Blue Horse Mailbox

This piece is a large mailbox to be delivered to a client who owns a horse farm in Maryland. She has a horse named Blue, Blue lives in a lime green barn with a pet brown turkey named "Bourbon." The barn has bright blue trim. All those elements have all been incorporated into a unique mailbox. "Blue" is running and jumping the lime green barn, while very judgmental chickens have discovered Bourbon drinking "Mild Turkey" behind the barn.

The front of the mailbox opens when you pull the little hay hoist on the front of the "barn." To let the mailman know if there is mail to be picked up, instead of the usual red flag, I substituted an American one. A little ring at the top of the flag provides a way to tie balloons or streamers on the mailbox for holidays or parties.

The mailbox will be mounted on a steel pipe to raise it about 45 inches off the ground (1.2 meters). The mailbox itself with the horse, sun, etc. is 65 inches high (1.65 meters)

To create the piece, I started with a standard steel rural mailbox and welded a 16 gauge sheet steel roof it. The horse is made from a wheelbarrow wheel rim and the back legs from a farmer's tedder hook. The head is made from a beaten piece of pipe, a fork and washers. The neck is two bicycle stands welded backwards to ach other, and the hooves are lug nuts. The turkey, Bourbon, is made from electric motor parts, the end of a trailer axel, and bits of weld bead to build up his face and feet.

My next door neighbor, Laurence Lynn, a professional photographer, took these photos with skills and equipment far beyond any I possess and I certainly thank him (his web site is www.laurencelynnphotography.com ) Joy and I will be going up to Maryland and Washington, DC for a four day holiday and to install the mailbox. Before then, the mailbox will be taken to a local company which will apply a durable clear coating to protect the finish.

Feel free to forward this along to anybody you know interested in leaping blue horses or drunken turkeys.