Monday, July 23, 2012
Horse Party and Cupcakes
This past weekend we went to visit my husband's twin brother, his wife and our 2 nieces to celebrate our niece's 11th birthday. We had a wonderful visit and my children loved spending time with their cousins since they live 5 hours away from us.
Then it was cupcake decorating time to get ready for my niece's birthday on Saturday afternoon! My sister-in-law and I spent about 3 hours working on these horse cupcakes. It was a fun team effort!
The book Hello, Cupcake! was our guide and one reason it took so long (even with the two of us working together) was because after each step we had to put the pieces in the fridge to harden the melted chocolate when we made the wafer necks and attached the head to the wafers.
This is a special kind of horse, referred to as a "Medicine Hat" horse. The girl told us that there are 1 out of 10,000 horses born with the 3 features that this horse has...Medicine cap (hair between the ears), blue eyes, and the brown marking on the top of the legs). Indians believed that this horse was so special with its unique look that only the Indian chiefs could ride on them. Here is a little more about this horse that I found on the internet and is similar to the information the lady at the stable told us:
My Cupcakes and their cousins loved spending time together at the party and over the weekend!
After a fun birthday celebration at the horse stable it was time to chill out at our sister-in-laws neighborhood pool after dinner...
"Dad, Dad throw me off your shoulders again!" (and again...and again...and again!) All my kids and their cousins enjoyed jumping off my husband's shoulders. :)
Happy 11th birthday to our beautiful niece! Our family can't wait to visit again with all of you!
Friday night after dinner my sister-in-law served this yummy dessert that everyone enjoyed called "Chocolate Peanut Butter Ice Cream Bar Dessert". You can find the recipe at this blog post HERE.
Then it was cupcake decorating time to get ready for my niece's birthday on Saturday afternoon! My sister-in-law and I spent about 3 hours working on these horse cupcakes. It was a fun team effort!
The book Hello, Cupcake! was our guide and one reason it took so long (even with the two of us working together) was because after each step we had to put the pieces in the fridge to harden the melted chocolate when we made the wafer necks and attached the head to the wafers. 
Here is my sister-in-law and I at about midnight on Friday after we finished the horse cupcakes. My niece and all the kids loved them! A true labor of love for sure, but so fun and worth it to see their smiles and joy on their faces!
Then Saturday we headed to a local horse stable to celebrate my nieces birthday with friends and our family.
Everyone got to pet the rooster, even its red crown, which felt like a piece of rubber.
Petting a bunny.
I spotted the farm's dog tucked away in the bushes in the shade. So cute!
The kids got to pet a baby goat.
Then it was time to groom the horses...
I got a picture of one of the horses yawning, but it looks like it is about to bite my daughter's head :)
Written by
Rena Sherwood
A "Medicine Hat" horse is not a horse of a particular breed, but of a particular color. This is an unusual pinto pattern where the base of the horse is white, but the ears and around the entire top of the head is brown, black or roan. The horse looks like he has a tight cap on. Legend has it that Native American tribes, especially Plains tribes, called the spot a "Medicine Hat" or "war bonnet".
The important distinguishing characteristic of a Medicine Hat is the head. The rest of the body can be of any other pattern. But in order to get a white head and colored ears and cap, most Medicine Hats or Wart Bonnets are mostly white in color with very few other colored patches. They very often have pink muzzles.
What's The Big Deal?
The Medicine Hat marking denoted a horse of superior ability in some way. Some tribes had legends where a rider of a Medicine Hat horse would never be hurt on the back on the horse. Some were said to be able to warn his or her master of danger, or to be able to find game in the most barren of landscapes.
A blue eyed Medicine Hat was especially prized for his or her unusual beauty. The blue eyes of the horse (known often as "sky eyes") made the horse seem otherworldly or ghostly. However, many white faced horses tend to have blue or odd-colored eyes. Because of their mostly white hides, magic or power symbols were often added to him.
Medicine Hats were also considered incredibly lucky. In wearing a magic symbol, the horse personified the magical qualities of a tribe. If your tribe lost its Medicine Hat, misfortune was soon to come, because all of the good magic was gone. Please keep in mind that his is a very simplified explanation for a very complex belief system.
