10 things I could not have without model horse hobby

This idea just came to my mind. I wondered what I could post here (already!), and started to ponder all things I am and have, thanks to the model horse hobby.
I have this hobby mostly just alone (in this country), and that's OK because the physical, 3-dimensional form is what makes things perfect in model horses.

I listed 10 things I couldn't have without model horses. I also started to think what others have got or are after finding the hobby...?


My list:

At first, the oldest and best, I got interested about sculpting. My dream is being a professional sculptor. And this comes mostly from myself alone, as I just like small animal shaped items and matching equipment to use with them. I often design models in my head, but never I get them out there as I just haven't as much skill as I wish I had to sculpt horses.

I have more 'full sculpture' experience from shapeless animals, like rats and cats.

As second, I learned a lot of English language after I found the hobby. Any school doesn't teach as much as a perfect hobby (or a habit of life, as I like to say...). When you find something really interesting and want to know it, you read it like crazy, no matter did you already have skill with the language or not.

Third, I got interested of other miniatures too. Dollhouses and mini sized things are my thing of all. Sadly I have no resources for that still, so much... Like, I haven't a dollhouse in the common 1:12 scale (classic). And I once realised, that as I am as picky as I am, I couldn't have just one dollhouse but FEW. They all could be really different and unusual.
Todays I also enjoy making miniature art; real paintings in really small scale (hey, how a dollhouse painting, what's handmade, could not be a real painting? Same thing as if you make a full working halter in 1:9 scale). I enjoy it often even more as if I do same in large scale.

The Rat Room, two 1:9 scale rooms in my shelf. This is the upstairs part.

Fourth, after having too long inferiority complex, I tested to make some tack, and got hooked. This was at 2013, I think. Todays tackmaking is one thing I enjoy a lot and even know a bit about, although my tack isn't that great. (Heh, I must mention now, that one reason to read Braymere custom saddlery's blog is that it inspires and helps me a lot with tackmaking!)

Getting Breyers threw me to a whole new level, as I saw how bad my previous halters really are. This one got made just after I got the horses (Cortes and Sam).

Fifth, the dolls. DOLLS! Believe me, before model horse hobby I HATED dolls as a thing! Todays I am crazy at them, and just recently started to make them with my own hands. It's weird how a hobby can change a human... And if the dolls alone are a weird thing to me, I must mention that the way they are by me comes from another hobby thingy (animal faces instead of people). For me that is just my way to make dolls, as I same time avoid human faces. My own world what I draw and write had a role in this too; many of my doll ideas get inspired by my dear characters.

More dolls is coming, coming...

Sixth, I got one fake reason to... Well, collect unbelievably much trash around. Make a mess. That is what I use for my hobby, heh... Really. My idea is that all that stuff should get used someday (and I try to buy/get only things what I know I surely can use). My work table is a good way to see what I mean with this (mess), and I'm no longer going to take photos of my unfinished customs and/or dolls or tack when they sit among all the stuff there. It looks like there had been an explosion.

Seventh, other hobbyists - not because of people alone, but because we share a nice hobby and can talk about it. For me it is important to have same interests with people, and this is one of them. The Finnish model horse forum's previous version was first forum ever I have had a profile in.

Eighth, todays I see everything behind miniature glasses. Not a joke. I really don't know what those do who have no art and miniatures in their life. Or how? I see a roll of metal wire: for tackmaking, or for sculpture armature? Yes! Any kind of pliers: for destroying models before resculpting, and for tackmaking! Paintbrushes: what else I do them if not paint art and miniatures! Don't even ask... A bowl of small beads: for animal model's eyes of course! A carboard box where my Breyers and Safaris came home in: I made a photography studio for Schleichs from it!

Ninth, I could not have my army of thumb rats without being at first a model horse freak and at second a rat freak. To make thumb rats, I use silk clay, foam clay and glossy varnish (for eyes). Also acrylics and some other materials, like metal pieces, glue and viscose hair are a part of their making but not needed with every rat. Almost no one of these rats is perfect or what I planned them to be, but every one of them is still special and different! The scale is maybe 1:6, but I am fine with the fact that they are pets for my traditional scale dolls.

That 'green' rat is really turquoise. Camera settings just added the green.

Foam clay for body; it's a rex rat. Silk clay for skin and eyes. A black hooded male.

Tenth, what that could be... Well, I could not be myself without model horse 'hobby'. As said, it's a habit of life more than just a hobby. After I found model horse world, I started to think everything via it. Without model horses, I could have something stupid to collect as crazily as I collect models and buy stuff to make things with my own hands. I could not have thumb rats. I could not have working miniature tack for horses. I could not have so much knowledge about many things. I could not use my brains as much as I now do! Model horse hobby just fits my personality too well.

-

My list can be a bit poor, but all I mentioned is true. This hobby is a huge part of my life... If I imagine that our house could get a fire here, one thing I am scared to miss are my miniatures. Really. Of course pets come first of all, but after them, models.


Others (readers, you, whoever there is) can also make their own list like that if they want. Why not? 

Just list 5-10 (or more if that's not enough) things you have or are thanks to model horses, or what else had changed in your life. And do not only list things, but write something about them too. Matching photos also tell a lot and are just nice!

(Suomalaiset, jos kiinnostaa, listatkaa kans elämästänne 5-10 juttua, joita ei olisi tai joka olisi toisin ilman pienoismallihevosharrastusta. Joko suomeksi tai englanniksi.) 

And hey, if you want to write more than ten things what this hobby had caused to you, feel free to!