We would rock the shit out of some Louboutins
Read Morehorses
Just Pictures
I really want a jet pack.But until then I have to say I am pretty thrilled with my new iPhone.
Read MoreThinking outside the box, or, Horse Trading
I started to think outside the box. I know there are people out there like me, who need services but can't afford them. So, what could I offer in exchange for horse training? What service could I provide in trade?
Read MoreWish Book of Gypsy Horses for Sale
If you grew up in the 1970's, you probably received a Sears Wish Book every year...So what do younger kids browse through nowadays? (Nowadays. What a dumb word. I might as well carry a cane and start saying "whippersnapper")...This whole idea of the Wish Book came to me while I was browsing the internet recently, looking at - what else - horses.
Read MoreHorse Drawn Wagons via Traveller Dave
I'm currently working on a drool-worthy, eye-candy Fantasy pick of Gypsy Horses from all over. Until that's ready, I thought I'd share a site I found recently. These are photos of horse drawn wagons from a collection by Traveller Dave.
Read MoreArizona Haboob
If you've watched the movie Hidalgo, you've seen a Haboob...You may have been thinking, "Wow, great special effects - that can't be real."
Read MoreWhat's in a Name? Part II; Equine edition
Many people will change a horse's name upon taking ownership. Your "Wildfire" could be someone else's "Rusty." You put all that time and thought into finding the perfect name...Go figure.
Read MoreOh, Baby!
While we were gone, my neighbor went to check on Chroi and left a message on my cell phone: "You've got a drop-dead gorgeous filly over here! She's black and white and has two blue eyes."
Read MoreOverdue!
The Home Stretch
Oh I remember those days! ... Little did I know it was the last time I would ever have peace and quiet.Just kidding. Peace and quiet is highly overrated, I'm sure.
Read MoreMidweek Mish Mash
Books, an update on Chroi's "scratches" condition, and baby watch...
Read MoreTraining Day
We had a very nice visit - I mean, have you ever met a Canadian you didn't like? :)
Read MorePastern Dermatitis in Feathered Horses
The only thing that worked on her scratches was...
Read MoreLooking Forward and Looking Back
It used to be Blues Clues, and now it's Step Brothers...everything is stupid, they tell each other to shut up, and see who can fart the loudest.
Read MoreMy Pretty Ponies
Gray Factor in Horses
A lesson in horse color genetics from someone who only understands it a little bit:
This is a picture of Chroicoragh when she was a baby, with her dam in Ireland:
Clononeen Farm |
Here she is a little older:
Even older:
Photo by Tami Gramont |
And today:
This is where I have to introduce you to two terms: Homozygous and Heterozygous. Homozygous is dominant. If you have a horse that is homozygous for the black gene, that horse's babies will always be black. If the horse is equally homozygous for the Tobiano gene, that horse's babies will also always be black, and spotted. So for a breeder who loves black spotted horses, having a stallion or mare that is homozygous for black tobiano is a premium. Every foal is guaranteed to be spotted and black. Likewise, if a breeder prefers Chestnuts or Palominos, they will want a horse that is homozygous for Red. There are endless possibilities when it comes to color combination, and unless you have a homozygous horse, you have no idea what the resulting foal will look like. I kind of like it that way. I like surprises.When I first saw Chroicoragh, and a picture of her mom and dad, I had no idea her color would change. As I found out more about blues and grays, I hoped she would keep her beautiful blue blanket. In western terms, her coloring would be called "Blue Sabino," in Gypsy terms, it's called Blue Blagdon. Everyone has a favorite color and pattern. Some love the splotchy pinto patterning that most Gypsy Horses carry, called Tobiano. It can come in any color, but the most common is black. Tobiano is a coat pattern that is carried genetically, as well as coloring.
Lenny is a Heterozygous Black Tobiano |
Chroicoragh carries one red gene, and one black gene, and is negative for tobiano. Which means she could have a baby that is either red (Chestnut; Sorrel) or black, and would most likely not have a baby with spots unless she was bred to a stallion who was homozygous for the tobiano gene.Following so far? OK, 'cause now I'm going to throw another one at you: Chroi is also negative for the Agouti gene, which is responsible for the black points you see on Buckskins and Bays. (A great example of the Agouti gene in bays is sweet Siofra, a bay blagdon who had a gorgeous buckskin colt, Arthur.)Chroi's color genes look like this:aa (Agouti - negative);Ee (one black, one red); andto/to (Tobiano - negative)So why is she losing her lovely blanket? The only answer, the wild card: The Gray Gene. The gray gene is responsible for most of the white horses you see. Huh? Yes, what you think is a "white" horse is technically gray. Until a few years ago, you couldn't even test for the gray gene. If you had a white or gray horse, you pretty much had a 50/50 chance of getting a gray foal, but you didn't know if it would be a 100% chance. The kicker is, a gray horse can be born any color. Well, besides purple.I had a little foggy inkling that Chroi might not be a true "Blue" horse - blue horses are technically black, with a lot of white hairs mixed in that gives them the bluish or grayish coloring, but don't necessarily carry the gray gene. These horses will remain blue their entire lives, and not fade.
