In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, I would like to "Spread the Love" with all of my blog friends - my old friends who have read my scribbling since the beginning and given me their support and my new friends who stop by and are kind enough to comment. Thank you all for visiting and making my day brighter. I feel richer for having known you, even if it is only through your comments.
A talented artist who wanted to show her affection and appreciation for all the wonderfully talented people in the blogosphere created this award. I originally received this award from my good friend Victoria, whose blog posts at Teachings of the Horse are brimming with insightful messages for us all. Thank you again Victoria for being my friend; if it were not for you, I would not have this award to share. There are just too many friends I would like to present with this award and limited space, so I will simply offer it to each and every one of you who have someone special for Valentine’s Day to pass this along to and "Spread the Love."
Until next time
Quote for Today
A Rose has a sweet smell, A Kingdom has the scent of riches, A dog has loyalty in his eyes, but a horse has a big heart worthy of strength with the sweet scent of loyalty.
Another year takes its last gasp and the hope and promise of a better New Year is launched. Since my penchant for organization is one of my character flaws, I cannot have unfinished business lingering facing a new year.
A while ago, I was tagged by three great bloggers to do a ‘horsey meme’.In this particular meme, I am to list six horsey things that no one knows about me and I assume I should try to make it interesting to some extent. I will try, although I believe I have done this twice on previous memes. I won’t be tagging anyone this time, I’m reasonably sure that most of you have been tagged by this particular meme, but as always if you would like to participate, please feel free.
Here are the links to my taggers:
Jackie has a very informative blog about what is currently happening in the horse world at Regarding Horses.Her blog has also incorporated another blog into it (on the sidebar – Ace’s Blog) which is about her journey with Ace. Jackie is a lifetime equestrian and first time horse owner. Both blogs are definitely worth the read.
Julian from White Horse Pilgrim is a most interesting fellow who always has wonderful insights and adventures to report.
Nicole’s blog is Hopelessly Horseless.I’ve just started reading Nicole’s blog and it looks to be an interesting mix of posts. We will all be keeping our fingers crossed that one day her dream of owning a horse (even though she is allergic to them) will become a reality.
Below is my attempt at coming up with six horsey things no one knows about me:
If there’s one thing I can’t tolerate it’s animal abuse.I’m someone who believes there can never be enough retribution for mistreating any animal, especially a horse. Feeling very strongly about this, I would introduce the old punishment of “an eye for an eye.” That may sound extreme - even medieval - but perhaps if the tables were turned, abusers would think twice about their ill-treatment of innocent animals.
As a novice to the world of Dressage, I find the organization, the artistry and the respect for the horse that are an integral part of this particular discipline intriguing.After doing extensive research on the diverse styles of riding and training for this discipline, I have settled mostly on the French School for its softer, less invasive methods. Obviously, the classical way of riding is timeless.
Which brings me to another reflection on riding: Why are trainers and self-professed “horse whisperers” always trying to come up with their latest “innovative” ideas on riding/training a horse? When it comes to riding and training, I think if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!The old masters were not all perfect, but over time they have exhausted just about every training possibility, and have left us with some pretty successful and reliable techniques for training horses. Which means all of this “innovation” is a crock, in my opinion.I feel it is merely a way to line their pockets and promote their products and self-image. And most just follow the current fashion set by the new generation of know-it-alls without question, instead of asking: does it make sense, is it necessary, is it a gimmick, and could it be harmful to the horse? One example is “Rollkur;” it is accepted even though it has been shown to be harmful to the horse.Why, you ask?The judges condone this practice, because upper level riders use it to “train” their expensive Grand Prix mounts in record time.Many practices in the horse world need to stop being accepted simply because an international star wins with a certain way of riding.
When I was 6 or 7 years old, I met my first real horse in person.Prior to this chance meeting, I was under the impression that all horses lived out West and on TV westerns. Okay, so I was not the sharpest knife in the draw during my younger years. I’ll never forget my first sight of this bay horse grazing in a backyard; I slammed the brakes on my bike so hard I almost went over the handlebars. He turned out to be a retired blind racehorse. I visited him often and brought him apples and carrots that summer; this is one of the best memories from my childhood.
Jumping courses has always been my favorite part of riding.Having had a knee replacement four months ago, I have my doubts that this will be possible in my future, but who knows?
Someday I would like to try riding Western.Even though I have been on many “vacation trail rides,” I have never felt comfortable or secure in a western saddle. Learning to ride the correct way in a western saddle might help the security issue. Besides how cute would Dusty look in a tricked out saddle with silver and turquoise?You know she would love it, and I have always liked the western riding wear too!
