iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 28/02/2026

She's finished and glamour shots are done! Yay 🙂 The funniest part of #NaMoPaiMo for me is when I hit the "I can't take it anymore, I gotta make some tack!" point... which is why my NaMoPaiMo horses end up with nameplate halters.

A resin model horse (Lopin Leggs by Liesl Dalpe), painted chestnut by me. It is wearing a halter.

The same model horse, from the other side.

A detail shot of the model horse showing its hooves: one striped and one white.

A detail shot of the horse's head showing her mottled muzzle, one of her eyes, and her halter. The halter has a nameplate that says "Castilleja".

130 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 22/02/2026

Working on the exciting (but I know it will be interminable) detail stage! #NaMoPaiMo Also, surprise - she's a non-characteristic appaloosa. Performance shower things 😅

A chestnut resin model horse. Its eyes haven't been painted, but its white markings and hooves are getting more detailed.

The same model horse from the opposite side. It has one striped hood and white bands in its mane now

A photo showing the model's almost finished blaze, which has mottled edges, and its mottled lips.

010 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 19/02/2026

Finally starting to block in markings! The end is sort of in sight 😅 #NaMoPaiMo

A chestnut model horse with three very streaky, first layer socks

And a photo showing the model horse's very streaky, first layer blaze (and that I haven't even started on her eyes. Creepy)

020 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 09/02/2026

One side is getting pretty close (I'm saving the head and tail for last). The other side... Well, it still needs a lot of work. #NaMoPaiMo

A resin model horse. Its body is chestnut, but its head and tail are still pink/multicolored

The other side of the same horse. It's very streaky and hot pink, purple, and yellow.

011 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 04/02/2026

Slooooowly turning chestnut, though there are many many many layers yet to go! #namopaimo

030 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 22/12/2025

Wishing everyone a happy holiday season ❄️ Horse is Marina, a 2014 Stone Design-a-Horse; sleigh by Bill Duncan; tack by me; props collected over the years from various sources.

A model horse pulling a model Santa in his sleigh across a mantel. Santa's sleigh is full of tiny toys (including tiny model horses!), and the horse is wearing reindeer antlers and a red "nose".

120 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 31/10/2025

I finally found just the right one (after ten-ish years)! Now I'm wondering what my next #modelhorse grail will be 😅 Here's my new Lynn Fraley Sadie Shoofly painted by... Lynn Fraley. I'm thrilled to have one painted by the sculptor! I'm still deciding on a name, but am leaning towards Trinity.

A very grouchy chestnut sabino model horse standing on a workbench. She looks like she's ready to kick the camera.

110 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 29/10/2025

I've finally tidied up the workbench, so back to #modelhorse prompts! My fall/autumn horse is a fluffy pony I bought last year on that most autumnal holiday... Black Friday 😉 Meet Ladidadi, a 2024 Kylee Parks Tracy Bow resin; click through to see her adorable little fuzzy face (and seams 😅)

A resin model pony with a trace clip and fluffy mane cantering across a workbench. There's a big calendar in the background that's a month out of date, because sometimes it's like that, you know?

The same resin pony, but a close up of its head. It has an adorable fuzzy little face, fuzzy little ears, and some pretty prominent seams that need to be scraped away!

021 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 17/10/2025

I don't collect mini #modelhorses, but while I was out antiquing last weekend I couldn't resist this teeny-tiny guy. Plus, he's so small I barely had to tidy up my workbench to take a picture! (There's some productive mess happening at present, hence the radio silence)

An extremely tiny black model horse (with two wee little socks) in a flying trot. It's about 35mm long at its longest, which you can tell from the cutting mat it's standing on and the ruler next to it.

151 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 03/10/2025

Been a crazy couple weeks... I'm overdue to post a #modelhorse or two! First is my just arrived Breyer Juriaan! He's so pretty. Next do solid black, Breyer? Pleeeease? 🥺 Second, I thought I would show some hypothetical chestnuts... I'll get around to painting 'em eventually 😅 info in alt text!

A glossy chestnut Friesian model horse walking along a workbench.

Six unpainted resin model horses on a workbench, in various stages of customization and prepping. Sculptures (and sculptors!) from left to right: Uilleam (Jennifer Scott); Abigail (Sarah Minkiewicz-Breunig); Yarah (Josine Vingerling); Lopin' Leggs (Liesl Dalpe); Syringa (Lynn Fraley); Tracy Bow (Kylee Parks).

