Janet Brien's photos with the keyword: North American Gypsy Affaire

This gorgeous young stallion is a rare breed called a Drum Horse, which is a blend of Clydesdale, Shire, and spotted cob. They were originally bred in Britain to be used in the royal parades, where they carried the massive drums in the procession. About 20 years ago, a spotlight began to shine on these gorgeous horses were made an official breed. With the explosion in popularity, it is now possible to find Drum Horses all over the world. In fact, within 3 miles of my home! Aptly named, BH Spectacular knows his name to be Toby, and I drive past his pasture almost every day. I've watched him grow from a young colt into the still-growing stallion of today, and he is more impressive with each passing season. I'm friends with his owner, Teresa Byersdorf, and it's been fun keeping up to date with how he's doing! He's four years old now and if you'd like to see what he looks like, Teresa has a Facebook page here: Bravehart Drum Horses and Weimaraner Dogs This picture was taken a couple of years ago at a horse show for Drum Horses and Gypsy Cobs. Toby did very well in his class, I believe he got 2nd place! :)

3 more picture in a note above! :) A couple of months ago, I found out about a very special horse show happening just 30 minutes from my house! This show is for Gypsy Cobs and Drum Horses , which are very uncommon in the United States, so the opportunity to see a show full of them had me bursting at the seams in anticipation! :D And, it just so happened to be on my birthday weekend!! (9/29 is my 49th birthday!) I have been so excited while the weeks passed, and finally the day for us to go arrived!! Steve and I got up at 7am this morning so that we could be sure to be on time for the first class, and I got to sit and watch all the classe and take pictures of the horses. It was such fun!!! Going around to the stalls was fun too. It was a fantastic day and I came home with lots of pictures, as did my husband! :) I picked the above image as my Picture of the Day because this baby represents so much of what I love about these horses: spots, an interesting color, fun face markings, and a blue eye! What a gorgeous baby!!! (By the way, this image has a textured background as well as a frame from Jerry Jones, called PaperBox . THANKS JERRY!! :) Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her multi-award-winning talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show which was the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011. She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century and the greatest black philanthropist in American history. She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world. Wikipedia: Oprah Winfrey Explored on September 29, 2013. Highest placement, page 4.

Steve and I wandered around to see the various horse in the stalls, and I found this one relaxing in the rear of his stall, peering out from the gloom. I love the relaxed lower lip! When I was young, I used to know a horse who would do this, and I would put blackberries and pieces of apple in there while she was snoozing...when she woke up, I would have the best time watching her work the treats out from between her lip and teeth! Hilarious for me, and probably totally annoying for her! :D :D :D

1 more picture above in a note! :D After the "halter" classes where stallions, mares, geldings and foals are shown, they had a costume class. This entry was especially wonderful, a very nicely made Renaissance costume. I liked this picture of the mare champing away on her bit while they waited to go into the arena. (You can see the entire costume with the rider in the inset image above! :) Both the image above and the inset were processed with Topaz Lab's Black and White Effects. There are zillions of different choices to achieve the look you desire! Check out their free trial here, you will LOVE this set of filters!!!! Topaz Lab's Black and White Effects

Right down the road from us is a woman who has a couple of beautiful Drum horses! This is her stallion, Toby, who was shown today and got 2nd place in his class! :) Isn't he amazing?!!