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BeautifulHorsesof Ohio
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When Connie nominated her American Paint mare, Coosa Thyme, for the Beautiful Horses of Ohio project she wrote that Thyme was "eye candy for the horse lover!" Being a candy lover, I couldn't wait to visit and see if it was true. It was! Thyme's bold, contrasting white and black colors were like an abstract painting on a beautiful form. She inspired this painting with its bold colors and simple composition that depicts the beauty of horses. Connie also wrote that Thyme "literally stops traffic when she is in our front pasture. Everyone who sees her is amazed." Connie is true horse lover. She obviously adores Thyme and all the other paint horses she has at her farm. It seems like she can't have enough paint babies! Anyone who likes paints needs to get together with Connie!
Connie watches Coosa Thyme |
Teddy is a three in one combo -- part Thoroughbred, Trakehner and Appaloosa. And one other thing...he's the apple of Angie's eye! Angie couldn't wait to show me Teddy's trick. And his pose was as pretty as a picture, so I used it for his painting. Angie and Teddy compete in 3 Day Eventing and have tons of fun together with this sport that combines dressage, cross country jumping and stadium jumping. She and her parents volunteered at last year's Lexington's Rolex 3 Day event and came to visit me in my booth there. It was evident that Angie is the apple of her parents' eye! Angie wrote about Teddy, "We make each other laugh all the time. When we're together, time stands still. Nothing matters except the two of us. He is priceless....He thinks he is the best horse in the world! And he thinks I'm his best friend. I love him with all of my heart and soul. He is my soulmate. I love my teddyspaghetty."
Teddy and Angie
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George
Fire When Deb nominated her horse, Zippos Curious George, aka George, she slipped in a nomination of her husband Steve's horse, Im Flameable, aka Fire, and somehow convinced me to do paintings of both horses! Since Deb nominated the horses together, I decided to display both paintings together. Here are excerpts from her convincing nomination form. About George she wrote, "He is a great horse under saddle, but when he is turned loose, he is like a bucking bronco!! He really plays hard. He knows he is special. He loves people and attention. He was raised on my friend's farm and I tried to buy him for years. "There is nothing he doesn't get into. He can get out of his stall. He tries to help clean the stall by taking the fork, or trying to pick up the manure bucket. He also dips his hay in his water bucket before he eats it. He can zip my coat up and down." Gotta love a helpful horse! And then there's Fire's nomination, Deb continues to write: "After 23 years of marriage, and telling me to never buy him a horse...he bought his own horse and we have been trail riding together for the last three years. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary with a 5-day trail ride in Illinois. ... [Fire] is a beautiful sorrel running bred quarter horse. She does live up to her name sometimes, but she really takes care of my husband. He says he likes the excitement when she has her "Fire" moments!!!" As you can see from Fire's painting, she was really fire-y during my visit. I tried to stand close to Steve to avoid death by trampling! And George was fiesty as promised when turned loose in the pasture! Deb and Steve both love their horses and are big fans of trail riding. We were able to exchange information about great places to ride and I hope to run into them someday out on a trail!
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Roxi and her Foal Roxi's registered name is Cutipatuti, which is such a cute name, I wonder why her owner, Kori, gave her a nickname! Kori sent a wonderful description of Roxi. "Roxi is a wildly colored paint horse with tons of personality. Her mane symbolizes her colorful character by its black and white coloring and the way it sticks directly up in the air.... As a mother, she posses a special look in her eye that shows that she is full of love and strength... She is so full of passion and life that you can't help but be electrified by her presence. "I love riding her and showing her but what I love most is just being with her. I love just sitting in the pasture with her observing her every move. I love the feeling of being inseparabe. No matter the distance, we will always be together emotionally."
