This is a portrait of my daughter's horse, "Tardy Racer". He was an American Quarter horse and the winningest pleasure horse in Germany. My daughter and he took German Meistershaft in 1998, 1999 and the few shows he did enter early in 2000.. He was put down in the summer of 2000 due to Navicular. It broke her heart as he was a real friend and companion. His personality was so wonderful. As a gift for her, I took some pictures on his last day and came up with this portrait of the "Big Red Beastie" that would show his gentle nature and his willing spirit. Up until he died, he was in such pain but would try to walk , jump around and play and follow her around. His sweet nature and his willing heart will always be remembered each time she looks at this painting of her best friend in the world. He cannot be replaced and will always be remembered by everyone who had the chance to sit on his back or watch him in his graceful jog around the show arena from the tiniest child who he adored to the elderly who wanted to sit on a horse just this one last time while they could. . This was painted in the fall of 2000 and was done in as realisticly as I could render him. It was a Christmas present and has been exhibited all over Germany at horse shows and other equine ebents and has never failed to garner praise and comments. This is an oil on a gallery wrapped canvas and to achieve the depth of color, I used glaze over glaze. In person each coat of glazing gives his coat an almost transparent look. The highlights in his coat really stand out. I just has to paint him and I am so happy with the results. This painting has brought me many commissions for quine portraits that now hang in private collections.