Suzette and I crossing a creek. My yellow pullover sweatshirt matches the tree leaves! =:)
Monday, October 24, 2011
The Colors Of Fall
My mom snapped this photo on one of our many trail rides. The colors of autumn are really lovely. Intense reds and yellows make going down the trail a joy.
Suzette and I crossing a creek. My yellow pullover sweatshirt matches the tree leaves! =:)
Suzette and I crossing a creek. My yellow pullover sweatshirt matches the tree leaves! =:)
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Kaleidescope Kowboy
A custom painted Cantrell "Santa Fe Renegade" resin for Kathy Wiggins of Zebulon, Georgia. Completed in fall 2011. It has taken me two years to finally get this guy done - but the amount of time was to be expected when you are tackling a hair-by-hair appy paintjob. I got to play around with my new tabletop belt sander as well, doing a bit of wood working for a new cherry stained base for him too.
He is by far the most difficult - yet most striking - appaloosa that I've painted, yet.
Kowboy is not very photographic due to his light dun coloration - and a lot of the tiny little details get washed out by the camera's flash. I purposely left off the flash on this leg photo to show the broken up leg barring and tiny specs of hair marks. If you look at the full body shot, the leg barring looks like it's just a solid stripe - but in reality all of the stripes are broken up into a million tiny little brush strokes.I hope to do another appy in this style of painting in the future, but it will probably be on one of my own models. It was a ton of work, but very rewarding. =:)
Monday, October 10, 2011
Some Unlikely Mounts
It never ceases to amaze me at some of the different animals who enter the Tevis every year. There are some very unlikely long distance equines who hold their own and do very well against a predominantly huge field of arabians.
There are always a couple of mules that do very well.
They are very tough competitors, and most of them hold their weight pretty well. I've never seen one "suck up" around the middle, like most 100 mile horses will do.
Sponging to cool down. It's a mules only nemesis - the heat.
I imagine after a few hundred mile rides, it would make for some VERY broke saddle mules!
Some other interesting breeds that are entered into the Tevis. A missouri foxtrotter, above.
A saddlebred.
A fjord.
And there are generally a couple types of stock horses entered into the ride every year as well. An appy, above.
A paint.
Another paint.
And there are some mustangs in the field as well. Clearly, the rider is just as tough as her horse is, to be able to keep going for 100 miles with an injury....
A beautiful shot of the No Hands bridge with distance riders streaming across it.
A Tevis article in the Auburn Journal:
There are always a couple of mules that do very well.
They are very tough competitors, and most of them hold their weight pretty well. I've never seen one "suck up" around the middle, like most 100 mile horses will do.
Sponging to cool down. It's a mules only nemesis - the heat.
I imagine after a few hundred mile rides, it would make for some VERY broke saddle mules!
Some other interesting breeds that are entered into the Tevis. A missouri foxtrotter, above.
A saddlebred.
A fjord.
And there are generally a couple types of stock horses entered into the ride every year as well. An appy, above.
A paint.
Another paint.
And there are some mustangs in the field as well. Clearly, the rider is just as tough as her horse is, to be able to keep going for 100 miles with an injury....
A beautiful shot of the No Hands bridge with distance riders streaming across it.A Tevis article in the Auburn Journal:
Sunday, October 9, 2011
Jas and Patrick
Some more pictures of Jas and Patrick at Tevis, courtesy of photographer Lynda Moulton.
At the pre-ride check.
Riding through Foresthill.
Coming in to the Foresthill check.
At the pre-ride check.
Riding through Foresthill.
Coming in to the Foresthill check.Making History
It was a long night last night. The Tevis Cup was running, and I kept springing up from my bed to check on my riders status on the computer. It was a history making event last night as Jas Schearer-Mcmahon and her 12 year old Akhal Teke gelding MV Patrickhan made the accomplishment of crossing the finish line at McCann Stadium. Patrick is the first purebred Akhal Teke in history to complete the Tevis. There have been others in the past who have attempted it, (with one highbred mare actually finishing it), but Patrick made all of the Akhal Teke world fans very proud last night.
The Tevis was run in a very different and somewhat odd way this year. The ride is usually held at the beginning of July when the weather is scorchingly hot - but due to an unusually high snowpack in the Sierra mountains this year - it was moved back to October. This unfortunately created another problem; as a couple of days before the ride was scheduled to begin - it snowed at Robie Park, the starting point of the ride. So the event coordinators had to re-route the ride backwards with a loop half way out and back this year. It was interesting to see the updates and keep track of people on the Tevis website: http://www.teviscup.org/
Cathy and Monica made the trip down to Auburn to help support Jas and Patrick. It will be great to hear the stories and view Monica's pictures when they return from the trip. It's a good idea to have a competent supporting ground crew available for the Tevis, as there is a lot of confusion and chaos with this big of a ride. Contestants need all the help that they can get, and Jas had the whole Akhal Teke community backing her. There were enough donations that came in to the Co-op site to cover most of her expenses for the Tevis: http://akhaltekebreeders.com/default.aspx
Another thing that makes Jas and Patrick very special - is that they are the only Akhal Teke horse and rider team in AERC history to earn a BC (best condition) at an endurance ride. Patrick won the best condition title at the Turkey Creek 50 mile ride last year. Generally BC's are given out to heavyweight riders who place in the top 10 as finishers. Jas is in the lightweight category, so it is a very hard earned accomplishment to earn that title.
