ANDALUSIANS EN ESPAÑA, 2001

Here are some images from our previous class at Hacienda Dos Olivos, and a description of just one day of the workshop:

We will visit the Real Escuela Andaluz del Arte Ecuestre, or Royal Andalusian School of Equestrian Art and its famous Carthusian horses. We will first visit the beautiful grounds of this famous school, founded by Alvaro Domecq in 1973 on the grounds of El Recreo de las Cadenas Palace, surrounded by gardens designed in the second half of the 19th Century by Garnier, to observe the students exercising their mounts, and watch as the horses are prepared and groomed for their performance. After visiting the museum and gift shop, we will enter the main arena for a thrilling show of Equine Ballet, the  Symphony on Horseback, that, while somewhat less refined than the Lipizzaner Stallions, is more passionate, as befits the Spanish.

A short walk will take us to our Hotel for the evening, the Royal Sherry Park Hotel, for lunch.

After Breakfast in the Hotel, we will have free time until meeting at 10 a.m. for to be transported to the Yeguada de la Cartuja for a look at Spain's national breeding farm of the Cartusian horse. Here we will see carriages and buggies pulled by beautiful, full-maned Andalusian horses in full harness. We will have an opportunity to visit the mares, colts and stallions in their boxes and pens, prior to entering the large, glass enclosed arena, where we will be entertained in Royal style by a breath-taking display of the finest of La Raza Pura, the pure Spanish bred horse.

Caballeros in fine costume will put their fine steeds through their paces, displaying their talents, fiery but gentle nature, and regal bearing. The brood mares, tethered neck to neck in a line known as the "Cobra", will respond to the slightest command, while turning, reversing and pivoting with precision in a series of movements designed to show them to their best advantage, in a group, for prospective breeders.

This noble line, extending back, uninterrupted, to a time before Columbus, was originally the product of Cartusian Monks, whose monastery we will pass on the way to the Yeguada.

Following the show, we will visit the museum and shop of the Yeguada, for a chance to bring home books, videos, and fine apparel, all related to the Andalusian horse.

Next, we move to the lovely and serene HACIENDA DOS OLIVOS, just outside Sevilla where we will be greeted by the lovely owner, Johanna Beattie Batista, and her team of Classical Dressage Instructors, and fine Pure Blood Spanish Horses. Home cooked meals by the Spanish cook, and side trips to other horse facilities and shopping and sightseeing will round out our stay, along with more painting and photography instruction.

http://www.haciendadosolivos.es/home.htm

A painter with a contemporary eye and a traditional hand, John Farnsworth has been a full time artist for over forty years. His works are in  private and corporate collections here and abroad.. He has worked in acrylic, oil, and watercolor using only the primaries since 1978. His subjects range from people to places, from still-life to horses. He is represented by ZForrest Galleries in Tubac, Arizona, Adagio Galleries in Palm Springs, California, and by the La Posada de Santa Fe Gallery Collection.

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