With the success of the earlier models, the Grand Champions' family continued to grow and expand. Many great features, such as Stables and Accessories were added and expanded. And many new and wonderful Family Sets joined the herd, too. Best of all, mares and foals came in new poses! Trotting mares made the scene, joining the shy Arabian Mail Order Mare and bringing the mare pose count up to three. Of course the stallions still had them out numbered, but it was a great start!

I must admit, however, that many of the horses from this era, while highly detailed and with new flashy tack, were not a "pretty" as the horses before. An some of those poses are just a bit…odd!

New Mares and Foals!
The "trotting" mare is still widely used today, but in my opinion, is not as graceful as the classic pose. A new foal model was also released, featuring a sleek, running foal. These foals did not have the rough textured coat of the standing models. Foals also came with blankets, made of felt with the "GC" emblem embossed on the side. Mares, when released on their own, (not with foals) came with their own tack, too!

Here are the lovely mares of '96, their foals trotting by there side! They are: American Saddlebred "Playful Lass & Playmate" Palomino "Golden Glory & Sunday Gold" Quarter Horse "Lady Blackstar & Midnight Star" Cleveland Bay "Princess & Rowdy Royal" Arabian "Sweet Silver & Silver Sultan" Plantation Walker "Dixie Lady & Jazz Baby"

Playful Lass was released in two poses, of wich the trotting pose (below) is more common. The mares were also sold without foals and with tack, too.

The New Stallions!

These are the stallions. Odd looking, that Cleveland Bay… what a pose! They are, from left to right: Plantation Walker "Copper Travler III" Arabian "Sultan Pepper" Cleveland Bay "Majesty", Quarter Horse "Midnight Magic" Palomino "Sundancer" American Saddlebred "Snow Mane".

Here’s a picture showing off the colour of the Cleveland Bay. (Whoa! What a face!!) Modeling shortfalls aside, many horses in this set were released in both light and dark colour variations. Simmiliar differences have been noted with Plantation Walkers and Arabians.