Sunday Stills (orange (3/21/10)

For more Sunday Stills, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen

Friday Foto

Running at the speed of life

I was doing some surfing on the web and stumbled across these photos and articles.

A "Royale" Upset! by Stephanie Corum

published in The Inside Track, EARA May 2003. Stephanie Coram, editor (SJRuffian@aol.com), Royale Fanfare certainly picks her spots. She snuck up on her opponents last year to capture the Buzz Brauninger Distaff H. enroute to a Darley nomination for Older Mare. After two unplaced finishes this year, Royale Fanfare once again upset a field that included three Darley Champions when she narrowly captured the Delaware Season Opener Distaff on May 10.

The Monarch AH daughter broke slowly and was dropped back off the early leaders Tu For All, Murkanas Glory, and Staccata. In the final turn, she swung five wide and ran down Staccata, who had gained the lead. The latter looked to be the winner, even at the wire. It took a photo to show that Royale Fanfare stuck her nose in front. The final time for the one mile was 1:55.30. Staccata, a striking chestnut filly, grudgingly took second and Tornade Du Loup, making her first start in a year, closed well for third. Royale Fanfare paid $52.40 for a $2 win ticket.

This makes the second stakes victory for the Dan and Claudia Spears-owned mare. Her lifetime record now stands at 3/17(4-2-2)2-3, $95,933.

Royal Fanfare, pride of TABA,

wins the KA Czubathan/Mandolynn Hill Farm Handicap Stake

The following race story is from Hugh Mooney of "Arabian Racing Times” the online Arabian Racing Magazine. “ Depending on your sources of information you could get two completely different pictures of this race: 1) It was no contest; 2) It was won by a nose. We're going to go with the latter. Royale Fanfare and First Ladie are full sisters (Monarch AH x Fantos) and are owned by sisters (First Ladie is owned by Leslie Gicewicz) so I would imagine the yelling and screaming at the finish was quite interesting to say the least. Royale Fanfare now has four stakes victories with lifetime earnings of $158,186. Interestingly enough, as a comparision of the two mares, Royale Fanfare is 24(6-3-4) and First Ladie didn't start her career until this year, as an eight year old 6(1-2-0)! Hooray for the older girls.

Other finishers in order: First Ladie, Rodania Arbi, MW Scarlet Lady, Banders Naomi Ku, Miss Philly, Ritzy, Basalisk Okba, NS Starburst. Scratched: Monarchs Serenade.

(November 1, 2003 _Lone Star Park, Grand Prairie, Texas)- TABA is always proud to see Royal Fanfare win a stake, and she has done a lot of it making her a 2003 Darley nominee. This beautiful mare, a daughter of Monarch and out of Fantos by Bandos, was purchased at a previous TABA Racehorse sale and we never miss a chance to point that out! In the $15,000 KA Czubuthan/Mandolynn Hill Farm Handicap, a one mile race for fillies and mares 3 and up, Royal Fanfare finished in 1:50.34 under the guidance of jockey A.B. Ramos. Her trainer was Jernesto Torrez. Royal Fanfare is owned by Claudia and Dan Spears.

Texas Arabian Breeders Association, TABA

So what, you may ask? Well, this mare's mother, Fantos, is Annie's half sister. I always thought that Annie was bred to be a racehorse. Both her dam, Fantastka, and her sire, AH Gallant, were winning racehorses. Interestingly, her mother was bred back to the same stallion, AH Gallant, the year Annie was foaled and the filly born the following year was called Fantastk Girl. Annie's registered name is Fantastyk Gal. Crazy, huh? I haven't found any further information on her unfortunately. Fantastka has had 13 foals that I can find record of: 5 stallions, 2 geldings, and 6 mares.

Another interesting fact is that Annie's family seem to have long careers. Her sire, AH Gallant, raced to 6 or 7 years of age, retired to stud, was sold and successfully shown at halter at 16, and again retired to stud. Annie had her first foal at 16. The racehorse in the second article, First Ladie, was an eight year old starting her race career. BTW, she is also related to Annie.

