The Hobbit Hole III - Journey to the Cross-roads!

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to The Hobbit Hole!

Journey to the Cross-roads
The Two Towers Edition

Come on! Come in! -if you would like to have some seedcakes and a pint and relax a while. (If it is a special occasion, we still have a few bottles of the old wineyards left!)

Our first thread ( New Zealander builds Hobbit hole ) reached 4,100 posts, and we thought that was big. Our second thread (The New Hobbit Hole ) held us for over 48,000 posts, and we loved it dearly. We talked about moving to a new thread for the last 38,000 posts, but we are really slow to muster! Finally, the time has come. Tomorrow (at 12:01 am, to be precise!) The Two Towers comes out, and we start a new chapter.

[HairOfTheDog]

I love this description of Brego's training for the "Breath of Life" scene, from the AHA link above:

"In another sequence, Aragorn is found by his horse after being left for dead. The horse in this instance was trained to complete a very complex series of behaviors. The prep time for this was three weeks during which the trainer worked exclusively with one animal to get the horse to perform the sequence at liberty. This training and filming took place during re-shoots in 2002. The horse was required to walk up to the unconscious Aragon, nuzzle him, roll the actor over and lay down so that Aragon could grab its withers, be pulled up onto its back and carried off. The behaviors were taught in stages until one led seamlessly to another. The actor also took great effort to work with the horse for 10 days prior to shooting so that the lift off from the prone position could be a choreographed movement, comfortable for both the human and equine actors. This created great trust between the man and the animal. The actual hero horse also had to be partially trained for the close-up necessary as the horse nuzzles Aragon. Over six days were needed to get the frisky stallion to learn the gentle nuzzle. The remarkable result is the depiction of a human/animal bond that instills in the audience the sense that this intelligent animal is Aragon’s true companion, not just his horse."

Makes me [snif!]

I must go hug my horse now.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Isn't it amazing that animals and people share certain diseases?

Well... I could say, that depends on whether you believe in Creationism or Evolution... but I wouldn't want to start that argument here! ;)

[HairOfTheDog]

They are right about Melanoma being very common in light grey and white horses. There are many people who do not want to buy them for that reason.

Interestingly enough, the frequency that they have Melanoma saves them from slaughter, at least. The slaughterhouses that buy horses for human consumption overseas (shudder) will not buy grey or white horses.

[Alylonee]

That's terrible. What a beautiful Horse. I have never heard of an Andalusian. What are they like? I do mostly Mountain riding, and our primary choice of horses are Quarter Horses, but that was when I was younger and I'm a little out of touch with the different breeds now.

[Overtaxed]

Now if we can get jobs for Rosie and ecurbh

Me too, please! :)

Oh yeah! And Bear too! For some reason I thought you had another contract lined up.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I love this description of Brego's training for the "Breath of Life" scene

That scene made me wonder which felt better to Aragorn... Arwen's hair, or his horse's mane. ;)

Also made me wonder if Arwen needed a curry-comb...

[RMDupree]

Heheheheeee. I'm a Creationist, myself - yet I still hold some room for some small evolution in terms of survival. But I cannot hold the ape to man theory. Why aren't there any half-man/half-apes walking around? Whatever.

Well, anyway- I know that humans and animals can be afflicted with different variations of the same disease.

I'll never forget the day when the vet I worked for told a cat owner that her cat tested positive for feline AIDS. The lady freaked out because she thought the cat could give it to her or her kids.

I know of no disease that humans and animals can pass back and forth to each other except maybe the Black Plague or Lyme Disease - but even those are a result of parasites, not of the animals themselves.

[RMDupree]

I've always had a soft spot for Appaloosas.

Taking a bow...

Say cheese...

[HairOfTheDog]

I am mostly a trail rider now too, given the age and talents of my current mount, an Arabian, pictured on my profile page. I have ridden jumpers and toyed with dressage in the past, and may again in the future depending on who my next horse is when Bay has gone.

Andalusians are a very old breed, native to Spain. They are perhaps most known and popular in dressage. They are also used in breeding programs to bring grace into breeds such as the Lippizaner. The Andalusian has been approved into Lippizan breeding programs to correct the coarseness of head and neck that began to develop in the breed, and to increase the flexibility and suspension in their movement.

