HORSES - The Lipizzaners

Lipizzaner stallion in the Slovakian National Stud Topolcianky -  Picture: Wikimedia

Some History of the Lipizzaners 

The aristocratic Lipizzaners are descended from the Iberian Horse, which is the oldest breed in the world.  Iberians were used as war horses from 4000 years before Mohammed when camels were used as mounts in warfare and their Lipizzaner descendants today are trained to perform movements that were originally taught to military mounts so that they were more effective in battle.

The breed was first established in 1590, by the Archduke of Austria, Charles II.  He began the first stud farm in Lipizza, then a part of Italy, and began breeding the Iberian with the native breeds of Italy.  Until well into the late 1700s, these horses were crossbred with the finest of horses from Spain, Italy and Arabia.  They were used, during that time, as family and carriage horses for the Royal Court in Vienna.

In 1735, Charles VI of Austria established the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.  It is the oldest riding school in the world (so named for the Spanish horses who were a large foundation of the breed), and for more than 400 years has trained riders and horses to perform the classical dressage movements which have made the Lipizzaner famous.  When Charles began school, he also began recording the bloodlines of the breed.

Of the nine original studs used to establish the breed, six bloodlines are used solely for breeding at the Spanish Riding School and Lipizzaners of South Africa at Kyalami.  These are the ones that they recognize as the purest of the breed.  Those six stallions were:

- Pluto, born in 1765, grey in color

- Conversano, born in 1767, black in color

- Favory, born in 1779, dun in color

- Neapolitano, born in 1790, bay (brown) in color

- Siglavy, born in 1810, grey in color

- Maestroso II, born in 1819, grey in color

Although the two breeders mentioned here tend to favor the light-grey and white stallions for showing, they consider it bad luck if there is not at least one bay horse in their stables.

Lipizzaners are branded with a special symbol to indicate from which bloodlines they descended.

They bear the symbol of their sire and the symbol of their dam's sire.  This is called the "ancestral brand".   Foals are branded with a number so that one can easily locate them in the foal registry.  In addition to these two brands, each Lipizzaner also carries the "brand of descent" on its left cheek. This is quite often an "L".  

More recently, two other bloodlines have been internationally recognized as purebred.  Those are:

- Tulipan, born in 1850, no color stated

- Incitato, no date of birth or color stated

While not indicated as being recognized by the two aforementioned breeders, these bloodlines are acceptable to many modern-day advocates of the bloodline purity.

In 1920, the decision was made to move the Lipizzaners from Lipizza (now in present-day Slovenia) to Piber, Austria.  During World War 2 the entire inventory of the stock was moved to Holstau to prevent the animals from being seized and used in battle or requisitioned as food supplies by hostile forces.  The line almost became extinct (only 250 horses survived), and would have been wiped out completely without the intervention of General George Patton.  He and his troops rescued the survivors so that they could move on to continue their incredible history.

In 1948, after having fled Europe, Count Elemer Jankovich-Besan moved some of the surviving horses to South Mooi River in South Africa.  He gifted one of the stallions to Major George Iwanowski who, in turn, started the Lipizzaners of South Africa School.  This is one of the two accredited Lipizzaner Centers in the world, the other being the Spanish Riding School.

Description and Conformation of the Lipizzaners 

Foals are usually dark or black-brown when born.  They go through several different color changes before finally achieving their adult color between the ages of four and ten.  Most often, the color is light-gray or white.  However, there are also duns and bays.  They are simply not as common and it is a rarity to have an adult Lipizzaner be totally black-brown or black.

The breed is long-lived and has been recorded to live as long as 34 years.  It is not uncommon for a Lipizzaner to live well into its 20s.  They are very loyal and are well-known for their magnificent stamina, agility, strength, and courage.

For training and showing, only stallions are used.  And the breeders/trainers look for a certain conformation in those horses which are eventually trained for dressage.  These include:

- the stallion should be 15.2 to 16 hands (a hand is four inches or 6 cm) high, that is 155 to 160 cm

- the head is slightly aquiline to gently Roman in shape, and the eyes are a good width apart

- the neck should be crested, but not appear too heavy at the top nor too thick underneath

- the back and the neck should be of equal length

- the chest should be strong and of medium width

- the shoulders should have a good slope

- the legs should appear shorter so that the horse is better conformed to perform the "Airs Above the Ground"

- the musculature should be pronounced, without making the horse appear too heavy - the hindquarters should be well-rounded

- the mane and tail should be thick and full, but fine and soft to the touch.

"Classical Dressage" 

The "Airs Above the Ground", when performed and observed, bring to mind the movements of a ballerina.  In a manner of speaking, the Lipizzaner is the ballerina of the equine world.

The exercises performed by these magnificent creatures include: 

- the levade: a 45-degree position in which the horse is "haunched" over the ground - the courbette: the horse balances on his hind legs before jumping, and keeps his forelegs off the ground and his hind legs together while "hopping"

- the capriole: the stallion leaps into the air, tucks his forelegs under him, and kicks out with his hind legs at the height of elevation

- the piaffe: a cadenced trot which the stallion performs while standing in place

- the croupade: similar to the capriole, but both front and hind legs are tucked under the body at the height of elevation and many more.

It is fascinating to watch these horses in performance, and it is a once-in-a-lifetime experience which true horse-lovers should experience.  They are stunning and, at times, awe-inspiring.  They truly are the ballerinas of the equine world, and a marvelous sight to behold!

The Slovenians consider the Lipizzaner to be the first pure-bred ever established in their country.  As such, it will most likely be pictured on their new euro coins.  This horse is highly prized in their country.

The breed is rare today, with only about 3,000 horses registered as purebreds.  But, the numbers are increasing as breeders use the horses more in harness.  Slovenians use the stallions for dressage display and to cross-breed with their own native stock for use in agricultural work.  The Lipizzaner is still the only breed used by the Spanish Riding School in Austria.

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5 Steps To A Better LAWN and GARDEN

Lawn & Garden
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

If you’re lucky enough to have a lawn with a good topsoil base, much of the hard work of keeping a lawn beautiful is already done for you. But many of us do not have this luxury, and besides, even with a good topsoil base, you still have to work hard to keep a beautiful lawn and garden.

1. The best time to mow a lawn is when it is cool and dry. Wait for the morning dew to dry off and before the afternoon heat takes hold. Alternatively, late afternoon or early evening following a watering in the morning is also a good time.

2. A hedge is a much better boundary divider than a fence. It will provide better privacy and keep pets and children in – or out. It will attract birds to its shelter, and provide a great backdrop for plants and flowers.

3. Bring the beauty of your garden to you; plant hyacinths near walkways and doors. Their magnificent perfume will swamp the spring air and make your garden really come alive.

4. Add your garden to non-garden items, such as lampposts, and mailboxes. Surround these items with flowers planted to take advantage of the earliest to the latest flowerings. You could have white snowdrops, purple and gold crocus, blue hyacinths, and various colored tulips. You could also surround the posts with rocks to provide added interest.

5. Simple, but effective weed control can be achieved on your lawn by mowing often during spring. This will prevent dandelions from spreading by eliminating the yellow blossoms and preventing seed formation. Mow high during late spring and early summer. This will allow grass blades to shade the ground and will help prevent crabgrass from sprouting.

Your lawn and garden should be a source of pride and beauty. You don’t need to spend lots of money on expensive fertilizers and herbicides, or fancy lawn furniture and ornaments. A little commonsense and thought can go a long way to making your lawn and garden a much better place.

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30 Days TRIAL

An application of single whip by Yang Chengfu from his 1931 book.
(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Recently I came across a very interesting idea which is called 30 Days to Success. How it works is that let's say you want to start a new habit, for example, jogging for at least 3 times a week. You think of this as a temporary activity. You do it for a 30-day trial. After 30 days you will not need to continue this anymore.

I think it is a nature of human that whenever we need to change our daily habits, it seems very hard for us to make a start. We will feel overwhelmed when we think that we need to continue to do this for the rest of our life. We get fed up and never make a start. But if we think of this as only a temporary change, then it will become not that difficult for us. Anyway, after 30 days we will be able to go back to our normal daily life.

So what happens is after 30-days of trial, it will become a habit to us and it will be easier for us to continue to maintain the habit. This is a powerful way to improve our life.

