I Have So Much Planned for 2010!

I hope you have enjoyed my first year of discovering and learning the true art of Riding Aside. Having people follow my progress...both very seasoned aside riders and spectators has kept me encouraged ..even when I hit delay after delay..and would get so frustrated.

I have so much planned for 2010. Not only a list of things to research and blog about, but I will be covering about 8-10 Saddlebred shows this year for Saddle and Bridle Magazine. Not sure if I will be able to participate in every single one of those shows ...but I sure would like to! I am going to push very hard to attend at least one sidesaddle clinic too...even if I have to travel somewhere to do it. I believe this is something I really need. I want to be exposed to different sidesaddles, and even a few different horses just for the experience! There will be lots of new stories..pictures (even bad ones!) and I promise to have give aways too ..more frequently than once a year!

I hope you will come along with me. I sure have enjoyed your company! My heartfelt wish is that every one of you has a very Happy and Blessed New Year!

Give Away Reminder!

If you just leave a comment on this post or the same one posted last week, I will enter your name in the drawing....for this canvas tote bag...
..and this journal! Deadline to enter is midnight December 31, 2009.If you are new to riding aside, you can use this journal to keep notes about your sidesaddle adventures! Good Luck!

Please Only One Entry Per Person.

Reproduction Art?

What exactly is it? I run across this all the time on E-bay...beautiful pictures like this one..

..or this one which said reproduction oil...

..but I never quite know what it is. A painting over a print?

A copy of a famous painting?

..or just a print of an old master?The most frustrating part - usually these auctions are void of any good information about the origonal!

Oh well - they are still very beautiful!

Logo's

This is our farm Logo. About 2 years ago, I held a contest for anyone interested in helping me design a logo. I had several nice entries, but one lady was exceptional. With a meager prize of $100.00 this is what she came up with and I was smitten by her work!Obviously, this was prior to my involvement with sidesaddle riding. While I have no intention of changing our farm logo.. I was interested in seeing what was out there. Normally, I have been impressed with the large amount of sidesaddle art, information and interest...but here is an area where there is just not that much. While I did not find quantity..what I did find, I thought was really nice quality of design!

This is Hundred Oak's Logo

This is the American Sidesaddle Logo.

Liberty Sidesaddle

These next two were not associated to any specific farm..

Warning...So Beautiful You May Have to Force Your Mouth Shut!

I found this bronze while browsing international e-bay sights.

The photos are set up in such a way where it looks life size, but it is not.

I believe it is about 10"x12" or so...

..but what wonderful detail! Cost was (if my calculations are correct) a bit over $300.00 USD + shipping.

Here is the web address ...just in case your bank account is in better shape than mine:
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/RUNNING-REPAIRS-C-C-BRONZE-FIGURINE-SIDE-SADDLE-GEENTY_W0QQitemZ290382789046QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_3?hash=item439c29b9b6

..and if anyone gets this bronze...I AM SOOOOOO JEALOUS OF YOU!

Beautiful Sidesaddle Note Cards..

..can be found on the internet..if you look hard enough..

From historical..
..to modern..
to ....OH MY - Might this be a Saddlebred??

Merry Christmas Everyone!

DON'T FORGET TO SIGN UP FOR THE FREE GIVE AWAY. SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT ENTRY.

GIVE AWAY!

Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Joyful Kwanzaa! Happy New Year! It is time for a Give Away!

I started this blog just about a year ago and was not sure if it would survive. Heck - I was not sure I would survive this new venture! Now I know that I am hooked and that I believe my passion and this blog will continue to grow. So, in celebration, I am going to have a fun give away...and hope to have many more in the future.

If you just leave a comment on this post, I will enter your name in the drawing....for this canvas tote bag...
..and this journal! Deadline to enter is midnight December 31, 2009.If you are new to riding aside, you can use this journal to keep notes about your sidesaddle adventures! Good Luck!

A Little Bit of Sidesaddle Christmas..??

Leave it up to E-bay ..to have a Sidesaddle, Christmas ornament...of a woman riding a mule..or is it a rabbit?? cause those ears are ginormous!
..and even though this is not exactly sidesaddle..it was too cute not to include..
..and this too. Hey - who says you can't decorate your horse for Christmas!
These last 2 horses are American Saddlebred Rescues. Almost all of these horses are dead-dog (a Texas term!) broke because they were previously used by the Amish as carriage horses. If you are in the market for a horse, please consider one of these ..or more available at www.saddlebredrescue.com

Riding Yesterday

Well - because of the holidays and the horrid weather we have been having, I have not been able to take a lesson in 2 weeks! Well - the sun finally came out (THANK YOU GOD!!!) and dried up some of the mud..so yesterday I was able to ride. I chose to ride astride though. I wanted my boy to know that it was okay for him to trot for long distances and that I would not ALWAYS pull him down as I tend to do when I ride aside. What a good boy Oliver is! We trotted up and down the fence line of our property...going away from and back towards the barn (and all of his friends!) He worked as hard for me going as he did returning. He rated his speed according to what I asked of him and he did NOT try to go faster just because we were headed back to the barn!

Have I told you that I LOVE THIS HORSE!!!

More Art..

I have been asked where I find all of the information I offer to you on my blog. Well, I am always on the hunt..almost anywhere I can imagine. Sometimes people who follow my blog send me things that I use too..and I LOVE that! Thank you!! Most of the art though is found on the internet. Sometimes I find a piece of art with some information about the artist. Then I can do a google search and find out more about the artist and see other pieces of his/her work. More times than not however, I find pieces of art, especially on e-bay, where the only information included is "8x10 print". If it is a nice piece though ..as this one, I still save it to add to the collection we have going.

This is a beautiful print of a pencil drawing..don't you think?

..and this - this is a modern water color..almost comic like.

This one is called Friends and the artist is named as Wallace.

This is a Frederick Remington print.

This one is void of any information and was just entitled Reproduction Art..

..as was this one.

..and here again..

I LOVE the wonderful fall colors in this print!



When I do a search on e-bay, I learned you will only get a small amount of sidesaddle information if you only search under sidesaddle. Just by putting in a space between side and saddle gave me chapters of new data and art to review. Going a different direction.. I looked up Victorian Riding, Ladies Horse...and so on. I think you get the idea.

Glove Boxes..

Oh - lets just say that I found something else that every lady riding aside NEEDS! A Glove Box!

I love this one because it is larger..

..having an area for your gloves on one side and an area for jewelry and number pins on the other!

The ones I posted here are all suppose to be antiques.

This is a glove stretcher.

I have a bunch of wooden cigar boxes that I have been wanting to decoupage. Well - this just might be a good use for them!

I have quite a few pairs of gloves. Some are from riding, some were my Mothers...

..and others, like these I found in antique shops for next to nothing!

I Cannot Believe the Amount of Sidesaddle Themed Art..

..there is out there available to us!

I just love the black and white pencil art like this..

..and this.

I'll bet you have never seen this..

and look at this. I can almost feel the wind in my face!

Every tine I see a any sidesaddle piece of art that I like..be it simple..

..or more complex..

..I save it to my computer so I can share it with you..

No wonder my computer is slow..

It is bogged down with pictures like this..

..and this!Some of this art is nothing more than painted tiles or note cards and some are photocopies of great paintings..but none-the-less..I love it all!