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Aliger Aliger is a very classic Akhal-Teke with a coat that shines like metallic platinum. His owner Kris' description of her stallion, "very elegant.... greyhound llke body, long upright neck and a sculpted head" fits him perfectly. Imported from Russia, Aliger has traditional hooded eyes, unlike any I've ever seen. They are feature of the Akhal-Teke breed that you might be able to see in the photo below. This beautiful stallion was awesome to see! And gazing off at the distant pale mountains of Colorado, he was a joy to photograph and paint.
Aliger and Kris Aliger is featured in the December 2014 Horse Paintings Newsletter. Click here to read more about Ahkal Tekes. |
Icelandic Babies Would you expect to find a herd of Icelanic Horses in Colorado? Certainly! Andrea invited us to Lough Arrow Icelandics to meet her stallion, Skjor. On the way we stopped to visit Andrea's herd. When she hollered they came running over from the far reaches of her enormous pasture. Andrea has LOTS of Icelandics! This painting features two young Icelandics. They are super fuzzy! I love their wild manes - and of course how they are quietly interacting.. Click here to go to the Lough Arrow Icelandic Facebook page.
Icelandics and Andrea
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Icelandic Huddle Andrea's Icelandics are a tight knit band. Here is a photo of three hanging out together. |
Skjór frá Bollastöðum Lough Arrow's Icelandic stallion Skjór frá Bollastöðum is featured in this, my third painting from Andrea's farm. He was super friendly, but not too interested in posing for photos. I followed him around his hillside pasture as he nibbled on the aboundant sunflowers.
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George and Friends George is a great mountain horse. This big gray gelding was carrying packs at 2 years old and started under saddle at 4. His owner, Linda, writes, "George has seen most trails in the Weeminuche Wilderness and San Juan National Forest of southern Colorado. He's been on trails in Wyoming, New Mexico, and Utah. Honest and sure-footed, George takes care of me when I'm in the back country. We've come upon bears, lion, and mama moose with young in the wild, and George never loses his head. Once while riding in the high country, I came upon a rockslide, makeing the trail almost impassable. GEorge followed me roughtly a half-mile jumping boulders, trusting me and never arguing. He knew we had to get out. He's brough me home from hunting camp through blinding snowstorms; carried me across rushing creeks following summer downpours; and travelled steep trails than no one in their right mind would travel." Linda and George are quite an adventurous duo! It was wonderful to get to meet them and George's pasture pals too!
George and Linda
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Aspen and Lillie Aspen and Lillie were grazing quietly when I visited. So lovely.....
Carol and Lillie and Aspen
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Lacota Lacota, a Rocky Mountain mare, and her owner, Becca, spend a lot of time together. Dark and dappled, Lacota is graceful and seem the perfect horse for her young owner. Becca is an artist too!
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Merlando's Magic Merlando's Magic is an awesome Haflinger Stallion of Rivervalley Ranch. Powerful and proud, he posed - but just for a moment - as his owner Dawn took him out in the hay field to allow me to photograph him with the mountains that surround the ranch in the background. Merl did not like standing still - not when his mares were nearby. He was a blur of gold with his gleaming white mane contrasting beautifully with his rich coat. Head held high, Merl was the most gorgeous Haflinger I've ever seen! Dawn gave me some background to share about Merl: "Here is Merl's story: The Golden Horse With The Golden Heart! "Merlando's Magic is a 2000 (Year of Birth) Silver Classified Registered Haflinger Stallion. He stands just over 58"s or 14.2 Hands. He is Chestnut with a pure white double mane and tail. This month Merl (as everyone calls him) showed signs of colic, the first time he has ever been sick, from there it progressed into a series of issues, he was taken up north to meet a team of vets, to make this short and sweet, Merl was not suppose to live over the next few days, however, he did, and then some. He is fully recovered, and back to being his handsome, charismatic self! He rides, english, dressage, jumping, western, reining, obstacles, drives, single and double, from pleasure to draft and as of last year we entered our first CDE/ ADT (of which he had the fastest time in cones, as well as marathon and the highest dressage score for the day getting 8's in many categories). Not only does he do these things, he has MANY (like a whole room full literally four walls covered) of blue ribbons, trophies, buckles, ect! He is the premier breeding stallion, top producing stallion, and top show horse of Rivervalley Ranch and a true asset to the Haflinger Breed!" Here's a link to the Rivervalley Ranch website: www.csmachinery-rivervalleyranch-haflingers.com
Merl and Dawn
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Ravenwood Royalty A magical black Arabian stallion lives in the fairy tale land called Powderhorn Creek Ranch..... Julie's ranch is nestled in a beautiful valley surrounded by huge, awesome mountains. As we drove up the drive I could hardly contain my excitement at how amazing the mountains looked! And then Julie showed us Ravenwood Royalty... It was a dream come true to get to photograph this movie star stallion in such a lovely place. Julie was so correct when seh wrote, "His beauty and charisma are breathtaking. His bloodlines go back to the Original Al Khamsa Arabian from the desert." Thank you Julie for letting me visit! (I am working on two more paintings from Powderhorn Creek Ranch...so stay tuned.)
