Video of Sandra Beaulieu and her Horses wins at the Equus Film Festival

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"Horses give me the opportunity
to develop my trust in life
and tap into the creative
powers of my soul."
                               - Sandra Beaulieu

I hope you enjoy this creative video put together by my talented friend Ashley Mancuso of Ash Equine Productions. Everything in my life is intertwined, the dressage, liberty training, performing, and Art on Horseback. Each avenue offers a unique way for me to connect with my horses and explore my creativity. I hope that my journey can inspire others to pursue their dreams, no matter how different they might seem.

This video won the Art - Mini category at the Equus Film Festival in 2018!

Sandra Beaulieu - Art on Horseback Live Painting Demo Benefits Equine Assisted Psychotherapy Program in Maine

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Photo credit: Sun Journal reporter Daryn Slover

Photo credit: Sun Journal reporter Daryn Slover

Rovandio and I performed a live painting demo at the Healing Through Horses Professional's Expo held in New Gloucester, ME. 100% of the money raised from the sale of this painting went to Healing Through Horses. It is a non-profit organization that offers equine assisted psychotherapy (EAP). 

This was a memorable experience for me, since it was the first time my mother and grandmother were able to watch me paint in person. I also used my new art easel that was creatively built by my husband. We only had 40 minutes to create a painting from start to finish, with all the extra distractions that come with performing. It was a challenge to figure out all the logistics and I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my friends Elisha Harvey, Holly Baily, Taylor Burdin, and Sarah Kach.

“In the zen of the moment, living, breathing art, brush stroke upon brush stroke, hoofbeat upon hoofbeat. The horse forms the artist, the artist forms the horse, flowing, living, breathing art.”
— Bethanne Ragaglia

Congratulations Holly Bailey for winning the online auction for this painting! 100% of the sale went to Healing Through Horses towards their program and updating their facilities. Holly is one of my close friends in Tallahassee, FL. We had a lovely presentation dinner at Backwoods Crossing for Holly and her family and friends. She is now the proud owner of an Art on Horseback painting.

Sandra Beaulieu - Art on Horseback Featured in the Sun Journal Newspaper

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Lovely article about our (Sandra Beaulieu & Rovandio) live art performance at the Healing Through Horses professional expo in New Gloucester, ME. The beautiful photos were taken by reporter Daryn Slover for the Sun Journal. This was our first outing with the new easel my husband built for me. I was very pleased! It is almost 9 feet tall but much easier to transport than my other easel, which I had to leave behind in Florida. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Photo Credit: Daryn Slover of the Sun Journal NewspaperArt on Horseback with Sandra Beaulieu and Rovandio

Photo Credit: Daryn Slover of the Sun Journal Newspaper
Art on Horseback with Sandra Beaulieu and Rovandio

Rovandio was a rockstar as usual. He is the most reliable performance horse I have ever ridden. He knows when he has an audience and completely tunes into me. I don't have to worry about him getting nervous like I do with Douwe. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Photo Credit: Daryn Slover of the Sun Journal NewspaperSarah Kaech, Taylor Burdin, and artist Sandra Beaulieu

Photo Credit: Daryn Slover of the Sun Journal Newspaper
Sarah Kaech, Taylor Burdin, and artist Sandra Beaulieu

The finished painting is available to purchase, with 100% of the purchase price going to Healing Through Horses. Healing Through Horses is a 501c3, oranization offering counseling services that involve Equine Assisted Psychotherapy (EAP) in New Gloucester, Maine. Their mission is to help individuals, families and groups overcome life’s challenges by safely partnering with the gentle disposition and compassionate power of horses. Email me at beginthedance@gmail.com if you are interested in this painting. 

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Sandra beaulieu and taylor burdin hold the finished painting before it is signed.

Sandra beaulieu and taylor burdin hold the finished painting before it is signed.

Sandra Beaulieu - Art on Horseback Live Painting Demo Benefits Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation Ranch

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Photo credit: Kimberly Chason of chason photos & art

Photo credit: Kimberly Chason of chason photos & art

Rovandio and I performed a live painting demo at the "Have a Heart" fundraiser to benefit the Equine Rescue and Rehabilitation Ranch (Triple R) of Tallahassee, FL. All money raised from the auctioned painting went to the Triple R organization. Triple R is a 100% volunteer organization that rescues abused, neglected, troubled, and abandoned equines and rehabs, retrains, and re-homes (or retires) them "in an environment of well-being and trust". Click here to read more about them.

Congratulations to Kathryn Gladwell for placing the winning bid! I got to know Kathryn over the winter months in Tallahassee, FL and I am so pleased that this painting is in her hands. 

This was a special experience for me since it was the first time Rovandio and I have painted before a live audience. We only had 45 minutes to create a painting from start to finish, with all the extra distractions that come with performing. It was a challenge to figure out all the logistics and I couldn't have done it without the help and support of my close friend Marsha Sapp. Thank you Marsha!

