A Breyer® horse familiar to the Western performance horse industry will be stabled on shelves at toy stores across the nation. The AQHA Ideal Breyer horse is based on the iconic painting of a sorrel horse Western artist Orren Mixer did for the American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA). It is part of the New Jersey-based company’s new Ideal Series of models.
The image of Mixer’s painting of a sorrel horse has been featured over the years in many AQHA logos and imagery, and is still being used today. Over the course of his career, Mixer’s artwork graced the covers of magazines and the walls of lucky Western art collectors, and earned him a place in the AQHA Hall of Fame.
Mixer’s gift for capturing the equine form led to seven horse breed associations commissioning him to paint their breed’s ideal. For this endeavor, Mixer created some of the best-known imagery for these breed associations, including the AQHA, the American Paint Horse Association, and the Palomino Horse Breeders of America. These highly recognizable images are still used today, and have forever cemented Mixer’s place as one of history’s preeminent equine artists.
Breyer’s Ideal Series pays homage to Mixer’s most popular subject – the horse. Each hand-painted piece in this series was inspired by one of his famed “ideal” horse breed paintings.
Commissioned by the American Quarter Horse Association in 1968, Mixer’s AQHA Ideal image is still used by the organization today. Affectionately known as “the Mixer Horse,” the original painting hangs in the AQHA’s headquarters in Texas.
A Traditional (1:9 scale) model, the AQHA Ideal Breyer horse was expertly sculpted and painted by artisans to capture the look and feel of Mixer’s famed painting. A display piece that’s also durable enough for play, the AQHA Ideal model is available at toy, gift, tack and agricultural stores nationwide, as well as breyerhorses.com.
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