Found at The Similepedia Blog; I believe the photo was taken in Romania. (Multumesc = thank you)

Related posts:

Brigadier

The amazing Horse-o-Phonic!

…and could you pick some carrots out of a salad?

What can I say?!

Check out these adorable notecards from Etsy seller EnfinLaVoila: “This is a Photoshop montage I made with antique baroque prints. Can you resist?” You know you can’t. Get ‘em here.

(“But Defrost, what’s a quagga?”)

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Embroidered prints and cards

Things you can buy, part two

Things you can buy, part one

Promise?

Gucci’s 85th anniversary horse

Ma préférée, originally uploaded by freddou_lutra.

Dun factor genetic testing is now available. Sort of. According to UC Davis, “The specific mutation that causes Dun has not yet been identified, and there is no direct test for the gene. VGL has identified DNA markers associated with Dun that can be used to determine if a horse has the Dun gene and how many copies.” They’re still doing research to pinpoint the exact genes, but this is still an exciting breakthrough. Also check out this article on primitive markings from Dun Central Station.

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Brindle filly

New dilution gene found

Recent breakthroughs in colour genetics

Silver dapple update

Dappled things

Brindle horses

What’s dun is dun

Starving horses were part of an unusual breeding program

One for Ripley’s?

Horse colour demystified: the basics

Horse colour demystified: the cream gene

Quiz: what colour horse would you be?

Horse colour demystified: the dun gene

The science of spots

Prometea, a cloned Haflinger mare, gave birth to Pegaso on March 17; full story here. Interesting that her creator, Professor Cesare Galli, has faced criminal and religious sanctions for his reproductive research. Anyone know what legal grounds Italian authorities would have for seizing a cloned bull?

Related posts:

Five memorable mares

They did it again

Cloned mule trains for first race at San Joaquin fair

Company produces clones from cutting horses

Isn’t that one of the most arresting horse photos you’ve ever seen? It was taken by Wojtek Kwiatkowski; see a bigger version here along with more of his fantastic work.

And, er, um, hi again. Yeah, I’m back, and I do plan and sticking around for a bit this time; I’ve got several articles I’m researching at the moment, which will be posted in due course along with the usual drivel and filler. Might even be a book giveaway/contest in the future! It was gratifying to see that even while I was away, Bridlepath was still garnering several hundred (or more) hits a day; thank you all for reading it, adding it to your blogroll, telling your friends and so on. I’m catching up on updating my links, so if you asked for one, it will appear. Soon. Ish.

A few people have asked me about the header image I’m using. It’s The Horse Fair (1853-55) by French artist Rosa Bonheur. The full painting is below; click to embiggen.

So, now that I’m back…anything I should know about? What would you like to see more of? Less of?

A bride crosses a lake as she rides a horse during a photo shoot, in Shidu, southwest of Beijing Monday, April 28, 2008. A company is running group tours to the area for soon-to-be-married couples, to shoot their wedding photos in spectacular settings. Link

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Trash the dress?! Never!

From Cheezburger, duh. (OH HAI A COUPLE OF THOSE LOOK FAMILIAR)

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Invisible ladder

And so it begins

(Image source)

From The Gothamist:

After getting spooked and throwing its mounted officer yesterday, Aldo the police horse managed to make its way home to the station house at 6th Ave. and Ericcson Pl. Aldo freaked out at the sound of screeching brakes in Soho yesterday afternoon, causing him to throw his rider, who was taken to St. Vincent’s with minor injuries. After getting the cop off his back, Aldo ran free through the streets before ambling about ten blocks home. NYPD spokesman Paul Browne says that Aldo “knows his turf.”

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Another day, another RCMP scandal

Have you got a warrant?

Brigadier

Horses take over American streets

Update on retired NYPD horses

Retired NYPD horses at centre of dispute

Monty the police horse retires

Remembering Brigadier

Has anyone seen this 1953 flick? It’s a 40-minute, b&w film directed by Albert Lamorisse. From IMDB:

In the Camargue, France, ranchers go after wild horses led by a leader, “White Mane,” which escapes capture time after time. A small boy who witnesses the horse’s furious fight for its freedom makes friends with the horse after the trackers supposedly give him up to whomever can capture him. They change their minds when they see the boy has tamed him and take off after the horse again, with the boy on his back. Both boy and horse, fed up with the continual fight for freedom and peace, and the duplicity of men, head out to sea as the men plead with the boy to turn back. (Winner of the Cannes Grand Prize in category in 1953.)

It’s now out on DVD; KiddieMatinee.com has another short review, and more images like the one below.

Related posts:

Lorenzo and his Camargue horses

The Ballad of the Irish Horse

(Image source: New York Times)

I know. I know. Go read these:

Why we care…or not

Please don’t create a cult around her

Read this one twice:

Breeding out the usefulness?

UPDATE: oh hello Washington Post, nice of you to ask the same questions…

• Request a free sample of horse wafers from Majesty’s Animal Nutrition (US only)…
• You can win some useful stuff from Your Horse magazine (UK only)…
• Download and print some cute horsey stationery and note pads…
• Equine Research Inc. offers a free horse book catalogue…
• Yo Barngoddess: Blue Seal is running a “Love Your Horse” senior horse photo contest; all entrants receive a complimentary box of treats (not stated, but probably US only)…
• Win a handmade hoofpick from farrier/blogger extraordinaire John at care4horses…

Hope this message finds you well.

