Bits and bobs

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?

Equine blog roundup

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…

Information wants to be free…

Ataturk on horse, this is momument to the Turkish War for Independence, originally uploaded by meiguoren.

Even in Turkey. Especially in Turkey. Digg this (pun intended) by my sister blogger-in-arms Raincoaster: WordPress is blocked by Turkey(s): a blogger’s revenge plan of action.

Oh man, I am in LOVE

with Fugly Horse of the Day:

This blog exists to object publicly to the breeding of fugly, often mixed breed horses which tend to have short, miserable lives and wind up in slaughterhouses. If you are not going to breed quality, don’t breed at all. It is not “cute” to have a cowhocked, knock kneed, fugly draft/QH/warmblood cross foal that you don’t do shit with and then dump for $150 at a killer auction as an unhandled two year old that runs people over. I see it ALL the time and I am SICK of it. If you do this, YOU SUCK. And that’s why I’m online bitching about you. Stop breeding the fugly, folks. There is no market for it. And if you don’t know what fugly is, read this blog and learn. My e-mail is resqtb@yahoo.com and I am usually way behind on e-mail, so don’t be offended if you do not get a response right away.

Another advocate of RESPONSIBLE breeding, hooray! Sometimes cruel but always on target. Go bookmark it NOW. (Found via Carinya Park)

Related posts:

Breeding out the usefulness?

Buy one, get one free?!

Breeding back to the future–while you still can

Bridlepath’s Hall of Shame: Gene Parker

Starving horses were part of an unusual breeding program

Normal service resumes

Yeah, I’m back (please don’t ask me where I’ve been, the important thing is I’m here now 😉 ). Ye gads, who let all the spammers in? You equestriancupid and country furniture people are on very thin fscking ice at the moment, peeps; just thought I’d let you know that.

Anyway, my apologies. We’re back! What’d I miss?

Next Horse Lovers Blog Carnival will be at the end of July

Joys of Water, originally uploaded by sagetopaz.

Herewith, an announcement from chief carny Mona at HorseApproved:

I just wanted to announce that we will not be having the Horse Lovers Blog Carnival this month. I am going to try and regroup for next months carnival and give it more attention than I have these past months.

The next carnival will be at the end of July.

Start working on those submissions NOW, and we’ll keep you updated as to the host and theme (if any).

You worry me sometimes

Here are some of the search terms people used to find Bridlepath:

equestrian riders dirty tight

can you kick a shetland pony to death?

women who love using whips

Ugly American Saddlebred

stalion mounts

naked horse ride

sexual intercourse

Who are all the people looking for pictures and videos of horses mating? And why would they think I’d have them?

Related posts:

I don’t wanna know. Well, maybe I do

Top posts, 2007-06-04

Based on stats from WordPress.com; these are the top posts for the past 30 days:

1. Andreas Helgstrand – World Equestrian Games 2006 Freestyle Final
2. World’s smallest horse
3. World’s largest horses
4. Online showjumping game
5. Horse colour demystified: the dun gene
6. 16 reasons to date a horseback rider
7. Starving horses were part of an unusual breeding program
8. Latawnya should just say “neigh”
9. U.S. House passes Horse Slaughter Prevention Act
10. Don’t scrape my content!
11. Bridlepath Hall of Shame: the “big lick” TWH industry
12. Breyer to reissue Barbaro model due to overwhelming demand
13. And so it begins
14. World’s tallest horse (now on video)
15. Barbaro documentary by HBO Sports to air in June
16. Five famous black horses
17. Barbaro immortalized by Breyer
18. How to tie a rope halter
19. Horse: it’s what’s for dinner?
20. Brindle horses
21. Five breeds you’ve (probably) never heard of
22. Urban legends
23. Lorenzo and his Camargue horses
24. Dutch rescuers try to save trapped horses
25. Horse colour demystified: the basics

Why WordPress.com rocks

A little OT, I know, but I think it’s important. Check out this article at Plagiarism Today discussing why WordPress.com is virtually spam-free:

A recent study by WebmasterWorld found that an estimated 77% of all blogs on Google’s Blogspot service were spam. Similarly, AOL Hometown, had well over 80% of its results turn out to be spam. Even MSN Spaces, which as not mentioned in the report, is claimed to host an estimated ten percent of spammer Web site. (Note: See updated information below about the Blogspot study)

It seems as if nearly every major free blog hosting service has been either overrun or nearly overrun with spam. However, one services stands alone, a relative oasis of spam cleanliness, Automattic’sWordPress.com. Despite being just as free as its competitors and placing few restrictions on registration, WordPress.com has not endured the spam avalanche that other services have.

Though there have been spam attacks in the past, the spammers have been easily shut down and, overall, the service remains relatively free of the splogs that seem to choke up its competitors. Though paid services such as Typepad also enjoy a relatively spam-free existance, what WordPress.com does is very rare for a free service.

I strongly urge you to read the whole article if you care about blogging at all. Seriously, if you have a blog, consider switching; as I’ve said before, Blogspot is the IE of blogs, Wordpess is the Firefox. 😉

Related posts:

Seriously, it’s the only sensible choice

Blogger help needed!

New look and features

Bridlepath becomes a yearling!

Bridlepath becomes a yearling!

Image source

Yes, just over a year ago I moved the horsey posts from my now-moribund Defrost Indoors blog to their own site, thus creating Bridlepath and ensuring that even fewer of my free hours would be spent away from the computer.

The story so far…

Total Views: 92,197

Best Day Ever: 1,322

Posts: 588

Comments: 1,085

Number of nuked comment spams: 18,862

Technorati stats: authority of 95 100, rank 48,659 47,025, with 349 352 363 links from other blogs, and 14 fans who have added it to their favourites list. (Stats updated June 4/07)

Currently I’m crunching some stats so I can determine what my most popular posts have been, though I already have an inkling. 😉 I’ve gotten to know a lot of awesome people, and there are too many of you to thank, but I’m sure you know who you are and how much I appreciate you. 🙂 I’m grateful that this little hobby of mine has garnered such a readership, and I hope to continue bringing y’all the most interesting equine news and information out there.

It’s Horse Lovers Blog Carnival Day!

Foal battling a fence, originally uploaded by slowhand_bc.

The May Carnival is now up at Girls Horse Club; check out the great articles, and think about submitting one of your own next time. 🙂

Don’t scrape my content!

Or else this happens. (thanks raincoaster for the lesson in evil)

Click to enlarge

(What is blog scraping?)

Update May 27/07:

Looks like they went kerphlooey (click to enlarge):

There’s still time to join the Blog Carnival, May 23!

Windrush, originally uploaded by sugarflower.

Time for me to nag you again!

…The next carnival is going to be May 23rd and will be hosted by GirlsHorseClub.com. The theme for this carnival will be First Impressions – Share the story of your first memory of a horse (this could include a fictional horse) or your first meeting with a horse who has touched your life.

As always you are welcome to participate in the Horse Lovers Blog Carnival even if you don’t have a post that fits the theme. Just put your post under the General category. Submission deadline is May 22nd by 5:00 pm PST.

Submissions are welcome from newbies and carnival veterans alike! Here’s the link for that.

Next Horse Lovers Blog Carnival: May 23

Feira do Cavalo Lusitano, originally uploaded by fgc.

From da carnival boss Mona @ Horse Approved:

…The next carnival is going to be May 23rd and will be hosted by GirlsHorseClub.com. The theme for this carnival will be First Impressions – Share the story of your first memory of a horse (this could include a fictional horse) or your first meeting with a horse who has touched your life.

As always you are welcome to participate in the Horse Lovers Blog Carnival even if you don’t have a post that fits the theme. Just put your post under the General category. Submission deadline is May 22nd by 5:00 pm PST.

Submissions are welcome from newbies and carnival veterans alike! Here’s the link for that.

Blog reader survey

C’mon, all the cool kids are doing it! Apologies for the rampant American bias in it–not that there’s anything wrong with Americans, but certain quarters do seem to forget sometimes that the internet is worldwide…

Please take my blog reader survey!

Related posts:

Equestrian sports poll!