Within Oranjestad, capital of Aruba, several horse statues can be found, all painted blue. Each of the 8 bright blue horses is unique and carries its own name and personality. The names of these horses are Rosalinda, Saturnina, Escapia, Sinforosa, Eufrosina, Ambrosio, Bonifacia and Celestina. These 8 sculptures were created by native Aruban artist Osaira Muyale. She named the project Paarden Baai, which translates to “Horses Bay”. The name Paarden baai is still in use for the bay in front of the city, near the cruise terminals.
The statues were installed in 2015 and are in honor of the historically important horse trade that provided income to the island. The 8 Sculptures represent "Strength, Nobility, Grace, Beauty and Freedom".
So why are these horse statues painted blue? At the time of the horse trade there was no jetty for landing the horses. So the boats anchored offshore and the strongest horse jumped in the blue water (more or less voluntary) and then the others followed. The first horse would immediately swim in the direction of the shore and the others would follow. The color blue represents the blue water they had to cross to get on shore.
