Day one at Michalow is under our belts. After a 3 hour drive from Warsaw to Michalow with the wonderful/inimitable/thoroughly awesome Scott Benjamin at the wheel, we spent an hour scouting the farm and looking at all the incredible mares hanging out in the barns with their new babies. It had rained heavily the night before so they were kept in today. The foals sleeping in the warm straw while their mothers stood by dozing and grooming on another is such an idyllic sight. Everywhere I turn I am grateful and humbled to be here... Said a special hello to El Dorada who is now more flea-bitten than I remember her in the U.S. Needless to say she looks beautiful... After a wonderful lunch (in the MOST AMAZING TROPHY ROOM EVER!!!) with Scott and the Director and his wife, we got our gear together, strapped on our boots and got down to business, which for today was filming the sale mares at liberty at the far end of one of the barns in a grassy paddock. ringed by Linden and chestnut trees in full bloom. Truly each mare was more impressive than the last and of course I would give my right arm for any one of them, but for me the standouts of the day were the exquisite Mongramm daughter Fallada, Estaka(beautiful headed mare by Gazal al Shaqab who showed tons of sexy attitude) and Zlota Orchidea (Incredible throat latch and neck on this Emigrant daughter!!) And of course they all are such movers. Sigh.
Another delicious dinner (again in the incredible trophy room which spills out into the hallway. It is such a wonderful thing to look at all of the accomplishments by so many greats-- we even invoked the great Elkana this evening, a mare I adored as a child!)-- this time the meal included a generous heloing of Sobieski vidka, which we are told is named after the Polish king who saved Poland from the Turks. So its fitting that he have a really good namesake vodka. (I think it was really good, not entirely sure as I am such a lightweight in these matters, a fact that did not go unniticed by the Director who tried his best to cure me of this obvious failing...) Na Zdrowia!
Of Mares and Vodka
Hell is an 11 hour Swissair Flight
Dateline Poland: Horsefly Girls (Jen & Soph) have just arrived safe and sound in Warsaw after surviving an 11 hour flight from LAX to Zurich and another 2 hour flight from Zurich to Warsaw. Note to self: When they bring you on the plane through the ultra-sleek sleep pod chambers complete with champagne in First class only to herd you into the (seriously no exxageration) smallest seats EVER devised by aviation-kind, it is pure torture. So... got zero Zzzs but listened to Oren Lavie's "Her Morning Elegance" like 124 times in my ipod to try and get through it. Gave me the idea that I shall try and supply readers with a suggested soundtrack for our entire trip here. Hey, guess once a Music Supervisor, always a Music Supervisor... The Swiss Flight Attendants were on the whole incredibly sweet and patient with the whole sardine thing going on, but I did happen to catch some really strident complaining about Gypsies by a few flight attendats working in the galley (I had gone on an excursion to get out of my seat and found myself there). Seriously? Complaining about Gypsies? Give me a break... Okay, also when you are riding the tram between terminals in Zurich, there's a really cool Disneyland moment when a virtual Swiss Miss (replete with bust and braids) leans into the tramcar from the outer walls and yodels, welcoming you to Switzerland. Can't remember seeing her before on any trips-- pretty cool actually. Or maybe it's the lack of sleep...
So tomorrow we're off to Michalow bright and early. We have just learned we will be staying at the stud (HOORAY!!!!). So, off to get some much-needed rest but we're back on the case tomorrow.
p.s.-- The Swiss ply you with chocolate every 20 minutes. Seriously.
Historic part deux
Of course I realize I forgot to mention the incredible MPA Giovanni, whose wonderful story of triumph over tragedy is such an inspiration ( my son Rafael carried his photo around last year fir 2 weeks straight, even to bed! That's how captivating he is... I also failed to mention the beautiful Strike daughter Star of Quintessa, and of course Llewelyn Fawr and his sire Saladins Allon, who put on an incredible show and seemed to forget he's 21 years young! As Harold said, he's the horse that built Evergreen and what a horse he is! Whew! Ive only scratched the surface ( saw EVG Ghislenne swimming-- awesome!!) but you can imagine how a horse nerd like me has had an incredible day after birthday!
An historic day (for me!)
Home from Santa Ynez and a glorious horse day at the open house at Galluns and the Greens ( Evergreen Arabians). To be in the presence of Emandoria, Pianissima, Pinga, Enzo, Pershahn, Eden, Dakharo and Strike all within an hour is a joy beyond measure. Emandoria is as always my favorite all time mare and I think she likes me too-- she licked me like a dog for 15 minutes! On my way to the Greens I stopped in to give *Ecaho a big hug which he reciprocated by hanging that beautiful neck over my shoulder. Wow. Love him, love him, LOVE him. At Evergreen it was such a treat to walk the pastures with Harold and Liz and see the young superstars in the making, and the treasured mares Gai Anastasia, Palestyna and of course Gisele who looks to be due any minute with her latest Pershahn foal. What a nick! If it aint broke don't fix it! All in all an absolutely amazing day amidst the most spectacular horses on the planet. Pinch me!
