Giddyup! Can you spot new horses in downtown Ogden herd?
Artist Sherry Ferrin painted the new Trail to Pioneer Days horse in downtown Ogden for McKay- Dee Hospital. The horse, which was completed this spring, was the fourth one that Ferrin has painted.
Sherry Ferrin painted the new Trail to Pioneer Days horse for McKay-Dee Hospital in downtown Ogden. The horse, which was completed this spring, was the third one that Ferrin has painted.
Sherry Ferrin spent three weeks stripping the old design off the horse and repainting the new image in acrylics. Ferrin had previously painted the McKay-Dee horse to celebrate the hospital's 100th anniversary.
Sherry Ferrin painted the new Trail to Pioneer Days horse in downtown Ogden for McKay-Dee Hospital. The horse, which was completed this spring, was the fourth one that Ferrin has painted.
“Adventure in Silhouettes” by Sherry Ferrin.
“Pepsi”
“Taco” by artist Stephen Henry.
“Horsesaurus” by artist Wendy Dimick.
“Indian Summer” by artist McCall Takos.
OGDEN — Hot days, nights under the stars, farmer’s markets and baseball all signal summer.
But in Ogden, one other thing signals the best of summer and that’s the unveiling of the painted horses that line Historic 25th Street and Washington Boulevard in the lead-up to the Pioneer Days Rodeo at Pioneer Stadium.
The horses were unveiled the last week of June when the Ogden Farmer’s Market got its start and chances are you may have driven around the streets to find your favorite decorated animal.
The horse statues, now approximately 57 in number, were the brainchild of Desiree Larsen, one of the executive members of Ogden’s Pioneer Days. Dave Halverson, the Ogden Pioneer Days rodeo director, said Larsen wanted to have the horses line Washington Boulevard leading to the rodeo stadium, 668 17th St., in honor of the 75th anniversary of Ogden Pioneer Days.
That was seven years ago — and The Trail to Pioneer Days herd has kept growing.
Where are they? Find Ogden’s painted horses with our locator map at www.standard.net.
“We were only going to do it for maybe two years, but after they came out people loved them so much it has gotten to be much bigger,” Halverson said. “When you start something like this you don’t know how it’s going to turn out, but the caliber of talent that came forward when we asked for artists was just unbelievable and so was the response. Downtown loves the horses.”
One of those artists is Sherry Ferrin who has now painted four horses for the project. Her newest horse was added this year — the Intermountain Horse on the corner of 23rd Street and Kiesel Avenue, in the middle of The Junction complex.
Ferrin painted McKay-Day Hospital on the horse, a building she said deserves the recognition.
Ferrin has raised her family in Ogden and said she has a deep love for her city, so she didn’t hesitate when she was asked to jump on board with the horse project. Her other creations, a carousel horse in front of Megaplex Theaters and the Mayor’s Horse, in front of the Ogden City offices, were all “labors of love” for her.
Her fourth horse, a horse she did for RAMP, is one she hasn’t been able to find yet this year. It is a well-loved horse for her because she painted it with the help of her grandchildren.
“That one is a mystery,” she said about its location.
The Intermountain Horse is an animal Ferrin re-designed this year. She and her husband had to sand it down with a belt sander four times, along with applying three coats of primer before she could even start working on the animal. Because of the shiny finish on the horses, Ferrin admits it’s pretty difficult to touch up and to re-do them, but she said she knows it’s worth it in the end.
Halverson said a few years ago Ogden Pioneer Days asked the city to assist with some of the elements of the project like storage and putting the horses out on the streets. He said it is a huge project to move the horses around because of the weight of the bases they stand on.
“They were more than happy and generous about getting involved,” he said.
The original plan was to create 75 horses total for the Ogden streets, both Ferrin and Halverson said, but how that will happen or when isn’t known right now. Halverson said the committee tries to add five to seven horses every year, but this year there may only be three new ones: Ferrin’s Intermountain Horse, along with a new Pepsi Horse, which is right outside the Ogden Amphitheater, and a Ben Lomond Hotel Horse, which may make its appearance later this month.
The horses usually have a sponsor from a local business or group and Halverson has been impressed with the support and donations. He said they have tried to have local Ogden-based artists do the work, for which they are paid.
Ferrin said some outside artists have created horses as well, but for the most part it’s an Ogden-made project.
“It should be. We have so much wonderful local talent here of people who love Ogden,” she said.
Ferrin has done work in the garage where the horses are stored, but has done a lot of work on the horses right in their locations on the streets. That’s usually where she does all the touch-ups.
She said she paints the faces on her horses first.
“They are real to me, and I like them to have a face so we can talk while I work,” Ferrin said with a laugh.
She paints different faces on her animals to give them their own personalities.
“Most of the artists who paint them think they’re real,” she added.
Ferrin said she will often go downtown and polish her horses up after a rainstorm. “I feel the need to take care of them,” she said.
One of the fun parts of the yearly tradition is that the horses all move around to different locations. Debra Brunson of Ogden said on Facebook, in response to a query about the horses, that she enjoys discovering them as she turns the corners in Ogden each summer.
“There are too many to have a favorite. Some are my favorites due to color schemes, some because of their patterns, some because of the logo,” Brunson said.
Dee Dee Castle of Ogden said she always takes friends and family downtown when they come to visit because they like seeing the horses. Ogden resident Ryan Wilcox said he is a fan of the Raptors Horse and watches to see where it will turn up each year.
Both Halverson and Ferrin said they know people like finding their favorite horses. Some years, horses have to spend time in the garage being repaired and don’t make it out on the streets. And Ferrin also pointed out that people need to treat the horses with tender loving care.
“We know people love the horses, and love to touch them and pet them, but we ask that they please don’t ride them,” Ferrin said.
The horses are made of fiberglass and can’t withstand the weight of someone sitting on them. A beloved horse covered with candy bars had all of its legs broken last year when someone sat on it, she said.
What Ferrin wants people to know most of all is that artists who paint the horses do it with much care and passion.
“It is just a project of love,” Ferrin said.
Halverson said plans are in the works to create an app for smartphones that will let people find the horses and learn the history of each one.
“We don’t know when that will happen, but there are plans in the works,” he said.