Superior Scribbler Award
Billie at camera-obscura recently honored me with the Superior Scribbler Award.Thank you Billie, I appreciate your thinking of me for this award and for the kind words accompanying it. So now, it’s my turn to pass this award on, and I can think of so many of you out there who deserve this award, but since I’m a little late on getting this out, many have already have received it.I’d like the award to go to JME who does such a great job scribbling at Glenshee Equestrian. JME’s posts are always well written and interesting.Her latest series on Rein Aids and Bitless Bridles were so educational and enlightening, everyone who reads these posts will certainly take away with them something useful to apply in their riding. I hope you enjoy your award.
Until next time
Quote for Today
I have often been asked why do I like horses so much. Look into one's eyes. There you will see generations of horses who have served the human for thousands of years faithfully for nothing in return, beaten horses, starved hoses, horses who no longer possess a spirit. They deserve to be loved and respected as much as humanly possible. Let them run free again. Let them no longer be a faithful beast, but embrace them as you would a dear friend, for they are.
It seems that I have been chosen by Laughing Orca Ranch to receive this special ‘Share the Love Award’.I accept this award on behalf of Laughing Orca’s resident Polish chicken, Phyllis Diller, she is the main reason I am being honored.It seems her mom bestowed this award on me because I get such a kick out of Phyllis, check her out over at Laughing Orca (archives: Phyllis Diller Chicken Montage); she is one unique looking bird who will bring a smile to your face.
I would like to pass this award on to anyone who would like to ‘share the love with their favorite blogger buddies.There are so many remarkable blogs that I read each morning over tea and it is too difficult to pick just a few.So please if you would like to ‘share the love ‘, feel free to take this heart and pass it along to your favorite blogs and make someone smile today.
It never ceases to amaze me that someone would actually consider my blog worthy of an award and so I was pleasantly surprised to receive this Arte y Pico Award from my talented friend, Victoria at Teachings of the Horse! She is a wonderful, caring and insightful horsewoman who can see the deeper meaning of life pertaining to humans and horses alike. I am very honored that she has chosen me and would like to pass it along to some of my favorite bloggers:
Linda at the 7MSN for her wonderful posts and pictures of her gang, especially George and Allen and Wynona.
Deborah at Epona Studio's Art of the Horse for her inspiring paintings, and her completion of ' Le Cadeau Du Cheval panel 156 titled "Shall We Dance". The large mural is to be unveiled at Spruce Meadows in September.
Nancy at Cliffy’s Moms Blog for her wonderful paintings of horses, dogs and other wildlife.
JME at Glenshee Equestrian for her interesting and informative musings on the horse world in general and her tireless work with rescue organizations and rescue horses.
Twinville at Laughing Orca Ranch for those fun pictures of her critters, most especially Phyllis Diller, who makes me smile whenever I look at her!
I hope you all enjoy receiving this award as much as I did.
The designer of this award has asked that the following be passed along with it:
The origin of the Arte y Pico Award: "This prize has arisen from the daily visits that I dedicate to many blogs which nourish me and enrich me with creativity.In them, I see dedication, creativity, care, comradeship, but mainly, ART, much art.I want to share this prize with all those bloggers that entertain me day to day and to share this prize with those who enrich me every day.Doubtlessly, there are many and it will be hard to pick just a few.The people I will name today deserve this prize, as do the very long serious list of bloggers I also enjoy to read.But I will name the first 10 and leave the rest of the work to all the bloggers that visit other's blogs and are nourished by them."
Here are the rules, if you decide to pass the award further to remarkable blogs in blogosphere worth to mention:
The rules: 1. You have to pick 5 blogs that you consider deserve this award through creativity, design, interesting material, and also contributes to the blogger community, no matter of language. 2. Each award should have the name of the author with a link to their blog. 3. Award winners have to post the award with the name and link to the blog of the person who gave them the award. 4. Please include a link to the “Arte Y Pico” blog so that everyone will know where the award came from. 5. Show these rules.
I was pleasantly surprised to have received an award from my friend Victoria, at Teachings of the Horse, and would like to thank her for thinking of me.It is an honor to be the recipient of any award, but it means a lot to be remembered by a friend like Victoria.This award was designed by Mica at garboodles.typepad.com.Her idea is to “Spread the Love”, among all the special people we meet in the blogosphere and a way to show love and appreciation for all of us who put ourselves ‘out there’.
There are a lot of people I would like to “share the love” with, many have already received this award and I wouldn’t want to duplicate.For those of you who read my ramblings regularly and comment, I want to say thank you, it is always nice to hear from you and your comments are appreciated. While it is impossible to pick just a few special people when there are so many ,I would like to pass along this award with extra thanks to:
