The Breyer Model Horse company donates a commendable amount of time and effort to various horse-related charities, and the ECLR Benefit Model is an excellent example.  

The Equestrian Land Conservation Resource (ECLR) is a group which is dedicated to preserving open land for equestrian use.  A percentage of the sale of every ECLR benefit model goes to the ECLR, to help keep riding trails and land access available to horseback riders.  The ECLR is an umbrella group, and local groups can apply to be beneficiaries of the $10,000 annual ECLR Breyer grant.

Trail access is a contentious issue in many parts of the United States.  Horses can indeed damage trails, particularly if their riders take them out over trails which are unsuitably soggy.  In some areas, horses are considered a "motorized vehicle" due to the damage they can wreak on the local terrain during wet weather.

Just a reminder to be courteous when you are out trail riding!  Horseback riders and mountain bikers are often on opposite sides of the table, but it doesn't have to be this way.  

Breyer has released an ECLR Benefit Model every year for the last few years.  This year's ECLR Benefit Model is a beautiful glossy red dun.  I will confess, I was not able to work out which mold was used.  I suspect it is an older mold, because of the "four on the floor" stance, which is also what makes it hard to identify.  

Only a tail swish and some slight adjustments of the head carriage distinguish this fellow from many other older Breyer models sculpted by Chris Hess in the 1970s and 1980s.  I have difficulty believing this may be a new model for that very reason - how many years has it been since they released a model of a horse just standing there?

The Breyer page for this model describes it as an "Appendix Quarter Horse," which I had to look up on Wikipedia.  According to the rules of the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), the breed is frequently being strengthened by an infusion of Thoroughbred blood.  An appendix quarter horse is one who has one parent which is a registered Quarter Horse, and one who is a registered Thoroughbred.

The opposite of an Appendix Quarter Horse is a Foundation Quarter Horse, which is an attempt to return to the original breed standard.  Some fanciers believe that the constant infusion of Thoroughbred blood is shifting the Quarter Horse away from its original form, thus the return to "Foundation" specs.

In 2009 Breyer used the John Henry mold, which was sculpted by Jeanne Mellin Herrick in 1988.  He was released in matte dapple gray, glossy dapple gray, matte dun, and glossy dun.  Both glossy models were released as special prizes for BreyerWest.

In 2008, the year when Breyer first began supporting the ECLR, Breyer used the San Domingo mold, originally sculpted by Chris Hess in 1978 as Marguerite Henry's "Medicine Hat Stallion."  For 2008 Breyer released him in two coat colors to benefit the ECLR: palomino and liver chestnut.