Rural Mama's Sandbox: Horses

Showing posts with label Horses. Show all posts

Okay readers, I am giggling like a kid in a CANDY SHOP! It's no secret that our family LOVES horses and even though I live and breath horses 24/7, I still feel like a child again when I get to go "see" other people's horses, especially high performance horses! I have been given the awesome opportunity to review APPASIONATA, an entertainment show featuring 40 talented horses from Europe! Not only do I get a chance to see these amazing horses and the human partners, one of my LUCKY readers will also win a couple of Tickets to see APASSIONATA as well! HOW COOL IS THAT?

Here is the official press release for APASSIONATA so that you can join me in a Horsey Sugar High!

Europe’s most successful live entertainment show
APASSIONATA
“The Beginning” -- featuring more than 40 horses of 13 different breeds --

North American Tour Premiere

Opens July 27 in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse

July 27 @ 8pm / July 28 @ 3pm and 8pm / July 29 @ 3pm

COMING TO INDIANAPOLIS for a limited engagement!

(INDIANAPOLIS) - APASSIONATA, Europe’s most successful live arena show, featuring more than 40 horses of 13 different breeds, is coming to Bankers Life Fieldhouse in downtown Indianapolis for four performances July 27-29. Tickets go on sale on Friday, April 20 at 10:00 a.m. at the Bankers Life Fieldhouse box office and all Ticketmaster locations, Ticketmaster.com or by calling 800-745-3000.

Now in its ninth year in Europe, APASSIONATA has played to an audience of more than five million people in over 15 countries and now comes to North America with a new show, titled “The Beginning.” This theatrical sensation, with original music scored specifically to work with the horses, enchants families and horse lovers alike with the finest horsemanship, including magnificent dressage and exhilarating stunt riding. The natural elegance, nobility, speed and agility of these animals is captivating. Thirteen different breeds – from Bretons to Friesians – have been brought together from Europe and North America to create this evocative yet thrilling event.

Starting in 2003, APASSIONATA became an immediate sensation. In 2010, it won the prestigious PRG Live Entertainment’s “Best Show” award, among the highest honors in live entertainment on the European continent. The show’s success in Europe has been so remarkable and consistent that its producer-creator Peter Massine and his American producing partner Tanya Grubich, were motivated to bring the experience and excitement of APASSIONATA “The Beginning” to North America, which boasts the largest equine interest in the world.

Massine said “As APASSIONATA has grown to performing for over 545,000 people during its annual 30-city tours of the capitals of Europe, we were eager to introduce the show to the United States and Canada. Our main aim is to provide entertainment for the whole family. Whether you are young or old, everyone enjoys the two hours they spend with our horses.”

Massine and Grubich brought together an award winning, critically acclaimed, Broadway creative team led by director Scott Faris to bring all the elements together for the North American production. Faris has staged a dozen productions of the Broadway musical “Chicago,” “Bette Midler – The Showgirl Must Go On” at Caesar’s Palace and “Walking With Dinosaurs – The Arena Spectacular” which played a record-breaking forty month North American arena tour. He was a veteran of the “Siegfried and Roy” team at the Mirage Hotel in Las Vegas.

When Massine originally created APASSIONATA, he sought out legendary horsemen and women of Europe, many of whom had spent their lives working with these animals or have continued the lineage of families that have worked with horses for generations, crossing many breeds of horses, and the wide range of how horse and man interact with each other. The emotional partnership displayed on stage between these horses and their equipes is a large part of the success of APASSIONATA.

Internationally acclaimed teams of equestrians joining APASSIONATA “The Beginning” include Sylvie Willms of the renowned Willms Family, who has devoted itself to the training and art of riding of thoroughbred horses for more than 300 years in both Belgium and France. Sylvie has been with APASSIONATA since 2003 and wows audiences with her superb freestyle Liberty Dressage and Friesian Quadrille.

Also coming to North America is team Valença, trained by Luis Valença. The reputation of this legendary grand master of the Portuguese School of the Art of Riding precedes him worldwide. Valença and his daughters have devoted their lives entirely to the training of Lusitanos and their horses have mastered to perfection various riding styles including Iberian Quadrille and Garrocha, which will be reflected in their riders’ brilliant skills.

One of France’s most talented equestrians, Laurent Jahan, will bring both his impressive exhibition of donkey comedy and his Pony Fantastique with the massive Breton, a stunning breed of draft horse. Jahan patiently spent more than three years training his donkeys, who have become fan favorites in APASSIONATA.

Icelandic native and Kentucky resident Gudmar Petursson is making his APASSIONATA debut in “The Beginning” with his equipe The Gudmar Petursson Show Team, The Knights of Iceland. Gudmar and his team have been wowing audiences across the United States for over 10 years, and when not on tour, splits his time between his training and breeding farm in Iceland and his farm near Louisville, Kentucky where he has over 40 prized Icelandic horses.

Rounding out the North American cast of riders are the Daredevils, an all-star team of top voltigeurs - 4 French and 3 Ukrainian riders – who come together for special engagements and performances such as the North American tour of APASSIONATA “The Beginning.” These riders delight audiences with their breathtaking stunts and thrilling feats including the “Hungarian Post.” The Daredevils are trained by Erik Hasta Luego of France. The Hasta Luegos have a long tradition with the European APASSIONATA tour where they continually impress audiences with their beautiful and spectacular show riding.

After five million tickets, fifteen countries and nearly a decade of anticipation, North American audiences will finally get to see the breathtaking display of the beauty and the bond between horse and rider that can only be found in APASSIONATA.

Please visit www.apassionata.com for the video and full tour schedule.

To enter complete that following tasks on the Rafflecopter form below! The more options you complete, the higher your chances are of winning Tickets to see APASSIONATA in Indianapolis at Bankers Life Fieldhouse!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Have a wonderful day dear followers!

Watching the Breed Pageant, she
LOVED the Fresians!

Last weekend I took Big Sister to the Hoosier Horse Fair at the Indianapolis State Fairgrounds. The Hoosier Horse Fair is an annual event in April and horse lovers around the state flock to the event. I remember when my Aunt and Grandma took me to the Hoosier Horse Fair when I was younger. The place used to be PACKED, not just with visitor but with horses, booth vendors, and demonstrations. The program alone was like a mini book at least 20+pages long.

I remember Stallion Row, having TONS of different breeds of horses! It was a dream come true to see all the different types of horses I'd always read about in my horse books. My favorites growing up were the Thoroughbred and Bashkir Curly Horse. I was somewhat disappointed when we arrived this year and Stallion Row only included about a third of the horses that it used to. Big Sister didn't seem to mind at the lack of variety, but I couldn't help be feel bummed.

Painted Saddle Horse at the Breed Pageant.

Not only was the Stallion Row population lacking, the variety in vendors and the amount of vendors was limited as well. I remember going home with BAGS of swag, my FAVORITE booth to visit was the Thoroughbred Racing booth, they gave away tons of stuff, including Blood Horse Magazine, which became my most prized possession for YEARS growing up. The Quarter Horse booth always had awesome posters as well, with beautiful photos of every color of horse possible. I used to plaster my room with posters I'd acquired from the fair, it was awesome!

My tired Cowgirl!

There also used to be horse items for sale of every variety and I DREAMED of the day when I had my own horse I could buy things for at the Hoosier Horse Fair. This year my mission was to find a pretty detailed blue halter for Rusty. I was also disappointed by my selection. I found a nice blue halter, but nothing like I'd seen from my childhood.

The COOLEST demonstration ever at the Hoosier Horse Fair was the 6 Horse Draft Hitch Competition! It was the HIGHLIGHT of the whole event! The Draft horses were MASSIVE in size, almost unreal, and they would take 6 of these horses and hook them together under harnesses to pull a large stag coach. It was BEYOND awesome to see the raw horse power pulling the coaches. The horses were always perfectly well behaved and acted like true professionals. They would get a least 5 or 6 of the hitches to pull around the Pepsi Colosseum all at once. The thundering of the hooves and the jingling of the bells along their harnesses made a permanent impression in my memories. This year was the second year in a row that they did not hold this epic Competition. I am bummed that Big Sister missed out on seeing the giant horses, but I can only hope that they will be brought back again in the future years.

