San Francisco Examiner Magazine ‘After the Ride’ Reagan in bronze—life-like statue

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER MAGAZINE
Sunday, November 29, 1998, page 23
A SECTION OF THE SUNDAY EXAMINER & CHRONICLE

Simi Valley, Ventura County—It’s perhaps the most enduring image of the nation’s 40th chief executive: Ronald Reagan in stride, cowboy hat in hand with dusty boots and denim jacket, after a horseback ride.

The former president was cast in a larger-than-life bronze sculpture recalling that rugged Western pose and the aw-shucks smile identifiable to generations of Americans.

It was Reagan after all, who often said: “There’s nothing as good for the inside of a man as the outside of a horse.”

Former first lady Nancy Reagan and Governor Wilson pulled a red, white, and blue shroud from the 7-foot, 6-inch bronze Thursday night at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, bringing a wide smile to Nancy Reagan. With an adoring look and wide-eyed wonder she grabbed his hand and said, “Hello, Ronnie”

“It makes you want to shake his hand, doesn’t it?” said sculptor Glenna Goodacre of Santa Fe, NM, who titled her bronze “After The Ride.”

The 87-year-old former president, stricken with Alzheimer’s didn’t attend.

The bronze is actually the second casting of “After The Ride”. The first has been on display at the National Cowboy Hall of Fame in Oklahoma City, since April.

“I broke tradition and did not use a straight, stoic expression or have him wearing a business suit because I wanted to put as much life and personality into the bronze as I could, Goodacre said.

The artist spent hours at the library painstakingly poring over pictures, watching videos and examining the clothes Reagan wore to accurately capture the former president, library spokeswoman Lynda Schuler said.

Nancy Reagan also participated so Goodacre would get the likeness just right. It was Nancy Reagan who picked the pose from two choices—the one unveiled Thursday and one of the former president waving.

“Glenna Goodacre has created one of the most lifelike portrayals of President Ronald Reagan we have here,” Schuler said.

Goodacre’s best-known work is the emotional sculpture of three women depicted in bronze for the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in Washington…. 

“I’m glad it’s going up in his lifetime,” Goodacre said.