This great little museum in Morristown, NJ, is featuring an equestrian art exhibit complete with special events, movies and more. Horseplay: A History of Equestrian Sports in New Jersey began on October 7 and runs through January 3, 2010.
Horseplay includes more than 150 works of fine and decorative art, including paintings, prints, photographs, historical documents, sculpture, gaming trophies, fine china, costumes, and riding accessories from equestrian sports. The works of art in the exhibition are on loan from New Jersey private and public collections. The U.S. Equestrian Federation, Freehold Raceway, Monmouth Park, Far Hills Race Meeting Association, Essex Fox Hounds and Spring Valley Fox Hounds are all participating lenders in the event.
Horseplay is the first exhibition, in an area museum, dedicated to horses and the equestrian sporting life. The horse and equestrian sports have been a subject of interest in New Jersey for centuries and continue to be a focal point for many residents, ranging from riders to raceway visitors, horse farm owners and Olympic athletes (the U.S. Equestrian Team is headquartered in Gladstone).
Reflecting the horse’s importance, New Jersey’s founders included an image of a horse in the State Seal, and New Jersey has honored the horse by designating it the State Animal. The history of northern New Jersey’s development is deeply intertwined with equestrian sports, as the families who built area mansions developed their estates to accommodate their interest in polo, foxhunting and thoroughbred horseracing. In the 21st century, New Jersey equestrians play an important role in the preservation of the state’s precious open space.
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