Ron Hill “the horse carver”
A highly realistic team of draft horses at left; race horses, titled “Spring Break”, at far right.
Ron Hill, at top centre, with one of his early sculptures; below, figures are outlined on
basswood before carving. The carving and finishing method is described in the video below.
Ron Hill, of Somerville NB, calls himself “the horse carver” and knows their anatomy intimately after many years spent blacksmithing and horse-shoeing. Hill joined the air force in the early 1950s (on a dare following a night of partying in Halifax, he says) and retired 15 years later only to begin a new career as a blacksmith in Ontario.
Much later, access to the racetracks coupled with his natural ability to carve led to many specially commissioned wood pieces over the years, principally through word-of-mouth when he was working in Florida. Locally, he has participated in Paint the Heartland, had a major exhibition at the L.P. Fisher Library and currently offers his sculpture at the Creek Village Gallery in downtown Woodstock.
You’ve been around horses and horse people for decades, Ron. How about a few highlights?
After leaving the air force, my wife and I bought a farm in Ontario ─ fifteen acres ─ and worked it as a rest centre for horses. Race horses get sour, tired of doing the same thing every day, so we’d freshen them up a bit. It was quite lucrative and we had fifty-five stalls. Some years later, we’d winter in Florida and I shoed at Canadian stables there for the best part of twenty years.
Are there still a lot of blacksmiths around?
I only made horse shoes for a few years, never here. But I shoed in Fredericton and Saint John and today there are maybe half-a-dozen horse-shoers, as opposed to blacksmiths, here in Carleton County.
After being close to horses for so many years, once I retired, I discovered that I had a natural ability. I use basswood which is easy to carve, forgiving and doesn’t split or splinter. (See video below.)
Your first piece, you say, was a cougar. But now you carve only horses?
I like doing horses mostly but I will do bulls, cows or donkeys. Donkeys are a good seller.
Your carvings are quite remarkable and very realistic. Did you ever train for this craft?
I did spend some time at a workshop in Wyoming with a noted artist, John Kittleson, whose work sells for $5000 and up to $10,000.
I recently saw one of his carvings for sale online and it was very expensive. Do you price your works based on your time or love of the craft?
A single horse takes about two weeks to carve but a team could take me two months. I might sell that for $400 so I’m not really making any money based on my time. Actually I gave a piece to the Mounties last spring and it’s now on display at their HQ in Fredericton.
How do you like living here in horse country?
I fell in love with New Brunswick when I honeymooned here in 1957. It might have been a simpler life then but I still like to see horses in action. Look around the crowd at a horse pull ─ you can tell who was raised on a farm by the look on their faces. And horse people recognize each other. Maybe it’s the smell. (Laughs)
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