Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.:
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Wesley Dennis’s Palomino
and Other Horses, published by The Macmillan Company in 1940, remains one
of the most luminous tributes ever created to the American horse. The book
feels like a gallery bound between
covers, each page offering a portrait that shines with Dennis’s unmistakable
blend of precision and artistic intuition. It is evident he understands and knows horses. The palomino stands at the center of the collection, but Dennis gives equal reverence
to bays, pintos, sorrels, mustangs, and greys. Each illustration shows the artist’s lifelong devotion to equine beauty.
Dennis, born in 1903 in
Massachusetts, began his career in commercial art before discovering that
horses were his true calling. His study of conformation and movement was almost
scholarly, yet his illustrations carry a softness that can only come from genuine
admiration. Over the course of his life, he illustrated more than 150 books,
including his legendary collaborations with Marguerite Henry. But Palomino
and Other Horses stands as one of his earliest major works, a moment when
his expressive, anatomically faithful, and deeply
emotive art would define an era of horse literature.
The book itself reads
like a quiet walk through a private exhibition. Dennis pairs each illustration
with a short reflection, just enough to offer insight, never enough to
overshadow the art. It is not a manual or a breed encyclopedia; it is a
celebration of horses in all their colors and temperaments, a meditation on grace, individuality, and timeless companionship. I love this book. There is a pause, a chance to slow down and look closely,
to appreciate horses not as symbols or tools but as beings with presence and
personality.
A brief excerpt
captures Dennis’s reverence: “The palomino’s coat shines like sunlight
caught in motion, a color that seems almost too beautiful to belong to any
earthly creature.” His devotion is unmistakable.
Palomino and Other
Horses
was released in 1940 by The Macmillan Company, written and illustrated by
Wesley Dennis, and continues to shine as a golden artifact of equine art and
American nostalgia, an enduring reminder of the quiet nobility of the horse.
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