Page 15 - 28 September 2012

"American Horse Gallery" celebrates the versatility of the American Quarter Horse, and is one of Harding's most popular images.
a Fortuitous GiFt
In the late 1970s Ginny married jockey Larry Harding and they moved to Washington. In 1980 they added a son, Trapper, to the family. Around that time, a picture she drew of a friend’s horse and presented as a gift led to that friend volunteering her to create some year-end awards.
“It scared me to death,” said Ginny, who other than high school, had no formal art training. But she had two little kids to provide for, so she accepted. “I bought every colored pencil I could find, experimented with blending, and did the awards,” she said.
Hoping that she could develop her talent into a career, she struggled with how to get her name out, and in 1985, decided to draw a series of the 12 horses that had won the Champion of Champions. “That race was Millie Vessels’ baby,” Ginny said. “I didn’t warn her at all; I packed up the kids and the pictures and took them to her office, and she loved them. She purchased them and had a calendar printed with them.” That calendar raised Ginny on the race-industry radar and became the catalyst for new commissions.
While her business grew, Ginny drove a school bus for 13 years. But when driving started interfering with her artwork and she realized she made as much selling her wares at the Ruidoso Select Yearling Sale as she made all year driving
Harding called receiving the Mildred Vessels Special Achievement Award in 2006 “a highlight of my life!”
SPEEDHORSE, September 28, 2012 15
American Horse Gallery
Courtesy Ginny Harding Ginny Harding