Godolphin Barb & Arabian

 Salvete Omnes,

The Godolphin Barb - foaled in 1724AD, died 1753.  

.

.

.

.

.

.

detail from George Stubbs' painting

Valete

The horse, his beauties and defects - 1866

 Salvete Omnes,

from the virtual shelves of Archive World Library comes this little volume - The horse, his beauties and defects- published in London, UK in  1866. The author  remained anonymous, using a 'nome de plume' instead:  A Knowing Hand. 

A little book, lavishly illustrated, about the horse conformation and also a discussion of finer points of buying of a horse in that period of 1860s.

description to the plate above

.

you can peruse this book on the website or download it , libre, to your PC or tablet etc. 

Enjoy

Valete

Johann Georg Pforr - English horses

 Salvete Omnes,

continuing with the horse of Johann Georg Pforr, today we can look at his English horses 

These images most likely were completed during the period of  Anglomania (the fascination with the English blood horse, horseracing and  English trainers,  grooms and jockeys) was sweeping continental Europe

 his oil painting conveys this sporty Blood horse  fahionista era

gorgeous bay and bay-roan of the groom, with a black cart horse in the background

and the water media

Bay horse looks much like the Turkoman horses of Central Asia

sporting a running martingale

Now docking of the tail was something else, and it is good we no longer keep this custom

Valete

April Fool's Day - or Custer on his 1st bison hunt

 Salvete Omnes,

April has come and we should rejoice the return of warm seasons, but for the fact that the world is in turmoil and full of mayhem- eg the Central Kitchen food aid workers massacre in  Gaza. Let us pray for peace to return everywhere.

April Fool's Day was yesterday - and in the spirit of that day I would like to bring to your attention and curiosity a little funnier and tragic event from rather more heroic life of G. A. Custer.

In 1867 American Army brevet general and actual  colonel G.A. Custer, cavalryman and hero of the Civil War, started his  Great Plains military service against the Plains Indian people, that would eventually lead to his death in battle in 1876.
This event - a buffalo hunting - took place during general Hancock's Southern Plains campaign in Kansas and Colorado in the Spring of  1867. 
Custer, pursing fleeing Indians,  decided to seek some bison or buffalo, as he had not hunted them yet, using his trusted army revolvers and his to hound dogs. 

So here is his tale of his 1st hunt, in his own words (My Life on the Plains):

so, our hero lost his valued and trusted thoroughbred steed, survived unscathed and his hounds too,while he was exceedingly lucky that there were no Cheyenne nor Lakotas of Pawnee Killer to finish him off. He finished his Spring-Summer marching in July 1867
Nota bene Custer wrote about his hunting mishap in his letters to a hunting magazine titled :'Turf, Field and Farm' (1867) - you can borrow the edited letters - Nomad, George A. Custer in Turf, Field and Farm - from Archive world Library. (this letter  was written and sent on Sept. 9, 1867, being published in the magazine on Sept 21, 1867)
Valete

Sir Henry Raeburn - portraits & horses

 Salvete Omnes,

Spring upon the Northern Hemisphere and let us enjoy some Scottish painter of the British imperial era.

Sir Henry Raeburn (1756-1823)  - Sir Henry, active during the British raise to empire but squarely only in Scotland, painted a huge number of portraits and other paintings during  the half of a century long career. 

Biography by Sir Walter Armstrong on Archive.

Or another one by William Raeburn Andrew - also on Archive.

Henry on a grey pony

George Hay, solider of Peninsular War and War of 1812,  equestrian painting in 1823 but finished by another artist

and a beautiful hussar officer uniform - pelisse - this soldier pictured below was names Sir John Douglas , who being an officer the 15th The King's Hussars fought in the Peninsular War 1813-14 and at Waterloo 1815. 

and below please find a portrait of  a young Lieutenant Colonel George Allan of the 16th Hussars/Light Dragoons with a famous British cavalry weapon: the pattern 1796 light cavalry sabre  

another British cavalryman of Madras cavalry with the pattern 1796 sabre 

TGIF - enjoy your weekend 

Valete