Intellectual Jumping

It was quite entertaining at horse-riding tonight.  We were outdoors, but Molly behaved quite well until Bella the dog started barking for no apparent reason.

That set Molly off, of course.

But we were working as a ride, and she was in second place, so there was less opportunity for spooking. 

We spent a lot of the lesson jumping.  There were no massive fences.  Just a small grid of five trotting poles,  Alternate poles were raised slightly, then we had three trotting poles with a canter stride over a cross-pole. 

Molly behaved like a pro.  And because I had to concentrate on sitting up and holding her back and then allowing her just one canter stride before bringing her back to a trot, I didn't panic, and we both acquited ourselves well.  Okay, there were one or two attempts where she decided she'd leap two poles instead of trotting nicely over them one at a time, but overall, the general impression was good.

And tomorrow, I have to drive to Edinburgh.  Meanwhile, my step-granddaughter has just informed me that she'll be taking up a brass instrument next year.  Now...  How do I persuade her to take up the French Horn, that ill wind that nobody blows any good??

Intellectual Jumping

It was quite entertaining at horse-riding tonight.  We were outdoors, but Molly behaved quite well until Bella the dog started barking for no apparent reason.

That set Molly off, of course.

But we were working as a ride, and she was in second place, so there was less opportunity for spooking. 

We spent a lot of the lesson jumping.  There were no massive fences.  Just a small grid of five trotting poles,  Alternate poles were raised slightly, then we had three trotting poles with a canter stride over a cross-pole. 

Molly behaved like a pro.  And because I had to concentrate on sitting up and holding her back and then allowing her just one canter stride before bringing her back to a trot, I didn't panic, and we both acquited ourselves well.  Okay, there were one or two attempts where she decided she'd leap two poles instead of trotting nicely over them one at a time, but overall, the general impression was good.

And tomorrow, I have to drive to Edinburgh.  Meanwhile, my step-granddaughter has just informed me that she'll be taking up a brass instrument next year.  Now...  How do I persuade her to take up the French Horn, that ill wind that nobody blows any good??

Death & The Minoans

I've been neglecting the Minoans just recently, which is a bit of a shame, because I've almost come to the end of my Minoan posts.  In fact, this is probably it.  You all know about the end of the Minoan civilisation.  How it probably came about through rather a large volcanic eruption on the island of Thera (aka Santorini).
Bettany Hughes covered the subject most eloquently on the recent Time Watch special, which is well worth tracking down, if you can find it.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my first real Minoan:-

 

I'm sure he or she knows exactly what was going on in Minoan culture, but unfortunately, there's no way they're going to be telling us anything...

Now, much was made about the equality of Minoan society, and it's true that both men and women were given lavish send offs.  One woman had a horse sacrificed to accompany her to the hereafter, and they're often accompanied with weaponry or jewellery.

 

Some Minoans were buried in these amazing decorated clay sarcophoghi, complete with lids, and little drains at either end to make sure the noxious fluids had a timely escape. 

Here's a lidded example pictured below:-

 

And another which is oddly reminiscent of a bathtub, with decoration insde as well as out.:-
 

There's yet more spirals on this particular example.  And there's a little figure in the interior:-
 

 

But not all Minoans were equal.  While the wealthier members of society were granted these rather swanky custom-built sarcophogi, the less well-heeled were buried in a worn-out pithos. 

 

Death & The Minoans

I've been neglecting the Minoans just recently, which is a bit of a shame, because I've almost come to the end of my Minoan posts.  In fact, this is probably it.  You all know about the end of the Minoan civilisation.  How it probably came about through rather a large volcanic eruption on the island of Thera (aka Santorini).
Bettany Hughes covered the subject most eloquently on the recent Time Watch special, which is well worth tracking down, if you can find it.

Anyway, without further ado, here's my first real Minoan:-

 

I'm sure he or she knows exactly what was going on in Minoan culture, but unfortunately, there's no way they're going to be telling us anything...

Now, much was made about the equality of Minoan society, and it's true that both men and women were given lavish send offs.  One woman had a horse sacrificed to accompany her to the hereafter, and they're often accompanied with weaponry or jewellery.

 

Some Minoans were buried in these amazing decorated clay sarcophoghi, complete with lids, and little drains at either end to make sure the noxious fluids had a timely escape. 

Here's a lidded example pictured below:-

 

And another which is oddly reminiscent of a bathtub, with decoration insde as well as out.:-
 

There's yet more spirals on this particular example.  And there's a little figure in the interior:-
 

 

But not all Minoans were equal.  While the wealthier members of society were granted these rather swanky custom-built sarcophogi, the less well-heeled were buried in a worn-out pithos.