Dreams of Horses

When I was young, I used to dream of horses and played with toy ones every single day. I dreamt of riding them and jumping fences. I would ask for a horse every Christmas and every Christmas, under the tree, I would get a plastic one.I finally got my wish in high school. My school actually had a riding club if you can believe that. The lessons were great! I loved it but I still wanted my very own horse. I drew them and painted them ever since I was 5 years old.

Finally at the ripe old age of 27, I got my first horse. A quarter horse/appaloosa cross. She was chestnut with a blaze and white socks. Very pretty but ornery at times. We lived on a 5 acre farm so I was able to keep her on our property. I found a riding instructor that taught me Dressage and took more lessons. Since I did not have a trailer, I had to ride the horse 7 miles on canal roads to get to the instructor's house. It was harrowing at times as my horse would shy and rear. I thought I was going to end up in the canal. My instructor did not want me to get injured so she allowed me to board my horse at her place for free. It was very generous of her. I definitely was not a natural at riding but I really worked hard at it because it was my dream.

Then my kids came along and I couldn't ride like I used to. I gave up riding and I gave up painting horses, I gave up the dream. I still had my horse and I know she had a pampered life. I lost my horse 2 years ago at the age of 28 which is pretty old for an equine. I am sure it was the West Nile virus that got her.

I am a little rusty but I picked up the paint brush again and decided to paint horses. Worked about 3 hours on this painting until 1 am in the morning. Haven't used much acrylics but I do like them. Watercolors are so difficult to use. Many times you can save paintings by incorporating the acrylics. I love mix media and would like to do more.

Here is the result of my efforts:

Mixed media-Arabian Horse in my Etsy Store