March 14, 2009
I hope your winter has gone well and spring is well on the way where you live. I also hope the current economic mess hasn't hit you hard. Been discussing that particular situation with the horses.
Recently there have been some stories here in the west about people abandoning their horses. The cost of hay has gone up it's true, but I have a hard time imagining anyone just abandoning their animals. It has happened though. There are too many horse lovers around who would take them in, even if it were somewhat of a sacrifice to do that. I tell our horses they don't need to worry.
I don't think they do.
It comes as no surprise that sales have been off the past few months.I haven't felt much like shopping either. What is happening though is that the number of visitors to Your Guide ... is steadily increasing, plus the number of clicks on ads has shot up.
Could be that people are still shopping, but being much more selective. There's nothing at all wrong with that, maybe the silver lining to this economic downturn is that we're all learning to shop smarter!
Horse Art - Not long ago I received a postcard from equine artist Lee Ellen Smith, advertising her equine art, and offering open edition, fine art giclee on canvas paintngs, of champion throroughbreds from Man O' War to Barbaro. Included in the selection is a very interesting print titled "Conformation", which I'd like to share with you. You can view Lee's work at Lee Ellen Smith's Website.
Vacations On Horseback - About the same time the postcard arrived I got an e-mail from Wenda, in the Netherlands. It read as follows:
I've been looking through Wenda's site, and there are some interesting photographs. If you're looking for something truly exotic in the way of a horseback vacation, this might just fill the bill. I'd read somewhere that horses don't like camels, but some of the photographs suggest otherwise. If you want to take a peek, you can type the above address into your browser, or just Click Here.
Horse Books - This book is almost small enough for a stocking present (a little late for that I know). It's only 84 pages, but is it ever packed with good stuff. It ought to be, the author is Ray Hunt. The title is "Think Harmony With Horses".
There are sections on Ray's own teaching and philosophy, a question and answer section, a look at Ray's techniques through the eyes of another, and finally, a 3-page "Equeology", which you could tape to your wrist before working with your horses, like a pro quarterback tapes plays to his wrist.
Amazon has it:
Finally, I got this contribution from Sarah, in Sulfur, Louisiana. I know it doesn't have too much to do with horse lover's gifts except maybe the gift of laughter. I got a kick out of it though and just wish she had a video to go with it!
Sarah wrote:
I'll leave you with that one. The next Nose To The Ground will be published when my fingers thaw out. One of these years, the Montana winter is going to last 9 months (instead of the usual 4). I just know it!
Bill Savage
