Breyer Holiday Horses

I don't celebrate christmas, so the general appeal of Breyer's annual Holiday Horse is rather lost on me : I don't use the glittery themed tack they come dressed in, and don't use them as decorations. But, I do like some of the models inside the seasonal outfits, as long as they don't have the pearly or metallic paintwork which puts so many of these releases well off my wishlist.

2007's Wintersong, who I was lucky enough to receive as a gift from a hobby friend who knew that a shire mould in a good shire colour would be exactly my taste in model horses! I kept the name as Harecroft Wintersong, as I liked it so much and it just suits him perfectly with that frosty grey coat and his mid-winter arrival. He also got allocated one of the more tasteful outfits by the breyer design team, traditional and without the plasticky spangles of so many years, so I've kept them even though I've never dressed him up again since he got here!

2010's Jewel, a very welcome addition to my conga line of showjumping warmbloods, a very simple paintjob under his sparkly trappings but it does suit the mould so nicely. Mine's called Harecroft Lionsmane because I already had a custom yellow dun called Dandy Lion and wanted to carry on the theme.

And this stunner is a new arrival to me, a second hand find back in the summer, even though he was released for 2013. One of my very favourite moulds, sadly much under-used by Breyer for regular runs so I don't have very many, just the tobiano pintos in black and chestnut, a fleabitten grey SR, and this guy. He is very slightly metallic, but it's subtle and doesn't carry on into his markings or hooves, so it comes across as a realistic richness to his golden sheen, rather than pearlised paint for festive decoration's sake. Sold as Holiday On Parade rather than with a name of his own, I've called him Harecroft Paradise Valley.