Last night, a lost horse was trotting around the busy A48 road in Cardiff, Wales. Police and passers-by weren't quite sure what to do but a kind Cardiff Bus driver stopped and offered to take the horse to meet its owners at a safe location. From BBC:
"The police arrived and we were all a bit flummoxed of what to do because we couldn't get a horse box there in time," (said Harley Stephens, a citizen who assisted in the rescue).
She said the Cardiff Bus driver suggested putting it on a bus, so they put the disabled ramp down and "it went on quite happily".
Accompanied by Ms Stephens the horse was then taken to the hospital Park and Ride stop, with one other passenger sitting close by.
"He was quite chill about it," she said.
Read the rest
Rixeyville, Virginia's Little Fork Volunteer Technical Large Animal Rescue Team saved a horse who fell or jumped into a family's swimming pool overnight. When the team arrived, the fire department had already begun draining the pool and a firefighter had jumped in to keep the animal calm. After a vet sedated the horse, the Rescue Team used a sling attached to a tractor and lifted the horse out of the pool. From Fredericksburg.com:
The area had experienced high winds and a line of storms the night prior, Halloween night, and “Annie” a Haflinger had escaped from her field and went exploring, according to a Facebook post from Little Fork Volunteer Technical Large Animal Rescue Team.
The horse was probably thirsty and saw some water and “just like that” found herself in the swimming pool, the post stated.
Shortly after the rescue, Annie had recovered and was happily eating breakfast. Read the rest
A gentleman was arrested in Portsmouth, England after punching a police horse during a riot following a soccer game. He apparently was angry that Portsmouth lost to Southampton. It isn't clear why he blamed the horse though. From The Telegraph:
In the footage of the aftermath of the first match in seven years between bitter rivals Southampton and Portsmouth, the supporter then attempts to run from the horse, but his path is blocked as he ends up in the arms of a group of police officers with riot shields.
Hampshire Constabulary said a 52-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of animal cruelty and attempted criminal damage. He was later released but remains under investigation.
Read the rest
Shut it down. End horse racing. It's animal abuse.
“Sing us a soooonng, you’re the pianohorse”
A horse named Bofa Deez Nutz won its first victory on Friday at Oklahoma City's Remington Park. You'll note that the race caller is a master at his craft.
Meanwhile, as the horse crossed the finish line, its owner could be heard exclaiming "GOT EEEEM!" (In my imagination anyway.)
(Thanks, Dean Putney!)
Read the rest
The Wild Inside follows Arizona prisoners in a program where they work to break wild horses rounded up from the desert. Read the rest
In 2015, Patti Smith went on tour with her band to celebrate the 40th anniversary of her debut album, Horses. Now it's been announced that a new documentary titled Horses: Patti Smith and her Band has been made using footage of the tour's final gig at Los Angeles' Wiltern Theater.
In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2014, the then 67-year-old said,
"I think we continue to deliver all of these songs sometimes stronger than when I was young... So I'm going to be happy to celebrate it, to perform the album with happiness, not with any kind of cynicism or a cashing-in thing. It will be a true, proud celebration, so the answer is yes."
I attended one of the three sold-out shows at The Fillmore in San Francisco in early 2015 and can attest that it was a strong performance. The 1975 album was performed in its entirety, in sequence, and Patti rocked the whole show hard.
The new film was directed by Steven Sebring and executive produced by record producer Jimmy Iovine. It premieres April 23 at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City. After the screening, Smith and her band will perform some songs, including the album's title track.
(PAPER) Read the rest
This may look like grasslands, but it's a horse carefully positioned and beautifully photographed by Lee Diegaard, part of her Equuleus series. Below: Copper Valley. Read the rest
A gentleman in Long Beach, CA decided to celebrate his 29th birthday by galloping down a freeway on his white Arabian horse. And this was after he celebrated by getting drunk.
According to ABC7News:
CHP officers responded around 1 a.m. Saturday to a report of a man riding a white horse on the eastbound 91 from Paramount Boulevard to Downey Avenue. Officers found the man on his horse after he had exited at Downey and rode into Bellflower.
