Painted Horses

I made a trip to Amarillo, Texas this weekend to see my mother and as we cruised through town there were painted horses every where. I tried to google these things and came up empty. You would think that the city would have a location map and even images of the horses. You could spend the entire day looking for these things and probably not find them all. Amarillo has a small population but covers 30 square miles. Spread out to say the least. I am posting the horses that we took quick pictures of on the way back to Fort Worth.

Don

AIG Insurance

Sheriffs Dept

Amarillo National Bank I think. Wrong Amarillo Civic Center.

This message was edited May 7, 2007 9:54 AM

Amarillo National Bank.

Bail Bondsman.

Can't remember this one an investment firm I think.

I missed at least 4 others and there was one behind a bush on the entrance ramp to the Interstate. What the heck was that about.

Don :)

Wow, these are absolutely beautiful works of art. You'd think Amarillo would publicize itself as City of Painted Horses.

June

I think this website might give you some information: http://www.trailofpaintedponies.com/

Thanks for that link, mgh. I'll read it thoroughly later this morning.

June

This one looks like it might be even better: http://www.squidoo.com/trailofpaintedponies

Well you certainly did a better job than I did. But I still did not see a reference to Amarillo. There were horses that I could see down other streets and did not go but the whys and wherefores of it all as far as Amarillo is concerned is still beyond me. The focus of the horses in the web sites are in New Mexico.

Don

Yeah, I saw that too, but I thought maybe Amarillo got involved somehow too.

They all look like Quarter Horse Statues and that is where the AQHA headquarters is...

Yes the Assoc. is there but as we passed it I looked to see if there was any painted horses there and there wasn't. I would think if they were behind it they would have had a least one.

Don

Don I'm from a town in Alabama with a university whose mascot is a tiger we have something similar with painted tigers all over town, check with the Amarillo Chamber of Commerce that is who I would think sponsored the horses.

Saint

Here's a small picture of one of Tigers on the Prowl

Several cities have done this. Painted horses were popular here in Kentucky three or four years ago, then painted benches. People and business sponsor them, use them as tourist attractions, then auction them off for charity.

We have painted mules on the square when mule day is coming. but the people know why they're there.

Our town of Elk Grove has painted Elks around town. Sponorship and then a vote for the "best painted"; money was donated to the boys and girls club. One town up the way, Angels Camp, has frogs; for the annual frog jumping contest.

Yep, we had painted cows in Chicago one year. I don't remember why, though, lol. And I saw painted German Shepherds online - I think it was in NYC, to honor the rescue dogs that worked on 9/11.

~Kris

Try google or yahoo--type in Justin Wells Cowboy Art. Look at the Amarillo link. They might be some of his.?

They sure are beautifull!

Ah, yes, the trail of Painted Ponies.

When I visited my parents in New Mexico a few
years ago, we were able to spot quite a few of them.
Very interesting indeed.

Tulsa had the penguins for a while, in fact, there are
still many of them. A few idiots stole the penguins, ruined
the penguins, etc.

They are "the doing" of the American Quarter Horse Association: from an old write-up:

Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse

Cats may be America's most popular pet, and dogs may be man's best friend but Amarillo has fallen head over heels for horses. More than 75 of them!

"Hoof Prints of the American Quarter Horse- America's Horse," is a city-wide public art display featuring more than 75 fiberglass replicas of an American Quarter Horse. Each horse is a work of art, prepared by a local artist and displayed as an eye-catching tribute to an animal so vital to Amarillo's past, present and future. This city-wide effort is a project of Center City of Amarillo and the title sponsor of the project is the American Quarter Horse Association.

Amarillo has been linked to the horse throughout its history. Before 1880, the horse was needed for transportation; nothing moved in and out of the area without riding on a horse's back or being pulled behind a horse. After the railroad and automobile came to town in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the horse remained a vital part of the local ranching economy because under every good cowboy was a good horse. Ranching is still important to Amarillo, but horses now are part of the city's recreation.

The AQHA, headquartered in Amarillo, is the world's largest equine association with more than 330,000 members and more than 4 million registered horses worldwide. The American Quarter Horse Heritage Center and Museum, located along Interstate 40 in Amarillo, is a world-class museum about this important equine breed. Open year round, the museum has nearly 20,000 square feet of displays on the development and history of the American Quarter Horse. Everyday in the summer and many days throughout the year, horsemanship demonstrations are conducted in the museum's outdoor arena.

For Amarillo, the horse is it!


There used to be a map of them on amarillo.com, but it appears to be gone....

I've read more recently the number has dwindled down to less than 40 horses....I know one was smashed in a car accident....not a clue about the rest.



This message was edited Jun 1, 2007 10:27 PM

Well that was great I didn't find anything even remotely close to what you found. A lot of my relatives live in Amarillo and they had no clue as to what the horses were all about.

Thanks!
Don

The horses in Kentucky, as you can imagine, were thoroughbreds. There is also a permanent exhibit at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY.

Racine WI is having a display of 20' tall painted lighthouses in it's downtown running all summer long. I tried to find a link to a newspaper article, I read about it in a newspaper at work, but don't remember which paper, or when I saw it.

Deb

How very interesting! In Oklahoma City its the buffalo being painted. Has been going on for about 4 or 5 years. They are everywhere! Is awesome to know how many states are doing same thing....only...different, of course.

This message was edited Jul 11, 2007 8:40 AM

Most welcome Don! I don't quite know how I stumbled out of the Equine Forum and saw your thread! ;) LOL

This message was edited Jul 13, 2007 11:11 PM

I remember back as far as the late 80's seeing the painted horses on display. There is basically a number of life-sized castings each year that are distributed to various artists and then painted and displayed various places around the country. The other painted animals...cats, buffalo, etc...are offshoots of this phenomena. If you do a google search on "trail of the painted ponies" you'll find lots of references.

In addition, you can also now buy smaller versions to take home with you...they range from about 8-13" tall and are signed and numbered replicas of the full-sized versions. There are also books available that show the ponies done for each year. We go out to New Mexico/Colorado every year or two and always stop at Clines Corners on Interstate 40 and buy a couple of more for the collection.

Aren't they the same ones that are sold at the Hallmark stores?

Could be....they are sold lots of places....Clines Corners is just our fav place to go for them...cause they stock hundreds of different ones. It's not a Hallmark product though.

The display in Amarillo is NOT The Trail of the Painted Ponies. Various merchant's bought them and various artist's painted them in a joint venture between the AQHA and the city council. Read my post above for actual fact instead of guessing. As an artist and a horse lover I KNOW this display is called "Hoofprints of the American Quarter Horse".


The Trail of Painted Ponies originated in Santa Fe, New Mexico in 2001 btw.

This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 2:25 PM

wolflrv, No, they aren't a Hallmark product, but the ones they sell are The Trail of Painted Ponies series.

Jenks,

I read it. I should have specified I was addressing wolflvr. Did I come across nasty? My apologies for the confusion- but you're right - you guessed (think it "cleared the water"?). My reason for posting what you quoted was to point out that The Trail did not exist in the 80's it would be interesting to know if what she/he is speaking of has/had a name or if it were random artists, or an organized display.




This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 3:09 PM

We have painted turtles and birds around here. Jenks, if I can get my hands on an equine statue, will you come and paint it?



Edit: how could I confuse a turtle with a frog???

This message was edited Jul 20, 2007 3:37 PM

Bring em to Atlanta with you - of course!

Maybe I'll bring the live one instead.

Ooooo that could be really fun! Have you seen this series?

LOL - no! Where was that? ... and did they use all colors of horses?