Because it's got a papercut-inspired design, see, and it's...cutting horse...see, like with cattle...okay, nevermind. <XD I'm a big horse geek and y'all know that already.

So anyhow, I figure it's time for some actual art out of me...yes, yes, I know, photography is art and all that, but come on, it was a cute kitty photo. I have dozens of cute kitty photos, completely unplanned, just lucky to grab the camera. This, on the other hand, is something I've spent about...I'd say a week planning/making? I ran across him and a bunch of other old, beaten-up Breyers at the Peddler's Fair a couple weekends ago. Really nothing more special than toy quality, and I'd seen some folks on various model horse forums talk about etching, so I thought I'd give it a try.

This is NOT painted. :) Etching involves taking something sharp (in my case, an Exacto blade) and scratching tiny lines through the painted layer of the plastic to reveal the blank plastic color underneath. From what I've seen in the model horse...fandom? I guess, mostly people use etching to more closely replicate the hair growth patterns on customized model horses (so they look more like actual horses). Since I do not have a real horse handy to crib from, and I wanted to make something different, instead I looked up a whole bunch of various Chinese papercut designs and made a phoenix. The design was also laid out to incorporate the scratches and rubs. :)

There's a real Breyer model I would love to own, called Phoenix Rising, that was some limited edition thing released as a memorial for the WTC. Also, I saw someone else do a horse with dragons etched on its sides. There's no way in hell I'd be able to obtain either one (the dragon horse sold, and Phoenix Rising routinely sells for over $150 a pop on eBay) so I sort of smushed the ideas together and made my own. :) The "running stallion" is not my favorite Breyer mold, but for a first try I think he came out pretty nice.