I don't know if it just me, being an adult now and seeing the reality of places instead of looking at the world through a child's eye, but the Hoosier Horse Fair just didn't have the WOW factor anymore. I know a lot people are blaming the deterioration of the event on the economy, maybe that's it, maybe it's not. My hopes is that the organization that runs the Hoosier Horse Fair works to improve the Fair next year. It sure would be nice to walk into the Fair and have the same WOW factor that had as a child.

Thanks for reading and have a WONDERFUL weekend dear followers!

Okay, so life is just getting so busy the bigger my girls get! My youngest just turned 7 months old and she is moving around like CRAZY! My oldest didn't see the need to move around this much at all. Everyone always tells you that each baby is totally different, and I knew this, but deep down I wanted a clone, lol! I'm just kidding, my youngest is also very special in her own ways and I love that about her, she gives me so many new experiences that I didn't have with my oldest and yet my oldest gave me experiences that I have never had with my youngest. They really seem to have balanced out one another well and taught me a lot, even already!

On a side note, sorry I've been MIA for a while! I am going to try to get back into the blogging scene, hopefully nap times will correspond and they'll give me an hour to type, hehe! We'll see, please stay with me!

I've got some fun news! I finally bought Big Sister's riding helmet! We decided to go with the Troxel Legacy in Smoke Antiquus. She has a tiny little head so we went with the small. I fit it to her head in the house and it fit great but when I put it on her outside I must have messed with the adjustments and it kept falling forward on her. I'm pretty sure it was user error on my part and I think I just need to get used to the adjustment system a little more. The day her helmet came in I took Big Sister out to ride her pony! She just LOVES the horses and would have stayed on that pony ALL day long. She is a natural and I am just amazed at her balance for only 2 years old. She also has no fear. I was able to lead the pony without holding onto her. It didn't faze her a bit and she rode him like she had been riding since the day she was born! SHE is going to be FUN! We have also been blessed to have an incredible pony. He loves me and will do anything I ask him to, especially if I let him nibble on the grass every so often. I can't wait to see their relationship and bond grow as Big Sister rides more!

Thanks for staying with me dear followers! I've got some cool/controversial posts planned ahead so please stay tuned!
Kelsey

...You get home from church Resurrection Sunday, cook up some lunch, then pull your hair up into a ponytail, step into your rubber muck boots with your Easter dress on, grab a plaid quilted jacket, and run out into the rain to feed the horses and chickens before the real storm hits.

My Chicken Posse following
me around this morning.

Yeah, that's right, I'm Real Country!

I definitely was a sight! I almost wish I had had my husband get a photo, it was pretty comical. I half wonder what the horses thought as I rushed around in my dress, probably nothing except "Hurry up lady and get me some food."

On another note, and speaking about the horses... this morning I was doing the dishes and as I looked out my kitchen window I noticed a white bird following around one of the horses. At first I thought maybe it was one of my chickens, but then it stood upright. It had a long sleek neck, much longer than any of my chickens. I don't know what it is about Fugit, our Thoroughbred, but birds gravitate to him. When he was in a stall at our other farm, the chickens would jump up on the gate and he would slide his neck along the gate so that the chickens were crawl up onto his neck and sit. Maybe he liked their little claws massaging his mane, who knows, he is just odd like that. So, it didn't totally surprise me that a wild bird had befriended Fugit. I got a could pictures from the house, but they don't give enough detail to the bird. I have NO idea what type of bird it was, and as I got closer it got nervous and fly away. Personally, I would think that a horse would be scarier than a person, being that they are much heavier and if they get annoyed those hooves don't feel to good making contact with you (not that I think Fugit would ever kick a bird, but it is possible I guess). Well, hope you enjoy the pictures, maybe you could tell me what kind of bird it is and why it seems to like the horses!


