Virtual Brush Box

Horses of the outside world. More epitome. The American Saddlebred: 4/8/17 5 Gaited World’s Grand Champions 1948 through 1995 & The American Saddlebred: 4/16/17 5 Gaited World’s Grand Champions 1996 through 2016 (updated to 2022). Marc of Charm, 2015, is a Breyer model. Also, interesting to see how the photos change over time.

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Still no lesson last week. Still pondering. [Breeds II]

I’m in a weird place with Saddlebreds right now.

I don’t get along with many of the lesson horses at Stepping Stone Farm. The ones I do get along with, I have no interest in showing. It’s a show barn, so lessons and shows are the main activities on offer. [Over The Years, ASB Show Seasons]

It is me? Is it this particular group of horses? It is a momentary intersection of all of the two? Dunno.

I don’t think it is the hunt seat lessons. I’ve been riding my own horses – to some extent, but I digress – all along. Last year, I took hunt seat lessons & also showed enough saddle seat to be high point. [Back in the Bling]

I’ve had great opportunities. Ridden a lot of horses. Been to a lot of shows. Yet, I am still paddling about in shallow end of the pool. If I were handed a fancy horse, I wouldn’t have the slightest idea how to get the best out of our ride.

“Jumper Analogy. I have been jumping crossrails on school horses. I have been to Crossrails Nationals. I haven’t a clue how to ride a 1.2 meter class.” [Why I Am Not A Saddle Seat Genius, And Probably Won’t Be 2018]

“Maybe I don’t understand, on a deep level, what is going on?” [Back in the Saddle Seat 2026, same song, eight years later]

Obviously, the next step would be to get a fancy horse of my own. I have chosen not to. [Why Not Rack Off Into The Sunset? 2019]

So, that’s part of it.

I wonder if my recent experiments in self-direction with Goldy explain both the momentary weird place & my underlying confusion with Saddlebreds.

“I will defer to perceived authority at the raise of an eyebrow … my brain gets stuck in passive mode.” [Afterthoughts]

For saddle seat, every ride is a lesson. I believe this would still be true if I owned or leased a horse? At the moment, this is true of my hunter/jumper rides but I know enough there to work on my own if I get the chance. I have opinions. With saddle seat, I have no opinions, at least not saddle seat specific ones. Opinions in general, I have plenty.

At saddle seat shows, I don’t get my own horse ready. We already know this is a bad idea. I groom my ride at home, but not at shows. [Afterthoughts, Mental]

Shows are reactive. When you show a dressage test or over a course, you go in with a plan. Definitely, you have to adapt and react, but it’s you and your horse. In a flat class, such as at ASB shows, you respond to the commands of the judge and have to negotiate the space with the other competitors, plus deal with yourself and your horse.

In the saddle seat world, I find myself doing what people tell me to do. I’ve never been left to my own devices in this milieu. I don’t feel that I am sitting like a lump but perhaps I am more than I realize. Mind you, many people thrive in this environment. They are able to take riding instruction and still think for themselves.

As an aside, memory pulls up one ride where I was turned loose in the ring with a horse. It would have been years ago and it would have been Sam. No idea what we did. Even at the time, I recognized it as unusual.

Also, these are not my horses, so I am more likely to defer to the wishes of the owners or their agents. Again, this is true at the moment in my hunt seat lessons, but I have had my own horses in the hunter/jumper world. Never had my own Saddlebred. Would ownership of the horse cause me to take ownership of the ride, despite the lesson/show framework? No idea.

It’s been great fun, an absolute hoot on more than one occasion. But one can only mess about for so long. If I rode for myself, even within the confines of a lesson, would I find myself making better decisions? Or at least, making any decisions at all?

I was able to investigate instituting changes within a h/j lesson. [A Brief Sparkle of Goldy]

I have not had a chance with saddle seat.

First week, the lesson – and the rider – too scattered. [It Takes Two]

Second week, driving. [We Go For A Drive]

Not as relevant. “If I never do anything more than trot school horses (and honorary school horses) around the ring in lessons and pleasure classes, I’m good with that.” [Nerves]

Third week, last week, no lesson.

Please note. Everyone has been and continues to be wonderful. This is me getting inside my own head, for better or worse. I may learn something. I may snap out of it. I may muddle along in a funk for the foreseeable future. Time will tell.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses of the outside world. If one is going to do the thing, this is the epitome of the thing. The American Saddlebred: 4/1/17 5 Gaited World’s Grand Champions 1903 through 1947. Check out the sidesaddle in 1911.

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No saddle seat lesson last week. Barn at show. Using the space to ponder the horse search. As I said last time, “A good horse is any color & the right horse is any breed.” [Breeds for the Horse Search, Standardbred]

Do I really want a Saddlebred or have I gotten caught up in the possibilities? [Yet Another Requirement For My Theoretical New Horse]

If New Horse were registered with a breed, there would be double the opportunities. First, do the sport horse thing. Then, go over and do the breed thing. Quarter Horse Congress. Grand National & World Championship Morgan Horse Show. The Arabians have an entire Sport Horse Nationals for Arabs & Half Arabs. If New Horse is not that fancy, then at least the local and regional versions of these. Point is, there would be a new area to explore.