And when Keira was born jet black, I was so elated! Then she started showing some gray hairs in her coat, and my suspicions were confirmed. For Keira to be going gray, that means Chroi has to be gray. The question is, Homozygous, or Heterozygous? And why does it matter? Well, like I said, everyone has color preferences. Personally, grays have always been my favorite. I went to YMCA camp when I was 13, and my horse for the week was a tall dapple gray named Dapper Dan *sigh* I loved him. And if you've read my essay, you'll know my white/gray partiality has been with me a long time.But some people don't like grays. A gray horse, over time, will fade to white. And white horses have a higher chance of developing melanoma, or skin cancer. Besides, some people just don't like white. (crazy, I know! How could you not like a white horse?)
So I pulled a few hairs from both girls and sent them off to be tested for gray. The results (drumroll please): Both Chroicoragh and Keira are Heterozygous for the gray gene. That means that while it appears that both of them are gray, and will eventually fade to white, they only have a 50% chance of passing it on to their foals. So that's good news.Why? Well, for Chroi, since she is in foal to Lenny, and he carries the same color traits, their next baby (Keira is the first) has a possibility of being Red or Black, with a lower possibility of being spotted. Lenny is Heterozygous for Tobiano, so it's only a 25% chance. But Chroi has a red half-sister (Desert Jewel Rococco), a non-fading blue half-sister (Desert Jewel Lile), both out of Lloyds, above, and Lenny has thrown quite a few red foals. So it's anyone's guess. There's also a 50% chance that no matter what color the foal is, that it will go gray, like Keira.
Never mind the brown - that's mud :) |
The great thing about Keira going gray is that she is going to do it beautifully. Her mane and tail are already well on their way to white, and since her whole body is dark, it will dapple out in a gorgeous splash. She won't go fully white until she is well into her teens, and along the way she will look like a living, breathing Carousel horse.Keira is listed for sale. Please visit her page for details: KeiraHere is a new picture of Keira, showing her pretty dapples:Here are some examples of Gray factor.Another helpful page on equine genetics, brought to my attention by a reader. (Thanks, Sarah!)
Platinum, Vines Gypsy Horse © Michael Vine |
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December, Dandelions.
I talk to her belly when I'm out in the stall, and try to get the baby to kick my hand
Read MoreI'm sending you away.
This is probably anti-productive, but I'm sending you to another blog. Three, actually.
The first is one you've heard me mention here before. I've told you that she has amazing photography, and that she sometimes frustrates me with her rate of production and her perfect blogsmanship, but this is something you really must see, especially if you are an animal lover.
I've also told you how I feel about animal lovers.
Pioneer Woman's latest photography contest includes all 4-legged animals, not just cats & dogs.
Now, I'm a sucker for cats & dogs, but I think they get too much attention. I like variety. This contest does have its share of cats and dogs, but other wonderful creatures get to share the spotlight, too.
And the photography is amazing. Honestly, I wish I had the camera, Photoshop software, and time to learn it all, but I've got plenty on my plate as it is. For now, I'm content to be a visitor to the gallery.
Please take a look:
The second stop on your blog tour today will be to the south of England, in Dartmoor. There you will meet a lovely artist by the name of Rima who draws and paints fantastical folkloric images, and adorns some of her work onto clocks made of sliced wood. I'd like to have one someday. Her paintings, as well as her words and pictures on her blog, are warm and come from the heart.
click picture for a story about this clock:
A peek into Rima's world will just make you feel good. Like when you were a kid and you went to visit your grandma's house, and she gave you a cookie and told you to go outside and play, and you laid on the grass and watched the clouds, and wondered at lilies-of-the-valley, and spiderwebs twinkling with dew, and ripe sun-touched raspberries. And that's all you had to worry about that day.
Her latest post encourages an interesting discussion about this clock, and commissioned pieces. Enjoy your visit.
My friend Ken, a poet, used his usual humor in describing his recent experience at the SCBWI's Arizona conference.
