Horse Sense

Horse Fancy Dress Friday ~ The Kano Durbar Festival Nigeria

Traditional costumes are a brilliant source of inspiration for fantastic fancy dress costumes for both horse and rider. The above image shows a horse and rider from a Durbar festival in Nigeria where processions of horsemen in antique ceremonial gear parade as part of the Muslim festivals of Eis al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha.

For more photographs of Durbar horses and regalia check out Nigel Dickinson's Durbar Fantasia Kano 

Above image: Andy Waite http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ via Wikipedia

 

Other  Equine Fancy Dress Friday posts include:

Horses in Fancy Dress 1929

 

Clowns on Ponies

 

Horses dressed as trains

 

Horse dressed as Little Miss Muffet's Spider

 

The cardboard costume challenge

 

Halloween Fancy Dress for Your Horse Video

 

Pony bride

 

The explorers pony

 

Pegasus Chariot Amazing Equine Fancy Dress

 

Video of horse and rider costumes

 

Moulin Rouge costume for horse and rider

 

Native costumes

 

Three Wise Men Shetland Style

 

Dachshund dressed as a horse

 

Lord of the Rings Ringwraith

 

Sinterklass

 

Little Bo Peep has lost her Sheep

 

Pony dressed as Ballet Dancer

 

Horse as giraffe

 

Night mare costume for horse & children

 

Invisible horse

 

Horse dressed for diving / swimming horse costume

 

Hula Hula Horse

 

Ladies Day

 

Horses dressed as fish

 

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

 

Horses and Ponies dressed as Unicorns

 

A foal with wings

 

Horses as Zebras

 

Harry Potter Horse

 

Fancy Clip - Camel  

 

How to paint your horse's skeleton

 

Horse dressed as elephant

 

Horse dressed as dinasour

 

Horse dressed as a car, 

 

Spanish Lady

 

Dog dressed as horse

 

Sunflower Horse and Bumble Bee Handler

 

Pirate Ship

 

Skeleton

 

Easter Bunny

 

If Wishes Were Ponies - Franga Designs

 

Fancy Clips

 

BRC Quadrille Selection 2011

 

Miniature Horses in Fancy Dress

 

Pony dressed as lion

 

Pony styled as a poodle

 

Instructions for making an equine poodle costume here

 

 

 

Horse cushion for equestrian decor

A fabulous 30cm by 50cm cushion featuring horse vintage fabric and other toning tweeds . This is a OAAK One Of A Kind cushion cover! 

Features include

1. Panel of Patchwork tweed and vintage fabric on front

2. Zip on bottom of cushion

3. Brown bobble trim at sides

4. All internal seams are zig zag stitched to minimise fraying.

5. Feather pad is INCLUDED in the price

6. Toning red fabric on the back

£32 from Witty Dawn

And if you are looking for horse / equestrian themed cushions you might also like these:

Paul Thomas Horse cushions here & here

Velvet Horse Cushion

Equestrian Grain Sack Cushion

Augustus Everyhorse at Play horse cushion

Giffords Circus Horse Cushion

Lush Designs horse print cushion

H&M Stallion horse cushion

Ray Harryhausen's Eohippus from 'The Valley of Gwangi'

 

Ray Harryhausen spent a year on the special effects for the 1969 film The Valley of Gwangi an animated model was used to create the Eohippus.

Motivational Monday especially for equestrians ~ "Talent is a Pursued Interest...

Excellent motivational / inspirational quote from Bob Ross that is very relevant to equestrians:

"Talent is a pursued interest. In other words, anything you're willing to practice, you can do."

For more Motivational Monday quotes click the following:

Pain is temporary

There is no failure except in no longer trying

Fancy Dress Friday ~ Horses in Fancy Dress 1929

 

A parade of shire horses from 1929 where the  "Lady Mayoress judges 400 magnificently decorated beasts competing for £500 prizes. Liverpool, Merseyside."

