Now for Something Different...

Now for something different. This is the "Armada Portrait" of Queen Elizabeth I that was painted sometime during 1588 or 1589 and commemorates England's victory over the Spanish when Spain attempted an invasion of England in 1588. It's an interesting campaign and the one thing I can't figure out is why the Spanish opted to try and link and transport elements of the Spanish Army stationed in Flanders (The Duke of Parma's forces). In my opinion, they should have tranported troops directly from Spain and make a run for England's southern shore.

Fortunately for the English, the Spanish opted for a more complex campaign plan and it failed in the face of bad weather, superior English strategy and ships, and poor planning on the part of the Spanish.

The artist is unknown.

Here's another one entltled: Defeat of the Spanish Armada, 8 August 1588 by Philippe-Jacques de Loutherbourg, painted 1796 depicts the battle of Gravelines:

Here's a small map of the Spanish Armada's progress:

Thanksgiving is Over (Whew!)

Well, I managed to survive another Thanksgiving and I NEVER want to see another turkey again (at least until June 2008). I decided that I needed to give Max the night off on Thanksgiving "eve" so I could focus on my part in the cooking preparations. This year we were responsible for providing the stuffing and one side so after consulting my trusty Willams Sonoma "Thanksgiving" cookbook, I'd selected two suitable recipes and even managed to buy all the necessary ingredidents (although I forgot a couple so I had to brave the crowds at the local supermarket on Thanksgiving eve (what a pain in the ass that one was!).

The first step call for me to prepare the chestnuts for the stuffing. My dad used to get this job every year when he was alive so now I've inherited it. Basically you have to bake them on the oven (or boil them) to soften up the shells for peeling. You also have to score each of the chestnuts with an "x" on the flat side (easier said than done). I managed to do all of this and bake them but I probably didn't bake them long enough because some were pretty stubborn getting the shell off- until I hit upon the idea of putting the stubborn ones into the microwave oven and nuking them for a minute or so more.

I managed to complete the shelling in an hour or so while watching Clint Eastwood in "High Plains Drifter", a classic in the genre of the anti-social Western movies. Pretty interesting juxtaposition.

After some other preparations, I was all set for Thanksgiving Day and my wife would take over from me the actual cooking (we'd worked this one out in advance). Naturally, I took the opportunity to work up a good appetite Thanksgiving Day by riding Max for a few hours. :-)

With all the leftovers, we were able to do almost a complete re-run of Thanksgiving dinner Friday night...that was enough for me. I think I'll go grill a steak or have taco- I'm done with turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!

Happy Turkey Day!!!!!!

Human Statue of Liberty

This was created by officers and men at Camp Dodge, Iowa during the First World War. Pretty interesting.

Thanksgiving is Coming!

With Thanksgiving coming, I thought I'd put up a picture of the Mayflower, the ship that the colonists sailed on to ultimately found the Plymouth Colony. In reality, the colonists were actually supposed to land at the mouth of the Hudson River. By the way, the above picture is Mayflower in Plymouth Harbor by William Halsall (1882).

Back from the Weekend (and I'm Sore!)

I decided to take last Friday off so I'd have a three-day weekend so naturally I did what I always do when I have time off and the weather is nice- hit the trail and ride!

This was the first weekend I've really been able to ride Max for a long period of time out on the trail since he's healed from the saddle sores (from my trip to Bear Valley). Friday started with a somewhat easy, but long (three hours or so) ride that started by riding up into the mountains to the cattlepen/electric lines and then doubling back. Just when Max thought the ride was over, I went past the stables and continued on down the wash (he was a little peeved about it but got over it fast).

We then followed my usual route accross the river and towards the east edge of Hanson Dam. Next, I rode down to the tunnel crossing Wentworth Avenue and debated going through it and on to the Mustang Market for a break but decided against it (no particular reason, Max has been through the tunnel and could have handled it).

We then rode back towards the Orcas Arena, re-crossing the river and riding under a canopy of trees. It was really nice and cool there. I finally arrived at the arena and we proceeded to do some work in the arena, basic stuff to include cantering and some side-passing.

After that, we made our way some at a leisurely pace. Max was lazy and really didn't want to work too hard but after awhile, he got into the spirit of it.

Saturday was pretty much more of the same only this time we rode around the lake in the middle of the Hanson Dam Basin and then made our way up the rim of the basin towards the ponds. This time, I was with a friend and so Max was a bit more animated since he had a trail buddy.

Interestingly enough, we went my the spot on the trail where Max had problems during the ETI Trail Trials last August but he gave no hint of difficulty (probably because he was moving and he knew he would be heading home soon). We all wound up doing arena work again at the Orcas Arena, this time I practiced my two-point stance at the trot and canter. Wheew! Talk about sore legs!

