Most horses love water and are excellent swimmers. They stomp, play, blow bubbles and find great joy in splashing themselves and everyone else in their vicinity. Some will attempt to drop and roll with rider still aboard.
"Splashing" oil on canvas, 18" x 30"Now I'm hooked on painting water even if it is just a big puddle. Working on this piece brought back memories of my childhood: summer trail rides ending in the pond, bareback, fistful of mane, blissful, madly in love with my mighty pony. Even this group of formal equestrians acknowledge the bliss of horse + water.
“There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in.” - Deepak Chopra
5 comments:
Great feel and color on this one!
I remember swimming my Thoroughbred in a South Fl pond. He would stand straight up in the water. As long as he could touch the bottom with his hnd legs, he was happy. We bounced across the water hole. Wet horses and wet riders in their bathers makes for great, though slippery good times.
Another time, I galloped a racetrack pony down a Virginia Key beach. Again, wet horse, wet rider hanging on for dear life. Beach goers diving out of the way! What fun!
Thanks for jogging the memories, dear Sharon! Love the painting! -J
Karen:, thanks for the compliment and for stopping by.
Anon: I've got a visual of you and your t-bred bouncing across the water...hysterical!
One of my ponies would sit down on his haunches with only his head above water and me floating above his back. Oh, those carefree days.
I remember galloping a horse at Calder training track and having a gator cross in front of me. Needless to say I did get dropped and quick! What was he doing out of the water anyway and he sure looked big at the time. The good old days of riding through the mud and water brings back a lot of memories. The horses loved to "splash" in the puddles however small they may have been. I always did love being on horseback in the rain, mud and in the water.
See...hey, it's easy to get hooked on water. It always looks great in a painting. Plus, one of my favorite memories is riding with my niece in Jamacia in the ocean--not along the edge...sometimes the horses could touch bottom and they'd swim--I loved it and that's my favorite way to ride "in the ocean" :)
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