AH'ers on Vacation (photos)

[BlackShanglan]

Shanglan...in the briar patch now! You need a proper welcome home.

So very good to be back amongst friends who know me well. Cheers, Pasha.

 

[CharleyH]

It's good to be back from my jaunt around the States and the United Kingdom. It seems, however, that I didn't leave many of you behind - at least, not to judge from the holiday snaps. I've posted a few so you can see what the other AH'ers have been up to as well as be bored to tears by my vacation photos (a mandatory rite of vacation passage).

Shanglan

In looking for a thread that is always elusive to me, I came upon your thread, and am bumping so I can come back to it. Did we all travel at the same time?

 

[CharleyH]

A rather charming pair ... perhaps I need to write a story about these two? I was too stunned with admiration during the visits with the other Shire horses to take any decent photos.

Commenting as I go along. Are those Canadian Geese I see between the Mother Geese type ones? I knew it wasn't Minsue. The horses are beautiful, but I am surprised that they appear exceptionally stout, and with so much hair cascading down the calves. What kind are they? Did you ride while you were in GB?

 

[CharleyH]

As in real life, the alpaca is a distant and tantalizing glimpse. I tried to get closer for a chat, but alpaca was a bit coy.Too busy with the friends and, um, the sheep ...

LOL, he was Scot?

 

[CharleyH]

Proof that the City of Brotherly Love has excellent taste. They've named a street after me.

They named a whole town after me!

 

[CharleyH]

Funny, I thought the same about a spot in Provincetown.....I won't say who it's named after. The list goes on and one, myself included.

That's the street named after me!!!

 

[CharleyH]

Thanks for sharing Shanglan. Do you have some landscapes of where you went? Where dd you go? In US and Britain. Did you see differences from state to state or country?

Cheers. Thanks again.

PS, this AV is Confederation Bridge on New Brunswick side offsetting Prince Edward Island. You cant see in the colour, but the sand is spectacularly red. Had never seen a clay beach on the Atlantic before. What was the most impressive sight to you?

 

[BlackShanglan]

Commenting as I go along. Are those Canadian Geese I see between the Mother Geese type ones? I knew it wasn't Minsue. The horses are beautiful, but I am surprised that they appear exceptionally stout, and with so much hair cascading down the calves. What kind are they? Did you ride while you were in GB?

I did not ride. The large horse in the photo is a Shire horse, a draft animal and descended from the massive warhorses used in the days of knights and armor. The feathering around the feet is typical of the breed and part of what distinguishes them from Punches, another breed of draft horse in used in other parts of the country. The picture was taken in Wales.

I've included a shot of the landscape from above, and another from below, where we were down in the local caves. I have pictures from Pennsylvania and from London as well, but mostly building shots (I was doing some research) and peoeple you wouldn't know.

Differences? Immense. Hard to put them into words, really. Everything from building style and materials to accent to word choices to expressions, features, food, fauna ... you name it. That's what I love about travel.

Shanglan

 

[CharleyH]

Differences? Immense. Hard to put them into words, really. Everything from building style and materials to accent to word choices to expressions, features, food, fauna ... you name it. That's what I love about travel.

Shanglan

Do tell. I used to ride your kind English and Western. I love the shots, just odd horses, very stout, again. Is SHIRE horse the breed? And these (looking SLOW) were war horses? Do you have a history? Sorry if it is too much.

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

All right, so he's not in the AH. But he SHOULD be! Look at the style on this lad. And he's only a goat in his pajamas. Really knows how to pose, as well - see that "check out my good side" gleam in his eye.

Goats do not have a "good" side. A less-bad-than-the-other side, maybe. A good-side, no way.

Rumple "the old goat-roper" Foreskin

 

[BlackShanglan]

Do tell. I used to ride your kind English and Western. I love the shots, just odd horses, very stout, again. Is SHIRE horse the breed? And these (looking SLOW) were war horses? Do you have a history? Sorry if it is too much.

Yes, the breed is Shire horse - a reference to the places in England where they were most commonly used for agricultural work in the 1800's when the name was selected (succeeding "English Cart Horse"). There are a number of websites - this one has a heritage section that is brief and easily digestible.

They did use them as war horses. The chief thing with a warhorse carrying a man in full plate is not speed or agility - nothing's going to run very fast with that much metal on its back - but power and inexorability. They can, of course, still easily outrun men, and with about a ton of man and horse hitting at once, the lance becomes practically an afterthought if you're charging infantry. The momentum makes it nearly impossible for men on foot to stand against you, especially when the horse is also armored. It's essentially a tank. Hence the stoutness of limb and body; they are built for power rather than speed.

Shanglan

 

[impressive]

I've included a shot of the landscape from above, and another from below, where we were down in the local caves.

LOVE the landscape shot!

Thanks for sharing, Shang.

 

[BlackShanglan]

And a kick up the ranks so that a fuzzy friend may see the snaps.

 

[CharleyH]

And a kick up the ranks so that a fuzzy friend may see the snaps.

Good stuff ,and am giving a boost up the horses ass? :|