A separate investigation also reveals a negative: http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1093/in-statues-does-the-number-of-feet-the-horse-has-off-the-ground-indicate-the-fate-of-the-rider. No sources confirming the rule in sculpting related textbooks. A historian for the U.S. Army Center of Military History also dismissed the story as a myth.
An equestrian statue is a statue of a rider mounted on a horse, from the Latin "eques", meaning "knight", deriving from "equus", meaning "horse". A statue of a riderless horse is strictly an "equine statue". A full-sized equestrian statue is a difficult and expensive object for any culture to produce, and figures have typically been portraits of rulers or, more recently, military commanders.
A horse statue with legs raised in the air … A horse with all four feet on the ground is said to represent a … A significant number of horse statues in …
The bronze statue was positioned so the soldier atop the horse is keeping a watchful eye over the World Trade Center and its tenants. Soldiers representing the United States Army Special Operations Command attended the ceremony. At its rededication, the statue's entire cost of over $750,000 had been paid by hundreds of private citizens.
Cost. We realize this sculpture is expensive. However, a custom soldier statue of this nature would typically cost around $65,000 – $75,000. It took over six months to complete, and is cast from over 200 pounds of bronze.
military statues artillery props marine statues civil war statue confederate statue soldier sculptures, … Bronze Rearing Horse 8 1/2 Feet Tall.