I've never been to any other state's conference, or the huge national affairs held bi-annually - summer in L.A. and winter in New York. I'd like to, in the future. But our little AZ get-together is done very well. Our regional advisor, Michelle Parker-Rock, does a good job of bringing in some top publishing industry pros. We've seen editors from the big houses like Scholastic, Penguin and Harper Collins, as well as smaller imprints who like to focus on something more specific, like First Second. Since our members also include illustrators, we are always sure to have an art director present. It's amazing what they can do, and to find out just what goes into making a book.
My favorite speakers this year were Francesco Sedita, Vice President & publisher at Grosset & Dunlap (Penguin), who gave a fantastic presentation. He spoke how his love for reading throughout his life brought him to where is is today, and about the impact a book - any book - can have on a kid. And Jill Corcoran, a literary agent who seemed to be one of the most down-to-earth, un-snobby people I've ever met at a professional function. She had such great advice on writing query letters, and talked about the whole process of what happens after you get an agent - what you should expect from them, and what you should expect to do when working with one.
Also, Calista Brill, from First Second really made me think twice about graphic novels. With just the right amount of twisted humor, she's the kind of speaker who is so passionate about her field, she gets you excited, too. Even if it's something you never considered. Good thing she's not a drug dealer.
And here is Ken's take on his conference experience. He was lucky enough to be a guest blogger for David L. Harrison!
And, as a tip of my hat to Calista, here is a picture of my Cat kids:
And, even though I'm sending you away, please feel free to come back and visit anytime.
Guilt, Guilt, Guilt
Do you have an RSS reader? Before I started reading blogs, and then started blogging myself, I had no idea what an RSS reader was. I knew it was something that super computer-tech-savvy people used, and I was familiar with that little icon:
But the more I started reading blogs, and saw the little icon, and especially after I found a blog or two that I wanted to read as soon as a new entry was posted, I decided to find out more about this RSS thing. Then, when I signed up for my Google homepage, and found out about Google Reader, I signed up.
So, basically, what a reader does (and there's a whole bunch available, just look up "RSS Reader"), is compiles all of the new blogs posts from every blog that you subscribe to, and keeps them all in one spot, so you don't have to go all over the place, trying to keep up with everything. It's kind of like email - you can even have a subscription sent to your email inbox. But I get enough email already, so I choose to look at my reader on my homepage.
Here is a picture of my iGoogle homepage:
I have my Art of the Day widget, my Google Reader widget, my Mad Men quote of the day (don't even get me started on Mad Men), and a couple of other things, maps, links to other Google services like Blogger and such, and on my other iGoogle page, I have a widget for a new Calvin & Hobbes comic a day (even though they're old). I love Calvin & Hobbes. Watterson just GETS how some kids' minds work. Probably because he was that kind of kid. Me too.
Anywho, here is a picture of my Google Reader widget:
One of the first blogs I started reading is from a lady in Oklahoma who just happens to be The Queen of All Bloggers, The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. I like Ree's blog for a number of reasons:
- She's very candid, and unassuming, and her humor comes out well in her writing.
- I love to cook, and she has FANTASTIC recipes. Warning: They are mostly laced with butter and bacon fat (but that's what makes them so good).
- Beautiful photography. She also hosts photo contests, and the entries from her readers are just amazing.
- Free giveaways - which incidentally, she funds herself as a thanks for making her blog so successful. I like that. And she gives away nice stuff - ipads, cameras, Fiestaware, Kitchen Aid stand mixers. Yeah.
But here's what I DON'T like about her blog:
- She's an overachiever. Every time I log on to my homepage and see my reader, it's FULL of PW (Pioneer Woman) posts. She must blog ten times a day. P-dub, I love ya and all, but I don't need an update every fifteen minutes.
But the other drawback to seeing someone else being so prolific - and this is the real crux of the situation here - is that it makes me feel
- GUILT for only blogging one post every couple of weeks. I've never been an overachiever. Not really an underachiever, either, but just kind of pokey.
I'm also one of those people who decides she needs to do EVERYTHING, so I have a lot to do, and so some things get done not as often as others. So if you only hear from me every so often, it's not because I don't love you (And believe me, I do love you, my one subscriber out there in the ether, whoever you are), it's because I'm doing one or more of the following:
- working
- cooking (and I'm planning on sharing some recipes here soon)
- feeding: kids, husband, horses, dogs, cat or bird
- laundry, my arch-nemesis
- cleaning
- grocery shopping
- watching Mad Men
- writing
- attending a writer's critique group or function
- reading a book (just finished Mockingjay)
- or reading someone else's blog.
