Did you guys saw this great video? It is a great video with some gorgeous white horse running!
"Only the horses" Scissor Sisters
Enjoy!
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Friday, June 12, 2015
The Chinese Zodiac and The Horse Sign
I think everyone has heard of the Chinese Zodiac. What we know especially is that it is very different as the one we look everyday to.
The Chinese Zodiac has a important place in the Chinese culture, which is a very wast. The signs in it were used for a very long time now. Interesting is that the signs from the zodiac have been used in stories and folklore. These developed the different personality traits that were represented with each animal. That means that the horse has a very important place in the Chinese culture.
Horses are present in many Chinese myths . They represent horse tales, horse-like beings but also pony. We can find a lot of motifs of horses, which have their focus the horse or have horses as the protagonist of the action or in other cases they are represented as support. According to the cyclical Chinese calendar system, the time period between 31 January 2014 and 18 February 2015 falls unde the category of the (yang) Wood Horse.
Things Should be Avoided:
The Chinese Zodiac has a important place in the Chinese culture, which is a very wast. The signs in it were used for a very long time now. Interesting is that the signs from the zodiac have been used in stories and folklore. These developed the different personality traits that were represented with each animal. That means that the horse has a very important place in the Chinese culture.
Horses are present in many Chinese myths . They represent horse tales, horse-like beings but also pony. We can find a lot of motifs of horses, which have their focus the horse or have horses as the protagonist of the action or in other cases they are represented as support. According to the cyclical Chinese calendar system, the time period between 31 January 2014 and 18 February 2015 falls unde the category of the (yang) Wood Horse.
The Horse Sign
The Chinese Zodiac consists of a twelve-year cycle, each year being associated with a certain animal. The 7th in the cycle is the Horse. The order of the beings-of-the-year is made to their order in completing a contest of racing across a river, in the so-called The Great Race.This race is done to see which of the animals, in which order, would be the namesakes of the twelve-year cycle. That includes to run, and swum, the finishing line being across a great river. The Rat and the Ox crossed easily enough (the Rat hitchhiking on the Ox back). Those powerful swimmers, Tiger and Dragon had little problem; nor did Rabbit, with a little help from the Dragon. The Horse, an excellent runner; but, not as good of a swimmer, would have been next -- but, the Snake having crossed the river by stowing away on Horse's hoof, doing a sudden dismount, gained the finish line, just in front of the startled Horse. Thus, it is said, despite the animal's general swiftness, the Horse finished the race only in the rank of the seventh position.
In Chinese the horse is written like: 马 mǎ.
Years of the Horse were and will be:1918, 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026
The Five Elements of Horse is Fire (Huo), which symbolizes
enthusiasm and energy. The horse gives people an impression of independence and
integrity. Its spirit is recognized to be Chinese people's ethos - making
unremitting efforts to improve themselves with passion and diligence.
Lucky Signs for Horse:
- Lucky
Numbers: 2, 3, 7
- Lucky
Colors: brown, yellow, purple
- Lucky
Flowers: calla lily, jasmine, marigold
- Lucky
Directions: northeast, southwest and northwest
- Unlucky Numbers: 1, 5, 6
- Unlucky Colors: blue, white, gold
- Unlucky Direction: southeast
Personality of the Horse:
People with Chinese zodiac Horse sign always impress people with dynamic, zealous and generous image. Endowed with many shinning points, they also have to face the weaknesses in characteristics.
Strengths: Most of them are born with nice personalities, such as warm-hearted, upright, easygoing, so they usually have a lot of friends flocking around. Independence and endurance makes them more powerful, and they will never give in facing the bitter suffering. Positive attitude leads everything to a bright direction.
Weaknesses: Loving spending is their problem, for they need a great amount of money to support social activities and decent dressing. Besides, frankness allows them to let out secret easily. Persistence is what they lack on the path leading to success.
Strengths: Most of them are born with nice personalities, such as warm-hearted, upright, easygoing, so they usually have a lot of friends flocking around. Independence and endurance makes them more powerful, and they will never give in facing the bitter suffering. Positive attitude leads everything to a bright direction.
