LEGO Horse Figures

Welcome to our third up-to-date animal article! Horses are one of the oldest LEGO animals, in fact they’re the oldest land animals. LEGO DUPLO horse figures were released in 1979, System ones were released in 1984. They’ve appeared in different sizes, different colors and of course in different themes, and can still be found in sets today.

This article will cover every horse ever released, starting with System horses and going on to Scala, Belville, Friends and DUPLO ones. I also included donkey and Pegasus figures. As new ones are released, this article will be updated.

The name of the colors used here are the Bricklink colors. To see a better image of the color, please visit this link, search for the color, and click on its name to go to Rylie Howerter’s Flickr page.

Ready? Then let’s start our journey, see how horses have changed in all these years.

LEGO System Horse Figures

First System horses are released in 1984. Coming to life with the Castle theme, they are produced in white and black. Brown is added in 1986, reddish brown in 2007, light bluish gray in 2011.

Horses have always had a special place in my heart. Since they were found in smaller sets, too, the possibility of them showing up in a birthday present was high (as you know, LEGO is an expensive toy, always have been). Like I did with my minifigures, I made up stories for my horses, made families.

There are a total of 11 horses using the old mould, with different colors and prints. You can see them all below.

2012 is a very important year for the LEGO horse, because the mould is changed. Apart from a longer tail and a different stance, the most important feature of this new horse is the hinge on its body. Thanks to this hinge, it can now rear up.

As far as I understand, these horses are first made for The Lord of the Rings sets. One of these horses released in 2012 is the horse the Nazgûls ride, and its red eyes support this. However, the LEGO Group doesn’t stop there. A regular black horse is released in 2013, accompanied by two white horses with different prints. A tan horse is released in 2021 and a dark orange one in 2022.

The horse released in 2013 is re-released again in 2019. Are they the same? Almost. There’s a little detail that changes. I didn’t see this for a long time, so I wanted to mention it here. Please, find the difference between the two horses :)

Every LEGO System horse has a bridle, with one exception: A white horse released in 2023. It only appears in one set, and it’s meant to be a Pegasus rather than a horse. Since I already had a Pegasus, I decided to keep this one without wings.

Small System Horses

In 1996 a horse is released in only two sets, never to be seen again. It’s smaller than regular horses, and doesn’t have a stud on top so you can’t sit a minifigure on it. Maybe because of its size, maybe because by then I already said “This is the mom, this is the dad, this is the child”, I always saw this small horse as a foal. Bricklink calls it a pony, doesn’t change my opinion (we know how stubborn kids can be, right?).

This figure has been the first and last foal (!) for a loooong long time. There were some released in the Friends theme, yes, I’ll come to that in a second, but appearing in System sets had to wait until 2022 with the CMF 22 series. A foal was released with a dark orange body, dark brown mane and tail, and soon enough, a white-bright light yellow combination followed in that year’s Advent Calendar. It hasn’t been in any other sets yet, but I’m hoping we’ll be seeing different colors of it in the future.

LEGO Belville Horses

1994 marks the year of the Belville horse. Since the figures of the theme are larger than minifigures, so are the horses. They are released in white and black at first, with the addition of dark orange, brown, dark gray and very light bluish gray in the following years. There’s also a foal released in 1994; it can be found in white, black, brown and dark orange.

The only difference between the same-colored horses and foals is their eye printing. Except for the dark orange horse released in 2008, the color of their manes and tails is the same as the color of their bodies.

LEGO Scala Horses

Our first LEGO Scala horse comes in 1999. A total of three Scala horses are released until 2001, dark orange (Chili), black (Pepper) and white with brown spots (Indie). These are really crazy, in terms of size, I mean. I don’t have any of the Scala or Belville horses, but I had a rough idea about their size after my research. I prepared the image below to show how Scala and Belville horses look next to the old System horse.

I’d like to mention two details about these large-scaled horses. Just like the old System horse, both Belville and Scala horses can move their heads up and down. In addition, the manes and tails of the Scala horses are not made of plastic, they’re “real” hair. The Scala theme was released to compete with Barbie, I think that’s why they tried to make them as realistic as possible.

LEGO Friends Horse Figures

Would you be surprised if I said the Friends theme has the greatest number of horses? I wouldn’t be, since I have searched high and low to find images of Friends cats and dogs lately.

I divided the Friends horses into two, big and small. Both have two different moulds. Big ones are further divided as old and new, small ones as foals and ponies. The new big ones are even further divided into three, according to the shape of their manes. Confused yet? Great, let’s move on then :)

There are 19 old Friends horses, produced in white, reddish brown, medium nougat, light bluish gray, black and bright light orange. They were released between 2012-2020. Their heads don’t move, their tails and manes made from hard plastic (standard ABS). The ones sharing the same color differ either in tail & mane color, or in print. Some were directly designed as Pegasi, which I included in the image below without their wings.

New horses arrive in 2021, and it’s still possible to find them in sets today. Their stance is different, they are longer (from nose to tail), their heads move and their tails & manes are made from a softer plastic. They are produced in white, medium nougat, sand blue, black and tan. There are 10 with a standard mane, 2 with braided, and 4 with a shorter cut (apparently this is called a roached mane).

Foals arrive in 2013. There are a total of 9 different foals produced in 5 colors; white, tan, black, reddish brown and medium nougat.

We also have two ponies, dark orange and white, released in 2021 and 2024 respectively. Both have tan tails and manes made from hard plastic.

