Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Please Help Pure Thoughts Horse Rescue

By Kitson

Reposting from Pure Thoughts website about the devastating flood they have suffered down in South Florida. Click here to donate.

Recapturing the Gilded Age of Newport, RI

By Kitson

Both photos courtesy of corbettphotography.net for The Preservation Society of Newport County

Check out this very cool New York Times slideshow narrated by the photographer and "cultural anthropologist" Bill Cunningham, documenting this month's "coaching weekend," an event held by the Preservation Society of Newport County in Rhode Island. Dozens of coaching enthusiasts -- along with their teams and their coaches, spend a glorious four days in Newport driving, socializing and dining. 

Saturday, August 25, 2012

More Charlotte Dumas

By Kitson

I just got a call from a friend who wants to celebrate the back-to-school season with a trip downtown to the Corcoran Gallery of Art to see the wonderful and moving photography exhibit called "Anima." (which I briefly blogged about on TheSweetFeed.com earlier this summer). There's an article in today's Washington Post about the exhibit by Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

New Raceday 360 Post

By Eliza

I had fun writing about the names of graded stakes races for this column over at Raceday360.

Horsing Around with Psy

By Kitson

This Korean rapper, Psy (short for "Pyscho") is putting his natural rhythm, quality gaits and swinging back to good use here in his new "horse-riding" dance. Check out this entertaining report.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Yes, Another NYT Piece. . .Drought Means Tough Times for Range Horses

By Eliza

Out west, horses are being abandoned because of the drought.  Rescues are trying, but they can't solve the problem.  Horse "have been found stumbling through state parks in Missouri, in backyards and along country roads in Illinois, and among ranch herds in Texas where they do not belong," writes Fernanda Santos.  Click here for the whole story.

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Another Riding Stable in Jeopardy, File Under Development

By Eliza

This story in the Washington Post about Woodlawn Stables hit me today, because I am so aware of how hard it is to find space to ride as development turns the outskirts of cities into mega-suburbs.  This is not the barn I rode at when I was young--this one is--but I know it well, and it's sad to think of such an entrenched part of local life being ruined.  If you have ever watched a beloved boarding or lesson barn close, you know this story well.  It's not easy being a horse person these days.

Friday, August 10, 2012

Holland Nievergelt

By Eliza

Click here for a great COTH story by Mollie Bailey about Holland Nievergelt, a real kid with a real pony. . .who really win.  She bought her horse after seeing him on a site in Western tack.  "We couldn’t afford a groom, didn’t have a golf cart," says the mom.  Yet she finished third over fences at the USEF Pony Finals.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Ode To Brighty

The life-sized bronze statue of Brighty
that sits in the lodge 
 

By Kitson

Have you ever read Marguerite Henry’s 1953wonderful children’s book, Brighty of the Grand Canyon?

Best Dressage Article I've Read ...

By Eliza

... in a long time in a non-equestrian publication is by Frances Sellers and is in this morning's Washington Post.  Sellers makes dressage understandable as a sport, not just "an easy target" that symbolizes ludicrous horse activity.