Memorial Day: Boston's Historic Horseman and His Men

A brief excerpt from a PBS documentary on the sculptor Saint-Gaudens, who created the Shaw Memorial on Boston Common. We take it for granted 364 days a year but Memorial Day seemed like a good time to stop and take a closer look. What memorials are in your town?

It's Memorial Day--a day to remember the war dead. I've been to the cemetery, seen the flags planted among the old and new graves.

Trophy Hoof: Rowland Ward Preserved Part of a Favorite Horse Forever

Every once in a while, you'll see one in an antique store or on eBay: a preserved hoof from long ago. A favorite hunter or cavalry charger lives on because one of his hooves was preserved as a trophy.

The National Army Museum in London, England has their collection on display now as part of their "War Horse: Fact & Fiction" exhibition.

The two primary ones used in curator Pip Dodd's video

War Horse Hoofcare: Puncture Wounds Then and Now

While collecting photos of farriers during World War I, I passed over this photo several times without realizing how interesting it was. It took a magnifying glass to appreciate this one.

The sign reads, "'Kindness to animals, 500 horses lamed weekly by nails dropped on roads and horse lines by cookers carrying firewood with nails left in. Please remove nails."

As if the war horses didn't

War Horse Hoofcare: Don't Come Between a Farrier and His Horse

Photographers talk about the "point of infinity" in an image. There's a horizon or a focal point that draws your eye to the defined distance. Or lack of a defined distance.



This photo of farriers at work at a British horse stables in France during World War I is a study in efficiency, 1915-style. You see one man (on far left) in charge of the bellows for the little portable forge. One

War Horse Farrier: Lights, Camera, Hoofcare! Who Shod Joey?

Enjoy this Hoof Blog audio interview with War Horse location off-screen and on-screen 

farrier Brendan Murray, thanks to Samantha Clark and War Horse News. You might want to read 
the text before you watch the "video".


Napoleon once said that an army moves on its stomach. But the cavalry moves on its hooves, and it took an army of farriers--called "shoeing smiths" by the British

War Horse Hoofcare: Keep Your Eye on the Galloping Horseshoe Pouch

It's hard to imagine anyone falling asleep while watching the film War Horse, but I guess it could happen. The sound track is loud enough to wake you periodically, however. If you need to trick yourself into staying awake, you can try to keep an eye on the farrier-related clues scattered through the story like a treasure hunt.

And keep your eye on the bouncing horseshoe pouch.






He's a

War Horse Hoofcare: The Way It Was

It's War Horse week on The Hoof Blog. We'll start off with a short and not very sweet video of the British Army farrier encampment somewhere in India.You can see the forges and the horses lined up, and you can also notice the division of labor between the Indians and the British. 



Who's pumping the bellows?



The second part of the clip demonstrates what they are calling the Lightwark

New from War Horse: Off-Screen Actors Speak on the Film (and the Horse)

A new two-minute trailer from Dreamworks Pictures juxtaposes the off-screen stars of the new Steven Spielberg film War Horse with their on-screen characters. What do the actors have to say about the film, what it means, and what's at the heart of a horse's journey into the swirling maelstrom of war?

The momentum is building for the premiere of this film in the USA on Christmas Day. To learn

Spielberg's War Horse Movie Television Commercial: Here Comes a Great Film!

It doesn't open in theaters until Christmas, but the television commercial is ready to roll. We all know Santa Claus is coming to town, but so is War Horse; Mr. Spielberg's epic story of what war looks like through the eyes of a horse opens on Christmas Day. Two tickets and a promise to buy the popcorn will make a great gift for anyone you know.

Back to the commercial: Hoof Blog readers will

War Horse: The Movie! Trailer of Spielberg's Film Premieres; Meet His Equine Artistic Adviser

War Horse. Steven Spielberg. Dreamworks. Disney. Get ready to put it all together! Watch for the Disney/Dreamworks Hollywood film version of the hit London and Broadway stage play. You'll be able to see it in about six months; the tentative release date is December 28 in the United States.
The War Horse story took on another dimension today, with the release of the first trailer promoting the

Equine Biomechanics on Broadway: Technical Videos Preview What the Audience Won't See When War Horse Opens in April

If you're new to War Horse, this video from London explains a bit about the play and shows some scenes of the horse puppet in action.

Everyone will soon be talking about the USA Broadway premiere of London's long-running hit stage play, War Horse. I've been writing about it on this blog and everywhere else that would allow me since it launched in 2007. Now we have a chance in the USA to