Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2014!

I stopped by the Roadside Landscaping horse for the holidays and ran into Peter who owns the landscaping company and decorates the horse.  I need to find time to interview him about the story of the roadside horse when I find time during my busy schedule these days.  XD  Anyway, he showed me the new decorations which were being put up.  I was lucky enough to get images with snow on the ground.

Seeing this really makes me want to collect a tree via horse-drawn sleigh

 The elusive reindeer bunnies!

 There were lights that weren't put up yet.  So right after New Years I stopped by and got to see everything illuminated.  As you can tell from the sky we were expecting a Nor'Easter.  Their snowplows were all set up and waiting for the storm to arrive.  Bob and Vince were nice enough to light everything up for the photos.  I got to see this on my drive back home in the dark and it looks beautiful!  But too dangerous for me to pull over and take a pic sadly due to a median divider in the way going home.

 So new year.  And one of my resolutions is to update this blog more.  I have a year overdue update on the Whitey/White Bliss the standardbred colt.  Same with finishing the adventures of the Visible Horse.  XD  So my track record is not the best.  I also have a whole bunch of new horse fossil replicas!  And I plan to flexibly articulate them and document the progress.  Sadly due to the storm we're having in the north east, I'm missing out on a trip to a carousel museum in Connecticut.  Hopefully snow won't get in the way of that next year.   And till then, hopefully more fun being posted here!

Happy New Year everyone!

Halloween '13 !!!

Hey that rhymes!

It's that time of year again.  So here is the Roadside Landscaping Horse!

I sadly don't have any night pics of this, but the skeleton lights up!  I do have to say that even if you know where on the road the horse is on, seeing a skeleton on top is unexpected as you drive by. O.o  Other people besides myself were pulling over to get images of him too.  

And here are some equine-themed decorations around my place.  

Why yes.  Death's cloak is an old sock.

My mesohippus skull being all steampunk.

Halloween Breyer horses!  The galloping one has bats at dusk.  And the Appaloosa has a pretty clever pattern too.  Stare at the rump.  Once seen, it cannot be unseen!

Also on the theme of Halloween.  Check out Sleepy Hollow the new Fox show.  It combines the legend of the headless horseman and apocalypse lore in an interesting modern mash-up.  And hold out if you watch and get miffed that the horse is white and not black.  They explain it.

Although I never knew that Hessian soldiers rode in western saddles during the revolution...

Historical accuracy is in a constant state of disappointment these days.

 You can watch recent episodes currently on Hulu.  It can get a little campy at times in the way Supernatural does.  But sometimes you just want to hear a British actor speaking intellectually while people lose their heads. 

Happy Halloween!!!

Happy St Patrick's Day 2013!

St. Patrick's Day!  May all of you and your Irish Draughts, Irish Sporthorses, Vanners, Kerry Bog Ponies, and Connemaras enjoy the day.

Oh wow it's been 2 months.  Lots going on, hopefully for the better.  But in the mean time, here is the Roadside Landscaping Horse!

Awesome news with this.  I got to meet the person who decorates him (quite serendipitously by accident).  And got a bit of the story behind this local landmark.  But that is for another post!

 Take care everyone, and hopefully see you again before another 2 months pass.

Marin Humane Society Fundraiser

Hi all,

If you are reading this blog post you are either a watcher, a forum member who clicked on my signature, someone who stumbled across the site from Google, or you may be someone who is checking out my donated item listing on the Leg-Up Equestrian Auction.  This is to benefit the care of horses taken in by the Marin Humane Society.  Specifically horses seized from Jill Burnell of Gray Fox Farms.

Info on the situation here:   HGS, Fuglyblog, COTH, Rate My Horse Pro

The items I am offering are Virtual EquID horse identification cards for 3 horses.

Since I lack a propper website to show these and their details I am using this blog to explain.  These started as a senior project I did in college.  I was a graphic art major with a minor in equine studies.  I combined both into making horse IDs.  My alma mater, Centenary College, has an equestrian facility with many horses.  And to a freshman, they all start to look alike and it can be hard to initially pick out individual horses from one another.  Especially if the horses who live outside all seem to be color coded with all the chestnuts, grays, and bays grouped together.  So the visual ID's began.

Here are some examples of the first generation of Virtual EquID identification cards.  The new outlines can be in the back 3/4 angle of the images below, or the coggins-style set up of the image at the top of this post.  The new ID outlines keep the horse's mane and forelock to one side (to better show markings) and have clean fetlocks.  (Unless you have a feathery draft or friesian!)

Item details from the auction:

 "Horse IDs custom made to look like your horse for identification purposes. These are fully customized by the artist to look like the horse. Not only in color but body type as well. (We can make minis, donkeys, and mules too!) The IDs will include info such as breed, color, markings, date of birth and unique features. The winner will receive 2 copies of each ID. They are 7" by 5" and fully laminated for protection."