As previously, “This description is heavy on showing language. It is also shorthand for a horse willing to turn his hoof to whatever comes along: trail rides, obstacle clinics, tackless riding.” [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat]

Do I like Saddlebreds?

I like horses. They are horses. Therefore, I like them.

Does the breed hold a special place in my heart? Certain individuals definitely. The breed as a whole? Maybe not.

I’ve been wondering if Sam was one of the reasons I found a barn home at Stepping Stone for so many years.

“When I’m in a dark place, one of the things written on the wall of my soul is, ‘There are only two horses I can ride, and one of them is dead.’ Previous Horse was the latter. Sam is the other. Embrace this. Enjoy that I feel comfortable on a horse.” [Lessons, Theory Vs. Reality, Further Considerations]

He was the one I started on. [Sam I Am]

Even if I was riding other horses, he was always there in background. [Theory Vs. Reality].

Now, he’s gone and I have moved on. Or not.

Was my saddle seat binge due to one horse? Was it all the horses? Was it an artifact of where I ended up? Would I be hip deep in Quarter Horses if I had ended up at the western barn? [New Barn Checklist]

Getting the right horse will always depend on the individual. The likelihood of that individual being a Saddlebred is going down. Or perhaps, the chance was always low and I am simply recognizing this.

I’ll tell you one thing. I’d get a Saddlebred before a Warmblood. [Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You].

If I end up with a gray, Warmblood mare, we can all take it as a sign that we have shifted to an alternate universe. [Horse Search, Of Mares & Warmbloods]

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. NPR: CNN, MS NOW and Politico sue Trump after being barred from White House, Folkenflik, September 21, 2026. Among the myriad dumpster fires, media issues catch my attention, as one would expect. Sidenote, “Under NPR’s protocol for reporting on itself, no corporate official or news executive reviewed this story before it was posted publicly.” ibid.

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{Backstory. Each morning, people & horses go on team walk: one-mile, unmounted, & off-lead. Route is back and forth five times along one side of the pasture.}

As soon as Rodney had his booties on … [Back in Booties, Horsekeeping]

… he got right in line & marched along. Status quo ante.

Confirmation that he requires footwear.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Raw Story: Moment Trump’s ‘most ambitious project’ began to collapse spotted by conservatives, Kelty, September 19, 2026. I was only able to read the beginning of the cited NYT article. What I find interesting is that an article about presidential decline was written by conservatives.

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Barefoot experiment is over. [Going Bare]

We have contacted the blacksmith to come out & put shoes on.

We thought it was going well.

First shoe. Right front pulled off by horse. Foot seemed fine. Horse seemed fine. Let’s give this a try.

Two weeks go by. All good.

Second shoe. Left front sprung. Removed by humans. For the non-horsey among us, sprung means that the shoe is still on, but one of the ends is bent away from the hoof.

At first, he seemed pleased to have the other shoe removed. Almost as if he did not like walking with one shoe on and one shoe off.

Left foot never adapted as well to being barefoot. Okay, but not great the way the right foot had been. The first foot was reason we thought this might work.

Abscess/bruise on right foot, the one that was doing well. Bring out the abscess supplies. [Hoof Treatment]

At first, he seemed relieved, but then nothing improved. There was clearly a specific sore spot on the hoof but an abscess never resolved. A lingering bruise? Who knows.

Maybe filler was uncomfortable without a shoe? We tried the diaper and Epsom Salts alone. Still weird. Back to soaking?

We even tried soaking both feet. He appreciated the foot soak but no change.

No obvious crisis point but neither was he embracing the back-to-nature lifestyle.

This was not working.

Cue booties. Cue blacksmith.

Overall, it was odd.

We were watching him carefully.

No lame steps. Willing to trot, even hop about if called for.

Most importantly, Rodney gets spooky when he’s in pain. It’s not a subtle thing. It’s often obvious as soon as you put on the halter, even if you don’t know anything is wrong yet.

He never did any of that. Not a whisper.

As best we can figure, he was fine standing still. As soon as he moved, his feet felt weird, or uncomfortable, or awkward. He’s a big horse with the feet of a normal-sized horse. Apparently they need support. Or perhaps he likes the padding he gets from the booties. Either way, he wants something on his feet.

Update: See comments. MM says, “At this point, I’m confused as to what works, doesn’t work, …” You and me both.

Onwards!
Katherine

Art of the outside world. WCG: Graceful Envelope Winners 2026. I did not have a design nor did I enter this year. [Four Theoretical Seasons]

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Page 1. Many years ago, when humanity was a child, life was lived on the plains. Lions also lived on those plains. Because of this, people had to look out for lions.

No mane. “Female lions act as the primary hunters.” WWF: Lion.