Sunday started with my weekly lesson and we worked on more two-point stance technique as well as working on balance. More stretching and trying to line up my hips so I'm balanced in the seat. Hmm, could it be that the reason Max turns so smoothly is that I'm balanced correctly...

Overall, a great weekend and Max and I definately got in some saddle time. Naturally Max also enjoyed all the A&M and Omolene he got afterwards.

I hope the weather stays nice for Thanksgiving!

I Am Legend

OK, here's the poster for the new movie I Am Legend:

The Omega Man

With the impending re-make of I Am Legend with Will Smith, I thought I'd put of an image of the original movie poster for The Omega Man which was released in 1971 and starred Charlton Heston. It's a bit campy but it was a bit radical for the time, featuring an interracial love scene (Hey, when you're the last man on Earth you can't bee too choosy!).

I Am Legend is based on a novel that was originally written by Richard Matheson in 1954 and was made into a movie The Last Man on Earth in 1964 and starred Vincent Price. The movie was made in Italy and is pretty cheesy. The Omega Man pretty much departed from the book and, well it stands alone. It's kind of interesting in an early 1970s kind of way. Below is a recent re-release of the book:


I have to admit that as a kid, I absolutely dug The Omega Man! My parents didn't want me to see it but I managed to sneak in with a buddy of mine anyway. The whole idea of being able to have everything you want, including massive firepower, and then being able to waste the baddies was just way TOO cool. It was a real disappointment when Charlton Heston (aka the character Col. Robert Neville) gets killed in the end. I also dug the character "Dutch"(played by Paul Koslo) who sported a leather motorcycle jacket with an upraised middle finger in a US flag motif (no doubt based on a period peace sign).

Veterans' Day

The picture says it all:

The Charge of Ugly

Here's another one by Frederic Remington. I think everyone who rides, at one time or another, has come accross a horse similar to "Ugly", the horse pictured below. Needles to say, he's quite a handful and sometimes it's all one can do to hold on.

This picture reminds me when I first Max to an Western gunfighter event where everyone started shooting way too close to Max. Between that and the County music band, it was a bit much for the boy and I had to run him around for awhile. Fun stuff!

Cavalry on the Plains

This picture was painted by Frederic Remington in 1909. Except for using the horses themselves, there is absolutely no cover whatsoever. Nothing like trying to hold four horses, especially if they don't WANT to be held...

What A Weekend!

Well, it was nice to be able to get out and really ride this last weekend. The weather was cooperative and I was able to take Max on one of our usual loops accross the river and back again. I wound up at the Orcas Arena and ran into some of my friends in the Warhorse Society who invited me to join in with them in tent pegging.

As previously posted, we spent a good hour practicing and Max was a complete prince and he had no issues. I'm definately going to get a bamboo pole and convert into a lance.

On Sunday, I took my usual lesson with Max and we had a pretty rigorous training session. We put in a lot of work on the two-point stance at both the trot and canter- I was pretty sore in the legs afterwards! I'm sure Max was also pretty sore so I gave him some bute at the end of the day!

Overall, it was a good weekend and it was good to get out. I also think it was a good break for Max and it helped reinforce the rider-horse bond.

Tent Pegging Video

Here's a pretty decent video from YouTube on what tent pegging is all about:

Tent Pegging and Other Warlike Stuff

This last Saturday, I got to try out some tent pegging with Max. Tent pegging is basically where you attempt to strike and pull out a tent peg with either a lance or a sword. Apparently this got going back when the British ruled India as a past-time for cavalry soldiers. The tent pegs are not the small ones you see today but rather much larger, similar to long 2x2s (we had these for the larger GP tents when I was in the Army). As a practical matter, the "tent pegs" used today appear to be more along the lines of board made of some sort of soft wood (as far as what I can tell from the videos). We used old dish towels as our targets so it was a bit more tricky hitting them.

Max was excellent and he didn't have any issues with the lances or the swords, he just trotted or walked the way I pointed him and he cooperated all the way. My coordination, on the other hand, wasn't the greatest so I kept missing although I was able to make a few strikes. The technique is everything and I need to work on that a lot! But it was good fun for both Max and I and we really had to think a lot.

We also tried out mounted charges at the canter. This was interesting- he was a lot slower than the other horses (they're all Arabs, pretty much) but he tried to get into it and perhaps I was holding him back a bit- it was the first time he'd done that with other horses (we're talking about 20) and naturally I was a bit nervious about what he'd do. I kept him on the end of the line just for safety. No issues developed and overall it was fun.

I may pursue the tent pegging more- it seems like something that both Max and I can handle and it's great training. Plus, it would help for the National Cavalry Competition (if I ever can organize the logistics to take Max AND if he's ready).

Boy am I going to feel sore on Monday...More later!