Christmas or Birthday Gifts for the Horse Lover

I have been having so much fun buying horse-themed art from artists on Facebook, that I thought I’d share my top picks with you. Along with some other horse-themed gifts for whenever you need to buy for a horse-lover, or yourself! Hang on for a visual feast and lots of really unique gift ideas…
 

Zuzanna Rajchert Equestrian Art

Zuzanna Rajchert is part of our community of Horse Listeners here on the blog. If you’ve been here for any length of time, you’ve probably seen one of her honest and open comments on any number of blog posts. Her thoughtful comments made me click through to her Facebook page, which is where I discovered she is an excellent equine artist!

So aside from custom portraiture on paper or canvas, she will also hand paint up to 8 images of your horses or animals on a set of wooden coasters (sealed with varnish) – my favorite, since I use coasters all the time – or a wooden keepsake or jewellery box.

wooden-box-zuzanna
Your horse’s portrait on a wooden box (c) Zuzanna Rajchert

I always have at least two coasters on my night table for my water glass and herbal tea, so I ordered a set from her, but couldn’t decide which photos were best! Instead I just sent her about 15 of my favorite shots and told her to choose. Unfortunately, I don’t have any good photos of the coasters she made me yet, but even from these 2 basic photos, you can see how she has captured the essence of my horses:

Zorra & Jax - hand painted on wood (c) Zuzanna Rajchert
Zorra & Jax – hand painted on wood (c) Zuzanna Rajchert
Audelina & Baby Juno - hand painted on wood (c) Zuzanna Rajchert
Audelina & Baby Juno – hand painted on wood (c) Zuzanna Rajchert

As Zuzanna lives in Poland – which has a much lower cost of living than Canada or the U.S., her prices are very affordable! Eight individually hand painted wooden coasters cost only $40, plus about $20 shipping to North America. The UK would likely be cheaper shipping.

If you’re leaning towards a jewellery or keepsake box, Zuza says, “The size of the box can be what you like, I don’t make them but we have wide range here of nice wooden boxes to choose. I will show you the pic and you will chose which one you like, then I order it and in few days I can start painting them.”

You can see more examples, or message Zuza through her facebook page. She is located in Warsaw and ships worldwide.
 

Sacred Medicine Ponies

Those of you who follow our Listen To Your Horse Facebook page, know that I have always appreciated Denise Milledge’s colored pencil equine art:

Denise Milledge at work on an equine portrait
Denise Milledge at work on an equine portrait

However, when she posted pictures of her newest soft sculpture wall art – Sacred Medicine Ponies – I simply had to have one! Then after I ordered this one:

Sacred Medicine Pony - soft sculpture wall art (c) Denise Milledge
Sacred Medicine Pony – soft sculpture wall art (c) Denise Milledge

Denise posted a picture of this one and guess what? Oh yes, I had to have this one too!:

Sacred Medicine Pony - soft sculpture wall art (c) Denise Milledge
Sacred Medicine Pony – soft sculpture wall art (c) Denise Milledge

I’m still trying to decide whether to keep both or give one to a special someone for Christmas… and I haven’t even shown them to my daughter yet, because I know what will happen then! You can hang these directly on the wall, or have them mounted in a shadow box.

Currently, Denise’s medicine pony soft sculptures sell for $85 each and her equine portraits (colored pencils on paper) start at $150 for an 8″x10″.

You can view more art or contact Denise through her facebook page, or Etsy store. She is located in California and ships worldwide.
 

Wild Apothecary

Okay, I’ve included these because I can’t think of anyone who’s a horse lover, who’s not also a nature lover!

And herbalist Amy Dadachanji’s elegant watercolors are just so dang beautiful! This is someone who intimately understands both the medicine and beauty of plants. I ordered 2 boxes of the greeting cards – one for me and one for a Christmas gift for my mum. I ask you, have you ever seen anyone render a leaf quite like this?:

Begonia fusca by Amy Dadachanji
Begonia fusca watercolor by Amy Dadachanji

And her work with color is equally gorgeous:

Abutilon 'Orange Hot Lava' by Amy Dadachanji
Abutilon ‘Orange Hot Lava’ watercolor by Amy Dadachanji

A box of greeting cards is 20 pounds (about $25) and prints start at 40 pounds (about $50).

You can order original artwork, prints, or greeting cards via her website or Etsy store. Amy lives in the UK and ships worldwide.
 

Horse Hair Jewellery

Chances are, we’ve all seen examples of bracelets or key chains made from horse’s hair on Facebook and if you’re not sure what style or item you want, the fastest way to browse the various items and styles is to go to Etsy and type horse hair jewellery into the search box. There are currently 809 bracelet designs, 145 types of earrings and 398 necklaces – how’s that for choice?!

