Hasili

I was approached by the Banstead Stud Newmarket to sculpt a bronze of HH The Prince Khalid Abdullah’s famous brood mare Hasili, the dam of Dansili and other prizewinning progeny.

I spent two days working directly from the brood mare in her field whilst talking to the lass who looks after her. This gave me the opportunity to learn about the mare’s character as well as representing her physically. I sculpted a small maquette of her (head and shoulders) whilst in the field with her, armed with plenty of Polos and hot coffee! Simon Mockeridge, the stud manager at the time, my greatest critic, approved the maquette wholeheartedly and so it was back to the studio to start the process the process of enlarging it in clay ready for casting at the foundry.

I wanted to represent her quiet demeanour focusing on the detail on her head, her neck running into her shoulders, where I just let it fade away into nothing. In this way the onlooker doesn’t stop at where the sculpure stops, but sees the rest of the mare in their mind’s eye.

The sculpture is mounted on Portland Stone, complete with names of all of her famous progeny running round the base. The piece is now placed in an area near her foaling box (stable), so she is still connected with Banstead memories.

The final image in this portfolio shows the day of unveiling the bronze sculpture. Hasili herself was introduced to Hasili the bronze. I am glad to say that she took great interest, although she was a little bemused!