Here are a few interesting posts from horse-blogging land!
January Sunshine from Pony Express
Lovely horses, lovely photos, and my second-favorite livestock: BABY LAMBS! Even if part of me did die inside a little when she talked about spring-like weather...
When Event Horses Defy the Odds from Eventing Nation
AMAZING rehab story. Wow.
The Ammy Manifesto from Sprinkler Bandit
PREACH IT.
I Was a NYC Carriage Driver from The Adventures of a Floppy Ammy
The world can't have enough honest reporting about how well-treated NYC carriage horses are, and this is a really neat perspective!
Bel Joeor: Life + Horses
Saturday, February 7, 2015
Friday, February 6, 2015
Classic Equestrian Art from the Yale Center for British Art
My brain is mush today, and has been all week. Also, I walked to work in -15 this morning - with my Smartwool tights under my pants, so thankfully no more frostbite.
So here, have some gorgeous paintings from the Yale Center for British Art. (All are in public domain, and so ok to post, but click on the links back to Yale to show their online collections some love and to get loads of additional details.)
So here, have some gorgeous paintings from the Yale Center for British Art. (All are in public domain, and so ok to post, but click on the links back to Yale to show their online collections some love and to get loads of additional details.)
Henry Thomas Aiken, 1785-1851
John Wooten, 1682-1764
Thomas Spencer, 1700-1753
Anson Ambrose Martin, active 1830-1844
James Ward, 1769-1859
John Frederick Herring, Jr., 1815-1907
Wednesday, February 4, 2015
Vermont Achievement Unlocked: Mild Frostbite
So on Monday we had a bit of a snowstorm. Nothing too bad - quite a bit of snow, but the light & fluffy kind. We ended up with maybe 12" overall.
Mondays are my day off, and so I was home with the dog, cleaning the apartment and watching home renovation shows.
I took her for a walk when I got up. Nothing really intense; just 30 minutes or so around the block, taking a couple of double-back routes to get us both some fresh air.
It was 0 or just below; cold, but not anything I hadn't done before. I was wearing appropriate boots, hat, gloves, long coat, etc., and jeans.
I got back into the apartment, and jumped into the shower. I was quite cold, obviously, but again: nothing out of the ordinary.
The tops of my thighs started itching badly under the hot water of the shower. Then they started burning. I was a bit weirded out but didn't get worried until I got out of the shower and noticed that the skin on my legs had swollen so badly I couldn't see my kneecaps anymore, just dimpled wrinkles. The skin was an unbelievable lobster red.
So, um, whoops? I must've been walking into the wind the entire time, and out there just long enough, with not enough layers on the one part of my legs.
Needless to say, I promptly put on Smartwool tights underneath my jeans and didn't leave the house for the rest of the day.
Two days later, they seem to be fine, with just some residual sensitivity. I have been carefully applying moisturizer to try and keep the skin healthy, and after the first day the random burning sensation stopped.
Still, that's a first for me! Obviously I'm pretty good at layering up, and obviously I've worked outside in much colder temperatures, but it serves as a good reminder for how careful you have to be, even about the little things!
Mondays are my day off, and so I was home with the dog, cleaning the apartment and watching home renovation shows.
I took her for a walk when I got up. Nothing really intense; just 30 minutes or so around the block, taking a couple of double-back routes to get us both some fresh air.
It was 0 or just below; cold, but not anything I hadn't done before. I was wearing appropriate boots, hat, gloves, long coat, etc., and jeans.
I got back into the apartment, and jumped into the shower. I was quite cold, obviously, but again: nothing out of the ordinary.
The tops of my thighs started itching badly under the hot water of the shower. Then they started burning. I was a bit weirded out but didn't get worried until I got out of the shower and noticed that the skin on my legs had swollen so badly I couldn't see my kneecaps anymore, just dimpled wrinkles. The skin was an unbelievable lobster red.
So, um, whoops? I must've been walking into the wind the entire time, and out there just long enough, with not enough layers on the one part of my legs.
Needless to say, I promptly put on Smartwool tights underneath my jeans and didn't leave the house for the rest of the day.
Two days later, they seem to be fine, with just some residual sensitivity. I have been carefully applying moisturizer to try and keep the skin healthy, and after the first day the random burning sensation stopped.
Still, that's a first for me! Obviously I'm pretty good at layering up, and obviously I've worked outside in much colder temperatures, but it serves as a good reminder for how careful you have to be, even about the little things!
