Imperial Dominator D. - My Muse

"Spring Green"     casein       6 x 6"

Last Thursday was a sad day for us on Cob Cottage Farm. My 31 year old Tennessee Walking Horse crossed over Rainbow Bridge. We knew he was failing and that we would be facing this moment ....but it is never an easy decision.Imperial Dominator had been my main man for 26 of those years. He came to me a very green, just gelded ,still stallion-y and in need of manners. Dom and I had years of learning...and we bonded and melted into one. Rider and horse...covering miles...always sound and sane. Dom was my main man....my strength and protector. I treasure years of riding with friends, in competitions, for fun and game. Dom could be difficult. There where times when he did NOT want to go into a trailer.....and it was his call when he would eventually load. Other times he would march right on  Life was lived on his terms. He was a thinking horse and often did not think what I wanted to do needing doing. And on occasion his stubbornness saved us from a wrong step, a bad trail...a bad decision on my part. He took care of me. I hauled him to Vermont, Massachusetts, New Hampshire.... where we competed in long distance rides against GAG's ......."Gray Arabian Geldings"......Dom was a black Tennessee Walker gelding....not the right color or breed for endurance races....but we showed them to never underestimate a determined TWH, no matter what his size of color is!! We did well.
Dom was handsome...impressive...and he knew it. But he could be a fool too. He loved opening locked doors, pasture gates, untying ropes. He loved to have his ears scratched, his nose scratched...but hated having his teeth floated. He loved apples, but knew when a pill was hiding in one and would refuse the "poisoned apple". Yes, Dom was a thinking horse.
I miss him so. I have not painted...have not even worked in the studio since his passing. His barn buddies, Victoria , our Welsh Cob mare and Duster, our other TWH gelding, miss him. It is a big loss in all our lives.......but this too will pass. The pain will lessen and sweet memories will soften our sorrow.
Dom is buried on our farm.....but I have to believe that one day I will be with him again in heaven.

Imperial Dominator D.    photo copyright Dodo Knight 1989

After October

The summer hammock is gone.

I enjoy the 'September side' of October.....when the days march forward with the forest cloaked in its ever changing cloak of many colors. Now we are in the 'November side' of October...the forest sits striped of its coat, standing gray and brown. All business and no frivolity suggested, it waits for winter.The yard is cleared of its summer furniture.The old ash tree stands with all its color at its feet, tall and gray, with no hammock swinging in the fall wind.

The reading nook by the garden pond sits empty.

Our  tiny garden pond needs to be emptied of it water-plants, the plants heeled into the empty veggie garden until spring.The weeping cherry is the last to shed it's fall red.....but today is cold and gray, so I enjoy its color from the warmth of the cottage. The sun comes and goes as clouds appear.

Tamaracks stand tall.

When the sun does peep through the gray clouds, a burst of yellow appears behind our barn, the Tamaracks' last song of color.

Addie and Nell cleaning up.

The farrier came and trimmed the four horses hooves. Addie and Nell love to see the farrier coming for a visit. They know that there are treats galore awaiting them on the barn floor after the trims. Smelly treats ...but they love them! Sort of their Halloween treats! The horses are now ready for winter layoff...? I can't say that they had a very busy busy summer.It seems that is their lot in life lately.

One chubby Cob doing what she does best...eating!

The sun is lower in the sky now, the days shorter, nights longer. My days are spent more in the studio now.....and I hope I have more to show for it. An oil painting, on copper substrate, sits on my easel and two casein paintings are being done on my drawing board..... and a watercolor commission awaits. I am busy.



Trevallion Victoria , our Welsh Cob mare, imported from Great Britain as a yearling, is 22 years old now. It is hard to realize that some many years have gone by...I first met Ms Vicky when she was a 3 year old, fresh and not very well behaved. She and her sister, Trevallion Fergie, where paired and then put together in a four in hand driven by Mr Stacy Lloyd of Berryville, VA. I groomed for the Lloyd's each summer as they drove their Cobs on the Carriage Roads of Acadia National Park. The horses were boarded at Wildwood Stable. We drove every day...and Stacy [as he asked me to call him] taught me the intricacies of carriage driving and Auchenbach.....the German discipline of handling the reins of driving horses. That era is past.

