The tinker horse, Irish cob, Gipsy vanner...a horse of many names and colours :-)

Kaat certainly is the expert in the breed, but please allow me to start a subject about this fantastic horse.

My experience with tinkers is mainly seen from the Icey Side
Most of my horsey friends are Icey-horse fans, but funny enough at least two of the more serious breeders also have tinkers.
The reason that tinkers appeal to my friends may be explained by the fact that untill recently the breed was a working horse for people who depended on them. In [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
we can read that
...is a horse breed originally developed by Romanichal peoples native to the British Isles. As recently as 1996, the Gypsy horse had no stud book or breed registry.

Thus all colours were, and are, accepted, even if pintoes were popular.
One of my friends, who rides high level competition-tölt on her Icelandic horses, has also been able to make some tinkers go tölt, without much speed, but it is not hard for them.

Originally used to pull the vardoes ( living waggons) of the Romani people, the Tinker is of a more quiet disposition than most Iceys, and being more powerful, it is a brilliant horse for riders who are too heavy, or too nervous, for the little, temperamental Icey.

However, let me stop comparing the two breeds !
As Kaat shows us again and again, the Tinker is a beautyful, loyal, friendly, and brave horse, and it is rapidly gaining more and more fans all over the world.

This is reflected in the variety of names it has in different countries :
The Gypsy Horse (USA, UK, AU), also known as the Gypsy Cob (UK, NZ), Coloured Cob(UK, Ireland, parts of Continental Europe), Gypsy Vanner (US, CAN), Irish Cob, and Tinker Horse (parts of Continental Europe)

I hope, Kaat will add to this description, as she is certainly the expert !

Well, let`s get to the STS-subject ! Here are some pictures of the models that I have :
First, the ones from Schleich :
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And the beautyful models from Papo , black/white :
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And brown/white ( Skewbald), a very good model colour, showing that not all Tinkers are piebald:
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Safari Ltd, Audrey on Streaming Light :
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The large, lovely Tinker ( called Gipsy Vanner, as in USA) from Safari`s Blue Ribbon series :
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Bullyland also makes a Tinker...poor critter, he looks like he is about to fall over.
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But mine has been palyed with, which gives him a lot of charm, IMHO ;-)
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At last , - a funny speciality for some tinkers : A mustache !!!!!
The first time I was at a tinker-show, I though at first..why do so many horses have straw in their mouth ???
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As you can see here [url= [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] ]* here *[/url]
it is not unusual.
I have not been able to find an explanation, but it seems likely that the tendency runs in some lines, - and that it is mainly while they are not grazing that it can grow so long.

PS. Has Breyer made a tinker horse ???

truelly nice horses

Thankyou very much, Andreas

I am glad that you decided to open this topic!
I enjoy the way Schleich studied the coloring of the figure. They look deliciously beautiful! Also great work with hairs.
The Safari large one is also very nice as well as others, of course.
I think I have a little 1:32 unbranded Tinker, I need to check it.

I'm a huge fan of cob and draft type horses, and this breed is hard to resist! I only have the Safari versions at the moment, but I'm working on a custom Breyer SM.
It should be mentioned that they come in "solid" colors as well (most are tobiano + sabino), though as they all express the sabino pattern they'll nearly always have a white blaze and stockings. AFAIK there are no completely solid-colored horses, which is kind of a pity from an artistic POV.


At their best, these horses are amazing. However, like so many popular breeds they've begun to suffer from overbreeding, with unhealthy animals being bred just because they're a pretty color or have lots of hair.

Sumo wrote:

It should be mentioned that they come in "solid" colors as well (most are tobiano + sabino), though as they all express the sabino pattern they'll nearly always have a white blaze and stockings. AFAIK there are no completely solid-colored horses, which is kind of a pity from an artistic POV.

There are many near-solid (some will have a snip or a star) horses in the silver lines, where the sabino is presumably kept deliberately down so as not to detract from the light legs in the black silvers. Some lookers, those are!

SUSANNE wrote:

PS. Has Breyer made a tinker horse ???

Breyer recently released Brishen, a Tinker, and have previously done black tobiano Tinker runs on their Friesian mold (namely The Gypsy King) and the Goffert mold (there named Kuchi). The latter has been released in a number of additional pinto patterns too, as I recall.

I have just realised that Collecta haven't released Tinker yet. I bet it would look fantastic...

Very good thread for a beautiful breed and their figurines.

I wonder if anyone have the Safari Winners Circle Gypsy Vanner? With photos too He's black, but with white mane, tail and feathering. A colour not seen anywhere else for a Tinker model, according to my observations that is.

Fisva wrote:

I have just realised that Collecta haven't released Tinker yet. I bet it would look fantastic...

That would be very VERY nice

Carola wrote:

....
I wonder if anyone have the Safari Winners Circle Gypsy Vanner? With photos too He's black, but with white mane, tail and feathering. A colour not seen anywhere else for a Tinker model, according to my observations that is.

