Virtual Brush Box

Images

Art from the outside world. Newsweek: Video of Man Turning Into Random Objects Viewed Over 5 Million Times, Beresford, 7/14/21. Instagram: kevinbparry. Twitter: @kevinbparry.

~~~

Intro

iPenBox Spring 2022. Not a review. Product used for inspiration. No discounts or affiliation with company other than as a customer. Yes, I have leftovers, see below.

Purple Ribbons

[Looking Forward 2015]

[Fancy Ribbon 2014]

7th in the US & Canada. 6th in UK & New Zealand. Also says that purple is used for championship colors in the US & elsewhere. I have my doubts, for the US at least. Wiki: Horse Show

Purple in the Pile

Lurking in my To Be Read pile. Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World, Garfield, (Norton 2002). Articles on subject CNN, VOX, Time, Google Doodle. Author talks about, SG: Mauve.

Computer Purple

hex #800080

Progression

Purple, #800080, 50% red, 0% green, 50% blue
#660066, 40/0/40
#4d004d, 30/0/30
#330033, 20/0/20
#1a001a, 10/0/10
Black, #000000, 0/0/0

Purple, #800080, 50% red, 0% green, 50% blue
#993399, 60/20/60
#b366b3, 70/40/70
#cc99cc, 80/60/80
#e6cce6, 90/80/90
White #ffffff, 100/100/100

Helpful. Percent to Hex Converter – Joshua Miron

Purple Posts

“That moment when … you realize wiping off the Blu-Kote was a bad idea.” [Combined Driving Lesson, Cones, scroll down, 2016]

“Your veterinary spray malfunctions.” [You Know You Are A Horse Person When 2016]

“Previous Horse’s retirement color. It’s good to be the king emperor.” [Text Art: Barn Colors 2014]

“Previous Horse, stable name Caesar, always liked being warm. In retirement, he wore a fleece day sheet, much like an old man in a cardigan. It was, appropriately, Imperial purple.” [Changing the Blanketing Protocol 2022]

Pantone Color of the Year 2018 Ultra Violet 18-3838
[Change the Year, Change the Color]
[Letter Art: Changing the Year]

Purple Links

TV Tropes: Purple Prose

Late Bloomer: The Surprising Story Behind the Poem “When I Am An Old Woman I Shall Wear Purple”

Giveaway

Another notebook I will not use. Can I slip it into an envelope for someone? Dot grid paper. [Free To Good Home]

Outro

Obliviously, the world is far more purple. This was personal references rather than a exhaustive catalogue of the color. That’s why horse show ribbons but not songs. What does purple say to you?

Onwards!
Katherine

Words

Things to read from the outside world. This Is Not A Facade. Have you ever wanted to ditch your life and try something new? One of the younger generation in my family has decided to up sails and out oars for a Workaway stint at the Feather Leaf Inn in St. Croix. The blog has it all, from beautiful beaches to screaming crickets.

~~~

There is a story I tell.

When I was young, my parents and I were on a trail ride.

I know this sounds très Summer in the Hamptons. The horses belonged to another branch of the family, seen only on the occasional holiday.

Father was on Prince, the tallest horse, so of course he was the best rider.

My mother rode Rocky. She had ridden in college, so she was an expert.

I was on Bucky, who I could never get to trot, no matter how much I drummed my heels on his sides.

Therefore, I was astonished when my father turned Prince around and made him to run all the way back to the barn. They didn’t even stop for the door. Just ran right in.

I was so impressed.

It was years before I realized what was going on.

Years!

So that’s the story. I’ve told it more than once. When I wrote the post about how long I have been riding, I was reminded of it. Surely I have told the story on the blog? Search box says no. Okay then, a non-fiction post for a Saturday. I’ll find of something to say about it. [How Long Ago?]

Well, what I found to say is that I am less and less sure it actually happened. As I think it through in committing the details to print, I’m noticing inconsistencies. No photos. This was in the dark ages before we documented our lives with smart phones.

My father is no longer around to confirm or deny his involvement. I would, as my grandfather used to say, put a small sum of money on the fact that the instigating event occurred. Prince did gallop back to the barn. My father was wont to tell tales on himself, particularly if it made a good story.

So, the central premise holds. My father got run away with. I was impressed that he could get a horse to go faster than a trot. I misunderstood the situation for years. Years!

