Fall is Coming!

   Greetings! Autumn Is my favorite time of the year. In honor of the first day of Autumn later this week, I am posting this Photo of a Vibrant sunflower. Its one of the only colorful things around this area in Autumn. I grew up in the Mountains of California and during Autumn I often feel homesick because I now live in Western Texas and its just not the same here, its much too warm and there are no colorful trees.
  There is nothing like the cool crisp air of Autumn, and the colors are unmatchable.

 In honor of Autumn you may post a Photo or a link to your favorite Autumn Nature photo here on my blog as you comment!

Daily Bible Verse Blog

  Greetings! I Started an additional blog today where I will display Daily Bible Verses.
Please feel free to check it out.  :)
http://dailyinspirationofgodsword.blogspot.com/

Appaloosa Horse

Greetings! This is a picture of a Beautiful Brown Dappled Appaloosa Horse. This Particular Photo was taken In Alamogordo, New Mexico. I have always loved these horses and I thought that I would provide a bit of the History behind the Breed, since it is a very interesting history Indeed. I must give credit where credit is due, I got a lot of the Information off of Wikipedia and to my Knowlege it is fairly Accurate.

 Hope you enjoy! Please check out my products featuring this photo and others!
http://www.zazzle.com/meganrene88/appaloosa+gifts

Early History Domesticated horses with leopard complex spotting patterns have been depicted in art dating as far back as Ancient Greece, Anchient Persia, and the Han Dynasty in China; later depictions appeared in 11th-century France and 12th-century England French paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries show horses with spotted coats being used as riding horses, and other records indicate they were also used as coach horses at the court of Louis XIV of France. In mid-18th-century Europe, there was a great demand for horses with the leopard complex spotting pattern among the nobility and royalty. These horses were used in the schools of horsemanship, for parade use, and other forms of display.Modern horse breeds in Europe today that have leopard complex spotting include the Knabstupper and the Pinzgau, or Noriker Horse.

Trading The Spanish probably obtained spotted horses through trade with southern Austria and Hungary, where the color pattern was known to exist. The Conquistadors and Spanish settlers then brought some vividly marked horses to the Americas when they first arrived in the early 16th century. One horse with snowflake patterning was listed with the 16 horses brought to Mexico by Cortez, and additional spotted horses were mentioned by Spanish writers by 1604. Others arrived in the western hemisphere when spotted horses went out of style in late 18th-century Europe, and were shipped to Mexico, California and Oregon.
Appaloosas' of the Nez Perce The Nez Perce people lived in what today is eastern Washington, Oregon and western Idaho where they engaged in agriculture as well as Horse Breeding. The Nez Perce first obtained horses from the Shoshone around 1730. They took advantage of the fact that they lived in excellent horse-breeding country, relatively safe from the raids of other tribes, and developed strict breeding selection practices for their animals, establishing breeding herds by 1750. They were one of the few tribes that actively used the practice of gelding inferior male horses and trading away poorer stock to remove unsuitable animals from the gene pool, and thus were notable as horse breeders by the early 19th century.
Early Nez Perce horses were considered to be of high quality. Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark Expedition wrote in his February 15, 1806, journal entry: "Their horses appear to be of an excellent race; they are lofty, eligantly formed, active and durable: in short many of them look like fine English coarsers and would make a figure in any country." Lewis did note spotting patterns, saying, "... some of these horses are pided (pied)with large spots of white irregularly scattered and intermixed with the black brown bey or some other dark colour". By "pied", Lewis may have been referring to leopard-spotted patterns seen in the modern Appaloosa, though Lewis also noted that "much the larger portion are of a uniform colour". The Appaloosa Horse Club estimates that only about ten percent of the horses owned by the Nez Perce at the time were spotted.While the Nez Perce originally had many solid-colored horses and only began to emphasize color in their breeding some time after the visit of Lewis and Clark, they had many spotted horses by the late 19th century. As white settlers moved into traditional Nez Perce lands, a successful trade in horses enriched the Nez Perce, who in 1861 bred horses described as "elegant chargers, fit to mount a prince." At a time when ordinary horses could be purchased for $15, non-Indians who had purchased Appaloosa horses from the Nez Perce turned down offers of as much as $600.
The Nez Perce War Peace with the United States dated back to an alliance arranged by Lewis and Clark,but the encroachment of gold miners in the 1860s and settlers in the 1870s put pressure on the Nez Perce. Although a treaty of 1855 originally allowed them to keep most of their traditional land, another in 1863 reduced the land alloted to them by 90 percent. The Nez Perce who refused to give up their land under the 1863 treaty included a band living in the Wallowa Valley of Oregon, led by Heinmot Tooyalakekt, widely known as Chief Joseph, Tensions rose, and in May 1877, General Oliver Howard called a council and ordered the non-treaty bands to move to the reservation. Chief Joseph considered military resistance futile, and by June 14, 1877, had gathered about 600 people at a site near present-day Grangeville,Idaho. But on that day a small group of warriors staged an attack on nearby white settlers, which led to the Nez Perce War. After several small battles in Idaho, more than 800 Nez Perce, mostly non-warriors, took 2000 head of various livestock including horses and fled into Montana, then traveled southeast, dipping into Yellowstone National Park. A small number of Nez Perce fighters, probably fewer than 200, successfully held off larger forces of the U.S. Army in several skirmishes, including the two-day Battle of the Big Hole in southwestern Montana. They then moved northeast and attempted to seek refuge with the Crow Nation; rebuffed, they headed for safety in Canada.
Throughout this journey of about 1,400 miles (2,300 km) the Nez Perce relied heavily on their fast, agile and hardy Appaloosa horses. The journey came to an end when they stopped to rest near the Bears Paw Mountains in Montana, 40 miles (64 km) from the Canadian border. Unbeknownst to the Nez Perce, Colonel Nelson A. Miles had led an infantry-cavalry column from Fort Keogh in pursuit. On October 5, 1877, after a five-day fight, Joseph surrendered. The battle—and the war—was over. With most of the war chiefs dead, and the noncombatants cold and starving, Joseph declared that he would "fight no more forever".
After The Nez Perce War When the U.S. 7th Cavalry accepted the surrender of Chief Joseph and the remaining Nez Perce, they immediately took more than 1,000 of the tribe's horses, sold what they could and shot many of the rest. But a significant population of horses had been left behind in the Wallowa valley when the Nez Perce began their retreat, and additional animals escaped or were abandoned along the way. The Nez Perce were ultimately settled on Reservation lands in north central Idaho, They were allowed few horses, and were required by the Army to breed what mares they still had to Draft Horse Stallions in an attempt to create farm horses. The Nez Perce tribe never regained its former position as breeders of Appaloosas, but in the late 20th century they began a program to develop a new horse breed, the Nez Perce Horse, with the intent to resurrect their horse culture, tradition of selective breeding, and horsemanship.
Although a remnant population of Appaloosa horses remained after 1877, they were virtually forgotten as a distinct breed for almost 60 years. A few quality horses continued to be bred, mostly those captured or purchased by settlers and used as working ranch horses. Others were used in circuses and related forms of entertainment such as "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show" The horses were originally called "Palouse horses" by settlers, a reference to the Palouse River that ran through the heart of what was once Nez Perce country. Gradually, the name evolved into "Apalouse", and then "Appaloosa". Other early variations of the name included "Appalucy", "Apalousey" and "Appaloosie". In one 1948 book, the breed was called the "Opelousa horse", described as a "hardy tough breed of Indian and Spanish horse" used by backwoodsmen of the late 18th century to transport goods to New Orleans for sale. By the 1950s, "Appaloosa" was regarded as the correct spelling.
Revitalization of the Breed The Appaloosa came to the attention of the general public in January 1937 in Western Horseman magazine when Francis D. Haines, a history professor from Lewiston,Idaho, published an article describing the breed's history and urging its preservation. Haines had performed extensive research, traveling with a friend and Appaloosa aficionado named George Hatley, visiting numerous Nez Perce villages, collecting history, and taking photographs. The article generated strong interest in the horse breed, and led to the founding of the Appaloosa Horse Club(ApHC) by Claude Thompson and a small group of other dedicated breeders in 1938 The registry was originally housed in Moro, Oregon but in 1947 the organization moved to Moscow, Idaho, under the leadership of George Hatley.

Texas Desert Sunset Photo and products

   Hello, I apologize for how long it has been since I last posted a pic!
This has got to be one of my favorite sunset pictures that I have been so blessed to have captured.

There is nothing in the world like a beautiful desert sunset the definition is crisp and clear and the vibrant colors are exquisite! I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I do, This particular photo was taken in Del Rio, Texas in the Chihuahuan Desert near the Rio Grande River.
  I have this photo on many products on my zazzle site on postcards, greeting cards, mugs , mousepads, and iPhone/iPad cases. Please feel free to check out my store.http://rlv.zcache.com/west_texas_desert_sunset_speckcase-p176162675522873113z849c_325.jpg

Great book for all ages!

  This is a book that I have just read,  and I thought that it was Amazingly well written!

I wholeheartedly LOVED this book and would recommend it to anyone, it had a Wonderfully rich storyline, Passionate but Sweet Romance and many Exquisite Adventures!!!

There was Never a dull moment and I must say that this book is in my top 10 favorites, I stand corrected because It is my new favorite. I look forward to many more books from this Author.

  Please check out this book you wont regret it. :)

Check out the Authors blog here : 

http://lynnannrichards.blogspot.com/2011/09/my-new-book.html

And if you would like to order a copy yourself you can get it here : 

https://www.createspace.com/3467694

New Clean Look!

   Greetings!  I have taken the morning to sit down and Clean up and Update my Blog, So I hope that the site is more attractive and relaxing at the same time. I know that I had too many extra things on my blog there for a while and it began to feel cramped and overwhelming. Let me know What you Like or dont Like about the new appearance so that I can maybe make it better!  :)

One of My Favorite Photos

  This Is one of my Favorite Pictures that I have captured, It features My Cat named Skittles striking a pose while yawning.  I apologize with my obsession with Ecommerce as of late and Promise to stick to the Subject of Photography as much as I can from now on since that is what I am good at! Thank you for bearing with me with this Ecommerce craze.