Friends

Autumn's Horse Stable

A cozy timber stable that got the little details exactly right.

Brick Rated Score

3.7/5

Set 41745 · 2023

Pieces545

Minifigs2

Year2023

Set number41745

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The verdict

This is one of those Friends sets where the building itself is the star, not the play features.

The two-storey timber stable, with its round-tile log roof and printed plank walls, has more charm than the box photo lets on. I do think the price asks a lot for 545 pieces, and whether you warm to the chunky new horses is a real coin-flip. If you like the softer, storybook side of Friends, this one earns its shelf space.

Best for: Horse-mad kids and adult Friends builders who love a warm architectural little building

The full review

What it is

I did not expect to like this as much as I did. Autumn's Horse Stable looks like a fairly ordinary horse playset in the box, but the finished building is the thing that got me. It is a proper two-storey timber stable, with a ground floor of horse stalls and a carriage bay, stairs up the side, and a cozy little upper level with a kitchen, a wood stove, and a hay-bed sleeping nook tucked under the eaves. The roof is where the design really sings, LEGO used dozens of 1x1 round tiles laid in rows to suggest cut logs, and the walls are printed to look like planked wood. It reads as warm and lived-in in a way a lot of Friends buildings don't.

The catch

I will be straight with you about the price, because it matters here. Sixty dollars for 545 pieces is not generous, and you feel it a little when you compare this to older horse sets that gave you more brick for the money. The bigger question is the horses. LEGO redesigned the Friends horse for the 2023 relaunch and it is bigger and far more cartoony than the old ones, with a soft toy-like face. Some people adore them, some can't get past them, and getting the harness and a mini-doll rider seated can be genuinely awkward. It is not a hard build either, so an older or more experienced builder may breeze through it without much to chew on.

Who it's for

So who is this for. If you have a horse-obsessed kid, or you love the softer storybook end of the Friends line, this is an easy yes, the building alone justifies it and the play features (lifting roof, working tap, the cart, even a cheeky rat and cheese) give a child plenty to do. If you are a value-per-piece hunter or you specifically dislike the new cartoon animals, I would wait for a discount or skip it. It retired in December 2024, so it is aftermarket only now, but it has not become expensive, which makes a sale-price pickup very doable.

The parts story

What the build is actually like, and the pieces worth knowing about.

The build is gentle and quick, aimed squarely at the 8-and-up crowd, but it is not boring for an adult who slows down to enjoy it. You spend most of your time on the stable shell, and the two techniques that carry it are the round-tile log roof (satisfyingly repetitive in the good way) and the printed plank tiles that give the walls their timber look without a single sticker. The upper floor lifts off cleanly so a child can actually reach inside to play, which is the kind of practical design decision I always appreciate.

The standout new element is the half-door piece used to close off the horse stalls, which debuted in this 2023 wave and makes the stalls feel like real Dutch-door stables. The printed wood-plank tiles are the other quiet highlight, they do a lot of visual work for the whole model. Autumn herself is the notable mini-doll: created for the relaunch, she has a congenital limb difference and a new torso mold, with her forearm sized to a standard 3.18mm bar so accessories can attach. Both she and Aliya are exclusive to this set. For parts value the set is only okay, but the printed and molded pieces here are worth more than the raw count suggests.

Fun facts

01Autumn was introduced in the January 2023 Friends relaunch as one of the first LEGO characters with a congenital limb difference, and she was given an all-new torso mold with a forearm sized to a standard bar so accessories can clip on.
02The horses in this set use a redesigned, larger and more cartoony mold introduced for the 2023 Friends reboot, a clear departure from the sleeker horses of the older Heartlake City line.
03The stable roof is built almost entirely from rows of 1x1 round tiles to mimic stacked cut logs, and the timber walls are printed rather than stickered.
04The set retired in December 2024 after launching in May 2023, and unusually for a retired Friends set it has drifted down in value rather than up.