I cut the Abigail off her base a while ago, so you better believe there were dominoes while I was trying to get her to balance between her more stable fellows.

150 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 22/09/2025

Yay, #modelhorse prompt time again! Happily, with the way my horses are arranged I had plenty of choices so I could avoid a repeat! This is Kirigami, a Sheila Bishop Hickory painted by Amanda Dionne (I think. She's unsigned). These days Kiri is semi-retired after a successful performance career 😊

A photo of a red dun overo pinto model horse walking across a (productively!) messy workbench.

The same model horse, this time all tacked up and walking over a tarp.

221 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 03/09/2025

I'm pretty good at making #modelhorse tack these days, but writing *instructions* for it is definitely a big new challenge

Several pen-and-ink drawings of steps for a model horse tackmaking project. They're a little vague, but that's because there's lots of write-up they're illustrating!

140 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 22/08/2025

I did have another addition to the #modelhorse herd this week, because I love a Love (and also combined shipping)

A silver bay model horse (with a very shiny and silvery mane and tail) prancing on a workbench

040 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 20/08/2025

Got my braided Rowan yesterday! I love her little face, her tail, her color... but not that foreleg, which I think makes her look unbalanced and heavy on the forehand ☹️ But I sticky waxed a small (~3/8") peg to that front hoof. It lifts her up just enough that now I think she's 100% adorable!

A pale dun model pony trotting across a workbench. It looks like it's leaning forward.

The same pale dun pony, this time with a little acrylic peg under one hoof. It lifts the pony up just enough to make it look more balanced.

230 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 28/07/2025

For folks near Connecticut: I'll be teaching a beginner-level #modelhorse tackmaking workshop in early September! You'll learn how to make simple saddlebags using a pattern that will grow with you as you become a more accomplished tackmaker 😊 Details here: m.facebook.com/events/73113...

A very simple miniature leather saddlebag. This is what I'll be teaching!

Three miniature leather saddlebags of varying complexities - super simple, dyed and edge braided, and dyed and tooled. They're all the same base, so they really show how far you can take this pattern!

120 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 21/07/2025

Figured I'd share a quick photo from my collection of #modelhorses for Monday. This is Balatro, a 2024 Stone Design-a-Horse. Excuse the mess in the background - I was making tack all weekend! (I did manage to sneak in a few rounds of the video game I named this guy after, though 🙂)

A cantering buckskin pinto model horse on a fairly messy workbench.

030 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 19/07/2025

Workin' on a little project! I guess Breyerfest was inspiring because even though I kept telling myself "you need to take a short break!" I'm straight back on the model tackmaking grind 😊

A photo of an in-progress set of miniature saddlebags on a blue cutting mat. The parts are tooled with a Sheridan pattern, and there's an Exacto knife next to them.

030 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 16/07/2025

I just went to the Breyerfest Open #modelhorse show about a week ago. I've shown it before and didn't enjoy it (it's very big and stressful), so my goals this time were "show up, don't cry, and (maybe?) have fun." I exceeded my goals: I totally had fun! (Model IDs in alt text!)

A diorama of P S Spacetoaster (Breyer 2022-25 MorganQuest Native Sun) pulling a modified Kulp meadowbrook cart in a driven dressage competition.

A diorama of Sigrid (Breyer 2023-25 Sweetwater's Zorah Belle) approaching a hunter jump.

A diorama of P S Spacetoaster (Breyer 2022-25 MorganQuest Native Sun) competing in a ranch roping competition.

172 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 15/07/2025

Anyway, I had a freakishly well-behaved Breyerfest. Here are the new additions to my #modelhorse collection! In front: a running Herden calf, Maggie Bennet Merry, and some saddle trees for me to test. In back: Tight Lines, two 2025 surprises, Good Times and Great Friends, and Belesema Sapphire.

020 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 04/07/2025

Enjoyed a rousing game of horse game with my board game crew 😊 We enjoyed it and would play again! Biggest criticism was that the rulebook was written in a very irritating way. 3/4 of the table were not horse girls (1/4 was me) so I feel like the fact that we all legitimately had fun is a win.

A very large and elaborately arranged board game with a horse theme. There are ranches, there are unique horse cards, there are horse-shaped meeples.

A photo of the board game box (it's called Fantasy Ranch, but I guarantee my friends and I will be calling it horse game until the end of time).

