Wildlife Artist Dawn Senior-Trask of Moonhorse Art Studio
1-307-327-5381

bronze plaques

Horses - animal sculpture bronze plaque

Dawn Senior-Trask, of Moonhorse Art Studio, has gained a love and unique understanding of the wildlife of the West - unique personalities and the often amusing relationships of the wildlife and their relationships with people. This understanding is reflected in her animal sculpture bronze plaque.

Contact us to order this animal sculpture bronze plaque.

Horses - animal sculpture bronze plaque

Dawn's animal sculpture bronze plaque vividly captures the spirit and movement of horses, especially the wild mustangs of Wyoming.

Size:
Price Unmounted: $230
Price Mounted: $273
Price Mounted & Framed: $295
Shipping:

* Bronze plaques are not kept in stock, but are cast as they are ordered.  Because of the long-wax process that involves many steps, the wait for bronze plaques may be several months. Please contact us for more information.

More information about this animal sculpture bronze plaque below.

Horses have always been one of the artist’s greatest loves. Dawn grew up riding, having been taught by her father at so young an age that she can’t remember learning. The horse has been the favorite subject for her art since she first picked up a pencil. This bronze plaque commemorates two beloved horses, Candy and Paycheck, who have been part of Dawn’s family since they were seven. Candy is now 21, Paycheck 19. They enjoy roaming the Seniors’ rugged land around the cabin, and still like to be ridden among the Cedar Breaks.

Candy is a gentle, muscular, not-very-tall quarter horse, great for working cattle in her younger days, and still prone to a harmless crowhop or two when the spirit moves her. From the moment she saw Candy, Dawn has felt a special kinship with this horse, a true soul mate. When traveling on artist-in-schools residencies, Dawn often dreams of Candy at night. Eerily, when she next talks to her family back home, they often describe what the horses were doing -- exactly what they were doing in her dream. Dawn has never fallen off this trustworthy mare (except once when Candy tripped over a sagebrush at full gallop and fell -- neither horse nor rider much the worse). Indeed, Candy has only one bad habit -- she’s been known to roll in a deep, soft snowdrift with the surprised Dawn still in the saddle!

Contact us to order this animal sculpture bronze plaque.

Candy loves children and women, happy to give visiting family and friends a ride. She takes more time to warm up to men, and Dawn can tell by that suspicion, and by the fact that Candy blows up when anyone approaches her with anything resembling a strap, that in Candy’s impressionable youth some man beat her severely with a strap. Why anyone would mistreat such a sensitive creature is beyond understanding. One of the first things that Dawn learned about Candy is that if she balks, it’s for a good reason -- usually that she is hurt in some subtle way not immediately apparent, such as a stone-bruised hoof or a strained tendon. Before Dawn bought her, Candy was used as a roping horse, heeling calves in arena events. She was also trained as a reining horse, so another thing Dawn had to learn was not to yell “Whoa!” at a gallop unless she was braced so as not to go flying over Candy’s head as she plowed to an abrupt stop! Candy also won numerous horse shows in her youth. But best of all she likes to work cattle, and throws her normal caution to the winds when catching a cow is in question. She will jump a wide, brimming irrigation ditch to head off a cow, run hell-bent-for-leather through rough sagebrush to get in perfect roping position (whether Dawn wants her in that position or not!), or will quietly meander through a herd sorting cow-calf pairs.

You couldn’t find much more of a contrast than Dawn’s other long-time pal, Paycheck. Paycheck is a tall and regal foxtrotter, born in Missouri and brought to Wyoming in his youth, where he was trained as a wrangling mount on a large horse ranch. Dawn picked him out from the herd of dozens of horses for sale. He was NOT for sale, but she loved him so much that the owners relented, and she trailered him the three hours home. At first, since he’d never been ridden in Cedar Breaks terrain, he spooked at large, weird-shaped boulders, at coyotes rustling through brush, at the sudden sight of a prairie dog hole in the trail. He would spin so fast that Dawn flew out of her little trail saddle numerous times -- once to land on her hands and knees in the middle of a prickly-pear patch. She traded in her saddle for an Aussie model, the knee pads of which kept her securely in place when Paycheck spun. This gave him so much confidence that he soon quit spooking, and Dawn had many delightful fast foxtrots up and down the steep, rocky ravines and ridges which Paycheck traversed with untiring power and unerringly sure feet. He’s a great forest horse, as well, able to negotiate deadfall, steep trails and dense timber.

Paycheck, however, is not the gentle soul that Candy is. He is a dominant herd boss, used to getting his own way, so it takes a firm hand to ride him. He has his own idea about where to go, and veers from the rider’s chosen trail, this way and that, until she convinces him otherwise. He is a great roundup horse because he can cover a lot of territory finding and gathering the scattered cattle. But he’s not very good for the cattle drive because he gets so impatient with the slow-paced herd that he shoves the cows in the rump with his nose!

Candy and Paycheck, two genuine western horses with heart, beauty, and personality to spare!

If you would like more information on our artwork or would like to place an order, email Moonhorse Art Studio or call us 307.327.5381. We look forward to hearing from you!