On that last note, I have to give a shout-out to my fellow SCBWI writer-friend, Amy Fellner-Dominy, on her latest blog post. Her first book, which has been bought and is in the stages of production a book must go through before it hits the shelves, just received its cover:
Congratulations, Amy!
Make sure you look for OyMG in spring of 2011.
June, July, August, October
Ok, so yes, I realize I have broken a fundamental rule of blogging; that is to blog regularly and often. And yes, I realize I missed a WHOLE MONTH! I haven't given you a book selection. What have you been reading?!
What's wrong with me?
(Oh -- that's a whole 'nother blog for a whole 'nother day.)
In the meantime, here's what happened in September:
Chroicoragh and Keira started training with Linda Storey-London, a Dressage trainer. She is teaching them to:
- Pay attention to whomever is working with them (I'll have her work on my kids next);
- Start and stop on cue, in a "snappy" fashion (When I say whoa, I mean whoa);
- Offer their feet freely when asked (Chroi has been used to giving me her feet, for grooming, but wasn't happy about it. Now she is more willing); and
- Being more "supple." In dressage:
Its fundamental purpose is to develop, through standardized progressive training methods, a horse's natural athletic ability and willingness to perform, thereby maximizing its potential as a riding horse. At the peak of a dressage horse's gymnastic development, it can smoothly respond to a skilled rider's minimal aids by performing the requested movement while remaining relaxed and appearing effortless. (from Wikipedia)
Linda works so well with the horses, and is exactly what I have needed in a trainer. I'm sure part of my problem has been my own lack of self-confidence when working with them, and Chroi and Keira can tell that I'm not in charge, so they naturally take over. It's a basic behavior, and how they achieve their hierarchy in the herd. That way, the leader takes over, and in a natural setting, protects the herd and maintains order.
No, that's not Chroi. Can you tell I like gray horses? |
This very example of herd behavior is sometimes lost on those who are used to seeing horses in a domestic situation, especially a training barn where all the horses have their own stalls, are turned out periodically for exercise, or to work with their riders and trainers. Everything is controlled by the humans, who are then -- for all intents and purposes -- the "herd" leaders. This is the basic principle of working with horses. I mean, a horse can weigh upwards of a thousand pounds. The only way to have any control over it is to assume the position of its leader, and the horse works with you willingly. Through a process of building trust, the trainer establishes an understanding that he or she is the dominant, or alpha member of the herd, and the horse naturally goes along with it.
That is the basic principle, but it is easier said than done. Especially with a horse that already thinks SHE is the boss. Anyway, it's why I've decided to go with a trainer rather than pull my hair out trying to figure it out for myself.
The Grand Canyon in the distance |
BUT one of the cool things we did in September was take another "let's get the heck out of here" weekend trip to the otherlands of our great state. This time we headed up north. Off a side road that thousands of visitors pass daily on their way to the Grand Canyon, we found high desert peace and solitude.
We rode over miles and miles of gravel roads, looking at sage, power lines and cattle. And horses. Ranchers in the area turn their horses out to graze freely, and even though the horses are domesticated, on the range they revert to wild herd behavior. Now, as hunters, we are often privileged to view wild species like elk and antelope in their natural herd setting, but it's just neat to see animals -- like horses -- that you are so used to seeing in a controlled environment, in their more wild state.
Wild-domestic-free-range-horses |
At one point on our route, we have to pass through a gate next to a ranch house. There are corrals and feeders, and this is where the cowboys bring in the cattle for round ups, branding, vaccination, castrating, and finally, shipping off to become your next BBQ. Yum.
Anyway, as we pulled up to the gate, I noticed a small herd of horses trotting towards us. They must keep their ears open for the sound of the rancher's truck, and know that it could possibly mean a handful of grain, fresh hay, or some type of break from the dry grasses and sage they normally browse. At the head of the line, the alpha mare led the rest of the group into the corral area, where they expected... something, I don't know what, and I was disappointed not to have anything for them.
It was so interesting to watch them, though. As they trotted toward the gate, a few of them got out of line, and tried to get ahead of her, and she put them back in their place. Once in the corral, they fought with each other for rank, as to who would be where in the space, nipping and nudging, giving little warning kicks.
Have you ever watched a class of first-grade school children waiting in line for the water fountain? Pushing, shoving, giving each other dirty looks, trying to get to the front. It's a lot like that. And it reminded me that I need to be the teacher at the front, not the fourth kid in line with my finger up my nose.