There’s A New Horse In Town

Richard Randall (left) and Janice Griffith of Old Trails Museum stand with artist Jeff Trujillo and his carousel horse.

Griffith said the most enjoyable part of having the chest-high carving is the expression on kids’ faces when the round the corner to come face to face with the horse. “They aren’t expecting it,” she said.

She also enjoys the surprise she often sees when she tells visitors a local man made the horse not a factory.

“It’s amazing that he not only has the talent to create this but the generosity to donate it to the museum,” Griffith said. She added that a large number of the museum’s visitors have asked if the horse is for sale.

Trujillo priced the horse at $5,000 if he ever decided to sell it. He added with a chuckle that he has about 300 small ones at his home if someone wanted to buy one of those.

Trujillo said he began making the smaller horses, which stand about 8 to 10 inches high and sell for about $800, in 1987 after a trip to Disneyland with his grandchildren inspired him. He said he noticed similar horses in a shop window at “The Happiest Place on Earth,” and said, “Hey, I can do that.”

The horses are not carved from one piece of wood, but are put together, much like a puzzle. Trujillo said he builds the main body first and then adds the legs, head and tail. He makes his horses out of basswood, an easy to work with wood that is just as easy for Trujillo to get since his brother-in-law’s farm has an abundance of the wood at no cost.

Trujillo largest horse stands 58” tall and 62” long and has a very patriotic theme to it. Each horse he creates depicts a different time period or use, evident in the different type of saddle on the animal.

The longest part of the creative process is the detailing of each horse. Several of them have very intricate designs, including captured rabbits posed on the back of the horse, such as the museum’s horse.

“It takes more time (to detail them) than to carve the horse,” he said.

He added that he gets some help during the painting stage from his son, John Trujillo, who is a “starving” artist.

Griffith said that for a long time she asked Trujillo to make the museum a horse so they could display what he could do. Finally, one day, he informed her that her horse was almost done. His carving entered the museum during this past summer and Trujillo said they could keep it as long as they want it.

The horse, which stands about chest high, comes equipped with a stand and wheels to make moving it around easy.

The sad part of the story is that the horse has no name. Griffith invites everyone to come by the museum and suggest a name for the handsome piece of art.

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