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All the Pretty Horses

All the Pretty Horses

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“All the pretty horses come running to her. Even the dust devils pray, they’ll catch her eye.” This is one line from the lyrics of a song called “Green and Dumb” by Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers. The song is based on the hit movie and best selling novel (author Cormac McCarthy) by the same name. We find ourselves being drawn to songs about horses and the horse or cowboy lifestyle and this has always been one of our favorites.

Thanks to the magic of the Internet, you can hear the full song below.
Update: sorry – had to pull the song sample since the company that provided it, Lala.com, is no longer operational. You can hear the full song in this music video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvK-PhKGHi8

Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers is one of our favorite bands. Their songs remind us of our southwestern heritage and the romanticized cowboy borderlands in Arizona.

As a horse-person, do you find yourself collecting songs about horses, too? If so, what are your favorites? Have you heard the song above before now?

We have a few other favorites I’ll bring up in later posts.

CD Review: On Horses’ Wings…And You Can Win It!

CD Review: On Horses’ Wings…And You Can Win It!

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On Horses Wings AlbumThat’s right…just in time for Christmas, we’re going to have another first here at Our First Horse – a giveaway!

We have found another great CD for your listening pleasure. It is a compilation CD called “On Horses’ Wings” and features seven great artists on 19 vocal and musical tracks. Everything on the CD is horse-related, of course, but it’s one of the best CDs on any subject or in any genre we’ve heard in a while.

It is beautifully done. The tracks alternate from a spoken piece (think poem, or short story) to a song. There is a lot of thought put into the arrangement; each song fits the piece before it, and they all flow from beginning to end. Some of the pieces will make you laugh (“The County Fair is Over” followed by “Falling in Love in America,” both by Antsy McClain), and some will bring a tear to your eye (“He’s Gonna Run” by James Cain). All will inspire you, and remind you of how very powerful a horse is, in every way. I love the whole CD. My current favorite is “Hands” by Wylie and the Wild West (I think of it by the more complete refrain, “16 Hands Closer to God”), but I’ve only heard it a handful of times.

Oh, and one of the best things about the CD is that all proceeds will benefit Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center, an equine-assisted therapy center supporting children and adults with disabilities. Read about Little Bit here.

Check it out and listen to tracks here: On Horses’ Wings
Read about it and buy it here: On Horses’ Wings CD

Surely by now, the end of this post, you’ve clicked on the links, listened to all the tracks and know all about the artists and Little Bit. Maybe you’ve even bought a copy or two – we surely hope so! But maybe you’re still remembering the beginning of the post where I said you could win a copy. Never fear, I haven’t forgotten that either. Here’s how: Simply post a comment here, right here on this post. Not just any comment though – we don’t want a whole line of “I want it,” “Me too,” “Count me in,” etc. But we won’t make you write an essay or anything either…it is the holidays, after all, and we’re all busy people! Just please leave a little note telling us something dear to your heart that is horse-related. You could tell us your favorite horse activity, or how many horses you have, or your favorite song on “On Horses’ Wings,” or why you love Our First Horse! 🙂 Make it as short or as long as you like. Post it by midnight EDT on December 15, 2008, and we’ll randomly pick a poster to win a copy!

Good luck to you all, and Happy Thanksgiving!

Update: Even though the contest is now over, the CD is available still at Ecletic Horseman Communications (no affiliation).

We need a new barn radio

We need a new barn radio

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Old Barn RadioNo matter what kind of music you listen to, if you spend time in the barn you probably play a radio there. We have an old CD player radio with a broken CD door (nothing duct tape and an old horse shoe couldn’t fix) which worked great until a week or so ago. For some reason the CD player won’t play anymore. It might have something to do with the half inch of fur/dirt and hay pile up in the corners of the CD tray or the fact that its floor location means it gets accidentally kicked a lot. Either way, it’s dead and we need a new barn radio.

So here are the three options I have, as I see them:

1) Cheap radio – I could simply purchase a cheap new radio from Walmart and I might even be able to find one that can play MP3’s. I hate changing CD’s in the barn anyway and I can put 150 songs on an MP3 CD. Heck, I could even go low tech and tape around the edges of the CD door to keep the dust out. I might even be able to find one with an auxiliary input jack for an MP3 player. For less than $39 I’d probably have a radio that would last another two or three years.
Barn Radio Idea - Walmart
$37 on clearance at Walmart

2) Resistant car radio – I could build a box to mount a car radio so I could use a boating water/dust front cover. I actually have a car radio that would work that plays MP3 CD’s and has an auxiliary input jack for use with an iPod or something. I would have to buy speakers but this would give me some speaker flexibility. For instance, I could mount maybe four speakers around the barn. I’m not always in the tack room and I hate turning the radio to full volume just to hear it while cleaning stalls. But car radios are twelve volts to work in cars. I could use a car battery and wire a solar charger to it. This option is fun but I have a feeling it would end up costing me $100 or more and take several days to setup and perfect. But it would be neat and would probably last a long time.
Barn Radio Idea - Car Stereo
3) Durable jobsite radio – What I’m referring to here is one of those contractor radios that home builders use on job sites. I’ve seen them at Home Depot and Lowes. They’re dirt, water and impact resistant. But they’re also $200-$300. But some of them work on battery power and it would be nice for camping and other projects. But that’s a lot of money.

Barn Radio Idea - Jobsite
Bosch PB10-CD available at Amazon right now for $140

So what do you use for a barn radio? Any suggestions?

Music for Horse Lovers

Music for Horse Lovers

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Hoofbeats, Heartbeats & WingsI was searching the Internet a while back for something, and I came across an artist y’all will really enjoy. Her name is Mary Ann Kennedy, and she’s right here in Tennessee. She is a horse person like we want to be horse people – she lives and breathes horses. And she writes music about horses – good music. They aren’t the kind of songs you listen to and think, “That’s pretty, but what does it mean?” These songs celebrate the relationship between humans and horses in a very real way – some are funny (“Cleanin’ Stalls”); some are poignant (“Horses in Heaven”); all are true to life. Our current favorite is “Green on Green.” It pretty much describes Bill’s relationship to Moonshine:

“Green on green makes black and blue
I wouldn’t ride that horse if I were you…
Today you might get off scot free
But chances are eventually
He’ll go up and you’ll come down
That’s when you’ll understand this song…”

Yep, a green horse and a green rider, bad combination! We also like “Jack Russell” – we have 3 of those little monsters. There’s also “Hayin’ Time,” “Horsin’ Around,” and a beautiful song called “Fireflies” that makes me want to go riding in the dark this summer.

Those songs are from her CD “Hoofbeats, Heartbeats and Wings” from 2005. She just came out with a new CD: “The Rhythm of the Ride.”

We just got it, but there are some great songs on it too. The title song is great, and I really like “Heart in Your Hands” – it’s a great reminder of the responsibility that goes along with loving our four-legged friends.

If you have a CD player in your barn, there’s nothing better to listen to while grooming your horses, taking care of your tack or, yes, cleanin’ stalls.

Song samples in previous versions of this post were used with permission