Watch This: Horse Carving Time-Lapse

Watch “Dexter” the horse spring to live out of two enormous oak logs in this time-lapse video!

Simon O’Rourke is an internationally-recognized wood carver based in Wrexham, Wales. While he’s best known for his chainsaw work, placing in competitions on three continents, he uses a variety of power and hand tools to create his wood sculptures. O’Rourke also creates wall art and functional furniture, but he’s best-known for his life-size carvings from whole trunks and logs; his work graces private homes as well as parks and zoos all over the world.

His latest creation is a life-size horse modeled after a horse named Dexter at the Anglesey Riding Centre in the UK; Dexter is a much-loved resident after overcoming years of neglect by a former owner. O’Rourke is proud to honor Dexter through his wooden sculpture, which is currently exhibited at Sculpture in the Sanctuary (one of several stops on a country-wide tour.)

Watch this time-lapse video of the creation of Dexter: over 60 hours of hard work by O’Rourke is condensed to four and a half minutes. It’s amazing to see the horse come to life from the massive wooden logs — almost as though he was there all along, just waiting for someone to find him.

Totally impressive!

To learn more about Simon O’Rourke and his tree carving, visit the artist’s website. For our UK readers interested in seeing Dexter in person, check out the Sculpture in the Sanctuary website for details — the exhibit is open for the entire month of August!

Go riding!