Victoria now lives on our small Maine farm and teaches her daughter, Thistle Mead Margaret, how to behave.......in her queenly manner. For me lately , the ages of our horses [ one at 28 yrs, two at 22 years and the youngster coming 5] have made me sad. Time goes so fast..too quickly... but oh, the good memories we have!

When I haven't been thinking so much about the past, I have been busy in the studio...working on updating my website and trying to get an email newsletter written. I have new works done, but haven't uploaded them to my site........... I have started another watercolor of our Ms Maggie. She always inspires me to paint!

Today was cold and windy out..clouds raced across the dark sky and the sun peeked in and out....a taste of what is to come....winter in full gear.....and I spent time painting our barn doors. I know I should have done it earlier when the weather was warm and sunny. The story of my life I guess!!!

GREAT NEWS FROM GERMANY!!!!!!

I just received an update from Germany, where a good friend of ours is competing in the 2008 FEI World Championship for Drivers with Disabilities. Mary Gary is in 3rd place … but all three girls from the USA are “over the moon," and with great reason.
Both Mary and Meghan are driving horses they have only driven 3 times before!! Their ponies [Welsh!] are leased from England. This is exciting for us, as Mary is the driver who has our colt out of our Cob mare ,Victoria. Mary competes here in America with Thistle Mead Lloyds Legacy……Legs was born into my arms on our North Pownal Farm called Thistle Mead Farm. He is full brother to our Maggie. My goodness it is all in the family!!!!

Meghan Benge [ from N.C.] is in 1st Place after dressage with a 41, Diane Kastama [CA] is in 2nd with a 42 and Mary Gray [ME] is in 3rd, putting The TEAM USA in 1st overall.

Go TEAM USA!!!!

This is a photo of Victoria and Fergie ...our Welsh Cob mares...on our old farm in North Pownal.

Trevallion Victoria is on left. What a corker of a pair they were... and they were given to us by a lovely friend years ago!! Seems like yesterday.

And So, Where Is Spring?

According to the calendar it is officially spring. Tell that to the robins who are looking for worms hidden under 3 more inches of the white stuff! And now the wind is starting to blow.

Poor birds!

The above is a quick casein with watercolor and pen and ink thrown in for good measure. I just grabbed what seemed right at the moment. I call it "Part Cob". It is a painting of a driving horse who lived near our farm when we lived in Pownal, Maine. It is available for purchase, but it will not be put on my website.

Study of a Study

Today I started working on a watercolor of a two year old Welsh Cob filly, but first I had to do a quick study in graphite to get my values correct. I love doing quick sketches with definite line and movement. And I have found that there is interest in the purchase of these sketches too.

Tomorrow I will get into the watercolor more, but I am not quick with my watercolor work........actually I am not quick with any medium , except maybe my graphite or charcoal sketches!

Somedays I Feel Like This?

This casein painting has just finished drying. I am calling it "Non-Voluntary Dismount". If you have ever ridden a horse, you know that this is not how you would want to dismount. The photo reference for this was provided by an artist friend who does painting [I have one of her oils!] and photography. Donna Ridgeway and her poet husband live out west......someday soon my husband and I would love to go visit them.

In the mean time...this painting makes me wonder how our 3 year old Welsh Cob filly is doing at "school". Last weekend we took her to a trainer here in Maine, in order that Ms. Maggie could start her growing up phase and become a solid citizen. We hope that she will take to driving like her mother and aunt did.She will also be started under saddle when she is ready....and I am believing for her to be a kind and gentle mare....not like the bucking bronco pictured above!

I am getting too old for many non-voluntary dismounts!

In past years I have enjoyed summers at Acadia, with my husband, driving our Welsh Cob mares. Lazy summer days with the pair trotting down the carriage roads built by Mr. Rockefeller, so that he could enjoy the spectacular views of Mount Desert Island and coastal Maine. If you have horses and haven’t been there, you need to go!!

At Wildwood Stables, where we camped with our horses, I took many shots of the draft horses there that pull the carriages that take the tourists through the carriage roads, so they can get a glimpse of the beauty that hides on these roads forbidden to the automobile. This casein is of one of those big boys, on a respite. I have done several versions of this draft, in different mediums- in casein, watercolor, acrylic, liquid gold, and pastel. Some of those can be seen on my website.

“A Quiet Spot” is the latest version of this gentle giant.