Well, it seems the old adage is true--they just got the month wrong: It's April that "comes in like a lion and (hopefully) goes out like a lamb," not March. And, of course, just after the farm dried out and the footing became ride-able, April showers (rain really) are here today promising one to two inches. Ditto last week's "arghh"!
Though Mother Nature is, however reluctantly, loosening her cold, damp grip on New England, she continues to shake Japan like a rag doll. Since the initial 9.0 earthquake the Japanese have had to endure over 900 aftershocks. Three died two days before in one that registered a whopping 7.0. Over 125,000 buildings are damaged beyond repair and there are 13,000 reported dead with 14, 000 still missing. And then those runaway nuclear plants! I got a distressing e-mail from my friend Mari in Tokyo. She endured an aftershock as she was typing to me and reported that it felt like a "naked hand reached in and grabbed my heart." My poor poor friend! I wish she she were here in Acton with me. She did tell me a bit of good news: Two horses from a riding school who were carried out to sea by the tsunami managed to swim back to shore a couple of days later with only superficial injuries. Pretty amazing!
Little Dolly is doing well--gaining weight, confidence and curiosity. Her quarantine is done, so with luck I'll be able to set up the round-pen this week. We're planning to let her out into the two-acre pasture by herself so she can explore the farm's boundaries and have a little freedom. I'm eager to see her gaits. I've already had glimpses of her trot and it is lovely! We're planning to video her in time for the blog this coming weekend.
Our lesson program here at Windflower is increasing just as the arms of snow decrease. Yesterday Kip and I had the pleasure of meeting two new students--Miabella and Sarah--who came for a "look/see"/ We introduced them to the horses and ponies, took a little walk in the woods, and talked about the riding program. Here are the girls and Kip returning home.
Sarah, Kip, and Miabella Farzana Khatri copyright 2011
In the April 2 blog about my trip to Wales, I mentioned having seen the extraordinary six-ton bronze horse head by Nic Fiddian-Green. Here is the image again so you don't have to scroll back:
Notice the tips of the ears: ever seen anything like those before? Well, I have, but I had to think long and hard about where: TJ Maxx! If you stroll down the home goods section there's quite a collection of products from India--birdcages you'd never put a bird in, statues of bejeweled elephants and peacocks, and horses with ears that curve in like the tip of a lyre. Curved ears? I'd thought it was just the result of yet another artist not knowing his subject well.
Research time! I looked up Mr. Fiddian-Green and learned that his bronze horse head was modeled on the Indian breed of horse, the Marwari. I googled that and up came an extraordinary photograph of an extraordinarily beautiful creature whose ears did, indeed, taper inward. Here he is!
Note: I could not find out who took this photo nor did it appear to have a copyright, but
found it on a number o sites featuring the Marwari. If any of you know the photographer
so I may ask permission to use this or remove it if permission is not granted.
These magnificent creatures, bred hundreds of years ago by crossing Arabians with indigenous Indian horses, served as mounts to the ruling warriors and nobles. They were declared divine, but the ears were a practical feature having evolved over time to prevent sand from being blown in. However, the Marwari suffered terribly due to two centuries of British imperialism. In order to decrease the influence of the feudal lords (moguls), the British divided and conquered by encouraging and exploiting political rivalries. The also imposed absurdly high taxes upon the citizenry while ruthlessly draining the country's natural resources. Mocking the Marwari's ears, the British brought in their own thoroughbreds and developed their own preferred lines of polo ponies. Then came the age of mechanization followed by the tumult leading up to India's independence in 1947. This further marginalized the Marwari. These equine gods were relegated to pack work or slaughtered outright.
Thankfully, there was light at the end of their long dark tunnel: In the first half of the 20th century, Majarah Umaid Singhji and, subsequently, his grandson work tirelessly to save the breed. In 1995 British horsewoman Francesca Kelley and Raghuvendra Singh Dundlod, a descendant of Indian royalty, became active in the India Indigenous Horse Society, which works to protect and promote the breed. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/raja.html
I was surprised to learn Francesca Kelley is now a New Englander. She lives on Martha's Vineyard where she breeds her beloved Marwaris. Here is another link for those who want to get to know more about this stunning animal. It can also let you contact Ms. Kelley directly: http://www.horsemarwari.com/
Being reminded of the sins of empire caused me to turn to the wonderful Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore who was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. If you happened to see the popular you tube "Where in the World is Matt?" in which a young man dances around the world to a lovely piece of music with lyrics sung in Bengali, you have heard--if not understood--one of his poems. Here is a different you tube but to the same lyrics and music:
And here is a translation of those lyrics:
Praan (The Stream of Life)
by Rabindranath Tagore
I would not forget so easily,
life would become alive this way
Hidden in Death
is limitless life
In your thunder, the flute sings
How simple is the song
I would dance in that music
(Repeat 3X)
The storm sways in happiness
To the melody of strings of heart
Seven seas and two horizons
Are dancing to the rhythm
In your thunder, the flute sings
How simple the song (that is)
I would be alive dance in that music.
