WHEN THE EARTH TREMBLED  bronze 13’’ x 40’’ x 12’’

The coming of the horse changed many of the old ways for buffalo hunters. The buffalo chase on horseback combined the excitement of the horse race with the challenge of the hunt. The excitement was so fulfilling it became addictive to the hunter. The buffalo hunter would put his horse into a full gallop the moment the herd broke, a test of horse speed against buffalo speed. Each hunter selected a single buffalo and attempted to ride within a bows length away. The preferred target on the buffalo was the intestinal cavity just behind the last rib and back of the shoulder, so that the arrow penetrated the heart. This method of hunting buffalo became a real test between man and animal as opposed to the later mass killings of buffalo by white men that decimated the herds. No longer are the buffalo hunted in this manner but there was a time not long ago when man, horse and buffalo raced over the prairie and the earth trembled!