Horse playset for 6yo dd - suggestions?

[BikeBookBread]

My dd 5.75 is suddenly interested in horses. She wants a playset - stable/barn and horses. I don't really want to do another soft stuffed-animal thing (although I love the new Manhattan Toy Star Willow stables horses, but they don't have a stable.

 

So far I've seen:

 

Playmobil - lots of little, little pieces, but cute and lots of play value. can grow with her.

 

Schleich - lots of beautiful horses to choose from, beautiful wood stable and smaller wooden stable available

 

Breyer - she has one Breyer horse (I think it's very entry level -- got a Target, and the quality is so-so...mane falls out horribly).

 

Melissa & Doug - cute, cute wooden folding stable, but not sure if any good horses would fit in there.

 

Which would you choose?

[vettechmomof2]

My soon to be 5 year old son has had Schleich horse since he was 2 years old. They look brand new after heavy use and play. My son and daughter both also have Breyer horses but my son is only allowed to play with certain ones at this time due to breaking legs(accidents) and so on. Also, we do not have any Breyer horses who have manes with hair that could fall out. We have only the hard manes and tails so that could be a difference in quality. Except for breaking a leg and chipping the Breyer horses are great.

 

As for a stable, we had my father build a beautiful one with 2 stalls and a grooming area with hooks on the outside for hanging items like tack. We made it to fit Traditional size Breyer horses as we also have those as well as the Classic sizes. I just could not imagine spending the money on the stables, it was much cheaper to make one but we are on a very strict budget.

 

Have fun.

[amy g.]

I have horse crazy girls. We have Breyers, but I find them fragile, and I hate seeing one with a broken leg.

 

I bought Miss Bossy some Playmobile horse sets to give her when the new baby comes.

 

But Schleich horses are the loves of her life. We buy a new one every time we go to Tractor Supply or Target. They rarely have any that she does not already own. I ordered a bunch ones for Christmas from

 

http://www.handhwc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=4801-SCH

 

We have a big wooden stable, but it never gets played with. Right now, they are building pastures and barns with Keva planks and Lincoln logs.

 

I like that the Schleich animals can go into the bathtub or car, and never get broken.

[BikeBookBread]

My soon to be 5 year old son has had Schleich horse since he was 2 years old. They look brand new after heavy use and play. My son and daughter both also have Breyer horses but my son is only allowed to play with certain ones at this time due to breaking legs(accidents) and so on. Also, we do not have any Breyer horses who have manes with hair that could fall out. We have only the hard manes and tails so that could be a difference in quality. Except for breaking a leg and chipping the Breyer horses are great.

 

As for a stable, we had my father build a beautiful one with 2 stalls and a grooming area with hooks on the outside for hanging items like tack. We made it to fit Traditional size Breyer horses as we also have those as well as the Classic sizes. I just could not imagine spending the money on the stables, it was much cheaper to make one but we are on a very strict budget.

 

Have fun.

 

Oh how I wish we could build a stable! We're just not set up for it...it would make life much easier!

 

Thanks for the tip about Schleich versus Breyers versus cheapie Breyers -- we must have the latter :tongue_smilie:

[BikeBookBread]

I have horse crazy girls. We have Breyers, but I find them fragile, and I hate seeing one with a broken leg.

 

I bought Miss Bossy some Playmobile horse sets to give her when the new baby comes.

 

But Schleich horses are the loves of her life. We buy a new one every time we go to Tractor Supply or Target. They rarely have any that she does not already own. I ordered a bunch ones for Christmas from

 

http://www.handhwc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=4801-SCH

 

We have a big wooden stable, but it never gets played with. Right now, they are building pastures and barns with Keva planks and Lincoln logs.

 

I like that the Schleich animals can go into the bathtub or car, and never get broken.

 

Hmmmmm.... Lincoln Logs. This has been floated recently, too! Perhaps I'll get her some nice Schleich horses and Lincoln Logs! Great idea. Thanks.

[Hedgehogs4]

My precocious 4 1/2 yo dd (and her 8yo brother) LOVE the Playmobile vet clinic that we gave her, and there is a large animal clinic with stables and horses, etc.

 

Based on the love affair of my kids with that, I would recommend the PM horse farm, which I was actually considering for my daughter, as well.

[ChristusG]

We sell Schleich toys, so I can definitely say they are good quality. My DD's have some Schleich horses that are great!

[Sunkirst]

Didn't read all the posts, so I hope this is not terribly redundant...

 

We love our Schleich horses. I was just patrolling the backyard for dog doo and found a horse that had been lost in a hosta plant all summer - looked as good as new after a bath. We also get Safari horses. They are not quite as sturdy, but they are good and about the same size as the Schleich.

 

The Schleich horses fit into the Melissa and Doug folding barn nicely - this is a favorite toy of both my girls. We also have a great folding fence - I think it originally came from Tractor Supply Center as part of a cheapo barn that fell apart. Anytime girls come to play, this is the first toy that's pulled out.

