I briefly mentioned King Duarte I of Portugal’s Livro da Ensinança de Bem Cavalgar Toda Sela (The Book on the Instruction of Riding Well in Every Saddle) in The Age of the Horse. It was written in 1434, 82 years before Xenophon’s On Horsemanship was first printed. If you’re used to the narrative in which …
Continue reading “Making Fearless Men: A Medieval Riding Lesson”
The last British pit pony retired astonishingly recently in 1999. Between the mid-eighteenth century and the very start of the twenty-first century, stout “pitters” (short-legged Shire crosses), Welsh cobs and British native ponies of all stripes hauled coal underground and above ground and worked pumps to keep mines from flooding. They were often stabled in …
Beauty in the eye of the beholders: an artist creates a horse that grows more real as more people watch it (Wired) Zoos specialise in rare animals. But unicorns? Really? (Cheezburger) The Queen and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Ebony Horse Club in Brixton, South London (Sky News) For Halloween, a pair of truly twisted …
The Tiergarten park in Berlin is full of statues, from Germanic heroes to amazons and buffalo. I found this one tucked away in a tiny formal garden. No clue as to who he is, and I can’t find any information on the web.
From a great NYT feature on geniuses as children: After the English lawyer Daines Barrington examined the 8-year-old Mozart in 1764, he wrote: “He had a thorough knowledge of the fundamental principles of composition. He was also a great master of modulation, and his transitions from one key to another were excessively natural and judicious.” Yet, …
Thank you to Karen for sending me this Wall Street Journal film of a horseless horse show: imaginary horse showjumping! What I would have given for those showjumps to replace my bamboo canes and flower pots! Wahnsinn!
– the march of the Bronies continues apace – literally. We now have a thriving “military bronies” community, dedicated to adult My Little Pony fans, and a full range of customised guns to accessorise. (Military Times) – a two-year-old cob in West Yorkshire managed to trap himself in an underground pump chamber for five whole …
Every year the Household Cavalry holidays in Norfolk, my home county. The annual paddle in the sea at Holkham is a press favourite, but not so many people know about the show they hold in Thetford. I went for the first time last Saturday with Mum and we enjoyed ourselves thoroughly, even if we were …
Well, do you?
Sad news brings today’s post, but take fifteen minutes to watch this film about the rising young South African polo player, Sbu Duma, who was murdered last week, and pay tribute to him. News via PACE Magazine and IOL News.
