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Thread Nine: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1584833/posts |
Posted on 10/04/2005 9:56:41 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
I always have a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!
I also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.
So... like the previous threads, this is intended as fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
Wow Sharn! The place looks heavenly! Having a stream on the property will be so cool. You can have your own swimming hole. Post more pictures any time you have them coz I'm dying to see the barns and stuff.
Oooh - I missed these pictures yesterday!
Very pretty place and cute farmhouse! You're not there for the remodel though looking over their shoulder? :~D
That is the first time I have been able to catch them in the air with the digital. Unless you have a very expensive professional digital camera, it is hard to take these action shots.
I kept missing the up part too. So, I just looked for signs that they were about to go up, and pressed the button before I saw the "perfect shot". I got lucky this time and caught several good shots. For every good one that I posted, I have 3 or 4 of the wrong thing.
I love Becky's buckskin. I used to have a QH buckskin mare and loved her to death. She was "dressage-challenged" however, so I traded her to a lady in North Carolina that had a huge red Hannovarian (older horse) that was already trained. She was afraid of him and didn't want to ride. Well, my Dixie was the perfect horse for her. She was so good that you could blast across a field at full gallop, but as soon as you asked, she would shut it down and stop. She did love to run though. I always had to grab mane when I asked her to take off because she really had some acceleration.
I have been practicing with the digital to get the timing down. I was always waiting until I framed the perfect shot, but would then be too late with the time lag in the digital.
I think I also was a bit lucky. I have been trying to get them both in the same frame while running but showing good steps in the gait. I have lots of these where one is looking good but the other is not. And, I had been trying to get one of them going up in the air too, but always seemed to snap the shutter too late. So, I pressed the button before I thought I should and got it just right.
The rolling around photos were easy since they decided to lay down near each other.
Winter has returned to North East Ohio. Cold, Windy, and snowing. I just knew the nice weather wouldn't last. 
Yeah - I know the experience with digitals... I take forty to get five :~D
Now that I can take still shots from digital video, my goal is to capture some of the pony's tantrums she has... she can run and buck and twist like the dickens, but it's hard to catch ;~D I'm gonna try filming the movie of it and grab stills that way...
You had a good day though and got some great shots!
What software are you using to pull the stills from the video? I've always thought that that would be the best way to get good action shots. You always get such good ones anyways so I'm really looking forward to the ones you get this way.
Microsoft Windows Movie Maker. I don't think I've always had it, but I think I got it with an update to XP. I know back in the day where we were tracking every bit of spoiler info for LoTR, we searched far and wide for software that could capture stills from AVI files... so I know I didn't have it then.
It has some downsides, it reduces the quality of the images and every frame is not equally clear so you have to go frame by frame and pick the best shots. But it's a pretty cool tool, you can use it to edit clips for length too, which is cool, and also could add effects or titles or music to them as video... I've only just started playing around with it but it appears to do a lot of stuff.
Oh - speaking of video... I see that Snapfish is now hosting video... haven't tried it yet and it won't be free, but it's not bad... unlimited video space (each clip up to 10 ~minutes~)... for a few bucks a month.
The only PCs we have at home are cast-offs from work, so they suck pretty bad. Plus, we live out in the boonies and there's no way to get cable internet or even DSL. It really pisses me off. The only internet connection we have is a dial-up through work. It's really slow, but at least I don't have to worry about security. I've thought about satellite internet but that gets into some pretty serious money. It might be worth it though, if it would work.
Well the MS Movie Maker program is super user friendly... I just poked around and pushed buttons and figured out how it works. I like it for being able to edit videos for length too... lots of time taking video you wish you could grab a section out of it and dump the rest. Apparently you could also edit a couple of separate files together, which would also be cool.
I'd be dead without cable out here.... and ours is blazin' fast. Satellite tv and internet doesn't work well here... too high a latitude and too many trees. Hard to find a clear shot to the horizon anywhere. And I'm told it doesn't do well when it's rainy... so there's that.
I like my satellite TV though. It doesn't go out TOO bad, but when it rains really really hard it will. I just watch something I have recorded when that happens. I think a lot of it has to do with how well it's aimed. When we had a new roof put on the place a few weeks ago they must've bumped the dish coz we couldn't get hardly anything the day after that. We didn't know what the problem was at first, but we finally figured it out and re-aimed the dish and it's good again.
So satellite's good in areas where it isn't likely to be raining six months out of the year ;~D Kinda like solar power... good in some places maybe, but will probably never really get many takers here ;~D
So how much is the satellite internet?
I haven't checked on it myself, but my niece did and she said it was going to be $500 - $1000 for installation. It might not be too bad if they let you spread it out over a couple of years. That way your whole satellite bill might run you $75 - $100 a month. Pretty expensive, but not as bad as paying it all in one chunk. I think Sharn had it, maybe she can tell us.
Ouch - so the installation is a bit steep... Are you saying the same satellite you have wouldn't work for both so you'd need two? what's the standard monthly then? Our cable is $50.... Between cable TV and internet, we're paying a little over $100 for both.
rofling!! What great pictures (and captions.) Your horses looks fabulous.
I don't know if you'd need an extra satellite or not. I didn't dig any deeper after I found out the installation price.
My satellite bill is about $39 a month for 60 chanels plus local network channels. You can get 120 chanels for about $49 and 180 for $59. The 60 channel package has most of the ones I cared anything about watching, plus a whole lot of ones I didn't, so I have my favorites list to weed them out. The 120 & 180 packages had lots more sports channels and music channels like Sirius. I watch way too much TV as it is, so I'm happy with what I've got.
Hah! Welcome to my fat horse farm! They just aren't getting enough work right now with the iffy weather. I am used to working them both 4-5 times a week. But, since I moved from the boarding stable to my house, I am stuck with weather and daylight since I don't have a covered or lighted arena.
The gray, Henkell, looks like he is due to give birth any day now. He is naturally round barrelled like an Arab but he has some extra girth right now. Trakehners have a lot of Arab blood in them. You can see it in the round barrels and in the flagging tail when they get excited.
They really aren't getting a lot of hard feed right now but are keeping their flesh extremely well even in the cold weather.
Thanks:) , about Rocky.
Becky
Becky
I took the kittens out to the barn again with me while I cleaned stalls today...
They explored the places where mouses go - no actual mouse sitings though ;~D
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