enlightened horsemanship through touch

The winning caption:

“He was terrified, not realising that it required two donkeys to attempt an ass-ass-ination.”

Submitted by White Horse Pilgrim, who is currently experiencing a Cold Day of the Soul. Maybe some fine coffee will help. Mr. Pilgrim, send me your address by email (see contact form) and you will soon receive your winter warm up.

Thanks to everyone for participating!

Enter your idea for a suitable caption below.
The winner will be announced FEB 2.
The prize: one pound of fabulous Kona coffee, the best in the world, shipped right to your door!

Edited Jan 31: Winner announced Feb 2.

and the winner is…..

CHELSEA!

And deep stretch… and exhale releasing all those negative thoughts about your trainer…

Chelsea, please contact me with your mailing address so I can send you your pound of delicious fresh Kona coffee. Don’t forget to specify whole bean or ground!

Giggling honorable mentions to…
Bonnitta Roy with this caption: “Whew! Beans AGAIN! for lunch, hombre?” and Kerry with this one: “Namaste School of Horse Yoga.”
Tamara Baysinger, I think you caught the honest spirit of this perplexing portrait just right.

Thanks folks, for participating in this photo caption contest. I think I’ll do one from time to time, so check back for the next puzzling photograph.

Enter your idea for a suitable caption below.
The winner will be announced next Wednesday, September 30.
The prize: one pound of fabulous Kona coffee, the best in the world, shipped right to your door!

This is a newborn foal by Taskin, a Gypsy Vanner Stallion owned by Villa Vanners of Oregon. These pictures were taken immediately after his birth on April 6. After the mare lay down, baby trotted around and crawled right into her lap.

All photos courtesy Villa Vanners.

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal

If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.

When my daughter was away at college, I was able to dispense with television entirely because, well, I hate it. It serves no purpose in my life other than to introduce noisy and offensively mindless material into my home. I have never been able to understand why people keep the thing on endlessly and even eat in stupefied silence in front of it. What happens to family life? To conversation? Or to the life of the mind? How can you develop your mind (or stillness of the mind) if you are so busy filling it with garbage?

Ok, enough ranting disguised as rhetorical questions.

I’m a huge fan of Netflix. I get to choose Netflix among a large variety of independent film and documentary, and on the rare occasion when a guest insists on a horror flick or my daughter is home and insists on SciFi, she can have that, too. On a limited basis. Hooray for a limited basis.

I can never find equestrian instructional DVDs on Netflix, and now I don’t have to keep trying.

Now, there’s HorseFlix, an online/mail video rental service for equine/equestrian videos.

Here are some of the categories offered:

Bits
Clicker Training
Documentary
Dressage
Driving
Eventing
Feature Films
Foal Care
For The Rider
Gaited Horse
General Interest
Grooming
Health – Horse
Hoof Care
Horsekeeping
Hunter
Jumper
Natural Horsemanship
Pony Club
Saddles and Fit
Travel
Trick Training
Western
Wild Horses

There’s a lot of good stuff in there, and there’s also some questionable stuff, but not much of it. I would very much like to copyedit the site, but that’s a bad habit of mine, so ignore that statement. I am thrilled to see that there are five Mark Rashid videos. *doing a little happy dance* and I can now watch Chris Irwin, which will make Shoshin happy.

Take a look, see what you think. Let me know what videos YOU most would like to see.

I couldn’t sleep last night. In fact, I didn’t sleep a wink. I didn’t even lie down for more than a few minutes. I don’t know why. I can’t remember having done this more than a couple of times in my life after college, when all-nighters were de rigueur. Maybe Frivolity Friday was pushing its luck, hoping for an early start. At 5:30 a.m. I got up and took the car to the local gas station-cum-convenience store, the early morning pit stop for the local fishermen and boat tour operators before setting out for the day.

I thought I’d be alone there at the Circus-Shop-Us, but I was greeted by about a half dozen sleepy but smiling men as they loaded up on ice, beer and diesel.

After morning social time, I went to the lookout point between the Circus and the small shopping center. Keauhou, the area of Kona where I live, was the birthplace of King Kamehameha III. Such a historically important area has lots of historical sites and markers. You can’t walk ten feet without seeing one. This one marks a pathway between two former towns, and a burial ground. Locals take their lunch breaks there, tourists stop to have their photos taken there, and you’ll often find offerings of flowers and fruit, or photos of loved ones wedged in the lava rocks. Sometimes even notes to Pélé, the goddess of the Volcano Kilauea, and all-around patron saint of Hawaiians.

Still dark and hazy when I arrived at the Heiau

That’s my coffee and breakfast there to the right of the marker. I stood by the wall and sipped my coffee and nibbled at my breakfast, a “traditional” Hawaiian musubi of sushi rice, spam and egg. I know, I know, but you have to try one before you scream yuck. It was quiet at the Heiau, except for the sound of the breeze ruffling the greenery. You can’t really watch the sunrise on the Kona side of the island, it being the West side and all, so I settled for watching as the lights of Kona twinkled and faded while the light of the sun grew stronger. I was surprised and delighted to hear the crowing of a rooster not far off above me, coming from Keauhou Estates, a posh neighborhood, where the homes start at two million. If someone has figured out how to keep a rooster in Keuahou, I’d like to know their secret. I’m just trying to keep two cats and a dog without getting caught.

One of the Plaques Marking the Ohi'a Cave Preserve

I tied to snap photos, but the early morning on voggy days makes it difficult. NOtice it’s difficult to discern the horizon where the sea meets the sky. That changes as the sun rises higher. The world is enveloped in a kind of blue haze that makes capturing detail impossible for those armed only with a point and shoot. Note to self: next time you’re awake at 5 a.m., take the good SLR.