A photo of Jas and Patrick (above) shortly before the start of the Tevis ride in Auburn. Patrick has the exotic hooded eye that Astrakhan is known for passing on to his offspring. Patrick was a breeding stallion up until just a few years ago, but due to an accidental fire at a vet lab - he has very limited foals produced. But, the switch from a breeding stallion into a performance gelding has proved to be a good move, as Patrick has accomplished quite a bit as a long distance horse.
Query results for Rider #157 (Shearer-McMahon, Jas)
Information generated 10/9/11 9:29:10 am (UTC-0700)
Auburn - Start
Departed
10/8/11 6:30 am
0 miles
Lower Quarry - East
Departed
10/8/11 7:30 am
10.1 miles
River Crossing - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:06 am
16.6 miles
Franciscos - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:33 am
20.1 miles
Franciscos - East
Departed
10/8/11 8:54 am
20.1 miles
Cal 2 - East
Arrived
10/8/11 9:54 am
29.1 miles
The Tevis was run in a very different and somewhat odd way this year. The ride is usually held at the beginning of July when the weather is scorchingly hot - but due to an unusually high snowpack in the Sierra mountains this year - it was moved back to October. This unfortunately created another problem; as a couple of days before the ride was scheduled to begin - it snowed at Robie Park, the starting point of the ride. So the event coordinators had to re-route the ride backwards with a loop half way out and back this year. It was interesting to see the updates and keep track of people on the Tevis website: http://www.teviscup.org/
Cathy and Monica made the trip down to Auburn to help support Jas and Patrick. It will be great to hear the stories and view Monica's pictures when they return from the trip. It's a good idea to have a competent supporting ground crew available for the Tevis, as there is a lot of confusion and chaos with this big of a ride. Contestants need all the help that they can get, and Jas had the whole Akhal Teke community backing her. There were enough donations that came in to the Co-op site to cover most of her expenses for the Tevis: http://akhaltekebreeders.com/default.aspx 
Another thing that makes Jas and Patrick very special - is that they are the only Akhal Teke horse and rider team in AERC history to earn a BC (best condition) at an endurance ride. Patrick won the best condition title at the Turkey Creek 50 mile ride last year. Generally BC's are given out to heavyweight riders who place in the top 10 as finishers. Jas is in the lightweight category, so it is a very hard earned accomplishment to earn that title.
A photo of Jas and Patrick (above) shortly before the start of the Tevis ride in Auburn. Patrick has the exotic hooded eye that Astrakhan is known for passing on to his offspring. Patrick was a breeding stallion up until just a few years ago, but due to an accidental fire at a vet lab - he has very limited foals produced. But, the switch from a breeding stallion into a performance gelding has proved to be a good move, as Patrick has accomplished quite a bit as a long distance horse. Kudos to Jas and Patrick for a job very well done!
The official tracking results of Jas and Patricks journey thru the Tevis ride are listed below:
Query results for Rider #157 (Shearer-McMahon, Jas)
Information generated 10/9/11 9:29:10 am (UTC-0700)
Auburn - Start
Departed
10/8/11 6:30 am
0 miles
Lower Quarry - East
Departed
10/8/11 7:30 am
10.1 miles
River Crossing - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:06 am
16.6 miles
Franciscos - East
Arrived
10/8/11 8:33 am
20.1 miles
Franciscos - East
Departed
10/8/11 8:54 am
20.1 miles
Cal 2 - East
Arrived
10/8/11 9:54 am
29.1 miles
Cal 2 - East
Departed
10/8/11 10:04 am
29.1 miles
Foresthill - East
Arrived
10/8/11 12:00 pm
38.6 miles
Foresthill - East
Departed
10/8/11 1:08 pm
38.6 miles
Chicken Hawk/Volcano - East
Arrived
10/8/11 2:07 pm
42.7 miles
Mosquito Ridge Road
Departed
10/8/11 2:14 pm
50 miles
Chicken Hawk/Volcano - West
Departed
10/8/11 4:59 pm
57.3 miles
Foresthill - West
Arrived
10/8/11 5:45 pm
61.4 miles
Foresthill - West
Departed
10/8/11 6:54 pm
61.4 miles
Cal 2 - West
Arrived
10/8/11 8:53 pm
70.4 miles
Franciscos - West
Departed
10/8/11 11:07 pm
79.9 miles
Departed
10/8/11 10:04 am
29.1 miles
Foresthill - East
Arrived
10/8/11 12:00 pm
38.6 miles
Foresthill - East
Departed
10/8/11 1:08 pm
38.6 miles
Chicken Hawk/Volcano - East
Arrived
10/8/11 2:07 pm
42.7 miles
Mosquito Ridge Road
Departed
10/8/11 2:14 pm
50 miles
Chicken Hawk/Volcano - West
Departed
10/8/11 4:59 pm
57.3 miles
Foresthill - West
Arrived
10/8/11 5:45 pm
61.4 miles
Foresthill - West
Departed
10/8/11 6:54 pm
61.4 miles
Cal 2 - West
Arrived
10/8/11 8:53 pm
70.4 miles
Franciscos - West
Departed
10/8/11 11:07 pm
79.9 miles
River Crossing - West
Departed
10/8/11 11:47 pm
83.4 miles
Lower Quarry - West
Arrived
10/9/11 12:55 am
89.9 miles
Lower Quarry - West
Departed
10/9/11 1:10 am
89.9 miles
McCann Stadium - Finish
Arrived
10/9/11 2:56 am
100 miles
Departed
10/8/11 11:47 pm
83.4 miles
Lower Quarry - West
Arrived
10/9/11 12:55 am
89.9 miles
Lower Quarry - West
Departed
10/9/11 1:10 am
89.9 miles
McCann Stadium - Finish
Arrived
10/9/11 2:56 am
100 miles
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