Horses in Art Magazine - Art for the Horse Lover

From Painting Horses, To a Horse That Paints

by Cheryl Ward

As fate would have it, my friend called and told me about a few horses that were going to auction that needed homes. One of the horses was a stunning, pony-size gray gelding with a long, black flowing mane and tail with the most mischievous coal black eyes I had ever seen. After he stopped violently kicking the side of his stall, I asked if I could ride him. The owners asked if I had insurance. They also told me he was a Paso Fino.

I had been told that if I ever get the chance to ride a Paso, I should take it. The moment my seat bones landed on his back he proceeded to glide very smoothly, backwards, at about 90 miles per hour using a clump of oak trees as his brakes. Somehow this 14-hand bundle of misguided energy by the name of Romeo became mine. Romeo began to show me all of his hard-earned evasive techniques which included balking, rearing, bucking and spooking. Romeo had issues.

A True Equine Artist
Romeo demonstrates his passion
Ironically, Romeo's issues were quite similar to mine. My father had always disapproved of me pursuing an art career. Romeo had never been given the opportunity to follow his passion either. Do horses have a passion? I never would have asked that question until I began clicker training him. Suddenly he became passionate about figuring out what I was asking of him. He could barely wait for the click because it earned him such praise and a tiny bit of carrot. His spooking behaviors disappeared as he learned to touch, and then pick up, things that scared him. Soon he was handing me my helmet from the ground while I was on his back.

Months prior I had retired my paint brushes. I kept my paints because I had a secret desire to paint with big brushes and large canvases. But I couldn't justify wasting the paint or canvas on myself.

One day as I was brushing Romeo's thick black mane, I dropped the comb. He politely picked it up and handed it back to me. The comb reminded me of a paint brush. I still had a stash of water-based acrylics and plenty of sketch pads. Romeo's helpful behavior begged the question, "Could a horse paint?"

Just for kicks, I brought a flat-handled paint brush and a sketch pad to the barn. With the sketch pad under my arm, I handed Romeo the brush. Happily he grabbed it in his teeth and looked at me as if to say "What's next?" I showed him the pad and told him to touch. To my amazement he began running the brush up and down the pad. The next day I added paint, and he's been painting ever since.

It appears Romeo loves to paint. As for me, Romeo has created a wonderful solution: first, my dad discouraged me from pursuing an art career, but he never said anything about a horse pursuing an art career; second, Romeo's bold expressive strokes with big brushes has given me confidence to be more expressive with my art. On any given day, I find myself standing next to my horse, both of us covered in bright beautiful splashes of paint, and I think to myself, it just doesn't get any better than this. I think my dad would be pleased.

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