New Horse Nibble

Awareness of the outside world. The Hollywood Reporter: Condé Nast Union Overwhelmingly Ratifies First Contract, Katie Kilkenny, May 14, 2024.

~~~

Quietly following up a lead for a new horse.

Young ASB doing dressage. Has free jumped. Promising.

Messages sent to seller. Video requested. Coach Courtney asked to weigh in on breeding.

Sport Saddlebreds are a niche market. I hope that means he has time to wait for the right home and that I have time to organize my ducks.

He looks good in photos and on paper, but don’t they all?

Onwards!
Katherine

Personality Differences

Awareness of the outside world. “The evidence review revealed that for LGBT individuals and same-sex couples, their children, and the general U.S. population, the benefits of access to legal marriage for same-sex couples are unambiguously positive.” Rand: Twenty Years of Legal Marriage for Same-Sex Couples in the United States, Karney et al, May 13, 2024.

~~~

Alternate Title. How Do You Want Your Disappointment Served?

This is less about me being grumpy & more about the different personalities of the two horses.

A few weeks ago, I posited three levels of horse performance. [Cumulative Effect]

Well, that sucked pond water!

Hey, you weren’t horrible!

What a star!

Over the years, Rodney and Milton have had their share of both type 1 and type 2 activity reports. Milton favored type 1, moments when the wheels came off.

Even now, looking back, we can’t see how we could have prepared him any better for this first – and so far only – driving show. Learn to drive, even though Thoroughbred is not a traditional driving breed? Sure. Go to a different barn for a driving lesson? No problem. Go to a third barn for a pleasure drive? Piece of cake. Go to a show? Aggggggggggggg!!!!! [I am not back. This is not a post.]

We aren’t talking about mild discomfort that we could perceive with our discerning eye and knowledge of the horse. Milton went from ‘I got this’ to complete comeapart.

Similarly, our Academy show. [Hanging With The Saddlebros]

I wanna be a Saddlebred!

I wanna be a Saddlebred!

No! No! No! I don’t wanna be a Saddlebred!!!

So he gets in deep and has more moments to suck pond water.

On the other hoof, Rodney has had more type 2 outings. More times of, Well, it could have gone worse. This is due to his having a higher resting anxiety level. He makes it clear that he is NOT on board without thorough preparation, tiny steps, and a well-worked out approach.

“Adjusting to all of this is a function of getting out and about.” [Not From Around These Parts, Schooling Report, Southern Sunday Barrel Association]

“We planned our work; worked our plan.” [Words, Show Report, Dressage, Full Circle Horse Park, August 2019]

The okay moments wouldn’t be so bad if the tiny steps led to overall progress. As is, both horses pretty much ended up in same place. Through different paths. Which I found interesting.

Onwards!
Katherine

Step By Step, Virtual Tevis 2024

Awareness of the outside world. KFF Health News: WHO Overturns Dogma on Airborne Disease Spread. The CDC Might Not Act on It. Maxmen May 1, 2024. Hat tip to G.

~~~

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

Rodney
9 miles this week, 41 miles total
9 outings – 7 handwalks, 2 ride

Milton
9 miles this week, 42 miles total
9 outings – 6 handwalks, 3 rides

Tuesday 7 May to Monday 13 May

All one-mile walks in pasture.

Tuesday to Friday. Morning walks.

Saturday. Milton ride. Rodney handwalk, hors de combat due to debilitating bug bite on his eyelid.

Sunday. Both ride.

Monday. Rained out in morning. Ride in afternoon. Please note Milton did the ride thing three days in a row. Gold star.

Virtual Tevis Posts [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

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.

~~~

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.

~~~

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