“In the zen of the moment, living, breathing art, brush stroke upon brush stroke, hoofbeat upon hoofbeat. The horse forms the artist, the artist forms the horse, flowing, living, breathing art.”
— Bethanne Ragaglia
photo credit: kimberly chason of chason photos & art

photo credit: kimberly chason of chason photos & art

Related Articles:

Guest artist on #EquineArtHour- Join me for a Twitter chat!

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I have been asked to be a guest artist on the #EquineArtHour Twitter chat this coming Sunday, December 20th at 4:00-5:00pm. Join me in the Twitter chat, ask questions about horses, art, performing, training, anything you feel like! It will be fun! 

Join me on Twitter at: https://twitter.com/BegintheDance

Join the Twitter chat: https://twitter.com/EquineArtHour  

EquineArtHour was created by Shya Beth, an equine artist that shares her passion on her blog The Flying Shetlands. Growing daily, The Flying Shetlands has new articles every Tuesday and Friday. She is also the found of the first ever #EquineArtHour on Twitter for equine artists along with art and equine enthusiasts to share their work and interact with each other for an hour every Sunday, 4-5 pm. 

View her blog at: https://theflyingshetlands.wordpress.com/

"Sway" Routine at the Elysium Sport Ponies Open House

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"Other dancers may be on the floor
Dear, but my eyes will see only you
Only you have that magic technique
When we sway I go weak
I go weak..."

                                              - lyrics from Sway by the Pussycat Dolls

This video was taken at the Elysium Sport Ponies Open House November, 2015. I was SO happy with this routine! As some of you know, I was injured the week before and wasn't able to practice. I decided last minute to ride to the song "Sway", one of my favorite songs that I performed to with Rovandio at the Equine Affaire last year. I knew the transitions of the music inside and out, and it has a fun, playful vibe. Enjoy our dance routine and please share with anyone else that would appreciate it. Thanks!

Art on Horseback & Baroque Horse Art featured on equine art blog The Flying Shetlands!

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I wanted to share this equine art blog that recently shared my work. The Flying Shetlands blog was created by a young woman named Shya who is an aspiring artist and horse enthusiast. She started blogging at age 13! I think it is wonderful to see someone so young sharing their passion with the world. She has almost 100 artists featured on her blog including amazing photographers like Sabine Peters from Germany,  sculptures like Gustavo Aceves, and painters including Tony O'Connor. I wish her all the best and I want everyone to send her blog some love!  

https://theflyingshetlands.wordpress.com/

Click on the image to read her blog post about equine photographer Sabine Peters. 

Click on the image to read her blog post about equine photographer Sabine Peters. 

Click here to read Shya's blog post about equine sculpture Gustavo Aceves.

Click here to read Shya's blog post about equine sculpture Gustavo Aceves.

Click here to read her blog post about equine artist Tony O' Connor.

Click here to read her blog post about equine artist Tony O' Connor.

Happy Holidays from Douwe, Rovandio and Sera!

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We did an informal photo shoot with Douwe, Rovandio and our dog Sera for a holiday card. They are a huge part of our family and we wanted to share the holiday spirit with them. 

Rovandio and Sera are good friends! 

Rovandio and Sera are good friends! 

Douwe and Sera posing with the pedestal.

Douwe and Sera posing with the pedestal.

Douwe was a good boy to share his favorite toy, his pedestal, with Sera. 

Douwe was a good boy to share his favorite toy, his pedestal, with Sera. 

Merry Christmas from Sera! She doesn't look too impressed in this photo but it's cute anyway!

Merry Christmas from Sera! She doesn't look too impressed in this photo but it's cute anyway!

Sandra Beaulieu Performs Demos at the 2014 Equine Affaire

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I am so pleased to report that both Douwe and Rovandio did AWESOME in their demos this year! I also had my own booth and was so thankful to have the BEST helpers during the event that not only made everything go smoothly but we had a BLAST, lots of laughs and memories! So here is a daily run through of what we did at the Equine Affaire 2014!

Thursday: Demo at the Youth Pavilion
I schooled both horses in the morning and was really happy that Rovandio had settled in okay and was eating and drinking a lot. This was his first time to the Equine Affaire and only his second time being away from home overnight. Both horses were energetic when I exercised them. Later in the day, Douwe was the featured horse in the Friesian breed spotlight in the Youth Pavilion. He performed many of his tricks including smile, Spanish walk, rear, and standing on the pedestal. He was wonderful! What a ham! Both horses were in the Breed Pavilion to represent the IALHA Booth (International Andalusian Lusitano Horse Assoc.) and the IFSHA (International Friesian Show Horse Assoc.) Booth. Rovy was very tired and mostly just chilled out in the stall but Douwe was a big HAM and smiled for the passing crowds for over two hours! He loved it! Click on a photo for a slideshow and hover over the image for a description.