These are the best photos I could manage. Lori Skoog, don’t look. I’m embarrassed.

The Lower Wall of the Lookout is Planted with Noni* Trees

For a much more interesting views of Keauhou, visit Loving the Big Island.

*Noni, most often marketed in the West as Tahitian or Hawaiian Noni Juice, is a wonderful if disagreeable smelling fruit, has medicinal properties. The fruit, along with the leaves, bark and sap, were very important cultural commodities for native Hawaiians throughout early history.

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal

If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.

I found this stunning photographer through Esther Garvi. Meet Rouxby and read her her blog (click on the equine page for starters), where there are many fine photos, like this one:

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch and Kim Cox Carneal

If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.

Pam White

I was lucky enough to meet Pam White at a Tellington TTouch training in Hawaii in 2007. Her work is inspiring in that it captures the spirit of horses in an elemental way.

Enjoy!

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch

If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.

Melanie Snowhite

From Melanie’s site: Do you have a rescue horse to place or facility? I am offering my photography services to help place your horse at minimal or no cost (depending on location). A great photograph can make all the difference in finding that right home.”

Contact: melanie@sandiegophotography.net or call 619.300.1331

Melanie’s Blog, though if you can ind the url to see it outside of her website, please clue me in.

•••••
If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.

Back by Popular Demand!

The Basics of Equine Photography with Carien Schippers

Course will start on June 1, 2009

I came across this on LinkedIn, at the Equine Photographers Network, where I am an envious lurker. They have lots of beautiful work on display there.

Here are the details, directly from the site:

This course is for any photographer that would like to improve their equine photographic skills.

Equine photography is a highly specialized field and in this intensive hands on course we will explore how to consistently get good, usable photos.

All skill level photographers are encouraged to take this course. Each participant will receive individual attention with feedback that addresses their personal goals and skills.

This six week course will introduce a new tutorial each week. As you work through the tutorials you will be encouraged to go out and shoot, applying what you have learned and then upload your best images to the forum photo albums for feedback. This course is meant to be a hands on class and you will be encouraged to participate by shooting each week or better yet, every day, posting your work, asking questions and helping class mates. If possible students should have access to horses to practice what they learned at a minimum of once a week. You will see an improvement in your work right away as you learn basic technical skills for shooting horses and get more comfortable with your gear.

Week One: Introductions and Equipment
• Getting to know each other: introductions and posting photos
• Getting to know your gear: camera and lenses needed for successful equine photography
• Technicals: shutter speeds, ISO, aperture, focal lengths demystified (and more!)
• Accessories

Week Two: Successfully Shooting Halter and Conformation Poses
• Breed standards and why they are important to know
• What makes a good halter photo?
• Tips and tricks for posing your subject
• Getting consistent and knowing what to look for!

Week Three: How to get that perfect Head Shot!
• Preparation and attention to details
• Use of light, backgrounds and depth of field
• Use of props to get the best expression
• How to avoid distortion
• Getting creative

Week Four: The fun part of photographing horses: Action Shots!
• Technicals: shutter speeds and focus issues
• Free action at Liberty
• Under saddle action
• Gaits: Phases of each gait and getting your timing down
• Fun shooting action assignment to practice your new skills

Week Five: Everything else!
We will discuss the elements of how to give your photos greater visual impact:
• Background
• Focus/depth of field
• Light and color
• Cropping
• Composition
• Developing your personal style and vision

Week Six: Final discussions and critiques

What this course will NOT cover:
• Business discussions
• Photoshop & computers
• In depth technical/equipment discussions

What Do Past Participants Say About the Course:
Not only has this course helped me drastically improve my equine photography, it has also helped me become a better all-around photographer. I learned more about photography, in general, than just about any other photo course I’ve taken previously. You have helped me move much closer to my goals.
–Bev Petit

I have enjoyed the course very much and have learned a great deal from it. The readings and assignments have encouraged me to rethink my style of shooting. I am now approaching shoots in a new and better way thanks to the material from this course and feel I have improved as a photographer.
–Dave Boege

I would like to say first and foremost how happy I am to have taken this course. I explained in my intro my absolute fear of shooting manually and by week two, after getting to know my gear more, I was actually excited at what I started seeing in not putting everything on auto. I have learned a lot and see things differently now, more creative control of the image you try to portray. I hope that I have succeeded in doing so and I know I will continue to learn. Thanks again Carien for all your inspiration. I would highly recommend anyone to take this course!
–Dorothy Puddester

I have certainly enjoyed Basics in Horse Photography. The way of delivering a class is such a good idea. It is the next best thing to the classroom because you get to share comments and critiques and view the work of the other students. Which, by the way in this class, is awesome! Thank you, Carien, for a wonderful course! I learned a lot!! –Nancy Weaver

Registration Details About the Course

You do not need to be an EPNet member to take the course.
Registration closes June 1st. No registrations will be accepted after June 1
Participants need to be registered on the EPNet discussion forum:
http://www.equinephotographers.org/4um/index.php to be able to participate.
Time spent on the forum and reading the material as well as shooting for the assignments will be at your convenience.
Participants will each have their own thread on the forum, beginning with their introduction, to use as their work area. They will be able to view other participant’s threads as well. This makes for a dynamic learning experience regardless of your skill level.

To sign up, visit sign up page. Go to the bottom of the page for the PayPal button.

© 2009 enlightened horsemanship through touch

If you like what you have been reading, please subscribe to the RSS Feed, and visit Bloggers Choice Awards to vote for Enlightened Horsemanship Through Touch.