| Hartland painted quite a few of their horses black for a variety of riders. There may be a couple more slight variations on these horses but I believe this covers them fairly well. Black and White pintos will have their own page. |
|
800 Series Black
Western Horses |
  Champ
Blacksnake: with red tack
The name for this horse comes from the Chief
Thunderbird instruction sheet. This horse has a red martingale
and chain reins. His riders could include both Champ
Cowboys and Cowgirls in a variety of outfit colors. More than likely, he would have had a red Champ style saddle. Some were molded in black plastic while others were molded in white plastic and painted solid black, then the white stockings and blaze added. |
 Champ
Horse with brown tack and large tail:
This horse may have shipped with some of the Champ
Cowboys and Cowgirls along with
a brown saddle. It is also used quite a bit with O’Rourke
Mountie sets. |
 Champ Horse with brown tack and small tail:
I believe this horse is quite rare and possibly from some of
the first groups of Hartland Champ
horses. There is a white version of this horse, also very hard
to find which I have seen mint in the cardboard box for sale
on eBay. I doubt it shipped with O’Rourke. |
|
 Chubby Horse with brown:
This is a fairly common horse for O’Rourke,
the early Canadian Mountie. This particular one has a crimped
bridle in brown leather, but I believe most will have the chain
reins.
A collector reports owning a Solid Black Chubby horse and
also a Solid Black Chubby horse with a red painted bridle, but
lacking the red martingale as below. |
 Chubby
Horse with red:
I believe this is a Black Beauty horse,
though there is a chance it occasionally shipped with O’Rourke.
Another slight variation of this horse exists with an unmolded
bridle and the red painted on. Hartland did that type of bridle
on early Earp and Evans
sets. I don’t own one at this time. |
 Walking
Horse with Wavy Tail, Full Mane & brown tack:
This is an early Preston
horse variation. I don’t believe O’Rourke
would have ever been combined with this one. |
 Walking
Horse with Wavy Tail, Cropped Mane & brown tack:
Many of the military horses got the cropped manes. I don’t
know whether this horse was before or after the one with the
full mane but probably used about the same time with early Prestons. |
|
 Walking Horse with Straight Tail, Full Mane
and brown tack:
The straight tail mold was created after the wavy
tailed version. This is a farily common version of the horse
use with Preston.
I believe there is a cropped mane version of the straight
tailed Preston horse, too. Actually, I thought I owned one, but
I didn’t see it today. |
 Walking
Horse with Wavy Tail, Full Mane & red tack:
This horse seems to have two uses. Some brochures
mention "Red Tack" for Preston,
so it appears some did have the red. This horse was also sold
as a Black Beauty, in which case it
would have had an earlier style Red Champ Saddle. |
 Walking Horse with Straight Tail, Full Mane & red tack:
This horse was probably a Black Beauty . If so, I am guessing it received the later smooth red saddle. Some brochures mention "Red Tack" for Preston, but I don't have any sort of documentation or confirmed sightings indicating this one was paired with Preston. |
 Walking
Horse with Skinny Tail, Cropped Mane & red tack:
Phil Duncan owns this horse and sent it to me to photograph.
Another identical horse recently appeared, so it appears to be
a legitimate factory piece. Phil’s mane was a little bit
on the rough sawed side, leading to some initial speculation
that it had been cut off by a collector or dealer. This horse
would have been used exclusively with Preston.
A rare piece. |
 Walking
Horse with Straight Tail, Full Mane and red bridle:
This seems to be a very unique horse. Most seem to have a red
martingale when it has a red bridle. This one doesn't have the
normal silver dots. I can't give many details except to say it
might be a Black Beauty or an odd variation
of a horse used with Preston. |
 Walking
Horse with Straight Tail, Full Mane and brown bridle:
This horse would be the standard mount for Josh
Randall and would be unique to him. |
 Semi-Rearing
Horse with Wavy Tail, upright Mane & brown bridle:
The semi-rearing horse mold with the wavy tail came
before the same version with the slender. This is one of the
common mounts for Hoby Gillman. |
 Semi-Rearing
Horse with Thin Tail & brown bridle:
The semi-rearing horse mold with the thinner tail
came after the same version with the wavy tail. This is one of
the common mounts for Hoby Gillman. |
 Semi-Rearig
Horse with Wavy Tail, upright Mane and red tack:
I am not aware of any Black semi-rearing horses with
mane down. The red tack indicates it is probably a Black
Beauty. While it might have been combined with Sgt.
Preston, I really doubt it. |
 Semi-Rearing
Horse with Thin Tail, upright Mane and not painted bridle or
martingale.
Around 1961, several sets that normally got full rearing
horses got semi-rearing horses for a short period. I a convinced
this is a unique version of Ranald McKenzie’s
horse from around that date. |
 Head
Down Prancer:
Some have suggested that this is a test color for Gil
Favor. Maybe? I really don’t have anything to back that
up, however, I do believe this color was made for a while. This
one even has the crimped leatherette reins. |
 Full
Rearing Horse with red tack:
Black Beauty horses seem
to have tagged along over the years using their most dynamic
horse mold of the time. I believe this is one from the later
years. I probably had one of the later style red saddles which
turn up once in a while. |
 Full
Rearing Horse with red bridle:
This is also probably a Black
Beauty variation, though it seems to be very rare. It does
appear to be an original factory paint job. |
|
 Full
Rearing Horse with brown bridle:
Like the horse above, I don’t know for certain
which rider went with this horse—whether they had one at
all. Black Beauty documentation has always mentioned red tack
so this brown bridle might lead me to believe it “could
be” a Ranald Mckenzie horse.
(Note: I adjusted the red bridle color in Photoshop so I could
show this horse here. I do not own this horse variation) |
 Full
Rearing Horse with unpainted bridle:
This is the normal horse used with Ranald
Mckenzie. |
 Full Rearing Horse with brown bridle and martingale:
This is a recent addition to the Black Horse pages. It is believed to be a legitimate combination for Sgt. Preston. |
|
If you have any other variations other
than the ones shown here, please let me know! |
