Category Horse Art or Museum
Travel Nashville: Side-saddle Fashion at Cheekwood and beyond
“It’s all about the gear,” someone said as I shopped for, well … riding clothing at The Royal Winter Fair in Toronto last fall. Granted, I can’t get enough horse embossed hoodies, jackets, coats, bags and boots. There’s something classic about equestrian style and, thanks to the tights-as-pants trend, it’s easy to pull off in […]
Travel Louisville, KY: Don’t bet? No problem. Churchill Downs still delivers, especially for horse lovers.
I didn’t know much about thoroughbred racing before I went to Louisville, Kentucky. One day in Derby City and I do now. Churchill Downs historic walking tours run year round, expect on Kentucky Derby weekend when about 160,000 people flood this famous racetrack with a seating capacity of 60,000. Where do the other 100,000 people […]
Travel Lexington, KY: Equine Worship at The Kentucky Horse Park
If you doubt the Kentucky Horse Park’s reverence for all things equine (especially race horses) look up … way up. Near the park’s entrance stands the looming full-size bronze statue of Man O’ War, on a stone base surrounded by a circular garden and narrow water motte. To photograph the statue of this great racer, […]
Travel Lexington: The Mechanical Horse
Where can you find a life-sized stainless steel horse sculpture? Wait, it’s also complete with moving parts waiting to canter away (almost) at the push of a button. Outside the doors of The Kentucky Horse Park visitor’s centre “The Mechanical Horse” is ready to run – in slow motion. While bronze sculptures of famous horses […]
Travel Nashville, TN: Belle Meade; Belle Mare
Belle Meade Plantation features a silver inkwell made from real horse hooves. Yes, that was my reaction, too. But these are not any horse hooves. These earned a special place in former owner General Jackson’s Nashville plantation study. Clearly, a horse-hoof inkwell is not an ideal desk accessory. But this one dates back 100 years […]
Travel Toronto: Equine in Clay
At every art museum I visit, I look for the animals. Dogs, cats and yes, horses – these are the pieces I’m drawn to because, I guess, everyone wants to see replicated that which they admire the most. I also love clay, glass, and pottery – any ceramics really. So why I waited so long […]
Peterborough, Ontario: No Flies on me at the Lang Pioneer Village
Who knows if this fly mask actually worked, but it’s one of the many century-old artifacts – most agriculture-related – restored and even used at Lang Pioneer Village, a living history museum. This horse fly net could be catalogue ordered in the late 1800’s, and it’s one of the many items on display in a […]
Washington D.C.: Smithsonian Fossil Horse. What if horses were the size of dogs?
“Did you know horses were once as small as dogs?” My nephew said when his brother noticed the amount of dog, cat and horse art scattered on my household walls. “It’s true,” he insisted. “Millions of years ago.” Ok, I said, a bit skeptical become sometimes he gets superhero stories and science a bit mixed […]
Texas: Still Remembering San Antonio – this time at the Briscoe Western Art Museum
I love horses and I love art. I especially love horses in art, as some collage prints hanging on my living room walls (purchased from the annual Toronto Outdoor Art show the first weekend in July) attests. But that’s as far as I put equine and art together until I visited the Briscoe Western Art Museum in […]
Horse Museums in the U.S. thanks to equitrekking.com
Here’s a list of must see horse-related museums around the U.S. from one of my favourite horsey websites. I’ll start a similar list for Canada. In the meantime, I’m noting a few of these, especially the Morgan Farm/Museum in Vermont, which is on my radar this summer: http://www.equitrekking.com/articles/entry/us_guide_horse_museums/