Medicine Hats Today
Modern culture probably wouldn't know much about Medicine Hats if it wasn't for a book entitled "San Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion" by famous children's author Marguerite Henry (who also wrote "Misty of Chincoteague"). That book probably would have faded into obscurity if it were not for the fame of the author and a popular Breyer model horse made of the main character, San Domingo.
The Medicine Hat coat variation still exists today and is considered just as valuable now as in the Old West. They can be found in several breeds, including the Paint Horse, Spanish Barb, Mustang, Appaloosa and crossbreeds (called a "grade" horse). Sometimes the coat pattern pops up in ponies as well as horses.
Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-breeds/do-you-know-anything-about-medicine-22164/#ixzz21PSIUPe1
A "Medicine Hat" horse is not a horse of a particular breed, but of a particular color. This is an unusual pinto pattern where the base of the horse is white, but the ears and around the entire top of the head is brown, black or roan. The horse looks like he has a tight cap on. Legend has it that Native American tribes, especially Plains tribes, called the spot a "Medicine Hat" or "war bonnet".
The important distinguishing characteristic of a Medicine Hat is the head. The rest of the body can be of any other pattern. But in order to get a white head and colored ears and cap, most Medicine Hats or Wart Bonnets are mostly white in color with very few other colored patches. They very often have pink muzzles.
What's The Big Deal?
The Medicine Hat marking denoted a horse of superior ability in some way. Some tribes had legends where a rider of a Medicine Hat horse would never be hurt on the back on the horse. Some were said to be able to warn his or her master of danger, or to be able to find game in the most barren of landscapes.
A blue eyed Medicine Hat was especially prized for his or her unusual beauty. The blue eyes of the horse (known often as "sky eyes") made the horse seem otherworldly or ghostly. However, many white faced horses tend to have blue or odd-colored eyes. Because of their mostly white hides, magic or power symbols were often added to him.
Medicine Hats were also considered incredibly lucky. In wearing a magic symbol, the horse personified the magical qualities of a tribe. If your tribe lost its Medicine Hat, misfortune was soon to come, because all of the good magic was gone. Please keep in mind that his is a very simplified explanation for a very complex belief system.
Medicine Hats Today
Modern culture probably wouldn't know much about Medicine Hats if it wasn't for a book entitled "San Domingo: The Medicine Hat Stallion" by famous children's author Marguerite Henry (who also wrote "Misty of Chincoteague"). That book probably would have faded into obscurity if it were not for the fame of the author and a popular Breyer model horse made of the main character, San Domingo.
The Medicine Hat coat variation still exists today and is considered just as valuable now as in the Old West. They can be found in several breeds, including the Paint Horse, Spanish Barb, Mustang, Appaloosa and crossbreeds (called a "grade" horse). Sometimes the coat pattern pops up in ponies as well as horses.
Read more: http://www.horseforum.com/horse-breeds/do-you-know-anything-about-medicine-22164/#ixzz21PSIUPe1
After grooming the horses with the 3 different kinds of brushes it was time to take a ride on these beautiful creatures.
The beautiful and happy birthday girl!
Then time for horse cupcakes and presents!
Happy 11th birthday to our beautiful niece! Our family can't wait to visit again with all of you!
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I'm Tracy. I love my faith, family and on most days, homeschooling my 5 blessings. When I'm not busy baking cakes for my family or making memories in real life or dreaming I had a housekeeper or professional chef, I enjoy documenting a slice of Smith life in blog land.
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5 comments:
What a great birthday so many fabulous activities. Going to read that Indian story about the horse to my daughter she loves horses and I haven't heard that before. I haven't had circus peanut in forever, didn't know they still made them. I loved them as a kid:)
Hi Tracy! What a fun birthday celebration, and those cupcakes were adorable! +JMJ+
Hi Tracy! What a fun birthday celebration, and those cupcakes were adorable! +JMJ+
How fun, Tracy! You and your SIL are the bakers extraordinare, up at midnight! The cupcakes are adorable and perfect for your birthday theme. Thanks for sharing your joy:)
Looks like you had a great weekend! The cupcakes turned out great :)