One Model, Many Ways: the Australian Stock Horse

Featuring Carter and Peptoboonsmal
By Mindy Berg

The Australian Stock Horse mold (#746, also known as “Dundee”) is a beautiful and versatile horse that can be used in many disciplines. Regardless of what discipline you prefer, he is a model that is made to fit many! The following is a photographic celebration of this dynamic sculpture, and some performance showing ideas using two releases on this mold: Carter and Peptoboonsmal. 

This sculpture’s realistic position and dynamic pose make him an incredible choice for almost anything performance related. You can let your imagination run wild!

This Western rider has fancy tack for her ride! Although Carter is not sporting a hairdo for formalized Western Pleasure, he is a pleasurable Western mount and shows off the tack beautifully.

If you want to make the jump to English riding, simply change the tack! Here, my warm up rider schools her horse and gets ready for the jump. If the rider was dressed in show attire, they could be horse show ready. I mean, look at the shine on that grey - he is ready for the ring!

The very same horse and English tack can be used going over cavaletti poles. Get those heels down and eyes up!

The same angle of the horse but with a different tack set and rider give the entire picture a different feel. If I just had slightly different tack, I would have him chasing barrels. He looks excellent in Western tack either way, and works for this picture of Western schooling. My rider is setting a fine example of wearing a helmet.

Another warm up picture. This horse makes a fabulous jumper for an amateur rider. He has a willing and forward attitude, but remains in a more controlled canter position.

A more formal English rider. Carter is calm and engaged, and looks fantastic in a dressage saddle. A little canter work with longer rein contact, no matter what discipline, is a great way to help a horse stretch!

Although Pepto is well behaved under saddle, he can also be naughty! Think: other performance! What other mischief can you think of for him?

Whatever your performance needs are, with a little bit of creativity, you can find a way to tell your story. With a couple changes of tack and dolls, you can nail almost anything with some ingenuity and work. I recognize that not all my tack and rider combinations are completely appropriate for each discipline, but rather they are used as examples and suggestions of what you can create with some imagination. But sometimes, all you really need is a halter and someone willing to ride!