Stable and Study

Mares, foals, stallions and grooms at the water trough: the horse observed at rest, with no rider to share the frame.

The stable, the study and the anatomical drawing are where the horse stops being a symbol. Stubbs dissected one over eighteen months to make his engravings; Degas modelled them in wax to understand the gait. What survives from this part of the tradition is quieter than the battle pieces and far more useful — it is artists learning the animal rather than deploying it.