Final Throes of Dragon Tableaux (Horseshoe Dragon) by Jim Poolman, 50,000 Horseshoes. Unique, 5m high by 14m wide by 8m deep, 17.8-tonne Animals and Birds, Fantasy sculpture

Artist Jim Poolman spent 12 years and used 50,000 horseshoes to create a record breaking Horseshoe Dragon sculpture.

Horseshoe artist Jim Poolman contacted Eddie Powell, owner and curator of The Sculpture Park in Churt, in 2002. He was looking to sell a stool he had made from horseshoes. His work was consequently turned down. “What would you exhibit?” he asked Eddie. “It needs to be bigger, how about a dragon?” was Eddie’s response. 12 years later, Jim called Eddie again and announced that he had finished his masterpiece of a horseshoe dragon.

Creating the Dragon

The fantasy dragon is made of over 50,000 horseshoes, some are cut in half or smaller pieces. It weighs an impressive 17.816 tonnes. Jim has spent more than 10,000 hours working on his horseshoe dragon sculpture. He used old horseshoes from a team of Hampshire farriers over that period.

Jim states that his work evolved over the years and he created a fantasy world with it. Peasants were throwing clods of turf, bricks, balls, chains and arrows at a flying dragon, forcing it to crash. It injured its wing, but managed to catch one of the antagonists. With its mouth wide-open and eyes popping out, the dragon came down roaring and spitting flames. There are also some fantastic beasts surrounding the dragon. A maiden sitting on a termite-like mound stroking two strange animals and odd mounds that hint of a long gone strange land.

Working with Horseshoes

“A complete horseshoe is quite limiting in what it can be made into, but the small parts are remarkably versatile and highly effective in recreating the appearance of skin, feathers, bone and muscle,” Jim explains. Once cut in smaller pieces, the parts are then MIG welded together. Using only a small forklift truck, scaffolding and other apparatus, either custom-made by Jim himself, or derived from his mechanical background, Jim has painstakingly continued  this monumental craft effort over the years. He has suffered for his art, having burnt vast quantities of clothing, and suffered various injuries and wounds in the process.

Jim Poolman, a trained mechanic and self-taught welder, has been sculpting with steel for over three decades.  Jim mined the untapped resource of used horseshoes and has been creating works from them based upon everyday furnishings and various mystical creatures.

Now installed at The Sculpture Park, Final Throes of Dragon Tableaux (Horseshoe Dragon) by Jim Poolman, is admired by thousands of people in its full glory. If you wish to purchase the piece, The Sculpture Park team are able to arrange the full removal and installation.