The Equinest archives

Read Black Beauty Online – Chapter 15. The Old Hostler

Chapter 15. The Old Hostler

After this it was decided by my master and mistress to pay a visit to some friends who lived about forty-six miles from our home, and James was to drive them. The first day we traveled thirty-two miles. There were some long, heavy hills, but James drove so carefully and thoughtfully that we were not at all harassed. He never forgot to put on the brake as we went downhill, nor to take it off at the right place. He kept our feet on the smoothest part of the road, and if the uphill was very long, he set the carriage wheels a little across the road, so as not to run back, and gave us a breathing. All these little things help a horse very much, particularly if he gets kind words into the bargain.
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Hemlock – (Super) Toxic Plant of the Week

The H’s are a huge category in the a-z of plants your horse can’t eat and this one is a biggie. Today’s plant is already notorious for its effects and Hemlock is just as toxic to you and me as it is to our equine pals.
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Artsy Horse Ideas for the Home – Horse Gift Ideas

Gift Recently we’ve been sharing a lot of horse theme fashion, but today we want to switch gears a little and look at a few items for the home. If you are an art lover, you are in the right place, we’ve got some lovely artistic horse items for the home to share.

Artistic Horse

We feature a lot of horse art and love to share new horse artists with our readers. Today we have some fun and fabulous horse art for the home – use them as gift ideas or fill your own home with them. We won’t tell. Either way, we have dozens of artistic horsey items to share and will have more to come.
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The Fabulous Eichholtz Equestrian Collection – Horse Gift Ideas

Gift As we are sharing fantastic equestrian gift ideas, our lists would not be complete without a nod to the Eichholtz Equestrian Collection for the home. This is a handsome, slightly masculine collection with loads of class.

Leather Touches

Through the use of soft leather accents and shiny nickel buckle details, the equestrian influence is undeniable. While it has a bit of horse flair, the items are well crafted and provide handsome accent pieces that can flow through a variety of different rooms and spaces. Use the umbrella stand by the door, the lanterns down the hall and serve tea on the lovely tray.
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Keeping Your Horse Healthy – A Guide to Disease Prevention

This handy video was created by World Horse Welfare to educate horse owners about keeping horses healthy by paying attention and remaining on top of preventative care.

Expensive Friends

Anyone who owns a horse knows that vet bills are a fact of life, equines are expensive animals to keep. Part of being a good owner or caretaker means paying attention and doing everything you can to prevent the onset of health problems. Of course with horses this list could become quite long. As always, remember that we’ve created the world they live in and we have to make allowances for how we’ve changed the nature of their existence.
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Mounted Tour or Trail Guide – Horse Jobs

This is another of the dreamy dream horse jobs for horse enthusiasts because it means being paid to ride. While it encompasses a wide variety of different types of employment, there is a lot of hands-on experience with the animals themselves along with a potential for adventure.

What You Need

Above all a love of horses is a must to work as a mounted guide, but that’s not where it ends. Regardless of where you are and who you work for, this position requires being alert, understanding body language (both horse and rider) and a strong work ethic. In smaller establishments guides may also be responsible for varying degrees of horse care and maintenance in addition to tours. Stables offer a range of riding packages to their guests and guides can expect to be in the saddle anywhere from an hour to eight in the saddle.
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Read Black Beauty Online – Chapter 14. James Howard

Chapter 14. James Howard

Early one morning in December John had just led me into my box after my daily exercise, and was strapping my cloth on and James was coming in from the corn chamber with some oats, when the master came into the stable. He looked rather serious, and held an open letter in his hand. John fastened the door of my box, touched his cap, and waited for orders.
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Heliotrope – Toxic Plant of the Week

Believe it or not, the H’s are a rather big category in the a-z of plants your horse can’t eat. Today’s plant is difficult to pronounce – and Heliotrope is equally as dangerous.
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6 Calendars for 2013 – Horse Gift Ideas

Gift Over the past few weeks we’ve begun our annual gift idea celebration & have been sharing fab gift ideas for horse lovers of all types. We have plenty more to share & today is no exception.

Keeping Track of the Time

Whether you need a calendar at the barn to keep track of vet & farrier visits or to keep a little horse with you at the office, we’ve got something for you. Every year we try to share a few fun horsey calendars for our readers & we select them based solely on the lovely quality of their images.
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Equine Cufflinks – Horse Gift Ideas

Gift Last time we ventured into the exciting world of mens footwear and today we want to continue the men’s accessories journey into so pretty hot horsey ties. Some that even non-horse people would snatch up.

Suited Horse

While not all of us can work with horses, it’s not impossible to bring a little horse to the workplace with you. Especially if it is disguised as part of your attire. The ties below are fun and funky enough to make them worth the horse. We aimed for unique patterns, colors and ideas to give a fresh perspective to the traditional equestrian tie.
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Trendy Men’s Ties – Horse Gift Idea

Suited Horse

Handy Stretches for Your Horse

Last week we shared some videos with horse pilates exercises and today we are keeping in a similar theme. Today’s video will

Essential Warm Up

While many of us stretch our own muscles (and give our mount a nice long walk to warm them up) we don’t often fully stretch our horse in preparation for athletic motion. Stretching does the same thing for your animal as it does for you, making movement easier, more natural and decreasing the chance of sore muscles after a workout. Ideally both you and your mount should stretch before and after workouts.
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