Analyzing a Blog!

This is some more of my homework for my English class. 

Jack Sparrow
English 201
February 16, 2009
Analyzing a Blog
The blog that I found interesting is called The Barb Wire. It is about a woman named Tamara, which is the writer, who chronicles her explorations of the Barb horse, endurance racing, and trust-based horse training at In the Night Farm, Idaho. The Barb Wire blog caught my attention because I love animals and I live on a dairy farm. It takes a lot of work to keep a farm going and raise farm animals; especially horses because they need adequate care to be healthy.
So, how did Tamara get started? Well, Tamara wanted to buy some land and a pair of horses for a long time, but could not. In the summer of 2005 things changed when Tamara’s mother put her is touch with a business contact saying he owned rare horses called Barbs (Tamara of In the Night Farm, Barbery Girl in a Barbery World, pars. 1-2). Tamara and her husband Travis wasted no time making their way to meet Robert and Louise Painter at Quien Sabe Ranch. Tamara and Travis spent most of their time learning from the Painter’s and helped with the maintenance of the ranch. They sold their house and lived at Quien Sabe for two months in the fall of 2006 before returning to the Treasure Valley with five Barbs and a great longing to assist with the preservation and promotion of the breed (Tamara of In the Night Farm, Barbery Girl in a Barbery World, par. 5). Tamara and Travis eventually settled on a little farm near the Idaho-Oregon border and, since Tamara had not worked with untouched adult horses before, they decided to buy an Arabian gelding so that Tamara could improve her horsemanship skills before training the Barbs.
Tamara also explains about the history and what type of breed the Barb horse comes from in her blog. Tamara states that more than three thousand years ago, horses of Afro-Turkic extraction were brought by sailing vessels from the Mediterranean to France and British aisles. These horses, when bred with the native, draft-type, Iberian horses, produced hardy foals capable of greater endurance than either their sires or their dams (Tamara of In the Night Farm, What Have We Here?: Introducing the Barb Horse, par. 2). Tamara says that the Iberian crossbreds traveled, in the hands of traders, to Spain, North Africa, and eventually the New World. The Barb horses were characterized by exceptional endurance and soundness of the legs and hooves (Tamara of In the Night Farm, What Have We Here?: Introducing the Barb Horse, par. 4). Tamara believes that the Barb horses are representatives of ancient bloodlines; unusually sound of mind and body, rare, and able to improve nearly any other horse with whom they are crossed.
Now then, Tamara represents who she is by having pictures of herself and her horses, she has her first name as part of her screen name, and where she lives and rides. She has a few inspirational quotes. For example, she has many quotes, this one is by Leonard Bernstein that says, to achieve great things two things are needed: a plan and not quite enough time (Tamara of In the Night Farm, Shot in the Dark: Achievement, par. 1). Tamara talks a little about her family and how horse training can be difficult emotionally and financially. Tamara and I share a love of animals, creative thinking, how to use what you have on short notice, and planning ahead. I believe that the writer was honest about herself by telling about her life, her jobs, her family, and her commitment to herself and other people. Tamara maintains her blog to share her life experiences and give tips to other people. She demonstrates authenticity of her blog because she knows the specific names of saddles, horses, medicines for horses, how to keep track of the horses racing improvements, and different supply stores and race meets.
The intended reader and audience of this blog would be farmers, horse trainers, some animal lovers, and anyone who wants to learn more about The Barb Wire. Some assumptions that the writer makes about the intended audience is that they know how to take care of a horse, train a horse for competitions, the costs and expenses of horse training, and knows how to ride a horse. The writer demonstrates these assumptions by abbreviating different names of associations, illnesses, and medicines. People that would not be a part of the intended audience would be anyone who knows nothing about horses, farming, or raising animals. This blog would appeal to the intended audience because it gives helpful tips for raising horses and how to plan out the racing goals for the year. I am a member of the intended audience because I like her creative quotes, the writer’s description of new events in her life, and her handy tips.
The Barb Wire blog is an appealing blog that gives of a friendly atmosphere with the pictures and quotes, it is organized and the entries have a lot of detail, and it does not have all the sex, scandal, and weirdo’s I previewed in other blogs. Tamara uses formal and informal language, but basically the blog is like a journal entry with a conversational style. The blog is organized from most recent to oldest entry. The readers can comment on an entry and get feedback from the writer.
The blog’s message is to inform others of new information and to live life with no regrets. The writer tells about events important in her life. The message is balanced because it shows how things can come up in a person’s life and that we must deal with these events in order to move forward with our lives. The message is problematic to people who whine, complain, are stuck in the past and can’t move forward, or just don’t care because they can not move on with their lives and can not see the great significance and wisdom of the message. I should believe in the blog because it is factual, it deals with being responsible and living in the real world, and that life throws you punches and you have to keep moving forward to learn more and get ahead in life. I should be skeptical because someone could have made this blog up, but I doubt it.
Personally, I have learned a lot from life so far. It is hard taking full responsibility of your life because sometimes everything is so overwhelming. You have to work harder, stop being a procrastinator, and grow up. Life is still fun and people should live life to the fullest. I will take a quote from The Barb Wire to conclude this essay. Tamara is proud to live by the words of Henry Wadesworth Longfellow, who wrote:
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.

Works Cited
Tamara of In the Night Farm. “Barbery Girl in a Barbery World.” The Barb Wire. 11 Mar. 2008. 10 Feb. 2009
Tamara of In the Night Farm. “Saddle Up.” The Barb Wire. 10 Mar. 2008. 10 Feb. 2009
Tamara of In the Night Farm. “Shot in the Dark: Achievement.” The Barb Wire. 31 Dec. 2008. 25 Jan. 2009
Tamara of In the Night Farm. “What Have We Here?: Introducing the Barb Horse.” The Barb Wire. 11 Mar. 2008. 10 Feb. 2009