A child acrobat in his native Denmark, Olaf Wieghorst made a smooth transition to successful rodeo rider after his family moved to the United States. He was also a U. S. Cavalryman on the rugged Mexican border and a mounted police officer in New York City. To say that he knew his way around horses is quite an understatement. After moving to California in 1944, Wieghorst translated an interest in art into a career depicting Western life in the saddle, taking special pride in his ability to convey the anatomy of the horse within a well-constructed scene; he was always on the lookout for the “little natural things” to add to his popular canvases. Among his many friends and the many avid collectors of his work were Arizona Senator Barry Goldwater and President Ronald Reagan.
