Annie's Life Around Horses 

In my current life, I am mainly in Manhattan and travel to Long Island on weekends, soaking up landscapes and the creatures in them. Sometimes I've been farther afield, as proved by the nearly finished painting of eight teenage Chincoteague fillies photographed last May in Virginia. 

Detail of unfinished Chincoteague fillies

Closer to home, I like to follow the Smithtown Hunt, the oldest and only remaining hunt club on Long Island, which encourages spectators; we're called hilltoppers, and follow the hunt on foot and by car to locations in open land and woods from which we can see the field of hounds and riders [www.smithtownhunt.org ].  Though there are still plenty of foxes on Long Island, these are drag hunts; the hounds follow a scent laid by a pink-coated "fox" carrying a spray can of stinky fox-urine scent to lay a trail through fields and woods.  At the end of the ride, the hounds are fed and returned to their kennel to rest.  Members of fox-hunts are generally allied with the cause of preservation of open land.  They like horses and dogs, and the point is a rapid ride in cool weather and the company of fellow riders and the noisy pack of foxhounds.

Fillies source photo is in my June 2013 newsletter.

This month's video is a brilliant evocation by Julianna Fricchione of this year's Opening Day of the Smithtown Hunt, held on the grounds of the SUNY Old Westbury campus in Nassau County several weeks ago.  What she has captured is not only the pageantry of the spectacle and excitement of the hounds, the horses, and riders as they enjoy a good run, but also aspects of how my creative process is stimulated by the events and sights of the hunt.  This is another painting derived from previous hunts.

Hunters on a Rise, oil

Smithtown Hunt, Opening Day 2013. An Artist's View

This past weekend Daniel and I attended a hunter-pace gathering at Asharoken, near Northport. This is an event in which riders compete in teams over a course of jumps and varied terrain, attempting to cover the course accurately in the shortest time. No hounds, just horses and riders. The site, adjoining Long Island Sound, is stunning; I'm looking forward to creating another batch of paintings. 

Hunter-Pace event at Asharoken