Roxi and Joey and Kori
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Sarabi Sarabi is a 9 year old bay Danish Warmblood mare. Jennifer wrote that Sarabi "is a beautiful mover (Hunter type)...Her personality is particularly low key and mild, which suits her very well." When I visited Sarabi was on the mend after suffering a severe hoof abscess, so I did not get to see her movement. But I did get to see how beautiful and calm she was as she munched through a huge bag of carrots that Jennifer bribed her with to pose! I was interested to find that Sarabi lives just outside Oxford, Ohio, near where I went to college at Miami University. Her stall is much larger than any dorm room I ever had --especially more spacious than the room I shared with three other students during my first quarter at the school. That year the univeristy had overbooked and had to put four of us in a kitchenette with bunk beds and a coat rack for us to hang our clothes. Of course, we were excited to have a sink in our room!
Sarabi and Jennifer and the carrots!
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GI's Sliver Streak A dapple gray Tennessee Walking Horse, GI's Silver Streak, "Buddy," is his owner Cindy's best friend. She writes, "He is very loving and affectionate, and would sit in my lap if he could." Cindy found Buddy about five years ago, and immediately knew he was the horse for her. Here is more from Cindy's nomination of Buddy: "Buddy loves to go out on trials. He is honest and trustworthy, and never offers to misbehave, spook or shy. Buddy has introduced several people to riding, including novice adults and small children. I even put my 16-month-old twin grandsons up on him with me, and they love to ride! He has a sense of knowing when he has to be good with an inexperienced rider, and goes along quietly, giving the rider confidence. In contrast, I can ride him in the show ring, and he is quite a performer." When we visited Cindy was apologizing for Buddy's overweight shape. If found his roundness wonderful to paint!
Buddy and Cindy
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Laddie and Pasture Mates Appaloosa Colidas Lad Time, "Laddie," was purchased as a yearling by Ann's family 25 years ago. Ann won many awards riding him, and when she went to college in Kentucky -- he went along. Ann writes, "During that time, I sold him and thought he would be gone. When I had my first child, I looked Laddie up through APHC and found out he was alive and well in Illinois. I went after him and brought him to his forever home in Ohio. Now my kids can develp their own wonderful memories with Laddie!" This splashy 26 year old Appaloosa gelding was a patient model, and did not seem to mind too much having the others join him for the photo shoot.
Laddie and Ann
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Orlo Orlo is an an adorable Norwegian Fjord. His owner, Sheila desribes him as "built like a tank and a fire plug all rolled into one." This sturdy little horse had arrived at Sheila's extremely overweight and bearly able to walk because of a hip injury. Sheila put him on a diet, spent hours working with him and even provided chiropractic treatments. The day I visited he was happily showing off his special three and a half beat canter. Shelia reports, "He is able to go on trail rides and is a worthy mount for beginners as well as advanced riders. "His mane, that stands up straight, is black down the center and blonde along the sides. He has a long multi-colored forelock and tail. Sticking out from either side of the bushy forelock are the biggest brown eyes you've ever seen.... "Orlo is truly a handome fellow with internal beauty as well. He is a real 'Hunk.'" As you can tell from the composition of Orlo's painting, I was intrigued by the black stripe that started with Orlo's tail, rolled along his spine and served as a strikingly dark center line in his wonderful bristly mane.
Orlo and Sheila
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Dhune Missiah and Rease "Rease has a 'presence' that tells you that he knows how special he is. He is a retired champion race horse and a retired champion driving horse. He desrves this honor." Mary Ann Schmidt's nomination of her 21 year old, 16.1 hh Standardbred "Be Reasonable" convinced me I had to visit. Rease is an impressive horse! He is very proud. He calmly posed for his photos as Mary Ann explained that part of the reason she nominated him was because he told animal communicator Lydia Hibby he would really like to have his portrait painted in oils! I have to smile everytime I think about it! This painting was just meant to be! I was tempted to do a traditional portrait, but after I'd taken many still photos of Rease, he began racing around the pasture with his stablemate Dhune Missiah, Mary Ann's sorral Arabian. They were having so much fun; Rease was showing me why he'd excelled as a race horse for 11 years. I decided to paint this pasture racing scene.
Mary Ann and Rease
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