Things are hectic for Strawberry Lane.
She's working hard at rescuing horses caught in the wake of the California wildfires. Read her story here. I had a Paso Fino refugee from the Los Alamos fires several years ago. Not everyone got their horses out.
She and her brave cat Mousetrap have also been fighting off a hawk.
I think these are way cool. It reminds me of how the Native Americans used to braid some turquoise into their horses mane to keep them from stumbling. See Zephyr Equine Gifts. I wonder if these would sound as pretty as the jingle bobs on my Spanish spurs? I don't have any financial association with these guys, just found them in my web travels.
Would these look silly on a percheron? (No snickering ...) They're very becoming on these horses, I think. Check out the selection!
From my little ranch here in northern New Mexico, the Carpathian Forest in Transylvania conjures up images of deep mystery and beauty in my imagination. Of somewhere, well ... else. A place many of us might visit only in our dreams.
I don't know if I'll ever get to travel to Julian and Danielle's Stefan cel Mare Equestrian Centre in Romania, but what I can do is travel through the words of a very excellent writer and storyteller as Julian blogs about their daily life on his blog Transylvanian Horseman. Definitely check this out. You are in for a real treat as this Transylvanian Horseman shares with you his vision of --
Stunning mountains, quiet and unspoiled, shelter a land and a way of life that has changed little in generations. Here, working horses still outnumber motor vehicles, providing transportation for people and goods and cultivating fields. Food is grown and produced locally, using age-old methods. The hardworking, hospitable people gather in close communities where family is the centre of life.
Road trip, anyone?!
Now, who would have thought? The Hackney is on the endangered equine list.
My first impression of the Hackney horse was at the Tulsa, Oklahoma fair. I was in kindergarten, and we lived only a few blocks away from the fairgrounds. My mom and dad took my sister and I to the fair and because I was a seriously horse-crazed child, they made sure that we spent some time at the horse shows.
I loved to watch the elderly ladies driving those flashy Hackney ponies around the arena. My memory is of senior woman with gray blue hair in a blue chiffon evening dress, resplendent with sequins and rhinestones sitting in a slick little rig, gloved hands holding the reins and driving whip, ice blue scarf billowing along in the wake of that Hackney's big trot.
I loved it.
This is the story of one of the over 400 horses rescued by the United States Equine Rescue League, Inc. Get our your kleenexes. Bryce is a clydesdale stallion who was rescued and adopted by a USER member. USER goes out to farms and talks to horse owners about the care of their animals. In the cases of abuse and neglect, the horses must be seized and then rehabilitated.
My sister, who has a background in law enforcement, used to do this type of animal rescue work in Georgia. Unfortunately, she also found that upon investigating allegations of animal abuse, they often discovered incidents of child abuse as well. She was surprised to find herself also needing to make a few calls into Georgia child protective services.
This is Buzkashi. A bunch of horsemen (I doubt they let women ride horses in this barbaric country) fight over a goat carcass. The sport is originally from Central Asian Turks who spread this sport throughout the region from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and hence later on to the British. Maybe this is how the British got the game of polo? This doesn't look much like the game I've seen played down at the Santa Fe Horse Park with the polo pros.
It does look a long way from home, however.
I love this vid of two little boys riding this enormous Belgian mare "Rowan". It just makes me smile. As do draft horses in general. What gentle souls they are. I am sorry to say that these beautiful giants are on the endangered list too. I have vaulted on Belgians. Actually, it's because of my experience vaulting on draft horses that my love affair with draft horses began. Did you know that the Belgian horse has the most direct lineal descendants of the "great horse" of medieval times?
I have had during the last year the opportunity to vault on a handsome Irish Draught horse named Shakespeare. But I had no idea until I began researching endangered horses, that these beautiful horses are indeed in need of conservation. Shakespeare, the only Irish Draught I've ever known, is a gentleman. He's carried both me and my daughter with great care during our vaulting practice. I have to literally reach over my head to grasp the handles of the vaulting surcingle. He is one tall boy. I know he's my vaulting coach's treasure.
Irish Draft Horse Society of North America. "The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations classifies the Irish Draught (ID) horse as an endangered breed due to the declining population size. Falling purebred numbers, combined with a serious threat of genetic erosion, suggest that the ID population is in urgent need of conservation. Genetic diversity is an important component in the consideration of conservation strategies and measures of genetic diversity are becoming widely used in breed management systems. The Irish Draught Horse Society must now identify and preserve its rare bloodlines and explore the genetic resources available to preserve the broadest possible genetic base."
