“Power”
Weathered and rusted steel – 25″ x 35″
By Danno, 2006
Having grown up in a large city, my contact with horses was minimal. It wasn’t until a boyhood Scout camp that I finally came to see one up close and get a chance to sit in the saddle. Our Scout troop had booked a day with a riding farm. You pay your fee and they lead you around a predetermined path on the back of some very bored looking horses who know the trails off by heart. That old memory got me thinking about horses.
I got me thinking about their mammoth contribution to our society throughout history and their eventual yet rapid obsolescence as we mechanized in the early 1900’s
The contribution of the horse to our cultural evolution spans virtually every aspect of human society and culture. Empires were built, trade routes established and of course, wars were waged on the backs of horses.
For the most of us, horses are now an animal that graces our screens in movies and television, or perhaps the target of enthusiastic punters shouting for “Silver Bullet” to cross the finish line first. And that saddened me in a way. These proud, powerful creatures sidelined as we developed engines for the muscle that they once provided.
The world would be a very different place in the absence of their contribution and in creating and naming this piece, I wanted to honor the horse for the blood, sweat and raw power these creatures have given us over the centuries.
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