Brave Bronco - A Painting Origin Story
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In September of 2020, @witequestrian reached out to me with a story:
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— This handsome gelding was a former bronco horse used for rodeos until he injured his leg and ended up at an auction where @allseatedinabarn found him and attempted to buy his rescue. However, in order to protect the anonymity of his former owner and prevent their reputation from taking a plunge, this gelding was under a contract where he had to be slaughtered. @witequestrian has since dedicated a “Brave Bronco” collection featuring the image of this gelding on various apparel and stationary with all of the proceeds going to @allseatedinabarn
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All Seated in a Barn is a horse and donkey rescue (with the occasional zebras and yaks) out of Bakersfield, California who have bought hundreds of animals from kill pens and provided whatever rehabbing, medical attention, and rehoming needed. Their goal is to not only rescue horses and donkeys from being shipped overseas for slaughter, but to also involve the community (on both local and national levels) in the rescue and rehabilitation of the animals they save. They’re refreshingly transparent about all of the day-to-day, sometimes hour-by-hour, work and care involved in maintaining the well-beings of the rescued animals, as well as the emotional toll of not being able to save them all.
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Then @witequestrian proposed an idea:
— Could I design a painting of this gelding to not only tell his story, but to share his image that represents all of the equine lives lost due to contracts that prevented their opportunity of rescue. Contracts that protected the anonymity of the entities that surrendered them in horrendous conditions. Contracts that prevented any possible future of love and care, even if it’s just 5 minutes of love and kindness before humanely ending their pain.
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A year and a half later, the painting of Brave Bronco is finally complete and ready to share his story.
The collaboration will be LIVE on March 1st, with a portion of sales from the original and prints going to All Seated in a Barn.
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#equinefineart #ledermanartanddesign #allseatedinabarn #witequestrian #rodeo #horserescue