My mother doesn’t remember ever riding at the farm. I’m almost positive that she at least sat on a horse in my presence at that place. Why the different memories? I’m the horse person in my immediate family. The event would hold far more significance for me than for her. She did ride in college, that part is true. [Speaking of Ribbons]

Prince. A tall, flashy sorrel with a flax mane and tail. Memory has probably fancied him up a bit and given a Fabio hairstyle to a decent family horse. I’m sure he wasn’t a mean horse. He probably wasn’t even a bad horse. They wouldn’t have put my father up if they thought there would be trouble. From what I know about horses now, I’m fairly sure a stern glance would have kept Prince on the straight and narrow. That didn’t happen. Prince took one look at my father, assessed the situation, and said ‘I’m outta here, kthxbye.’

Rocky. Up until a few years ago, I could have told you that Rocky was an … Appaloosa? … a paint? Now, I can’t believe I don’t remember which one, just that he was brightly colored. I want to say he was a black and white paint, but I could be conflating him with the black and white saddle shoes my mother rode in.

Bucky. I’m sure of the details about Bucky. He was short and tubby and brown. The image in my head might be of Bucky, might be from a rare, hard-copy picture of me on another early ride, or might be a compilation of all the Buckys I have know since. Sam had a bit of Bucky in him. Most schoolies do.

Me. Given my age during the requisite time period, I’m starting to doubt that I knew enough to be riding independently. Did I really steer Bucky around the fields tagging along behind my parents? As I sit here typing this, I can *feel* it, but do I believe it? My mother was not at a level were she could have ponied me.

A bit of family history. When I was born, my father was in law school. He went from there to junior associate at a big-time law firm. Not much time for the fam. My parents split when I was young. I have few memories of joint activities.

Could I have heard my father’s tale, deposited my mother on a horse, and embroidered the story of a family trail ride where none existed?

Seems likely.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. “Currently, the general public doesn’t need to be particularly worried about the risk monkeypox viruses pose to themselves and their loved ones. ‘It does not spread easily from person to person, the risk to the general public is low,’ said Rimoin.” Vox: Why monkeypox isn’t like Covid-19, Experts are cautiously concerned, but this is a fundamentally different outbreak, Landman May 19, 2022.

~~~

Show a week ago. [Show Report]

How did I do in the run up?

Not well. No progress. Sizeable step to the side.

*I* was fine. Optimus is a good dude. The show was three flat classes that were well within my capabilities. Easy peasy.

However.

My nerves decided I could not be trusted and they would carry on regardless.

Early in the week, I’d had an article returned with a one-day turnaround. I elected to start from scratch and rewrite rather than trying to fix. A writing theory says that washing garbage just gives you clean garbage. Deadline laced with a sense of failure all day.

That was Tuesday before the show.

Saturday was the show.

A well-regulated system would return to baseline between alerts.

Finish. Regroup. Wait for next.

HA!

My system decided shutting down and restarting was too much work.

That was me, resting on a hammock of nerves.

Not recommended. 0/10.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Whatever: Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting There Is & Whatever: “Straight White Male: The Lowest Difficulty Setting,” Ten Years On.

~~~

At showgrounds. [Show Report]

Wandering around stable area.

Waiting for classes.

Suddenly hit with a wave of ‘I don’t want to be here.’

Not nerves.

Rather, it was ‘I want to be doing other things than this.’

I have made no secret that I would drop saddle seat like last year’s color paint color if I had a chance to jump. [Conflicts 2017]

This is the first time the thought has occurred at a horse show.

Grateful for the opportunities. Yes.

Learned much. Yes.

“Saddleseat has been a slender bridge over the abyss of despair that is my riding career.” That was back in 2014. Does math. Shudders. In June. Two months before buying Milton. Sighs. [A Grateful Whine]

It would be so tempting to snuggle into, “a warm, comfy blanket that is almost what I want.” [Overthinking]

I need to keep my eye on my own path …

.. no matter how frustrating.

