For Emma Tate, horses have always been more than a passion. They’ve been a language, a way of expressing herself to the world. With a father who was a blacksmith and a mother who was a trainer and rider, Emma grew up in a household that was very involved in the horse world. She trained in dressage and formed a profound bond with her childhood horse, Figaro.
Throughout college, horses and art remained at the forefront of her interests. Emma made a point to take an art class every semester. “I think I’ve always been a creative spirit,” she reveals. But it wasn’t until her final semester of college, in a figure sculpting class, that she became “really well in tune with something, just like with riding”.
Upon graduation, Emma moved to the Netherlands to continue her dressage training, but she continued to have that creative spark. When it became time to take a step back from her intensive riding schedule and find a job, Emma struggled with this transition. “It was then in the Netherlands where I found a ceramics studio, and that was what was getting me through that loss of identity and not being able to be around the horses.” The clay became her way back to them. Today, Emma uses her passions and talents to create remarkable horse sculptures.
Seeing Horses as an Artistic Muse
For Emma, horses are her most natural and authentic source of inspiration. There was a particular moment in her Netherlands studio when Emma was pondering what to originally create, and another woman simply pointed out, “Well, you love horses.” It was such a plain observation, but it clicked immediately. What could be more natural than creating what she loved?
“I’m fortunate enough to know my muse,” Emma says with gratitude. “I’m glad I grasped onto the horses early and the horses and the art came together naturally.” Emma went through several experimental series, trying different techniques and approaches until she found her distinctive style of mounted wall sculptures. This arrangement caught people’s attention as it was an uncommon placement for ceramics, but a beautiful addition to the space.
What Does Your Creative Process Look Like?
Emma’s process is both methodical and intuitive, beginning with pencil sketches in her notebook. When working with clients, she clarifies whether they want her to explore a specific theme or focus on a particular horse shape. In her own time, Emma sketches freely, pulling from whatever feels most inspiring in the moment. She’ll return to these drawings over time, letting ideas simmer until one demands to be created in three dimensions.
Once she’s settled on a concept, Emma creates a small clay version to work out how all the body parts fit together. This miniature becomes her roadmap for the full-scale piece. Next, she builds an armature on the wall and begins adding clay, working vertically to create her signature wall-mounted sculptures. Once everything is positioned correctly, Emma must cut the piece into sections and hollow it out before firing, as her sculptures are typically too large to fit in the kiln whole.
This commitment to working on multiple scales, from sketch to small model to full-size sculpture, allows Emma to problem-solve at each stage while maintaining the spontaneity and energy that makes her work feel alive.
Beyond Limits
“Beyond Limits” represents Emma’s most ambitious undertaking and embodies the sculpture’s own title in ways she couldn’t have anticipated. “I wanted to recreate that suspension of a horse over a jump,” Emma explains. More than that, she wanted to make it life-size so viewers could truly “interact and have this new appreciation for what it takes to get this 1,000-pound animal to make it look effortlessly hovering in the air.”
But the journey to completion tested her in unexpected ways. Having only recently moved into her new studio space back in America, Emma had almost finished building the piece on the wall. Not yet familiar with how American walls differed from the cement walls she’d worked with in Amsterdam, the whole sculpture came crashing down. “In the moment it was devastating,” Emma admits, “but upon recreating it I liked it even more.” The forced restart became a powerful metaphor for Emma’s process. “Just like when training horses, you have to be patient and trust the process.” That resilience, that ability to begin again with hard-won knowledge, resulted in a piece that exceeded her original vision. “As it was coming together, it really set the tone of ‘Beyond Limits’. It’s this large piece whose meaning covers so many different territories with horses… it really can take you beyond your wildest dreams.”
Old Friends
While “Beyond Limits” captures physical suspension, “Old Friends” explores emotional connection across time. Emma had previously created pieces showing two horses interacting, but with this particular sculpture she wanted to capture a precise moment that she had in mind. “This one I envisioned when they were just seeing each other for the first time again after a long time,” she explains.
The inspiration came from a video Emma saw of two horses who’d been friends at a barn and were reconnecting after ten years apart. The emotional weight of that reunion struck her deeply. “What a beautiful way to capture a reflection of how time doesn’t always matter. It’s the memories and the fact that two animals that we can underappreciate can remember the feelings they’ve had with these other horses.”
Emma’s goal with “Old Friends” is bigger than simply depicting horses, she wants to create a moment of recognition for viewers. “I just want to stop people in their tracks to connect what that moment would feel like for them too, in a day when they were meeting with an old friend.” It’s this ability to translate animal emotion into human experience that makes Emma’s work so rich.
The Artist Behind the Work
When asked what flavor of ice cream she would be, Emma’s answer perfectly captures her approach to both art and life: Sweet Corn Blueberry, a flavor she discovered this past summer at a local homemade ice cream shop. “It was absolutely delicious, it was sweet and salty and I think you need a little bit of both of those to be a creative.”
The willingness to try something unconventional, to combine elements that don’t typically go together: this is the philosophy that drives everything Emma creates.
Advice for Emerging Artists
In closing remarks, Emma wanted to offer direct and encouraging advice to fellow artists:
“Just figure out how to make it happen. If people are creatives and it’s something that’s been on their minds for a really long time, you just have to do it and push through those times where it feels like it should be smoother. It’s really worth figuring out how to make those visions happen.”
Emma knows this from experience; she’s an artist who found her way to sculpture after years of experimenting in the field. She took a fallen sculpture and turned it into something even better, and trusted the process even when it wasn’t always smooth. Her work exists because she pushed through doubt and difficulty to make the visions in her sketchbook a reality.
Art That Lives Where You Live
At Equine Instincts, we connect collectors with artists whose work carries depth, authenticity, and genuine passion. Emma Tate’s sculptures embody the power, grace, and emotional character of horses while pushing the boundaries of what equine art can be. Explore more of her artwork online at equineinstincts.com.
For life-long equestrian Susan McClafferty, photographing horses isn’t just a job. It’s the intersection of everything she loves and is most passionate about. During the week, Susan works as a consultant, bringing innovation, problem-solving, and technical expertise to a large healthcare system.
For life-long equestrian Susan McClafferty, photographing horses isn’t just a job. It’s the intersection of everything she loves and is most passionate about. During the week, Susan works as a consultant, bringing innovation, problem-solving, and technical expertise to a large healthcare system.
2026 is off to a full gallop at Equine Instincts. January has been an exciting and incredibly busy start to the Florida season.