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Increase Your TRAINING INTENSITY - Forced Repetitions

Standing Barbell Curl exercise for Biceps(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

You can only build muscle tissue if you can generate progressively stronger muscular contractions, so this calls for an emphasis on finding ways to increase exercise intensity. This should not be confused with exercise duration as maximum training intensity will actually shorten the time needed to achieve maximal muscular growth.

 In an earlier article, I outlined the ways in which you can intensify your training. Here we'll focus on the role that forced repetitions have to play in intensifying the training effect.

When you reach the point of muscular failure it is impossible to manage one more complete repetition of any exercise, at least not without losing form or correct technique. There is, however, one way in which you can increase the intensity even further and that is by completing one or more forced repetitions with the help of an experienced training partner.

The best way to achieve this is by keeping the same weights on the bar and have your training partner do no more than is necessary to allow you to complete up the three extra repetitions with good lifting form.

Beginning bodybuilders should avoid forced reps until they have learned good lifting techniques and have prepared their muscles for the stresses involved in this particular approach. Intermediate lifters should consider adding forced reps to one exercise in the pre-exhaust sequence. Advanced bodybuilders can utilize forced reps based on their own needs and judgement.

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Title: 2006 Acura CL: Traditional yet Modern

 2006 Acura TL. Front left quarter - Picture: Wikipedia

Acura, as a brand, has been holding up its share in its commitment to crafting, introducing, and bringing to the market vehicles that are engineered so as to provide excellent performance. And once again, Acura has added another vehicle to this list and at the same reinforcing the brand’s commitment. Welcome the all-new 2006 Acura CL. 

The 2006 Acura CL has been redesigned and reengineered in almost every little detail possible. This new vehicle promises to deliver higher levels of performance, technological innovations, engineering achievements, passenger safety, and overall style. It has also been destined to compete with the existing BMW 328Ci, the Volvo C70, and the Mercedes Benz CLK320. This vehicle has been again designed so as to provide and exude the smooth and flowing lines of the classic coupes of the European Gran Turismo. However, this does not overbear the styling that is only from an Acura. Making the 2006 Acura CL a remarkable vehicle is that it has been able to combine the past, tradition, and heritage with modernity and technology. This vehicle surely possesses encompassing efficiency with its powerful engines, as well as revolutionary safety features and high technology vehicle management systems that are controlled by computers. 

There are two engine options for the 2006 Acura CL. It is either the Acura 3.2 liter VTEC V6 engine with 24 valves or the 3.2 power plant that has the capacity to create 225 horsepower. As per interior volume, this all-new vehicle sports 96.5 cubic feet of this, which is a 4.6 cubic feet increase from the previous vehicle. It also sports some 192.0 inches of length and 70.6 inches in its width. Safety features have been packed in this vehicle. The list includes standard front airbags, advanced side airbags with front passenger height and position sensors, and the standard anti-lock brakes as well as the Traction Control System. Offered as an option for the 2006 Acura CL is the Acura Navigation System. This system provides a satellite-linked nationwide coverage done through the use of a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) database located on board. The vehicle also sports modifications like CompTech cold air intake, certified exhaust headers, CompTech high-flow exhaust system, Brembo brakes, sport suspension with Titanium front upper strut bar, 19-inch Maya DTM wheels, front and rear bumpers with side moldings, a deck lid tail spoiler, and custom aluminum exhaust tips. 

For more information about the Acura CL as well as to purchase Acura CL accessories and parts, customers can visit Auto Accessories Giant. The list includes steering wheel covers, alignment kits, shock absorbers, emblems, brake rotors, and a whole lot more. 

The 2006 Acura CL is one coupe that is really worth looking into. Although this vehicle has its share of downs like a confusing navigation system controls, and cramped headroom as well as entry and exit for the rear seats, the 2006 Acura CL still shines amidst these with its quick acceleration, smooth steering as well as handling, and perfect build quality.

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Finding Your Roots: African American GENEALOGY

It's always fun finding out who you really are and the internet is one of the best tools available to do this. Although you may consider that you already know about yourself, the internet can be a very useful tool to let you find out a little bit of history about your family. You have to consider that it's a great thing to know about your family's past and know about relatives you didn’t even know existed.