030 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 03/07/2025

Here's a redheaded #modelhorse grab bag! Meet Honeybucket (2021 Breyer Midas), Got Two Guns (2011 Stone Cowboy), P S Spacetoaster (2022 MorganQuest Native Sun), and Bay State Brawler (Sarah Rose UVM Yesteryear p/b Sheri Rhodes). I bought Brawler broken. Maybe I'll finally fix him this year 😅

A chestnut splash pinto model horse cantering across a workbench. I'm not lucky and rarely get drawn, so... if you've ever shopped Breyer's Black Friday sale the minute you get the email and been like "who is so fast on the draw that that model is already sold out!?" it's me. I'm that person. I like to think it's karma.

A glossy flaxen chestnut model horse trotting across a workbench.

A dark chestnut model horse trotting across a workbench.

A flaxen chestnut horse with a broken tail (the tail is sitting in front of him) standing on a workbench. This model was one of those purchases where everyone involved felt kind of guilty (the seller wasn't charging even close to what the model was worth, even broken, and I felt like I was stealing from her; she said the person helping her price said he was worth way more but she couldn't in good consciousness charge that much for a broken model), but I think we both left happy (me having gotten a heck of a deal and her a few hundred bucks richer).

131 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 01/07/2025

I've been looking forward to taking this #modelhorse photo, but I had to do some tidying up and some shelf-shuffling first (and with Horsefest fast approaching, there's more of both in my future!) Impossible to identify all the horses, so... shelves are IKEA Besta with IKEA under-counter lighting 😉

A grey room with a large, floor-to-ceiling white glass-front cabinet. The cabinet has glass shelves and lighting and is full of lots and lots of model horses (and animals, and vehicles). The bottom has drawers (which are full of model horses); on the wall kitty-corner is my best-ever antiquing find, a vintage Breyer sign.

151 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 30/06/2025

A few favorite #modelhorse palominos... We have Shortbread (2021 Breyer Holiday Pony Playset), Deklamator (2012 Stone DAH), Wolfram (2007 Breyer Sand Dollar)... and also Marina (2014 Stone DAH), back again because I love her 🥰

A medium palomino model pony standing on a workbench.

A glossy, somewhat dark palomino model horse standing on a workbench.

A dappled pinto palomino model pony standing on a workbench. Story time: I bought this guy at Breyerfest for the princely (and what felt like the absolutely insane) sum of $350 in 2008. These days, $350 is, uh. Well, it'd be a heck of a bargain for a Sand Dollar.

A light palomino roan pinto model horse trotting along a workbench. I'm ignoring the tack stains on her side so you should too. Learn from my hubris and remember to take your tack off your model horses, folks: it *can* happen to you.

031 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 29/06/2025

One of my #modelhorse goals is to start painting and customizing a little more intentionally. Here's one of my projects, a Breyer American Pharaoh resin to a performance pony. Still lots of work to go... not a bad thing, as I'm still debating colors. The name, though, has been decided for a while 😉

What was once a perfectly nice model of a racehorse with a jockey, but its head and neck was removed, leg wraps sanded off, and jockey and saddle removed and sanded off. It has a new head (Breyer Classic Arabian Stallion) on a wire armature that's sort of positioned into its shoulders, but because the artist (me) is anxious about how long its neck should be, nothing is actually secured. All four of its hooves are different sizes. Its barrel looks like the surface of Mars. However, it's standing on a pretty nice-looking wooden base with a brass plaque that says "Corleone". (And it's back on my workbench, so maybe that's a good sign.)

131 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 27/06/2025

#modelhorse ponies for Friday! I thought about doing a pony grab bag, but then I thought... why not focus in on my Stone ponies? So here's Wicket (2006 Rugby), Tiger (2014 FCM DAH), Cowboy Kid (2010 DAH), and Klaus (2009 Berkeley and the rarest kind of Stone of all - a *regular run* 😜)

A bay pinto model horse with one blue eye on a workbench.

A dappled buckskin model horse with four socks and four stripey hooves on a workbench.

A leopard appaloosa model horse on a workbench.

A red dun pinto model horse on a workbench.

061 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/06/2025

There's been radio silence here for the past few days because I was on vacation! My best friend from college came to hang out and we had a great time chatting, going on adventures around town and up in Maine, and - to stick with the horse girl brand - breaking the seal on a new (to me) board game.

A picture looking out a window at a beautiful pink, orange, and yellow sunset over a body of water. In the foreground, there's a small dock and float.

