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| Beautiful Horses of South Carolina
South Carolina is the 12th state in equine artist Karen Brenner's "Beautiful Horses of... " series.
Olivier Royal Dutch Warmblood stallion Olivier is a retired Grand Prix show jumper who spent most of his live in Europe. He's taken on a new career competing in dressage. He resides at Deep Sigh Equestrian Center in South Carolina, where I got to meet this dark beauty and watch him going through his paces with his owner, Barbara's daughter Kristin.The two ladies adore their beautiful stallion!
Barbara and Kristin with Olivier
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The Blues Sisters The Blus Sisters are second generation Egyptian Arabians bred at the historic Whitehaven Plantation. WH Carolina Blu & WH Phanale are full sisters. They were exceptional models for my photo session, racing around their pasture with manes and tails flying. But when they posed on a slight hill near the gate I thought - this is what I'll paint! And it is!
Dave unwraps peppermint treats for his girls. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Entre Toi et Moi, aka Tango Arabian gelding Tango's registered name is Entre Toi et Moi which is French for "between you and me". He was named after a song from a French Canadian band in Nova Scotia. He is the youngest of the three generations that Trisha has at Whitehaven plantation. Tango is a five-year-old purebred Arabian gelding who Trisha bred and raised, and who is definitely extremely special to her. Tango has just started his career in dressage - this past year he was the region 15 reserve Champion sport horse gelding, Hunter type and he finished the year off ranked fifth in our region for both training level dressage and sport horse in hand for the US Equestrian Federation. When I was at the farm I also photographed Tango's father, WH Marengo, grandfather WH Bodacious, and 3/4 brother WH The Aga Khan. And two beautiful mares. All are gleaming white Arabians, and I am in awe of Trisha who had spent the morning making sure they ALL looks spotless. If you have a white horse, you know how much effort Trisha put into that project!
Trisha, making sure everyone is spotless! _____________________________________________________________________________________
MSU Start Again
This painting features MSU Start Again, an amazing Polish Arabian gelding. He is 16.1 hands - so tall for an Arabian! His owner Kelli had him pose in front of awesome live oak trees lining the drive. The live oaks probably predate the nearby ruins of a house - a replacement for the family's original home that was burnt down during the war. I loved the dappling of this beautiful Arabian mixed with the dappling South Carolina sunshine. MSU Start Again is a multiple national sport horse champion. What a beautiful horse!
MSU Start Again and Kelli with the homestead in the background. ______________________________________________________________________________________
Rohara Marserati Nicknamed Speedy, Rohara Marserati is a purebred Arabian gelding with a beautiful face! He raced around is South Carolina pasture like race car driver out for a joy ride - living up to his nickname and registered name!
Rohara Marserati and Kelli
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Friesian Ballet - Syb Ygrek Syb Ygrek, a Ster Friesian, is an accomplished dressage school master. He and his owner Tracy compete together, but his other role, as therapist for Tracy's Mom, who suffers from dementia, is why he is a true star! He also is wonderful at posing for photos! And of course action shots are his favorite! What a beautiful horse!
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Bellbottom Levi Carol Ann fell in love witih Bellbottom Levi when he was a baby. She purchased him as a 2 year old and brought him to their beautiful farm is Laurens, SC.With it's spacious pastures dotted with large trees, the family homestead looks more like a beautiful park than a farm. We had Levi pose at the entrance to the family cemetary near the edge of one of the pastures. Carol Ann and Levi compete in carriage driving events.
Bellbottom Levi is getting ready to pose for a photo as Carol Ann guides him into place. ______________________________________________________________________________________
Charlie Ann's Horses Four barrel racing horses live with Charile Ann in South Carolina, serving as mounts for her daughers in youth rodeos. As a photographer, Charlie Ann knew the perfect spot for her horses to pose for me to take pictures for my Beautiful Horses of South Carolina project. She coaxed the horses to the top of a huge hill to graze in the widespread shade of an awesome tree. The bright Carolina sunshine created dramatic shadows on the lead horse as it meanders back down the hill, and the dappled shade produces lots of colors on the three horses silhouetted on the top of the hill.
Charlie Ann shares a laugh with one of her horses. ______________________________________________________________________________________
IC Hancocknsmokinblu A beautiful blue roan Quarter Horse stallion, Hancocknsmokinblu is living the dream in a grassy pasture so spacious it took us about 15 minutes driving through it in a pick up truck to find him! Tony, who is his owner Tara's father, finally spotted him hanging out with his herd of mares. ______________________________________________________________________________________
Cooper It was a special privilege to get to meet a world champion driving team, Cooper and Shelly, at their home near Aiken, South Carolina. What a noble and powerful Morgan! Cooper and Shelly have been driving partners for over 15 years. They have been national champions in combined driving three times and on two world championship teams - coming home with two FEI bornze medals. Always ready for a new challenge, now they are tackling the sport of dressage.
Shelly and Cooper __________________________________________________________________________________________
Carignan "Carignan is the once in a lifetime horse every girl dreams of owning as a child. He is full of spunk, loves getting dirty in the mud, loves to nibble on your clothes and LOVES to jump. We call him the "unicorn" because he's just magical and can't take a bad photo" - Sarah, Carignan's owner
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Oakdancers Justice Standing tall - 17.3 hands - Dutch Warmblood gelding Oakdancers Justice is just two years old! He is aristocratic and arrogant with a floaty trot that's perfect for his future as a dressage superstar. His owner Terry put him through his paces, and he just floated around the arena - already star quality!
Terry and Oakdancers Justice _____________________________________________________________________________________
Camalot's Cocoa Chocolate with a white mane and tail, Rocky Mountain mare, Camelot's Cocoa, is famous for doing a wide array of tricks! When I arrived, Cocoa was inside the wash stall, and looked beautiful in the streaming sunlight.
Cocoa and owner Anne work together on tricks. _____________________________________________________________________________________
Varom
Varom and Frenchie Varom is a jumper, originally imported from Europe by Olympic gold medalist Leslie Howard. Now owned and jumped by Amber in Aiken, South Carolina. He loves working and going on trail rides.
Varom, Amber and Frenchie _____________________________________________________________________________________
Roscoe and Holly Sometimes life is an adventure! When I traveled to South Carolina to photograph horses for the Beautiful Horses series, I had no idea I'd end up visiting a private island! Who knew horses lived on private islands? We'll Spring Island has a whole stable! And their own hunt club. Awesome, right! We met Holly and Roscoe at the stable. Holly knew of a scenic ruins on the island that would make the perfect backdrop for our photos, so off we went - and ended up at the spot pictured above! I love the ancient trees of South Carolina, with Spanish moss dripping down. The trunks and shadows were so perfect for framing Holly and Roscoe for the painting! _____________________________________________________________________________________
SEE MORE "BEAUTIFUL HORSES OF...." SERIES
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