Classic Quarter Horse Stallion Variations

Following on from yesterday's post - the palomino QH stallion from the classic family has also had some interesting variations over the years.

The very earliest sets had star faces and perhaps the stallion's star lasted even longer than the mare and foal because he is pictured with a star in the 1974 and 1975 catalog with a solid face mare and foal. I have two of these and their color is pretty different, although the one on the right is a little bit yellowed so some of that more orangey tone could be that he needs a little sun time.

The chalky variation however does not have a star, and the chalky era was also primarily in 1974 with some starting in 1973 and some continuation in to 1975, so that is another clue that the star models were produced for a very short time only.

The most common variation of this model is the classic Breyer palomino color with two socks - right front at left hind.

The shade of palomino varied over the years, as many Breyer colors did, from a true palomino color to a browner sooty color even to a bright lemon yellow in the late 80s. The one thing I want to stop and take note of here is the mane. All of the early models pictured above have a freehand airbrushed mane. You can see how it varies model to model and mostly the painters ignored the bottom piece of mane over the withers.

At some point, they added a mask to the mane - I think sometime in the mid 80s although I'm not entirely sure. Was it part of the Reeves transition or earlier than that? This one is an early 90s example - at this time not only was the mane mask on but they also went to solid legged and a sort of orangey shade, more of a light chestnut than a palomino - you can see this version in the 1990 catalog.

You can see now the distinct outline of the mane, in particular that hank of mane at the withers. It's also easy to see by looking at the offside which now has a distinct line showing the edge of the mask.

Although the color over the years occasionally veered towards light chestnut there is one very distinct chestnut variation of the QH stallion that is quite obviously different from the rest of the run. He is quite dark and truly the farthest from palomino if you see him on his own.

Note the mane is masked off here as well and his socks are maybe sorta there. But what is most interesting about this variation is that he has a very detailed mask of hair on his offside, unlike the normal one above with just a straight line. I have only ever seen this on these dark chestnut stallions.

Was this just an early iteration of the mask and then they decided to simplify it to a flat line? Or is something else going on here? I always thought they looked more like the classic mustang stallion in color and often wondered if someone got the color batches mixed up. But yesterday @gesenponies on Instagram commented on my post that her original mustang family came with the QH stallion instead, and not the mustang stallion as pictured on the box!

So was this variation actually a replacement for the mustang at some point? Is that why he has mane on both sides more like the mustang stallion? Maybe there was a body shortage at some point. We've certainly seen replacement molds popped in over the years. Maybe that also coincided with the Reeves switchover. I'll have to ask her around what year she got her mixed up set.

No matter the reason for his existence, I've always thought this was a cool variation and a fun one to keep an eye out for if you enjoy obscure variations and Breyer history. Next on my list to get is that lemon yellow one.