Weaknesses: Loving spending is their problem, for they need a great amount of money to support social activities and decent dressing. Besides, frankness allows them to let out secret easily. Persistence is what they lack on the path leading to success.
You can find more infos: here
So like the real animal, the people which are in the Chinese Horse sign are very great and interesting persons.
Sunday, June 7, 2015
The anatomy of the Horse-Part III
The shoulder: should be nicely sloping. This characteristic helps the horse to move more freely. In the ideal case, the slope should have 45 degree angle from the wither to the point where the shoulder begins(in relation to a horizontal ground line). The shoulder blade(scapula) has to be longer than the humerus bone. This will allow for a long, low, smooth stride.
The withers: should be well formed, not too prominent, but also not too flat. During their growing, horses will look like the wither is lower than the croup, but as they get bigger, it should become level. The horses that have a very flat muscular withers are not very good for riding, but for traveling in harness. This is because of the fact that they tend to have something like a "rolling action" , that can be difficult to fit a saddle to.
The chest: should be broad and deep, with enough room for a baseball cap to be fitted between the two forearms. If the chest is too wide, it will tend, the same as like in the withers case. to have a "rolling action", difficult to deal with it. The best case is to find a horse that has, as we can tell, a medium size.
The front legs should be straight and in pairs. They should have a long muscular forearm and short dense cannon bone.
The elbow should be clear or the ribs. A good method to test a good conformation for this part, is to be able to run a hand between the two elbows.
The knees should be a "pair", facing directly forward, broad and flat. The pasterns should slope on a similar angle to the shoulder. If the pasterns are too long, the horse may have a weakness. If they are too short, the horse is less able to cope with concussion.
The feet should be in pairs and well made with tough horn.
Additional: it is said that the horse should be "deep through the girth", which means that when viewed from the side, it appears like there is plenty room for the heart and lungs. A good method to test a good conformation is that the distance from the top of the withers to a point just behind and below the elbow should be the same as the one from the elbow to the ground. Taking this in consideration may appear that the horse would be short legged, but it is ok. In a ideal case, the first 8 "true" ribs, that attach to the vertebrae and the sternum, should be long and flattish. This will allow the leg of the rider to sit nicely behind the triceps muscle. The 10 "false" ribs, that attach to the vertebrae, and to cartilage attaching them to the sternum, should be rounded and well sprung. That will give the appearance of a nicely rounded barrel. Again, a good method to test a good conformation is to see that there is not more than a handspan between the last rib and the hip bone.
The length of the back should be proportionate to the overall size of the horse. Another good method to test a good conformation is that from nose to girth should be the same length as from girth to the point of buttock. The back should be strong and not too narrow or too broad.
Important:
The withers: should be well formed, not too prominent, but also not too flat. During their growing, horses will look like the wither is lower than the croup, but as they get bigger, it should become level. The horses that have a very flat muscular withers are not very good for riding, but for traveling in harness. This is because of the fact that they tend to have something like a "rolling action" , that can be difficult to fit a saddle to.
The chest: should be broad and deep, with enough room for a baseball cap to be fitted between the two forearms. If the chest is too wide, it will tend, the same as like in the withers case. to have a "rolling action", difficult to deal with it. The best case is to find a horse that has, as we can tell, a medium size.
The front legs should be straight and in pairs. They should have a long muscular forearm and short dense cannon bone.
The elbow should be clear or the ribs. A good method to test a good conformation for this part, is to be able to run a hand between the two elbows.
The knees should be a "pair", facing directly forward, broad and flat. The pasterns should slope on a similar angle to the shoulder. If the pasterns are too long, the horse may have a weakness. If they are too short, the horse is less able to cope with concussion.
The feet should be in pairs and well made with tough horn.
