HOMEWARD BOUND One more horse painting I would like to talk about is this one above called " Homeward Bound " . This horse team was up at the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem, NH. The driver had just unhitched the team and was returning to the trailer where they would be transported home. The horses seemed to know their job was done and they were eager to get home. As the sun was setting it began to snow. As I stood taking the picture you could feel the ground shake from the heavy stomping of the hooves of these powerful animals. They're massive and powerful yet so gentle. I added to the background the red barn as it was on the opposite of the road, but I thought it added more interest to the painting.
This painting I call Hayride because the man is bringing a load of hay from a far away field to his farm. When visiting Woodstock, Vermont a few years back I walked across this restored covered bridge. I was happy to see that this bridge had been restored for automotive as well as pedestrian traffic. Also it reminded me of stories I had been told as a child how big over-loaded hay wagons would sometimes get stuck trying to navigate over the bridge. Sometimes the wheels would fall through the rotting boards from the weight of these over-loaded wagons. In some instances the heat generated from the hay would ignite a fire and the bridge would be destroyed as well as the hay and wagon. I came home to my studio with this image in mind and thought it would make a good narrative of times past. The horses came from images I had from Stonewall Farm in Chesterfield, NH. The hay wagon I basically made up from memory. The driver was an old railroad conductor's image I had in my f