A photo of a board game box with a picture of four horses prancing around in a field. The name of the game is "FANTASY RANCH", with the subtitle "Play the Game, Live the Dream".

100 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/06/2025

Got a lovely new addition to the #modelhorse herd this weekend 🙂 this is Five Carat Boy (2025 Breyer Cosimo). Usually I prefer glossies, but I thought matte would suit this dude. Hopefully I don't regret my decision once I see the glossy in person!

A black model horse standing on a workbench.

020 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 16/06/2025

All the cool kids are announcing their BCC entries. I want to be cool too 😜 so here's mine - a #modelhorse Chagu Chagu Umakko (チャグチャグ馬コ) set. I've been fascinated by this traditional Japanese horse tack for a long time, so of course I had to give making it in miniature a try.

A model horse wearing an elaborate set of miniature Japanese horse tack. There's lots of red fringe, miniature bells, and colorful cloth drapes.

A second view of the model horse in Japanese horse tack. It is standing on a wooden platform with a mirrored base.

A close-up of the model horse's headpiece, which has miniature bells, tassels, and lots of textile elements. The model horse's eye is painted a little off-kilter so it looks like it's side-eying the camera.

240 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 15/06/2025

Happy Father's Day (and Pride month) from Bob (2013-15 Breyer Indian Pony), Skooch (2013 Breyer Wapiti), and Scofflaw (2019-20 Breyer #9198)! Some of my #modelhorse collection ends up married after standing together on a shelf long enough to be inseparable. Bob and Skooch are one of those pairs.

A bay pinto model horse, bay appaloosa model horse, and bay model foal standing together on a workbench.

120 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 13/06/2025

It's been a long, hard week, so posting photos of some of my #modelhorse collection in silly costumes to cheer myself up. We have Misty (2020 Breyer Brighid) as a hot dog, a 2022 Breyer Cooper as a fire truck, and Yuri (2007-08 Breyer Bouncer) as a... purple widow spider???

A pinto model horse in a Chicago hot dog costume. It is standing on a workbench.

A black leopard appaloosa model horse wearing a fire truck costume.

A bay model horse wearing a black widow spider costume. For some reason, the hourglass on its back is lavender instead of red; a mystery for the ages.

2112 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 12/06/2025

Not my BCC entry (I'll probably be ready to share Monday), but my workbench is finally clear enough to take #modelhorse collection photos again! So here's Goober, a 2023 Breyer Mouse, wearing an experimental halter made from handwoven silk ribbon 🙂

A chestnut model horse standing on a workbench. It's wearing a halter and there's a big calendar in the background.

A close-up of the chestnut model horse's halter, which is green with a teeny tiny purple flower pattern. The model horse also has a big plastic factory flaw on its cheek, which goes to show why its name is Goober.

031 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 10/05/2025

Long week with no time for #modelhorses... but now it's the weekend 🙂 I thought about doing an actual Old Timer for this one, but instead grabbed the oldest new addition to the herd. This is a Breyer Western Pony (with grooming kit) from the 1950s-70s. He was a $10 antique find and needs a bath!

A small palomino model horse wearing a western-themed brown vinyl pack. The pack is sized so that it would have once held a comb, toothbrush, etc. I guess the pitch here was that this would convince small horse-crazy children to participate in basic personal hygiene activities because toy horses were involved??? It was a better idea than the Breyer Money Manager, I'll give it that

130 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 07/05/2025

... I do think the hobby at large would probably lose its mind if was a PAM though. Everybody seems to love the PAM. No judgement, so do I

Four model horses on a grey background, all different colors of the same Arabian mare sculpture

000 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 05/05/2025

Got lots of tackmaking done for the BCC, but given that project is still top secret... here's a photo of the latest additions to my #modelhorse herd instead.

Two glossy model horses, one grey and one dun pinto, galloping across a workbench.

030 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 30/04/2025

Rough week, so trying to brighten it up with a #modelhorse bevy of beautiful bays (my favorite)! #1 is an unnamed 2022 Breyer Chablis; #2 is Wicket, a 2006 Stone Rugby; #3 is Luck of the Draw, a 2008 Breyer Glossy Harmonie prize model; #4 is Querida, a Stacey Tumlinson Catalina painted by me!

A dark bay model horse with a braided mane and tail standing on a workbench.

A model bay pinto pony with one blue eye.

A shiny bay model horse standing proudly on a workbench.

A trotting dark bay model horse wearing a tan nameplate halter.

