Olivia hopes gift horse will pull $20,000
Napier’s Olivia Ahlborn is used to creating sparks with her blistering speed in the showjumping ring. She hopes a welding labour of love will have the same effect when it’s auctioned off for charity.
The 19-year-old physics student and former Horse of the Year competitor is donating 25 per cent of the proceeds from her first life-size horseshoe sculpture to the CatWalk Spinal Cord Injury Research Trust via a silent auction across the week of the event at Waipatu, near Hastings.
Being holed up welding in a workshop from daybreak until dark has become Ahlborn’s new and not-sonormal “norm”.
“Alongside riding I began to learn how to weld. First a good friend, Paul Sands, introduced me to the skill, and then I apprenticed to one of the best welders in Hawke’s Bay, Brendan Miller of Miller Custom Fabrication. So for the past half year I’ve been working in an engineering workshop.
“At the beginning of the year I began my own project which developed into the horse you now see.
“This is my first major sculpture. I have always drawn and painted — especially being inspired by horses.”
Creating the pony-sized sculpture involved painstakingly cleaning rust from the shoes, shaping them and welding them together.
The shape and form grew from a concept in Ahlborn’s mind, and she often referred back to an actual horse for anatomy and proportion.
“I first started with the head, then I built the neck and barrel, followed by the two front legs.
“The hind legs and tail completed the horse, and then I plasma cut the steel plate beneath to mimic the shadow of the sculpture.
“The horseshoes are welded together with a MIG welder using wire to feed metal into the weld — this also carries the electric arc.
“A shielding gas is necessary to prevent porosity in the weld. It is much easier to ‘tack’ the horseshoes into place with the MIG welder as it only requires one hand, so the horseshoe can be held in place with the free hand.
“There are nearly 500 horseshoes welded into this sculpture — I counted them when it was finished. I’d estimate the weight at 250kg with the steel plate beneath.”
The entire sculpture, which was sandblasted and powdercoated to protect it from the elements, has a reserve price of $20,000.
“I am super keen to support this awesome mission especially as a rider, runner and tramper myself, so getting others back on their feet really resonates with me.”
The sale of the horse sculpture will fund her overseas study, starting at the end of the year in the Netherlands.
The auction winner will be announced at noon on Sunday.
There are nearly 500 horseshoes welded into this sculpture — I counted them when it was finished.
Olivia Ahlborn, sculptor