I live in Lexington, KY, which has it’s share of impressive horse sculpture.  But this sculpture/fountain in Irving, Texas is the largest equestrian sculture in the world.  It is called The Mustangs of Las Colinas and it consists of nine mustangs running across a granite stream at Williams Square Plaza.

From the website at mustangsoflascolinas.com:

Robert Glen was given the assignment to create the mustang sculpture in the summer of 1976. He was asked to create a band of mustangs crossing a stream of water in the middle of the plaza proportioned so that they could be viewed from any direction.

Glen spent a year of research preliminary to starting the actual sculpturing process. He read books and historical periodicals to fully understand the background of these magnificent animals that were brought to the American continents from Spain and which sired the original wild horses of Texas and the western United States.

Glen constructed a number of small scale model horses in various positions and movements reflecting the mood and motion of the concept that had been given him. Modeling was done in plasticine, considered an improved material over clay for this type of work, to facilitate greater detailing.

Glen used a mixture of fiberglass and resin in which to cast a lightweight yet durable model that would endure the trip from Nairobi to England. The fiberglass maquettes were cleaned and prepared for shipment to England. Each fiberglass intermediate size maquette was crated and shipped by air from Nairobi to the Morris Singer Foundry at Basingstoke, England, about an hour’s drive from central London. Periodically, Glen flew to England and spent several months at a time in the foundry where the final process of creating the 1 1/2 life-size model was begun, using the intermediate size maquette as a scaling and measurement guide.

The Morris Singer Foundry, whose heritage includes the casting of public monuments around the world such as the famed Lions of London’s Trafalgar Square, is one of the oldest continuing sculpture foundries in the world. Founded in 1848 by John Webb Singer, utilizing British, French, and Belgian artisans, it was merged in 1927 with the Morris Art Bronze Foundry and in 1973 with the Paris sculpture foundry, Susse Fondeure S.A.

The bronze casting process itself was completed on November 10, 1981. The London firm of Evan Cook was engaged to prepare the bronze sculptures for shipment to Texas. They were transported to Heathrow Airport outside London. Upon arrival at Dallas-Fort Worth Airport the cargo of mustangs was unloaded from the plane and brought overland to Las Colinas.

Finally, on September 25, 1984, the sculpture was in place and the plaza was open for the public to inspect and enjoy. Assembled together were the nine bronze mustangs, forming the largest equestrian sculpture in the world. The centerpiece of the plaza, the Mustangs of Las Colinas, shall be a lasting memorial to the vanguard of the civilization of Texas.