Showing Model Horses: 45 Years of Fun and Friendship

In 1969, Ellen founded the first club, the International Model Photo Horse Show Association, or IMPHSA, complete with a mimeographed newsletter that contained class lists for upcoming shows, show results, articles and ads. Simmie had printed a few pages of a fledgling newsletter as early as 1967, and a year or two later she created a midwestern club and a newsletter called Pony Express.

Both clubs registered model horses and kept records of show results. The models earned points in shows, and year-end awards were provided. Soon there were photo shows across the USA and western Canada and a national show was held each year. The first IMPHSA National Show was judged by well-known horseman and journalist Don Burt.

Membership stayed relatively small until articles about model horse showing appeared in a couple of national horse magazines around 1969-1970. Interest skyrocketed. Soon new model horse clubs, many breed-specific, and more newsletters were popping up everywhere. The North American model horse hobby was taking off.

Meanwhile, a similar hobby was evolving in the United Kingdom. North Americans typically showed Hartland and Breyer plastic horses, ceramic Hagen-Renakers and "Made in Japan" china horses. The UK shows focused more on the British-made Julip toy horses. Julips looked more like toys than the North American models did, but they came with a huge selection of accessories, including model riders, so unlike North American show horses, the UK models were always presented with scale riders aboard.

While the first model horse shows were "live shows" in that the actual models were together at one location, the early ones were just play. This was to change quite dramatically as time passed.

The first organized “live show” where hobbyists brought their actual models instead of photos was held August 9, 1970, in California for IMPHSA members. Seventeen exhibitors took part, one from Arizona and the rest from California. Among the winners were Susie Figueira, Mary Ellen Hofmann and Laurie Jo Baier. Simmie came from Indiana to judge.

By this time, some hobbyists had began customizing models (repainting and remodeling them) and making tack and accessories both for themselves and  to sell to other hobbyists. Many of these young entrepreneurs were still in elementary school.

The next record of a live show was August 5, 1972, in Michigan. Two more were held in Chicago in 1973 and 1974, hosted by Chicago collector Marney Walerius. This would evolve into a much larger event, the Model Horse Congress. More large shows followed in California and elsewhere.

Today, there is a huge network of highly organized live shows around the world. Many exhibitors show in both photo and live shows, while others stick to one or the other. Today's shows include children as young as five and adults in their 70s and 80s, and many are divided into categories for children, novices and experienced exhibitors to give everyone a chance to have fun.

Live shows continued to push the envelope in realism to the point where today's entries use tack and accessories that are exact miniatures of the real thing, right down to every buckle on a harness and every spring on a show cart. There are even doll riders that are meticulously dressed exactly like real show exhibitors.

There is an entire network of official live shows where horses can qualify in various classes for the North American Nationals. The competition at NAN is fierce, and it takes an exceptional model horse and presentation to place in the Top 10 or win a title at the annual NAN final.

Live shows have attracted new types of exhibitors, especially serious collectors wanting to display their finest models and professional tack makers and model horse artists who want people to see their work. Some actually make their living customising and sculpting horses, creating doll riders and making tack, Arabian horse costumes, vehicles and other accessories.

While the hobby has changed and expanded, photo showing remains popular, especially amongst newcomers to the hobby, and there are many clubs around the world devoted to it. Best of all, the model horse hobby still includes children playing with their toy horses and adults who simply love to see beautiful figurines of horses decorating their homes.

Want to know more? Model Horses 101 has plenty of information and links about the hobby, model horse manufacturers, photo showing, live showing and much more.

Thanks go to model horse sculptor and exhibitor Laurie Jo Jensen (nee Baier) for graciously providing additional information for this article. She was there from the beginning!

(This article is dedicated to the memory of the late Ellen Hitchins and the late Marney Walerius. Without them, the hobby would not be what it is today.)

Here are some books about the different model horse manufacturers and information about showing, customizing models and making your own miniature saddles. There is also a lot of additional information on-line.