Ravenwood Royalty and Julie
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Joy and Joyful Noise Powderhorn Creek Ranch has beautiful Classic Arabian mare, Joy. Julie rescued the loving mare from the slaughter holding pens in Pennsylvania saving her from a Canadian slaugher house and bringing her to this dreamy home in Colorado. Joyful Noise is the daughter of Joy and Ravenwood Royalty. Full of curiousity, the filly was off exploring the valley, barely paying any attention to her mom.... until she was hungry. What a cutie!
Joy and Joyful Noise and Julie
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Beautiful Horses
Equine artist Karen Brenner's tenth series, "Beautiful Horses of Colorado" began when she traveled throughout the state in September 2014 to photograph the horses selected for the series. Karen created one painting of each of the horses she visited. The paintings appear on this special Beautiful Horses of Colorado section of her website.
See the paintings in a virtual gallery.
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Sacred Warrior - Crash Crash is a a gorgeous Paint with tons of personality! He was delighted to pose with the rich green grass for photos! He showed off in the arena - and was beautiful running free! Tia and Crash compete in jumping and driving, and also enjoy trail riding and cattle work. and Tia writes, Crash does it all with a smile!
Tia and Crash
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Dakota Dakota, whose registered name is Beetle Bomb Bailey, is a beautiful paint gelding. Justin writes, "I got Dakota when he was a yearling and broke him by myself and have never had such a mild mannered horse in my life, and I have been around thousands. He is my basic mountain trail horse and outshines any horse out on trail. At two years old he was outperforming the oldest seasoned trail horses." We asked Dakota to run around his pasture - and he was happy to do so! In the painting he is pictured in front of the purple and blue mountains beyond his grassy field. Dakota has been bear "hunting" many times in the Colorado mountains with his owner, photographer Justin Bowen. Check out Justin's amazing bear photographs on his website. We loved hearing Justin's stories about bears!
Justin and Dakota
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Claire Claire is a beautiful, black Percheron who Valarie rescued before she was foaled. Claire's mother was a PMU rescue. Valarie adopted not only mother and unborn baby, but also Claire's brother who was not yet weaned. What a package deal! Valarie is training all three to do Horse Agility. This sport is new to me...And I loved learning about it, watching as Valarie direct Claire through her paces. The sport is similar to Dog Agility, with certain tasks the horse must complete following subtle hand commands by the handler. My favorite command was fetching a shoe! Yes, Valarie can teach her horses such neat things! This sport is perfect for Claire who has a spinal deformity that makes riding and driving impossible. Claire was just beautiful! I love draft horses, and she so friendly and kind. Valarie was a bit disappointed that Claire had been scratching off her mane in the weeks prior to my visit - probably because of an allergic reaction to bug bites . . . but I just added a mane to my painting! You can see how awesome Claire looks in the photo below. What a beauty!
