Brainfall: a model horse photo challenge

I cooked this list up back in February 2022. It is not actually a challenge, but more like a list of prompts/ideas of scenes which people could photograph about their plastic animals, barns, etc. I hadn't thought about publishing this, really, but I got a reason to and so... Here it comes. The list is copyrighted to me, Afuze. 

Note: This is not a competition. It can be compared to performance showing, but it is not performance showing, and you do not have to know about any discipline rules or anything. Many are just scenes and scenarios and they have nothing to do with competitions. I only want to give ideas for creative model photography.
- This list can be used so that you complete the list for one horse or then use which model you feel is the best for each step. It's up to you. The attempts can be humorous or serious, how you like, I don't limit it. Interpret these how you want. 

There also is no deadline. Take photos when you want and feel right to. They do not need to be taken in any specific order. 

The lists got numbered during spring 2023, so now I know there are almost 100 prompts... I could add more if I manage to cook up any.

SIMPLE (15):
1. Conformation shot with a handler.
2. Headshot with tack.
3. English dressage.
4. English showjumping.
5. Western.
6. Gaited.
7. A new family member.
8. Gift horse.
9. Lake.
10. Snowstorm.
11. Thunderstorm.
12. Sandbox.
13. Best friends.
14. Getting ready for a trip.
15. Cookies.

COMPLEX (contains some negative/difficult topics too):

16. Horse therapy.
17. Riding therapy.
18. Sensory overload.
19. Animal rescue.
20. Rope jumping with a horse.
21. Circus pony.
22. A relaxing day.
23. A busy day.
24. Night ride.
25. Herd dynamics.
26. Trick horse.
27. Party pony.
28. Good horse!
29. A birthday ride.
30. Dancing horses.

31. Defying the odds.
32. Better option.
33. Helping hand.
34. Ugly duckling.
35. Distinctively different.
36. Unexpected visitor.
37. A learning experience.
38. Reaching the heights.
39. Exceeded expectations.
40. Prove them wrong.
41. Forest trail ride.
42. Neighborhood.
43. Something paranormal.
44. A bloodsucker.
45. Impulse buying.
46. Stolen horse.
47. A secret ride.
48. New outfit.
49. Nope, no that!
50. Black and white.

51. Writing a book.
52. History lesson.
53. Lost memories.
54. Famous last words.
55. End of an era.
56. Trick gone wrong.
57. Food allergy.
58. School bullying.
59. A crime scene.  
60. First try.
61. Trust building.
62. A photography session.
63. Painting a portrait.
64. Pride in pride.
65. Better late than never.
66. Enough is enough!
67. You are too early.
68. We don't do that here!
69. Social distancing.
70. Selfishness.

71. Generosity.
72. Money well spent.
73. I don't believe you!
74. That does not exist!
75. Latest news.
76. Common sense.
77. That's what I said.
78. The leader.
79. Ghost town.
80. Don't eat it!
81. Done for the day.
82. That's not good.
83. Question everything.
84. Old and happy.
85. Escape.
86. Worst enemies.
87. Appreciation.
88. Almost got hit.
89. A golden moment.
90. Everything is blue.

91. Big dreams.
92. Showing example (for someone).
93. Role model.
94. An idol.
95. A good listener.
96. Beating the odds.
97.
98.
99.
100.

And why is it called Brainfall? That was a brainfart which happened when I and LittleYoungOne tried to figure out a logical name for this mess of a list. Hooray for the overly active imagination. At least I don't think we can confuse this to any other hobby challenge now.

Why is my modelverse in traditional scale?

In my case, the whole craze for a modelverse, alias worldbuilding and scene making by using miniatures, started from Schleichs. I started everything by customizing them and assembling riding scenes, which I then took photos of. That was a thing until 2013 or 2014. 

I have tried many many times, and can't add more photos, so let's have this only one then.

That, exactly the Yule 2013, was when I got my first 1:9 scale rider dolls, two Breyer men. In the early 2014 I customized their heads, so they no longer were humans.

There was a time when I thought I will remain as a Schleich collector for... Forever? I wanted to specialize in them, making worlds for them. I wanted those worlds to be the kind I see for them in my head. I can genuinely say that my stuff is something I have never seen in anyone else's Schleich worlds to happen.

