A 9-year-old horse named Justin is showing the world that he isn’t ready to be put out to pasture just yet — because he has a flourishing career as an artist.

The colt is owned by Adonna Combs, who has a degree in fine art. She purchased Justin as a 2-year-old and hoped to use him in dressage competitions, but Justin showed no promise as a show-jumping horse.

However, one day with his teeth he picked up Adonna’s crop (or whip), and began to swirl it around in the dirt. And when Adonna incorporated some paint and poster boards, and a brush tied to the end of the crop, a star was born.

One of Justin’s masterpieces, titled Chevaux, was entered in the annual Equine Art, Antique & Rare Book auction, held recently at the American Saddlebred Museum in Lexington, Kentucky.

The masterpiece sold for $700. That’s a meteoric rise compared to Justin’s first paining, which netted $15.

The museum states on its website that “Justin The Artistic horse is one of this region’s hottest new breakout artists.”

Abstracts are his specialty. He paints on canvass with brushes held in his teeth.

Adonna, who chooses the colors and brushes, states: “The paintings reflect Justin’s personality — bold, confident and playful. His technique is unconfined and he is free to place the brush wherever he chooses.”

To be sure, Justin, who paints almost every day, is making great strides as an artist. His works have appeared at several galleries and museums and sell for an average of several hundred dollars.

So although he was not up to competing in dressage, he still turned out to be quite the showman.

– Top image shows one of Justin’s works, Cheveaux, which sold for $700 at a recent auction