Chalk Painted Horse

I love horses and incorporating anything equestrian into decorating, so I could not pass up this old horse statue with three broken legs.  I picked it up off a table at a yard sale and before I could say anything the woman said, "you can just have that."  I would have paid at least a dollar for it, but it is always nice to get something for free!

I glued and clamped all the broken legs and filled the cracks with wood filler before painting.

 I wanted the horse to have an aged finish and antique look.  First, I painted it with Graphite Chalk Paint and then I mixed Old White with water to make a wash and painted it over the Graphite.  I left the hooves dark brown for a little contrast with the Graphite.  I applied Annie Sloan clear and dark wax over the paint to finish up the aged patina.

It was really funny because the weekend I set the horse on display at Loot a woman came in that looked really familiar, but I could not place her, until she mentioned that she just got rid of a horse almost exactly like that one.  I instantly recognized her as the woman from the yard sale and she could not believe that was her horse because the legs were not broken anymore.  I explained how I had performed the horse surgery and repaired the broken legs. 

The horse sold that same day to a young girl decorating her bedroom.  She picked up the horse as soon as she saw it and would not put it down until her mom agreed to buy it for her.  

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