Blessi's Poem Is Published

Crepe and Penn Literary Magazine included my poem "If a Pony Penned a Poem."  Guess who was the inspiration?  You can read it on page 66 of the following attachment.

Blessi also asked me to remind everybody that a peanut is a poem to a pony.

https://fc609d0f-8595-4c23-b944-d27c474cd9b4.filesusr.com/ugd/5f16d4_925ed3e995cb4b37b435c82879f3b670.pdf

Friesian and Icelandic Ride in New Zealand

Haski the Icelandic, Mirthe the Friesian, and their riders enjoy a wonderful ride along Closeburn Station, Lake Dispute, New Zealand.  The country side is so beautiful.  I kept expecting Sam and Frodo to set out of the bramble and ask which way to Mordor.

Another Icelandic Bobs for Apples

Hannah Compton shared this video of her Icelandic Ollie bobbing for apples.  The horse has fun and drinks more water.

Blessi loves bobbing for apples.  At several horse shows, we have run a bobbing for apples contest.

"Tom Petty" Sings "Free Horses"

Whoever knew that Tom Petty's original version of Free Falling was originally titled Free Horses and was about horses--just horses.

Icelandics carrying live sheep and piano

No Icelander walks when he can ride! Wherever they have to go, even a short distance, they jump on their handy little pony and skim away to their destination...The funniest loads are put on the ponies' backs. I have met a worthy couple jogging along driving a third pony carrying a spinning wheel! Ponies carry planks and iron for building, tools, provisions, and I have even seen a live sheep having a ride! A piano is carried out to the country between two ponies; and sometimes milk or cream is carried in tins, in wooden panniers. "

Mrs. Disney Leith, Iceland, 1908, pp. 39-40
Sketch is from Hesten i Nordboernes Tjeneste paa Island, by Daniel Bruun, 1904, p. 92.

Corvid Queen Publishing My Poem "The Night Troll"

Up until the past hundred years, most Icelandic horses had to survive on their own over the white, perishing Icelandic winters. Who knows what they saw under the white moon over Iceland?   I wrote a poem "The Night Troll" using that motif.  Corvid Queen is publishing it in January 2020.

In the meantime, here's some lovely film footage of Iceland at night under the moon.  Jakobina Ragnhildur sings "Moonlight Shadow" in Icelandic.  

Ride to Church in Slovenia

Two sisters ride their Icelandics to a beautiful hill top church in Slovenia.  They meet some cows on the way.  Interesting how Icelandics, regardless of country, will take any opportunity to grab a bite of grass or browse during a trail ride.

"Why Do We Write" Published in Page and Spine

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 Page and Spine has published my essay "Why Do We Write?"  As Anne Lemott explains, good writing is “telling the truth in an interesting way” which is hard, hard, hard to do “like bathing cats.”  But writers persist.

https://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-do-we-write-p-s-nolfhttps://pagespineficshowcase.com/the-writers-table/why-do-we-write-p-s-nolf

New Type of Pet

Encountered a pet that I had never seen before at Petco. Can you guess what they are? Hint: They are very quick (my first 4 pictures were blurry) and very curious and very friendly. They like to snack from their hay bag.

These "Skinny pigs" (marketing name) are mostly hairless guinea pigs. Their unique appearance is the result of a spontaneous genetic mutation among a group of lab guinea pigs.
The herd that I saw at Petco seemed to be so much livelier and people oriented than the more familiar guinea pigs with hair housed beside them. Don't know if this is a trait of the skinny pigs or just of this particular group but they were darn cute.

More Mounted Archery on Icelandic Horse

Ever wonder what mounted archery would be like on an Icelandic horse? Here is Sabrina riding Glöd at competition in Rättvik, Sweden. There are some advantages to having more of a 4-beat canter since it seems to be smoother.

Riding Icelandic Horses in Slovania

Slovania is a beautiful country.  What a better way to explore its landscape than on the back of an Icelandic horses.  In July 2018, I looked up Icelandic horse populations on FEIF (which is when this video was published).  Slovania has 363 registered Icelandics, which is more than Italy (317), Faroe Island (307), and Australia (280).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QI_o-2bhVSE

Cretan Horse and his Fast Rack

The Messara or Cretan horse breed comes from the island of Crete near Greece.  The breed has been on the island since at least 1000 AD.  In the 1600s when the island was ruled by the Ottoman empire, Arabian stock was crossed with the native ponies.  Today, there are around 100 registered individuals.  (source:  Wikipedia)

These horses do gait.  Here's  a video of the stallion Aetos showing off his slow and fast rack or tolt.