Horsetails

Doc

[Picture]

The beautiful sorrel gelding Doc spent his early years as part of a pulling team before he was bought by Little Spring Ranch and Golden Gate Vaulters in Denver, Colorado when he was five years old. He then became a champion vaulting horse, competing in every National Championship beginning in 1997. Doc competed at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, where he had the honor of being the only vaulting horse from the United States, and also the only Belgian draft horse in the entire Games. Outside his competitions, Doc was also a lesson horse, teaching riders the sport of vaulting, and was honored by the Certified Horsemanship Association in 2007 with their School Horse of the Year award. Always gentle, steady, and reliable, he has carried beginner vaulters, disabled vaulters, adult vaulters, and all levels of competitive canter vaulters. No longer competing, he continues to teach vaulters from his new home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Donated by Noel and Yossi Martonovich of Golden Gate Vaulters and the Certified Horsemanship Association.

CHA

http://www.cha-ahse.org/

Steve Armstrong

Born in Texas, Steve Armstrong travelled extensively as a child and has continued to travel throughout his adult life. These travels, as well as European automata and clockwork figures, have greatly influenced Armstrong's art work. Largely self-taught, Armstrong studied art at the University of Kentucky and was a Montessori teacher for eighteen years before becoming a full-time artist in 1993. Driven by his fascination with the body and its parts working as a living machine, his wooden carvings with their various parts, cranks, and levers are a commentary on modern obsession with technology while also displaying the structural beauty of life. In his violin of Doc, a horse famed for the physically demanding equestrian sport of vaulting, Armstrong portrays both horse and rider, and shows the athleticism of both through his carved mechanism.

About the Project

Fifty-two artists from around the country have been chosen and each given small replicas of a violin and bow. Each artist has been assigned an unforgettable, beloved horse and has created a work of art. Artists have worked with paint, glass, metal, and other mediums. Their only charge was to embrace either the image or spirit of their horse. Horses include well-known Thoroughbreds, as well as other breeds represented in the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™.

Each piece will be on display at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™. During the Games, a silent auction will take place, with all proceeds go to the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra’s Partners in Education, a program benefiting the children in high-risk areas of Kentucky through music education.

Please take the time to enjoy our art gallery (link to gallery), learn more about our special events (link to special events), and shop in our retail area for your very own HORSETAILS® 2010 merchandise. If you have questions about the project or would like more information, please contact us.

The Presentation

Each completed work of art is professionally mounted on linen mat board and framed in an antique black wooden slant-top shadow box. Framed by Lexington’s premiere sporting arts framer, the finished size measures 13.25" x 17".