Love of horses comes through in illustration
FOXBURG, Clarion County — A lifelong love of horses set Winter Hall of Emlenton on a path to get one of her favorite jockey’s autograph on a charcoal portrait she’d drawn of him. And she may have found her calling in the process.
Hall’s story began this past summer when she drew a portrait of jockey Mario Gutierrez riding the colt I’ll Have Another on their way to winning the Kentucky Derby.
She entered the charcoal illustration into the Youth Paintings & Drawings competition for teenagers at the Butler Farm Show. She won first prize.
The Allegheny-Clarion Valley High School sophomore, 15, took the illustration to school in September to show her art teacher, Anita Allen. Allen was similarly impressed and showcased the drawing at the school’s open house.
That’s when Scott Austin, Hall’s U.S. Cultures teacher, asked her to get the jockey’s autograph as a challenge. Hall accepted.
Though her first efforts to contact Gutierrez failed, she didn’t give up. Instead, Hall sent an e-mail to the horse’s trainer, Doug O’Neill, whose name she knew from watching horse races on television.
O’Neill sent her the address of their barn at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Arcadia, Calif. When Gutierrez returned from an out-of-town trip, he signed the portrait for her.
Subsequently, it was displayed at the barn before it was returned to her.
Hall has decided she’d like to be a jockey herself. Although most jockeys are born into jockey families, she hopes to learn the trade by attending the North American Racing Academy in Lexington, Ky., a professional jockey school.
Hall still has her illustration. It’s in her bedroom, framed and waiting to be hung.
