Brian Hatton, the artist, painted Runaway Horse in 1900 when he was thirteen years old. He was at this time a pupil at Swansea Grammar School where he continued until Easter 1902. Most of the school holidays were spent in Hereford and many of his works dated from this time are scenes of rural Herefordshire. Runaway Horse, however, was painted in Swansea. Brian Hatton often captured an incident, a moment in time and this is a dramatic image as the rider and his horse try to subdue the grey horse as it rears away from him. A group of horses follow in the background. The figure on the runaway is riding without a saddle and wearing a red scarf tied around his neck. He is brandishing a stick in his attempt to subdue the horse that rears up on his hindlegs, perhaps in fright.