1Ernesto

The Equestrian

This powerful equestrian monument photo is the result of three days of photographing. This particular photo offered a helicopter and the bird on the horses head...
Read more

This powerful equestrian monument photo is the result of three days of photographing. This particular photo offered a helicopter and the bird on the horses head, in all giving this chance photo a once in a lifetime moment of capture. It fits my sense of humor that the horse Helicon looks like he is rearing up because the copter is scaring him.
John Sherrill Houser and his son Ethan Taliesin Houser assisted his father on The Equestrian (AKA Don Juan de Oñate). This monument, 36-feet high (three stories high), is the nation’s largest bronze equestrian statue and cost only $1.2 million. It was cast in Mexico City and installed in front of the El Paso International Airport on April 27, 2007. To be sure, the monument to "Don Juan de Oñate, Pathfinder of the Southwest 1598," is an impressive one.
The horse used as a model for the sculpture is a Texas stallion named Helicon. (Helicon means "Mountain of the Muses") Beyond the historical accuracy, Helicon a mixed composition of Pegasus, the legendary Greek winged horse, and the Andalusian horses (Pure Spanish Horse ‘Pura Raza Española’) is a symbol that condenses, a regional identity rooted in an idealized Spanish Empire and centered in El Paso City.
The Last Conquistador, an hour-long PBS documentary produced by John Valadez and Cristina Ibarra, featuring the artist and the controversy surrounding Don Juan de Oñate’s treatment of Native Americans was shown nationally on POVTV, July 15, 2008.

Read less