Julip Originals
My collection 2021
I started collecting Julips back in my childhood and at one stage had a few bendy Horse of the Year models and a lovely red and green stable.
It was only many years later while at uni however that I discovered the existence of the one-of-a-kind ‘original’ models. At the time I was buying all sorts of models (including lots of Breyers) but the one I loved the most was my first Julip Original. Tadd was a catalogue model ‘Rocky’ and although his colouring is rather plain by today’s painting standards, his butter wouldn’t melt, adorable little face held so much character.
I soon got over the ‘it’s not realistic’ mental hurdle and started adding more to the collection, and building a little riding stable ‘world’ for them all to live in called Mumbleswan Equestrian. It was so much fun creating all sorts of tack and accessories as well as stable buildings and backdrops.
Over the years I’ve sold a few of my originals - some I don’t miss at all and others I regret selling horribly! Right now the tally is 19. Here’s my collection in chronological order of my purchasing them!
Taliesin (Tadd) - Catalogue model (2007)
Tadd was my first Julip original bought from Julip HQ way back in 2007. In the catalogue he was described as a ‘Flaxen liver chestnut cob stallion’. I fell in love instantly with his earnest expression and beautiful silky long mane and tail. Tadd even came with me on a riding holiday trip to Spain!
Tadd was my first Julip original bought from Julip HQ way back in 2007. In the catalogue he was described as a ‘Flaxen liver chestnut cob stallion’. I fell in love instantly with his earnest expression and beautiful silky long mane and tail. Tadd even came with me on a riding holiday trip to Spain!
Magic - Catalogue model (2008)
Magic is a Welsh Section A I bought back in 2008 from Julip HQ. He was a catalogue model of a cute black pony with two white socks and a star. Many years later I decided to jazz Magic’s marking up a bit and make his socks less straight across as well as turning his star into a blaze and a snip with a pink nose. I also rehaired him with some mohair. Magic is one of those horses that has a hard time staying upright but I still love him!
Trendsetter (Trendy) - Website spare (2008)
Trendy was a ‘spare’ from the Julip website at the time. He wasn’t the most exciting color, being quite a flat brown, but the colour and mould (Irish Draught or ID) reminded me of a super soppy and licky showjumper I used to know when I helped out on a local yard in my early teens. As the ID mould is really good for posing different equine gaits, Trendy has had a lot of riding over the years! He’s often wearing the full set of eventer tack I made for him that includes bridle with grackle noseband, elastic breastplate, stud girth, martingale, tendon and overreach boots. Here’s a pic of Trendy in action with Julip rider Ollie on board!
Sonnet (Sonny) - Special order (2008)
My first ever special order horse was a chestnut family horse based on a really lovely young TB I rode a few times at a riding school in Llanelli when I was at Uni in Swansea. The Julip team at the time did a wonderful job capturing his light chestnut colour and sweet expression.
Desmond - Special order (2008)
Ordered at the same time as Sonnet was a dapple grey Hunter - a portrait model of another lovely horse I rode pretty regularly in Neath. The yard had two half brothers, Des and Blue, who were both stunning 17.1hh greys. One day I’d love to get a portrait of Des’s brother as well! The hunter moud suited Des perfectly, big tall and rangy with a sweet face and big eyes! Even though recent years have seen the dapple game at Julip reach new heights, I still love the style of his colouring. His mane and tail always bothered me though, and didn’t look much at all like the original Des. Cue EG and her amazing hairdressing skills! Des took a short trip up to Scotland to have his hair ripped out and replaced with a gorgeous, realistic mohair mane and tail. Don’t tell my other Julips but I still think he is the most handsome of them all. :D
Dot - Website spare (2008)
Dot was another horse that came from a batch of spares listed on the Julip website. As is pretty standard for Pit Ponies, Dot soon became the resident mischief maker on the Mumbleswan yard!
Prudence - Spare (2008)
When the Cob Mare mould was re-introduced by Julip in 2008 I knew I had to have one. I can’t remember now if she was a spare or a special order, but Pru came to me in a lovely red dun colouring with stunning shading and a silky, chocolate mane and tail. This mould really captures that wonderful voluptuous look of a proper chunky cob! I like to think she would be the most comfortable horse to ride - a proper armchair on legs!
Fable - Foal mould ‘Paint-your-Own’ (2009)
What You Need to Know
This is a special little foal as I actually painted her myself while at a Julip Open Day back in 2009. I chose skewbald as it seemed like something I could do fairly quickly and easily within the time constraints.
The finished foal is very sweet - the folks at Julip took the painted models away to finish off the details and add hair etc. Later on, I trimmed her tail to look more like a little foal tuft.
Bertie - Hunter mould special order (2009)
In 2009 I had started riding again regularly at a new yard. My usual steed was a handsome big bay gelding called Bertie. I remember he had a huge, bouncy trot and was also a bit of a grump about having his girth or rugs messed with.
