Painting horses is not that difficult. If you have a little time and some oil paints, you can achieve really nice-looking cavalry units.

To start, make sure your horses are free of flash and mold seams. Once you have accomplished this, primer them white. Let them dry overnight, or bake them in your oven for 15 minutes at 2500 on a piece of wood if you are in a hurry.

Not that your primer has hardened, it is time to paint on your base color. I use Polly S acrylics for the base color and highlights. Paint the entire horse with your chosen base color, avoiding the harness, saddle and saddlecloth. Let you base color dry thoroughly.

The next step is highlighting. You want to add white to your base color so that you have a subtle contrast from your base color. Take the highlight color and paint it onto the raised muscles and hindquarters of the horse. Let this dry thoroughly.

Now it's time for shading. Take some oil paint darker than your base color. I use Windsor-Newton 'Ivory Black' to shade dark brown horses, 'Burnt Umber' for tans and light browns, and 'Paynes Grey' for white and light grey. Take the shading color and apply over the entire horse. Using a soft cloth or Qtip, wipe off the excess, leaving the shading color in the depressions on the horse.

Once you are satisfied with your result, set the figure aside to dry for about two days. When dry, paint the mane and tail either black or brown. The harness, saddle and saddlecloth should be painted black, followed by paint of their appropriate color.