Afterword

New Project. Illustrate & expand the Tall Building fable. Page one as a start. [Why Cities Have Tall Buildings, A Story]

Someone suggested that an interesting project might be to make a picture book out of this post. Dunno if I will get that far but it might be fun to take a few steps down that road.

Pictures. Find an illustrator OR come up with a way to illustrate that fits within my artistic skill set, which probably means digital and minimal, as above.

Text. That part is done.

Notes. The sidenote for page 7 gave me the idea to find a similar tidbit for each page, either on the history of humanity or the history of skyscrapers or something else entirely, as above. Finding suitable historical facts might be a challenge since I wrote the story on vibes and recall rather than on scholarly research.

Layout. Figure out how to combine drawing and text into one image. This may involve learning about PDFs and ebooks.

The Rest of the Story

To save you from clicking over. [Why Cities Have Tall Buildings, A Story]

Page 2. One person said if I pile dirt into a heap and stand on it, I can see farther.

Page 3. One person said I want to stand on the heap with you and look for lions also.

Page 4. One person said I want to stand on the heap with you and look down on my neighbors who are not on the heap.

Page 5. One person said if I pile this rock on top of that rock, I can build a higher heap.

Page 6. One person said I can move these rocks wherever I want and build a heap at the top of a naturally occurring heap so that I can see for miles around and be seen from miles around.

Page 7. One person said if I climb to the top of my rock heap, I will stay safe while I burn down my neighbor’s house.

“These all-stone buildings were also fireproof, leading to a terrible but effective tactic: take your family, treasures & goods up into your tower then set fire to enemies’ homes and let the city burn around you while you sit safe above.” Ex Urbe: The Lost Towers of the Guelph-Ghibelline Wars, Palmer 2025.

Page 8. One person said if I combine coal, limestone, and iron ore, I can make my heap really high.

Page 9. One person said I can make money on stores and offices and bedrooms and observatories in the really high heaps.

Page 10. One person said since the steel heap is supported from the inside, I can have glass all around the outside. I can seen everything everywhere.

Page 11. Many people said, we want to live on that very high heap.

Page 12. And that is why cities have tall buildings. Because inside each of us is a 100,000-year-old ancestor looking out for lions.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Lawyers, Guns, Money: American Revolutions Lecture Series. Livestream available with registration.

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Merchants’ Coffeehouse
American Village
Montevallo, AL USA
14 September 2026

Merchants’ Coffeehouse is a place to get drinks and snacks at American Village, an historical reenactment complex near Birmingham, Alabama.

“The inspiration for its design came from The City Tavern, a popular Pennsylvanian drinking establishment circa 1773,” Stoves said. “It was eventually also known as Merchants’ Coffeehouse when they started serving coffee in 1785.” Shelby County Reporter: Freshly brewed: American Village opens new coffee shop, Domescik 2025.

“City Tavern was a popular gathering spot for residents and visitors alike in the late 1700s. Some members of the Second Continental Congress dined regularly here, and weekly balls took place on the second floor. John Adams described the place as ‘the most genteel tavern in America.’ ” Philadelphia Visitor Center: City Tavern

Last time I posted about American Village, I made snarky and condescending remarks about not being impressed with the reproduction when you’ve seen the original. [Spotted at American Village]

I will admit that I did not know about City Tavern. I probably never would have found out about it without the American Village version. Score one for reenactment over historical snobbery.

Too hot to walk around that day. I enjoyed my hot chocolate in the air conditioning, soaked up the colonial era color scheme, and went home.

Books

I have not read nor seen either of these books. Included to demonstrate the impact of City Tavern, judging by the titles.

City Tavern, The Founding Table—Colonial Dining, Revolutionary History, and the Restaurant at the Center of It All, by Becky Libourel Diamond, Westholme 2026.

The City Tavern Papers: Philadelphia and the Conversations That Forged a Nation (Back Rooms That Shaped America #2), by Scott Hamele, Schuyler 2026.

Links

American Village Citizenship Trust

National Park Service: Visiting City Tavern

Historic Philadelphia: The Garden at City Tavern

Onwards!
Katherine

Photography of the outside world. World Food Awards: Finalists Gallery 2026.

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Pistachio Bonbon
Elizabeth Moore Chocolates
September 2026

Pistacia vera in the scientific name for the pistachio tree. In related news, Pistacia Vera is the name of a pastry restaurant in Columbus Ohio that has excellent pistachio-centric food photography on its website. PV: Home & PV: Menu

“Pistachio trees have grown in the Middle East for thousands of years. Pistachios have always been a desired delicacy in this region. Pistachios are mentioned in the Old Testament (Genesis 43:11).” American Pistachio Growers: History

“Then their father Israel said to them, ‘If it must be so, then do this: take some of the choice fruits of the land in your bags, and carry down to the man a present, a little balm and a little honey, gum, myrrh, pistachio nuts, and almonds.” Bible Gateway, All English Translations: RSV. Some versions do not specify the type of nut. Yes, only one quotation mark. The quote is closed several verses later.

Onwards!
Katherine