I know, it's cheating, it's my own art. But still!
My horse is very docile and does extremely well with screaming people, loud noises, sudden movements, big flapping things like tarps and capes and dresses, dogs, children, obnoxiously loud automobiles, etc... He's a wild BLM Mustang and you'd think he'd be a bit more flappable. He does tend to be a little shy around people but once you give him a chance to get to know you he's one of the most laid-back horses you'll ever meet. He also has the most intelligence I've ever seen in any individual of the equus family. Ever. And I've worked at many dude ranches, stables, and summer camps so I've met A LOT of horses, donkeys, and mules. I think it's mostly to do with spending the first four years of his life as a feral animal. He had to think for himself to find food, water, and shelter instead of depending on humans to provide it for him like most horses.
I could go on and on bragging about my horse and his awesomeness... but I won't.
I would LOVE to do re-enactments with Brego. Or take him to Renaissance Faires. I think he'd make a TERRIFIC jousting mount with his size and build. He's easily 1300 lbs at 16hh. That's not too terribly tall for your average riding horse, but for a feral Mustang he's HUGE. You can also tell he's got draft horse blood in there somewhere, probably Percheron. Whenever a new farrier comes out he always comments on how big Brego's feet are for a horse his size.
Anyway! lol
I honestly can't see any reason why a Jäger couldn't ride any normal horse, except that perhaps your average Jäger would want something with big fangs and horns and glowing eyes that could shoot lasers or something.
When I get home, remind me about this. Lawrence and I will be continuing our re-enactment when we get to California and I don't know if they have an equestrian regiment in the States, but here, we have one. Mounted Knights in maille with shields and swords! They also have civilian riding, upper class women in fancy dresses, that sort of thing. If they do riding in the States, you'd be more than welcome to come along.
Yes, like that. You know what it is? Phil Foglio can't draw horses like that. His horses... well, you can tell he's never been personal friends with a horse, you know?
You gotta color that one and make it a wallpaper or something, that's lovely.
> BLM Mustang
That's just kinda beyond cool. Sugar was unflappable unless she wanted an excuse to run home-- we had no arena, so we rode her on trails around our property, and she'd wait until she was at the farthest point from home to suddenly startle at nothing, leave you lying in the pasture and sprint out of reach, where she'd eat grass until you tried to catch her. Then you'd have to chase her all the way home, because she wouldn't quite let you catch her. Unless you're my dad, in which case he simply wouldn't let go of the reins. She dragged him all the way home once. And one time, she underestimated how good I was on foot. I caught her while she was eating, got back on, and made her do like three more laps of the field. Unfortunately I'd cut my finger on the rein buckle (we rode English) on the way down, so I got home with my shirt torn, covered in blood, sweat, and mud... to discover one of my mom's college friends, a very uptight and immaculate suburbanite, just arriving for a visit. She didn't shake my hand. Unsurprisingly.
Brego sounds lovely, and is beautiful. The jousting horses I've seen at Ren Faires have mostly been half- or even full-draft horses, mostly Belgians or Percherons, gigantic and fairly slow but unflappable. But Brego sounds like he'd be perfectly in scale with you-- you're slightly smaller than an adult man, he's slightly smaller than most half-draft horses, there you go! Ideal for photoshoots. :) It's just hard to transport a horse. We didn't have a trailer, which I think was Dad's major obstacle to getting off his ass and getting some kit for Sugar. I think she'd've enjoyed it; she was dead bored after Tiger died. (He really was crazy; the vet hypothesized a degenerative nerve disease, which was awful, but we didn't know he was anything other than just really high-strung until he unexpectedly injured himself and then died.) Hm, I was sure I had photos online of Sugar, but I can't find them now. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful like Brego; just a nice sturdy dappled/white saddle pony. She was a bitch and I loved her.
Oh, I'm sure a Jäger could ride any old horse really, I just wonder if the Heterodynes would've been contented with that. Probably, because coming back to my earlier point, I don't think Phil Foglio's ever had a horse for a friend. But, you know. Not like that's ever stopped fanon before. ;)
I think a lot of people can't draw horses. Most horses in anime look TERRIBLE, especially the faces. But sweetpea did a good job both with the horse AND the tack, which is another thing people draw pretty weird.
Heh- you know someone's a horselover when they draw the horse as pretty as the guy. ;)
OMG, I know! And the position of the rider is always SO WRONG. I'm always ranting to the television whenever I see animated characters riding horses.
"What the-?! If I EVER held my reins like that my riding instructor would have flayed me alive with her riding crop. And do I see a straight line from your elbow to the horse's mouth? NO! And why aren't your heels down?! Honestly! If any real person were to ride a horse like you are right now they would fall off after five seconds. FIVE SECONDS! WHY THE HELL ARE YOUR HEELS STILL UP IN THE AIR??!!!!"
I have to admit, though, that the only reason I drew the horse with a double bridle is so that I could demonstrate that I know how to hold double reins. ^^ What can I say? I'm a habitual show-off.
And now that I look closely at it, it seems that I accidently gave Maxim six fingers.
*GASP* Do you think my subconscious was trying to tell me something? "MAXIM IS THE SIX-FINGERED MAN!"
HA HA HA! You know what would REALLY make people fall off though? Is that riding around bareback business. That has to be my BIGGEST horse peeve of all. Sometimes in live action and anime people are shown riding bareback as a symbol of wildness or freedom or something or to show that they are close to animals, while if it were reality what they would really be close to was some medical intervention for their crotch. I know horses look like they have a big broad back, but when you actually try to sit on them it feels like sitting on a fence. It feels like magically their spine has managed to stick up about two inches off their back, and it's really terrible. I had to practice riding with just a pad for a little bit and NO amount of knee gripping made it remotely ok. I can't even imagine if the horse had been galloping or if I hadn't had the pad. At least that's how it was for me. Riding bareback on a galloping horse is definitely filed in only two places in my head: Insanity and Something Terrible You Can Do To Your Crotch.
And I am very impressed with your double rein knowledge. I have no idea how to do anything with them, but you made it look awesome! I didn't even notice the six fingers. I was noticing the careful attention you paid to all the little straps and buckles.
You know, I used to think the same thing about riding bareback. How can people DO that without serious genital issues afterwards? My first horse was always a bit on a slender side. We found out after she died that she had been suffering from cancer for at least several years and that's why we always had trouble keeping weight on her. Anyway, I always hated riding her bareback because she was so bony and uncomfortable! She also had very high withers which only made things worse
My second horse was a bit better but he also had ridiculously high withers. You'd think a plump Arabian would be a bit more comfortable, but he wasn't. I was firm in my belief that riding bareback, especially galloping, was NOT something that should be done extensively.
Then I got my current horse. He's as round as a barrel, his withers are nice and low (but not too low, he's still got a nice "saddle placement ridge" as I call it XD) and his gaits are very smooth. He's a DREAM to ride bareback. If you ride bareback enough you'll become very steady doing it and develop some AMAZING thigh muscles! I can post without stirrups!
In fact, I have several pictures of me trotting him around bareback.
Awwwww! There are few things in this world more cute then a girl and her horse!
As for the bareback- yes the purpose of the exercise was to strengthen our thighs. Although now that I think on it- my instructor always did give me the worst horses. This wasn't because she hated me, it was just that I started lessons young(ish, I suppose) and out of my group of girls I was the only one who didn't cry when something happened. So I suppose I might have got the boniest one. After that though I never did want to try it again on purpose.
It did end up teaching me a very important life lesson though, about what you actually get for being 'good'.
Dude, I used to have a horse that was SO barn-sour. She once slid to a stop, spun around and went galloping off towards home. I would have been able to stop her if the saddle hadn't completely slid onto her side and I hadn't been hanging onto her neck for dear life. Eventually I decided to just let myself fall and walk home. We weren't too far away but I still knew I wouldn't be able to hold on like that all the way home so I just let go. Now, landing on hard ground at 30 mph needs to be planned carefully. I tried to fall on my butt or my back. Even my stomach would have been okay. I'm still not sure how I managed to get turned around so that I fell face-first... in the gravel... at 30 mph+... WITH MY MOUTH OPEN... but it happened.
The entire right side of my body was one big scrape. I looked like the Phantom of the Opera, with one side of my face all mangled and bloody. I could feel tiny rocks embedded into various cuts in my mouth and all over my face.
It wasn't pretty. I then walked home like that, limping the whole way because my right knee was skinned. A few minutes later I could feel my right eye puffing up and it eventually closed all the way. I looked in the mirror when I got home and couldn't help but laugh at myself.
Yeah, that's my gruesome falling-off story. By far the worst fall I've ever had... unless you count the time when my horse fell on TOP of me. However the result was infinitely better. I wasn't injured at all, though I couldn't feel my leg for the next ten minutes or so.
A trailor! That's the issue I'd have with doing re-enactments. I don't have a trailer or a suitable car for towing one. I'd have to find someone I could share transport with. It would also have to be at least a three-horse slant-load. Brego refuses to load into anything smaller than that.
Damn! That's terrible...Fortunately I never had any gruesome injuries, just the usual falls over/under/through fences and I believe my foot got stepped on once or twice.