Claire and Valarie
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Powderhorn Creek Ranch First, this painting is from the Powderhorn Creek Ranch. We could see Julie's horses grazing in the huge pasture beneath the mountains. When Julie called, they came running! What an awesome experience! Julie's stallion, Ravenwood Royalty, and her mare, Joy, are featured in earlier paintings in this series. |
Journey Journey is a Draft cross who was rescued by The Wags and Menace Foundation. His nomination read, "Saved from a feedlot in Nevada by Cindy A. Lee and herr foundation The Wags and Menace Foundation, Journey takes his final road here to us at Spirit Wind Horse Rescue in Colorado. It becomes obvious early on that Journey has suffered greatly at the hands of humans and is extremely weary of us. I have no idea what happened to him or why. He is a gentle, sweet soul who watches all that is around him. Journey is a a beautiful gelding with a coat of maps and eyes the color of the summer sky. He now resides on 30 acres with his herd of geldings and is finally free to be who he is. It is his choice to approach or retreat and his life is now filled with peace and freedom for possibly the first time in his existence here in our world."
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Cora Cora is a beautiful Morgan mare. Helen, her owner, rides competitive trail and 50-mile endurance rides and team penning. Cora shares a pasture with the other horse in this painting....They are rubbing buddies.... a special horse relationship. Helen writes, "Most of the adventures I have had on Cora I never could achieve before I had her; and I have been a horse owner and avid rider since I was four years old. Now at 70 years old I am still able to ride and trust Cora completely."
Helen and Cora greeting a friend |
Wanabe Picasso and DREA Okanagan Bluefire Two beautifully marked Appaloosa stallions, Wanabe Picasso and DREA Okanagan Bluefire were so fun to paint. Their colors are amazing .... and their owner Shirley was so proud of the duo! I was so impressed with the unique white markings on their legs. Bluefire, just a one year old, is a fare and stunning black and white "ghost wind" marked colt. Shirley writes he will help reserve the legendary Appaloosa that the New Perce were known to breed. Picasso is one of the Wanabe Ranch's earlier kids, bred for distance, trail and pleasure riding. ... and beautiful color!
Shirley and Wanabe Picasso |
HSB On the Move - "Bud"
HSB On the Move - "Bud" -2 It was such a treat to get to photograph and paint Bud, an amazing Palomino Morgan stallion! When we arrived at his home near Grand Junction, Colorado, Brenda let Bud run freely around his pasture beneath the adjoining beautiful mountains. It was so awesome to see this enthusiastic stallion with his golden coat and gleaming white mane and tail gleaming in the Colorado sunshine! I loved Bud so much, I had to do two "Bud" paintings. Which do you like best? Learn more about Bud and HindSight Farm by clicking here. (Be sure to look at the colorful foals!)
Bud andn Brenda
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War Paint War Paint, born in the wild herd on the Little Bookcliff Range near Grand Junction, CO, is not what you might think of when you think about wild horses. He is very big and stunning! Trained by his adoptive "mom" Inez using the Parelli method, War Paint has competed in the World Championship in the EXCA-Races in Texas. In this painting, War Paint poses in his pasture gazing off in the direction of the Little Bookcliff Range.
War Paint and Inez |
Mio Milo, a red roan Quarter Horse, uses his amazing speed to help his owner, Jaguar, compete and win in rodeos! As a team, they have been in high school rodeo finals, USTRC finals, college rodeos and many competions all over the West! As you can see from the photo below, Milo lives in a huge pasture in Colorado. Jaguar lead him to the far corner, and Milo took off like a bullet - headed for the gate with brilliantly fast speed! And so beautiful! We wish Milo and Jag continued success roping cows!
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ZH Bostons High Society Boston is a talented fellow! This bay Morgan gelding is Kathy's best cowhorse and great on trail, all western events and many English and speed, She took him to his first show when he was 3 months old . . . and he's still going strong 20 years later. When I visited, Kathy had Boston trot and canter gracefully on a lunge line, and then turned him out in his field with some pasture buddies. As a big fan of horse communication, I fell in love with the photo that this painting is based on. Boston and his friend on the left are pleasantly posing, while barely visible in the background, and then you notice the third, not so happy horse behind Boston. It just makes me smile.
Boston and Kathy |
Twenty Four is a gorgeouls red roan overo gelding. You can se his markings are unique! He and his owner, Dendy, are very successful competitors. Twenty Four has been on the cover of the Paint Horse Journal!
Dendy and Twenty Four
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Andalusians
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