The Eqwinery Reception & Exhibit

Thursday, September 12, 5-7pm
Eqwinery Reception
Flying Goat Cellars Tasting Room
1520 E. Chestnut Ct,
Lompoc, CA

Flying Goat Cellars celebrates polo, rodeo, riding to hounds and more with the “Eqwinery”* exhibit featured at the Tasting Room & Art Salon. A reception will be held on Thursday, September 12, 5-7pm and all are welcome. Proprietor Kate Griffith has been an equestrian since her youth. She combined her passions for equine and wine in the exhibit, including paintings, lithographs, photos, memorabilia and gear. In particular, lithos from world class equestrian/sporting artists Henry Koehler (1927-2018) and Sam Savitt (1917-2000) and vintage illustrations from Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization, are on display.

A focal point of the exhibit is the revered 10-goal polo legend “Memo” Gracida and his wife, Meghan, who own the first class La Herradura Polo Club & Equestrian Center located in Santa Ynez Valley. Griffith first met Memo and his 10-goal brother, Carlos, at Rancho Santa Fe Polo Club when they were playing for Ron Bonaguidi’s Hanalei Bay team over 30 years ago. By coincidence, Memo and Griffith have both ended up in Santa Barbara County. Flying Goat Cellars is now proud to be the MVP sponsor for the La Herradura Polo Club this season.

Also included in the exhibit are Griffith’s godson David Samaniego and his brother Harrison, who achieved success playing collegiate polo on opposite coasts. Women polo players at La Herradura are acknowledged, including Meghan Gracida, Sara Rotman, Gina Padilla, Suzette Yamani and Kylie Sheehan. A “Tribute to Griff” honors Griffith’s beloved father who turned 90 this summer. William Francis Roelofson Griffith III aka “Griff” was a rodeo rider in the 1950s. The exhibit showcases photos of Griff bareback bronc and bull riding, along with his gear from the era.

Flying Goat is a family-owned luxury brand dedicated to producing age-worthy pinot and sparkling wine from Santa Barbara County. Since its earliest vintages, the brand has achieved award-winning status. Winemaker Norm Yost is uniquely known for launching the county’s first traditional méthode champenoise sparkling wine program in 2005. Wine Enthusiast recently named his 2019 Goat Bubbles Ampelos Vineyard “Best Blanc de Noirs.”

*Griffith attributes the name “Eqwinery” to USDF gold medal winning equestrian Catherine Ryan. 

Painting of Carlitos Gracida (left) and Meghan Gracida (right, red hat) of La Herradura Polo by Omar Mueller 2024. 

Henry Koehler (1927-2018) is widely acknowledged to be one of the finest sporting artists in the world. His long association with the sporting life began soon after his graduation from Yale, when his illustrations appeared in The New Yorker, Town & Country and Sports Illustrated.

Koehler’s first exhibition was in 1961, and was shown in London, Paris, Dublin, Johannesburg and throughout the U.S. Racing and hunting come alive under his brush. He also offers intimate, behind-the-scenes looks at jockeys, horses, dogs and the special accoutrements of each sport. He painted several portraits of well-known polo ponies on commission but Koehler preferred to capture “the flavor, sound and smell of polo.”He is unique amongst contemporary artists in being able to capture with such intimacy the world of the horse, not only on the hunting field and racecourse, but also in the boot room, jockeys racing, and in his sensitive studies of polo games & pony lines.

His loyal following of collectors has included Ralph Lauren, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Paul Mellon, John Hay Whitney, President John Kennedy, the Duke of Beaufort, Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, the Duchess of Cornwall, Senator Edward Kennedy, Mrs. George Baker, the Duchess of Windsor, the Bancroft Family, Queen Elizabeth and King Charles III. His works can be seen at the National Racing Museum in Saratoga, NY and at the National Horse Racing Museum at Newmarket in Great Britain. These lithographs were from the Chisholm Gallery in Palm Beach, FL.

“Mounting Up”
87/300 numbered and signed lithographs
23” x 28”; Published in 1976 on handmade Arches paper

“Groom with Polo Ponies”
237/300 numbered and signed lithographs
23” x 28”; Published in 1976 on handmade Arches paper

Sam Savitt (1917-2000) is considered to be one of the most accomplished American equestrian artist of his generation. He was the official artist of the U.S. Equestrian Team and illustrated more than 130 books in addition to the 15 books that he wrote. (He co-authored two others.) Many were short stories aimed principally at young people, though he also wrote about the U.S. Equestrian Team, rodeo, wild horses and other equine-related topics. His classic Draw Horses with Sam Savitt (produced in 1981) is today published by the American Academy of Equine Art. (It was translated into French in 2009.)

His drawing style was spare and sketch-like and he was known for capturing the movement of horses with energy and authenticity, doing so with an economy of strokes. He painted and drew horses in a variety of media, including oil, watercolor, gouache, pencil, ink and charcoal.

He worked for numerous commercial accounts and did portraits for Austine and William Randolph Hearst Jr., August Busch, Raymond Firestone and Jean Kennedy Smith. His widely sold “Sam Savitt’s Guide to Horses” is in the collection of the Smithsonian Institution.