My worst fall though, was actually off the most docile old horse in the world. It was my neighbors old palamino, Buttercup. Buttercup was getting up in years, and also in enweight, so sometimes I'd just take her around the property by the creek for some light exercise riding to keep her active since her owner didn't like taking out on trails very much anymore because she was so pokey and slow. The property was, as most things in the area were, not exactly flat. In fact, the area going down to the creek could probably even be described as steepish, but the horses had worn a particular trail there so I was taking her down that when suddenly she stepped on what must have been a gopher tunnel. There was no hole or anything visible, the ground she stepped on just collapsed, she stumbles and pitches forward, and since she's already on a slope facing down I go falling over, as I'm totally not paying attention, and somehow go right into a handy nearby tree. In the process I ended up spraining my wrist. I was a lot more freaked out about her legs, but she was fine. Still, I felt really stupid. I managed to injure myself falling off the oldest, fattest, slowest horse around.
You mean like this one?
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v118/sweetpea_grubb/art/maxim_cavalry.jpg
I know, it's cheating, it's my own art. But still!
My horse is very docile and does extremely well with screaming people, loud noises, sudden movements, big flapping things like tarps and capes and dresses, dogs, children, obnoxiously loud automobiles, etc... He's a wild BLM Mustang and you'd think he'd be a bit more flappable. He does tend to be a little shy around people but once you give him a chance to get to know you he's one of the most laid-back horses you'll ever meet. He also has the most intelligence I've ever seen in any individual of the equus family. Ever. And I've worked at many dude ranches, stables, and summer camps so I've met A LOT of horses, donkeys, and mules. I think it's mostly to do with spending the first four years of his life as a feral animal. He had to think for himself to find food, water, and shelter instead of depending on humans to provide it for him like most horses.
I could go on and on bragging about my horse and his awesomeness... but I won't.
... Okay maybe just a bit more.
I would LOVE to do re-enactments with Brego. Or take him to Renaissance Faires. I think he'd make a TERRIFIC jousting mount with his size and build. He's easily 1300 lbs at 16hh. That's not too terribly tall for your average riding horse, but for a feral Mustang he's HUGE. You can also tell he's got draft horse blood in there somewhere, probably Percheron. Whenever a new farrier comes out he always comments on how big Brego's feet are for a horse his size.
Anyway! lol
I honestly can't see any reason why a Jäger couldn't ride any normal horse, except that perhaps your average Jäger would want something with big fangs and horns and glowing eyes that could shoot lasers or something.
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When I get home, remind me about this. Lawrence and I will be continuing our re-enactment when we get to California and I don't know if they have an equestrian regiment in the States, but here, we have one. Mounted Knights in maille with shields and swords! They also have civilian riding, upper class women in fancy dresses, that sort of thing. If they do riding in the States, you'd be more than welcome to come along.
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You gotta color that one and make it a wallpaper or something, that's lovely.
> BLM Mustang
That's just kinda beyond cool.
Sugar was unflappable unless she wanted an excuse to run home-- we had no arena, so we rode her on trails around our property, and she'd wait until she was at the farthest point from home to suddenly startle at nothing, leave you lying in the pasture and sprint out of reach, where she'd eat grass until you tried to catch her. Then you'd have to chase her all the way home, because she wouldn't quite let you catch her.
Unless you're my dad, in which case he simply wouldn't let go of the reins. She dragged him all the way home once.
And one time, she underestimated how good I was on foot. I caught her while she was eating, got back on, and made her do like three more laps of the field. Unfortunately I'd cut my finger on the rein buckle (we rode English) on the way down, so I got home with my shirt torn, covered in blood, sweat, and mud... to discover one of my mom's college friends, a very uptight and immaculate suburbanite, just arriving for a visit.
She didn't shake my hand. Unsurprisingly.
Brego sounds lovely, and is beautiful. The jousting horses I've seen at Ren Faires have mostly been half- or even full-draft horses, mostly Belgians or Percherons, gigantic and fairly slow but unflappable. But Brego sounds like he'd be perfectly in scale with you-- you're slightly smaller than an adult man, he's slightly smaller than most half-draft horses, there you go! Ideal for photoshoots. :)
It's just hard to transport a horse. We didn't have a trailer, which I think was Dad's major obstacle to getting off his ass and getting some kit for Sugar. I think she'd've enjoyed it; she was dead bored after Tiger died. (He really was crazy; the vet hypothesized a degenerative nerve disease, which was awful, but we didn't know he was anything other than just really high-strung until he unexpectedly injured himself and then died.)
Hm, I was sure I had photos online of Sugar, but I can't find them now. She wasn't exceptionally beautiful like Brego; just a nice sturdy dappled/white saddle pony. She was a bitch and I loved her.
Oh, I'm sure a Jäger could ride any old horse really, I just wonder if the Heterodynes would've been contented with that.
