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are used to fashion the wood into an animal shape. There’s The carousel horse a ’ a lot of trimming, carving an sanding to perfect the image. po ny-s | zed | m age Judy used the tiniest of tools to create the intricate detail in . the cheetah’s fur, of her Arabian mare The completed masterpiece Tiffani Rose, helped sits on a wooden platform, which has wheels, for eas‘ . moving ¥ — Judy deal with the “Thad to decide exactly . . what I wanted to carve,” Judy grief of losi ng her. recalls. She chose the cheetah as her saddle piece because she “loves cheetahs. They are not the bullies of the cat world. They have great character.” Judy visited the Toronto Zoo to study cheetahs to ensure that her wooden replica was realistic. The carousel horse is a pony-sized image of her own beloved Arabian mare, the late Tiffani Rose. Building this tribute to Tiff helped Judy to deal with her grief. “Thad to work out issues, and deal with losing her,” Judy said. At the age of 12, Tiff’s life was cut short due to health problems, including seizures, as a result of an ac- cident on December 5, 2005. Judy bought Tiff as a yearling, and she was a beloved part of the family. “My kids Shane and Stephanie grew up with Tiff and everybody loved her,” Judy said. At first, Judy took Tiff trail riding “to teach her manners.” Stephanie broke and green trained her. Then Tiff was turned over to local equestrian Michele Mueller for dressage training. In her first competitions, in five large classes in two shows, Michele and Tiff cap- tured five first place honours. Tiff was named Reserve Champion, only .5 points shy of winning the grand championship title. “This was a remarkable accomplishment,” Judy pointed out. Judy’s love of horses began at the age of 16 when she took her first riding lessons at Toronto’s Eglinton Hunt Club. Arabian horses became her life-long love. “There are only two kinds of horses,” Judy quips, “Arabians and those who think they are.” The Bacalls owned a horse farm on Feasby Road in Uxbridge for 25 years. During that time, Judy and her palomino Arabian mare Goldie won enough trophies to fill a large display cabinet. Judy’s passion for everything equestrian is evident by looking around her home. Her Dad made the horse rug hooking on the wall. Judy crafted the white ceramic Pegasus. There’s even a tea cozy with horse motifs. Gracing Tiff’s memorial garden in the backyard is a dramatic twisted wire sculpture of a life-sized horse. She chose a cheetah Judy learned how to make this at the H Haliburton Highlands School of the as her saddle piece . 8 b h Silhouettes of white wire swans eCaUSE t ey adorn the edge of the pond, and a twisted wire blue heron hides coyly in have such great the bushes. One day, “just for fun,” Judy got ch aracter. out her chainsaw and carved stumps Please turn to page 9 The above carousel horse, carved by Judy Bacall, was done as a tribute to her beloved Arabian mare ‘Tiff. The saddle is a beautifully carved and painted Cheetah, an animal that Judy admires. —- FOCUS - DECEMBER 2013 7