Tina Humphrey - Dressage for Dogs

via youtube.com

Some things just bring tears to my eyes.... and after years doing dog obedience and watching my daughter do dressage with her horse, seeing the two combined was fascinating.
If you want to see more, do go and follow this up on youtube as there are lots more of this pair in action.
If you have never watched freestyle horse dressage... then watch this astounding pair in action - sadly, this beautiful dancing mare, who was retired in 2009, broke her leg recently and has been put to sleep. RIP Blue Hors Matine.

Posted via web from Four Paws and Whiskers

Tina Humphrey - Dressage for Dogs

via youtube.com

Some things just bring tears to my eyes.... and after years doing dog obedience and watching my daughter do dressage with her horse, seeing the two combined was fascinating.
If you want to see more, do go and follow this up on youtube as there are lots more of this pair in action.
If you have never watched freestyle horse dressage... then watch this astounding pair in action - sadly, this beautiful dancing mare, who was retired in 2009, broke her leg recently and has been put to sleep. RIP Blue Hors Matine.

Posted via web from Four Paws and Whiskers

Spanish Riding School Vienna - Airs Above the Ground

via youtube.com

Today I visited my friend who returned from 5 weeks in UK and Europe yesterday - what a winter to visit!
One of the highlights of her tour was visiting the Spanish Riding School in Vienna where they landed up sitting in the Royal Box.
"The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for over 430 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école.
The objective of classical equitation is to study the way the horse naturally moves and to cultivate the highest levels of haute école elegance the horse is capable of through systematic training. The result creates an unparalleled harmony between rider and horse, as only Vienna's Spanish Riding School achieves. "
I was entranced by the booklet about them - we have both always been fascinated by training of these Lippizaner stallions, attending one show together that visited here some years ago, in fact we still have the poster in our office, but this was the high point for her.
She sent me this link to an official video in which you can see the dressage, the long reins, and of course, the wonderful leaps and jumps from the famous "Airs Above the Ground".
Read more here:
http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=265
See videos of the leaps: http://www.lipizzaner.com/airs.asp
or Wikipaedia: http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=265
or
If you are in America, they are touring there in 2010..
http://spanishridingschool.org/
If you want a bit of fiction that includes these horses, try reading Mary Stewarts book - http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/mary-stewart/airs-above-ground.htm

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Spanish Riding School Vienna - Airs Above the Ground

via youtube.com

Today I visited my friend who returned from 5 weeks in UK and Europe yesterday - what a winter to visit!
One of the highlights of her tour was visiting the Spanish Riding School in Vienna where they landed up sitting in the Royal Box.
"The Spanish Riding School in Vienna is the only institution in the world which has practiced for over 430 years and continues to cultivate classical equitation in the Renaissance tradition of the haute école.
The objective of classical equitation is to study the way the horse naturally moves and to cultivate the highest levels of haute école elegance the horse is capable of through systematic training. The result creates an unparalleled harmony between rider and horse, as only Vienna's Spanish Riding School achieves. "
I was entranced by the booklet about them - we have both always been fascinated by training of these Lippizaner stallions, attending one show together that visited here some years ago, in fact we still have the poster in our office, but this was the high point for her.
She sent me this link to an official video in which you can see the dressage, the long reins, and of course, the wonderful leaps and jumps from the famous "Airs Above the Ground".
Read more here:
http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=265
See videos of the leaps: http://www.lipizzaner.com/airs.asp
or Wikipaedia: http://www.srs.at/index.php?id=265
or
If you are in America, they are touring there in 2010..
http://spanishridingschool.org/
If you want a bit of fiction that includes these horses, try reading Mary Stewarts book - http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/s/mary-stewart/airs-above-ground.htm

Posted via web from Fiona's posterous

Animals in Entertainment

Sometimes you have to reflect on the past to realise how much things have changed... and watching some movies that a friend posted on Facebook reminded me that we have come a long way in our attitudes on how we use animals in films and shows now.

I started thinking about it further after seeing this video clip - we all thought, it is rather disturbing...  on quite a few levels.

Today she drew my attention to the famous diving horses that were popular in the 30's.. particularly in Atlantic City. I confess I had never heard of them! The original horses were diving from 60ft high.

One of the divers was blinded by hitting the water with her eyes open, but continued to do it for many years. Disney even made a movie about her - which was heavily romanticised, but contains interesting footage of how they did the diving...

But on looking around, there are films of horses doing it in the 50's in Miami, and to my amazement, this strange practice is still happening today. Nowadays, they don't have a rider... but I still feel it is exploitation.

I am sure there is footage out there somewhere of the chimpanzee tea parties so often held at zoos.

Animal films and tv programmes have been around since television started... who can forget Lassie, Mr Ed, Flipper, Skippy, The Incredible Journey and Daktari to name just a few I grew up with. However, I imagine the requirements for the use of real animals in filming has altered dramatically since those days!

"No animals were harmed in the making of...."

I guess it depends on how you interpret "harm"?

Animals in Entertainment

Sometimes you have to reflect on the past to realise how much things have changed... and watching some movies that a friend posted on Facebook reminded me that we have come a long way in our attitudes on how we use animals in films and shows now.

I started thinking about it further after seeing this video clip - we all thought, it is rather disturbing...  on quite a few levels.

Today she drew my attention to the famous diving horses that were popular in the 30's.. particularly in Atlantic City. I confess I had never heard of them! The original horses were diving from 60ft high.

One of the divers was blinded by hitting the water with her eyes open, but continued to do it for many years. Disney even made a movie about her - which was heavily romanticised, but contains interesting footage of how they did the diving...

But on looking around, there are films of horses doing it in the 50's in Miami, and to my amazement, this strange practice is still happening today. Nowadays, they don't have a rider... but I still feel it is exploitation.

I am sure there is footage out there somewhere of the chimpanzee tea parties so often held at zoos.

Animal films and tv programmes have been around since television started... who can forget Lassie, Mr Ed, Flipper, Skippy, The Incredible Journey and Daktari to name just a few I grew up with. However, I imagine the requirements for the use of real animals in filming has altered dramatically since those days!

"No animals were harmed in the making of...."

I guess it depends on how you interpret "harm"?