OklahomaHorses Magazine September 2023

September / October 2023 • OklahomaHorses 23 Horses of Different Colors Equine Statues Attract Attention by Andrea Chancellor T he old idiom “a horse of a different col- or” refers to some issue that is different when compared with something else. Fiberglass, man-made horses painted with colors or traditional equine markings are definitely different, but we probably love the whimsical horses as much as the real deal. Traditionally, Oklahoma Horses’ coverage focuses on outstanding, real-life horse stories embedded in our culture and environment. But our love of the animals is apparently so powerful that we see a trend in the creation of brightly painted and decorated horse statues in surprising locations. These popular icons stand tall as practical visual art in our communities. Horse statues with plain markings are still being manufactured today across the country. You can view some of these treasures on the Internet. And for a pretty penny, anyone can have one especially designed and constructed. Statues as Image Statements Some man-made horses had careers during the years in advertising or as image state- ments of western clothing or saddle stores. Two fiberglass horses were once housed inside the Bully Good Saddle Shop in Muskogee. That store is gone now, but the horses are part of the permanent collection at Three Rivers Museum in Muskogee. Many people still remember an iconic fiberglass horse once located in Tahlequah. It stood on a pipe mounted 12 feet over the entryway of Workman’s Western Wear. Alas, that store also has closed, but it’s said that the horse retired with the former owners. A Stampede in Shawnee Artists are creating colorful cousins of the live animal for displays in some cities. For more than 15 years, hand-painted, decorated fiberglass horses stood or reared proudly in Shawnee at sidewalks, places of business, and just about everywhere. The Shawnee public-art projects were created as part of the Oklahoma centennial in 2007. The herd included horses designed with mosaic pieces or painted to resemble the inner workings of a clock. Some displayed images of children’s cartoon characters or had varied decorative embellishments. Then Mother Nature stepped in. The horrific windstorm and tornado of April 19, 2023, devastated Shawnee and pretty much wiped out its collection of 35 fiber- glass horses. Erica Bass, travel-industry communica- tions manager at Visit Shawnee, said the winds of 90 to 110 mph were too much for the statues. Half the horses were damaged, Two man-made fiberglass horses stand guard in the Bully Good Saddle Shop in Muskogee in this 1950s photo. The shop also carried western wear. Photo courtesy of the Matthews Collection, Three Rivers Museum, Muskogee.