Hayes recycled 6,000 pounds of clay by stripping the clay from each sculpture once the molds were removed and applying it to another horse's frame. Once hardened, the plaster for each horse was cut into 45 sections that were color-coded and numbered. The plaster sections were loaded onto a flatbed truck and taken to Lands End Sculpture Foundry, Paonia, CO, where Bob and Mary Zimmerman, with the help of foundry people and local students, cut the plaster again-usually into four smaller sections. The reassembled bronze sections were welded, hammered, sandblasted, treated with liver of sulphur for patina, and warmed for final shaping, polishing and waxing. Then they were once again loaded onto the truck and transported back to Houston for installation.
Sculptors use engineering tricks to make such large bronzes hold shape and remain upright.
The WILD AND FREE horses are anchored to their pedestals by stainless-steel rods running down the insides of their legs.