A community group says it has nearly reached its fundraising goal to restore a portion of the “Horse Tamer” statue that was removed from the courtyard at Roslyn High School more than three years ago.
The Friends of the Horse Tamer group has raised about $97,000 of the $100,000 it says it needs to begin restoring the statue, whose remaining half was erected in Gerry Park in 2013.
“We are very excited to be so close to realizing the goal of returning the Horse Tamer to its pride of place on the Roslyn High School campus,” said Barbara Silverman Berke, a Roslyn alumnus and president of Friends of the Horse Tamer.
“We are confident that members of the Roslyn community, who have been very generous and supportive of our efforts, will soon put us over the top so that the long-awaited restoration can finally begin,” she added.
In a news release, Friends of the Horse Tamer officials said the restoration of the school district’s portion of the statue would be done in conjunction with capital projects to renovate the high school’s entrance and parking lot.
Financing for the restoration has been conducted with a “buy-a-brick” donation program as well as a $25,000 grant from Nassau County.
Designed for Gold Coast-era entrepreneur Clarence Macaky and his wife Katherine for the west garden of their 658-acre estate in the former Harbor Hill neighborhood, the “Horse Tamer” was created as a replica of the Chevaux de Marly statutes in France, depicting a pair of horses on hind legs being corralled by corresponding trainers.
Mackay’s estate — and the statue — was dismantled in 1947.
A portion of the “Horse Tamer” came under the ownership of the Roslyn School District, while the other half remained on the property until 2010, when former residents Bruce and Melissa Shulman sold their home and donated the statue to the Town of North Hemsptead.
It took three years and $100,000 to restore the town’s half of the statue, which was erected in Gerry Park in 2013 with assistance from the Roslyn Landmark Society.
