Baluarte

Every champion needs a horse worth its weight in gold.

In eleventh century Spain, Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar rode into legend as El Cid, the Campeador. The champion. The horses of that story were baroque Iberian warriors, bred for courage, collection and the kind of heart. Holding the line when everything around it crumbles.

Baluarte is that horse.

His name means bulwark, a impenetrable wall. But the meaning I love most is the older, human one. A defender. The one who stands up for a person, a principle or a cause, and cannot be moved from it.

He is caught in passage, neck arched, head tossing, every muscle loaded and ready. He is not waiting for the battle or the parade. He is asking for it. That tucked head is on purpose. It is the moment of collection right before the explosion, a champion holding all that power together because he knows exactly what he is capable of.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎
The Making of Baluarte

Baluarte spent 13 years in the Bin of Abandoned Souls.

I started him in 2013, my first real go with Magic Sculpt. It was the brown version, because that's what the taxidermy store had on hand. I fell in love with that putty and still use it nearly every day. The horse was another story. He never felt quite right. I wanted heroic, and I knew I didn't have the skills yet to get him there. So into the bin he went. He always held a special place in my heart, and his spirit kept itching at the corners of my mind. Some of it found its way into Fireheart, who came after him.

[Photo: the original brown putty body and head]

He finally came out of the bin because my Khrysalis Club members chose him. When we voted during a club hangout, he was clearly the one everyone was excited about. Something about his spirit resonated with them the same way it always had with me.

Most of him is resculpted. One small patch of the original brown putty survives on his back, right where the saddle would sit. He carries a piece of 2013 into the finished sculpture.

His heroic presence comes from the great equestrian monuments, especially the bronze of El Cid in Burgos, and from centuries of baroque war horse portraits. El Cid was known as el Campeador, the Champion, and Baluarte is built to be the champion's horse. I wanted that larger-than-life presence in a model you can hold in your hands. The thick crested neck, the heavy flowing mane, and the round, powerful hindquarters of the baroque Andalusian type are all made to carry a hero into history.

The neck and face were what had to be right. The neck needed just the right arch and tension to show off his head toss, a horse eager to show his stuff without being held back by a bit. His face needed to be bold and courageous, never angry or afraid. He's a prancing warhorse rather than a textbook passage: forward, but up and collected, and full of power and energy.

From the Bin of Abandoned Souls to a hero's welcome from collectors around the world. He was worth the wait.

⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎⁎
Limited to 100 pieces in Small Traditional scale.

Each Baluarte is cast by me here at Khrysalis Studios in Alberta, Canada, in artist-grade polyurethane resin and available unpainted, ready for your own artistic inspiration or your favorite artist. Every piece arrives with an embedded NFC chip, registered to the Khrysalis Studios authenticity registry so his story follows him forever. With the quick read of a smartphone, his certificate of authenticity and all his details pop up at your convenience. Easily pull up all the details from his name, story or edition number.

Stand for something. Ride with a champion.