Special Horses

Our most special horse is Bullseye, coming with the Toy Story sets. Made with a unique mould according to its appearance on the screen, Bullseye can move both its front and hind legs.

We have a tiny horse released in 2017 with Whisker Haven Tales sets, Petite. It comes in only one set, and looks like the characters from My Little Pony. It has a bright light yellow body with a dark pink tail and mane.

In some Disney movies, horses play a special part, like Khan from Mulan, Philippe from Beauty and the Beast, or Maximus from Tangled. All of these were included in the image above, but let me share their separate pictures as well. I need to specify that all of these are listed as “horse” in Bricklink, except for Khan.

And then there’s Nokk that comes with the Frozen 2 sets. It’s released in 2019 with a new mould in trans-light blue. In 2021, the pony mould is used for it and the color changes to satin trans-light blue, and the big one is re-released using that color in 2022.

There are two figures I’d like to add here, even though Bricklink doesn’t count them as animals. The first one is the piñata that comes with the CMF 20 series. When I first saw it, I thought “Cool, they have made preparations for the foal mould!”. Even though the foal came with a different mould, I still think it’s worth mentioning. The second one is Eeyore, which is listed as a minifigure. Yes, I know, it’s a donkey, not a horse, but until 2024 it was the only donkey we had, so I thought he should be a part of this article.

Until 2024? Yes, we finally have our first donkey figure! It comes with the Magical Madrigal House (43245) set. I admit, I may have squealed when I first saw it (okay, I admit every new animal mould has the same effect on me :)) ). I didn’t have a chance to add it to my collection yet, but it’s on the top of my wish list. We will most likely see it in different colors and prints in Friends sets in the future.

LEGO DUPLO Horse Figures

We have 49 DUPLO horses, made from 11 different moulds. The first one is even older than the System horse, made in 1979. It was released in light gray and Fabuland brown. It was re-released with a different eye print in 1985, this time in dark orange and white, too, along with light gray.

I have two of these horses. One is from my childhood, which I learned wasn’t even an original LEGO figure when I grew up. I bought the second one to see the difference. Except for the eye print, there aren’t many differences, even in quality!

The horses released in 1984 and 1988 can move their heads. The yellow was released with three sets, the black with two.

Two new horses are released in 1996, one adult and one foal. Adult comes in black, white, brown and dark orange, and can be found until 2005. The foal comes in black, white, dark orange, brown and light brown, seen in sets until 2017.

Four new horse moulds are released in 2007. One of them uses “real” hair. There are two different versions, one with dark pink tail & mane, the other with purple. Dark pink comes in two, purple comes in one set.

As for the other three… I have to admit, I couldn’t find the difference between them. I don’t have any of them, so I can’t compare. If you have any knowledge on this, I’m begging you, please help me out, because I’m about to lose my marbles!

One of these three horses with similar moulds is released between 2007-2024, in dark orange, light bluish gray, white, black, and bright light blue (the bright light blue is Nokk from Frozen 2). The second one is from 2007-2016, in white and lavender; and the third is from 2007-2010 in reddish orange. None of these horses can move their heads.

Like its System sibling, DUPLO Bullseye is released in 2010. Unlike him, this one can’t move its legs. I couldn’t find an image showing both of them, so I made an educated guess.

A new mould arrives in 2018. There are 6 LEGO DUPLO horse figures using this mould, in white, dark bluish gray, tan and medium nougat. One of the white ones represent Maximus from Tangled (top left).

Details on LEGO Horses and Comparisons

LEGO horse figures are different than the rest of the animals. I think the reason for their variety is their ability to appeal to both girls and boys. They may be one of the few animals that can interest every kid, no matter the sex. Whether you’re going to a fight or taking a stroll in the forest, a horse is a good companion. Princesses ride them as well as knights.

Since we mentioned riding… let’s see which figures can ride which horses.

Minifigures are the luckiest. They can ride System horses with or without a saddle, along with Friends horses. If we push it a bit, they can even ride ponies, but let’s not torture the poor thing.

It’s different with minidolls. They can ride their own horses with or without a saddle, but can only ride System horses when you cover the gap. It’s ideal for a circus show, but otherwise looks a bit strange. Microdolls can ride System horses easily, but ponies are the best when you consider their size.

When you take out the saddle, System horses have a 1×2, Friends horses have a 2×2 gap. The saddle is designed accordingly. The reason minidolls can’t ride System horses are the size and shape of their feet; slightly larger than minifigures’ and rounder.

And of course, images showing how our horses look next to each other.

Wrapping up

Bricklink categorizes Thestrals from the Wizarding World universe as horses. I talk about them in my fantastic creatures article. Also, the LEGO universe is pretty rich when it comes to half-human, half-horse creatures like centaurs, unicorn costumes and figures, and minifigures “riding” made-up horses.

I think I mentioned all the horses, but if I missed anything, let me know and I’ll add it.

That’s it for today, see you in the next article!

 

Image Sources

Most of the images in the article belong to me, but of course I “borrowed” the ones I don’t have from the web. Among my sources are Bricklink, Brickset, Brickowl, New Elementary, Rebrickable, Steinpalast, Heartlake Times, Minifig Pictures, Zusammengebaut, Atlbrick, Decotoys, Bricks & Minifigs Anaheim, Eurobricks, eBay and a video from just2good. Even though they’ll probably not read this, I thank them all for sharing such great images.