More: IALHA - International Andalusian & Lusitano Horse Association

[HairOfTheDog]

When I was a teenager, my first horse experience was at an Appaloosa farm. My first horse-teacher was an Appaloosa mare who was older than the hills! And my good friend has one. They have a soft spot in my heart too.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

For some reason I thought you had another contract lined up.

Thanks! No, contracting is pretty dead around the holidays... my last one ended on the 18th, and no one wants to start a new one until after the first. I have some hopes that something long-term will be available then, but not likely to hear about it until after the Jan. 1. Keeping my fingers crossed!

[Overtaxed]

Well...I have a prospect but it involves moving to KS.

[Alylonee]

Do you like to trail ride your Arabian? In my experience, the one I had made a terrible trail rider. He was too flighty... When I was 12, he bucked me off 10 miles from where I lived and I had to walk the entire way back. It was my fault for getting kicked off, but still, he was really jumpy. He was lovely to ride on flat ground though, beautiful and gracefull. I wonder if we had just purchased him at too old of an age and he wasn't properly trained.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

I have a prospect but it involves moving to KS

I have read your posts about that. That's a big move, which can be scary, especially if you don't know anyone where you're moving to. I was lucky when I moved to Texas, I had Rose waiting for me. Of course, I didn't have a job waiting for me, but the market for computer people here was so much better that I found a job relatively quickly, one which paid twice what I had made back in Michigan.

The only advice I would offer is, make sure you have an iron-clad employment contract, or a sure path to move back. Many companies have moved employees, only to have a lay-off a few months after the move, leaving the former employees who moved living with no income in an unfamiliar place.

[HairOfTheDog]

My Arabian is the best trail rider I know. You can't beat them in endurance racing, and my horse was, in his younger days, raced on 50 and 100 mile races.

They are hotter than a Quarter Horse, and can be flighty if they do not have trust, which is vital for them. Quarter Horses will go forward to be obedient. Arabs will go forward if they believe you when you say it is safe. Ha! Lie to them once, and they will use their own judgment in the future. They notice everything, and are looking around all the time. Their survival instincts are much more in tune than in QHs.

I know Arabs from my show days that are so hot they would not be particularly trustworthy on trail... The stallion I had when I was a teen was not particularly good. Quiet was not in his nature! My Bay is 22 now. and has been 10's of thousands of miles. I would trust him anywhere.

[Alylonee]

Your horse is beautiful (I looked on your home page). I can definitely see what you are saying. I was not the best rider at 12, so I am sure that the poor horse wasn't to excited about me riding him! That really makes me happy to hear that they can be trail ridden because I absolutely love their spirit and their looks.

[SuziQ]

"The Return of the King," will be inching toward the 3-1/2-hour mark.

Hmmm. Any chance that PJ heard the cries of the Tolkien fans and actually included the Scouring of the Shire in RoTK?

[John Farson]

And given that we in the Blogosphere tell one another that we must keep our anger fresh, and that we must remember our hurt in order to ensure that we do not slacken our pace in this war,

People can't concentrate properly on blowing other
people to pieces properly if their minds are poisoned
by thoughts suitable to the twenty-fifth of December.

--Ogden Nash
I'm a Stranger Here Myself (1938)
"Merry Christmas, Nearly Everybody!"

[Overtaxed]

That's a big move, which can be scary, especially if you don't know anyone where you're moving to.

Well....I'm on posting terms with osagebowman....

They just wanted me to think seriously about it.

[SuziQ]

Congratulations on your new job!!! It does sound as though there is room for real growth, so best of luck with it and I'll pray for your continued success in the New Year.

Christmas through a little one's eyes is the most magical holiday!! Everything about it is geared to inundate all the senses with the lights, the music, the feel of snow, the smell and taste of wonderful foods. On top of all that, the soul is Blessed with the knowledge of the Birth of Christ. It is truly my favorite time of year!

Y'all only got a dusting of snow? We must have gotten 10-12" at least! It is gorgeous, and thankfully we have the snow thrower so Sir SuziQ and the boys didn't have to do all the digging that would have been required! We had to get the kids out there to knock the snow off the arborvitae trees so the branches wouldn't break under the weight of it!