And only an hour away from home, too-- the city of Ogden, the best kept secret in Utah. No crowds, no traffic, not a destination spot. But for us, it's our new favorite place.
I was going nuts seeing these horses, naming them, taking pictures, petting their darling noses. Like this pale one -- so cute I just wanted to take him home with me. Look at that sweet face! I named him Cute Horse, not very original but he was just too cute to be named anything else:
What do you think of Money Horse? Not my favorite because it seemed embarrassing for poor Money Horse to have dollar bills painted all over him, but still, it's a clever idea.
There are so many more, I didn't get pictures of them all. But you must see Dinosaur Horse!
And then I love this one that looks so noble and grand and majestic--
It has our nation's founders-- Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, John Quincy Adams and two more I can't remember. It's very cool and probably my favorite.
Most tourists to Utah will see Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Zion's National Park, the Bingham Copper Mine, Park City, Moab and the Arches, the Great Salt Lake-- there is more to see in this great state than one could imagine-- but don't forget an out of the way place called Downtown Ogden, where the painted horses are waiting.
These are great! This summer in Toronto we had decorated pianos around the city - but I didn't get a chance to take any pics. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteAndrea, Painted pianos would be lovely! What a fabulous idea, especially if they're real and people walking around downtown could sit and play. I love seeing things that cities do to attract visitors.
DeleteThis is just great Karen - WOW - this is something I would love to see. We were at a spot where they painted designs on every fire hydrant in town, which was cute, however, horses are amongst my fav and these are just marvelous. What a great find. Beautiful photos and much thanks for tour. Cheers n have a nice day :)
ReplyDeleteSaucyKod, Horses are my first true love which probably explains my enthusiasm LOL.
DeleteLove the horses! I may have to visit Ogden someday to see them up close.
ReplyDeleteGood choice of subject matter for your 400th post! Congrats. :)
Linda, You remembered! That's awesome and makes me like you even more.
DeleteLOVE those horses. Think I'll take a spray paint can to my own farm horses. Would sure make our farm store customers smile!
ReplyDeleteDonna, And you could paint your cows and pigs, too! Think they'd stand still for it?
DeleteDinosaur Horse is the BEST!! I love these horses!!! How creative!! Yay! Take care
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Kitty, I didn't even post the best shot, which was a huge toothy dinosaur grin on his face. So very cool!
DeleteWhat an amazing tour of Odgen. We need more whimsy like this in our cities. Thanks for the great fun this morning!
ReplyDeleteIn Calgary where I'm from, we have lots of painted cows. Similar concept. I think those horses are beautiful. Glad you found a new town.
ReplyDeleteHi. Congrats on the 400 mark! (And I suspect you're going to delete the above comment. I've seen it somewhere before!!)
ReplyDeleteIt's been long ago and far away since I was in Ogden, at Weber College for a speech meet when I was in high school. Oh, and once with my first husband who was considering teaching at Weber. No horses anywhere at the time. What an amazing tourist attraction! I can't say which horse I like best. They're all awesome.
Ann Best, Memoir Author
Ann, Downtown Ogden has so many cool features. I love that they're doing things to bring in visitors. (Not sure how that weird spam comment got through! It was so obviously spam.)
DeleteI got the same anonymous comment on my blog today also. He must be attacking Blogger blogs. It didn't turn up on my wordpress. Strange things out there. I'll go for the "weird" horses!
DeleteLoved the pictures! Looks like a great place to have a fun day. Would this be post 400? :)
ReplyDeleteSiv, Yes this is the Big 4-0-0. Funny, because I've never even noticed or acknowledged number of blog posts before. I just happened to see it the other day so why not celebrate, right?
DeleteFrom an artist's POV these are AWESOME! What a treasure. I LOVE places like Ogden... Off the beaten track but so wonderful when discovered.
ReplyDeleteLast year when I was driving from Montreal to Quebec City, I managed to somehow get of the interstate and wound up on a local road that traveled through EVERY adorable and charming town on the St. Lawrence river. As I drove into each town, a lonely spire of the local church pierced the sky, with only cottages, decorated in multiple flowered window boxes, dotted the landscape. Truly amazing. I was never so happy to be lost!
Oh, my. Your 400th post is colorful and riding high. Thank you for taking us to Ogden.
ReplyDeletei love these--the beach where we like to go has painted horses too :)
ReplyDeleteThese horses are so cool!
ReplyDeletewww.modernworld4.blogspot.com
A town near here has painted turtles, which are really cute and whimsical, but not nearly as majestic looking as horses.
ReplyDeleteHappy 400th, dear lady.
I never knew those were there!
