Exhibited: Breckenridge Gallery, CO
Private collection
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My thanks to the purchasers of this oil.
 
This painting is a tribute to the pony I had as a child...a Choctaw pony that I embarrassingly named "Apache." As John Fusco writes, "The Choctaw Indian Pony is a rare strain of colonial Spanish Mustang brought to the New World in 1540, by Hernando De Soto looking for the gold in the “Seven Cities of Cibolo”. Native Americans , never having seen a horse , referred to the mustangs as “Spirit Dogs” and the spirit dogs became a major part of the tribes  ‘culture and spirituality’. This diminutive Spanish pony became an integral part of the lives of Native American tribes Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, Seminole, and Cherokee of the Southeastern United States." 
 
Today, Choctaw Ponies are rare but survive on private farms. Their popularity increasing, breed enthusiasts are making an effort to increase the numbers of this beautiful, gentle little horse