Information About Painted Ponies

Origins

• Painted Ponies was partially inspired by Cow Parade, a series of 50 life size cow sculptures all painted or modified outrageously by 50 different artists. After touring America in 1999, all 50 cows were auctioned off for charity. Cow Parade has since done other tours in many countries. The Trail of Painted Ponies began in 2000 with life-size models of horses painted outrageously by different artists and were auctioned off for charity. Selling smaller collectible models began in 2003.

Types

• Painted Ponies offers many different sizes of resin or ceramic model horses. Although life-sized models are still painted, given a tour and then auctioned for charity, most model horse collectors cannot afford the horse-sized models. They can settle for the smaller resin models that are between 6 and 10 inches high. There are Christmas tree ornaments based on the models that are only 2 to 3 inches tall and come in their own tins.

Style

• Painted Ponies are not painted in realistic horse colors. Their bodies are used to show landscapes, pictures of mythological animals or historical scenes. They are often given bizarre colors, patterns and portraits of cowboys, Native Americans or other people on their hides. Sometimes additional material is placed on a mold. One Christmas model, for example, was covered with tinsel, ornaments and had a body sculpted to resemble a pine tree.

Availability

• In order to make the models more collectible, each Painted Pony model is only available for a couple of years or less. When a model is no longer made, it is “retired” or, according to CEO Rod Barker, the models are “put out to pasture.” One to six models are retired per year. New models are announced every June 1 and December 1. They are sold online, in gift shops and at conventions or “shows” devoted to model horses.

Influence

• Painted Ponies was the first series of model horses to go to such extreme lengths in using a model of a horse as a canvass and completely doing away with the notion of making a model horse actually look like a horse. This became such a hit that the world’s leading maker of collectible model horses, Breyer, began painting some of their models in a similar style from 2000 on.