Horse Blog

Mike and I went out the next day and finished fixing the fence. Which meant hiking up the tallest mountain on the place carrying our normal fence fixing equipment as well as a couple new posts and the post driver. Don came by to continue working on the new garage and later Jen brought a couple of the fell ponies by in the afternoon. She wanted to get one of her geldings used to riding in a horse trailer so she brought him. Since he’s not used to being in a trailer she brought the geldings dad along to keep him company.

Another family story is when he helped me write and draw a complete story with cover and everything. It was “Ralph the Bear”. We told it to the entire family with great relish. I think my propensity to doodle comes from him. He was always doodling cowboys. I loved them and have many of them. I think we got Ralph from he would always kid with my Dad and call him Ralph Bunch.

Alex Marshall is a free lance writer in New York that has a pretty thought provoking article on new urbanism. Personally Celebration seemed very Disney weird to me the one time I was there... and I have never been to Kissimmee but have read some of the Florida Cracker Cowboy history of the region.

So I bought a cowboy hat today. Never in my life did I ever think I would listen to country music... and cowboy hats, come on! But, sure enough I have a cowboy hat now and I've even worn it once. (Ok, the drive home after buying it...) The real question, though is what does this mean? I don't envision myself vuying a horse anytime soon, but if I change my mind I'll let you know.

It was about the diving horse shows that were pretty big back in the 30’s and 40’s. Yeah, I went through the horse phase that most girls go through - except mine went one step further to where I was involved in dressage and competitive show jumping for a whole lotta years. I did this before I hit my growth spurt (which really didn’t happen until sometime in high school), so in my show clothes, I looked like a living lawn jockey.

Customers arrive and we swing into action like old cowboys swinging back into their saddle. I was well back on auto pilot, when Jen rocks up next to me and half whispers: "You know, having that little bit of tequila just before service is kinda making me feel stoned! But don't tell anyone!"

The funeral home Friday night was horribly sad. BM, you predicted it to the letter - many, many kids were there, just totally grief-stricken and in shock. That branch of my family is the really, really country branch. My grandparents stuck to the traditional Appalachain stuff. But my grandpa's brother went more "Six Mile." By that I just mean really, really country. Country is more cowboy hats and rodeos. Appalachain is more deer and turkey hunting. Grail, my cousin who died, was apparently very good with horses. They buried him with a horse blanket and stirrups. His coffin had little horses engraved on the sides. All the kids who came to the funeral home were wearing cowboy hats, jeans, etc.

I was able to make it out friday night for a bit, and then went out Saturday night after a tragic bike accident I suffered earlier in the day. My original plans were to go line dancing with my high school friends a few towns over. I cut my toe up pretty bad and figured cowboy boots and dancing were not going to be good. So I stayed in town and went out with some people that work at the pool.

Beautiful in Metropolitan Louisville, KY. Slept in, had a liesurely breakfast. Went to the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill downs. Watched the movie, Got to see the 2nd race from right by the rail next to the winner’s circle. Got a nice pic of the winner.

My people are obsessed with hats. Almost everyone wears them, and a lot of their identity is wrapped up in their particular style. Some people always wear cowboy hats, for instance, and others wear bowlers, and each think the other is exceedingly funny-looking, and would never consider switching. They have elaborate ceremonies for their children in which they confer the hats, and kids often go to special schools once a week where they learn about the history and significance of their hats. Everyone has the importance of hats drilled into them from birth to death.

Fresno State Bulldogger rodeo team member Anthony Estep of Wilton is currently second in the nation in tie-down calf roping at the College National Finals Rodeo now under way this week in Casper, Wyoming with his eye on the third round Thursday and the finals on Saturday.

The Student Government Association will be hosting a Summer TGIT Party on July 7, 2005 at 5:00 pm in the Jamail Student Center. There will be barbecue, soft drinks, margaritas, music and fun for all students…and it’s all free. There will also be a Mechanical Bull outside the Jamail Student Center this year. So all you “Urban Cowboys” should gear up and be ready for an 8 second ride…if you can last that long.

It may be time to dust off those old cowboy boots this weekend - and don't forget to bring your appetite. With Beef Empire Days well under way, there are several events to entertain all ages.This weekend, a young woman's dream will come true as she is crowned Miss Beef Empire Days Rodeo Queen at 7 p.m. at Friday night's rodeo. The queen contest begins at 9 a.m. Friday with the horsemanship competition at the Finney County Fairgrounds. The ladies will then move on to the queen contest luncheon at the 4-H building on the fairgrounds at noon. The contestants will model, answer questions from the judges and give a speech during the luncheon.

I’ve been reading up on it here and people seem to think (Obviously not people that wear cowboy boots and John Deere caps at the same time) that cow tipping is a myth. A snipe. That it’s a bunch of yahoos making it up.

Just got back from trip to the southwest (Sequoia, Zion, Grand Canyon, etc) - Zion Mountain Resort was the highlight. We came across it by accident (driving by - the buffalo herd caught our eye). Wanted to do some horseback riding somewhere and thought this would be something different. My 4 boys (ages 5-14) and wife agreed it was the best day of the trip. Staff was great - horsetrail guides Guy (a postcard cowboy) and Jeff (an outgoing college student) were friendly, wonderful, and made us feel at home. May not be for everyone - but we enjoyed it immensely. Horseback riding was awesome - rode to the canyon edge, Indian Hill (site of an old Indian village), and within a couple hundred yards of the buffalo herd in a large prairie-like area.