Technical Difficulties
Sorry Folks, been havig technical difficulties with the old format (which I loved!) so will try to get them worked out and get the pretty layout back. Meanwhile welcome to the temporarily new and boring look for Flypaper!
Life ( and horses!) is a contact sport.
So I've been thinking for a while now that in light of Harold Green's faceplant last year at the Vegas World Cup, they should start a perpetual faceplant cup in honor of the best show of playing hurt. (Harold got up and prpmptly won lst year). So this year it has to be Greg Gallun in a spectacular recovery with Fmandoria yesterday. Broke his finger and banged up but showed beautifully and won with highest score of the show so far, Go team Gallun! I think the cup should be blacl and blue!
*Ecaho!
So I know I need to backtrack and blog about Scottsdale, but first I have to say something about the horse we've been filming for the last 2 days.
ECAHO. ECAHO. ECAHO!
He is without question the most expressive stallion I've ever seen, and certainly worth waiting for! More later...
Coming up for air in Scottsdale
Okay. So I,'ve been really crap about blogging because as usual Scottsdale has been CRAZY!! I have just come from the Gallun party where I had a million dollar diamond ring on my hand for all of 5 minutes. OH MY GOD. Long story but suffice it to say it was transformative. More later, they're shoeing a horse mid ring in the hunter final...
What dreams may come.
In the interest of full disclosure of just how totally immersed in our passion for our job we horseflies are, I shall now share with you Horsefly Sophie's dream from last night-- brought to you in Technicolor :
It seems the Horseflies were on a shoot with the illustrious Stu Vesty (yay Stu!!) but were thwarted in their attempt at capturing great footage by the fact that Stu was getting his ridiculously famously perfect shots in the first 30 seconds after the horse would appear. (Obviously one can interpret this as our hyper awareness of Stu's uncanny ability to get THE shot extremely quickly and without a lot of unnecessary hoopla. It's the stuff of legend.) So, despite Sophie's protest that we needed a bit more than half a minute with the horse, off we would be to the next one. Eventually the dream twists and bends as they do, and we were now configuring elaborate camera setups under enormous rose bowers and being asked to set up sandy, tropical shots so the horse looked like he was at a luau. (I know it's ridiculous, you know it's ridiculous, but it just serves to illustrate just how far we're willing to push the creative envelope, if only in our dreams).
And frankly, this kind of dream isn't just a one-off, oh no. We horseflies are constantly immersed in creative dreamland oddities. But the beauty is, very often these strange impossible nighttime journeys bear fruit in the light of day through our lens. Eden began as a seahorse in a dream, Marjestic was loosed in a box canyon in a dream.
So... know that Horsefly inspiration could come from anywhere, anytime. That's the lightning in a bottle.
And don't count out the luau.
Beware the Monkey. Rabbits are trouble.
After a quick tour ( in which we saw more CF secrets waiting to be unleashed at the show-- we're sworn to secrecy), Gerard initiated us in the culinary delights of the China Panda in Buellton. $6.95 lunch special. Hilarity ensues when our chinese horoscope reveals the Cock is Gerard's best sign. Hmmm, probably TMI, G-man. As for us, I am elegant and creative and Soph is a pioneer spirit. But we already knew all that.
Whatever you do, for God's sake beware of the Monkey! Seriously, we felt compelled to pass this tidbit on so, you know, now you know. Our horsefly conscience is clear.
The 13th Letter
It seems I went a bit crazy with the M's in my last posts praising the work of Ms. Kimerlee Curyl. Yes, that's KiMerlee with one M! So everyone should flock to her correctly spelled website to check out her amazing work:
www.kimerleecuryl.com
This Horsefly apologizes and is sufficiently admonished. Forty lashes for me with the Flyswatter!
Working Cow/Working WOW
Equine photographer extraordinaire Kimmerlee Curyl (www.kimmerleecuryl.com) took these photos on our shoot at Ted Robinson's yesterday. We hope to do a lot more with Kimmerlee in the QH world in the future-- it's entirely different than the Arabian world but I am in awe of these incredible, beautiful athletes! This is Kimmerlee, Smokum's Prize, Me and Sophie-- moments before Prize decided to give Kimmer a big wet kiss!
For Posterity
This is the moment I blogged about last night-- my special moment with the legend, Nu Cash. These photos make my heart sing. Thank you Kimmerlee Curyl for capturing the sheer joy I felt...
Babies!