So I’m just going to show you two of my favorites here…

Silver Leather Studio

Katie Cox’s designs caught my eye because she’s more edgy and arty than most. I also love that she incorporates stones into her work:

Silver Leather Studio - Katie Cox
Horsehair with Turquoise, Tiger Eye charm and .925 sterling silver by Katie Cox

So you can not only send Katie your horse’s hair, you can also include a favorite rock or gemstone that you want incorporated (or she can provide one). She does really interesting things with purse decorations and pendants too. I’ll be ordering a bracelet just as soon as I can decide which of my stones I want to accompany the hair from each of my horse’s tails – so I have all 5 together in one bracelet.

Bracelet’s cost around $65 and you can order from Katie’s facebook page, or Etsy store. She is located in Florida and ships worldwide.

Tails of Adornment

If you like a cleaner, classic look, then Kate Johnson’s work is meticulous. I particularly love this choker design of hers:

Kate Johnson design - choker or bracelet; your choice
Horsehair with sterling silver charm by Kate Johnson design – choker or bracelet; your choice

And she’s excellent at doing complex braid patterns in pendants and bracelets. Bracelets start at $60.

Kate is located in Western Australia but ships worldwide, albeit with this disclaimer: “The Australian customs are not keen on hair coming via post from overseas but I have had hair from New Zealand, United States and the UK arrive with no problem. Although all hair sent to me to date has arrived I do need to let people know that there is a possibility that it could be confiscated. If the hair is clean it has a better chance of passing inspection.”
 

Dorota Kudyba Digital Art Portraits

Dorota takes a photo of your horse (or you and your horse) and turns it into a magical scene. She then emails you the digital file and you can get it printed on canvas or paper to hang in your home. Some people order a themed image (like Christmas) and then print up a bunch of Christmas cards. I may do this for next year as I send a gift along with a card to every one of my health store customers every Christmas – usually I put my own artwork on the card, but wouldn’t they be surprised to get a fantasy portrait of my herd – wot fun!

Custom digital art horse portrait - Dorota Kudyba
Custom digital art horse portrait – Dorota Kudyba

You can discuss with her the kind of scene you want her to create around your horse(s) and any symbology you want incorporated. All you need to supply is the photograph of your horse in the pose you want:

Custom digital art portrait - Dorota Kudyba
Custom digital art horse portrait – Dorota Kudyba

Dorota lives in Poland and charges only $45 for one of her magical creations. You can order from her facebook page.

If you want something more than a print or painting – perhaps you want a cellphone case, duvet cover, or throw pillow – you can order Dorota’s artwork printed on a variety of products from her online store.

iPhone Case - Dorota Kudyba
iPhone Case – Dorota Kudyba

Now let’s finish out this horse-themed gift list with something cheap and cheerful (less than $10), yet perfect for the horse lover…
 

Amazon Horse Pillows

I stumbled across these by accident – I can’t even remember what I was searching for! But I was surprised at the quality – a nice cotton/linen blend with some really beautiful images.

Cotton/linen throw pillow on Amazon.com
Cotton/linen throw pillow on Amazon.com

This is one of my favorite ones, but if you scroll down to the section, Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed, you will see a selection of similar throw pillows with various styles of art to choose from:

amazon-horse-pillows

If you’ve purchased some equine-themed art or gift you’re really pleased with, please let us know about it in the Comments below – and upload a photo or example of the item too please!

Christmas or Birthday Gifts for the Horse Lover

3 thoughts on “Christmas or Birthday Gifts for the Horse Lover

  • December 10, 2016 at 3:11 pm
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    Wow Jini, what a lovely way to support the community! There are so many transcendent artists, healers, teachers in this group. It’s lovely to share one another’s’ work. There are so many ways to give voice to the mojo that we’re called to channel.

    Reply
  • December 21, 2016 at 8:37 am
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    OMG! What a wonderful feeling to view these glorious creative pieces! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you! I am loving this and will decide which and what to order. I am an artist and find there are just not enough hours in the day to do everything you dream of doing…hence, my horse is named Dreamer : ) Thank you Jini and Happy Holidays.

    Reply
    • December 21, 2016 at 10:34 am
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      Oh Susan, someday I will get to Anguilla! How long have you lived there? And is the paint/pinto in your photos yours? You should upload a shot here for everyone to see… Actually, there are some surprisingly well-bred horses in your photos (surprising for the Caribbean) is that the British influence and/or wealthy residents?

      Reply

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