The internet has numerous genealogy websites that you can use to find out about your family, who you were related to, and what kind of person you are. Some people use these websites for many reasons. Some say to find out about themselves and some even find out about their family just for fun. Whatever your reasons are, you have to consider that finding out about where you came from can be quite a thrilling experience. Just imagine, you may be related to Martin Luther King Jr. and you and your family don't even know about it.

Or, it can also be quite a surprise if you find out that you are a distant cousin of a famous African American superstar athlete, such as Kobe Bryant or Tiger Woods.

You have to consider that traces of your family ancestry can be lost in time. There are a lot of reasons why a family's history die out. Some were affected by quarrels inside the family circle and others were affected by historical events that separated them from other members of the family. This is why some people retrace their ancestry in order to find out what happened to their long lost relatives. 

Although the internet doesn’t contain all the necessary information about your family and the essential records, you have to consider that it is a useful tool to use in order to point you to the right direction. This will save you a lot of time finding those different vital records, such as marriage, death, and birth records.

African Americans have played a vital role in the United States of America's history. They suffered from slavery, years of war and some migrated from Africa. If you are an African American and you wish to know more about your family's history, you should try and find it on the internet. It will point you to where you should find the essential documents and guide you in obtaining seemingly unobtainable documents.

Although it is a fact that the path to your family's history may seem like a rough path, you have to consider that knowing about your past will give you that sense of pride in knowing about your proud family history.

As you can see, it is always fun to know about your family's ancestry. It will not only give you detailed reports on what happened to all your lost relatives all these years but it will also tell you who they are and what they achieved in life. Who knows, maybe you are a distant relative of a world-famous African American.

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What is Alternative Energy

Picture: Melanie Maecker-Tursun Wikipedia

There is a lot of energy that we can harness if we only seek to research and develop the technologies needed to do so. We can get away from fossil fuels and the old electrical grids by turning to alternatives to these energy sources.

One of these alternative energy resources is wind power. Wind turbines continue to be developed that are progressively more energy-efficient and less costly. “Wind farms” have been springing up in many nations, and they have even become more strategically placed over time so that they are not jeopardizing birds as former wind turbines did.

Another alternative energy resource is the one that is most well known: solar energy. This involves the manufacturing of solar cells that gather and focus the energy given off directly by the sun and translate it into electricity or, in some cases, hot water. As with wind energy, solar energy creates absolutely zero pollution.

Ocean wave energy is seen by governments and investors as having enormous energy generating potential. A generator in France has been in operation for many years now and is considered to be a great success, and the Irish and Scots are running experimental facilities. 

Hydroelectric power has been with us for a while and where it is set up, it is a powerful generator of electricity and cleaner than a grid. However, there are certain limitations to the availability of the right places to set up a large dam. Many run-of-the-river, or small and localized, hydroelectric generators have been set up in recent times due to this limitation.

Geothermal energy is extremely abundant since it lies directly beneath our feet, just a few miles below the earth's surface. This energy is produced by the heating of water through the actions of the earth's fantastically hot molten core. The water turns to steam, which can be harnessed and used to drive turbine engines which in turn generate electricity. Great amounts of research and development should be put into geothermal energy tapping. 

Waste gas energies, which are essentially methane, reverse the usual energy-pollution relationship by creating energy from waste that lies in the dumps and from some air pollutants. This gas is used in fuel cells and can be used in standard gasoline generators. 

Ethanol is a gasoline substitute and is created from such things as wheat, sugarcane, grapes, strawberries, corn, and even wood chips and wood cellulose. There is controversy over this fuel with regards to its ever becoming truly economical or practical except in very localized areas, but technologies for its extraction and admixture are continuously being refined. 

Biodiesel energy is created out of the oils contained in plants. So far, the commercial stores of biodiesel have been created using soybean, rapeseed, and sunflower oils. At the time of this writing, biodiesel is typically produced by entrepreneurial-minded individuals or those who want to experiment with alternative energy, but commercial interest from companies is on the rise. It burns much cleaner than oil-based diesel. 

Atomic energy is created in atomic energy plants using the process of nuclear fission. This energy is extremely efficient and can generate huge amounts of power. There is concern from some people about what to do with the relatively small amount of waste product atomic energy gives off since it is radioactive and takes hundreds of years to decay into harmlessness.

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