He was commissioned to do the official poster for the 1991 Kentucky Derby. In 1998, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the North American Horseman’s Association, the only artist ever to be so honored. A similar honor was bestowed by Equus Magazine in 1986. The Chronicle of the Horse, a publication dedicated to the entire sport horse industry since 1937, published Sam Savitt artwork on its magazine cover 31 times — the most of any artist. In 1980, he was one of 10 internationally recognized equestrian artists who founded the American Academy of Equine Art in Lexington, KY.

“Guide to Polo”
36” x 24”; Poster published 1987
Features (18) vignette scenes with color drawings of polo players

“The Game of Polo" 
New York: Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization, September 5, 1874. 11 3/4” x 19 3/4”. Wood engraving.

Harper’s Weekly was a New York based newspaper in the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In weekly issues, Harper’s presented a mixture of news stories, gossip, poetry and most notably, wood-engraved illustrations. These pictures remain among of the best sources for lively, informative images of nineteenth-century America. Photography was popular but difficult to publish, so these illustrations provided much of the country with its visual information about the events, personalities and places of the time. Major artists were employed to do drawings on the spot, which were then turned into lively and detailed prints in an amazingly short period of time. Originally issued in large numbers, few have survived the ages in good condition.

“Just Too Late - Another Moment & the Fox Would Have Been Home.” New York: Harper’s Weekly, A Journal of Civilization, February 11, 1893.

Wood Engraving.

Harper’s Weekly was a New York based newspaper in the last half of the nineteenth and early twentieth century. In weekly issues, Harper’s presented a mixture of news stories, gossip, poetry and most notably, wood-engraved illustrations. These pictures remain among of the best sources for lively, informative images of nineteenth-century America. Photography was popular but difficult to publish, so these illustrations provided much of the country with its visual information about the events, personalities and places of the time. Major artists were employed to do drawings on the spot, which were then turned into lively and detailed prints in an amazingly short period of time. Originally issued in large numbers, few have survived the ages in good condition.

“The Evolution of the Cowboy”
by Joseph Jacinto Mora
Original Date: 1941, Monterey, CA
30.75” x 23.25”

This is an exceptional example of one of Joseph Jacinto Mora’s most exciting prints, originally done in 1933. Like most of Jo Mora’s works, there is a lot going on with regards to its visual presentation and information given. At the top we find the variety of western horse riders presented in a historical manner from the 16th century Spanish conquistador to the modern day cowboy with the “mountain man,” “buffalo hunter” and “Texas cowman” included among others. The print is flanked on either side with detailed descriptions and depictions of the various garbs worn by such men.

The center portion of the print displays a chaotic, cartoon rodeo scene that is adorned with the “Sweetheart of the Rodeo,” an image that would later find its way onto the cover of an album by the Byrds, released in 1968. Below this scene are several depictions of the various events that take place at the rodeo, some of which include bull and trick riding, steer decorating, calf roping and tying. Also included within the print are numerous drawings of the various saddles, boots, spurs, stirrups, cow brands, ropes, and just about any other element of cowboy life that one can conjure.

“English Fox Hunting” Vintage Pimpernel Placements based on artwork of John Frederick Herring Sr. (British, 1795-1865). Two of four fox hunting aquatints from "Fore's National Sports" comprising plate 3 "The Run” and plate 4 "The Kill”.

Dale Wagner, “a very talented artist who raised and loved horses …. passed away from a rare form of non-Hodgkins lymphoma in her 30s,” according to Lorel Keiko Saiki. Saiki knew Wagner from the Los Angeles Equestrian Center, where they were both friends with Polo Director Vince Azzaro. Seiko was also friends with Daniel Samaniego and Julia Tyler Samaniego. This artwork was a trophy received by Julia Tyler Samaniego, who has graciously loaned it for this exhibit.

Title unknown. Date unknown. 

“Julia Tyler Samaniego” Photo of portrait by John Kirthian Court, 1990, oil on canvas, 48” x 24”.  Collection of the Tyler Samaniego Family. John Kirthian Court is an American portrait artist and landscape painter who lives and works from the Azores.

“Daniel Samaniego” Photo of portrait by John Kirthian Court, 1990, oil on canvas, approx. 48” x 24”. Collection of the Tyler Samaniego Family. John Kirthian Court is an American portrait artist and landscape painter who lives and works from the Azores.

Shadow Box with Foxhunting Memorabilia

 1) “Clotheshorse: A History and Guide to Riding Apparel” by Richard D. Carreño, 1992.

2) Invitation to Join Santa Ynez Valley Hounds.

3) “Introduction to Foxhunting” by Lt. Col. Dennis J. Foster, The MFHA Foundation Presents, 2012. 

4) “The Old Days With Horse and Hound: Being The Story Of The Chevy Chase Hunt, 1892-1916” by Samuel J. Henry, 1960.

5) “Riding to Hounds in America: An Introduction for Foxhunters” by Williams P. Wadsworth, MFH, 1987.

Kate Griffith Riding to Hounds with Princess Ann Hunt at Sherwood Forest Plantation in Charles City, VA.