title: System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage<T>.Model.get returned null
body: <p>I am trying to create my first ASP.NET MVC application but since two days I cannot solve my problem. </p>
  
  <p>I am using Entity Framework Code First approach. I want to create DropDownListFor but there is always this error: </p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>System.NullReferenceException
    System.Web.Mvc.WebViewPage.Model.get returned null.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>My Model:</p>
  
  <pre><code>public class Animals
      {
          public int AnimalsId { get; set; }
          public int ClientsId { get; set; }
          public string Name { get; set; }
          public int TypesId { get; set; }
          public float Age { get; set; }
          public float Weight { get; set; }
  
          public virtual Types Types { get; set; }
          public IEnumerable&lt;Clients&gt; ClientsList { get; set; }
          public virtual ICollection&lt;BookVisit&gt; AnimalsVisits { get; set; }
      }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My controller:</p>
  
  <pre><code>public ActionResult Create([Bind(Include = "AnimalsId, ClientsId, Name, TypesId, Age, Weight")] Animals animals)
          {
              var person = new List&lt;Clients&gt;
              {
                  new Clients { ClientsId = 50, Name = "Timo", Surname = "Werner", Email = "timo.werner@gmail.com", Phone = 123123123 }
              };
  
              var animalsView = new Animals
              {
                  ClientsList = person.Select(x =&gt; new Clients
                  {
                      ClientsId = x.ClientsId
                  })
              };
  
              if (ModelState.IsValid)
              {
                  db.Animals.Add(animals);
                  db.SaveChanges();
                  return RedirectToAction("List", "Animal");
              }
  
              return View(animalsView);
          }
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>My view (only @model and dropdown):</p>
  
  <pre><code>@model xyz.Models.Animals    
  @Html.DropDownListFor(model =&gt; model.ClientsId, new SelectList(Model.ClientsList, "ClientsId", "Name", "Surname", "Email", "Phone"))
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Could you please take a look ?</p>