[5knights3maidens]

My 4 yr. old dd loves horses. Unfortunately, she plays so hard with them she broke off the legs by making them "clip-clop". I just found $1 horses at W-Mart (not hard plastic..the softer kind that probably will not break). I bought 12 of them which are all different colors/poses. My dh is going to make her a barn.

Once she starts playing more calmly (:tongue_smilie:) She will get the more expensive ones.

[5knights3maidens]

Just thought I would share this....After this was horse post was posted (;)). My dh found on Craigs...List A beautiful barn for a very small amount of money. I posted a picture on my blog. We also then found a beautiful farm house for our other dd...for a very small amount of money, again. The house needs a little fixing but dd loves it. Picture on the blog. I took all the $1 horses, all the barbies and other things back to W-mart. With the money given to them, one dd got the furniture for the house and the other got horses.

[LibraryLover]

We don't have any Melissa and Doug horses, but we have the others you mentioned. My dds love all of them. My youngest loves the Schleich horses and fairies collection. I think Playmobil would be great for a 5.5 and yes, they grow with the child. The Breyers are realistic, and some kids prefer that.

[Alessandra]

We love the Schleich horse barn & horses. The barn is sturdy & well made. We also got most of the Breyer stables, etc -- the scale of the Breyers sold at Target. Most of these started to fall apart shortly after they were assembled; glue didn't help -- they just wouldn't hold together.

 

We got our Schleich from reallgreattoys.com -- they say they are the only place in the U.S. with the complete Schleich collection. Plus, they have great customer service, fast shipping & discounts. (I called a few times when I was buying castles and spoke with the owner at some length.)

 

We also have a big sturdy barn that I liked better than the Melissa & Doug one. I got it from farmgoodsforkids.com. This store has a great selection.

 

http://www.farmgoodsforkids.com/p-13389-red-gable-barn-with-stall-and-corral.html

 

My kids love our set-up -- we got artificial grass from AC Moore -- it comes in a little roll. We also have the roll of "soil" and various trees & accessories -- they often sell them with the mini Xmas village type stuff. The barn & stable look really nice with grass & trees around them.

Edited December 26, 2009 by Alessandra

[ProudGrandma]

I bought some horses for my DD9 from rainbow resource. They seem to be good quality and they are realistic looking. I will probably be looking for a stable for her for her birthday...we will see.

[KarenNC]

My daughter was horse-mad from age about 6 to just before she turned 9 (now she's into bunnies :001_smile:).

 

I found this wooden barn at a consignment sale for $25

http://www.farmgoodsforkids.com/p-8257-toy-barn-grand-stable-with-corral.html It's extremely well constructed, goes together with screws. When she came out of her horse phase we did a "renovation" and it is now a Barbie apartment (we unscrewed and took out the stall sections, the platforms that go on the floor of the hayloft fit into the upper corners and make loft bed areas). I highly recommend this one.

 

We also had a Melissa and Doug fold and go little red barn http://www.farmgoodsforkids.com/p-6269-fold-go-little-red-wood-toy-barn.html which was also very nicely made. It will only work for pretty small horses however. I was not terribly impressed with the lower end plastic stable/sets from Breyer, btw. A stable can also be built from a cardboard box/boxes very easily

 

She enjoyed the Playmobil and Schleich horses quite a bit (loves all sorts of Playmobil---preferred these over baby dolls by a long shot). I found the Schleich horses at craft stores like Michaels and AC Moore--they will often have a buy two get one free sale and they usually have a 40% off one regularly priced item coupon in the Sunday papers. Occasionally you get with AC Moore a moonlight madness sale where your entire purchase is 25% off. She really liked the mare with nursing foal--having foals to go with her horses was pretty important for her. If you have a Tractor Supply near you, they had a lot of selection of horse toys.

 

We had a few Breyer horses toward the end of her horse phase, but they weren't as big a hit. The dolls that go with them, however, have continued to be very popular because they are highly articulated and so very easy to pose. She uses the girl (I think it was originally a veterinarian) as a little sister to her Barbies. Breyers come in a variety of scales, so you may want to pick one scale for ease of interchanging accessories.

 

If she likes the American Girl doll scale dolls, the horses from Target made to go with the Our Generation dolls are fine and much much cheaper. It's also pretty easy to make horse blankets and that sort of thing for them. Now would be a good time to look for them at Target as they will probably be having a toy clearance sale soon if not already to get rid of excess toys from the Christmas stockup.

 

http://www.wikihow.com/Care-for-a-Toy-Horse may give you some additional ideas.

[Renai]

Last year, we got our daughter this stable http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Folding+Horse+Stable/017344/1261848368-1677647 with these horses http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Horse+Friends+%28for+Folding+Horse+Stable%29/039276/1261848368-1677647. I hadn't planned on this, but they fit well with her Only Hearts Club dolls, too.