Introducing: Horseplay

Pictured here with its armature and still in clay, is my newest sculpture, Horseplay.

Now available at precast price of $5,800.

Price will be $7,200 after casting.

– Order now and  save $1,400 –

Horseplay is currently being cast at the foundry and will be unveiled in bronze at the Arizona Fine Art EXPO in January, 2011.

Horses live in a harem-based social systems. Each band or “harem” is made up of a harem stallion, his mares, and their offspring. The size of each individual harem is determined by the stallion’s ability to hold his mares together, about four or five when he is young, a peak of ten in his prime, and fewer and fewer as he advances in age.

When the mare offspring are old enough to reproduce, they leave the harem group to join another. When stallion offspring are old enough to compete with the lead stallion, they are driven out of the group and join small bachelor groups until they are mature enough to successfully compete for a harem group of their own. This helps to maintain a healthy population and prevents inbreeding.

The stallion owns the herd and sires all of the herd’s offspring. His role is to keep intruders and predators away from his mares. The stallion normally runs behind the herd, keeping the slower horses moving and protecting the group from attack. He controls his harem with a variety of body postures and verbal signals.

The stallion also needs to defend his harem against other stallions trying to raid it. Spectacular displays of rearing, biting, and kicking occur when stallions “battle” over mares. In a typical confrontation, they stare at each other; then they each defecate, smell the feces, and again stare. Either combatant may leave; if one does not, the two move toward each other, necks arched and tails high. They sniff each other, emit screams, and then fight, standing side by side, kicking, and attempting to knock the other off balance, until one or the other leaves or is beaten.

Is this a stallion fighting for dominance or is this just a little ‘horseplay’?

Sculpture measures 24?H x22?W x 12?D without base and is an edition of only 10.  
Precast price is $5,800 ($US).  
After casting price will start at $7,200 ($US)