Additional: it is said that the horse should be "deep through the girth", which means that when viewed from the side, it appears like there is plenty room for the heart and lungs. A good method to test a good conformation is that the distance from the top of the withers to a point just behind and below the elbow should be the same as the one from the elbow to the ground. Taking this in consideration may appear that the horse would be short legged, but it is ok. In a ideal case, the first 8 "true" ribs, that attach to the vertebrae and the sternum, should be long and flattish. This will allow the leg of the rider to sit nicely behind the triceps muscle. The 10 "false" ribs, that attach to the vertebrae, and to cartilage attaching them to the sternum, should be rounded and well sprung. That will give the appearance of a nicely rounded barrel. Again, a good method to test a good conformation is to see that there is not more than a handspan between the last rib and the hip bone.
The length of the back should be proportionate to the overall size of the horse. Another good method to test a good conformation is that from nose to girth should be the same length as from girth to the point of buttock. The back should be strong and not too narrow or too broad.
Important:
- the horse's ears must be pricked and alert, and the eyes bright and healthy.
- looking at the horse as a whole, the head should be in proportion to the body.
- a horse that is used for racing, eventing or show jumping should be always in optimum condition.
- the horse's skeleton has around 250 bones, which varies from breed to breed.
Hope you find this helpful!
See also the first 2 parts:
Wednesday, June 3, 2015
The Horse Behavior - Part II
Let's continue with the understanding of the horse behavior!
The herding instinct
This is very usual for the horses living in the wild. Although it will be very useful if it is taken in consideration also for the domestic horses. Normally they are sociable animals, and when taken from their herd, they will always bond with a surrogate. When speaking about a domestic horse, the surrogate will often be the owner. That is why it is very important for every horse owner to know everything about his animal.
When going with a group of domestic horses in the field, it is better to turn mares and gelding out separately. This will be a good advice especially in the spring, because then the mares have their season and geldings could show some stallion-like behavior. We can go out with one gelding and more mares, but it would not be a great idea to go with several geldings and only one mare.
Because horses tend to be very sociable and form bonds, they will show their attachment in several ways. One of them is grooming. In doing so, they stand head to tail and chew up and down each other's neck and back. It is understood that when one of them stops grooming his friend, the other one will do the same. This type of grooming is very good because it includes removing parasites and of course growing the friendship. In the summer time, it is very normal to see horses that have bonded by standing head to tail, swishing their tails to keep the flies away.
Reacting to danger
Reacting to danger is a crucial point in knowing your horse behavior. It is very important for you to know how your horse will react when dealing with a potential danger situation. When you will learn that, it will be the most exciting experience when you will go out in the field with your horse.
Domestic horses ,when out in the field, will keep their basic herd instincts. When going out with more domestic horses, they will mostly stand and graze close together. If a horse is apart at a distance, normally is a sign that something is wrong and should be investigated. Dealing with danger situations, the horse will be frighten and will run away. So, if one member of the herd feels something unusual and starts to run, the other ones will run too. This is very good to know when riding along with more people. It is very important for everyone on paying attention to his horse, but also to the surroundings. It is better to see the danger or potential unusual things before your horse, because then you can prevent any accident. If you keep your horse calm, the other ones will also be calm.
Horses are very used to leaving in a herd, and they communicate very good using their body language, like ear movements and vocal sounds. They sleep standing up, like this they are prepared to run in every moment when danger is around. When some horses lie down, normally will be one or two standing up, like a guard. They will be the first to alert everyone if needed.
Horses spend most of their day gazing. Their stomachs are kept half-full all the time. That is because if something appears, it is better not to run with a full belly.
Horses have a life based on feeling it is always better to run than to fight. This is why, their vision is nearly 360 degrees. The distance between the eyes and mouth will allow the horse to see all around when grazing. Although they like better to run, if they are cornered and have no way to run, they will defend by kicking and biting.
Again it is very important keeping in mind the strong herd instinct also on domestic horses.
TIPS:
Again it is very important keeping in mind the strong herd instinct also on domestic horses.
TIPS:
- if a horse lays its ears back, usually means that it feels threatened and be ready to show aggressive behavior.
- it is not a good idea when removing all the horses from a field but one. He will show signs of distress and will try to rush up and down the fence line. This will make the others angry. He reacts like that because being in a herd is like being in a safe place, and when apart from his companions, he feels vulnerable.
- when horses display aggressive behavior toward each other, is usually between stallions.
Hope you will find this helpful!
You may want to see also:
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