From YourHorseSports.com:

If you sign up for a free YourHorseSports.com membership and include your physical address, we’ll sent you a “May the Horse Be With You” bumper sticker. But if you forgot to include your address (or choose not to), here’s how to request stickers.

Don’t worry, he came out of it with just a few bruises. Story and title courtesy of the redoubtable raincoaster, who loves a good ass pun as much as I do.

Related posts:

Firefighters rescue horse from icy pond

Hope he didn’t take the keys

The bad pun possibilities are endless

Thumbelina and Radar, the world’s smallest and tallest horses respectively, together at last. Source

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World’s largest horses

World’s smallest horse

Thumbelina on tour UPDATE: more pics!

World’s tallest horse (now on video)

A challenger for the title?

Thumbelina honoured for her charity work

(See also: Baby’s Named a Bad, Bad Thing)

Procession, originally uploaded by MaiKoh.

A quick look at what’s happening in the equine blogosphere:

Kimberly at I Gallop On shares a horsewoman’s secret…

Barn Goddess has some great photos (bonus: palomino!)…

Rising Rainbow at MiKael’s Mania reveals five things we didn’t know about her…

Jerri at Learning Horses offers five reasons to watch someone else ride your horse…

Jane Savoie has twelve things you must know about putting your horse on the bit…

petArtistWithPeaches muses on the joys of peastone gravel…

Deanna at Improving Communication Between Horse and Rider schools us on relative space…

Fran Jurga reports on what (or who) might be behind the latest outbreak of equine influenza in Australia…

Fugly Horse of the Day has some sobering auction results (take the polls while you’re there, too!)…

Two contests at Karen’s EasyCare blog: Name the new EasyCare boot and a video competition…

Transylvanian Horseman has some tips for spotting princesses in your midst…

There are plenty more great blogs in my sidebar; check ‘em out! If you’ve got a site you’d like to see on Bridlepath, I’m all ears…

The Girls!, originally uploaded by poe_kayla.

From last year’s press release:

For the second year in a row the Morgan Mile Road Race created history as Morgan Horses were started from “scratch” and raced eighty rods down the same road that Justin Morgan did over two hundred years ago. More than one hundred spectators lined the Morgan Mile in Brookfield, Vermont as twelve Morgan horses raced in an official race sponsored by the Vermont Morgan Horse Association. Modern-day registered Morgans trotted down the historic Morgan Mile Road where the famous Morgan horse named Figure and later called Justin Morgan or the Morgan Horse raced down this old Vermont road. He was raced against two New York running horses in 1796, defeating both easily. That stretch of road is known as the “Morgan Mile” to this day and is located close to the place Justin Morgan is said to have lived.

The next race will be held September 15th on the Morgan Mile Road in Brookfield Vermont. More info: http://www.morganmile.com

Image source

As dying trades go, Belgium’s horseback shrimp fishery must be among the most arcane and outdated.

Men in bright yellow overalls and sou’-westers ride their plodding workhorses across the sands into the North Sea at low tide to trawl for shrimps in just the way that their forefathers have done for more than 500 years.

There are now fewer than a dozen left of the hundreds who once plied the same trade all around the North Sea — in France, the Netherlands and Britain.

Just as in 1500, the horses drag two large planks behind them that open out once in the water to reveal a net that scoops up the shrimps and any other fish lurking in the surf.

Then, it was coastal farmers who wanted the fish to use as fertiliser for their fields. Now those farms have been crowded out by far more lucrative seaside property development, and the horses have to be stabled inland.

“There are no farms any more. It’s just all buildings and tourists,” said Eddy d’Hulster, who has fished the shore at Oostduinkerke for decades.

The catch is now more likely to end up on a plate than a field, but prices are nowhere near enough to turn a profit.

Instead, Oostduinkerke’s tourist board supports the last outpost of the tradition because of the tourists it attracts.

“We are as a commune very proud of our fishermen. We try to help them in any way we can,” said Christiane Moncarey from the tourist board. “There are still men who like this type of horse and fishing. It’s a passion for them.”

Hordes of children and adults clamour for the shrimps as they are brought ashore.

The men throw a few pailfuls on to the beach for the children to gather up, then take the rest of the catch home to cook.

“Each fisherman has his own recipe to cook his shrimps. Normally, shrimps are cooked in sea water but the horseback fisherman uses fresh water. He adds salt and also a little something more,” said d’Hulster.

“It’s a secret of the fisherman. They all think they have the tastiest shrimps — but they are liars because mine are the most tasty.”

A few boys as young as 15 are learning the trade, but its future hardly looks rosy.

“We will see if they stay fishermen. You can’t be sure to have money. You must have another job. That is the difference. Twenty or 30 years ago you could live on it,” d’Hulster said.

You also have to find the right horse.

“The first time a horse sees the sea and the waves, you can see it running back. They don’t like it,” said d’Hulster.

Once a horse is found, it stays with the fisherman for life.

“There is such a love story between the horse and the fisherman. Once he has a horse that works, he is married to the horse. Sometimes we say we like our horses more than our wife.” Link