My Beautiful Horses, or MBH as they're often called, is a brand of toy horses which were produced in the late 1990s, starting in 1997. These models were sold in sets, individually, and with a monthly magazine.
The models are small compared to other brands - only a few inches tall. They were made of hard coloured plastic with nylon hair manes and tails.
The colours were mainly simple, solid colours, sometimes with shaded legs and/or muzzles, or light body shading. They eyes were black and the hooves usually left unpainted or shaded by the leg colour. There were a handful of appaloosa models and a couple of pintos.
These models started life as Showtime Stables, before being rebranded as My Beautiful Horses. The Showtime models were virtually identical to the early MBH releases.
After a couple of years, while MBH was still active, some of the models were sold under the brand name Animal Hospital - these continued to be sold after My Beautiful Horse ended. Some of these were re-releases of MBH models, others were colours unique to the Animal Hospital brand.
Around 2000, the line was rebranded as I (heart) Ponies and were sold in sets and with a magazine of the same name (which was later called I Love Ponies and Pets and then PonyPals). The molds used were of a more limited selection, whether because the other molds were too worn for use at this point, or because I Love Ponies did not have permission to use them, is unknown.
Identification of MBH models is pretty straight forward, though some colours and molds are somewhat similar. The white plastic of many of these models is prone to yellowing, which can cause colour confusion. Generally, discolouration tends to be uneven and areas less exposed to light, such as the belly or areas covered by hair, are likely to be closer to the original colour.
As I am only a recent convert to the brand, I personally own very few examples and so depend on photo donations from the hobby at large. If you have pictures you would like to contribute, please email me at Julipfan@labratango.com.
A big, big thank you to everyone who has generously contributed information and pictures to the site, and a special thank you to Caitlin M's blog which has proved an invaluable resource. A link to their blog can be found on our links page.
Images on this site are for reference only. Claiming ownership of these images in any context is a violation of copyright; when used on sales sites such as eBay, Etsy, Facebook, etc. it is a misrepresentation of the item and against the sites' TOS. Unauthorised use of this site's images will be reported.
My Beautiful Horses Gallery is not in any way associated with any of the companies which produced My Beautiful Horses, or which continue to produce the molds, and any opinions expressed are those of the author.