Tonight is going to kick some ass. My sister and my friend Roberta and I are heading out to the Houston Rodeo to see - get this - Lynyrd Skynyrd! The All American icon of rock and roll, LYNYRD SKYNYRD!!! I was so excited to get tickets, even though they are nosebleed seats in the Reliant Stadium. I expect to see sixty year old men holding up lit Bic lighters and aging women throwing their panties toward the stage, but this is actually what lured me to see this particular concert. The performances by Hilary Duff and Alicia Keyes just didn't seem fun enough, and they probably didn't have as diverse a crowd as what I will see tonight. Roberta warned me that there would be "riff raff" at the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert and that we may have to guard our camera cases. I like riff raff! They make things interesting. Another great thing about tonight will be that I can get drunk out of my mind. When I was given tickets to see Brooks & Dunn I had to be on my best behavior because my boss was sitting right there since it was a company suite. That didn't stop Roberta from throwing back ten beers and dancing the Boot Scootin' Boogie, but this is why I love Roberta so much. She's not afraid to do drunken dances in public.

Rolex was awesome. Jill Severson won with the highest score in Dressage, the fastest time cross-country and a clean stadium round. This is the second time I’ve seen someone do this, Pipa Funnel did it in 2003. It’s a pretty amazing accomplishment to be able to beat 40 odd people that easily. Fantastic.

Nothing makes folks smile like a chocolate chip cookie - or a horse named Zips Chocolate Chip.

Just ask Ann Myers of Ashland, Ohio, breeder and owner of this phenomenal stallion. A son of the legendary Quarter Horse Zippo Pine Bar, “Chip” struck gold in the futurity ranks, winning seven major championships and three reserves at ages two and three. At four, the flashy bay aced 10 straight American Quarter Horse Association Western Pleasure classes en route to the World Show, where he was unanimously declared World Champion in Junior Western Pleasure.

Monday, it was back to the racetrack (surprise surprise). But I actually won money for the frist time… ever. I have bet on horse races in Atlantic City, online at BetOnSports.com, and in-person at the track, and I’ve never won a cent. But in a race where only 6 horses were running, I went for a trifecta and hit it. I ended up pocketing $60. So taking into account a weekend of gambling ($40 lost in Atlantic City, $26 lost at the track Saturday), I was only down $6. Not too damn bad at all.

Digital EOS has brought back my interest in photography. I’ve been photographing horse races at Äimärautio about 4 or 5 times now, and I think I’m starting to manage the basics by now - meaning less blurry horses. What I’d really like is horses running on green pastures, but photographing horse races is easier to realize. Doing it on really rainy weather might be interesting, though.

There were kilts aplenty, but only in Texas would someone opt for this outfit – kilt, hose and flashes, sgian dubh, cowboy boots and hat (click for larger).

This is kind of late, but Labor Day weekend we ditched our plans to go to SF and decided on a Route 66 roadtrip, following the historic highway from Flagstaff to California. It was fun. I just love quirky roadside attractions. My favorite was Headicus, the giant head (see picture above; note cowboy boots). More pictures to come. You'll want to see these.

So this weekend was not a total waste even with all the rain. On Friday I went to the horse races with C&B that was a lot of fun. I worked a few hours on Sat. and this morning and I have gotten a lot of reading done for work. There is so much to learn and so little time. Today if it clears up a little bit I am going to take my little sister out and try to teach her to drive. That should be interesting.

Of course, ever since the defamatory name "hillbilly" came about, many were happy to call themselves hill people. Just like cowboys used to be thought of as useless roustabouts, but are now mimicked by lawyers and accountants everywhere, people are laying claim to whatever "hillbilliness" they can. In my own lifetime, I've seen the accents of Western Pennsylvanians become more pronounced not less, more dropped "g's," longer drawls, "oh's" and "i's" sounding more like "oi". Perhaps this is compensatory. The more we do our work on computers, the more...

This weekend our city hosts its annual Delta Jubilee. Imagine amusement park meets small town fair complete with fireworks, barbeque cookoffs, frog jumping contests, fishing rodeos and fun runs. At 8 am this morning my friend MJ was at the fairgrounds pumped to compete...for, I believe, her 10th year in a row.... in the 5K run. She and I make quite an unlikely duo as the only place I run these days is to the bathroom .......(its hell to get old).

Kevin: Between Toronto (where I was born and raised) and New York, I guess I've been doing comedy for about eight years now. In Toronto, I used to produce an arts festival every summer. I was also the lead singer of a cowpunk band called The Yeehaa Cowboys. Once here in New York, I've switched to a different type of show -- one that incorporates five or six stand-ups with their own acts into an overarching Canadian theme that ties it all together.

Free range is also learning the habitat and habits of creek critters, how to track on crisp early morning snow and ice the range and habits of mink and muskrats, ponder how a tree became bent the way it did, recognize a snake species from its discarded skin, or where to find the best patches of milkweed, pond lilies or bull brushes....

Maybe Willy Nelson's song, "Mothers don't let your children grow up to be Cowboys ....should warn them to keep their children caged better than my mom did.

A new form of music is on the scene. It's called Hick Hop, and Cowboy Troy is on the crest of the Hick Hop wave. I just don't know what to think when I hear this but I'm getting a mental picture.

The castration of a male horse is a simple surgical procedure with few risks. Sperm cells are produced in the testicles, matured and stored in the epididymus, and transported via the vas deferens to the ejaculatory site. Gelding removes the testicles, epididymus, part of the spermatic cord, and the covering of the testicles. With gelding comes an immediate cessation in the production of sperm cells, yet newly gelded horses have impregnated mares. This is due to the presence of the ampulla, a sperm reservoir at the end of the vas deferens.