Fugit and the Mystery Bird!

Eva trying to figure out why the Mystery Bird
is following Fugit around.


The Mystery Bird, sorry its fuzzy, I tried to Zoom In as much as possible from the house...

Have a wonderful day dear followers!
Kelsey

So, March 21st I did some "Spring Cleaning" out in our barn. I hadn't been out there so quite a while, since before sometime in October I believe. My dear sweet husband has been taking care of the animals while I've been out of commission. While I was still taking care of them myself I had started letting my chickens free range outside of their coop and run, but I would pen them up over night. Well, my dear sweet husband just let them run loose ALL winter. They seem to have tried roosting in EVERY possible spot in the barn, leaving a nice big mess EVERYWHERE, but I can't blame him he a great job keeping them fed and watered all winter. Since we've been having warm days I been itching to clean up around the barn. I've been taking Big Sister for walks and recently decided to do a little cleaning here and there when I could find time to get out there on my own.

On the 21st I was able to get out for a long period of time. I bathed our pony, both miniature horses, fixed one of the auto waterers so that it wouldn't leak everywhere, distributed salt and mineral blocks, cleaned up the duck area and filled up their kiddie pool. I'm not sure why but I have an obsession with poultry and ducks/waterfowl are my favorite! Unfortunately, the other day I lost my Pekin Duck, however I still have the Pekin Drake, a Black Swedish Duck, and a Rouen Duck. I know this is probably going to sound odd, however, my African Goose and my Royal Palm turkey tom also live with the Ducks.

After I finished filling up the kiddie pool the ducks and the goose were extremely excited and jumped right in. Normally, I empty the kiddie pool before winter so the bird don't get stuck in the pool and free to death. So, it was like I had given a child chocolate after not having it for a long time. Here are several photos of the goose that I took with my cell phone!

3/21/11

3/21/11 - Female African Goose

3/21/11

I just love watching them play in the water!
Hope you enjoyed the photos dear followers!
Kelsey

Well we had a pretty good Memorial Day weekend. Sunday we all went to church and the service was wonderful. Night classes were cancelled so that we could all enjoy spending time with our families... SO my hubby and I had a "Date night" while Grandma watched the baby! We went out to dinner then came back to the farm and took the golfcart around the farm, just going for a ride. We saw a beautiful young doe on the way home, tried to get a photo with the cell phone but not sure how well it turned out... Monday we worked a little bit around the farm then went home to relax. I set up a kiddie pool for Katelynn and she LOVED it, I think she played in the water for almost two hours before she was tired and want out for some lunch. I put her in a Haute Pocket shell without an insert and it worked out great as a bathing suit bottom. I slathered her with sun screen and made her wear a hat too. It was so cute, I had to add a picture of her! Later in the evening we had a cookout for dinner and our friend came over and made AWESOME Red Potato Salad, it was SO good that I brought leftovers for lunch today! I think she said that she used Mayo, salt, celery and a little mustard... IT WAS GOOD!!!!!!!! I'm thinking about making some in the future but adding boiled eggs to it too, YUM! After dinner my hubby and I decided to go Mulberry picking around the farm. We have Mulberry trees EVERYWHERE and right now they are all ripe with Dark Purple berries. My plan is to make a Pie, Cobbler, or some preserves. Well, we took the truck and parked it under a tree and began picking. Who knew it was going to be so much fun. My hubby picked with me for the first tree, but the trees after that he just drove the truck under each tree and sat and waited while I picked as many as I could reach from the truck.. then we moved to the next tree. He enjoyed being able to sit and look around at the horses and our farm. He said it was the first time in a LONG time that he felt Ok about spending time picking Mulberries instead of working on something that needed to be done... the farm has come a long way and he should be proud. I think it was really good for him to be able to relax, we have a working horse farm now... no major projects that need to happen ASAP, just projects that can be done when there is time and the supplies are in, no rush. By the end of the night I was covered in Purple from head to toe from the Mulberries from the top of the trees falling on me or me sitting on them as I got down from the hood of the truck. I have to say it was the most fun I've had in a long time, and I laughed histerically when I got home and saw myself in the mirror... my hands were almost black they were so dark purple... and my hubby had to help me out of my clothes and into the shower so I didn't touch anything and get purple all over the house... what a good laugh it was!