Our next blog will update our activities here at Windflower as well as examine another breed of horse that suffered under the domination of certain conquerors--the Appaloosa. Thank you for taking the time to read this. You'll be hearing from me soon. -- Ainslie
I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. -- Gandhi
Though Mother Nature is, however reluctantly, loosening her cold, damp grip on New England, she continues to shake Japan like a rag doll. Since the initial 9.0 earthquake the Japanese have had to endure over 900 aftershocks. Three died two days before in one that registered a whopping 7.0. Over 125,000 buildings are damaged beyond repair and there are 13,000 reported dead with 14, 000 still missing. And then those runaway nuclear plants! I got a distressing e-mail from my friend Mari in Tokyo. She endured an aftershock as she was typing to me and reported that it felt like a "naked hand reached in and grabbed my heart." My poor poor friend! I wish she she were here in Acton with me. She did tell me a bit of good news: Two horses from a riding school who were carried out to sea by the tsunami managed to swim back to shore a couple of days later with only superficial injuries. Pretty amazing!
Little Dolly is doing well--gaining weight, confidence and curiosity. Her quarantine is done, so with luck I'll be able to set up the round-pen this week. We're planning to let her out into the two-acre pasture by herself so she can explore the farm's boundaries and have a little freedom. I'm eager to see her gaits. I've already had glimpses of her trot and it is lovely! We're planning to video her in time for the blog this coming weekend.
Our lesson program here at Windflower is increasing just as the arms of snow decrease. Yesterday Kip and I had the pleasure of meeting two new students--Miabella and Sarah--who came for a "look/see"/ We introduced them to the horses and ponies, took a little walk in the woods, and talked about the riding program. Here are the girls and Kip returning home.
In the April 2 blog about my trip to Wales, I mentioned having seen the extraordinary six-ton bronze horse head by Nic Fiddian-Green. Here is the image again so you don't have to scroll back:
Notice the tips of the ears: ever seen anything like those before? Well, I have, but I had to think long and hard about where: TJ Maxx! If you stroll down the home goods section there's quite a collection of products from India--birdcages you'd never put a bird in, statues of bejeweled elephants and peacocks, and horses with ears that curve in like the tip of a lyre. Curved ears? I'd thought it was just the result of yet another artist not knowing his subject well.
Research time! I looked up Mr. Fiddian-Green and learned that his bronze horse head was modeled on the Indian breed of horse, the Marwari. I googled that and up came an extraordinary photograph of an extraordinarily beautiful creature whose ears did, indeed, taper inward. Here he is!
found it on a number o sites featuring the Marwari. If any of you know the photographer
so I may ask permission to use this or remove it if permission is not granted.
These magnificent creatures, bred hundreds of years ago by crossing Arabians with indigenous Indian horses, served as mounts to the ruling warriors and nobles. They were declared divine, but the ears were a practical feature having evolved over time to prevent sand from being blown in. However, the Marwari suffered terribly due to two centuries of British imperialism. In order to decrease the influence of the feudal lords (moguls), the British divided and conquered by encouraging and exploiting political rivalries. The also imposed absurdly high taxes upon the citizenry while ruthlessly draining the country's natural resources. Mocking the Marwari's ears, the British brought in their own thoroughbreds and developed their own preferred lines of polo ponies. Then came the age of mechanization followed by the tumult leading up to India's independence in 1947. This further marginalized the Marwari. These equine gods were relegated to pack work or slaughtered outright.
Thankfully, there was light at the end of their long dark tunnel: In the first half of the 20th century, Majarah Umaid Singhji and, subsequently, his grandson work tirelessly to save the breed. In 1995 British horsewoman Francesca Kelley and Raghuvendra Singh Dundlod, a descendant of Indian royalty, became active in the India Indigenous Horse Society, which works to protect and promote the breed. www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/raja.html
I was surprised to learn Francesca Kelley is now a New Englander. She lives on Martha's Vineyard where she breeds her beloved Marwaris. Here is another link for those who want to get to know more about this stunning animal. It can also let you contact Ms. Kelley directly: http://www.horsemarwari.com/
Being reminded of the sins of empire caused me to turn to the wonderful Bengali poet and novelist Rabindranath Tagore who was the first non-European to win the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913. If you happened to see the popular you tube "Where in the World is Matt?" in which a young man dances around the world to a lovely piece of music with lyrics sung in Bengali, you have heard--if not understood--one of his poems. Here is a different you tube but to the same lyrics and music:
And here is a translation of those lyrics:
Praan (The Stream of Life)
by Rabindranath Tagore
I would not forget so easily,
life would become alive this way
Hidden in Death
is limitless life
In your thunder, the flute sings
How simple is the song
I would dance in that music
(Repeat 3X)
The storm sways in happiness
To the melody of strings of heart
Seven seas and two horizons
Are dancing to the rhythm
In your thunder, the flute sings
How simple the song (that is)
I would be alive dance in that music.
Our next blog will update our activities here at Windflower as well as examine another breed of horse that suffered under the domination of certain conquerors--the Appaloosa. Thank you for taking the time to read this. You'll be hearing from me soon. -- Ainslie
I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet. -- Gandhi
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