Marino Marini's work is characterized by three recurrent series of motifs, next to the female nudes in form of the Pomona and the acrobats and dancers, the motif of the horse is the most famous one. "'Horse and Rider' must have had a strong force of attraction on Marini, as they are so dominant in his work. [..] Apart from its symbolic value, the horse is so appealing to the artist for several characteristics: its muscles, the gracious motions, and the daunting appearance it has when its angry or in panic. The horse is subject of the most excellent artworks, starting with paleolithic cave paintings [..]. When Marini makes the horse his main theme he shows a preferrence that is as old as art itself." (quote after: Patrick Waldberg and G. di San Lazzaro, Marino Marini. Leben und Werk, Frankfurt 1971, p. 12). The sublime illustration of horse and rider has been rendered in this work in a most distinguished manner with it minimalist line management and the reduced accentuation of blue and red stripes. Marini's mastery in pictorial narrations becomes obvious in the concentration on the essence of what brings out the core of the illustration.