Nehanda horseback riding

22/08/2024

27/07/2024

21/07/2024

Six months after Lexington died, his skeleton was exhumed from outside his barn to be displayed at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. In preparation, the bones were shipped to Upstate New York to be bleached in the sun and mounted. Due to the huge amount of work that needed to be undertaken, the skeleton was not ready in time for the fair, but was instead donated to the Smithsonian Museum as a national treasure.

By the 1970s, Lexington’s skeleton was being shown in the Bone Hall of the Natural History Museum but only as that of a generic horse. His glorious pedigree and extraordinary success as a racehorse had been wiped from memory. His illustrious identity was not rediscovered until 1999 when plans were made to move the remains to the American History Museum as part of an exhibition featuring the first mass produced stopwatch.

Geraldine Brooks and her novel, ‘Horse’, will ensure that the life of Lexington is never forgotten again.

Skeleton of Race Horse Lexington in Castle Yard
Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7074, Image No. SIA2015-004061

21/07/2024

Summer Olympics are fast approaching.
Are you going to watch?

08/07/2024

29/06/2024

11/06/2024

All true 😂

10/05/2024

'It's called self care!'

©Emily Cole Illustrations

22/04/2024

13/04/2024

Nesting season 🐦🪺

©️Emily Cole Illustrations

10/04/2024

The effort that is needed to ride is huge. I do hope that people (especially parents) see this and understand that it is not about the ribbon

09/04/2024

Hello show season 😅
credits: Horse Memes

09/04/2024

So true

So true!

04/04/2024

🌟🌟Very Important PSA🌟🌟

It is getting to be that time of year again when we start cutting our lawns and we see horses out grazing.

🚨MOST IMPORTANTLY PLEASE DO NOT FEED LAWN CLIPPINGS TO HORSES THIS CAN KILL THEM🚫

I cannot stress enough the importance of NEVER feeding a horse that is not yours or that you do not have direct permission to do so by the owners.

🍎 All horses are different and can have very strict dietary needs, allergies to certain foods, dental restrictions, etc and they are NOT community property.

👉Horses can very easily choke if they have dental restrictions on something as small as a peppermint or small carrot which can be fatal or cause colic. Horses with food allergies can struggle with hives, breathing, GI issues, colic or other medical issues. Horses can have chronic metabolic issues and not be allowed on grass or have a strict no sugar diet.

‼️Please please please help to prevent equine fatalities this year, enjoy horses that are not yours from a distance. You do not need to feed them to enjoy them.

Before feeding an animal that does not belong to you to get photos for your social media account please ask yourself… what’s more important, getting more likes 👍 on your social media page or the safety, health, and wellbeing of these beautiful animals?

Please make the right choice as these are our pets, partners, friends, and family members that we work very hard to keep safe and healthy.

Thank you so much for reading this and doing your part to keep our horses safe 💕🐴

09/03/2024

A redraw of an old favorite.

02/03/2024

Of course it was a Morgan cross

The Forgotten Story Of The Horse That Conquered A 20,000 Mile Trek
In a story that has been lost to history, a group of horseback riders embarked on a 20,000 mile trip across the United States in 1912, searching for fame and money. A horse named Pinto would turn this “ride of the century” into a reality.

George Beck, a part-time Washington logger, and his three closest companions decided to embark on this huge trek after Beck convinced the others that there was more money to be earned in the saddle than at the jobs they possessed at the time. Taking the group name of Overland Westerners, the foursome began their adventure… but it did not go as planned.

“With five horses and a 60-pound, one-year old Gordon Setter and Newfoundland named Nip, the enthusiastic quartet began their journey on May 1, 1912 from Shelton. Their first stop was Olympia, Washington 18 miles away where Governor Marion E. Hay awaited. For the next three years averaging 22 miles a day, these travelers would stop at each of the 48 state capitals in the United States, rendezvous with the state’s governor or his surrogate, and endure numerous disappointments and hardships including hunger, theft, weather extremes, and rugged trails. Moreover, financial woes came when The Westerner folded before the trip was half completed leaving them bereft of corporate sponsorship.” – Chuck Rand.

Despite all of the hardships that the Overland Westerners went through, they pushed on and had some incredible triumphs.

In June 1912, George Beck was invited to be in a 101 Wild West Show. The horse that he rode in this show was Pinto, a six-year-old Morgan Arabian that was originally used as the group packhorse. While this horse was not considered to be crucial at the start of the journey, Pinto was never sold or traded like many of the other horses were that had embarked on the 48 state journey.

It was noted that Pinto never seemed to lose his spark during the journey, even when he had a close brush with death when he flipped over in a stream while carrying a pack. Luckily, Pinto was rescued and did not receive any injuries.

The group finished their journey after they arrived in Sacramento, California, on May 24, 1915. The Overland Westerners spent three years traveling, 1,127 days in the saddle, and had gone through 17 horses, some of which did not survive the journey.

Due to other world events occurring during this time, the fame that the Overland Westerners had gained was short lived. Each member of the disheartened group, besides George, sold their horses and tack and took a train home.

George tried unsuccessfully to sell the story of his epic journey, but soon realized that the citizens of America has focused their sights elsewhere. He decided to make the trip back to Puget Sound, with Pinto, on a tramp steamer and resume another low paying job.

George and Pinto stayed united until George’s death. After his owner passed away, Pinto went on one last packing excursion, making his way through the Olympic National Forest on yet another adventure.

10/02/2024

The struggle is real 🤣📸

©Emily Cole Illustrations

06/02/2024

Something that is relaxing to us is very taxing on a horse.

“I don’t want much, I just want to groom once in a while and go for an easy trail ride here and there”-

This is a statement folks often make, which makes perfect sense from a human point of view. It doesn’t require much time, effort or skill gaining, and the expectation appears low- for the horse to just stand quietly, or happily trod along down the trail.

From a riders perspective, grooming requires relaxing and enjoying brushing their horse. Trail riding usually involves relaxing and leaving the horse mostly alone to enjoy the outdoors and company.

From a horses point of view, however, this is not so easy a task. To ”just be brushed,” the horse has to have enough confidence to leave the herd, the skills to lead well to the barn, the ability to stand tied quietly for a length of time in isolation away from friends, to stay focused enough to stand despite the distractions and movement around them in the barn.
That’s a lot!

To “just trail ride,” the horse has to have the afore mentioned skills, plus load in a trailer, ride in the trailer and unload (those are all separate skills), leave friends quietly and ride calmly past all kinds of input and stimulus- they have to know what rider input to tune into (legs and reins), and which to shut out (rustling around to get a granola bar out of saddle bags, yammering to friends). They have to manage terrain with balance, leave or join other horses, or ride past other people, dogs, bikes, etc. They often have little guidance from a rider who’s expectations and attention to the horse is low (who is relaxing and enjoying company or scenery, not giving attentive communications to the horse).

That’s a TALL order for a horse, and quite a drastic difference in expectation between horse and rider in terms of education, attention and workload.

Think from the horses point of view. Don’t skimp on the education, the awareness, and don’t leave your horse to their own devices for “simple tasks.” A horse is a horse, and not a human- and they see our world very differently. It’s on us to prepare and guide them.

02/02/2024

I love each of these disciplines in there own way but the accuracy of this…🤣🤣

Welcome to the equestrian world 😅
credits: Pinterest

31/01/2024

So true