What you need to know to follow along. Scroll down for Cast of Critters
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Virtual Brush Box is a daily blog mostly about horses.
Backstory
In 2010, I bought my big, fancy midlife crisis horse for hunter/jumper/eventing/dressage/whatever looked good and brought home shiny ribbons [The Cast Assembles]. It didn’t work out. Four years later, I bought a young prospect [Meet Milton]. That didn’t work out either. Both are in my backyard. Both are gorgeous, talented, annoying, and useless. Thus the low-grade whine of frustration that permeates the blog [Hello Whining, My Old Friend]. I say they are useless, but only from a competition point of view. As household entertainment, they excel.
In 2012, I started saddle seat lessons as a way to get out of the house [Sam I Am].
As of September 2018, the first horse, Rodney, remains a pasture ornament. We have taught the second horse, Milton, to drive [Milton’s First Carriage Drive] and I have started showing him in Introductory dressage [Maintaining Our Firm Grip On Last Place] and hunt seat [Victory Is Ours!]. Jumping is in the future. Then again, jumping was in the future in 2010. But I digress. I continue to visit the saddle seat world without committing [Why I Am Not A Saddle Seat Genius, And Probably Won’t Be].
As of August 2019, things are looking up. Both horses are in work. While neither horse is where I thought they would be at this point, we make creeping progress. Crosses fingers.
March 2021. I need to update this. How do you update 2020?
January 2022. … or how to recap 2021?
May 2022. Looked at this again. Still at loss for words.
Blog Content
I write about horses, horse shows, horse care, and a range of things vaguely horse-shaped, including photography, stamps, books, LEGO, and so on. I write mostly about me and my environs. I’ve been out of the mainstream too long to have much of an opinion on current horse events. That’s not true. I have opinions, most of them based on 20-year old data. So I keep to myself.
Also post about my cats, because what would the Internet be without cats [Our New Four-In-Hand]? … or not [Where Did They Go? Pet Update 2022]
Schedule
Monday to Thursday – Horses. First Thursday, State of the Now post.
Monday – Horsekeeping, because I do Monday posts the week before & these tend to be less time sensitive.
Tues & Wednesday – Rodney & Milton
Thursday – Other horses, lessons, dogs, horse hunt
Friday – Photography. First Friday, State of the Fitness post
Saturday – Words, alternating fiction & nonfiction. First Saturday, State of the Blog post. Fifth Saturday, F/NF crossover
Sunday – Images, graphic design, mostly lettering, with one non-lettering post each month.
if you want horses, tune in Monday through Thursday. If you enjoy random variety, stayed tuned for the rest of the week. [Shifting The Schedule]
Section updated 27 December 2022. Documentation gives me the illusion of control.
Schedule – Awareness of the outside world
Monday to Friday – current events
Saturday – reading recommendations, suggestions, thoughts
Sunday – art, ditto
Exceptions. When other people are involved, I tone it down. Therefore no AOW for guest posts; pleasant, happy links for lesson days. None for fiction.
Reasons why [State of the Blog, Awareness of the Outside World, Taking a Poll on a New Feature]
Section added May 2022.
The Rest of the Story
For more on the history of the blog, the people who make it possible, and the reason the name doesn’t match the url, please visit [State of the Blog, Introduction].
Procedural Posts
[Awareness of the Outside World]
[Brevity]
[Watermarks]
[Book Recommendations]
[Privacy Policy]
[Comments]
[Names]
[We Begin, Again] First post
Section above added November 2020. Section below moved from own page 4/23 /21 with theme change.
Cast of Critters
Rodney. 17.1h, bay Thoroughbred gelding, b.1999. Never raced. Joined our menagerie in 2010.
Milton. 16.1h, gray, off-the-track Canadian Thoroughbred gelding. b. 2008. Arrived 2014.
Mathilda. 15h 2″ QH-cross mare, born 1984, bought 1991. Mama was a Quarter Horse. Daddy was anybody’s guess. Husband horse. Crossed the rainbow bridge in May of 2014. She was 30 years old, 23 of them spent with us. She lives on in the first 2 1/2 years of the blog.
Caesar, aka Previous Horse – 16h, bay, Thoroughbred gelding, b. 1983. Bought at age 6 off the track. Showed Adult Jumpers. Died peacefully at home in 2009 at the age of 26. [In Defense of Caesar]
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Updated 8/9/19, unless specified
Virtual Brush Box 
nice to meet you katherine
David in Maine USA
Hello David. A while back, I wrote a haiku (using a broad definition of the term) a day for about a month. Had its own little notebook & everything. Nothing done daily is easy.
I admire anyone who can write daily. I tried to for my blog, at first, but then the weather started to get nice and being inside just isn’t where I want to be. When it gets hot, I’ll likely go back to every day or so. Maybe.
Need to go look around more to catch up on the horse shopping saga. Horses are like men, the right one comes along when you least expect it. Good luck.
My advice for writing daily would be to set yourself a limited period. I’ve chosen one year and you better believe I am counting down. Perhaps a month?
I’ve nominated you for the Liebster Award. You can find out more about it (including how to accept!) by visiting my blog.
Thank you!
What is that?
I, too, have a ‘mostly equestrian’ page and I’m trying to write a post a day. It’s harder than I ever imagined it would be. Life just keeps getting in the way of intentions. Gaaaahhh!! What’s with that??
How long have you been at it? The first month was a piece of cake. I ran on enthusiasm. The second month was TOUGH. Then I got into the mindset of seeing everything as a blog post. Not sure I recommend that as a way of viewing the world, but it does make the posting easier. Do you post every day or generate several at a time & schedule them?
I am looking for photos of my granddaughter (ava harris from rocking s farms) who rode in spring show at rainsville in the exceptional class. Please send me photographer’s info so i can order some pics.
Thanks
Rurh hedgepetg
Sandra Hall Photography: https://www.sandrahallphotography.com/
I can’t link to the exact page. Click on Horse Show Proofs > 2014 Mid South Spring Premier 14 > Saturday Morning > 078 – Exceptional Class WT Only. Lots of photos to chose from. LMK if you need anything else.