Monday, August 27, 2007

Bible Passage About Horses

"Coming Storm" my original photo

"He paws fiercely, rejoicing in his strength, and charges into the fray. He laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; he does not shy away from the sword. The quiver rattles against his side, along with the flashing spear and lance. In frenzied excitement he eats up the ground; he cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. At the blast of the trumpet he snorts, "Aha!" He catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry."
Job 39:21-25

My Winning Model Arabian Costume

Here's a photo of the native Arabian costume I made for one of my model horses. It has hand-tied tassels, braided ropes, and a sculpted saddle covered in suede. It won a Championship ribbon and a Reserve Grand Champion ribbon at a model horse show in 2005.

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Arabian Sayings About Horses

“If someone tells you that a horse leapt to the bottom of an abyss without injuring himself, ask what color he was, and if you are told bay, then believe it. The bay says to an argument, ‘Come no closer!’” Arab proverb.

Of the dappled grey the Arabs say, “If he is like the stones in a river, he will refill the camp when it becomes empty, and he will save us in combat on the day when the firearms clash.”

Of the white horse the Arabs say: “This is the mount of kings, because he brings good fortune and luck…Take the white like a silk flag, with a ring of black skin around his eyes.”

The following are excerpts from http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/arabianhorse.htm :

A bay horse has the best resistance in the extreme of temperature. They consider that he is better able to endure thirst, hunger, and, in fact, privations of any sort, than horses of other colours. A white horse is much esteemed, but to be a perfect specimen the muzzle, eyes and membranes must be black. The dark chestnut should gradually darken down the chest to the points so that all four legs are black; very often there is a deeper line in the dark chestnut with a medium line from the withers to the tail. Horses of this colour are highly prized. The black must have no light blemish; the muzzle must be absolutely black, as must be the colour round the eyes, nor should the coat of such an animal show a brown or reddish colour. The Arabs hold that black horses with red-rimmed eyes invariably get mad and vicious, and have a tendency to stampede, and in any case they are bad-tempered.

Briefly, the Arabs prefer:

The black horse.
The brown bay-with a star on the forehead and black mane.
The dark chestnut ( dark colours mean more blood ).
Chestnut.
The white horse.

The black horse, being very rare and more full-blooded, was reserved for chiefs. A brown bay with a black mane is reputed to have a hard skin and good hooves, and greater endurance in extremes of temperature than the others. Great swiftness was attributed to chestnuts, as they always bore the first news of victories. The white horse is useful in hot countries, where the desert glare makes its detection by the enemy more difficult.

Markings that should be rejected are two trammels (white-foot) either diagonal or lateral, but two fore trammels or two hind trammels are acceptable; the latter are preferable to the former.

The white-legged horse is considered unlucky.

Castration of horses was forbidden by the Arabs, with the exception of thoroughly vicious animals.

A horse with bad teeth is of no value to the Arab, as he is considered incapable of feeding himself properly.

A horse's tongue must have no black lines, and the gums and palate must have no black spots on them.

Fidgety and noisy horses are considered useless, because they arouse the enemy.

The Arabs avoid thin horses because they say it is an indication of either disease or bad temper.

One must not have horses accustomed to drinking too often; such animals would be incapable of traveling long distances.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007

2007 Region 5 Championship Arabian Horse Show, Monroe

My friend from choir, Maxine, and I went to this show in Monroe on July 7th. We had a great time seeing all the gorgeous horses and foals. We even walked through every barn! We stayed for the evening performances and took these photos. Didn't get home until after 11:00pm.

(Sorry about the poor photo quality. My camera didn't do well in low, evening light from a distance. I did what I could to make them better in Photoshop.)







Native Arabian Costume Class winner!


The stallion class winner WH Araby (look at that tail)!

Maxine's favorite black stallion

2006 Windy Tides Horse Show, Monroe

Bill took me to this show for my birthday! It was a really fun day. We saw just about every type of horse and pony you could imagine! Here are some photos.

A regal Friesian about to enter the show ring

Friesian in the ring standing for the judges

Haflinger horse in the warm-up ring

A riding lession in progress

Pretty pinto

Waiting their turn for the trail class

Youngster on a roan pony

Appaloosa in the English Trail Class

20+ y/o Arabian mare in the In-hand Trail Class

Cute Welsh Pony

2005 Gaited Horse Show, Puyallup

Getting ready for the evening ceremony
(western & english Tennessee Walkers)

Waiting for the evening ceremony to begin

Icelandic Horse stallion

The waiting area

Icelandic Horses

Missouri Fox Trotter

Queen Isabella of Spain costume and a black Paso Fino mare
(I held the reins for the owner while she tacked up. Very calm, nice, petite mare.)

2005 Region 5 Championship Arabian Horse Show, Puyallup

Saying hi to one of the Arabian show horses.

Ladies' Side Saddle entry

National Show Horse



Arabian Costume Class Champion

Reserve Champion




2004 Scottsdale Arabian Costume Class

In February 2004, we took a vacation to Arizona and saw the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show on it's final night. This was another dream come true for me, to attend this show. It's one of the largest and best Arabian horse show in the country, which I've wanted to attend since hearing about it in the 1970s when I subscribed to Arabian Horse World magazine. My next goal is to attend the Arabian Horse Nationals held in New Mexico, some year.

WestWorld Equestrian Center entrance statue in Scottsdale, AZ

Barns & me

JN Blaze, Top Ten
9 y/o Gelding (Beythoven MC x Sabrah Somara)

MAF Easy Street+, Top Ten
10 y/o Gelding (NDL Hermes x Exclusive)

AAOTR - Native Costume Reserve Champion
Chuckleberry Grey, 14 y/o Gelding
(Huckleberry Bey x HR Firebelle)

AAOTR Native Costume Champion
Emirate, 15 y/o Gelding
(Heritage Emir x NDL Esperanza)

Emirate

JDM Allegro, Top Ten
7 y/o Gelding (Alliance x JDM Pentoia)

NL Futuaristkh, Top Ten
14 y/o Gelding (Aristo Nite Lite x Futurado)

AH Sizzle, Top Ten, 3rd Place Native Costume
9 y/o Stallion (Revelry x Ludina) (Sizzle's web site)

Sizzle, his owner & me

Sizzle with native tack from Morocco

JDM Allegro, Top Ten

Ames Aristocrat, Top Ten
7 y/o Gelding (King Heir x Ariston Fera)

Bey Berry Love, Top Ten
12 y/o Gelding (Hucklebey Berry x Lovilee)

Bey Berry Love

JN Blaze, Top Ten

Chuckleberry Grey

LA Ebony Fire+/, Top Ten
15 y/o Gelding (Mr. Pro x Mar-Ria)

Emirate

Emirate

Quinn Afire, Top Ten
7 y/o Gelding (Afire Bey V x ?)

CP Tempest+, Top Ten
11 y/o Gelding (Reign On x Spring Fiesta)

CP Tempest

CP Tempest

The Renagade, Top Ten
9 y/o Stallion (Thee Desperado x Waratah)