ReplyDeleteWhat a cool place! Those horses are amazing:). I'm from Cincinnati-we have painted pigs all over the place--I'm not joking! Seeing thos beautiful horses makes me feel like we're lacking something. Pigs just don't compare.
ReplyDeleteI love those horses. I can't think of anything quite like it here in the UK.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures of the horses.
ReplyDeleteA city in our area has horse statues scattered along the blocks--they're fascinating to look at, aren't they?
So creative! I remember when they did this in Chicago w/ cows. All the art adds great fun to a city.
ReplyDeleteSomeone is waiting just for you
ReplyDeletespinning wheel is spinning true
Drop all your troubles, by the river side
Catch a painted pony
On the spinning wheel ride.
~ David Clayton-Thomas, "Spinning Wheel"
Glad to hear you had fun horsin' around, in Ogden. Was it anything like Ogden Nash (he of the "Song of the Open Road")?
Rob, The tune to Spinning Wheel is spinning through my head! I know that song so well but never once thought of it even among all those painted ponies.
DeleteI love finding quiet, out of the way spots like this. Dublin's full of them, if you know where to look.
ReplyDeletePaul, Oh good because when Bruce and I go to Dublin we want you to show us around.
DeleteYou're on! :-D
DeleteOh! Those painted horses. My MIL used to travel to the southwest quite a bit, and she loves them. So I started getting her one of the small models of them every year for Christmas. Gorgeous~
ReplyDeleteThe horses are amazing! Love them! There are some other cities that also have horses like this. Different art on them, but also great.
ReplyDeleteI think the president's horse is my favorite too. Though the dino one is pretty cool...
ReplyDeleteOur local city did this with cows. They ran contests to be allowed to decorate one and then they had contests where you walked around the city and found them all.
ReplyDeleteWhat a delightful place, Karen! I love to make those discoveries too. Those horses are amazing.
ReplyDeleteIt's been fun hearing about the other painted items cities are featuring: pianos, pigs, cows, moose, fire hydrants. I love to see cities being creative in their efforts to attract visitors to the downtown areas. (and away from Walmart LOL)
ReplyDeleteI love sculpture. Painted horses are magnificent!!! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteMonti
I have actually been to Ogden, oh yes I have! :) No painted horses when I was there, sadly.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely novel thing to decorate a street and get attention! Just fabulous!
ReplyDeleteProbably a little embarrassing for Lincoln, too, being so close to the arse and all...
ReplyDeleteOh! How I misses seeing this? Lovely!
ReplyDeleteNas
My crit partner and I went to a conference a while back in Ogden. I think we spent hours driving around finding all the horses. They are so cool!
ReplyDeleteHope you had a great summer Karen!
Amazing horses. I really want the horse with the dinosaur for my front yard. I wonder if my neighbors would make me move?
ReplyDeleteI'd love to live in that sort of town. Hello Karen. I love horses so much so your post is right up my ally. Just today I was thinking I should buy some horse prints after watching secretariat for the upteenth time.
ReplyDeleteWow, so this is your 400th post? Congratulations!
ReplyDeleteI did a book signing in Ogden back in... I think it was 2007. It was lovely and the people were lovely too! I had such a good time. I was just in Utah this June too for my birthday, visiting a lovely temple in Spanish Fork. Utah's one of my favourite states.
Jai
Know I posted here earlier this week, but wanted to stop by to tell you something: Loved your comment over at C. Lee's blog this morning! Seriously, I wish we could have more discussion on what publishers are, what they offer, and how they differ.
ReplyDeleteBasically, I think there's been so much change, so quickly, that authors are in a prime (not good, though) position to be taken advantage of. Part of that just comes from not having all of the information. Comments like yours help clarify things a bit.
I agree 100% that indie doesn't mean the same thing it did 5 years ago (maybe even last year lol). Anyway, appreciate the thought you put into your response. Also hope there'll be more publishers, agents, etc. work to help define the different legit avenues for an author to get their work out there. :)
E.J., Lee also emailed about that comment and thanked me for it. Clearly it's an important issue that, although addressed often in various writer blogs, still is hampered with false information and constant changes. I think what bothers me the most is companies that are self-publishing services yet call themselves publishers, and use all the correct lingo like "submissions, contract, editing, marketing, book design" and then voila, author must PAY to get their book out. But by the time poor author gets the whole story, their rights are tied up and they are stuck.
DeleteTotally agree. Not that I think paying for publication is some kind of a sin or scam--that's part of the legit entrepreneurial side of the business now, I think--it's just that I think author's need to be able to understand what they're getting into upfront.
DeleteI'm giving you a shout-out on my blog this weekend, btw. :-)
It looks like they've got a lot of untapped creativity in Ogden. ;)
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