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The last steel wild horse was installed on the Plains greenway last week and although the artist wishes he could have done more, he is relieved to be finished with the three and a half-year-old project.

With the horse "planting" came a dedication ceremony for Kenton Pies' final horse led by the flute playing of Chilaili Wachiwi, a Native American and a resident of Trout Creek, who did a special piece she wrote called "Horses in the Grass." Twenty-one people gathered on the greenway Friday at 11 a.m. for the dedication, including Plains resident Roni Mitch, who read a poem titled "Wild Horses." Chris Allen, president of the Plains town council, also spoke at dedication.

"These horses were a dream of Kenton's for many years," said Sherryl Wachob, a Plains resident who has been helping Pies with the public relations aspect of the project. "He estimates that he has spent over 1,150 hours on these horses. If the town of Plains had hired a sculptor to complete this project, it is estimated that the cost would be over $60,000," she told the crowd as Pies and his helpers started the process of lifting the 600-pound horse from his flatbed truck.

The third horse installation took just over two hours, much longer than the first two. Pies first had trouble strapping the horse down on the flatbed at his house that morning, then problems lining it up over the concrete block at the site. Bystanders David Dyches, Tom Wachob and Doug Mitch helped Pies and Sig Person, who helped him with two of the horses, get the horse on the concrete base, which Plains Public Works staffers Greg Welty and Jimmy Sirucek put in the ground the previous week. Andy Gonzalez, who worked on the first horse and helped with the installation of all three, drilled holes in the concrete and installed the six seven-inch bolts through the steel pedestal to affix the horse to the block.

Pies, who spent 73 years as a professional commercial artist and has lived just outside of Plains since 2005, was done with his third horse in October, but he had to wait for Mountain Range Materials to make the concrete block and for the town to dig the hole. The new horse is nearly nine feet tall and is located in front of the first two. Pies made the third horse rearing, which is why he had to install a 73-inch steel pedestal on it. The pedestal was donated to Pies by RTI Fabrication of Plains. 

Pies started on the project in 2017 in an effort to help beautify the town and possibly draw tourists. He started on the project in September 2017. The horses are made with heavy sheet metal and rebar with a concrete coating and stained. Pies first planned the project as a moneymaker, but switched to a nonprofit venture soon after beginning the first horse. He received some donations of funds and materials, but also had to spend more than $4,000 of his own money.  He initially planned on eight horses in the herd, then reduced it to five. His next one was to be a colt. He wishes he could have done at least five, but without the monetary donations and needed physical assistance in erecting the rest of the herd, he decided the third would be his last.

Ed Moreth

TRIBUTE TO HORSES – Chilaili Wachiwi, a Native American plays her flute at the dedication of the third and final steel horse placed at the Plains greenway.

"It's good I'm not doing the colt; my energy is long gone," said 88-year-old Pies, who was stricken with Covid late last year and even hospitalized for a short period. He had put about 400 hours in the last horse. He said the third horse is his favorite because he had "ironed out the bugs and the project got better looking." However, it took the longest because of the different applications and because it was up on two legs, he had to work on a ladder more often. The only thing Pies was displeased about on the third horse was that the brown stain seemed to run into the lower part of the legs, something he plans to touch up in the near future.

"I appreciate Kenton volunteering the many hours of labor that it took to create the horse sculptures. I hope that locals and tourists will enjoy them," said Plains Mayor Dan Rowan, who couldn't make it to the ceremony. Pies said he's quite proud of the sculptures and hopes the horse herd will draw tourists and be of interest for community activities. "Not many people could do it," said Pies. "It should be a good addition to the community."