Page 24 - February 2007 The Game

24 The Game, February 2007 Canada’s Thoroughbred Racing Newspaper
Sculptor Hugh Moorhead: How Horses Are Carving Out His Career
The tiny town of Priceville is about 160 kilometres northwest of the finish line at Woodbine racetrack. Down a gravel road, in a house he built himself, 40 year old Hugh Moorhead pro- duces horse sculptures that are just starting to get noticed.
Far from the energy and pollution of the city, Moorhead lives an almost Spartan existence. The world’s neatest woodpile strikes an aesthetic pose in his backyard. He pumps water from a cistern to wash his dishes. His toilet has no flush handle; it’s a compost recycler. His computer, a recent addition, is dial-up.
His work, though, is clearly that of a skilled and inspired artist. He shows me a stunning near-white carving of a horse’s head. The nostrils are flared and the tongue is hanging humorously to the side.
“This is limestone,” he tells me, “The stone is for higher end customers. The limestone is nice to work with.”
I admire the personality in the carving and Moorhead says he wants to deviate from the typical horse art work that tends to emphasize the grandeur and majesty of the beast.
“I find a lot of the horse art is
very sort of airy and fancy,” he
says, “It’s almost like they’re
doing unicorns, very gracefully
posed. I want to represent the
horse as an animal; get the eyes, get the nose, get the muscle. They’re so much bigger than we are, so much more elegant. They’re incredible animals.”
Before he began creating wooden and stone equine masterpieces, Moorhead was carving mice. He shows me a triactor of adorable little mice candle holders. Even his tiny rodents seem to have Disney-like character.
Moorhead has only recently discovered that thoroughbred lovers are interested in his work. When he first began carving horses, around the year 2000, his market was mostly at the harness tracks.
“I started out at Hanover Raceway,” he says, “I set up a booth at Hanover with my wooden carvings and I was able to talk to a lot of trainers. The older guys would tell
you, ‘the harness isn’t right or the pacing isn’t quite right or the trotting should look like this’. So I got a great education that way listening to those people.”
For the last few years, Moorhead has found a growing market for his wonderful carvings of harness horses with their drivers. Moorhead estimates he makes about 100 of these a year. He sells them to the tracks and they retail for about $160.
Recently, though, he is receiving interest from the thoroughbred side and enjoys carving runners and jockeys. From photographs provided, he will accurately replicate the horse’s markings and the owner’s colours.
“When Wando won the Triple Crown in 2003, Woodbine asked me to carve two Wandos,” he says, “It was Patrick Husbands who was the rider, but I don’t
know if they went to him or not. I also did the Bucephelus trophy for Longrun on behalf of the estate of Steve Stavros.”
On a wall of Moorhead’s cozy cottage is a huge horse’s head, just bursting with energy and charisma. He can’t tell me how long it took to make because it was a personal project and he fashioned it, on and off, in and amongst other projects. It’s a dazzler, filling the wall with humour and energy, yet when I ask him what he calls it, he gives the kind of look you might see on the face of a first-time bettor trying to handicap a 14-horse field of maidens.
“I don’t name any of my works,” says Moorhead shyly. So this one is just wooden horse on the wall, the limestone work is horse’s head in limestone. He has a gorgeous piece that he’s carved out of serpentine. It too has no name, but once
you see it, the image sure sticks in your mind.
“Serpentine is in the family of soapstone, but a bit harder,” Moorhead says, referring to the deep black of this horse’s impressive head. “It’s sort of halfway between marble and soapstone. This is a horse getting a bath - you know how they curl their lips up? I sold it to a guy in Georgetown for $1,200.”
One of Moorhead’s favourite works is a majestic black carving of the Norfolk Roadster. The Norfolk Roadster is considered a foundation sire for standardbred horses.
“It was a horse that was made for highway traffic,” he says. “It was a fast horse that could carry a fair amount of weight and he was very tough.”
All of Moorhead’s work carries a reasonable price. Any person wishing a customized carving reproducing the horse’s colouring along with a jockey and precise replication of the silks would probably pay less than $200. Moorhead says he can keep his costs low, partly because of his own modest overhead and also because of the nature of the industry.
“I’ve got to compete with a lot of plastics and a lot of imports from China,” he says, “People are prepared to pay more for something that’s hand-
made, but only to a certain point. I have to be pretty flexible with the price. I’ve got to be very reasonable.”
While I spent an hour or so up close with several of Hugh Moorhead’s original works, a gorgeous white cat wandered around my legs, asking for attention. I stroked his head and he flopped over on his side and grabbed my hand gently with his paws.
“What’s the cat’s name?” I asked.
“Uh, I haven’t given him one,” replied Moorhead sheepishly, “I just call him white cat.”
So, if you’re interested in buying a unique horse carving from the guy who sculpts, you can contact Hugh at: Hugh Moorhead: 573271 Boot Jack Rd. RR#1 Priceville 519-924-1465. hughmoorhead@sympatico.ca
Photos Clockwise from top left: Horse and jockey;
Hugh works on his next realistic horse's head;The Norfolk Roadster;
Harness racing set by Hugh Moorhead; Serpentine Horse's head; Hugh posing with his wooden horse's head; Soapstone horse' s head; Harness Horse & Driver; Middle Photo: Hugh with his perfect woodpile
Brother Derek Third in 2007 his Opener
2006 Kentucky Derby competitor, Brother Derek, finished third in his first
start of 2007 in the G2 $200,000 San Fernando Breeders’ Cup Stakes at Santa Anita Park on January 13, 2007. Owned by Canadian Cecil Peacock of Alberta and trained by U.S. based trainer Dan Hendricks, Brother Derek was a length and a half behind the winner Awesome Gem, with a neck separating him from second place finisher Midnight Lute. Marta Racing Stable owned, Halo Steven, a stakes winner at Northlands in Alberta and the
2006 BC Derby Winner at Hastings was fifth in the race.
Did You Know....
That 22 luxury packages will be offered by Churchill Downs for this year’s running of the Kentucky Derby. The Win package selling for $25,000 includes two tickets on
Millionaires’ Row on both Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby days, catering, hotel accommodations, limousine service, two tickets to the Barnstable Brown party, and a tour of the Churchill stable area on the morning of the Oaks. The Place package is worth $15,000 and includes two tickets to a third floor clubhouse box (both days) hotel, lim- ousine, and two tickets to the Kentucky Derby winners’ party. The Show package for $4000 includes two tickets to a first floor clubhouse box for the Derby and Oaks, an on-site parking pass, and two tickets to the Derby post position draw.