Minion! Minion! Attend Me!

Awareness of the outside world. May is Lime Disease Awareness Month. LDA: Lyme Disease Awareness Month 2024, with info & printables.

“Many horses are infected with Borrelia burgdorferi, the organism that causes Lyme disease – though clinical signs appear to be uncommon.” Cornell Vet: Lyme disease in horses, Divers 2023.

“Virtually every horse in my region will have a mildly positive Lyme titer, reflecting at least some presence of antibodies.” ‘Fraidy Car Eventing: disease vectors, May 10, 2020. Content warning, bug photos.

Milton was tested a while back, as rule-out when we were first trying to figure him out.

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One day last week, Rodney came out of the stall and stuck his side in my face.

I have an itch. Scratch, pls.

Vigorous scratching of the wither area eventually flushed a tick. Which is a weird way to find one.

Milton came over. Turns out he had a similar malady.

Ticks dispensed with, we had a nice three-way grooming session. We stood in a triangle. I scratched the backs of both horses. Milton gnawed on Rodney’s rump.

Tick count for that day: four – 2 horse, 1 people.

While I was scratching Rodney, I thought about trying for a photo of the massive upper lip action. I elected to stay in the moment.

Later in the week, Rodney had two ticks on the delicate, under-tail area. Saw first one from a distance when he swished his tail. Ick. Fetched my nice, pointy tweezers. Pulled. Went back to check. Found the second.

It’s a gift, I tell you. [Magic Fingers]

Onwards!
Katherine

Tracing The Lee Branch, Photography

Awareness of the outside world. The 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winner in Feature Photography.

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An adventure in urban nature. Tracing a small creek through suburbia. First post. More to come.

Lee Branch 280
Highway 280 near Hugh Daniel Drive
Inverness, Alabama USA
April 2024

Technical Details

Lee Branch at Highway 28O, f/7.1, 1/125 sec., 18.0 mm, ISO 100. Manual mode & auto-focus. Post production: resized, border, & watermark. No cropping.

Border colors. Gray for project, yellow for Nikon. [Photo Safari The First], [Quarry, Photography, Things]

For context, the Lee Branch runs across the middle of the image, between the parking lot and the road.

Onwards!
Katherine

The Pre-Show Lesson

Awareness of the outside world. Marie Claire: The Barn Jacket Is Fashion’s Hardest-Working Spring Coat Trend, Holzman, April 2024. Hat tip to M.

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Circling back to what is becoming traditional – the lesson squeezed in before a show. [Hey Kids]

No saddle seat riding since March, although I stayed with driving lessons. In April, I sat on Rodney three times for Virtual Tevis walks, and had my charming New Barn hunter lesson. With a show coming up on the weekend, I figured I outta sit on a horse and remember how to ride.

But first, what I learned from an excellent driving lesson with Coach James. Corners. Steer in, steer out. Be deliberate with the line. Always another one. Optimus seemed to appreciate. He can do it by himself, but I think he liked to see competence in his pilot. He cut me some slack on a bad corner after I did the corner really well the time before. After the lesson, I was tired, almost riding lesson tired.

For my pre-show lesson, the driving enthusiast in the house suggested that I try riding like I drove. It’s been suggested before. Here I took it specifically to mean rein management. It was not the miracle change that I hoped for, but I think Optimus liked it. Reins. So many reins. Inside rein. Outside rein. Top rein. Bottom rein. 1-2-3-4. All good. Check again. 1-2-3-4. And again. Not lower leg & weight (as much).

I came to the conclusion that saddle seat riders have a constant conversation with their hands. Nothing that I wasn’t doing before, but doing it all. the. time. You could make an argument that the aids are correlated to how they want the horses to go. I would also add that it’s what the horses are used to.

How did we do at the show? I think I managed to do a reasonable approximation of what I had done in the lesson, mainly because I think that’s why he spooked. By riding that way, I was asking him to work. He said, Yeah, no.

Sam use to like trotting down memory lane & reliving his glory days. Optimus is happy with is current role of showing Walk-Trot with the littles. Some people like to get dressed up and be fancy; other like to stay casual and chill.

Or I could be deluding myself. Always an option.

Onwards!
Katherine

Bring On The Show, Bring On The Nerves

Awareness of the outside world. Olympics.com: Olympic Torch Relay, Marseille. Also, Inside The Games: Paris 2024: Olympic flame set for France arrival, May, 7 May 2024.

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As the moon follows the sun, so a nerves report follows a show report. [Hey Kids]

A few flat classes at a small, local show on a kind horse. Yes, the nerves were bad. Yes, it was ridiculous. Take that as read.

Two possible contributing factors.

Snobbery

Academy?! Seriously? And I am not stomping this into the ground? What is WRONG with me?

No one ever said snobbery was pretty, nor connected to reality in any way.

Scheduling

Being at a certain place at a certain time is a skill I do not practice often, even prepandemic. My lessons are generally at non-busy times, when I get out there, when I get ready. For doctor’s appointments and such, one can be early and wait. A horse show class requires bringing self and horse together at an exact moment.

I’m not saying either one is a big reason, just small elements forming the hot mess mosaic that is the inside of my head.

Onwards!
Katherine

Mile By Mile, Virtual Tevis 2024

Awareness of the outside world. Well, phooey, “With a heavy heart, the Potomac Horse Center (PHC) is announcing its closure on Monday, July 22, 2024.” Potomac Horse Center, cited 6 May 2024. 

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Virtual Tevis Cup 2024
100 Miles in 100 Days
10 April to 21 July

Rodney
8 miles this week, 32 miles total
8 outings – 7 handwalks, 1 ride

Milton
9 miles this week, 33 miles total
9 outings – 7 handwalks, 2 rides

Tuesday 30 April to Monday 6 May

All one-mile walks in pasture. Enjoying the walks. Not much to say about them.

Virtual Tevis Posts [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine