'He'll get excited': Sask. teen taught horse to paint

The close bond between a Saskatchewan teen and a horse has blossomed into an artistic collaboration.

Ella Wall helps take care of Tuff and after seeing a trend on TikTok where horses use their snout or tongue to paint, she was intrigued.

“That seemed cool, so I went to the dollar store and picked up some canvases and I wanted to see if he‘d like it,” Wall told CTV News.

Not only did the the 11-year-old thoroughbred horse like it, but he looks forward to it.

“If I get out the paint bottles, he’ll put his ears forward he’ll get excited,” Wall says.

The bond that the pair have is unique according to Road to Serenity Stable Owner and Tuff’s owner, Breanna Dielschneider.

She can’t put too many others with Tuff because of his temperament coming from the intensely regimented and stressful life of horse racing, but Wall has connected like no one else — and that connection goes both ways.

Wall has Tourette’s syndrome and sometimes she can’t speak because of tics that occur.

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“Usually, he’s the one who gets me to talk again, there’s just something that switches when I see him,” Wall says.

Those who know Tuff best say he has a unique personality, which may contribute to his artistry.

“It’s very obvious when he likes and doesn’t like something. He’ll paw, he’ll bob his head and he’ll do this lip thing where his lip will vibrate and he’ll do weird quirky things” Dielschneider said.

The works of art are for sale on Tuff’s Facebook page, for $25 or $50 dollars and all money raised goes right back to Tuff's Care.

“Whatever profit we make, we put into supplies and then we put it into a bank account for him so if he needs a chiropractor or a joint injection he can get that right away without having to wait until we have money ready.”

Wall now trains Tuff in the Liberty method which means all control comes from commands and no reigns or harnesses. It’s a far cry from his controlled racehorse life, allowing him a bit more freedom to horse around.