I need to not get distracted by other paths …

… no matter how cute the snoots.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. My first extended, crowded outing since the before times. I relied on being outside, staying away from people, and being on a horse. I masked up for getting my hair done. Closest I’ve been to a non-husband/non-dental person in years. Was it easy to put on a mask when no one else on the grounds was? No. Did anyone care one way or the other? Also no.

~~~

Mid-South Spring Premiere
Morgan County Celebration Arena
Priceville, AL, USA
Saturday 14 May 2022

Transformer (Optimus)
91 Academy Showmanship WTC-Adult Amateur, 6th of 7
92 Academy Equitation WTC-Adult Amateur, 3rd of 7
95 Academy WTC Championship-Adult Amateur/Junior Exhibitor, 4th of 7

Thank you to Sharon Gray and Whitney Cook for Optimus.

Thoughts

Trotting into the ring for our third class:

Optimus: Would you like me to lift my shoulders and be a fancy horse?
Me: Why, yes, thank you.

It was delightful. We balanced around the turns. We motored down the long sides. The ringside spotters were suspiciously silent.

He was warmed up? I finally asked correctly? Who knows.

The other classes were me trying to remember to ride saddle seat. The position comes back relatively quickly. Sit in the back of the saddle. Pinkies inside the reins. Hands up. Actual riding takes longer. In the first class, I was still using my lower leg and following with my hands. It didn’t work, so I did it harder.

This is all in retrospect. At the time, I thought I was doing it.

You try to do the thing.
You think you are doing the thing, but you are not.
You finally do the thing, and you say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s how it is supposed to feel.

The third class was possibly the most fun I’ve had in a saddle seat class.

Other Thoughts

I miss Sam. My last ASB show was at these grounds with Sam in October 2019. [Putting The Show In Showmanship]

Next time, I want to be here with my ASB event horse having a Back To His/Her Roots day.

Helmet spotted on a suit kid.

I have forgotten how to people.

~~~

Admin. I will yammer about this for a while.

a) Probably (?) my only big show this year.

b) That’s all I’ve got. Six Virtual Tevis rides & the show were the horse agenda last week. [Getting The Miles In]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Roberta A. Drury, Margus D. Morrison, Andre Mackneil, Aaron Salter, Geraldine Talley. Celestine Chaney. Heyward Patterson, Katherine Massey, Pearl Young, Ruth Whitfield. NPR
~~~

~~~

Total. 45.4 miles, 24 rides, 20 hours 10 minutes, pace 26:30 min/mile.

This week. 11.6 miles, 6 rides, 5 hours 13 minutes, pace – walk

Six rides in 7 days. Go us!

Notes

Previous GPS cratered. Switch to Strava. which records moving time and total time, which leads to an interesting theoretical question of what to use.

Take yesterday as an example,
Moving time – 51:54
Elapsed time – 1:02:10
That’s a 10+ minute difference (10 min, 16 seconds).

Which also influences the question of pace,
Pace while moving, 23:33. Normal for us.
Pace when standing around is included – 28:13. Slow even for us. Between the warm-up lap and mounting, I had to do an emergency Swat application to keep Rodney from backing over small trees to scratch an itch in his nether armpit. [Different Ways of Walking, warm-up lap]

I call it a theoretical question because the time does not matter. The ride is about getting to the finish, not who got there fastest. The tracking site records our time as we go along. I suspect the program requires a number in that space. However, once the ride is over, the time is not listed in the final results from the Tevis people.

It’s really not about time.

I choose to record the elapsed time. I figure stopping and starting and applying Swat is part of the trail ride.

[We Ride At Dawn, Again, Week 5, Virtual Tevis 2022]
[VT archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Space.com: Behold! This is the first photo of the Milky Way’s monster black hole Sagittarius A*, Cooper, 1 day ago (12 May).

~~~

Recently, someone asked how long I’d been messing with horses. Depends when you start counting.

First pony ride, Bucky, 1968?, age five-ish, 54? years ago. [Aunt Faity]

First summer camp, with riding as one of the activities, 1970, age seven, 52 years ago. [Counter Factual]

First horse-specific summer camp, horse care as one of the activities, 1973, age ten, 49 years ago. [Flashback]

First leased horse, began hanging out at barns on the regular. 1978, age fifteen, 44 years ago.

First horse, 1982, age nineteen, 40 years ago. [The Unexpected, photo]

I generally count from when I started leasing, which is when horses went from a summer activity to year-round.

How about you? How long? How do you count?

Onwards!
Katherine