Horses, Life, A Touch of Geek

Archive for the ‘Holiday’ Category

Letter Art: Flowers for Mother’s Day 2017

Hi Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day

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Mother’s Day Posts
[Mares and Foals in Mexico, Mother’s Day 2016, Guest Photos]
[Text Art: Names of the Rose] 2015
[Text Art: Happy Mother’s Day] 2014
Skipped [Face Off] 2013
[Rodney’s Mommy?] 2012

Lettering 2017

[Zebra Stripes]
[Wallpapering with Light]
[Winter Tournament Letters]
[Watercolor]
[Daylight Savings]
[Connect The Dots]
[Pen & Pastels]
[NYC 2016]

Previous Lettering
[2016] [2015] [2014] [2013]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Art, Blogging, Holiday, Lettering, Off Topic

Show Report: Dixie Cup 2017

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Timeline. The activities below occurred and were written up on Saturday before our inadvertent jump school on Sunday. Hence the mood-swing back to the dark side. IRL, I’m still basking [Jump!]. (I don’t usually write up a show immediately, but I was attempting to process.)
~~

Show Details
Dixie Cup Horse Show

Georgia International Horse Park
Conyers, GA, USA
Saturday, May 6, 2017
With HB Whizbang
301 Academy Equitation WTC – Adult, 1st of 2
302 Academy Showmanship WTC – Adult, 2nd of 2
321 Academy WTC Championship, 4th of 5
Thank you to the Alvis family for the wonderful Mr. Whizbang.

Show Report
I decided to go at the last minute. Pro-AM was so awful [Report], it was deemed that I could use as much practice as possible.

Didn’t help.

I had some good moments. I had some bad. I ping-ponged between them like a demented pinball. Occasionally, Mr, Whizbang and I ping-ponged around the ring. The middle class was going the best, until I made an adjustment in the canter, overadjusted, and we broke into a trot. I can’t remember the last time that happened.

With apologies to Casey McBride Photography, I am not ordering a photo from the show. Again. I’m all for supporting show photographers. Part of me wants to buy one to document the horses that I show over the years. OTOH, there is no reason to own a photo when I can’t bear to look at the proofs.

I can’t win every class. Well, I’d like to, but it ain’t gonna happen. Ultimately, it’s not about how I place. I have no control over that. It’s about how well I ride. If I lay down my best trip and someone else has a better round? Fine. Go home and work harder. If I continue to make mistakes that I can’t feel and don’t know how to fix? That’s when I go home and write self-pitying blog posts.

In the not-you-it’s-me category, Mr. Whizbang had a full day. After suit equation in the morning, he did the full run of Academy in the afternoon: driving, walk-trot-canter, and walk-trot. He was Champion with his young owner. Smart Snippy!

GIHP show reports [list]. My best day at Conyers was my first [Report]. After that the wheels came off to varying degrees.

And Now For Something Completely Different
Part of my justification for going to the show was to stop in Atlanta afterwards for anniversaryesque activities [Village].

Sausage Shopping

The Spotted Trotter
A boutique butcher

Dekalb Farmers Market
Food from everywhere, shoppers ditto.

Anniversary Dinner

Yat Tuh
Eater Atlanta: The 38 Essential Atlanta Restaurants, Spring ’17

We be foodies.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Holiday, Horse Shows, Horses, Saddle Seat, Travel

It Takes A Village

Riding Rodney is a group endeavor. Due to issues, I have have never ridden him without Greg in attendance. Time to change that. Did Rodney like it? Not so much. We lasted 8 minutes.

Downside
Tension from the rider? No. I could be deluding myself. Would not be the first time nor the first rider to do so. OTOH, I often rode Previous Horse and Mathilda by myself. Perhaps not ideal from a safety point of view, but riding solo is not a habit that freaks me out a priori.

Did I amplify his tension? Possibly. Probably. I will totally put my hand up to this. Especially since I am naturally a sedate, calming person.

Tension originating from the horse? Yes. I felt that I was sitting on a keg of dynamite. A small keg, with a long fuse, but a keg nonetheless. As proof, I offer that fact that he reverted to his old habit of popping out of gear at the halt [Meanwhile]. He has been nailing the statue maneuver lately [Feb 2107].

Upside
The “old habit” was less than five months ago, back in December of last year. Given our history, that’s lightning progress for Rodney & me.

In all cases, my response is the same. Pull my socks up and be the sedate, calm person that I need to be.

He used to be this way when his chaperone was present. He learned that. He will learn this.

Super Upside
Today is my wedding anniversary. Therefore, I would like to publicly thank the husband for being my village over the last 29 years.

Anniversary Posts [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]
The year I forgot [Aftermath]

2016

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Holiday, Horse Behavior, Horses, Riding

An Inconsiderate Guest

gmck-header

I was rude. Gina McKnight did something nice and I dropped the ball. I shall attempting to explain and remedy that.

I fell into the holiday vortex. The bad what-is-the-point one rather than the happy festive one. There was no obvious reason. I just wound down as the year did. I couldn’t get organized to drag my ass to the saddle seat barn for a lesson. I was screamingly late with a writing assignment. Reliability is usually one of the things I’m good for. I forgot to call the blacksmith to confirm. He came anyway, but thought the lack of contact was very unlike me. In short, December was a bit of a mess. Happy to leave it behind. I know it’s an arbitrary number, but I’m feeling very New Year, New Start at the moment.

One of thing I overlooked, wimped out on, was my guest post on Gina’s blog, Riding & Writing: Rodney’s Ready for Christmas.

gmck-post

In my defense, I was out of town when it appeared. I got home, saw it briefly, then stuck my head back in the sand. I didn’t comment. I didn’t say thank you. Of course, the later it got, the more socially paralyzed I became. The post was also mentioned on her website, Gina McKnight Riding & Writing: Rodney’s Saga with Katherine Walcott

Therefore, I offer this post as public penance. Thank you, Gina!

Living in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains promotes inspiration and passion for creative writing; children’s literature, poetry, freelance, and more.  Gina is a graduate of Franklin University/Leadership Scholar/BA, Columbus, Ohio. Writing at an early age, an avid reader and lover of words, Gina continues to be encouraged by her horses, neighbors, family and friends.
Gina McKnight, Riding & Writing

Her Amazon page lists Gina as the author of three books:
The Blackberry Patch
To the Heart: A poetry collection
Poetry from the Field

& a contributor ( I assume) to a fourth:
The Significant Anthology

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Blogging, Books, Holiday, Horses

Christmas 2016, Rodney

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Outtake

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Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Holiday, Horses, Photography

Christmas 2016, Milton

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Outtake

c16-m2-outtake

 

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Holiday, Photography

Thanksgiving 2016

Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Thursday!

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thanks-2016-1

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Thanksgiving Posts
2012 A Horse’s Thanksgiving
2013 Life’s Mysteries
2014 Hay Bale Art: Thanksgiving 2014
2015 Show Tweets, Georgia Fall Classic 2015

Hay Roll Posts
Snowman
A Couple of Hay Rolls
Foto Friday: Hay Rolls
Hay Bale Art: Thanksgiving 2014
Alternative Uses For A Hayroll

Department of Historical Veracity
If you are celebrating thankfulness, that’s great. Rock on. If you are celebrating the “First Thanksgiving,” be aware that American history is problematic. At best. Cracked: 6 Ridiculous Lies You Believe About the Founding of America. Squanto is discussed in point #2. Spoiler alert: despite the source and the flippant title, this is not a happy article.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Category:

Barn Life, Holiday, Photography

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