well, i got tired of seeing all these boring brown horses, and thought it would be nice if they were other shades and colors. i forget when it actually was, but it was quite some time ago when i picked up that bucket and painted the horse red as it were. farmers would be yelling, and i'd wave back - your welcome - as i assumed they were telling me how grateful they were to make a horse of another color.

i used to tip cows, but i ran out of change. and they were never all that great at remembering my order, so i stopped doing that.


---Mike Savad

Haha, Mike, love it! :-)

I paint a variety of subject matter, mostly from nature. Recently I have been interested in painting horses. Our art group was invited to paint at a local stable and I was inspired. They are beautiful animals even though I don't know mch about the different kinds etc. I just finished another painting yesterday of a horse but I have not posted it yet!

I took a trip to Colorado with the family and did some trail riding. This horse's name was "Isis" and my granddaughter rode her. A very gentle creature. It was my first attempt to paint horses!

After doing "Isis" about 5 years ago, I decided to try another horse painting. This Missouri Fox Trotter I painted last year for a silent auction to raise money for the children in Haiti. HOPEFULLY, I improved a bit from my first attempt above. They are the only two horses I've done.... rather traditional, but not knowing horse anatomy I needed to paint them "tight". The fox trotter was painted with the limited palette of the three primaries.

This is one of my most favorite watercolors of the lead team for Budweiser. I have always had the utmost love and respect for these gorgeous animals. As a kid in Wisconsin growing up my neighbors had horses and I was fortunate enough to get to ride and care for them. I broke my arm at 11 years old riding bareback by falling off their largest Thoroughbred after it was stung by something. The bone in my arm was completely separated into two pieces and I still got back on, complaining profusely to my mother about my getting off so we could see the doctor. They said I was either in shock or crazy. Ehhhhh. I say neither. I just love these guys.

I have always had a passion for the majestic horse. I recall sitting on the floor of my room as a child drawing them, studying books of breeds, pretending that I was a horse, and collecting horse statues. Having a horse was my hearts desire and that desire was finally fullfilled when I was 21 years old. I have owned several different breeds and admire the beauty and grace of the Spanish breeds and the Friesian the most. I have barrel raced, team penned, and rodeo queened and love the freedom and the unity of the horse. Since then I started photographing horses as much as possible and painting them. About five years ago I started painting them in complimentary vibrant colors. I have not owned a horse in the last twelve years but I make sure that I still have access to them. I am fortuante to volunteer at Equine Voices Horse Sanctuary where I have access to many horses to capture on camera and on canvas and to give back to them by donating my art of them to raise funds that will provide for their future.

I was always drawing horses even as a child. So much so, that when any fellow school mate had a report that needed a drawing of a horse, they would come to me.
I didn't really start doing artwork until the Christmas of '97 when my husband built me an easel and purchased a large lot of oil painting supplies. Three days later I had painted him my first horse portrait which looked just like the photograph. That's when I began Loreen's Pets In Paint and was doing artwork every day. I had become pretty well known in Bucks County, PA for my art, then moved from there area. I continued to paint until a riding accident left nerve damage in my right arm. I took a few years off from portraiture until a fellow artist introduced me to pastels in all of their forms late 2011. Beginning 2012, I started doing pieces that inspired me, most of them horses. I am glad to say that after a procedure on my arm and plenty of pt, I will be getting back in to oils after the holidays! I can't wait to see how I "bring out the spirit of animals" again, (a quote from one of the Bucks County newspapers that did spreads on my art). I also will look forward to donating prints and originals to some of the equine rescues that I firmly believe in, specifically OTTB's such as Akindale, CANTER, and RERUN.

I've had horse fever all my life but it was only on my 30th birthday that my dream came true and I spent years of birthday money on my first horse. Not even knowing how to touch his hooves, I found a wonderful teacher and mentor. I read every book in the library about caring for horses and begged the librarian to order more. Nothing could keep me from visiting with my horse every single day, I mean, what else in the world could be more important or joyful than THAT? The next 10 years were horse horse horse as I began to ride in "Eventing," the 3 phase horse trials. Of course we started at the very beginning level and worked our way to a Grand Championship in the pre-training level (cross-county fences were 2'9", plenty for us). I learned everything about responsibility and goals, about my abilities and perseverance, but most of all, I treasured my horse, Double Scotch, who was a miracle in my life and will never be forgotten.

Today I half-lease a TB, an older gentleman who takes me on Rocky Mountain trails. I've created many horse paintings but the ones of my Double Scotch and the TB Geppetto were painted with such heart-felt love pouring from my brush that having this artwork in my home now fills me with intense joy. There will be more :)

These are great stories. It seems all of us are in good company with other devoted horse lovers who also are artists. Paint your passion and you'll never fail.

