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Emily of Texas Revisited

Year of the HorseThe first artist interview ever published on The Equinest was Emily of Texas and I found her via Twitter. Since then the list has grown along with my appreciation for art.

Artist of the Week

Today’s artist paints colorful & vibrant pieces, full of character & warmth. Interestingly enough she’s not just into horses, her mount of choice is Mammoth Jackstock.

Keeping Up With Emily

Be sure to visit her blog at emilyoftexas.wordpress.com to see her latest stuff & you can always follow Emily on twitter to keep up with her work. Here are some quick quotes & my favorite images from her interview, you can read the whole interview here.
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Stunt Rider – Horse Jobs

man doing a horse stunt

There are a wide range of professions that can employ a stunt rider position, including everything from big Hollywood films to stunt acts to traveling shows.

What You Need

A challenging job for even the most athletic horseperson, this is a position which requires a rock hard constitution and bones made of rubber. Beyond the obvious, a stunt rider needs a solid relationship with a well-trained animal and hours upon hours of practice falling off a horse.

Above all this job requires someone who is willing to go the extra mile and remain in top physical condition while continuously learning and training with their mount. Plus the obvious must be stated, this is a dangerous job and injuries are common.

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Equine Massage Basics

Click to see VideoAnyone who has had a massage will agree, you always feel better afterwards. Many horses are athletes and work their muscles hard so it should follow that they would benefit from massage just like we do.

This video provides some of the basics for those who want to take equine massage into their own hands.

If you decide to try this yourself be sure to remember that it’s important to listen to your animal, they will tell you are doing more bad than good.

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HDR Photography

HDR Photography

Image from trevor.richter

HDR is a process of taking multiple shots of the same thing and combining them to create an image with intense highs & lows. The resulting images are highly detailed, full of contrast & often surreal looking.

HDR has quickly become one of my favorite photography techniques & I’ve put together quite a few collections of amazing HDR photography.

Some of them are horse-related & others so amazing they just had to be shared.

HDR Horses | Pt. 2 | Pt. 3
Barns in HDR | 10 Reasons I Love HDR | Creepy HDR

Although simple in theory, HDR is not an easy technique to master, especially when the images are of moving, breathing animals. Cheers to these photographers with their great eyes and endless patience for getting the right shot.

Eleanor Van Natta – Horse Blogger of the Week

Sage By NatureFor my first horse blogger of the week I had to mention my friend (and frequent guest poster) Eleanor Van Natta over at Sage By Nature. Be sure to visit her Sage Blog (& grab her RSS feed while you are there). Plus you can find all of her guest articles on her author’s page.

Eleanor writes about horse health with emphasis on a natural approach, and most of what she writes is based on (sometimes painful) personal experience.

Her work provides insight into common situations through her experiences, and facts based on her extensive research. All of this peppered with a dose of humor, poetic metaphors & loads of resources.
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Horse Breeds of the Week – Appaloosa – Appendix Quarter

Heart GlobeToday we begin taking a look at three breeds at a time & I’ll share them in alphabetical order so the mix will remain nice and random.

Pleased to Introduce

The breeds for this week are an interestingly similar mix the lovely appaloosa, it’s cousin the Appaloosa Sport Horse and the Appendix Quarter Horse (which, interestingly enough may also carry appaloosa white patterns).

All three are fairly new breeds from North America, each one created with a specific purpose in mind.

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Horse Flash Games Online

Flash Games OnlineIt’s Wednesday and time for another dose of online horse games. I started cataloguing these games some time ago when I wrote a post about them & with reader additions the list continues to grow.

So I’ve developed more organized lists separating them into different types. As always different games will appeal to different people & these lists help you target your interests. Be sure to check out jumping games, dress up games & racing games too!

This list encompasses a number of flash games that don’t really fall into any other category. From Horse Bowling to Pony Memory to Dungfoo Donkey, there is hours of entertainment here.

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Interview Tuesday

Artist Interviews

Lately I’ve been using Tuesdays as a day to share horse artists, but it was time for a change. The fun of a website is the ability to change on the fly & I decided it was time to show off some more contemporary horse art.

I’ve been fortunate enough to have interviewed some amazing equine artists, photographers & authors so I thought it was time to re-visit some of those interviews.
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Del Mar National Horse Show 2010

2010 Del Mar National Horse ShowOften referred to simply as ‘Del Mar’, he Del Mar National originated as part of the annual San Diego County Fair and is now in its 65th year of operation.

This is one of the oldest & most prestigious equestrian competitions in the western states and runs for three weeks, a week for western, a week for dressage & a week for hunters/jumpers.

The show attracts over 3,000 horses during competition weeks and is held in a recently refurbished world-class facility.

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Racetrack Groom – Horse Jobs

Man with a horse

Often a starting off point for ambitions jockeys-to-be, a groom is one of the entry level jobs working with horses. Despite this fact, it takes a lot of grit and a serious knowledge of horses to do a great job.

What You Need

The groom wears a number of hats during a normal workday and many tasks will fall under their command. However this is a position that benefits from a solid knowledge of horses, strong communication skills and a strong teamwork ethic.

This is a horse job that requires a lot of time with the animals, a sense of personal responsibility is essential in a caretaker.

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How To Dye A Saddle

Something a little different for the artistic horsey DIY crowd (especially the ones who hate the color of their saddle). Sometimes change is good.

This process isn’t strictly for saddles, almost any light colored leather can be dyed (the darker colors, a tad more difficult). Whether you want to dye your saddle, bridle or that pair of boots, this vid provides some of the basics for the process.

Just remember, dye is permanent (and messy) so make sure you wear grubby clothes & shoes.!

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