In the Eye of the Beholder: Horse Art

Or maybe we should say “art”…

Every once in a while, you stumble on some art (“art?”) that just leaves you in awe. Sometimes it’s in a good way, and sometimes it’s in … a not-so-good way (but who are we to judge, right? after all, isn’t the goal of art to inspire a reaction? these certainly do that!). This especially is true of horse art. As it stands, equestrians LOVE to pick apart all things horse related in order to show off our knowledge, make clear that the artist clearly doesn’t know anything about horses, and, well… I don’t know. Just be judgy. Fortunately for us, these forms of horse art create plenty of space for just that. Here are six pieces of horse art that make us ask, “What exactly is going on here?”

1. The Friesian Horse

This piece from Cantoni is described as a Friesian horse (is it, though?) that “is a fun, whimsical sculpture made of Portuguese ceramic with a matte black finish.” I can’t help but wonder what sort of horses — Friesian or otherwise — this artist has been around. All I can think is that this poor creature needs some good old fashioned cardio and a healthy dose of Thyro-L.

2. Antique Leather Horse Toy

So maybe not necessarily art, but I’m rolling with it. They call it an antique horse toy. I call it, “Horse (not) Loading on a Trailer.” At the time of writing this piece, this toy is available from Facebook Marketplace for the cool price of $160. I admit, it is kind of cool, but if I wanted to see this, I can think of a horse or two I can walk up to a trailer and get this exact silhouette burned in my brain.

3. The Dummy

Okay, we featured this one in our previous piece on weird horse-related items, but we think it deserves another nod. Shout out to KB Sporthorses LLC for this find. It was on display as part of a temporary exhibit at MAC/CCB Museum in Portugal. I’m sure the exhibit was great, but all I can wonder is what inspired the artist to display this particular piece and… I hope they used gloves?

4. The Wedding Cake

We have to assume this cake was AI generated. Yes, it is stunning, but if you look carefully, you’ll notice the horse on the bottom tier has two a$$es. To be fair, I’ve known a few horses who seem to be an a$$ at both ends, but I didn’t know that until I started working with it. Most horses don’t advertise it quite this obviously. Also, does the one end of the rump have three legs?

5. The Lobby Portrait

This one took the internet by storm a few weeks ago. In theory, it’s a cool portrait of a horse, but then you keep looking. Upon closer inspection, you have to ask yourself whether or not the artist had ever actually looked at a horse before. After all, isn’t this why artists study anatomy?

6. The Rising Tide

So, these are pretty cool. This London-based art is called The Rising Tide. The only question we have is why are these business men just chillin’ on these hammer-headed horses bareback in the water?