Shire & Other Horse Gifts - 'Tis the Season Once Again!

Folks, it's that time of year again, and for your horsey friends and family members that you want to give just a little something really special to go with that brand new grooming box, or collection of currys and brushes, take a look here!

Jen has become my favorite equine artist, and across the miles, a good friend. I share with my bloggers just a sampling of her draft horse ornaments, but her website has other breeds and animals to choose from.

These ornaments are reproductions of her original artwork over the years, and I am fortunate enough to say that this Shire ornament (above) is from an original piece that I own and is featured in my home, front and center, especially during the holidays. Jen modeled this work from my mare, Misty, and I love it.

Her artwork also appears on tee-shirts and sweats, mousepads, mugs, totes, water bottles, and NEW for this year, Christmas Stockings!

Shop using this link http://www.cafepress.com/gypsymarestudio/ for a special discounted rate for First Draught Farm Bloggers AND if you shop November 20-23rd, you'll save $10 off your order of $50+ by using the coupon code "Friend10".

Hangin' At The Beach With Jean-François Pignon

Ride, Jean-François, Ride!





Music performed by Chris Norman.

Splendid Unveiling

There's excitement in Atlanta as the Salvadore Dali exhibition comes to town. Here are shots of the uncrating of the enormous 13.5' x 10' Santiago El Grande of 1957.

This spectacular work of the Surrealist turned Catholic Dali, honors the Apostle, St. James, who is the patron saint of Spain, and known as "Santiago." The nuns in my Catholic elementary and high school taught us that patron saints are intercessors and advocates for us in heaven, and in this case, appear to be for an entire country.

The humongous horse is rearing up as if he's being blown out of the water with atomic force with a 3-D-esque St. James astride, emerging from the sea, exposing a dirty foot that symbolizes the long travels of the Apostles with Jesus. If you look at the center of the "atomic blast" there's a jasmine flower (which symbolizes unity & purity) which was a favorite of Dali, who would occasionally tuck one behind his ear for photo ops.

Normally, St. James has a sword in his hand when he is depicted in art, but Dali chose to have him raise up Jesus on the cross. The heavenly arches are a direct representation of the 13th century Church of the Jacobins in Toulouse, France, where missionaries would stop over on their way to Santiago. Note that there are 11 scallop shells in the arches, with one more on the breastplate of the horse, symbolizing the 12 Apostles. There are angels above and behind St. James and Jesus with two angels capturing the horse's attention. If you look closely, you'll see identical angels within the horse's neck.

Dali always incorporated a self-portrait in his paintings. In this one, he is teeny-tiny, below the hoof of the massive horse. Dali loved his wife, Gala, and would work her into many of his paintings as well. She's here in the lower right of the painting in a cloak. However, clocks, elephants, eggs and ants were typically portrayed in his work.

Click here to see a humorous side of Dali in a game show in the 1950s, or see the collaboration with Walt Disney which began around 1945, but was cancelled after only 15 seconds of the animation was developed. The film was finally completed and released in 2003, and was called Destino.

Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dali i Domenech

May 11, 1904-January 23, 1989

More Notariety Here in Georgia!

In little ol' Covington, Georgia, about 40 miles out of Atlanta, it seems to be the hotspot for filming. My Cousin Vinny's famous courtroom scenes were in Covington. And we all can't forget good ol' Hazzard County and the Duke boys . . . Covington transformed into their stomping grounds in the early episodes.


As mentioned in my previous blog entry, Halloween II was last year's addition to Covington's claim to fame.




Once again, Covington strikes again, and has been the home for the film crew of The Vampire Diaries for many, many months. They evolve the town into Mystic Falls, the setting for the Diaries. The photo above is a shot from a scene for tomorrow night's show where First Draught Farm's good friend, Stephanie (President of Georgia Ladies Aside) became involved in the show. This week's episode, Katerina, is all about Katherine's big flashback to her late 15th century Bulgarian origin.





Stephanie's awesome and trusty horse, Romeo, nailed a part in the show.






Here he is during filming in front of the Cottage. . .






and is seen here with his stunt rider, Mary, who aced his scenes all in one take.

Romeo travels all over here in the east, and loves his job being ridden sidesaddle in great venues such as the Kentucky Horse Park and Inaugural Parades in Washington, D.C. exhibiting Stephanie's grace and ease in riding aside.






She makes it look so easy at the Kentucky Horse Park demonstration. . . .





And looks absolutely stunningly FROZEN at the 2009 Inaugural where she joined
the Southern Ohio Ladies Aside troupe. . .






Steph & Romey both participated in the Be the Boss of You Breast Cancer Ride last month. Stephanie makes some of her costumes, or "habits" and whipped up this cool Cammy number just for the Boss Ride on October 2nd.

So if you are hooked on the Diaries, keep your eyes peeled tomorrow night (Thurs) for sweet Romeo, another fantastic horse down here in the southeast. You can visit Stephanie's website in the right column - just look for Georgia Ladies Aside, and see even more ladies with amazing talent.

Halloween Notariety II

Meet Cavalier, a big grey Percheron . . . (You met him around last year this time) . . .





Meet Cavalier and Rob Zombie, acclaimed heavy metal musician and film writer/director, who celebrated Cavalier's debut in the movie industry in his remake, Halloween II.


Once again, Cavalier will hit the silver screen in the 2011 film, Wanderlust, starring Jennifer Anniston, Paul Rudd, Justin Theroux, Alan Alda and Ray Liotta. The story's plot is about an overextended, stressed out Manhattan couple who get downsized out of a job and are left with one option: move to Atlanta to stay with George's awful brother. En route, the couple stumble upon Elysium, a very interesting community who embrace a different way of looking at things. . .





Here are Charley and Sherry, Cavalier's owners, who get him ready for the set. He's such a pro that he rocked his part with Jennifer Anniston and Paul Rudd in one take -- with no "elimination" to boot!



Jennifer Anniston loved Cavalier, and was corrected by Sherry when she was giving Cavalier some well-deserved scratches, and mistakenly called him a "girl." He didn't mind it one bit.

Good Boy, Cav!

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Catch a Ride on Zenyatta . . .

aka "The Queen" who began racing at 3 years of age, made history on the same day we were hosting folks "Being the Boss of Themselves" and won her 19th consecutive race - equalling the longest winning streak in history. This 6 year old mare stands an impressive 17.2 hands, and is now facing her greatest challenge: The Breeders Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on November 6th. For the first time, she'll be off synthetic surfaces, and running with males on dirt.

Click below and catch a ride on a truly gifted racehorse. At the 4 minute mark is when the ride gets good!

PS: Don't forget to breathe!



Thanks Riders4Helmets for Sharing this Video!

Metropolitan Mounted Police at Olympia

This is from the London International Horse Show of the Year Back in 2006. It just keeps getting better and better the longer you watch. . . particularly at the end. . .



How DID They Do That??!