Review & Mod: 31166 Beautiful Horse from LEGO® Creator 3-in-1

LEGO® Creator 3-in-1 animal sets are praised among adult hobbyists. They have decent value for money and focus on the actual built models – with the extra design challenge of three alternative models from one selection of pieces. Today I'm looking at a sleeper hit from August 2025, 31166 Beautiful Horse, and making my own modification to improve it. It was designed by Aaron Newman, whose 76344 Iron Man Mark 3 Collectors' Edition I took a good look at recently, proving that he can shape humans too. But now, giddy up!

Products in this article were provided by The LEGO Group; the author's opinions are their own.
This article contains affiliate links to LEGO.com; we may get a small commission if you purchase.

31166 Beautiful Horse

• Release date: 1 August 2025
• Pieces: 685

Price: discounted by 20% for LEGO® Insiders until end 15 February!

• US$ 54.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to $43.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com US
• CA$ 64.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to $51.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com Canada
• GB£ 44.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to £35.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com UK
• AU$ 79.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to $63.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com Australia
• NZ$ 89.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to $71.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com New Zealand
• DE€ 49,99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to 39,99€ until end 15 February on LEGO.com Deutschland, Nederland, France etc
• PLN 219.99, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to PLN 175.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com Polska
• NOK 699,90, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to NOK 559.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com Norge
• DKK 449.95, discounted for LEGO® Insiders to DKK 359.99 until end 15 February on LEGO.com Danmark

Other countries click here

 

 

Interesting parts

Unique parts

• Plate Special 3 x 2 with Rounded End, Hole in Medium Nougat (6546483 | 3176)
• 2x Slope Curved 1 x 6 in Bright Green (6534932 | 6801)

There are more interesting unique recolours lists, but these are both enjoyable pieces: The 3x2 modified plate is a classic part, initially used to connect helicopter tails but eternally useful due to its unique shape and connections. The curved slope has a unique shape.

Rare parts

In medium nougat:

• 4x Slope Curved 3 x 2 with Stud Notch Left (6452910 | 80177) - in 2 other sets
• 4x Slope Curved 3 x 2 with Stud Notch Right (6452911 | 80178) - also in 2 other sets
• 2x Slope Curved 3 x 4 x 2/3 Triple Curved with 2 Sunk Studs (6515240 | 93604) - also in 10370 Poinsettia (see our review of and MOCs with the LEGO Poinsettia by Thomas Jenkins)
• 6x Brick Round Corner, Curved 3 x 3 x 1 Quarter Circle (6535840 | 76797) - in 2 other sets
• 2x Slope 18° 4 x 2 t (6535835 | 30363) - also in 21360 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (see our LEGO Willy Wonka review by Elspeth)

As far as the parts go, this set's main attraction is medium nougat, and a great quantity of organically shaped pieces is provided. This is excellent, as medium nougat is a useful colour for both animals and people – and why not architecture and landscapes, too? The set wouldn't have caught my eye if it was a white, reddish brown or grey horse.

 

• 2x Slope Inverted 45° 4 x 4 Double with 2 Holes (6537599 | 72454) -  in 3 other sets
• Slope Inverted 33° 3 x 2 [Connections between Studs] (6535832 | 3747) - in 2 other sets
• 11x Slope Curved 2 x 1 Inverted (6535876 | 6451484 | 24201) - also in 71425 Diddy Kong's Mine Cart Ride Expansion Set
• 8x Slope Curved 4 x 1 Inverted (6535839 | 13547) - also in 31382 Cute Animals: Playful Puppy Dog

Initially, many of these rarities premiered in 31166 Beautiful Horse, but have appeared in other sets during the last six months.

In reddish brown:

• 2x Plate Special 2 x 6 x 2/3 with 4 Studs on Side, 1 Support Wall on Bottom (6552281 | 87609) - also in 75428 Battle Droid with STAP (see my review of the LEGO Droid with STAP)

The medium nougat horse

As a 3-in-1 set, the alternatives are a deer, bear and horse. In this review, I focus on the A-model, the horse, although all the animals look excellent. The horse is sturdy, with a strong, muscular appearance. 

There are several joint types: Large ratchet joints in the hips, small ratchet joints on the "shoulders", a double Mixel joint in the tail, a double large ball joint in the neck, plus a single Mixel joint in the back of the head. The hooves use clips, which don't have much friction, but they don't need friction as hip/elbow connections are sturdy enough. The clip connections on the hooves make sure that their underside always faces the base. In prancing stance, the base is flipped and the tip of tail connects to it, forming a triangular frame.

