Dirck Stoop followed the innovative mode of Pieter van Laer and the Bamboccianti that he encountered in Italy during his stay there between 1635 and 1645. He depicted scenes from the everyday life of peasantry, but imbued them with lively elegance. This etching, the first in Stoop’s debut print series after his return to the Netherlands, shows an unusual and amusing view of the back of a rearing horse and its rider that forms a dynamic counterpoint to an arid landscape.