I had quite a lot of Breyer horses at one point.  Unfortunately over the years most of them ended up being donated to charity or given to friends' kids, due to space constraints, various major moves, and that sort of thing.  What I have left is my "favorite favorites," the horses that I could never bear to part with for sentimental reasons.

Lying Down Foal (I assume the "down" was added to its name so that people wouldn't accuse it of being a liar) is one of the few gender neutral models produced.  Because of the way it's arranged its limbs, no "parts" are obvious.  Nor was it ever identified by Breyer as either a colt or a filly, not that I can tell.

I always thought of Lying Down Foal as "he," for no particular reason.  Possibly because I got him when I was very young, and unclear on the difference between "colt" and "foal."  Not that I thought all baby horses were boys, but… you know how it goes.

For a long time I had a Scratching Foal in the matching "black blanket" appaloosa pattern.  Scratching Foal has been lost to the mists of time.  I think it suffered some kind of major injury and was thrown away by a thoughtless parent.  If memory serves.

Lying Down Foal was originally sculpted by Chris Hess in 1969.  The appaloosa Lying Down Foal was in production from 1969 to 1984, which means that pretty much everybody had one.  I'm often amused by the excellent work Breyer puts forth with appaloosa patterns these days.  Back in the day, they left part of the horse unpainted, then splattered it with black dots.  Presto, an appaloosa!

You can't see it in the picture, but my Lying Down Foal even has a black dot right in the center of his forehead.  Like an Indian Bindi mark, or like a reverse star.  Sloppy work, really, but that certainly didn't keep me from adoring him.

I can't tell if he was originally released with a pinkish tone to his nose, or if I tried to color his nose with a marker.  Hard to say, really.  He also has the other marks you would expect - rubs, chipped ear tips, nicks and scratches, and hard water stains in his various crevices from being played with in the bath.

The more I study my old childhood Breyers, the more surprised I am at how well they stood the test of time.  That resin material is tough stuff!  I was never very careful with my horses, as you can probably tell.  And yet my Lying Down Foal, for example, never lost his tail.  That's astonishing, people!

Lying Down Foal is also an excellent introduction to the world of overinflated Breyer prices.  Because the mold was first struck in 1969, a lot of sellers automatically label a Lying Down Foal as being "1969 vintage model," even though it was in continuous production until 1984.  A quick check of eBay shows Buy It Now prices as high as $30 including shipping.  Which is pretty ridiculous for such a numerous model.