Herring exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1818 to 1865, at the British Institution from 1830 to 1865, and at the Society of British Artists from 1836 to 1852, where he became vice-president in 1842. From 1840, Herring found success with a range of royal patrons, including the Duc d’Orleans (son of King Louis-Phillipe), HRH the Duchess of Kent, and Queen Victoria, who remained a loyal patron for the rest of Herring’s life. In 1853, he moved to Meopham Park near Tonbridge and broadened his subject matter to include agricultural scenes and narrative pictures, such as this painting of a dappled grey horse in its stable with other animals. Herring was immensely popular in his day; in his obituary in the Sporting Magazine, it was said that he ‘first showed the world not only how a thoroughbred horse should be drawn, but made the half-bred bear his part in the pastoral scenes such as canvas had never known before’.