Anyway, I thought it was an interesting read and because those photos and stories might have been Annie, if we had raced her.

Running at the speed of life - song: The Secret Life of Arabia, artist: David Bowie, album: Heroes

So we asked a simple blackbird

About the "friend"who left the strange marks in the snow above Yalla!'s head the other morning...All winter long, a couple of crows (are two called a murder?) have taken up residence in my barn. I call them Heckle and Jeckle. Can you see Nadia's white ears by the red feeder? Now look up, in the rafters.
There he is, squeezed into the little triangle. His mate lives in the shorter, bigger box next up. Or is that the she and the male is missing? When I go out to the barn at night, they often fly off and caw at me to leave so they can go back to their roosting places. I don't like the mess but thankfully, it's not over the horses' food.
I sure wish I could tame them a little more. I can only get within a few feet of them before they take off. Here, he flew off to the rail and began cawing at me to leave.

On this day, I worried that he'd hurt himself. This was one of the first times I found him in the barn and he was feinting a broken wing.

But he skittered off down the pipe rail and soon flew away to a nearby tree.

Here's a picture I got of the pair of them from this past weekend.

There are lots of them in the area and sometimes it feels like Hitchcock's Birds. I can't find a photo right now but I will try to get one in the future of the "murder" in the fields.

So we asked a simple blackbird - song: Width of a Circle, artist: David Bowie, album: The Man Who Sold the World.

Erin go Bragh!

Today is St' Patrick's Day, one of my favorite holidays. You don't need to do anything, except wear green, and have fun!! And eat some wonderful food! I always make boiled corned beef and cabbage with carrots and potatoes. It's tradition!

From Wikipedia:

Little is known of Patrick's early life, though it is known that he was born in Roman Britain in the fifth century, into a wealthy Romano-British family. His father and grandfather were deacons in the Church. At the age of sixteen, he was kidnapped by Irish raiders and taken captive to Ireland as a slave.^[1] It is believed he was held somewhere on the west coast of Ireland, possibly Mayo, but the exact location is unknown. According to his Confession, he was told by God in a dream to flee from captivity to the coast, where he would board a ship and return to Britain. Upon returning, he quickly joined the Church in Auxerre in Gaul and studied to be a priest.

In 432, he again says that he was called back to Ireland, though as a bishop, to save the Irish, and indeed he was successful at this, focusing on converting royalty and aristocracy as well as the poor. Irish folklore tells that one of his teaching methods included using the shamrock to explain the Holy Trinity (the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit) to the Irish people. After nearly thirty years of teaching and spreading God's Word he died on 17 March, 461 AD, and was buried at Downpatrick, so tradition says. Although there were other more successful missions to Ireland from Rome, Patrick endured as the principal champion of Irish Christianity and is held in esteem in the Irish Church.

Wearing of green

According to legend, Saint Patrick used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish people.

Originally the colour associated with Saint Patrick was blue. However, over the years the colour green and its association with Saint Patrick's day grew.^[2] Green ribbons and shamrocks were worn in celebration of St Patrick's Day as early as the 17th century.^[3] He is said to have used the shamrock, a three-leaved plant, to explain the Holy Trinity to the pre-Christian Irish, and the wearing and display of shamrocks and shamrock-inspired designs have become a ubiquitous feature of the day.^[4][5] Then in the 1798 rebellion in hopes of making a political statement Irish soldiers wore full green uniforms on 17 March in hopes of catching attention with their unusual fashion gimmick.^[2] The phrase "the wearing of the green", meaning to wear a shamrock on one's clothing, derives from the song of the same name.

