Some things just catch your fancy.
Like a Mule and Donkey Show.
or how about a Pony Show?
Alvesta Sedona, yearling Welsh Section B (Llanarth Tarquin x Alvesta Fairy Lustre) was 2017 overall Welsh Gelding Champion. Owned by Alvesta Farm; shown by Karen Podolski. Michelle Walerius Photography.
I was reading through the events section on Northernhorse when it struck me that these might be fun “things to do” for almost anyone. Continue reading “Mules & Ponies”
I was looking through some photos for a new header for Northernhorse today when I came upon some photos from last summer of Dave and Buzz.
Although Dave probably wouldn’t be still riding horses were it not for my passion for doing so, he likes them a lot. And, because he has kept riding all these years (mostly to be nice to me), he still really enjoys going for a nice quiet ride across the pasture. That and the fact he still has Buzz.
He will watch and help when I am schooling a young horse in the riding ring or halter training a youngster but has no interest to work on such things himself.
Lead departures are irrelevant to Dave. He never lopes. He doesn’t want to lope. He could care less about a “head set” just that the horse keeps an eye out for gopher holes along the trail. Continue reading “An Old Man & An Old Horse”
35 competitors from around the world tackle the 9th Mongol Derby: the world’s longest horse race www.mongolderby.com
“What better way to test yourself than through a tough endurance race that immerses you in a unique culture and takes you to Mongolia, the spiritual home of equestrianism.” Mongol Derby competitor 2017
This is the 9 th Mongol Derby, featured in the Guinness Book of Records as the world’s longest and toughest horse race. The 2017 race features 12 men and 23 women from nine countries riding 1000km across Mongolia on semi-wild horses.
William Comiskey was one of the joint winners in 2016 – and he’s back to try and win single handedly this time. Trying to stop him are 34 fearsome competitors including an Olympian, a cattle herder, a dairy farmer, a potato farmer, an ostrich rider, a dog sledder, a psychologist, an artist, a banker, a private investigator. And even a desperate housewife. Plus of course, the usual vets and riders of every type of horse on the planet. Although of course, many of them are yet to ride the Mongolian horses… Continue reading “Competitors in 2017 Mongol Derby”
The daytime temperatures were just above freezing up until the very end of November. The nighttime temperatures were around -8. Nice comfortable weather for horses if not perhaps a little warm. Some of the warmer days they even rolled in the snow to cool down.
The kind of days that make working with the young horses particularly fun. No bugs and just a light jacket. The snow was gradually decreasing, the paddocks were a bit icy but not bad.
At 9.51am local time, Will Comiskey from Australia, Marcia Hefker-Miles from New Mexico and Heidi Telstad from CANADA crossed the line, arms together, to take a triple dead heat in the 2016 Mongol Derby, the world’s longest and toughest horse race.
They gave thanks to the horses, herders and people of Mongolia for an incredible experience and said they wanted to share the experience of winning as a team just as they had shared the experience of the trail.
The pics show the three winners finishing the Mongol Derby and are credited to Richard Dunwoody @ Mongol Derby.
Will Comiskey, 28, ‘Dingo’, a cattle rancher from Longreach , said:
“There were slow ones, there were wild ones, but ****, we had fun!!
Marcia Hefker-Miles, 45, from New Mexico, said her most memorable memory was:
“Riding through a high mountain pass, past a boy and a girl both herding goats; making eye contact with them and waving. I saw myself in that little girl…”
Heidi Telstad, 43, a lawyer from British Colombia, said hers was:
“Camping one night with a poor family; they gave everything they had to spare to me and my horse and treated me as one of their own.”
Next to finish in the Mongol Derby were Tatiana Mountbatten and Venetia Philipps, from the UK and Courtney Kizer from Texas.
Congratulations to all who managed to finish this race but especially to our Canadian Heidi Telstad. We are so proud of you.
The 2016 Mongol Derby, certainly this year living up to its name as the world’s longest and toughest horse race (“and it’s raining again….”) is set for a nail biting finish with any of five riders in a position to take the title.
At horse station 27, the last station before the finish, are William Comiskey, nicknamed ‘Dingo’, a cattle rancher from Australia, alongside Canada’s Heidi Telstad, a lawyer – and these two have been riding together for most of the race. With them is New Mexican cowgirl, Marcia Hefker-Miles.
Photo credited to Richard Dunwoody @ Mongol Derby
Continue reading “Mongol Derby 2016 Set For a Nailbiting Finish!”
A Life With Horses 