FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
SIDELINES OCTOBER 2014 69
Barbara Wright
and Vic
“Furioso” – acrylic on gallery wrap canvas – 2.5 x 4
“Gives Praise” —
acrylic on gallery
wrap canvas,
3 x 3 — from
the “13 Original
Clan Mothers”
series of Native
American
matriarchs,
based on the
book by Jamie
Sams.
introduction was as a rescue volunteer in Colorado Springs,
Colorado, during the peak of the PMU (Pregnant Mares’ Urine)
farm controversy.
Barbara instantly fell in love with horses and acquired two
locally that needed homes. She then adopted a PMU foal and,
shortly after that, went to an auction to buy more foals but adopted
a former Arabian halter champion named Victoor (Vic) instead.
After rescuing multiple horses, Barbara began her own rescue
operation in 2002 called Harmony HorseWorks, a 501(c)(3)
nonprofit in Conifer, Colorado. She later shifted in 2010 from
rescuing to providing a sanctuary (and permanent home) for a
herd that she uses in several therapy and riding programs offered
at Harmony HorseWorks.
She had no idea how much her new equine sanctuary would
impact her art. “When I started the horse rescue, I realized I had
all of these wonderful models in my backyard. I studied them
every day and it became clear that they were the perfect example
of straight lines and curves. As an artist, you tend to paint what’s
in front of you and that’s what I did,” recalls Barbara.
Barbara is a self-taught equine artist in the realistic tradition
who aims to portray the horse as it is physically conformed as well
as capture the personality and breed traits that help make each
individual horse unique. “I try to get the personality in the painting
so it’s not just a generic Quarter Horse or Thoroughbred because
they do have such distinct personalities,” said Barbara.
Vic, the “spokeshorse” for Harmony HorseWorks, is featured
as Barbara’s main subject in many large-format acrylic paintings
in “A Horse In Art,” a series of 22 paintings in which Vic pays
homage to a number of his favorite artists and their well-known
works that have also inspired Barbara throughout the years. This
exhibit, which debuted in 2010, is available as a complete show
to any interested venues and can be viewed online on YouTube.
Barbara also accepts commissions for equine portraits and
paints other current or former Harmony HorseWorks sanctuary
residents of all breeds. While mostly finding inspiration for her
paintings in her equine friends at Harmony HorseWorks, Barbara
was also inspired to paint a series of portraits of Native American
women based on the book “The 13 Original Clan Mothers” by
Native American spiritual teacher Jamie Sams.
In order to keep up with the needs of the sanctuary and its herd,
Barbara donates all of the earnings from her art sales to Harmony
HorseWorks. In addition, the volunteers help run the sanctuary,
which is fueled by donations from the compassionate public.
Among her accomplishments as an artist, Barbara is credited as
the inventor of Equine Stress Control Therapy (ESCT), a method of
de-spooking horses using bilateral brain integration with bilateral
body tapping with the hand or a vibrating bilateral pulser. She also
teaches Equestrian Performance Coaching (EPC) based on the
PEAT (Primordial Energy Activation and Transcendence) energy
psychology, modified for the horse/human riding relationship.
This coaching technique helps bring fearful riders back to feeling
confident and comfortable around horses.
