It’s official, I’m going to list all of the horse breeds from every country I can find. The enormous breeds section has been a big help and today it’s all about breeds from Australia.
Horses aren’t native to the Australian continent, but were introduced during the pioneering days and heavily utilized to create civilization in this vast new world. Once their service was finished many of them were released, which later gave rise to the Brumbies…Australia’s mustangs.
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The warm season is upon us again, and the flys are a buzzing. There are industrial repellants out there, but that doesn’t mean you have to use them. While flies are a nuisance, that doesn’t justify slathering yourself or your horse with unnecessary chemicals.
So I did some research to find out some of the best & most natural ways to control pests. Beyond sprays there are a variety of options to help keep flies at bay. Believe it or not some of the natural fly predators (which attack flies in the larval stage) are among the best for pest management in larger establishments.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in southern France to an aristocratic family during the mid 19th century. He had a weak & ill childhood which left him somewhat physically deformed.
Henri was a strange little man, oddly misshapen due to broken bones as a child. He took to the bawdy night life of bars & brothels and became a heavy drinker. While much of his art reflects the people with which he shared his time (loose women and burlesque dancers), he also had a softer side. The softer Henri enjoyed the circus and had an obvious appreciation for the equine form. So far I’ve found horses in over 30 of his pieces, so if you haven’t seen the first post of Henri’s horses be sure to check it out.
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Recently I was researching something or other online and ran across The Man From Snowy River by A.B. Paterson. I was embarrassed that the name only rang a bell in the context of a movie, so I had to read it and see if the movie added up.
The poem is excellent and actually exciting, or as exciting as a poem can be. As for the movie, its bold imagery absolutely does the verses justice and the cliff scene is very judiciously replicated for the film interpretation.
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It’s that time of the week again & Monday is as good a time as any to learn about a new plant your horse can’t eat. Today we’ll take a look at the strangely beautiful and most unfortunately named Bloodroot
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Last week I shared some videos of one extreme equine sport, vaulting and suddenly I felt a series coming on. Today I’m going for water sports (as beach season is almost upon us) with horse surfing.
Yes, I said it – horse surfing. No the horse isn’t in the water, they keep all four feet firmly on the ground. However, the guy behind them on the board holding on to a rope for dear life is another matter entirely. There is also a winter sport with the same idea, (a post for another day) which only proves that people on horseback manage to get bored all over the world. Again I’ve opted for a few videos to help provide more of the experience.
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Argentina is an enormous country and one that spans a number of different geographical climates. In prehistoric times horses may have existed in modern Argentina, however they all died out during the last Ice Age.
Today most of the breeds found in this country are the ancestors of Spanish animals brought over during the 16th century. Many of them only recently officially recognized as breeds themselves, however almost all of them share lineage to some degree.
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Although the stirrup doesn’t seem like an exciting piece of equipment, it is actually the most pivotal contributions of the equestrian world. It was, in fact, one of the most basic tools used to create and spread modern civilization – perhaps even on par with the printing press. Beat that martingale!
Horses have been domesticated for human use since at least 10,000 BC, originally used to pull chariots & carts or ridden bareback. As civilization continued to evolve and war continued to happen the need for more stability while mounted was inevitable. This is a tool that literally helped to create the world we live in today.
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Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was born in 1864 in southern France to an aristocratic family. Although he was a privileged child, he was also an ill one & his passion for art began at a young age.
By the time he had hit puberty, Henri had broken bones in both of his legs which stunted their growth. At physical maturity he stood only 4.5 feet tall and had abnormally short legs. His physical misfortunes caused Henri to throw himself into his art and he favoring the racy parts of town for inspiration. There he could hide from his physical misfortunes…and drink to excess.
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We are living in The Information Age. Television, radio and the World Wide Web put astounding amounts of information at our finger tips.
The challenge for those of us with a passion to help our animal friends and clients is to sift through the information and separate the truth from the error. Misinformation or exaggeration about the “benefits” herbs or the “dangers” of modern medicines don’t help anyone.
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It’s Monday again (they just never stop coming) so chin up and lets learn about another plant your horse can’t eat. Today we are going to meet one of the prettiest (& most tragically named) toxic plants in the whole collection, Bleeding Heart
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