Ruth Soller » Wrangler Amy Zapata Ranch

I'm thrilled to share my figurative western painting Wrangler Amy at Zapata Ranch.  Amy was one of our guides on a three hour trail ride in the alpine meadows, through herds of cattle and along an arroyo. I was inspired by her striking silhouette on the horizon of a rise covered in rabbitbrush and bee balm. Joining fellow artists from across the USA and Canada, we studied horse anatomy by sketching, painting, sculpting from life. Our five days at The Nature Conservancy Zapata Ranch adjoining the Great Sand Dunes National Park were filled with observing wranglers as they brought horses into corrals, saddled horses to be ridden , and ran the rest of the herd back to the pastures. Some visitors assisted with herding, rounding up, and roping longhorn cattle on the 103,000 acre working ranch.