The Curious Compendium 2023 Tour Finale: Frenchies!

Thank you everyone!

Unknown breed draft horses!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The earliest reference to and thus the inferred common ancestor of modern drafters comes from 200 BCE, the "great horse of Flanders". Across europe as a whole, regional populations developed their draft breeds for individual needs (work types, feed availability, overall climate, as well as adaptability- consequently we ended up several breeds that overlapped in their utility but ultimately reflected different regional needs and preferences). Draft breeds were enormously important in the US with westward expansion and development but they fell off in popularity after WWI with the use of modern equipment (this happened after WWII for Europeans). Today, these horses are still used for all of their original purposes in agriculture and forestry etc. but are also more often seen in cosmopolitan settings such as pulling carriages for the tourism industry or in historical reenactment settings.

The last group of horses- the unknown breed figures.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Just some general information on horses: the domestication of this animal hugely impacted humanity and our development- agriculture, transportation, and warfare. From the first cave paintings of them, it took humans 10,000 years to finally domesticate and utilize them. Because their DNA is so diverse, it is possible that they were domesticated in several regions at different times. Horses are believed to have the best memory of any domestic animal; they strongly remember positive and negative experiences. The fastest racehorse speed record known was set at 44mph by a thoroughbred named Winning Brew in 2008 over a quarter of a mile; quarter horses can get up to 55mph over the same distance. The oldest horse ever got to be 61 years old- Old Billy was foaled in 1760 in the UK, and passed 1822. He is believes to be a Cob or Shire and he worked pulling barges and working machinery.

Brown Gustav

"The fastest racehorse speed record known was set at 44mph by a thoroughbred named Winning Brew in 2008 over a quarter of a mile; quarter horses can get up to 55mph over the same distance."

Do you mean quarter horses should win racehorses ?

Yes- over the distance of a quarter of mile. In fact, in the US, quarter horses have their own circuit for horse racing. I have attended quite a few myself and they are impressive athletes indeed!

Quarter mile ? Quarter horses ? Is this where the breed gets its name from?

That's right! They are the fastest horse over the distance of a quarter mile. A pretty amazing biological feat once you consider how short a distance that really is to reach 55mph+ in...

Very nice pictures as always and back up about horses is on top.    

Isn't the running mare 13216 offically dipicted as an english Thoroughbred/ Full blood, I have seen listed her that way on the TAW.

About the brown mare (First pic- front row on the right), she is from the western rider horse set 42112

Schleich made her an Quarter horse mare :) my source: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

How sad that it's the last one. But I am excited to see your next category!

Fjord horses are awesome. I really need to get my hands on CollectA's grulla Fjord foal (well or Gra as it is actually called in Norwegian). She is very lovely.

I know that it's probably not official but I always thought of WIA Gustav as a Noriker (probably because of the Leopard version). He looks so awesome, I love this mould.
From what I know the black Schleich horse on the Appaloosa mould is officially still an Appaloosa. The rearing white horse on the same photo is probably a fake Schleich but the original was the Morgan stallion from 1997 (if I remember the year correctly).

Saarlooswolfhound wrote:

That's right! They are the fastest horse over the distance of a quarter mile. A pretty amazing biological feat once you consider how short a distance that really is to reach 55mph+ in...

I was joking... And I was wrong I will be less stupid tonight

Thanks!

Sergey wrote:

 Thanks!

Nice to see you here again

Thanks everyone!

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], I have only ever seen that mare described as a "full blood" horse- unless this is a translation error or a local term for thoroughbred I have never been able to positively identify her as a thoroughbred.

As for the horse from the set- can you share a screenshot of the german amazon description? I have never seen a breed given in the english set descriptions.

@KatyLeven, there are 2 more photos to share, this is just the end of the horses.

I was going to open a topic to discuss gustav- I also feel like given the spotted version he must be a noriker. But the wiki has him listed as a model with no specific breed- there might be a discussion somewhere about this I missed.

As for the appy, you are right that the original is the appy mould and I could put him with them as appaloosas can be solid colored... do you know if there is a set description anywhere that uses that breed?

And the morgan is indeed not a cheap copy- Mojo Fun bought and used some of the Maia+Borges moulds a few years ago. I didn't think they gave it a breed determination but checking their website again they are calling it a mustang. I might need to reconsider this one...

@Kiki, no worries my friend! I think we have all been there at least once.

Hey Saarloosewolfhound,

about the the horse 13216 I think it really depents on the translation, I have seen her listed as english thoroughbred, in German the translation is very simalar. The TAW even translated her English throughbred in German.

