Here is a highlight from our visit to the Glenbow Museum in downtown Calgary yesterday. A sculpture by Jeff de Boer (2006). The Barbed Wire Bronco rears up in a dynamic explosion of power, seething with tension and vitality.

de Boer used more than two miles of barbed wire to create this evocative work of art. He was inspired by a horse named Cyclone – the bucking bronco who threw 129 men before Tom Three Persons rode him to a standstill at the 1912 Calgary Stampede.

The horse is Alberta’s most beloved animal because it personifies the character of this land – freedom, movement and fluid beauty. The statue captures the animal’s sheer muscular sinew and its unquenchable spirit. And, ironically, it is made of the same material that served to fence in the wide-open grasslands of the prairie.

Some of you who follow my blog may recognize the face of John Ware behind the Barbed Wire Bronco. This fascinating fellow was mentioned in a post I did two months ago about the Bar-U Ranch. To learn more feel free to tap the link. I’m thrilled to have time to discover the often edge-of-your-seat history particular to Southern Alberta. Quite the place – now and then.

Northern Lights sculpture that reaches up the central stairway of the Glenbow Museum – stunning!