Tired, Sunburnt & Happy
Back from a full day filming at Ted Robinson's. Although the entire day was a blast-- incredible horses, the amazing work, willingness & enthusiasm for our film craziness of Ted Robinson and Katie Montague, adorable new foals, a picture perfect day-- the highlight for me was hands down the moment I got to spend hugging and kissing Nu Cash. Thank you Ted and Katie and everyone at Ted Robinson Cow Horses for your hospitality and spirit! And thank you for giving me such a wonderful moment with Cash. I'll never forget it!
They're off to San Angelo, Texas on Sunday for the World's Greatest Horseman competition. Good luck! Now it's into the editing room for us. Okay, maybe a good night's sleep and then in to the editing room bright & early...
Eat my dust!
Live from the set
We're shooting all day with Ted Robinson and having a blast. More later...
Twitterpated...
I'm starting to get that excited pre-Scottsdale show vibe. We're 2 weeks out and counting but I'm thinking about all the fantastic new horses I'm excited to see in the flesh. Horses in full bloom, nothing like it.
We're also gearing up for a shoot Friday at Ted Robinson's place here in Ojai. Ted Robinson is the king of the NRCHA working cow horses so it will be a great change of pace for us to do these super-cowy, athletic Quarter Horses doing their thing! I'll be blogging from the shoot so keep your eyeball peeled (we'll try to keep the dust down). Ted owns the top money-earning working cow horses of all time including Smokum's Prize, Nu Circle n Cash and his sire, the legendary Nu Cash. (Check out Ted's website for a really wonderful article on this man-- a true legend and a great horseman!)
Being the sucker I am for ancient stallions, when I met Nu Cash the other day during the location scout, my heart just leapt in my chest. Resting in the quiet shade of his very own sycamore and oak trees, I couldn't resist approaching the old king. His happy blazed face sauntered over to greet me as I scratched his nose. A real treat. I'm often struck at how lonely and isolated a breeding stallion's life can be, particularly if they are valuable. Seems the better they are, the more sequestered they become. Hence my love and admiration for these old boys who have endured and created their legacies, now to live out a well-deserved happy, quiet life. (I think of Strike and his amazing lifelong loving home at Gallun Farms, complete with Jackson, his personal donkey friend/bodyguard/minion). It was wonderful to see Nu Cash has horse buddies on either side of his very large pasture, affording him the opportunity to be social whenever the mood strikes him. Creating the videos for all of these amazing stallions we have had the fortune to come to know, it hits me harder than ever how much I love all these boys.
Going mobile!
Thought I'd check out my new mobile blogging capacity and see if it works! Hopefully it's all systems go because I plan on posting a lot from our various shoot locations, shows etc--- including ringside at Scottsdale!
Ahh, technology...
Long Live the King
The King is dead.
Just got some very sad news from my husband that the greatest Paso Fino Stallion of all time, the legendary Capuchino, had died at the age of 32. They decided to put him down as he suddenly was having terrible trouble walking. For those of you who do not know his story, look him up on the web. He was truly the King of the breed for decades and has an INCREDIBLE story. I was lucky enough to sip cappuccino with his wonderful owner a few years ago at the Paso Fino World Cup, and naturally I made a fool of myself by crying (hey, there was a GIANT photo of him behind her at the time!) For Arabian lovers, this is the equivalent of losing *Bask & Khemosabi all rolled into one. He will be missed but what a life he led!
I will give my wonderful Paso Fino Sonador, a Capuchino grandson, an extra hug in his honor.
A very small place indeed...
Wow. I just joined Facebook yesterday and am absolutely amazed at 1) how addictive it is and 2) Where the Hell have I been that I didn't know about it before?(Playing Candyland with a 3 year-old, doing laundry, co-running a film company, walking my dogs, electing a President, plucking my unruly eyebrows... etc. ad nauseum) Anywho...Awesome stuff, this Facebook,truly.
And today Sophie has (cue trumpets) launched our official Horsefly Films Facebook page. Feels very cool and I'm feeling very excited about Horsefly's future. The Swarm is coming! The Swarm is coming!
Begin the Beguine...
Right. So here I am on a miserable rainy day ( don't give me this crap about how much we need it, I want to wallow in my precipitation gloom thank you very much), a day which shall go down in the annals as the day I finally started this infernal blog. I have been meaning to start one for a while now and my brilliant partner and best friend Sophie has been egging me on and so here I am. Egged. Usually at no loss for words or opinions, not sure I have much of great relevance to say today on horses or any other subject. Except to say I read a terrific anecdote from Lincoln last night in which he tried to outfox a rival who bet him that whatever horses they brought to trade, the other was obliged to take it or suffer the loss of $50. So of course the rival turns up dragging the sorriest bag-o-bones horse you've ever laid eyes on while Abe arrived with a sawhorse over his shoulder. Abe said he thought he definitely got the worse end of the deal...
Have just gotten off the phone with a client who reminded me mid-conversation that Louis XIV said dismissively that the Dutch were " a tiny nation of shopkeepers". I absolutely ADORE that someone managed to work that tidbit into a conversation about Friesians!
