The Red Roan Revue

By Jocelyn Cote

“Roan” is a white modifying pattern found in horses and ponies that disperses white hairs throughout their body color (minus the lower legs and tail), creating a unique, flecked look to their coat. Specifically, a “red roan” is a horse or pony that has the roan gene present on top of a chestnut coat. The intermingling of the white and chestnut hairs gives the equine a distinct reddish appearance.

Red roan also happens to be the inspiration for one of Breyer’s earliest and most unique decorator colors! (Whether or not these models should truly be considered “decorators” is a point of contention among some hobbyists. The color was not explicitly designed to be unrealistic in the 1960s, but compared to the red roan models of today the technique is obviously more stylized.) Unlike the fantastical blue, gold, and woodgrain contemporaries of the time, Breyer’s earliest red roans toe the line between whimsy and reality. With a base coat ranging from light cream to a true tan, this red roan color was created with layers of splattered reddish flecking, finished with a chestnut mane and tail and grey hooves.

Two red roan Running Stallion models, showing slight variations in color. 

Breyer released its first red roan model in 1968: the Running Stallion. He would be joined by the Lying Down Foal in 1969, the Scratching Foal in 1970, and finally the Running Mare in 1971. As with the remainder of Breyer’s decorator offerings like woodgrains and charcoals, the red roan color was fully phased-out by the mid-1970s. The color reappeared briefly in 1982 when the red roan Running Mare was re-released in 1982 via the Bentley Sales Company, and this time a matching Running Foal was created for her. It appeared once again in 1984, this time on the Belgian mold as a special run for Horses International and also on the G1 Draft Horse Stablemates model as part of an exclusive set for Riegseckers. The painting style of the 1980s red roans is close to the originals, but their base colors tend to be a bit more on the reddish side.

A few years later in 1988, Breyer’s first attempt at a more realistic red roan debuted: the #710 “American Indian Pony” on the Foundation Stallion mold. From a realism standpoint, the color resembles more of a mulberry grey with fleabites than a true roan. Like with the original red roans, soft speckling is used to create the “roan” effect on top of a light body color, and he features darkened legs and a dark chestnut mane and tail. This color was also used on the Cantering Welsh Pony in the same year, as a special run for Small World, and on the Appaloosa Performance Horse in 1989 as a special run for Horses International.

The #710 American Indian Pony was the first Breyer model with a “realistic” red roan coat.

The Cantering Welsh Pony “Plain Pixie” (#866) was the first Breyer model to resemble a true realistic roan. First released in 1992, she features a dark head and legs with dark chestnut speckling over her shaded coat. This technique would become the standard for roan models through the remainder of the 90s.

Plain Pixie’s dark head and lower legs make her roan color more lifelike.

Meanwhile, as vintage decorator colors started to become en vogue once again, a new wave of old-school red roan models was brought into production. These included the 1994 BreyerFest Indian Pony volunteer model, the BreyerFest 1997 Balking Mule raffle model “Cactus,” and the 2001 Collector’s Edition Five Gaiter “Firefly.” 

Firefly, Cactus, and the red roan Indian Pony volunteer model.

It would be in the mid-to-late 2000s that Breyer found its stride in painting a truly realistic red roan color. Interestingly, some of the first truly impressive examples of these popped up in the Classics (now Freedom Series) line, such as the American Quarter Horse Mare in the #61021 Western Riding Gift Set, first produced in 2007, and the #618 Red Roan Sabino Part Arabian, who followed a couple years later in 2009.

Classics Red Roan Sabino Part Arabian

Some early Traditional models that featured this style of painting include Red Rock, the 2009 Mid-States special run, and the red roan Clydesdale Foal produced as part of the “Fun Foals” treasure hunt during the same year. This new technique either uses a light splatter of white paint over a darker chestnut base coat, or a splatter of reddish paint over a lighter chestnut base coat. Through every iteration of Breyer’s red roans, splattering paint has been a consistent technique to create the roany look.

Red Roan Clydesdale Foal

A fun twist on the red roan pattern arrived in 2011 and 2012 with Be Mine and I’m Yours, two Valentine’s Day Web Specials who toe the line between realistic and decorator – each model features a classic Valentine’s Day motif (hearts and kisses) mingled with their bright red roan coats.

I'm Yours, 2012 Web Special with a decorator red roan coat

The red roan has continued to innovate in the present day, such as with the subtle dapples that were present in the coat of 2020 mid-year release Peptoboonsmal.

Peptoboonsmals's dappled roan coat

With that being said, we haven’t forgotten our roots – the classic vintage red roan pattern has already made a handful of appearances in the Vintage Club, such as Diablo the Mustang, Rosie and Bailey the Lady Phase and Action Stock Horse Foal, and Rosemary the G2 American Saddlebred Stablemates model.

Rosie, 2017 Vintage Club release

Red roan fans also had the chance to purchase Reuben, a red roan Charolais Bull, in late 2019. Just as with the original vintage red roans, there is a bit of variation in the color and style of the red roan pattern on each release. 

Reuben and a test run Walking Hereford, showing color difference.

As a fan-favorite pattern in both the Breyer community and the horse world at large, red roan is a color that’s here to stay. If you have yet to add one to your collection, why not make a plan to bring a roan home sometime soon?