The base is a bit messy, but faithfully captures the look of half-eaten pasture – horses rarely graze on a perfect, lush grass field. Believe me: I've lived most of my life with horses in the neighbourhood. 

The horse's head is excellent, looking amiable without anthropomorphic cuteness. It's sturdy, not overtly complex, yet very convincing. With this colour scheme and proportions, the horse could be a Finnhorse. It definitely reminds me of an elderly mare Tilu like our nearest neighbours had during all of my childhood. It's nice when a LEGO set manages to feel personal.

I studied horse movement and limb structure in November 2024 when building my moving sculpture of Theoden and his horse Snowmane for my a contest run by my local LEGO User Group, Palikkatakomo. Generally, mammals share the logic of their anatomy, so the builder can use their own anatomy as reference when building mammals. (Of course, there are exceptions, like whales and sirenians which have lost their hind legs entirely, but generally, the rules apply.)

In 31166 Beautiful Horse, the limb structure has been simplified – see Wikipedia's skeletal system of the horse page for reference. The right foreleg has a joint for additional posing, but it is not the elbow – it is called the knee but it is analogous to the human wrist. This explains why it bends backwards, inverse to the human elbow. The joint above the hoof represents pastern, which is analogous to the human finger joint. Remember, horses have only one finger per "hand".

This means that the humerus (forearm) has been left out entirely. The connection of the forelimb to the torso is, basically, the horse's elbow. Now, while this sounds anatomically confusing, I think the design is successful. The horse's humerus is quite short. In living horses, when covered by skin, it appears almost like a part of its chest.

In contrast, the hind legs are the weakest part of the design. Not in the meaning of structural integrity; quite the opposite, as their straight, pillar-like shape is ideal in transferring weight to the base. But they look too stiff. All the (imaginary) bones are in a straight line.

 

This looks especially silly on the upright stance (which, otherwise, is a great feature). I can't shake off the feeling that the horse is leaning back to its tail, like a bored teenager leaning to a bus stop. To be honest, that's what is happening – but the model could be built in a way which makes the posture more convincing. 

My hind leg modification

I wanted the lower parts of the hind legs to be less straight, so I redesigned them. I aimed for a sturdy design that uses as many parts from the set as possible, but I did need to add some of my own. As in the set, I chose to avert hinges, to avoid the horse sagging under its own weight. This made the structure simpler. 

The relatively new Slope 1 x 4 with 1 x 2 Cutout (5654) enabled me to make the lower part of the leg – the metatarsus, analogous to human instep – angled forwards. The back side is more difficult, as good long inverted slopes with straight tops and helpful cut-outs do not exist; I had to use curved slopes. They're less dynamic. Maybe the curved shape represents hair?

The hooves were difficult. I changed the shape of the grey curved slopes to the corner version (1871) as I think it better represents a hoof. I moved the clip plate lower to make the shape of the ankle more authentic. The issue is that the leg can't bend forwards, which limits articulation.  

However, I think the horse looks more dynamic and lively with this mod, especially in the prancing stance.

I have made instructions of my horse legs mod for our top-tier Vibrant Coral subscribers on Patreon. Thank you so much for your amazing support – a pair of sturdy legs in return feels appropriate.

 

 

Above are the additional parts needed for the mod, beyond owning the set. Where I could not utilise the set's parts, I tried to use relatively common pieces whenever possible.

Eero’s hind leg mod instructions (Vibrant Coral patrons)

Conclusion

31166 Beautiful Horse is a delightful set. Simply, it's a credible representation of its source, a real-life horse with no extra frills. And a bear and deer too, if you like. The value of 685 pieces US$54.99/ £44.99/ 49.99€/ AU$79.99 is good, especially if you're into medium nougat, and even better with 20% off for LEGO Insiders right now (until end 15 February).

The hind legs of the horse are unsatisfactory, but their requirement – sturdiness and the limits that other alternative models pose to the parts selection – are understandable. It must be a really complex task to design these LEGO Creator sets; replacing a piece here and there might utterly destroy the other models. But still – just a little bit of extra consideration for the hind legs would have made this flawless. Fortunately, with LEGO bricks, such issues can be fixed.

Buy on LEGO.com (20% off for LEGO Insiders until end 15 Feb)

 

READ MORE: From horses to otters: Review of March 2026 LEGO® Ideas set 21366

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