Yep! It's true. As absurd as it sounds, Breyer horses and other similar brands of plastic horses need air holes to keep them from bloating.
What Causes them to Bloat?
If models don't have an air hole and are in a place with a high temperature, the air inside gets hot and is trapped, causing the model to expand.
How can you tell if Your Model has an Air Hole?
It's actually quite simple, once you know where to look. Air holes are most commonly found on the corner of the lip, in a nostril, or under the tail. Many Old Timers have the air hole by one of their blinders (eye forgot which eye! Sorry!).
In this picture you can see the air hole in Cloud's nostril
The air hole at the corner of my Sierra Blanco's mouth
The air hole at the corner of my Red Rum's mouth
What should You do if a Model of Yours doesn't have an Air Hole?
Unless you want a bloated horse, I recommend you poke a hole on him somewhere with a small tool.
The Twisted Hobby
Many people, myself included, love what we affectionately know as "bloaties." I know a lot of collectors that will buy any bloaty they see, or that will even make their own!
How can you make a bloaty?
It's quite simple. Plug up his air hole with non-drying clay or other similar substance, and put him in the trunk of a car during hot weather, in a really warm room, outside in direct sunlight, etc.
Lesson Learned!
A good friend of mine, Jenn (see below pics), tried to make a bloaty by putting him in the oven! She couldn't find an air hole (she later found one under his tail), so just decided to put him in the oven and see what would happened. Well, what a mistake! Instead of bloating, the horse started boiling, and looked anorexic!
Here are pictures of what he now looks like, for your amusement.
Air hole pics by me, anorexic boiling horse pics by Jenn (aka lonesomeglorylover from Model Horse Blab)
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