How To Repurpose A Breyer Horse

How To Repurpose A Breyer Horse

This is something I have thought about doing for a very, very long time. I have watched a couple of videos on how people have updated old Breyer horse models into something else, and the idea intrigued me. Maybe it’s because I love arts and crafts, or horses, or both. So I wanted to share with you an idea of how to repurpose a Breyer horse.

When I was young, I had a vast collection of model horses. Before I had a ‘real’ horse, I would spend hours playing with my models. I even had an incredible barn that was a fold away bed. The bed frame made a perfect “horse stable” that I could keep my horses in. I think those days of playing sparked something within me that fueled my passion for everything horse.

But as an adult, I can’t justify rows and rows of model horses. Thinking about all of that dusting makes me cringe. And I still love everything horse related, so I decided to have a few accent decorations that would include some beloved memories from my childhood.

A Simple Project

The first thing I needed to do was to find a suitable model. And the classic size Breyer seemed to fit my need best. And as I no longer had any of my cherished models anymore, I had to find a new one.

I went on eBay, and found a couple of models that might work. I couldn’t justify spending $50.00 on a new one, so I capped my budget at $15.00, including shipping. Once the pony arrived, I had trepidation’s of destroying the beautiful horse with a coat of spray paint. But about a year later (now) I finally decided to commit myself to the task.

Creating A Base

The idea in my head was to create a sort of horse trophy. So there would need to be a base for my statue. I thought about just using a piece of 1 x 3″ wood that I had remnants of from another project, but that wasn’t good enough. And while I was in one of my weekly shopping trips to Walmart, I went down their small craft aisle  and found the perfect base. A beveled wooden sign meant for creating a wall plaque. It was perfect!

Attaching The Horse

This step was very simple. I used Gorilla Glue sticks, and put a drop of glue on each hoof and firmly placed the horse in the center of the plaque.

Painting The Horse

I decided since I was making a trophy, I would use gold spray paint. But I wanted to make it look like ‘real’ gold, so the spray paint needed to be brilliantly gold. I found some super metal-like bright gold spray paint that would forever cover my model in a shiny coat of gold. I didn’t realize how perfect it was until I sprayed the first coat on the model.

And once I saw how pretty he was, I was tempted to add a super thick coat of paint. However, for the best results, a few lighter coats of paint were needed.

He was seriously beautiful, and I had to refrain from continuing to add layers of paint. This was hard to do. But I stopped, and walked away from the horse so he could dry in peace. After a few hours, he was dry and ready to be displayed.

I was so happy with the results, I had to do it again with a few more models I had.

These were stablemate sized models. And although their base is plain, I love the way they turned out too.

It’s The Details That Count

I think the small details of the models is what makes this so pretty. With the spray paint covering the model, you can see the details of the muscles, and contours of the horses. I could stare at these for hours.

Although model horse lovers around the world are cringing after seeing me do this, I am very happy with the results.

It was a very simple project that was done in about 30 minutes, minus the drying time.

This has also fueled my imagination and crafty-ness and I have decided on a few more model horse projects I am going to do in the near future. And those who cringed, or cried out with their comments on my video will really be cringing when they watch me cut a Breyer in half for my upcoming projects. But I think they will be beautiful, and will allow me to continue my childhood love of model horses, and use them in a more practical way.