Oil on canvas, stretched and ready to hang.

Signed on the front.

This artwork comes with an external frame

The rider of this horse is about to lose his seat and hit the dust. For a few Light Horsemen who had been issued a particularly strong willed mount, the scene shown in this painting was a regular daily occurrence. When first mounted for the day- or night ride, some horses insisted on bucking their rider off – just to show him who was the real boss in this particular partnership of man and horse. They would then settle down to the task at hand and be completely amiable and compliant.

Such a horse was Blue:
“ Every morning, for the remainder of the war, the same scene was enacted – when Bob mounted ‘Blue’ as he had named the horse, he was promptly thrown. The second time the horse walked away. It was as if ‘Blue’ was simply letting the rider know just who was boss. Some mornings, when Bob was feeling better than others he would stay on a little longer – but Blue would not let up until he had tossed him off”
It was one of the little diversions of the war the Troop looked forward to every morning.”
LIGHT HORSE Lawrence McRae, 1986, p55

Ron was inspired to do this painting after her took photos of a horse playing up at the local Light Horse troop training day. The horse was the winner on that occasion and the rider did end up on the grass! But Ron chose to use the moment when the rider has lost a stirrup and is about to lose his seat. The composition has the strong diagonal of the horses body counter balanced by the opposite diagonal of the riders body and the horses forelegs, creating dynamic action. The hoof
prints in the foreground lead the eye into the painting and the soft earthy colors of the early morning desert landscape and are a nice contrast to the strong warm earthy tones of the dynamic figures.
The traditional wooden frame was especially chosen because it has a warm khaki ambience -gold over black- which suits the Light Horse theme, plus within in its ornate profile are impressions resembling hoof prints in the sand- quite appropriate for this painting! Inside this is a is a narrow neutral colored slip with a faint blush to the inner raised gold edge against the painting.

The Painting is ready to hang for on the back are strong D rings and heavy plastic coated hanging wire.