It takes many years of patient training before a horse is considered a finished bridle horse in the vaquero tradition of horsemanship. Collection occurs when a horse's center of gravity is shifted backward. Energy is directed in a more horizontal trajectory with less forward movement. In this colored pencil painting, I wanted to capture the strength and elegance of this quarter horse in collected motion wearing his traditional vaquero headstall and spade bit.

This piece is a 14 x 11 colored pencil painting done on gessoed hardboard. It is varnished and because of that, framed in an ornate dark brown wooden frame without the need for glass.