Alterations

So here I am, about to enter my first live show in 15ish years, and just as I'm touching up a minor spot on one of my customs he jumps out of my hands and falls on the floor, cracking his tail and sustaining a couple rubs. So I start fixing these and then begin fiddling with the paintjob itself, and then I realize that oh right, this horse is on OMHPS.

Do I upload new photos and delete the old ones, even though the horse has a few placings? Do I just keep showing the old photos even though the model doesn't look like that anymore (the difference isn't huge, but the dapples are visibly different)? Can I make him a new profile and retire the previous one?

Morally, I'd say it's right to update the photo if the horse has changed - otherwise people could still be showing models which no longer have all their legs, or got chewed up by the cat, or got repainted into a totally different colour. It would feel a little bit like cheating to show a horse with an old picture if damage had occurred since, the only time I don't bother is if the fixed scuff/scratch is on the non-photo side and wouldn't show up anyway. Obviously it's a bit different in your case cos you've not only concealed the damage but tweaked the paintjob a bit too, so it could be argued that the horse looks no worse or possibly even a little bit better with his new dapples? So keeping his old picture isn't pretending he's better than he is in reality, but maybe it would still feel a bit dishonest to show a horse in the knowledge that he didn't look quite the same any more.

But you don't have to retire him and start from scratch with a new profile - the horse's show record always stays intact if you change the photo (for any reason - I often update mine to a prettier shot with better lighting if their original pic was taken with raking light in the depths of winter!). The placings still count as his, even if the horse himself has changed since then. If it was a total repaint to a ruined model, and the 'body' was becoming a whole new horse with a new name/breed/colour and everything, then that's different and you'd need to delete and start over, but just an update to his paintwork would be covered by uploading a new photo.