History in Ireland

It is believed that Saint Patrick's Day has been celebrated in Ireland since before the 1600s. It was also believed to have served as a one-day break during Lent, the forty day period of fasting. This would involve drinking alcohol; something which became a tradition. Saint Patrick's feast day was finally placed on the universal liturgical calendar in the Catholic Church due to the influence of theWaterford-born Franciscan scholar Luke Wadding^[6] in the early 1600s. Saint Patrick's Day thus became a holy day of obligation for Roman Catholics in Ireland. The church calendar avoids the observance of saints' feasts during certain solemnities, moving the saint's day to a time outside those periods. Saint Patrick's Day is very occasionally affected by this requirement – when 17 March falls during Holy Week. This happened in 1940 when Saint Patrick's Day was observed on 3 April in order to avoid it coinciding with Palm Sunday, and again in 2008, having been observed on 15 March. Saint Patrick's Day will not fall within Holy Week again until2160.^[7][8]

^{More here on St. Patty's day.}

^{He is also believed to have chased all the snakes out of Ireland too. However, there never werr snakes on the isle. It's probably meant as chasing the Pagans away when he brought Christianity to the Irish.}

^{Have a good one, everybody.}

<sup>May the road rise to meet you,
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face,
The rains fall soft upon your fields.
And until we meet again,
May God hold you in the palm of his hand.

May God be with you and bless you:
May you see your children's children.
May you be poor in misfortune,
Rich in blessings.
May you know nothing but happiness
From this day forward.

May the road rise up to meet you
May the wind be always at your back
May the warm rays of sun fall upon your home
And may the hand of a friend always be near.

May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.</sup>

Til it disappears

On Sunday night-Monday morning, we had a whopping snowstorm. We even had a thundersnow, thunder and lightning along with the snow. Here are some photos I snapped on my way out to feed the horses in the early morning. You can see that it's still flurrying a little bit.
The sky is clearing a little and by afternoon the sun will be shining brightly.
This is what was left of the snow by evening- same day as previous photo. Crazy, huh?
From foot deep footprints in the morning, to just a few inches this evening. How I love the sparkles!

Til it disappears - song: Baal's Hymn, artist: David Bowie, album: Baal

It's in the whites of my eyes

Because of the time change, I am now back to feeding in the pre-dawn light. Monday morning was extra challenging because it snowed overnight, about a foot's worth! Saturday was 60 degrees, mind you. Anyway, as I am trying to remember to always bring my camera with me, I snapped a few photos. Their eyes always freak me out when I use the flash.

Those marks in the snow above Yalla!'s head are from a "friend". More about that later.
The next two photos are identical, except that I used a flash on the second one. Note to self, use flash on landscapes, but not animals!
Did you notice that it was still snowing?

I love how the poles turned white all up and down one side in the next photo. This was a really heavy wet snow and it was already melting.

Even Yalla! thought it was a bit early for breakfast.

Here's Annie with those creepy white "flash" eyes.
Annie was stylin' with icy crystal beads in her mane. Too bad they didn't last long.

Edited for Lytha, here's Nadia with her "punky" forelock. Her mane has turned from whiteish to reddish because she likes to roll in the mud so much. I wasn't going to use this photo because of the eye "junk" but Lytha was asking about photos of Nadia. So here she is with her faux 'hawk. I really like this photo of sunrise, a day late for the Sunday Stills challenge yesterday. Oh well.

Here's another, looking out towards the main road.
Lovely icicles, aren't they?

But, just look what they're doing to my roof! I'm going to need some new stucco now.

It's in the whites of my eyes - song: Little China Girl, artist: David Bowie, album: Let's Dance

I will wash my face and hands all by myself

Buddha loves to lay on the back of the couch. Every morning he waits for me there as I return from feeding the horses. Sometimes, he high fives me. Today, he was busy cleaning himself.

I will wash my face and hands all by myself - song: When I'm Five, artist: David Bowie

Sunday (3/14/10 Sunrise / Sunset)

This week's Sunday Stills challenge is sunrise and sunset photos recently taken.


These photos were all taken just a few days ago because Ed suggested that we don't go to our picture archives. The crow photo is straight from the camera, believe it or not, because when I tried to enhance it, it lost all the color.

Here's one more picture of a sunrise after our most recent snow.

For more Sunday Stills photos, please visit here.

Sunday - song: Sunday, artist: David Bowie, album: Heathen