Have you ever wondered why Hobby Horses look so realistic? The answer is simple: they are painted! This process of painting a Hobby Horse is also called “shading”.
Some Hobby Horsers use make-up for this and shade the horse fabric with make-up. We opted for a slightly more durable variant of painting and use fabric paint. Usually fabric paint is splash-proof or even waterproof. That means even if you get caught in an unexpected rain shower while riding, the shades will remain! The fabric paint we use can be fixed with heat (e.g. by ironing or in the oven) and has also been tested for harmful substances.
If you want to learn more about shading, have a look here:
How to paint the fur of a Hobby Horse
Eyes as the mirror of the soul
The eyes give your Hobby Horse its character! Is it rather cheeky and up for a prank, or calm but very trusting? You shape the overall expression of your furry friend with their eyes.
That’s why all our Hobby Horse patterns also contain different templates for painting the eyes. Even different eye shapes are integrated! With these shapes and some fabric paint you can give your Hobby Horse a very individual expression. You can find a video tutorial for painting the eyes here:
NOT painting your Hobby Horse looks also nice!
Of course, you don’t necessarily have to paint your Hobby Horse. Here are some examples that don’t use any shading at all:
