I know it's already been said but this is a long-standing problem (or not with some of the horse figures around!) These things are not cheap and the problems stated should just not happen. If you experienced similar problems of useability with other products in life at these prices most people would expect redress of some form.
Most of the horses I've seen just don't have sufficiently long steel supporting rods. In my view the rods should extend down from the hooves for at least 30mm below the level of the cast base. Most painters place their finished figures on wooden plinths and the rods should have sufficient length to be fitted down into the wooden sub base. As it is many still rely on the hoof to cast groundwork joints & unless these are soldered they will fail over time. Also the steel rods should extend into a solid cast area within the body. In the ones I've handled the rods leave the leg and end in what is basically a hollow cast area.
I know that will increase the weight of the figure but at least that weight will be in the right place (the horses backside) and will counterweight the weight of the front of the figure. It is this inbalance of weight towards the front of the figure which contributes long term to the figure's droop.
Better still cast the things in resin (with steel rods in the legs to be doubly sure)

Geoff

I found this thread very, very helpful as I've been working on this figure and have had all of these issues. I paid a lot of money for this figure and have had to abandon it until my skills are more developed. It is a bear to assemble, and the fit of the parts is so poor in so many places that I just don't have the skills to assemble it well. My hope is that after working on a number of other models that eventually I'll be able to go back to this one.

In addition, I found that the horse legs are not strong enough to support the weight and it seems to lean over to one side no matter what I do.

It is disappointing and infuriating when something that is so expensive just isn't up to scratch.

Hi Gerry I'm a new model painter but I managed to 'wing it' through the issues on mine...check out my vbench for the photos. I'll be glad to help if I can. David Bailey (Bailey) is another member here who did one of the 90mm Templars, he's a great help. One tip I can give, do NOT attach the cloak until after you put him in the saddle, or you'll never get the cantle (saddle backrest) to fit. We should not have these problems, but don't despair, there's tons of help here! Mary

Thanks Mary,
You did a great job on this figure. I will return to it at some point but I've put it to one side for now. When I am more practiced I think that I'll disassemble what I've done, clean it up and then try again. For now I have assembled some simpler projects and am about to try my skills at filling with Milliput before priming.

Congratulations again on your excellent paint job.
Best regards,
Gerry

I want to revive this thread because it is very interesting

I think that most rearing horses manufactured hese days in metal are accidents waiting to happen.

Even if you drill the rear legs and insert pins, you will never be able to drill up to the body of the horse.
By actually drilling the legs to insert the pin, you will reduce the amount of metal at the weakest point and the legs will simply snap right over where the pins are.

I think that the only solution to this problem is to gently insert two pins for a maximum of 1 cm in the rear legs of a 90 mm horse.
Then add another very strong steel rod going through the wood base (at least 4-5 cms), metal base, horse tail, horse body and if possible body of rider. I think something at least 3-4 mm in diameter should be fine.

For maximum security, add another pin to support the weight in the middle of the horse. Hide that pin with ground work or paint it black.

Cheers

Alex