June is one of my favorite months of the year. There is always so much to look forward to, such as the annual Upperville Colt & Horse Show. I’m excited about attending this week, not only to see the hunter and jumper events, but also the sidesaddle and the harness classes. New this year is Art Under the Oaks, a juried art show of Piedmont equestrian and sporting life, which I’m particularly looking forward to checking out.
The image I’m including here is a pastel portrait I did several years ago of a Friesian team based upon a photograph I took at the Upperville show. I’ll have my camera with me again, hoping to get some good shots that will make references for paintings. I have a whole series in mind…
This oiled pastel series includes scenes from House Key, as well. In fact, this pair of Friesians inspired the scene in Chapter 36, Debutante Ball, in which we first observe Tobias stalking the unsuspecting Emaline:
“[…] Tobias no longer heard him. The phaeton he so anxiously awaited finally came into view.
He recognized the great black horses immediately. The Greigston Manor stables won the driving competition every year since the Upperville Colt Club began hosting the competition in the northern part of the county several years ago.”
That would have been 1853. The Upperville Colt & Horse Show has run continuously ever since, except for a brief and inevitable hiatus during the Civil War. The scene referenced above takes us right to the moment when the Civil War irrevocably changes Emaline’s life and the role the fine Greigston Manor harness horses have in it…
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