Saturday, July 25, 2009

Inspired To Go For A Run

Boris and I shot a bunch of pictures of horses for upcoming paintings at a nearby stable the other day and, once we were at home looking at our pictures on the computer, seeing this one made me feel compelled to drop everything, put on my running shoes, and go flying down the street. When we were shooting these pictures, you could see how much this horse loved the feeling of running. He would trot for a bit and then just take off. Inspiring for sure!

4 comments:

  1. I can understand how you feel!

    I was actually inspired to try out the running machine with some upbeat music, because you seem to enjoy it so much! ^_^

    And I really liked it! So thank you <3

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  2. Wow! Thanks for telling me that, Gabriela. That makes me so happy!

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  3. I know exactly what you mean! Horses are compelled to run; they must to keep their hearts and limbs conditioned. Inactivity is deadly to a horse, and ultimately it is to us too!

    Have you ever seen the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Black Stallion"? Now there's some horse footage to inspire! I loved that film as a kid. When I was eight or so I took riding lessons at a stable where my "dream horse" resided. A white half Arabian, half Appaloosa named King. He was all fire and wind, like the kind of horse that one might find in one of your paintings. Years passed and I stopped taking lessons, but in my early teens my father bought my sister a thoroughbred and kept it at a friend's new stable. When I took my first look around I noticed a familiar horse in the pasture; King! Sadly, he had broken his former owner's back and was now considered "un-rideable". I slowly earned his trust and rode him anyway. Always bareback; falling from a bareback horse is safer (no stirrups to get caught in) and he did throw me fairly often. King had two speeds; stop and FLY! He never needed any urging.We flew over fallow corn and soybean fields in every season, and man, is that ever a workout! Legs have to be strong to cling to a galloping horse with no saddle. It's also a good core workout because of the balance needed--but nothing anyone should try without a good bit of training, including the proper falling method (tuck and roll)!

    Coppola does a masterful job of capturing the experience of galloping astride a horse who LOVES to run. The film has little dialog in the first half, and the story is well told without it. The relationship between the shipwrecked boy and black stallion is established around the 5:30 mark in this clip:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f1ihzkEFwqE&feature=related and learns to ride the stallion in the following clip (part five-in the right hand column) where Coppola so perfectly captures that feeling of freedom and exhilaration. I also enjoyed the race sequence
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fVZOCw_TEs&feature=related Coppola avoids the obvious use of a soundtrack and allows the viewer to hear what the rider hears, which almost makes it feel interactive. Yep, that's just how it feels to be flying along at 35-40mph with a mane whipping at your face. Now you'll feel like having another run!

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  4. Yeah, and I definitely want to see that movie, too! Thanks Jen!

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