A Passion For Horses

A desperate yearning for her own horse starting this artist drawing at a very young age.

Why do I paint? Because I was born with a tremendous pas ionate love of horses. and I didn’t have one of my own! Let me explain.

Painting and drawing – especial y drawing, has been an integral part of me for as long as I can remember and so has the love of horses – al animals but most especial y horses. I was told that as soon as my tiny hands could use a pencil I was drawing horses – and I continued drawing them. I studied every picture of horses I could find, every horse that we drove past on the way to church or to town, and I read every book about horses I could get my hands on, whether fiction or the care of horses or Olympic dres age! For years and years I felt sure I would die if I didn’t get a horse soon – but I didn’t get a horse and I didn’t die, but I did improve in my observation and analysis and drawing skils. Drawings of horses fil ed al my books and every bit of paper I could find, they also crept onto the pages in maths lessons, which didn’t impress the teacher, nor improve my prowess with numbers!

When I was 15 years old two very special things happened. The first happened while waiting for our mother to pick us up outside high school (Mum didn’t know that school orchestra had been cancelled – there were no mobile phones back then!) I watched a girl ride past on a magnificent grey Arabian horse. That horse drew me like a magnet and I followed them to the stables next door to the high school, and watched the girl tie him up in the yard. Soon I was talking to his owner, Mrs Gresinger, and then I was riding him around the yard. From then on instead of sports on Wednesday afternoon I was riding that same beautiful grey horse.