baystardadventures

[baystardadventures]

A collection of some of my more spooky art too match the Halloween mood. The first skull painting is of a moose skull (if I remember correctly) so a bit of a departure from my usual horse stuff.

[baystardadventures]

[baystardadventures]

Little gem from Reddit

[baystardadventures]

I’m not a rider of gaited horses, but from what I understand, they have some physiological differences from regular trotting horses. Namely, their backs are longer and their hips swivel more than trotting breeds hips, so their saddles are made differently.

I’m not aware of any impact on leg health as long as they’re not overbred and have good conformation. A rider of gaited horses at a nearby barn used to say they’re more surefooted and capable through deep mud and other rough terrain.

Okay, horse people- what is going on with gaited horses? I understand it's genetic but like. What is the mechanism responsible? What gets changed in the horses' physiology? Does it impact anything else? Do these gaits impact leg health at all?

[baystardadventures]

[baystardadventures]

Bucephalus - Loved companion of Alexander the Great, believed to be the most famous horse from classical antiquity, and lived to be about 30 years of age.

Staff Sergeant Reckless - Known for holding official rank in the US military, and quickly learning supply routes, so much so that she could make entire trips without a handler. She was given multiple awards and decorations, including two Purple Hearts and the Dickin Medal.

[baystardadventures]

What always sends me these days about "The Two Towers" is the lightning-fast transition from:

"Yes, friends of the Fellowship, I have returned from beyond the veil of death and elevated into a newer, more powerful self. Like Saruman, but as he should be. Noble and aloof from petty concerns"

To:

"Ah it's my horse, the Best Horse who is the King of Horses. Look him in the eye. Can you name a sexier horse? You're lying, you can't. Kiss the horse, Aragorn. KISS HIM"

In reference to my contribution to the Shadowfax horse king administrative duties viral post

[baystardadventures]

guys you don't understand i love big buff horses so much

draft horses you are gods most perfectest creations

[baystardadventures]

The horse gimmick blogs all coming together to defend the honor of horses against shitty online comments

[baystardadventures]

Me: I'm going to look at horse forums, I bet the drama there is so funny

Me after 4 hours of horse forums: Damn....those people really love and care about their horses...

[baystardadventures]

Favorite thing about the Red Note shenanigans: Mongolian ranchers suddenly gaining a rabid following of American horse girls and being like "we knew you had cowboys but we didn't know you value and love horses as friends like we do, this is excellent"

Mongolian rancher 🤝 American horse girl synergy I guess

[baystardadventures]

Sahara is entering her height of summer coat, which means she is losing the hair on her face, around her muzzle and eyes. This pattern of hairlessness, incidentally, is one of the signs of asalah, or authenticity, in the Arab horse, and is the reason for the name of the Kuhaylan strain. Kuhaylah means "little one with kohl", as the lack of hair around the eyes allows the black skin beneath to show through, with an effect considered similar to the use of kohl as an eyeliner.

The loss of hair around the eyes may serve an adaptive function in the desert and semi-desert climates where the Arab horse is found. The peregrine falcon has dark feathers below its eyes, known as the malar stripe, which some scientists believe help the birds to spot their prey by reducing glare, as the falcons' malar stripes are larger and darker in areas with brighter sunlight. The tear marks on cheetahs' faces are also malar stripes, and are similarly believed to reduce the sun's glare during the daylight hours when cheetahs hunt. While many antelope have malar stripes, some desert-adapted antelope, such as the Arabian oryx and the gemsbok, have particularly prominent malar stripes around and below their eyes.

Arabian oryx (Oryx leucoryx) | © Nimit Virdi

It is possible that in the Arab horse, the hair loss around the eyes acts similarly to a malar stripe in terms of reducing glare; however, even if it began as a natural adaptation, it became an identifying feature of the Arab horse, and was selected for to some extent by the Bedouin.

Note also that the size and intensity of malar stripes are not always linked to solar glare.

References

Meredith Hanel. 2020. 'For Cheetahs Speed Is Important, but So Is Eyesight'. Cheetah Conservation Fund Canada.

Michelle Vrettos, Chevonne Reynolds, Arjun Amar. 2021. 'Malar stripe size and prominence in peregrine falcons vary positively with solar radiation: support for the solar glare hypothesis.' Biology Letters 17 (6). DOI https://doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2021.0116

Michelle Vrettos. 2022. No universal support for solar glare as an evolutionary driver of malar stripes in falcons. MSc Thesis, unpublished. University of Cape Town.

[baystardadventures]

(To avoid skewing the results, I'd request that, while the poll is active, that you not put this on a blog specifically about chronic pain; "your personal blog, where you happen to talk about chronic pain" is fine.)

[baystardadventures]

guys you don't understand i love big buff horses so much

draft horses you are gods most perfectest creations

[baystardadventures]

Horses with hats.