The Kelpies

This afternoon we visited the largest equine structure in the world - the kelpies.  The kelpie is a scots word for some form of water spirit or demon which was known to take the shape of a horse.  The artist chose to make his statues of working horses to symbolise their role in the lost industries of the area and also to highlight the strength and pride of modern Scotland. Made of smooth stainless steel the Kelpies stand over 100 feet and weigh over 600 tonnes and they look absolutely magnificent set against a backdrop of the Ochil Hills. One is looking down into the past and one has its head raised looking into the future. The two horses who worked with the artist as real life models are still alive and are called Duke and Barron, I had seen the kelpies during construction but this was my first view of them close up and they are superb.  I find it amazing how the artist managed to fashion the softness of the wonderful Clydesdale Horse out of steel, but he has.  I hope you can see from the thumbnail quite how intricate the individual pieces of steel are and apparently they are all different.






Kelpie, or water kelpie, is the Scots name given to a shape-shifting water spirit inhabiting the lochs and pools of Scotland. It has usually been described as appearing as a horse, but is able to adopt human form.