Friday: the Andalusian Demo
Today was the big day for Rovandio! We had a four-minute time spot in the Andalusian Breed Demo all to ourselves. Originally we were supposed to perform with my friend Lydia who usually dances with us. I thought that would give Rovy more confidence in front of the audience and be more exciting with the veils and dancer. Unfortunately Lydia found out she couldn't make it only days before we left! So I changed songs and made up a simple routine to the song "Sway" from the movie Shall We Dance. I have always loved that song and it matched the Spanish-themed costume I had for Rovy. I tried really hard to get into the Mallory building in the off-hours to let Rovy look at the arena but the schedule was tight and it didn't work out. But, he went into that unfamiliar ring with the big crowd all by himself and was excellent! I was so happy with him and we had a lot of fun performing. We had so many wonderful comments from people about how we were really dancing together and how awesome it was to see a dressage horse being ridden bitless. We were riding in the Beta Bridle by Dr. Cook Bitless Bridle, who generously helped sponsor me at the Equine Affaire. Click on a photo for a slideshow and hover over the image for a description.

Saturday: the Friesian Demo
Douwe's big day! The Friesian Demo! I decided to use our pedestal as a way to help keep him focused if the audience made him nervous. It worked really well because when we first trotted around the arena he was tense and strong. After I had him step onto the pedestal he seemed to be more focused on me and his tricks rather than on spooking at the audience. He was expressive in his Spanish walk, reared a few times, and then I hopped off so that I could ask for the lay down. I am SO happy with him and how he performed throughout the event. Thank you Elisha Harvey for taking a video clip of the demo for me! Click on a photo below for a slideshow and hover over the image for a description.

Thank you to my sponsors!
Dr. Cook Bitless Bridle
They have supported me ever since I started riding Douwe and Rovandio in their bitless bridles. I have used their Beta bridles and the Padded English Leather bridles on both horses and like them both for different reasons. The Beta is easy to clean and is soft right out of the box. The leather bridle is awesome once the high-quality leather breaks in and has a lovely shine. I sell these bridles on my website in the TRAINING section. Click here to see the bridles.

El Sueno Espanol
Lisa Oberman has made two gorgeous bridle & breastcollar sets for me that I have used in two films that my horse has been in, one called Essential Realism and the other Falcyyr. You can read about these films in the Film & TV category on my blog. She is able to make custom bridles for me so I can keep riding them bitless in films and performances. She posts some gorgeous spanish saddles and tack on her Facebook page, click here to follow her.

Aanstadt-Das Deerskin Breeches
I have worn Sonya's deerskin breeches for many years and she recently made a custom pair for the film I am acting in called Falcyyr. To see photos of those breeches click here. I also wore a black pair of full seat deerskin leather breeches in my demos at the Equine Affaire. You can't really see them in most of the photos because I have big skirts on but the breeches kept me comfortable in the saddle. Click here to check out their website.

Thank you to my friends & family at the Equine Affaire!
Without the help of my friends/grooms Elisha Harvey, Sue French and Hannah French I think I would have gone crazy! There was so much to do with a booth and two horses at the event. Elisha does an excellent job trailering my horses to special events and she is also a dressage trainer and does cowboy mounted shooting at her stable Elysium Sport Ponies. Sue French operates Lincoln Pony Pals, lesson barn in Lincoln, ME and her daughter Hannah is an excellent rider and trainer. Having experienced help is so important! I am also very lucky that my mother Peggy and my mother-in-law Bethanne were able to come for the weekend. They helped sell products in my booth and Bethanne had a great time watching her horse Rovandio be in his first big demo at the Equine Affaire! And a big THANK YOU to Danielle Barrasso for letting me stable Douwe and Rovy in her aisle in the C-Barn. She also organized the Friesian Demo and helps me a lot at the event. Thank you to Brenda Hammer for organizing the IALHA booth and I had a great time chatting with her when Rovy was in the breed pavilion. Overall the event was a huge success and I had a great time!
 

Friesian Horse Performs at Liberty with Andalusian ridden by Sandra Beaulieu

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"Follow your dreams.
They know the way."
                                            -Kobi Yamada

This video show highlights from our routine at the 2014 Fall Fun Day held at Elysium Sport Ponies in Dover-Foxcroft, ME. I am riding Rovandio bitless and bareback, with Douwe at liberty. The boys were very good and Douwe got on the pedestal with all 4 feet for the first time performing. He also performed a nice lay down at the end of the routine, while Rovandio stayed perfectly still on the pedestal. Each horse has their own strengths and these two complement each other very well. Enjoy!