On a bit sadder note, this morning was rough, our filly that was born 5/3/2010 passed away in the night. She wasn't feeling well yesterday but I didn't expect her to be gone. We believe she had some birth defects from her Momma being neglected and starved during the pregnancy. The bigger she got the worse defects got. I will miss her... I named her Tamara's Destiny just a few days before she passed. She was such as smart little baby, and was doing REALLY well at learning how to lead. It broke my heart to see her Momma trying to get her up to nurse and then just standing over her, she loved her. This is the second baby we've lost this year and it just gets harder and harder. Its just not fair. For one, the mares shouldn't have been bred, both times the mares were starved. And it wasn't the foal's fault that they were brought into the world. Its just sad. I didn't think I had gotten attached to her and I tried not to, but she does hold a special place in my heart, she was my buddy... she didn't know a stranger and just LOVED to be rubbed... oh I will miss her sweet baby nickers, its just not fair... ugh...

Well, I better get back to work! See you again soon dear followers!
Kelsey

Sorry my dear followers, things have been a little crazy around here and I haven't been faithfully writing as much as I would have liked. Here is a brief about what has been going on...

Project Pete is doing very well... he and his "girlfriend" Lucy get to go outside together every day and come in at night for grain and also get grained in the morning before they go out. He is looking a TON better and I hope to get new photos of him this coming week.

Did I mention that I LOVE my Lil' Outlaws Rump Rub? It is awesome!

Oh the stories I could tell about our dear mustangs... we had to castrate two of them this weekend... they aren't really domesticated but they aren't really wild. They don't really want you to touch them but at the same time, want the treats you have. I was REALLY nervous about their castrations, I just KNEW someone, usually me, would get hurt. Luckily all went well and both were castrated with out any issues and no one got hurt in the process, which is ALWAYS good!

My baby girl has cut 6 teeth, its crazy! She is starting to pull herself up and stand... she is trying to let go of things while standing and it is just too cool! I can't believe that she is almost 11 months already, it doesn't seem possible. At each stage she gets to I think that it is my favorite stage and then she reaches another milestone and I love that stage as well. Its just crazy! We went to Babies R Us and bought some foam stuff to put around the edge and the corners of our coffee table because that is where she likes to play the most and that is where she hits her head the most. Once we got it home and placed it around the top edges we realized we should have bought another set for the underside edges of the table... We also bought those thingies that go on your cabnets, which I HATE, erg, yeah they are baby proof, but I spend about five minutes trying to get them off every time I want to get into my cabnets. We also had to buy a new carseat because she is getting so big. I had thought our infant carseat would hold her until 25 pounds but as we were taking it out of the van I looked on the side and read it only supported up to 22 pounds, which Katelynn was at, so it was good that we got the new one when we did. We bought the Graco MyRide 65 Convertable Carseat. I toyed with the idea of getting the cute pink girly one but thought again when I realized we may have a second baby in the future and IF it happens to be a boy, he would be stuck with a pink hand me down carseat in the future, SO I opted to go with one that matched the decor/colors inside my van. I believe the fabric style is called Spirals. It is very nice and I like it realy well. She was too big for the infant insert, so we packed it away with her infant carseat. She looks so tiny in her new carseat, so I'm hoping it lasts us for a while. It seems comfortable, she didn't cry or fuss when we secured her in the seat for her first trip in it. I like how it has cup holders on the sides for future use! I was slightly concerned about the fact that the croch buckle doesn't adjust, but it is so far forward that I don't think she will have any problems with it as she grows.

Well, I think I'm going to call it, my dear sweet baby keeps trying to launch herself off the couch as I type... she wants to sit with me and then sees something interesting.

Good night dear followers!
Kelsey