241 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 25/04/2025

From my #modelhorse collection: a Jennifer Scott Uilleam, and Big Girl Shoes, a Breyer 2009 Fun Foals Red Roan Wixom. Both of them are tall, so as for who's biggest... he wins on length, but she wins on chonk! (the new cutting mat means you can really see which photos I'm catching up on, haha)

A large unpainted model clydesdale horse, galloping at full tilt across a workbench!

A model horse, also quite large, trotting across a workbench. It isn't clear from this photo, but she is very *round*.

061 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 24/04/2025

I usually keep my #modelhorse names super simple, because I've had to read (and write) some really long and complicated names out while judging model horse shows. But Kentuckiana Hot Brown (Breyer 2023 Stampede Surprise) has a fun name! He was named after a particularly good sandwich.

A pinto model horse running across a workbench.

010 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/04/2025

Finally, tackmakers... the two who have inspired me the most are Susan Bensema Young (www.timarustarii.com) and Jennifer Buxton (braymere.blogspot.com). They've massively influenced model tack and performance, and I really admire the way they've been so generous in sharing information.

A big stack of books about braiding horse tack, with Susan Bensema Young's seminal "Guide to Making Model Horse Tack" sitting on top, sitting on a workbench. I have bought all of those other books because of the guide and am still not very good at braiding model horse tack, haha. Arguably, everything else on that workbench is also there because of the guide!

031 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/04/2025

For painters, I love Linda White's work. Shown here is Three Martini Lunch, a Jennifer Scott Depeche painted by Linda, and No Fix 4 Dumb, an Ann Harris Monte also painted by Linda. (I also love Ann's paintwork, but I don't think I'll ever be lucky enough to own any!)

A grulla appaloosa model horse and chestnut model horse making their ways across a workbench.

111 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/04/2025

For older sculptors, he might not be cool but I'll defend Christian Hess to the end. I don't know that Breyer would exist without him. Are his sculpts the most *correct*? No. But they have a lot of heart, and they look like the horses I grew up riding, which (for me) might count for more.

A whole crew of Breyer model horses standing on a workbench. From left to right: 1993-95 Just Justin POA, 2010 ELCR Benefit Lady Phase, 2022 Vintage Club Cooper Appaloosa Performance Horse, 2023 Bravour Trakehner, and 2000-02 Thoroughbred/Nursing Mare

231 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 23/04/2025

This one was a tough one. I have lots of faves! 🧵 In terms of contemporary #modelhorse sculptors, I love Lynn Fraley's (lynnafraley.com) work for exactly the reason I think some people don't: I'm obsessed with how homely and sinewy her horses are (Breyer Vermeer and Fraley Syringa shown here).

An unpainted resin model horse stands next to a wild appaloosa model horse on a workbench.

231 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 21/04/2025

Opinionated horses sometimes come across as grumpy, and I think Doris (2007 Breyer Color Crazy set) is absolutely my most opinionated #modelhorse 😊 (she is also, believe it or not, an accomplished performance horse! I should really trot her back out, she's a lot of fun)

A chestnut model horse standing on a workbench

071 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 18/04/2025

After almost twenty (??? how?!?) years, I replaced my cutting mat. Went with blue because, uh, my studio color scheme is theoretically rainbow but in reality seems to lean hard into blue and yellow for some mysterious reason 😉

A beautiful, undamaged, unscarred, blue cutting mat sitting on a desk. It won't look like that for long.

000 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 18/04/2025

I love longears and am always excited about new OF #modelhorse mule sculpts (really looking forward to Breyer Premier Club one coming out this year)! This is my 2024 Stone DAH mule, Little Wanderer. Picture two is a close-up of her cute fuzzy little ears 😍

A bay model mule with high white socks walking across a workbench.

A slightly blurry close-up of the bay model mule showing off the very cute sculpted furry interiors of her ears!

151 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 16/04/2025

My fondness for video games hasn't come up on my #modelhorse collection tour... So with that opener, here are my Roaches (a Lynn Fraley Syringa and an Emilia Kurlia Ukko), ready to carry their witcher to his next adventure. ... though they might need some paint and tack first 😅

Two unpainted model horses standing on a workbench.

051 0

Sarah Hartman Made This @sarah-hartman.com · 15/04/2025

My current grail is a Lynn Fraley Sadie Shoofly - the traditional scale one - so if you have one going spare, uh... please get in touch, haha (Photo from Equine Resin Editions)

A very grouchy unpainted resin model horse that's getting ready to kick

010 0