by Carla Occaso
Drive along Route 100 in Waitsfield, past a farmstand owned by David Hartshorn, and you’ll see a giant steel horse that appears to be galloping out of the stand’s entrance onto the highway. The horse, nicknamed Spirit by its previous caretaker, is basically on public display until someone claims it for him- or herself.
Crafted by Martin McGowan, a sculptor from Newark, in the Northeast Kingdom, the horse took more than six months to make. McGowan used recycled materials exclusively–mostly disused propane tanks. This is McGowan’s fifth such mighty beast, he said in a telephone interview with The Bridge September 21. The equine sculpture weighs about three tons, he said, and measures 10 to 12 feet long and nine feet high.
What inspires McGowan to sculpt horses? “I’ve always just loved them,” he said. “When I was a kid, I just drew them and drew them, and then I started sculpting them. I think they are amazing animals. I spend a lot of time on them.”
Similar horse sculptures McGowan has made in the past couple of decades have found homes in Grand Junction, Colorado, decorating the entrance of a gated community; in Steamboat, Colorado, at the fittingly named Wild Horse Shopping Plaza; and in private art collections in Philadelphia and a location just outside Philadelphia.
Anyone seeking further information or interest in providing a home for Spirit can reach McGowan at 802-467-9050, by email at martinmcgowansculpture@gmail.com or on the web at mcgowansculpture.com.
