Certain images in this post are provided under the Fair Use provision in Section 107 of the United States Copyright Act. "Fair Use" specifically allows for the use of copyrighted materials for educational purposes only.
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| A life-size fiberglass Arabian designed by Gladys Brown Edwards, in the window of the Old Territorial Shop in Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona, probably mid- to late 1970s. Photo by the author, who still stops to take a picture of every horse-shaped object she sees. |
If you lived near a horse community in the United States during the 1960s and '70s, it's likely you saw at least one life-size fiberglass horse statue in front of a feed and grain or tack store, or the local riding academy. They were made by a Lawndale, California company called Prewitt's, starting in about 1961.
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| Prewitt fiberglass Quarter Horse, atop Porter's Western Wear, Old Town Scottsdale, Arizona. Photo by the author, probably 1980s-1990s. |
Equine artists and designers had worked in fiberglass before, of course.
Newspaper reports tell of a larger-than-life-size articulated fiberglass equid by Robert Howard at the San Francisco Museum of Art in 1955.
A miniature fiberglass spring-mounted "bouncy horse" was ridden by the chimpanzee J. Fred Muggs on Dave Garroway's NBC "Today" program on television in 1956. (The chimp had been added to the show's lineup to bolster its sagging ratings.)
Smaller-than-life fiberglass horses for children to ride in playgrounds and on carousels appeared in the mid-20th century.
But it wasn't until Lawndale businessman Bob Prewitt hired Gladys Brown Edwards to design "the perfect Quarter Horse" to accompany the fiberglass horse trailers he sold, that a life-size horse statue sturdy enough to hold a saddle, bridle, and adult rider, came on the American scene.
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Catalog for Prewitt fiberglass horse trailers and life-size fiberglass Quarter Horses. From The Cecil and Gladys Brown Edwards Papers, W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library, Special Collections and Archives, University Library, Cal Poly Pomona (author's photo).
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From the Prewitt's catalog, above.
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Gladys Brown Edwards next to the fiberglass Arabian she designed for Prewitt's. Photo taken by the author at the exhibit "Becoming Gladys Brown Edwards" at the W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library in 2016-2017.
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Fiberglass Arabian foal and mare, on display during BreyerFest, at the Kentucky Horse Park, Lexington, Kentucky
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We sometimes see the original Prewitt fiberglass horse designs at horsey venues today. More often than not, these days, the designs seem to have been slightly adapted from the originals. Bob Prewitt said that several firms had pirated his designs over the years without his permission; others had given him a small commission and changed his original molds somewhat.
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| Fiberglass Quarter Horse at The Autry Museum, Los Angeles. |
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| "Lackomotion," the fiberglass Quarter Horse at Calabasas Saddlery, Calabasas, California. |
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Fiberglass Thoroughbred at the Leonis Adobe Museum, Calabasas, California
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In a 1991 newspaper interview, Prewitt disclosed that Gladys Brown Edwards had made "most" of the 50 different fiberglass animals his company produced, including:
Horses of several breeds
Cow
Calf
Longhorn Steer
Buffalo
Elephant
Zebra
An 8-foot tall rooster (!)
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| Excerpt from a January 18, 1991 interview with Bob Prewitt in the Victorville, California Daily Press. |
And now on social media I see the descendants of two of GBE's fiberglass horse designs -- the Quarter Horse and the Thoroughbred -- in the Spring 2026 exhibit “Adorning the Horse: Equestrian Textiles for Power and Prestige” at The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum in Washington, DC.
Their social media sums up the exhibit:
"Visitors encounter 1,300 years of history in the galleries — a magnificent selection of saddle blankets, covers and other equestrian textiles that communicate the significance of horses and riders across cultures."
If you look closely you can see a descendant of the GBE fiberglass Quarter Horse in the middle of the right side of this image from the website GW Today:
If you're in the DC area and you like horses, and/or textiles, and/or history, it looks like it would be well worth a visit! I'll put some more links at the bottom of the page, where you can find more information.
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The W. K. Kellogg Arabian Horse Library (WKKAHL) holds the Cecil and Gladys Brown Edwards Papers, which include the original Prewitt's flyer and the photograph of Gladys next to the fiberglass Arabian mare.
WKKAHL is part of California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, Special Collections and Archives. They collect, organize, preserve, and make available Cal Poly Pomona's rare books and archival collections. The collections center around themes relevant to the mission of the university and are available for use by all interested users including students, faculty, staff, and the general research community.
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The Textile Museum is located at 701 21st St. NW, Washington, DC. Click on the link below for more information and their operating hours.
Here's the free downloadable Gallery Guide:
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Here's the whole interview with Bob Prewitt.
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Here are some of my previous blog posts that mention Gladys Brown Edwards' equine art.
Fiberglass Quarter Horse:
US National Arabian Horse Trophy:
"Classic Arabian" Trophy:
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