When mounting on a stall door we suggest either stapling to wood through the lamination plastic (there will be 1/4" excess lamination on all sides for this purpose).  Or using double sided and/or rolled duct tape.  Do not pierce through the paper as it may cause moisture to seep into the image and cause color bleeding.  If kept in a shaded area away from direct sunlight these ID's can last for years.  The friends of mine who own the bay morgan on the bottom have their ID of him still mounted on his stall door and looking good from 2009!

Students at Centenary College have stated that these IDs helped them identify horses faster and made working at the barn easier.  Teachers have stated that the IDs allowed them to more quickly learn who the new additions were to the stables.  There were less mix-ups when finding lesson horses, and they are fun to look at.

I hope whomever wins the listing enjoys them!  All proceeds go towards helping the seized horses at the Marin Humane Society.  Please email any questions about the auction to virtualpwnies@gmail.com

A huge thanks to Leg-Up Equestrian and Kathy for setting up the auction site.  Another thanks to all of the donors and bidders!

~~~

Horse photos by Christine Jordan, Heather Puleo, and myself.

George Morris vs. Chuck Norris

George Morris, the Olympic medal winning man who keeps on riding.  And now, internet memes are making him the equivalent of Chuck Norris in the horse world, with tales of his awesomeness.  I'm actually surprised we horse people never thought of doing this before now.

George Morris Facts

George Morris Tumblr

I did get the experience of seeing him at clinics and I do have to say, not all of these may be exaggerations.  I also wonder, if we ever get George Morris and Chuck Norris in the same room, there may be an ultimate showdown of ultimate destiny.

Merry Christmas 2012!

Merry Christmas from all of us at Virtual Pwnies and the Roadside Landscaping Horse!

2012 Apocalypse Ponies

Well, 12/21/12 came and went.  And according to some historians it already came and went awhile ago since modern calendars are apparently way off.  Most blame the Mayans for this prediction of the end of the world.  But the Mayans never did predict the end of the world.

Yay history!

Most people wonder what the apocalypse would have entailed since details were lacking.  Some say the poles would reverse, destroy all satellites, cause continental shift ect, ect.  Others say a rogue planet would hit the earth, not unlike Lars von Treir's Melancholia.

:cough:Unnecessary friesian at (1:28):cough:

 Still others have a firm belief that humans will die due to their own hubris, from messing with the world and altering it with chemicals and science.  I'm, of course, talking about the most poetic of all Apocalypse Scenarios.  The ZOMBIE Apocalypse.

The Walking Dead is n(e)igh!

I even have a book on my shelf in case of such a reanimated former-human emergency.  The Zombie Survival Guide.  While the plan of "Going to the Winchester, having a pint, and waiting till the whole thing blows over" is a really good idea, this goes in depth if you don't live in Britain where bars are more sturdy against the undead.

For instance, it has horses in the chapter on transportation.  Horses would be beneficial in the apocalypse since they don't need gas to run and act as an early warning system against the shambling hoards.  However, they lack self-defense.

Or you can do what Sarah did with Uther on Youtube and clicker train your horse to not only make an escape.  But take out as many walkers as possible on the way!

Had the zombie apocalypse happened, we like to think they had a good chance of survival.

Artist's interpretation

Had the positive reinforcement not failed...

Horses have been an integral part of the apocalypse in Judeo-Christian lore.  In the form of the four horses of the apocalypse.

Hasboro.  Why you no make real?
Even Seth Green has asked them to make Apocalypse Pony toys.

The 4 horses of the apocalypse have even shown up in video games.  Like Darksiders, where you play the horseman War and obtain his kick-rump steroid steed named Ruin. 

Awww...  It's like a rhino-pony-volcano abomination of awesome.

Even Red Dead Redemption decided to take their spin on the 4 horses.  During a zombie apocalypse in the alternate universe of Undead Nightmare.  Forget Cowboys and Aliens.  We have Cowboys and Zombies!  There are even normal horses turned into zombies in this game and the decaying, yet at the same time accurate, anatomy accomplished on them is outstanding.  They have accurate teeth (with canines) and proper neck vertebrae placement.

 Out of the 4 horses, Pestilance has a swarm of lucusts that... don't really do anything, and a high pain threshold.  While Famine has the power of ocular bleeding... and infinite stamina.  Both of them are 'eh' since ALL of the 4 horses technically have a 'high pain threshold" by being practically immortal and all have an infinite stamina bar.  But War is on fire, and Death explodes zombie heads on impact.  You can guess which ones most people ride in the game.

Happy 14th Baktun!  Enjoy the world until the next apocalypse.  I'm off to play some Red Dead Redemption Undead Nightmare!