2020 Merry Christmas

 

Did you know that Blitzen has a sore hoof this year?  Blessi volunteered as replacement to pull Santa's sleigh. When you watch the skies on Christmas eve, look for a pudgy, hairy Icelandic running with the reindeer.

Blessi invites you all to a game of Christmas ring toss.  It's only costs a peanut for each attempt.   If you get the ring stuck in his mane, you owe him two peanuts.

Happy Holidays to all !

Pamela and Blessi

 

 

 

 

*Photos by D. Shrimplin

 

 

An Advent Calendar for Icelandic Horses and Friend

What a cool idea from Koedbloed Kim.  Build an advent calendar for your horses containing special treats for each day.

Merry Christmas from Iceland

Sean Parker Photography provides this beautiful video of the Northern Lights highlighting the horses waiting for their Christmas surprise at a church in Iceland.

A Pony for Christmas

Irie gets her pony for Christmas.  And she already has a name picked out.  The Labrador Retriever is very happy for her.

Naughty Ponies at Christmas

Who can pull Santa's sleigh and ring the Christmas bells better than than the rocking Christmas ponies?

Coming Home at Christmas

Another great Christmas video.  After all, grandparents are teddy bears.

If Santa Used Ponies Instead of Reindeer

Another epic, misbehaving Christmas pony video. Oh would Blessi love to explore a Christmas tree with gifts.

Christmas, ambling horses, and medieval art

Here's a post about Christmas, ambling horses, and medieval art--what could be better except a real pony under the Christmas tree. The Three Wise Men rode gaited horses for some part of their journey.
In addition to--or as a replacement to--a trot, gaited horses exhibit an intermediate gait between a walk and canter, now known as rack, amble, single foot, tolt, running walk, fino fino depending on the horse breed. This 4-beat gait can be as smooth as silk to ride at speed as opposed to the up-down motion of the 2-beat trot. In medieval art (and the art of many other cultures) you can tell whether the horse is trotting or ambling by the position of the legs. If the diagonal legs are moving, then the horse is trotting. If the lateral legs on the same side are moving (observe to see if that back hock is cocked), then horse is ambling. Ambling horses or palfreys were especially prized in the Middle Ages since this smooth gait was very comfortable to ride for long distances.

The first image is the three wise kings depicted on the Catalan Atlas, drawn by Cresques Abraham, around 1375. Abraham created a series of maps showing the universe and the world as known at that time. This particular map showed the known world with Jerusalem at its center. The translation of the map inset explains "This province is called Tarshish, from which came the Three Wise Kings, and they came to Bethlehem in Judaea with their gifts and worshipped Jesus Christ, and they are entombed in the city of Cologne two days journey from Bruges." Tarshish was supposedly located in Spain. And I love the dappling of these palfreys.

The second image is a Limoges box reliquary dating from around 1200 AD. It depicts the story of the

Three Wise Men. The side displays the Adoration of the Magi and the top shows their journey to find Baby Jesus. If you enlarge the magnification, you will see that the two left riders are on amblers whereas the rider to the far right is just breaking into the canter perhaps because he first caught sight of the star over the stable in Bethlehem--which is a lovely way to indicate motion in a static medium.
Both images and their explanation are from Wikipedia.

Wexford Carol for Peace

To my friends and family, Merry Christmas. Here's the lovely Wexford Carol sung by Alison Krauss accompanied by Yo-Yo Ma. Regardless of our religions, let us all pray for peace on earth next year.

Peacock Spider Christmas

Happy Holidays from me and the peacock spiders.

Christmas Kittens and Icelandic Horses

Kittens, Christmas, snow, Icelandic horses, deer, sunset--you cannot get much cuter.

Protecting Cats During Christmas

Need some tips to keep your Christmas tree safe from the pets? Here they are!

2017 Christmas Card--In Progress

Darn the free public library systems of the United States!  The Kitsap Country Library runs wonderful educational programs for adults and children from how to use a computer to making mixed media mini tiles out of dominoes to reading to a dog. A few months ago, I took a class on making lino-block prints--a craft that most of us last did in our high school years.  I had so much fun that I resolved to make my own Blessi Christmas cards.  Did I start in September?  October?  November?  How about six days before Christmas?

To the left is a photo of my results so far--the wood block has been cut but I have yet to pull my first print.  Oh, don't worry the bandage covers a developing blister from cutting the wood block.  The red is from the marker used to highlight the block to see if I cut enough surface material.  And I still have an hour till midnight.  I am off to ink up the roller!

What do cats think about at Christmas

Let's let the cats explain their viewpoint in the following video. One of my favorite parts is the "special human catnitp.

How to gift wrap a Gypsy Vanner for Christmas

You can call this whimsy or you can call it bomb proofing, either way it is a testament to the temperament of the Gypsy Vanner breed.  Happy Holidays!



Santa's elf, per the video description, states that it takes " 3 acres of wrapping paper and half a mile of sellotape" to gift wrap a horse.

How to make a Horse Head Wreath for Christmas

Here are the directions.

Behind the Scenes of Dogs Making Toys for Santa

Freshpet Pet Food contributes to animal charities each year.  They put together the awesome video Santa Claus Workshop show in an earlier posting.  Here is a behind the scenes look.

Who Really Makes Santa's Toys

Now we know why some of Santa's toys break a little easier than others--unskilled labor.  Not to mention cats who try to sabotage the process.

Happy Holidays I still want a pony for Christmas

I love this song by Don Bodin.  How many children want a pony for Christmas.   I think I will annoy my Mom and send the link to her since Santa never brought me a pony for Christmas.  I had to get Blessi by myself.  Hum some unresolved childhood issues here?.

Jingle Bells Jingle Bells Minis All the Way

https://www.facebook.com/ranchduchevaldor/videos/1210466092316571/?theater



Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have been experiencing a lot of raining days.  Just to get you in the mood for Christmas, here is some fun you can have with driving minis through fresh snow.  Doesn't the one driver in the funky hat look a bit like  Radagast the Brown from the Hobbit movies.  Instead of using rabbits, Radagast has switched to minis for the winter.

 Click here for link to video