When I first went to the Slade Art School - summer school course, one of the first things my tutor advised was ‘Tom – don’t do horses’. It was the best advice she could have given.

By that stage, I had spent 12 years working in horse racing, and I had drawn and painted hundreds of horses. They were my go-to subject, and when I got to college I didn’t know where else to start, but the challenge she gave me was just what I needed.

Time has passed since then, and a few years ago I thought it was appropriate to re-visit this subject. As suggested above, I had spent many years working  with horses – as a stable lad, a few rides as a jockey, I’d evented and team chased, and I’d worked in Ireland, the UK, Australia and America with horses, and having drawn and painted many of them, I wanted to explore this subject through the sculptural language I have developed.

Caballo Bebedor II is one of the results of re-visiting the subject. This version is made in copper, and sits on a marine grade stainless steel base.