When I was a girl, one Christmas I got a copy of a book entitled "The Love of Horses". The front cover was covered with white horses running through the sea. I still have the book to this day. It's one of my treasures.
I was the most taken by the photo of the Akhal Teke stallion, though. His coat was an iridescent gold, and to me he looked like royalty. I had no idea that these fabulous horses are endangered, with approximately 300 in the U.S. and 500 in Europe. These beautiful horses are originally from Turkmenistan. They were used as war horses originally and were valued because they could cross long distances with little food or water.
My holiday short story, William's Gift, has as one of its key characters an ugly brindle dog. This type of dog is ubiquitous here in northern New Mexico. And I'll admit that even though I described the dog in the story as looking like indoor/outdoor carpet, I have a very large, warm and fuzzy, soft spot for these canines.
Check out this post on brindle horses over at Bridlepath. While I've certainly seen this coloration on the coats of dogs, cattle, and cats, I don't believe I've ever seen it on a horse.
Very pretty.
Why We Write (Or All About My Horse). A writer talks about her horses and examines why she writes.
Why am I telling you about my horse and Montana? What can you do with this information? I have no idea. But aren't we writers to express our deepest feelings, not only pain but also love that spills over and needs to be defined and examined on the page? Why else do we write?
Good question. I like her answer even better. If you're blogging about horses, about anything for which you have a passion, why do you write?
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Maybe it's those horses with lots of character that build the character in each of us.
You've got to definitely check out this very cool blog by 13-year-old Madison. All about her and her horse Moon.
Very sweet.
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Massages? Pampering? I’m definitely with Ilian’s groom on this one—
It's good to be Ilian. The 1,100-pound, 16-year-old Grand Prix jumper has an acupuncturist, a massage therapist, a chiropractor and a groom to attend to his every need. A million-dollar athlete at the top of his game, Ilian's day consists of petting, brushing, riding, jumping, pampering, feeding and resting - anything to give him an edge. He has custom-fit shoes, specialized doctors and therapists, carefully selected supplements and food.
"This is a super athlete," his owner and rider Schuyler Riley said. "There's high school basketball players and there's the NBA. And he's the NBA." Ilian even gets a beer at the end of a hard day's work: a bottle of Guinness Extra Stout poured into his dinner. "I hope in my next life I come back as a horse, as a pampered show horse," said Dee Bickley, Ilian's groom.
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Check out Patricia’s blog Experiments in Training Equines. This is a blog with soul.
She writes about her first horse. Later on, I would ride her into town (20 miles). Sometimes I would just use a little kite-string for tack. You could tie her with a thread to a parking meter on a busy street, or put her in hobbles on a grassy lawn. I loved to be riding down the street and encounter kids that wanted to go for a horsey ride. She didn't like to move fast, but she was as reliable as the sun in the sky. When we would camp out in the forest, I would sleep on the ground in my sleeping bag and my filly would stand over me like a mare does with a foal. The first time I woke up to find myself boxed in by four hooves, I thought it was a little scarey, but after a few minutes I felt perfectly safe and went back to sleep.
I slept in the barn with my percheron horse Toby not all that long ago. Good thing I had a tenacious heeler dog to keep an eye on him, although the worst thing he did while looming over me all night was to nibble my knees.
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Sighted several places. Seen any in your neck of the woods?
boingboing. Like the jackalope and the flatbed truck-sized trout, the long-horse became extinct around the same time that the black-and-white postcard went out of vogue.
Tinselman. If you flip through old photos, you might be lucky enough to run into this now-extinct "long horse". It was strong, handsome and could carry up to four people at one time but, because of overwork, the horses tended to die young and, to put it bluntly, the population was eventually used to death.
There's even an extensive photo collection of the rare or extinct or whatever Long Horses.
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Scott Adams over at The Dilbert Blog. I have met quite a few horse lovers. My local area is full of them. They are all women. So I am left wondering about this inexplicable attraction between women and horses. Could it be the obvious? Could it have something to do with pressing your love button against a huge, muscular, undulating creature that is happy to carry you on his back and do whatever you tell him while never talking?
Hah. He strikes a chord. My husband likes to kid me about my Percheron. (Envision a wicked grin here.)
I have my own theory about this.
Read it all. The comments are all pretty funny too.
