@TrackerBar
Ok. found my old copy..
Regarding the horse..
A named local couple owned the horse {I won't put their name here}
they provided a photo for Bill to work from
''*After he had provided the rough work on the horse's outline, he decided to go out to search for a good background.
He wandered around the lanes around the {Name}property, and eventually found a field with a breathtaking backdrop of the Beacons.*
As he settled down to sketch and photograph, a local Farmer walking his collie
Farmer and Bill chatted, and it transpired :
'That a sort of blight had descended on the area, Lambs and calves were being born blind, deformed or deaf, the Farmers had never experienced anything like it, and vets were baffled'
''*The {Horse} painting came on in leaps and bounds--- He was having trouble with one of the horse's rear legs, never an easy task at the best of times with horses oppositional joints, Yet, however many times he painted over it to correct whatever it was that looked wrong, it always came out the same.
It was as if his hand was preventing him from putting it right.
His difficulty with the leg continued..With Bill becoming increasingly infuriated
In the end, he had to admit defeat. He had got the leg as close to what it should look like as possible, and with the magnificent, powerful background, it was barely noticeable"*
Owners overjoyed.
Then a short time later, Horse owner phoned the Rich's to say the horse had died suddenly.
*'the horse had injured one of it's legs, the one Bill had had problems with in the painting.
Despite the ministrations of a Vet, and against all expectations, the horse's condition had worsened.
In the end, the leg looked misshapen, twisted, just how Bill had painted it.
When it died from complications brought about by the injury,Because of it's size, the {Name} had it buried where it fell.
It was only afterwards, when they stood tearfully over the grave, did they realise that it died in exactly the same spot Bill had painted, exactly , to the position of the hills, bushes and trees and hedgerows.
The location he had chosen at random for it's beautiful backdrop'*
The horse owners said they too began to be affected by sinister goings on, too.
The {Name} burned the painting, and never made contact with Bill again.