Horseback riding hasn't been my favourite activity. Not that I do not like horses, au contraire. I have also tried various kinds of horseback riding; like cowboys on the prairie in Texas and New Mexico; on Icelandic horses in Iceland and I did ride an equestrian horse or two too. But I was not able to perform any equestrianism on them, or act equestrian myself for that matter!


I am not kidding you. Equestrianism is an Olympic sport. In Beijing's Birds Nest, home to the 2008 Olympic games, there are still equestrian competitions - as you can tell from the photo.
Credit: B L Bye

The ultimate equestrian - as performed by Hubble:


The most exquisite nebula of them all, the all equestrian Horsehead Nebula.
Credit:NASA, ESA, and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA)

The Horsehead Nebula resides in the Orion constellation together with other famous nebulas such as the Great Orion Nebula (M42), the Flame Nebula, and Barnard's Loop. Hubble releases this ethereal version of the Horsehead on its 23rd anniversary. You can find many both professional and amateur images of this nebula, but this version was striking and goes down as one of my all time favourites.

More reading about the image and science in and around it can be found at places like these:

Space Telescope
Hubble.org
Space Telescope Science Institute