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I actually toyed around with the idea of naming my Percheron horse Bucephalas.
This looks like an awesome book. What a great combo. Horse + History. Have any of you read it?
Conversations with Writers interviews author Katherine Roberts. I am the Great Horse
What sets the book apart from the other things you have written? It is written by a horse [and] yes, this is the first book I have written from the point of view of an animal. My other novels have young protagonists, usually in their teenage years. With Alexander, this would not have worked since his story spans his whole life. So I used the horse to tell the story instead.
Read it all. Books are my absolute worst habit next to horses. I don't have a library, so many of my books are stacked up beneath my very tall four-poster bed. (Or piled on tables in the house, much to my the chagrin of very neat husband who is a former Navy submariner and a lot of what that implies. But I'm not complaining, he does the laundry and all kinds of house chores every week just like I do.) I'm adding this
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Oh, isn't he too cute? I've never had one of these itty bitty ones. Just my Percheron Toby at not quite two, and itty bitty are not words that would ever be used to describe The Big Boy. Last spring, our neighbor had five of these in the pasture next door along with their big mommas. So I spent a lot of time making friends with the mommas, and then they let me play with their babies.
From The Home of Two of Jonah's Military Guys. My point is - we treat the critters as family, not as objects. And they respond to that. In ways that clearly are not related solely to food.
More starkly is how that manifests itself with the horses. Our horses come when we call. Whether there's food involved or not (they come *much* quicker when they know there's food involved, you betcha!). But they come on their own volition. Our horses, in a horsey way, like us.
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Cholla, a Mustang Quarter horse, is one of the biggest selling animal artists in the world. He is shown here at his easel working on several paintings. Very cool.
My percheron Toby prefers to work in pastels. My 1,700-pound protege and I are having an opening this weekend on swanky Canyon Road in Santa Fe. I hope you can join us. There will be champagne and sparkling conversation.
(Not.)
Anyone out there have a painting horse? I'll bet my heeler puppies could do some damage with a brush.
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Well, since I've got big cats on the brain today...
If you've been reading my blog for any time now, then you know that I have a passion for the circus. However, I find this video a little disconcerting. I wonder what this poor horse is thinking? Is he terrified? Is he thinking about gathering himself up into one mighty heap and leaping over the edge of the circle to run for his life? I can almost hear the words galloping through his brain as he carries that Bengal tiger on his back around and around in that little circle. Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!
At least, I know that's what I'd be thinking.
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3. It’s hard to use a hammer when horse nostrils are 2 inches from the handle
4. Although fence mending would be easier with two people, it would be much easier with three. Think rodeo clown.
We can't repair anything in our pasture without an audience. At the beginning of the winter, when Dennis was winterizing our very large stock tank, he had to spend a lot of time just shooing the horses away. While no nibbling lips or velveteen muzzles got squashed or pinched, luckily, our Andalusian mare, Caprichosa, who is one of the very worst offenders, and then of course our young Percheron did try carrying away one pair of pliers and a tool belt. The Andalusian will at least return what she has stolen without much of a fuss. With Toby, tug-of-wars are always de rigueur.
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Well, this is an unsavory story if I ever heard one. Horse (aka "Snippy") whose death sparked UFO theory is on eBay.
Snippy, or Snippy's skeleton, dropped out of sight for decades, only to surface last week on eBay with a minimum bid of $50,000. “Whether it was a UFO or aliens or not, it is history,” said Frank Duran, a marketing specialist for Dell's Insurance in Alamosa. Duran said he posted Snippy on eBay after an attorney for a local man's estate asked him to market the famed set of bones. But Monday, Duran put the Snippy bidding on hold because the local chamber of commerce and a relative of Lewis' have claimed ownership.
Snippy's owner claimed mutilation by space aliens. However, I have my own theory about this one.
The French.
Yep. A group of famished Frenchmen. Armed with forks and knives and a bottle of Bordeaux.
Read the whole distasteful (well to some of us more civilized folk, anyway) tale.
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This is one way to market your horse psychology business. That's a pretty cute Christmas card. And this big guy apparently had some serious and dangerous behavior problems prior to Massingale working with him. All too often, these types of "problem" horses get passed around from owner to owner until they finally wind up at the sale barn and on dinner tables in heathen countries like France where they eat horses. (Don't get me started.) Guess Santa was good to this horse this year!