Other  Equine Fancy Dress Friday posts include:

Clowns on Ponies

Horses dressed as trains

Horse dressed as Little Miss Muffet's Spider

The cardboard costume challenge

Halloween Fancy Dress for Your Horse Video

Pony bride

The explorers pony

Pegasus Chariot Amazing Equine Fancy Dress

Video of horse and rider costumes

Moulin Rouge costume for horse and rider

Native costumes

Three Wise Men Shetland Style

Dachshund dressed as a horse

Lord of the Rings Ringwraith

Sinterklass

Little Bo Peep has lost her Sheep

Pony dressed as Ballet Dancer

Horse as giraffe

Night mare costume for horse & children

Invisible horse

Horse dressed for diving / swimming horse costume

Hula Hula Horse

Ladies Day

Horses dressed as fish

Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf

Horses and Ponies dressed as Unicorns

A foal with wings

Horses as Zebras

Harry Potter Horse

Fancy Clip - Camel 

How to paint your horse's skeleton

Horse dressed as elephant

Horse dressed as dinasour

Horse dressed as a car, 

Spanish Lady

Dog dressed as horse

Sunflower Horse and Bumble Bee Handler

Pirate Ship

Skeleton

Easter Bunny

If Wishes Were Ponies - Franga Designs

Fancy Clips

BRC Quadrille Selection 2011

Miniature Horses in Fancy Dress

Pony dressed as lion

Pony styled as a poodle

Instructions for making an equine poodle costume here

 

Motivational Monday ~ Pain is temporary

An inspirational quote from Lance Armstrong for a equestrian Motivational Monday ~

"Pain is temporary quitting is forever"

via My Equestrian World

 

International Helmet Awareness Day 2014

It's Helmets4Riders International Helmet Awareness Day so here is a round-up of some of our helmet awareness posts:

 Equestrian Protective Headgear - How to choose a correctly fitting riding helmet.

Watch a Charles Owen helmet being fitted on this video: How to fit your riding helmet for comfort and safety

Riding helmets don't last forever they do need replacing: When your horse riding helmet should be replaced

Protective headgear is sport-specific and a helmet designed for another sport is not suitable for horse riding : Why a cycle helmet do for horse riding

Help the RSPCA find homes for horses

The RSPCA currently has hundreds of horses and ponies waiting to be rehomed throughout England and Wales. Ranging from adult ridden and companion horses to youngsters who will need bringing on in their new homes.

All of the horses and ponies went to the RSPCA as welfare cases. Some of them will have needed a lot of rehabilitation work. Therefore experience with horses and patience is a must!

Adoption fees range from £50 to £500. More details on rehoming a rescue horse from the RSPCA can be found on the RSPCA website Horses and ponies rehoming and adoption.

Historical Horsekeeping ~ Reprehensible practice ~ 1900

"I wish again to draw the attention of the reader to the reprehensible practice, adopted by many hunting grooms in England, of racking-up during the day horses which are in loose boxes; the object, of course, being to prevent the animal from passing dung and staling on various parts of the floor, disarranging the litter, and dirtying his clothing by lying down. To save himself the small extra trouble which consideration for the comfort and health of the horse would entail, the groom racks the animal up, and thus prevents him during the day from lying down and moving about his box. This arbitrary proceeding on the part of a servant is not only cruel, but is detrimental to the soundness of the animal's feet and legs, by promoting stagnation of blood in these parts; "filled" legs being the common result. I was once told by a credulous owner that his groom had assured him that the practice of racking-up hunters during the day was highly beneficial to their health, because it ensured them a good night's rest! This gentleman evidently did not take the trouble to find out if, on the same principle, the groom refained from sitting down during the day. This practice is, of course, not adopted in racing stables."

Captain M. Horace Hayes F.R.C.V.S. Stable Management & Exercise a book for horse-owners & students. First published 1900.

More Historical Horse Keeping:

Historical Horse Keeping ~ Grooms

Image: Peter Tillemans [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Gregory Wathelet and Conrad de Hus clear round despite losing bridle

So this video has pretty much gone viral and with good reason. Belgian show jumper Gregory Wathelet and his horse Conrad de Hus show incredible concentration as they continue their round, seemingly unfazed,  to go clear despite the bridle falling off.

As an aside I wouldn't have wanted to be in the shoes of whoever tacked up!

 

Interested in bridless jumping? Then you might also like :

To watch Brazilian  equestrian Luciana Diniz show jumping with a bit and reins, no bridle.

Vicki and Amanda Wilson jumping bareback and bridleless.

Alycia Burton jumping 6ft bareback and bridless.