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!
The 13th Letter
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!