For offical  schleich horse overview I would recommend [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] website, she has all the horses and animals listed, with offical breed names from the offical schleich company. It is really helpful to get an overview about animals breed from schleich.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] :)

the user [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] has nearly every schleich horse released, she also has the breeds of the horses listet in her collection topic, she also took the breeds from the offical schleich, even the prices which you pay for some nowadays, also in different currencies are listed there. :)

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

About the western set here are the asked screenshots, I hope I could help.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

source: Amazon

I hope I could help. :)

But don't bother yourself with the breeds, it only matters how you see them.

For example if you don't agree with the breed for example 13216 give her an other breed, which you think suits her better. :)

Older schleich horses of the same breed look very different of what we know now.

Here is one homepage I want to share with you, I really like the way the collcetor goes with her way she presents her collection.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

For exemple she gave the old frisian 13242 a new breed, he is  now a Dales Pony.
I think it really suits him, because for a frisian he is to small for an grown up nowadays.

I am looking forward, what you will show us in the future

Thanks for the information Moehe, I will mull it over. :)

Donkeys!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Donkeys are pound for pound stronger than horses! The smallest ever is KneeHi- at 24.29 inches tall, and the tallest is Romulus at 68 inches. Their unique call, called braying, is created while they inhale AND exhale. Donkeys have been used as farm animals for at leasr 5,000 years and play a part in human culture; appearing in hinduism and Indian folklore, amongst others.

Nice donkeys

Great donkey collection.

My favorite is the one between the schleichs in the middle with white mouth, but all look very nice.

Lovely donkeys! So many nice ones. Due to space I only have the latest CollectA

Nice donkeys So no Poitou donkeys ?

I like very much the Mojo 387397 and the Safari ltd 249829.

Ah wonderful, I love donkeys
The brown Safari ones look so adorable!

I didn't see a discussion topic about Gustav yet either but I would be very interested to read what our horse experts think about what breed he is supposed to represent.

I totally forgot about the Mojo version. It's interesting to see that this mould was used by three companies but if it's a way to let a nice mould live on, then I'm in it.

Here is a link to the description. I took the newer barrel racing set but the saddle bronc riding set had him also listed as an Appaloosa.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Thank you everyone!

@Katy, since that one actually states "appaloosa stallion" then that's good enough for me to reclassify it.

@Kikimalou- here you are!

Donkeys- Provence, Poitou, American, and mules!
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

The provence donkey is from Southeastern France. It was bred to be strong, sure footed, and a calm animal. They nearly went extinct- by 1993 there were only 330 left. But today there are an estimated 1500.

Poitou donkeys are another French breed named after the region they hail from. They are a rather large donkey; reaching 1,200 lbs and up to 5 ft tall. Known for their shaggy coat, it is traditionally left unkempt so that it makes dreadlocks (this helps to protect them from the elements and insects). They are considered an endangered breed today.

American mini donkeys began in 1930 in New Jersey and the association was started in 1958. They have become very popular companion animals/farm pets due to their small size, varied colorations, and the fact they are "easy keepers". This breed must be shorter than 36 inches to be considered a mini.

Mules result from the crossing of donkeys and horses. Depending on which animals are bred affects the resulting mules; a jack donkey with a mare horse creates a mule while a stallion horse and jenny donkey creates a "hinny". These two animals are actually very different in phenotype and temperament; the term mule is used for both interchangeably (though a hinny is specific to the parentage). You can cross any breed of donkey with any breed of horse- again this can radically affect the offspring! My favorite type of mule results from using a Mammoth Jack donkey. These are large, have enormous ears, and often have crazy coat colors!

And.... that's a wrap for my domestic equines!

Like the Mammoth Jack donkey, the Poitou donkey was mainly used to produce mules because of its large size.

Thanks Kiki, I looked up poitou mules and I LOVE them too! Even Mini mules... to be honest I love them all.

Ok, now we move into my last "domestic" category: pets. This consists of dogs, cats, and other mammals commonly kept as pets (reptiles and amphibians etc. aren't included because they aren't really domesticated per se). There are a few fish. Anyhow, lets just get into it!

Yorkshire terriers:
[You must be registered and logged in to see this image.]

Yorkies are so named after the region they came from- Yorkshire, England. They've been around since the 19th century and have classically been known as working dogs. Originally used for pest control, these dogs were bred to be small in size so they fit in the same tunnels and crawl spaces that rodents use. They are tiny, individuals of this breed have often been recognized as world's smallest, but they are fierce! They are very indepedent and mischievous in nature but they are also trainable- just another active breed that benefits from having a "job": agility, rally, being used as a therapy dog, watch dog, or even running wire through pipe as one famously did during WWII. If you don't know Smoky's story, she was a wonderful little dog: she was awarded 8 battle stars, 12 combat missions, she survived 150 air raids, survived a typhoon on Okinawa, parachuted from 30 ft in the air, amongst dozens of other feats.She was an amazing little dog.