Less greasy Arabians and Varian philosophy

After all the artificial-looking horses I had to clear my head, and found some great photos online. Although I love bays most, dark bays more, and dark chestnuts are eye candy, ironically the photos I liked most today are grey. They sure do photograph well ...when clean.

I currently own a horse who grinds his entire body into the mud, both sides, every single day, including both ears. He's not happy until he's coated with mud. It's hopeless. And feels like God's sense of humor cuz I'm such a clean freak.

So please enjoy...



I don't know why I love this photo except it shows a natural looking Arabian playing, with good joints and hooves, and such a happy tail.




Although this horse has a razor mark, I love the donkey, showing the relationship that can happen between a horse and a donkey.


He's got whiskers, hair flowing from his ears, and a half-grown-out bridle path. Look how little this horse needs artificial enhancement. But I hate those sea shell halters. Why are knitted mollusks attractive on an Arabian face?




This is Mirage V by Desperado V. Sheila Varian's goal was that every horse with a V on it was a performance horse, every broodmare would be saddle trained at least. I never followed her famous horses, except what I couldn't ignore (Ronteza, Bey el Bey). When she bought Jullyen el Jamaal, she got my attention, cuz Ali Jamaal was the loveliest horse ever born. I had cut-out photos of him taped on my bedroom wall (and my bed), and I'm not ashamed to admit, I had Jullyen photos taped up in my closet at my last bedroom in America. Along with many others, so whoever buys that house is gonna think a horse crazy kid lived there.

Did you know Sheila died Sunday?  I had just discovered her YouTube training and demonstration videos the last couple years. She had incredibly strict standards for a horse she might breed. She had to see Jullyen's offspring before she'd consider him. The offspring alone, though outstanding, were not proven yet. She taught clinics showing how Arabians should be handled, based on her instruction from Dorrance. I was always amazed when I watched her working a young, scared Arabian. She understood that Arabians can be messed up so easily, like precocious kids who react terribly to bullying. So her version of "pressure" is almost nothing when compared to the pressure and release techniques of most trainers.


I wonder how frustrating it was for Sheila, to teach people who couldn't see horses like she did, each gesture, each breath, even the blinking of their eyes. (Because who knew, blinking means something with horses!) I also am curious if she ever worked with any other breed, and if she was flummoxed by them.


Oh well back to my photo search, I like the one below cuz one of them is Sakr, not sure which, Baasha's grandsire.







I just liked the composition of this photo, even though the horse seems to be saying, "Darn my short neck, I can never reach the earth!"

I trust that my stealing of photos won't amount to much because my blog is not Google-able. I will credit photographers when I can, if they don't bother to put their sig on the photo. (Put your sig on the photo!)

Next, I found an awesome photographer who captures horses exquisitely, but uses a bit of Photoshop in the background, which is OK, I think...