Monday, February 2, 2015
TOABH: Self-Actualization
Time off.
When the assistant trainer was riding Tristan last summer, I told her that he is a horse who needs processing time. He functions best and happiest when he has a day in between intense rides. He is not a horse who needs or wants work seven days a week.
AT remarked that she'd often heard people say that about their horses and had never found it true, and then a few days later she came back to me and said "Wow, it's true!" Giving Tristan a day completely to himself in between training rides resulted in a totally different horse: more forward, more willing, and he had clearly digested the mental lessons and come out better for it.
Granted, my current once-every-ten-days schedule is not ideal either! But Tris would do very well on a solid, consistent, 4-5 day a week schedule with two, mayyyyybe three, of those days as a hard drill. The others would be non-brain work: trot sets, hacking out, you name it.
It works well for me, since I'm not in a position in life (or quite frankly, a desiring frame of mind) to have a horse that NEEEEEDS that 7 days of work a week.
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Horses & Weddings
Okay, I know I promised I wouldn't talk wedding planning here, but...well...
So in lieu of complaining!
The wedding date is set for September 2015. We have a venue, rental company (tables, chairs, tablecloths, tents, stage, silverware, glasses), caterer (SO EXCITE), photographer, florist (ugh hands down my least favorite vendor but oh well), theme, and a bunch of little touches. Like, everyone is very concerned that we have something catchy or clever or pretty to hold the cards on the gift table? Seriously? Anyway: my aunt is super-crafty and is making a large baskety thing out of found rope from the beach. Done and done.
When we announced the wedding, after "when is it?" the number one question was "oooooh, are you going to have your horse there?"
No. No, I am not. As my mother pointed out, there will only be three people at the wedding I would trust with him: my mother, Hannah, and me. And all of us will be busy. Also, I have no particular desire to haul him 5 hours to be there and then spend the rest of the time boarded somewhere strange and all of it would just add to both of our anxious qualities and also so far this wedding is not that horsey.
But obviously horses are crucially important to me. So I'd like to find some subtle, classy ways to integrate horsey stuff into the wedding itself. PLEASE HELP, INTERNETS!
For reference, if we have a general theme, it's Art Deco. As in, here's what our save the dates look like, sans identifying info, obviously.
So, with that in mind, to Pinterest!
So in lieu of complaining!
The wedding date is set for September 2015. We have a venue, rental company (tables, chairs, tablecloths, tents, stage, silverware, glasses), caterer (SO EXCITE), photographer, florist (ugh hands down my least favorite vendor but oh well), theme, and a bunch of little touches. Like, everyone is very concerned that we have something catchy or clever or pretty to hold the cards on the gift table? Seriously? Anyway: my aunt is super-crafty and is making a large baskety thing out of found rope from the beach. Done and done.
When we announced the wedding, after "when is it?" the number one question was "oooooh, are you going to have your horse there?"
No. No, I am not. As my mother pointed out, there will only be three people at the wedding I would trust with him: my mother, Hannah, and me. And all of us will be busy. Also, I have no particular desire to haul him 5 hours to be there and then spend the rest of the time boarded somewhere strange and all of it would just add to both of our anxious qualities and also so far this wedding is not that horsey.
But obviously horses are crucially important to me. So I'd like to find some subtle, classy ways to integrate horsey stuff into the wedding itself. PLEASE HELP, INTERNETS!
For reference, if we have a general theme, it's Art Deco. As in, here's what our save the dates look like, sans identifying info, obviously.
So, with that in mind, to Pinterest!
NOPE.
Meh. I don't strongly dislike it, but it's much more barn/country than we're aiming for.
NOOOOOPE.
I kind of like it, but that is waaaaaaay more effort and time than I am willing to put in for something we'll just throw away right afterwards.
Ah, the good old-fashioned theme of "the groom should grovel before me." Why, people. Why.
Now we're getting warmer! With an Art Deco font, maybe?
I kind of like the style, but this is a garter. Eep.
Of the many (many, MANY) horseshoe-themed craft ideas, I like this one best so far.
So, help? Any ideas? I'm open to a subtle equestrian touch in nearly any area of the wedding. I'm not in love with the horseshoes...but they are so easy to craft with. Then again, I also don't particularly want to craft. Or think hard about this at all. I am developing a particular aversion to wedding planning, actually.
So with those very helpful guidelines: any suggestions appreciated!
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