An 18-year-old art student, who is studying arts and design at Oxford Brookes University, is teaching a pony how to paint for a project.
Elodie Poncin is teaching Teddy the stubborn Welsh cross pony how to paint and the pony has now finished four works of art. Elodie has included his artworks in her final project.
Watch the art student teaching the pony how to paint
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Elodie said it took a lot of time and patience to teach the pony how to paint but the result is amazing.
Elodie told SWNS: “I called my local riding club Pony Pursuits and said ‘please don’t hang up on me, but can I teach one of your ponies how to paint?’ Luckily they said yes.”
“Teddy finally got used to taking the paintbrush in his mouth and swinging his head from side to side as he lay downstrokes.”
“I’m glad to have proven the neigh-sayers wrong. The coaching of Teddy required a lot of patience, a lot of attention, and a lot of respect.”
Elodie spent hours teaching Teddy how to hold a sponge, a brush, and paint pictures on canvas.
She said: “Training Teddy has been like training a dog how to do tricks. Although he’s a pony, I’d say he’s more like half-human and half-dog.”
“You can’t pressure a pony to paint if it doesn’t want to so you have to let him roam if he wants to roam and to paint when he wants to. It takes a lot of concentration for Teddy to stand there holding a brush and painting a canvas for that amount of time.”
“He gets lots of rewards for it. I feed him carrots and apples, I stroke him and pet him, and I give him lots of cuddles to try to keep his spirits up.”
Teddy completed his first painting in two hours and the four artworks of the pony titled Straight From a Horse’s Mouth, It’s Pasture Bedtime, Unbridled, and Get Off Your High Horse are on display at Oxford Brookes University.
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