Keep them coming folks. :-)

I have had horses most of my life. My brother and I started Bobbys Ranch about 40 years ago. I had the wonderful opportunity to ride, work and enjoy the horses on a daily basis. I had a wonderful art teacher that taught me the finer details in art and assisted me in many ways in the art field. I have horses to this day and watched them grow from newborns and learned of the development of their structure and balance. I spend time with them on a daily basis and when the weather is nice I sit and draw them in their activities. They are a true God send and I am blessed to have them and share with others.

I was raised on a cattle farm when I was young, so we had lots of cows, horses, ponies and loads of wildlife around us. When I left school, I moved right away to the city for work, which was quite different and exciting. Even though, I have been a city dweller for many years now, I think that some part of me will always be in the countryside, remembering all the animals and the old farm. My sister is a horse owner, and also rescues horses in need. I admire that very much! Horses are beautiful animals to study and illustrate, but alas.. the city doesn't have many of them :(

I've been an enthusiast of the western lifestyle since I was a small boy. Being raised around horses, owning, training and riding, as well as a career as a professional Farrier for 37 years has offered me a wonderful understanding of them physiologically, mentally and spiritually. They are incredible animal on so many levels.... Some form of artistic expression has been a part of my being for as long as I can recollect. As a seeker, my spiritual journeys led me to explore oriental cultures and a discovery of Chinese brush techniques. Now my passion....I am now a full time traveler, seeker and artist.

I've lived in Colorado for the past 36 years, and for the last 10 of them, I've had the pleasure of looking out my window upon the field of horses that reside on my good friend's horse farm, right behind my home. They are so beautiful......how could I not paint them? I have been awestruck by these regal animals since childhood, and I've been an artist since childhood as well.... some of my very first drawings were of horses. Although I have never had the opportunity to have a horse of my own, horses have found their way into my art throughout my life and career.

I was a typical horse crazy little girl, but I could only ride when I begged to go on a trail ride on family vacations. When I was nine months old I wanted to ride on my big sister's spring rocking horse, the best baby bouncy toy, all the time. I mean all the time. I lived on the Northwest side of Chicago however and although I dreamed as a child of keeping a horse in our 1 car garage and turning him out in our 10' x 10' "paddock" it obviously wasn't going to happen.

So I used my Breyer Horse collection as models to draw. If I couldn't ride them I drew them. I was able to take some riding lessons as a pre-teen and teenager. When I was in art school we were not allowed to draw horses because it was too difficult and we were supposed to know our subjects. Even some students who were Horse owners were not allowed to draw them.

I painted in watercolor a variety of subjects in the 90's, started my watercolor career, but I didn't focus on horses until 2010. Horses are harder than people to render correctly, because they are like painting nude figures due to all the muscling.

Tigger is the third horse I've owned and at 17 years old, I've had him for 14 years. He's training 2nd level dressage.

Loving the stories. :-)

Looking forward to reading more from more members.

I think it was with a crayon before I was old enough to go to school! My baby bracelet from the hospital where I was born had my name and beads with horses on them! I was born with a deep love of horses, and have ridden since I was young, but my first "real" attempt at painting them was only a few years ago after I bought my bay mare, and I would love to sit and watch her out in the field. Owning and showing horses allowed me to really "see" the horse, how it moves and the differences between different breeds. It was my bay mare that inspired a great burning desire to paint horses, and have done so across the whole spectrum from realism to cartooning horses. I am self taught, so I had to learn "on the job"! It is so wonderful to look at a finished painting and still be surprised that "I painted this!" I have been fortunate enough to have horses in my life, and all the joy they bring to me.

My love of horses began with Roy Rogers and Trigger. But when my mother married my step-father who trained Thoroughbred race horses, I was around them enough to see why so may people loved them. As a young teenager, I was at the stables most of the summer and I was always cheering for our horses when the race day came. I first started drawing them but I didn't try painting them until my painting Raise a Native, one of the champions in our stable of 1963. It was painted from a photo of him taken that year. The love of horses and the excitement of racing is a great combination. I suppose that is what drew me to painting horses. I have seen some wonderful artwork by this group and many other artists. It inspires me to keep painting.

Definitely keep painting, Don. :-)

I am amazed at the talent in this group of artists and honored to be the admin. of such a great group of people which is nearly 100 now.

About 1965 my family had 22 horses, my first job was at Fort Lauderdale Riding Acadamy and the Art teacher said girl with your knowledge of horses you need to paint them. Thousands later I'm still hooked :)

I started painting Horses when I moved to Colorado and needed some Art other than Beach scenes! LOL! I love the bold, abstract Horses heads...

Horses are just such magnificent animals! I love their faces especially ~ So expressive and beautiful~ !I've been around so many horses and have done many commissioned works for people of their beautiful horses!

I just sold a print of my painting, 'The Sentinel'. It is European Pastel done in a technique using my little finger. The wild horse quietly watches as a cowboy rides past un-aware. The reflection of the cowboy is in his eye. A moving piece. I started drawing horses when I was four. They have always been my passion. I am a Certified Instructor in the Olympic sport of Three Day Eventing as well as painting as my other passion.

Very cool, Sally. I'll post an image of it in the sales thread. Congratulations.