I knew about Breyers' existence already around the early or mid 2000's. That was when I saw them in Lahjakas, a webstore which currently specializes in animal figures. I tried hard to not get interested about Breyers, because it could have meant that I have to start a new collection, a new world from nothing. And of course I regret that a little, as I now windowshop those exact models I saw in Lahjakas ages ago from American online thrift stores. And by starting from nothing I of course mean starting a new modelverse from nothing, into a whole new scale and with new resources. At those times my Schleich collection was already rather large, and I had some tack and props for them, so it felt easier to stay at them and develop that modelverse further.

Well, as I mentioned, in 2013 I got those Breyer guys and didn't even manage to customize them before scenes already happened. I hadn't even managed to show a knife for those doll heads when I already had fun with them. I put them to ride my three traditional scale horses which I had at the time, of course. Only one of them was a Breyer. The other two were a Blue Box QH and a flocked horse. Occasionally the boys also tested riding classics (which Grand Champions and related are, to me, despite how much bigger they are when compared to Breyer classics). That looked unbalanced, so didn't happen much, I think.

There was no quality, and everything was rather rough and ancient, but still, it was totally different from what it is when I assemble scenes from Schleichs. And here we get to the whole point of this article. 

The exact reason why I prefer traditionals is because it's bigger, more detailed and more practical than little bit. Tack is easier and nicer to make. Its own aspect is of course the fact that horses by Breyer are more or less realistic no matter the scale. Plus, they come with more variety in positions, breeds, facial expressions and in just everything, when compared with Schleichs.

If a reader knows me as a collector, it should come as no surprise that I stopped collecting Schleichs years and years ago due to that worsened sculpting style. It alone does not explain why I switched to a bigger scale, but it has a part in it.

First, Schleichs have been released in a narrower selection of molds and colors than Breyers. Every "stable" has the same horses, and of course the usual unrealistic things like przewalskis or zebras (and in my schleichverse's case, fantasy equines...). I have come to a conclusion that I simply "burned out" seeing the same things repeating in every single Schleich stable I stumbled upon online. In other words, I lost interest towards reading Schleich stable blogs since story plots were too predictable. Also the humans and horses were never individuals. Meanwhile I also hated the fact that by that my own horses weren't unique neither. The only unique individuals were (are) customs. And I have a large herd of them - but I haven't seen customs in any of those story blogs I browsed... So that's it then.

So, buying Schleichs was no longer interesting. New horses didn't give me the joy and excitement they used to give, and eventually I bought them only for customizing and as something to compare customs with.

Same cannot be said about Breyers. With them I have the exact same craze and excitement which I used to have with Schleichs. This is why I windowshop Breyers for example form MHSP. I mostly hit my eyes at bodies, because I am a customizer.

One human simply cannot own a herd similar to someone else's. It's impossible even if two people had equally large collections, same molds and same eras - no, these have been produced for so long in so many molds, colors, editions and eras that it simply is impossible that someone could have all what you have. And this is why I like these and the modelverses people have in (especially) traditional scale. There is more variety in the horses. Also especially Americans customize and repaint way more than for example Finns do, and there's nothing weird or special in it.

One more reason for why I like the bigger scale is... Well... How should I say it? The fact that I get closer to it? Yes, when my horses, the tack and the riders are bigger, I see them better. I could say, I get closer to that world when so. I can get into that world much better than what I could get with Schleichs. Larger horses don't limit as much, and I also am able to see these literally from their level. Also photographing is way easier when I don't have to abuse my camera by forcing it to focus on microscopit details. (Though, my DSLR is already so old and used that he is often not into the traditionals neither.)

Since I am on the neuro spectrum (autistic), I am able to "dive into my mind" deeply and forget the rest of the world when so. That happens for example in the shower or in toilet. Years ago I liked to do this during long bus trips. Digging brains for fun is almost the best thing ever - but if I get that rich story stuff or thoughts out into a concrete form... That is the best. This is why I photograph each setup alias photo stack, alias scene. I want them to be preserved. So, only hallucinating is not enough, and I want that hallucination to be seeable also later.

It doesn't end there, into the picture level. I also like to write something about these scenes, and have a whole own text file for it. I write everything up to the degree that there has to be the photography date; usually it also becomes the date the scene happened story-wise. The photos get sorted and archived by a rider doll's name and each folder also will get numbered. That way I can see who has ridden how much and which horses. Keeping record of everything possible is nice.

So, I said what I was meaning to. What else? Hmmm, questions for the readers...

Are there any Schleich stables anymore, or did it die off when blog culture died off? Or did the phenomenon simply move somewhere else where I am not (like Instagram)? Do any Finns (else than I and Kave) hobby this kind of miniature worlds and stories based on them, by using Breyer traditionals? And since this is an international blog - if any reader has a modelverse, let me know!