English horse brass medallions

I am hoping somebody can educate me a little more on these horse medallions beyond what I have already discovered. First of all for of them have names or words on them, Herefordshire, Valeur, Valiant and Ivanhoe. I have found a few online, but not many. They also seem to more elaborately done than most with gryphons and lion heads with crowns. Any help will be appreciated of course.

 

Wonder if they are supposed to be family crests.
@Ownedbybear

 

I collect old brass and other metals, but haven’t run into horse brasses like that, the decorations for horse tack. If you want to see authentic old ones, you should check the book The Brass Book by Schiller. They have a whole chapter on 19th century ones. Based on what I see there, I believe your collection are all reproductions - the loops at the top are too small, too much decoration, they look too fragile, and don’t really look like brass but a plated metal. They also look made at the same time - so not so much a collection put together over time but a purchased decorative wall piece. But I could be wrong, so good luck with your research, and welcome.

 

the one with the ion passant doesn't even have room for the leather strap...

 

One of the things about horse brasses is that they are horse bling. They should be shiny, a remnant of the ancient beliefs of protecting animals (and humans) with mirrors and other reflecting objects, because the devil c.s. don't like that.
It is thought that the horse brasses as we know them today were introduced in England by Gypsies (the real ones), who use a lot of protective charms.
I know of no genuine horse brasses with family crests, and would be very surprised if there were any.
Here are some classic horse brasses:

http://www.nationalhorsebrasssociety.org.uk/Core/Horse-Brass/Pages/Default.aspx

These are of the kind you see most:

Real horse bling (and well protected):


Although English horse brasses are best known, they are a general European thing.
Dutch horse brasses, a photo of a pilgrimage that passes through our neighbourhood every year. The pilgrims are on foot, the wagons pick up people who get too tired:

 

They aren't horse brasses, and I suspect pure decoration. Let me go have a think.

 

Thank you everybody for your information. The thing that had me wondering about their authenticity are the small brads used to attach them to the mount. I don't know if they show up so well in the pictures but they do looking at them in person. The positioning of the holes, top and bottom, are uniform. They are still interesting and maybe somebody will be interested in them as a display piece. Thanks again for sharing your knowledge.