Wild stallion sculpture repairs are extensive

Sisters' signature stallion sculpture will hopefully be back where it belongs in the coming days.

The iconic metal art sculpture of a rearing wild stallion near the entrance to downtown on the corner of Cascade and Larch was damaged when a vehicle crashed into it on the night of October 30.

Photo by Bill Bartlett

The iconic Sisters stallion sculpture should be back in its spot along Cascade Avenue soon. It is undergoing repairs after a vehicle crashed into it in October.

It was the second collision involving the beloved art. An 18-year-old driver escaped injury when he fell asleep at the wheel early on the morning of July 7, 2017, and crashed his pickup truck into the plinth of the equestrian statue. The statue itself was spared but the vehicle had considerable front-end damage. The driver, from Missouri, was determined not to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

"What is it about the horse?" laughed Reed Sanders of Sisters. "What is it about the drivers?" joked his buddy, Leo Branson. They are among a high number of Sisters Country folk worried about the damaged art.

"Yeah, it's worse than we first thought," said Public Works Director Paul Bertagna. "All three anchor points had damage - the rear legs and tail." The life-size work, owned by the city and stationed on city property, was immediately strapped and cordoned off to prevent further damage or injury to passerbys until it could be safely rigged and moved.

Bertagna said the repair cost estimates keep going up, and he does not yet have the final tab. He is hoping that the bronze horse will be back at its location in the next few days. Repairs are being performed at Ponderosa Forge in Sisters. They are waiting for material to arrive to complete the restoration.

The statue, a source of thousands of photos taken by visitors and locals (like the one shown on page 1), was a gift to the city in 2009 in honor of the Oregon Sesquicentennial. The work was valued at $250,000 at the time.

The revered statue is the work of world-renowned artist and sculptor Lorenzo Ghiglieri (1931-2020) whose creations grace some of the most prestigious museums and art collections around the world, including the White House, the Vatican, the Kremlin, and the Royal Palace in Madrid, among others. His sculptures and paintings have been presented to dignitaries like Ronald Reagan, Al Gore, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pope Paul II, Queen Elizabeth, and Luciano Pavarotti.

"It's not as heavy as people think," said Bertagna.

Local artists guess the weight at between 300 and 400 pounds. The statue stands nearly nine feet in height.

"I miss the old boy," said Louise Thomas of Sisters, who walks her dog past the statue every day. "It's a very important part of the city. I just love it in the summertime when so many young children 'pet' the horse and have their picture taken with him."