the top) as a pony. (Some breeders produce “Miniature Gypsies”, which are closer to small ponies in size.) 

When the questions about Saddlebreds came up at BreyerFest, I started thinking about breeds and how American model horse shows structure sections and classes. Moving the Saddlebreds from the gaited section was unpopular, but giving the hairy cob breeds a clear place in the classlist was overdue. Were there other problems like that? What else had I overlooked because I was only focused on the current class in front of me? 

After considering those questions, this is the list that I came up with, in no particular order.

1. Cobs of all types do not have an obvious place. We do not even have a consensus about which section to assign them. 
2. When there is an Other Pure/Mix Breed class in an overall Others section, the callbacks will have realistic horses going up against an assortment of other species and unrealistic creatures. This takes “not like-with-like” to a whole new level! 
3. What do we mean by “Light Breed”? What rationale is used to rule a breed in or out of this section? 
4. We do not treat the ability to perform an alternate intermediate gait consistently across breeds. 
5. Some breeds are paired in classes or placed in a section that puts them at a consistent disadvantage. (Standardbreds paired with Thoroughbreds are a good example.) 
6. Our classes and sections do not necessarily distribute entries evenly. This is especially problematic when shows have the traditional two- or three-horse class limit. (Ask a hobbyist with a fondness for British pony breeds how often they have to leave competitive entries at home.

Breeds that do not have a designated horse or pony section can end up on a callback table that looks like this.
(Breyer’ Brighty’ and ‘Better Than Revenge’ appear courtesy of Liz LaRose. For more about Breyer’s dragon horse ‘Merlin’, click here.)

Those were the problems that came to mind when I began thinking about how I would change the breed list. What these issues have in common is that, while our stated goal is to group “like with like,” our show structure lacks a consistent approach for determining what needs to be similar. What aspect of breed identity governs similarity? Does having the same purpose matter? Or is it having the same show and turnout traditions? The controversial position taken regarding Saddlebreds effectively said, “The percentage of horses performing a ‘natural’ lateral gait is the primary consideration.” The negative response to this said, “That is not giving us breed groups that are alike in a useful way.” 

So, which qualities would? 

What I kept coming back to was the way breed type is so closely tied to body shape, and how body shape is really about changes in angles and proportions. When I teach new hobbyists how to assign breeds to models, I use a system that focuses on that. I use the same system to organize information in my “Painting More Realistic” series of books. I decided that if I wanted to create a breed list that made sense, that was where I should start. In the next post, I’ll explain that system.

A list of breeds

Will Shriver is depicted racking in front of the American Saddlebred Museum.

For many years, the organization that manages the North American Nationals—one of the larger competitions for equine miniatures—has published a document called the NAMHSA Breed Cross Reference. It is intended to help entrants place their models in the correct class. 

Like many judges, I hadn't actually looked at the list. Since I usually judge Workmanship, I just evaluate whatever mix of breeds and body types end up on the table. Model horse shows have given me a high tolerance for anarchy; if I have colorful, furry-footed critters of similar type and varying breed names spread across three different classes, it isn't the end of the world. 

But sometimes duplicate breeds in separate classes catch your attention. That's especially true when the sculpture is really breed-specific and the duplicates appear in back-to-back classes. That is how I found out that, in the most recent iteration of "the list," Saddlebreds had been moved out of the Gaited Breed section. Sadly, it was also how an entrant at a much-anticipated show missed her class. 

With a high bid of $23,000, this Breyer Hamilton was a top seller at the 2025 BreyerFest auction.

I was not aware of the change, or that it had been the topic of controversy. I think the best argument against it came from Jennifer Lambert. She pointed out that even if only a small percentage of modern Saddlebreds show in five-gaited classes, that is the image most have of the breed. It is the image the breed association promotes, as the bronze of Will Shriver in front of the American Saddlebred Museum illustrates. Racking is the pose depicted in the majority of model representations of the breed. 

A classic-scale Hagen-Renaker Saddlebred owned by Liz LaRose

There were also errors on the list. The Furioso-North Star, a Hungarian sport horse named for its two Thoroughbred founders, was listed as a "European Draft Breed." It was easy to find fault, but I also had to admit there were real challenges to constructing the "perfect" breed list. Some of the 'problematic' breeds did not have a particularly good fit in an existing class, while others could arguably fit in several different classes. 

I decided it would be interesting to compile a breed list based on the two factors I believe connect the breeds: body type and genetic history. I wanted to see if I could do that without changing the sections, or at least without excessive disruption to the existing structure. I thought it would take a few days. It did not take a few days.

It has taken longer because I started overthinking things. And since I don't like to overthink alone, I decided to share some of those thoughts. And since one project—especially a "small" project!—should always generate at least one other project, I decided a blog was a good place to do it.