Yakutian Stallion, Grey (Horse Country by CollectA)

Review and images by Harecraft Horses; edited by bmathison1972

CollectA’s new horses for 2022 are being sent out to stockists in two batches, some breeds now and the rest due in December (although of course these timings will vary by country – there’s always a delay while British collectors wait for the new figures to be shipped over, while the US and mainland Europe are buying them already).

The only new sculpt and new breed in these first-half-of-the-year releases is the Yakutian Stallion, so he gets to be featured here first!

He’s really rather adorable! I know these ponies are very hardy and hard-working, not leading pampered lives in the slightest, but this sculpt just makes him look so cuddly! That’s not a bad thing, and it certainly doesn’t even approach the amount of cuteness inflicted on Schleich models to the frustration of many adult collectors – his sweet face doesn’t have exaggerated features or anything which contradicts realism.

I know that over the past few years, much has been said about CollectA’s relatively recent chunky-legs problem, I’m as disappointed in that as anyone, but on pony and draft breeds it doesn’t look obvious or incorrect; the Yakut gets away with the leg proportions in a way the light, leggy, fine breeds cannot – the likes of the Marwari, Saddlebred, or Hackney look wrong, but this small chunky breed looks perfectly ok.

The Yakut sculpt touches on all their distinctive traits, the kind of things which always get a mention in the books or websites listing horse breeds; namely their short compact but strong build, the abundant mane and tail, and the shaggy thick coat which grows four inches long in winter – they live outdoors all year round, in the far north (see the red area in this map) and are easily one of the most hardy horse breeds in the world. This one seems to be sculpted in his summer coat, with only the legs and beard remaining shaggy, but it’s clearly a nod to that famous characteristic of the breed.

I’m not sure why they chose a plainish grey, when there’s a lot of very pretty dun shades which are more common, but greys do exist so I’ve no problem with the decision, it’s not an error so much as a wondering why they didn’t go for something more interesting! But he’s nicely painted, with shading and an off-white tone with a little hint of warmth to it (pure white tends to look blueish in models, and gives the impression the animal is overly cleaned, like a show pony just been scrubbed with soap and not allowed to roll while it dried off).

All in all, a really nice rendition of a breed which isn’t as well known as many, but well worth having (incidentally, the first to be added to my collection, I’ve considered doing a custom Yakut before but never dared tackle sculpting the fluff!).