Obviously any horse I’ve known for 5 minutes need to get put into latex form so another special order was sent off to Julip HQ. Annabel and co. did a fantastic job on him, really nailing his rich dark bay colour with some beautiful shading and they got his white markings spot on.
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Sandy - Vintage Welsh Pony
This little vintage welsh pony was purchased from another collector on a forum. She had been repaired and repainted by the previous owner, but I am not sure what shape she was in before that visit to the Julip horspital. Sandy turned out to be an accidental portrait of a little mare I used to ride waaay back in 1994 and lived on the same private yard as Trendy.
Sandy is my one and only vintage model. I prefer to admire vintage Julips from afar, as the idea of having to repair them (or pay the eyewatering prices!) puts me off purchasing any more.
Missouri - Special order Portrait later customised to Appaloosa (2010)
Missouri started life as an ID portrait model of my horse at the time, Tom. Unfortunately, the resemblance just wasn’t great (or maybe I was just being really fussy :D). The colour was a flat chestnut with zero shading and the mane and tail was a really unrealistic pinkish colour - on top of that the mould itself just wasn’t working for me.
The mane and tail got ripped out and then the poor nameless brown horse was left in a box for many years until I felt inspired enough to tackle a repaint job. I opted for an appaloosa as I didn't have any appies in my herd and ended up shading the body as well.
Talulah - Spare or catalogue model customised late (2010)
This is another horse I purchased from a collector that started out as a potential Tom portrait - but somehow yet again it wasn’t quite right. As with the ID, I took the nasty pink mane and tail out and had plans to redo her in some way but didn’t get around to it until many years later in 2018.
Although the colour is still pretty basic (white patches over flat chestnut) I was pleased with how her mane and tail came out, as it was my first attempt mixing various shades of mohair.
Ringo - Forum spares night purchase (2015)
For many years I dropped out of the Julip and model horse world, and was using up all my crafty energy on a new hobby of miniature wargaming. It wasn’t until around 2015 that I felt the urge to start adding to my little Julip herd again, and was delighted to see all the incredible models that new Julip owner Laura was producing!
Despite being a little late to the party, I was lucky enough to spot this cob stallie still available on one of the Julip forum spares extravaganzas. Cob Stallie has to be my favourite Julip mould so I was thrilled to nab him. He was even better in the latex than in the pictures - just exquisite shading and I loved the quality of the mohair maine and tail.
Mikey - Special order portrait (2016)
Mikey was one of my old horse Tom’s field buddies. A big soppy ex-racer who would stand and be petted all day long!
When I saw the big lanky TB mould had been reintroduced by Julip I knew it would be perfect for Mikey so placed an order. Laura did a wonderful job of subtle shading to create a realistic light grey colour.
Dreamer - 2018 Julip Oxford Show spare
In 2018 I attended my first Julip show in many years. The spares scrum was a lot of fun and my grabby hands managed to land on this rather dreamy Lippizaner in a dappled buckskin.
Ginger - 2018 Christmas Special Order
In the autumn of 2018, in an unusual spell of preemptive thinking and organisation I managed to be prepared enough to get a Julip order placed in time for Christmas. As I had birthday and Christmas money from a couple of relatives to use I was able to order 3 horses and a rider too.
First up was a portrait of a leggy chestnut TB mare I had had on loan for a few months back in 2013.
Tom - 2018 Christmas Special Order
In 2018 I FINALLY managed to get a proper portrait of my old horse, eight years after I had to sell him.
The perfect Tom Julip was worth the wait, however, as Laura did such a lovely job on his warm golden chestnut shading. His features were perfect too and I fell in love with him as soon as I opened the parcel.
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I had originally thought that the hunter was too tall and leggy for a Tom portrait as he was quite a compact TB (and possibly a bit tubby!) but having seen a hunter with a dropped head I changed my mind. The expression was much more like my ginger boy and with the added advantage of making him seem a bit smaller and distinct from my other hunter model, Bertie.
Peter - 2018 Christmas Special Order
My final Julip was a semi-surprise as I knew I wanted a pony but thought it would be a nice surprise to let Laura choose the exact mould and colour. I was absolutely delighted with the little dappled grey shetland in my Christams day parcel!
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Im so glad Julio are working on bringing back moulds and definitely have plans to acquire a few more of the more recent additions. Arab Mare, the vintage Lippi and the new heavy are all high on my wishlist.
Dublin - Second hand Facebook group purchase 2021
It was another year or so before I managed to add another latex pony to the herd. The Cob Stallion is by far and away my favourite mould, so I felt incredibly lucky when this lovely piebald boy came up for sale on Facebook for a very reasonable price. The catch was that he was in Australia so the postage was eye-watering. That along with the extra customs fees on arrival meant he ended up similar in price to a new Julip, but I honestly think he was worth every penny. He’s such a smart, honest-looking cob!
Dublin definitely fits in with the Mumbleswan herd very well and has made firm friends with Ringo and Tadd. With 3 cob stallions now in the collection, I can see myself having a proper conga of them many years down the line!
