Alfalfa Anne

Nothing better than hitting the trails of Southern California on a Paso Fino. For anyone that has never felt their amazingly smooth gait, I highly recommend it.

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Ah, riding and drawing.  Two things that always look really easy to do, but then once you get past the basics… turns out a lot tougher than you could ever have imagined.

I’m a fan of this drawing because of that look in the horse’s eye as he takes off.  I’ve seen that on one or two… or several occasions.

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Yet another etsy find. A friend alerted me about these adorable prints that look like a cross between My Little Pony and that doll painting from Friends, except way cuter and less creepy. Check out this seller for more info.

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My stellar pal Kylie (who writes a blog for tall girls – The Height of Life) found this dress and I just knew I’d have to write about it. Look at that luscious mane!

The appy I ride only wishes his locks could be as luxurious. Also, I don’t know if I’d be able to maintain the same “I’m a serious model” face if I was wearing that dress.  I’d definitely be rocking an uber goofy grin. If you are so inclined, it is on sale here.

Today I was lucky enough to attend a screening of the documentary Horses. For once living in Toronto paid off and I took advantage of HotDocs being in town. The film is directed by Liz Mermin and chronicles the exciting world of steeplechase racing in Ireland.

The documentary blog has posted a great interview where Liz goes into more depth about the film. Overall, I really enjoyed the film – It’s very easy to fall into the sentimental trap when you are dealing with horses (ahem, see Flicka, The Black Stallion, etc), but I found this documentary to be a great fly-on-the-wall treatment of the hustling and bustling world of the Paul Nolan racing stable.

My only issue is that there didn’t seem to be much of an arc in the story – we were introduced to the three featured horses, they ran some races and that was it.  I realize that the documentary can’t invent a narrative, but it might have been worthwhile to spend some more time going into the history of the farm, the people that worked there and take a deeper look into their relationships with the horses.  There was one groom/exercise rider in particular that seemed to have an amazing bond with the horses and I wish he had gotten more screen time.  But this is a small criticism and I still enjoyed the film immensely.  It really made me appreciate the skill and athleticism of steeplechase horses.

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Incredible.

The Saddle Club book covers have changed a whole lot over the years. Seriously, they’ve gone through more reinventions than Madonna.  Take a look:

^^ A little burry, but this is the type of cover that I remember the most – the old-school illustration similar to the babysitter’s club and the book number in the hard hat.

^^This one doesn’t have the border and the illustration style is a little more paint-erly (haha… like that pun?)

^^Ahh, the photo covers. I remember being taken aback the first time I saw one of these. They eventually phased them out, but for a while those models had a good steady income from Saddle Club covers.

^^As far as I know, this is the newest design (I’m basing that off of the fact that this is the only one I don’t recognize) – it’s pretty cute actually, I like the three horses at the top representing that all-powerful triumverate of Stevie, Carol and Lisa.

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… but that didn’t stop me from asking.  The closest I ever got was a pony hired to come to my house for pony-rides.  Which, to be perfectly honest is still pretty amazing.

This card is a nice alternative to the standard tack-store fare.  Once again found on the incomparable Etsy.

I’m pretty sure everyone who is into horses has seen this video and/ or had a bajillion people email it to them (thanks Chris!).  That is one tiny horse!  If he earns the record for the world’s smallest horse, I bet he is going to go on tour.

Maybe they can teach a tiny monkey to take him over some jumps made out of drinking straws? Just an idea…

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Really cool photo from Juha Arvid Helminen, a Finnish photographer.  The rest of his images are extremely dark and  I’m not just talking lighting. There is a sinister feeling throughout the collection, but I just fell in love with this one. This guy’s coat is so glossy black and he would be the perfect horse to ride if you wanted to surprise someone on a dark and stormy night.