They stopped the man and administered field sobriety tests, with results of .21 and .19 percent - or more than double the legal limit.
The man, Luis Alfredo Perez of Placentia, CA, was arrested and charged with a DUI. His horse wasn't hurt and was handed over to Perez's mother.
Read the rest
That's Boris Karloff riding off on a mechanical horse.
This footage was shown at the end of Mario Bava's 1963 film Black Sabbath, but only in the Italian version. In the English version, they cut the scene out, according to coolasscinema.com:
But in the original Italian version, we close out with this ending monologue from Karloff decked out in his Wurdulak costume -- "So there it is. Didn't you see that end coming? There's no fooling around with ghosts, because they take revenge. Well, we've come to the end of our tales... so, sadly, I must leave you now. But watch out on the way home. Look around you, look behind you... careful when you open the door! And don't go in without turning on the light! Dream about me! We'll become friends!"
The camera then backs away revealing Karloff atop a fake horse as film technicians run around giving the illusion he's riding passed trees. This light-hearted, comedic moment was discarded from the US print, which closes without any final words from Karloff. Instead, it goes straight to the end credits backed by a lighter toned Baxter composition that sounds similar to the sort the man created for the Roger Corman-Poe pictures that were popular at the time.
(Super Punch, TATJANA SL) Read the rest
This risky rescue could have gone wrong in a number of ways, but the first responders were able to save a horse that had walked onto thin ice without injuring the horse or themselves. Read the rest
Horses use 17 discrete facial movements in communication, compared to 27 for people, 16 for dogs, and 13 for chimpanzees. University of Sussex researchers determined this by studying the musculature under a horse's face and watched videos of horses of all ages and multiple breeds. This enabled the scientists to create a catalog of facial behavioral sequences named EquiFACS (Equine Facial Action Coding System.) From National Geographic:
Jennifer Wathan, the study’s lead author, says the similarities between horse movements and human ones are striking. They include raising inner eyebrows (“puppy-dog eyes”) to show fear, surprise, or sadness; pulling back lip corners (smiling) in greeting or submission; and opening eyes wide to indicate alarm...
Her team’s research, which is already helping veterinarians and trainers, could also connect facial expressions to emotional states. “We don’t know much about the emotional lives of animals,” she says. “What does a positive emotion look like? This tool could help us see it.”
"EquiFACS: The Equine Facial Action Coding System" (PLOS One) Read the rest
Sara Barnes at My Modern Met profiles photographer Wiebke Haas, whose stunning art photographs of horses have won her global acclaim.
Read the rest
Photographer Andrius Burba went to great lengths to capture horses from below, and the result was worth the effort. Behold the Under-Horse series. Read the rest
quakkaquakkaquakkakaaaaaquakkaquakkaquaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaweeeeeaaaaeiiiiiiiiieeee
quakka. quakka. quakka. quakka. quakkaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa Read the rest
Researchers from the Norwegian Veterinary Institute developed and tested a system for horses and people to communicate using a symbolic language. From the Daily Grail:
...Twenty three horses learned to tell trainers if they wanted to wear a blanket or not. Subjects were shown three symbols: a horizontal bar to say "I want a blanket", a blank square for "No change", and a vertical bar for "I don't need a blanket". They learned the meanings in a day or two and using them to convey if they were too warm or too cold, building the case for self-awareness...
(In the scientific paper, the researchers write that,) "When horses realized that they were able to communicate with the trainers, i.e. to signal their wishes regarding blanketing, many became very eager in the training or testing situation. Some even tried to attract the attention of the trainers prior to the test sit- uation, by vocalizing and running towards the trainers, and follow their movements. On a number of such occasions the horses were taken out and allowed to make a choice before its regular turn, and signalled that they wanted the blanket to be removed. It turned out that the horses were sweaty underneath the blanket."
"Horses can learn to use symbols to communicate their preferences" (Applied Animal Behaviour Science)
Read the rest