BBC News. A skilled equine psychologist says she has trained her horse to curl up under a Christmas tree in her living room for a series of festive cards. Emma Massingale, 24, from Bradworthy in west Devon, convinced Tom, a 17-hand black stallion, to become a model. Other photographs in the festive series include a foal wrapped in a blanket as the baby Jesus, surrounded by three adult horses as the Three Wise Men. "I can't believe the amount of interest I've had," she said.
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I wish this fifteen-year-old and his new Tennessee Walker all the best. What a lesson in compassion for all of us.
East Texas News. A Nacogdoches County teenager is going from the sadness of losing one horse to the hope of saving another. Brain Huckaby,15, has a connection with animals. He volunteered all summer at the animal shelter. He has numerous dogs and likes to ride horses with his uncle, so naturally a horse loose on the roadside caught his attention. Brian recalled, "I told my grandma it was up there loose and I wanted to go catch it. And she didn't want me to catch, but then she finally gave in to it."
Brian slowly led the little paint horse home. The young colt was badly malnourished. Brian wouldn't leave its side. He even attempted to sleep with it in hopes of getting it well. Brian said, "I would give it water and bottles and stuff like than and feed it with my hand. I kept blankets over it so it wouldn't freeze."
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I'm having a hard time these days keeping up with all of you other horse bloggers, although I'm trying! I love the idea of the blogosphere as a conversation between bloggers, and there are so many good stories out there. Molly over at Holamole has written a beautiful piece about her first horse.
She was considered a "grade mare" or even a funny looking stage-coach horse by the other barn girls.
My first horse was a thirteen-year-old buckskin quarterhorse named "Trigger." He knew his name. Would come when you called like a large dog, so there was no getting around the whole Roy Rogers thing, as embarassing as it was. The day he was delivered, I remember standing outside along the rural highway underneath the gnarled pear tree (Out of which my mom got many delicious cans of pear preserves over the years. Ever eat those? Muy delicioso!), waiting for the red truck and trailer that I knew was coming with my horse. Lucky I didn't have Trigger at a boarding stable, or I can just imagine the barn girls that Molly so aptly describes sniggering at him and his silly name. He was not very elegant. But it didn't matter. I adored him.
We all decided she was a cross between a Belgian and a Quarter Horse. I didn't care what she was. I just wanted to be with her as much, as often, and as long as I could.
I am always intrigued with what Molly has to say about the inside vs. the outside. Read it all.
And I'd love to hear about your first horse.
A very nice story in the middle of some trying times. Our horses bring such joy to our lives. They even help bring us closer together.
The Northwestern. Sami Amundson competed at probably the biggest horse show in her life and the thought of her dad was never far away. Her father, Tom Amundson, is serving in Iraq with the Oshkosh-based Wisconsin Army National Guard 1157th Transportation Company. He had been with her just about every step of the way in her riding career until his unit was deployed overseas in early September. Amundson said she thought of her dad "a lot" while riding her Morgan horse named "T.J." at the recent Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show, Oklahoma City, Okla. Amundson, a sophomore at Oshkosh West High School, took fourth in World Class Hunt Seat Pleasure and fifth in the Grand National Qualifier — very respectable finishes. She said the competition "was tough."
Scotsman.com News. HORSE-LOVER Laura Chaffe went to great lengths to get her dream job. At the age of 25 she went back to school, spent thousands of pounds and travelled to the other side of the world just so she could study her unusual chosen profession - horse dentistry. Now she is a fully fledged equine dental technician and has just started her own business, based in West Lothian. With only a handful of horse dentists in Scotland, Laura is prepared to travel the country to rid the horse world of sore teeth and ulcers. In just a short space of time, she has saved a suffering Shetland pony from persistent toothache and witnessed the heartache of seeing horses being put down due to the state of their teeth.
A horse stands in its stall as a wildfire driven by strong winds burns in the background in Moorpark, California December 3, 2006. REUTERS
I hope they got this poor thing out of there. Anyone know anything about this?
When the fires raged in Los Alamos many years ago, horseowners were trailering their horses down the hill in droves. I was living in the nearby Pojoaque Valley at the time and had one equine refugee in my barn. A little Paso Fino gelding. The skies above us were red for a good couple of days. I've never seen anything like it. Some horse owners left their horses up there, hoping the fire would pass by. It did, but the reams of smoke didn't. A lot of horses died of smoke inhalation. I would turn my horses loose and let them at least have a go at survival on their own before I ever left them in that kind of situation.
Living in this dry, arid place, we always have a plan ready during the fire season for the evacuation of all of our animals.
OK. Get ready to have your breathe taken away.
I wrote about this guy and his Arabian horse earlier. But you've got to see this amazing video of the opening at Doha.
The Gulf Times. HE became the talk of the town when he pulled off the heart-stopping stunt astride Malibu the horse to light the 15th Asian Games Doha 2006 cauldron at the Opening Ceremony on Friday. And barely two days since, Sheikh Mohamed bin Hamad al-Thani’s name has crossed the boundaries of the Gulf, with the nearly five-minute long video clip of the daring stunt circulating via MMS and e-mail not just in Qatar but in faraway countries as well.
From the opening ceremony at Doha again. I've ridden my horses in some high and steep places over the years. Places that make my heart stop. Heights that give me tiny moments of panic where I have to remind myself, "breathe, girlfriend, breathe." But I've got to tell you, the idea of riding straight up a long flight of stairs or a steep ramp on horseback like this just leaves me cold.
This must have been an impressive and beautiful sight.
Quite a magnificent spectacle.
Uh, yeah. This is kind of what it looks like at my house when my husband Dennis takes his Arabian mare Morningstar out for a spin. Except that in addition to the masked bodyguards, he usually has a whole bevy of dancing girls following him too. (Led by yours truly, of course.)
Read the equestrian endurance riding rules for Doha 2006. Learn about the Mesaieed Endurance Course.
The captain of the Qatar endurance team, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Hamad al-Thani, rides a horse up a steep staircase during the opening ceremony of the 15th Asian Games at Khalifa Stadium in Doha December 1, 2006. (REUTERS)
Whew. I'll bet that will be some rough and unforgiving country.
Endurance riding is an extremely strenuous form of horse racing, requiring the horse to complete, at the top levels, for up to 100 miles. Winning riders complete these 100-mile rides in 10-12 hours. Any breed can compete, but Arabians generally dominate the top levels because of their incredible stamina and natural endurance.
Riders must have a great knowledge of pace and know when to slow down or speed up during the ride. They must also have knowledge of their horse's condition and watch for signs of tiring.
In some countries, the winner is determined by a combination of speed and the recovery rate of the horse. In other countries, no places are given and awards are presented to any horse and rider that achieved a required standard.
Endurance riding is being introduced to the Asian Games for the very first time in Doha 2006.
I must say that I like Santa Claus on a white horse much better than in a sleigh pulled by reindeer!
Sinterklaas, the Dutch equivalent of Santa Claus, holds a child on his horse during his arrival at the roof of the Nemo Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2006. A children's tv program has been accused of bowing to political correctness by turning the Dutch Santa Claus's traditionally black helpers into a rainbow coalition of helpers. Some adults feel that Black Petes, who are usually portrayed by white actors wearing black face makeup and afro wigs, are little more than racist caricatures and have long sought to change or scrap them. But a poll commissioned by the mass-market newspaper De Telegraaf among 5,200 Dutch found that 82 percent were against the move by the tv program 'Sinterklaas News,' which follows the saint's travails in the weeks before gifts are exchanged on Dec. 5, to introduce red, yellow, green, blue and purple 'Petes' and considered the change an affront to tradition. (AP)
Our First Horse. Both of our horses have what I would consider a peculiar habit. Each time we let them in the barn they lift their tails and pass gas as they walk by us. What is THAT all about? Is this some kind of horse greeting I’m just supposed to know about or are they trying to insult me?
Let me start by saying this. I have a 9-year-old boy who likes to regale his sister, his friends, and me (unfortunately) with all kinds of humor about bodily functions. Typical. Typical. Typical. I know. (How is it that you male creatures come into this world wired entirely different than we girls?)
So you can just imagine how my 9-year-old boy particularly enjoys talking about the great big farts that our nearly 1,700-pound Percheron horse lets rip, generally when we are brushing his tail or scratching those big hindquarters. Toby just about knocks that 60-pound kid over with all of that odiferous gas. It's like having a big stinky gas bomb lobbed right at ya. It's almost nuclear, man. Those are the biggest farts ever in the history of the world. Or at least that's what I'm told. Repeatedly.
Lord help me. I've agreed to let C. invite two friends, 9-year-old twin brothers, over for the weekend. The whole weekend. And those boys love horses, so we'll be spending some quality time down in the barn.
Let the farting joke extravaganza begin.
Related link: The Toby Touch
