Exploded View

"Exploded View"
8"x24" acrylic on visual edge canvas

"Exploded View" is the name of this gorgeous thoroughbred racehorse that I had the privilege of working with for about a year. I was helping a close friend, Gayle Rawlins, whose duty it was to caretake the mares and foals on a small thoroughbred farm near my home. The fun part was handling the foals and getting them to trust people and have good 'ground manners'. The day pictured above was bittersweet... it was time to send "Exploded View", a two-year-old colt, to South Carolina to the training stables. Gayle and I had polished him until he 'was plum shiny' so that he would make a good impression. He knew something was up when the big transport trailer came to pick him up. He could hear and smell the other horses already loaded in the trailer from other farms. His days of growing up and playing were to be replaced by learning the ropes at the track. And we had three new foals to follow in his footsteps.