Praise of the Horse, by Christian Renonciat, 1985
This bronze statue marks the entrance of the French institute for higher education of riding instructors and training of national teams, the Ecole Nationale d’Equitation in Saumur-Terrefort. The top instructors constitute the Cadre Noir. The statue shows a regular riding horse without striking features, just as the school has several hundreds of them. Nevertheless this model has an exemplary conformation. The artist has marked the spots on the body where articulations are moving or skin is moving by narrow gaps in the bronze surface. In this way the movements of the horse are highlighted and that hints at the essential work of the school. This horse also resembles a model for artists. The artist has made several other works with horses: Archeval, 1999 (A85, Saumur), Cheval d’Aytré 1989 (Place et Fontaine Publique), Pégase no.2, hommage à Léonard, 1992 (BERD, London), Pégase, renaissant, 1988.