Wearing this special shirt tells the world that you LOVE horses and you BELIEVE that riding is a Dance, not a push/pull sport that views the horse as a machine. YOU are a dancer at heart and wearing this shirt will INSPIRE others and remind you why you love the dance. 

Sandra Beaulieu Painting on Horseback

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"In the zen of the moment
living, breathing art
brush stroke upon brush stroke
hoofbeat upon hoofbeat.
The horse forms the artist
the artist forms the horse
flowing, living, breathing art."
                              -Bethanne Ragaglia

Two years ago I was inspired with an idea... a way to combine my two passions, dressage & art. I wondered if it was possible to create a painting from the back of a horse. Hard work, creativity and patience brought my dream into reality! It is so amazing to see the results of a vision come to life. I hope that my journey will inspire others to follow their dreams. This video was made by a small group of amazing interns at the Innovation Center run by the University of Maine. Thank you to Matthew Bullard, Christine Le, Courtney Norman and Jacob Pelkey for their hard work and enthusiasm!

Related Art on Horseback Videos:

Painting for Have a Heart Fundraiser to benefit Triple R Horse Rescue: To learn more about this painting, click here.

Creating a commissioned painting, "Nicole's Dream". To request a commission, email: beginthedance@gmail.com

Originals and more information available at ArtonHorseback.com

(or click the image below)

Sandra Beaulieu Performs at Open House for Elysium Sport Ponies

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We had such a wonderful day at Elysium Sport Ponies open house this past Sunday on June 15th. Elysium is owned by Laurie & Elisha Harvey in Atkinson, ME. The facility includes an indoor arena with attached stalls. It is well set-up and clean with a lot of natural light in the stalls and the arena. Douwe and Rovandio really liked the open stalls so they could visit with each other and see everything that was going on. The demos started in the afternoon followed by a wonderful bar-b-que later in the day.

I rode Rovandio with Lydia Rose Spencer dancing and we did our "Music Box" routine. We added more color to our costumes and glitter to the pedestal to help it stand out more. Rovy was impatient to start but once the music began he was really focused. He loves to have a job! His flying changes were better today and he had a really high rear at the end.

For my final ride I rode Douwe in our "Wings of Isis" routine. Today was the first time I tried doing the routine without a bridle and he was fantastic! He even did his flying changes! Good boy! This was such a fun ride, he was with me the entire time, relaxed and enjoyed performing.

Rovandio and Douwe also did their "Liberty Dance" routine again and today Douwe really wanted to stay on the pedestal. At the Safe Haven demo he really wanted to roll and was distracted away from the pedestal but at Elysium that's all he wanted to do!! He is so funny!

You can see more photos from the event on the Elysium Sport Ponies Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/ElysiumSportPonies

Art on Horseback - First Day Painting on Horseback!

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What an exciting day! In 2012 I was inspired with an idea- a way to combine my two passions, dressage & art, into one. The first painting from horseback day I wanted to get Rovandio, a Lipizzan/Andalusian gelding owned by my mother-in-law, used to the hanging canvas, the table of paints, and the idea of going back and forth in front of the canvas. In addition to basic walk, trot, and canter I also use the piaffe and rein-back to work on the canvas. Rovandio is well-suited for this project because he is compact, smooth to ride, and sensitive. My Friesian gelding, Douwe's stride is too big and he isn't fine-tuned enough for me to do this.

I will be starting my first real painting soon and will be taking plenty of photos & video of the process to share with everyone. I am so excited to bring my vision into reality!

Practicing my brushstrokes while Rovandio does the piaffe.

Practicing my brushstrokes while Rovandio does the piaffe.

Working on my technique with Rovandio at the Spanish walk.

Working on my technique with Rovandio at the Spanish walk.

Done for our first day!!! Can't wait for my next painting session!

Done for our first day!!! Can't wait for my next painting session!

Rovandio's First Time off the Farm!

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Rovandio (aka Rovy) is owned by my mother-in-law, Bethanne Ragaglia. She has owned him since he was young and never needed to trailer him anywhere. This year (2014) I wanted to start taking him to shows with my Friesian gelding, Douwe, and using him for exhibitions. I wanted to make sure that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by the trailer or develop anxiety over the trailering process. My good friend, Elisha Harvey, trailered Douwe and Rovy to her barn, Elysium Sport Ponies, a few miles down the road from where Douwe and Rovy live, for me to see how Rovy would react to being off the property. With grass in his hay net and Douwe by his side we made the short trek to Elysium.

Rovy was a little excited when he unloaded but settled in like he had lived there forever! I was amazed at how well-behaved he was. I wasn't planning to do much with the horses, other than to let them free in the ring and take the time to relax, but within 5 minutes they were ready to do something. We practiced our routine where I ride Rovy and Douwe is at liberty. Elisha and Bethanne took some photos for me; her indoor ring has a lot of light so we were able to get some good shots. It was such a wonderful experience!