American Woman Riding Side-Saddle on the Road at Hommoku, Motomura, Yokohama, by Utagawa Hiroshige II (Japanese, 1829–1869). This woodblock print dates from 1861. It belongs to the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, who have generously made many of their public domain images free for anyone to use.
Category Archives: Horseback Travel
Equitation Tips from Medieval Germany
Thank you to Justin E H Smith for his translation of this “Blessing for Horses,” a twelfth-century German poem included in the Codex Manesse. A man went his way · dragging his steed · There my lord met him · With all of his men · How · is it going · man? Why aren’t …
Whole Heap of Little Horse Links
An Irish Draught called Rupert performs on stage at the Royal Opera House in London (simplymarvelous) Elizabeth I’s sidesaddle came up for auction in England. (Sidesaddle Girl) A British farmer working a 265-acre farm with a team of Percherons (simplymarvelous) Facebook is hot on the heels of a self-styled record breaker in the US who …
The Marquesa and I
My treat for the week’s travel was a copy of Penelope Chetwode’s Two Middle-Aged Ladies in Andalusia, her tale of wandering through Spain on a fat mare called Marquesa in the early 1960s. It’s vivid, pungent, beautiful and funny; she describes a country that has long since disappeared, swallowed by modernity. I recommend the work …
Training Your Pony
From the BBC: A man has been captured on CCTV trying to board a train accompanied by a pony. Shocked staff watched as the man tried to get on the train at Wrexham General station with the white pony in tow After a conductor refused him entry, the man returned to the ticket booth where …
Whole Heap of Little Horse Links
Thank you to Susan for sending me a link to this piece on horse prints in fashion at Style Bubble. Roo shared this, er, fascinating set of what you might call outsider art portraits of horses smoking cigarettes, for sale now on Craigslist New Orleans. Click now before they’re sold. Ed Ward let me know …
Hanging Ten on a Horse
“I was taking photos of some of my customers one day and said, ‘I’m bored. Why don’t you stand up or something?’ ” Mattox said, explaining the segue from beach riding to horse-surfing. “The next thing I know, there are people coming from Europe to try this new hot American tourist activity. “It was always a …
Sign of the Times
Thank you to Slaminsky for sending me this sign which she spotted in the window of Le Grenier. The Institute of the Horse was the original name of the British Horse Society, from which the Pony Club developed as an off-shoot. I suspect that this was rather like a Les Routiers recommendation – should you …