Probably, because coming back to my earlier point, I don't think Phil Foglio's ever had a horse for a friend. But, you know. Not like that's ever stopped fanon before. ;)
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Heh- you know someone's a horselover when they draw the horse as pretty as the guy. ;)
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"What the-?! If I EVER held my reins like that my riding instructor would have flayed me alive with her riding crop. And do I see a straight line from your elbow to the horse's mouth? NO! And why aren't your heels down?! Honestly! If any real person were to ride a horse like you are right now they would fall off after five seconds. FIVE SECONDS! WHY THE HELL ARE YOUR HEELS STILL UP IN THE AIR??!!!!"
I have to admit, though, that the only reason I drew the horse with a double bridle is so that I could demonstrate that I know how to hold double reins. ^^ What can I say? I'm a habitual show-off.
And now that I look closely at it, it seems that I accidently gave Maxim six fingers.
*GASP* Do you think my subconscious was trying to tell me something? "MAXIM IS THE SIX-FINGERED MAN!"
/crossover OMG
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And I am very impressed with your double rein knowledge. I have no idea how to do anything with them, but you made it look awesome! I didn't even notice the six fingers. I was noticing the careful attention you paid to all the little straps and buckles.
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My second horse was a bit better but he also had ridiculously high withers. You'd think a plump Arabian would be a bit more comfortable, but he wasn't. I was firm in my belief that riding bareback, especially galloping, was NOT something that should be done extensively.
Then I got my current horse. He's as round as a barrel, his withers are nice and low (but not too low, he's still got a nice "saddle placement ridge" as I call it XD) and his gaits are very smooth. He's a DREAM to ride bareback. If you ride bareback enough you'll become very steady doing it and develop some AMAZING thigh muscles! I can post without stirrups!
In fact, I have several pictures of me trotting him around bareback.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v118/sweetpea_grubb/brego/
The password is "flameo".
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As for the bareback- yes the purpose of the exercise was to strengthen our thighs. Although now that I think on it- my instructor always did give me the worst horses. This wasn't because she hated me, it was just that I started lessons young(ish, I suppose) and out of my group of girls I was the only one who didn't cry when something happened. So I suppose I might have got the boniest one. After that though I never did want to try it again on purpose.
It did end up teaching me a very important life lesson though, about what you actually get for being 'good'.
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Dude, I used to have a horse that was SO barn-sour. She once slid to a stop, spun around and went galloping off towards home. I would have been able to stop her if the saddle hadn't completely slid onto her side and I hadn't been hanging onto her neck for dear life. Eventually I decided to just let myself fall and walk home. We weren't too far away but I still knew I wouldn't be able to hold on like that all the way home so I just let go. Now, landing on hard ground at 30 mph needs to be planned carefully. I tried to fall on my butt or my back. Even my stomach would have been okay. I'm still not sure how I managed to get turned around so that I fell face-first... in the gravel... at 30 mph+... WITH MY MOUTH OPEN... but it happened.
The entire right side of my body was one big scrape. I looked like the Phantom of the Opera, with one side of my face all mangled and bloody. I could feel tiny rocks embedded into various cuts in my mouth and all over my face.
It wasn't pretty. I then walked home like that, limping the whole way because my right knee was skinned. A few minutes later I could feel my right eye puffing up and it eventually closed all the way. I looked in the mirror when I got home and couldn't help but laugh at myself.
Yeah, that's my gruesome falling-off story. By far the worst fall I've ever had... unless you count the time when my horse fell on TOP of me. However the result was infinitely better. I wasn't injured at all, though I couldn't feel my leg for the next ten minutes or so.
A trailor! That's the issue I'd have with doing re-enactments. I don't have a trailer or a suitable car for towing one. I'd have to find someone I could share transport with. It would also have to be at least a three-horse slant-load. Brego refuses to load into anything smaller than that.
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My worst fall though, was actually off the most docile old horse in the world. It was my neighbors old palamino, Buttercup. Buttercup was getting up in years, and also in enweight, so sometimes I'd just take her around the property by the creek for some light exercise riding to keep her active since her owner didn't like taking out on trails very much anymore because she was so pokey and slow. The property was, as most things in the area were, not exactly flat. In fact, the area going down to the creek could probably even be described as steepish, but the horses had worn a particular trail there so I was taking her down that when suddenly she stepped on what must have been a gopher tunnel. There was no hole or anything visible, the ground she stepped on just collapsed, she stumbles and pitches forward, and since she's already on a slope facing down I go falling over, as I'm totally not paying attention, and somehow go right into a handy nearby tree. In the process I ended up spraining my wrist. I was a lot more freaked out about her legs, but she was fine. Still, I felt really stupid. I managed to injure myself falling off the oldest, fattest, slowest horse around.
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