Ohhh ! How could I forget him ?
Thankyou, Carola

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Oh, very interesting topic! Tinkers are very lovely horses
It's great how many brands produced models of this breed. I have only Schleich foal in my collection but now I think I may need some more they are so lovely!
I like very much Sfari one but the texture on it looks maybe too simplified but a very nice figure

Susanne, here is the little, Stable Mate sized unbranded Tinker I have. It is a little copy from Schleich Tinker but poorly manufactured. It is a little lost in my collection, let me know if you know someone interested in adopting this charming creature.
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Ana wrote:

I like very much Sfari one but the texture on it looks maybe too simplified but a very nice figure

Yes, it is a strange texture
Also I have never seen a Silver Dappeld THAT black.
They are usually dark grey on the body, somtimes in the middle of summer, some can be almost coal grey, but not that jet-black
( Except at shows, where the owners rub them in dark, greasy stuff )

BTW, the colour is called Vindott in Icelandic, "Wind-shaded colour". I think it is such a beautyful description
Better than "dappeled", because they are only dappeled when they change the coat at spring and fall

Ohh! Roger that Tinker !!! Of COURSE !!!
He comes from one of the "World`s famous horses" play sets !
I have one also, only in bay

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(If nobody else is eager to get yours, my bay one would very much love to have the pinto friend here )

Thank you Susanne, the Safari guy looks very handsome But I agree with Ana, he's got a rather strange texture. He's very precicely groomed

SUSANNE wrote:

Also I have never seen a Silver Dappeld THAT black.
They are usually dark grey on the body, somtimes in the middle of summer, some can be almost coal grey, but not that jet-black
( Except at shows, where the owners rub them in dark, greasy stuff )

There are some quite dark silver dapples - not black but still very dark, at least in summer :)

Silver Fox - Tinker stallion
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St. Clarins - Tinker stallion
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this Comtois horse
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But I agree, Safari's model is too black, not to mention his coat texture

I'd like to add some more. A few of them were probably not made as Tinkers but could stand in.
Breyers first:
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This one was available from Pony Club
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Panini
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Mojö
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Northlight
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And of course my very special model horse in the scale 1:1
Kilkenny
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The 1:1 scale is my favorite!
I have also the Mojo black and white Clydesdale and, anytime I see it, I think in it as a Tinker!

Ohh, Kilkeny os soo beautiful wonderful horse
Your figures are also great Simone Nothlight and the big trotting Breyer ones are especially nice

Really interesting info)
However, I never expected that it's possible to make the horse go in gait walk if it's not the horse that is used to it (gaited breeds).

And funny enough, but even though almost all the colours are accepted in this breed, I've never seen any other colour exept pinto and silver.

Cyhyraeth wrote:

And funny enough, but even though almost all the colours are accepted in this breed, I've never seen any other colour exept pinto and silver.

I used to work for a compagny, some 25 years ago, where the European head quaters were in England, and the Romanichal camps that I saw, their horses were unicoloured...perhaps they weren`t Irish cobs, or perhaps they had sold the pintoes ?
Unfortunately I didn`t know the breed by then, so I did not pay much attention to the type of horse.

But I think that it has to do with us thinking that unicoloured horses ARE NOT tinkers, when we see one
And that medium sized, medium heavy pintos with lot of fetlock must be Tinkers ....
Like, people hwo see a bay dun Icey, always are convinced it is a Fjord, even if they do not look the same at all

Yes, it's a little frustrating when breeds get so typecast in one color - at least from a model showing perspective! And don't get me started on people who think anything with an upright mane must be part Fjord...

Of course, the fun thing about horse breeds is that they're forever changing and new ones turn up all the time. (The Americans are very good at innovation - there seems to be new registries turning up every year.) Breeding colored cobs to Shires or Clydes makes a Drum Horse (which is now a breed, not just a job). If you have a model with less hair the American Spotted Draft - which isn't spotted, but another tobiano breed - has more Percheron and Belgian blood.

Cyhyraeth wrote:

And funny enough, but even though almost all the colours are accepted in this breed, I've never seen any other colour exept pinto and silver.

There are quite a few solid Tinkers :) A few examples:

stallion Caymus
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stallion The Real Deal (stable name Dealer)
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mare Padparadshah (stable name June Bug)
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stallion Alaria Moss Hamish
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stallion Cici's Duke of Earl
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And appaloosa too (most rare in this breed, I believe)
stallion Ghost Rider
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Great examples, a joy to look at Never seen a 'Draft Appaloosa' before

What beautyful, awesome horses ! Thankyou a bunch, Magda !!!! (o)): (o)):

Carola wrote:

Never seen a 'Draft Appaloosa' before

If you want to see more "draft appaloosas" check out such breeds as Noriker and Sugarbush Draft :)

OMG, those buckskins... *drool* One of my all-time favorite horse colors, hands down.