Rodney’s Spot Phase II

Awareness of the outside world. CNN: Exclusive: CDC hopes new ‘Wild to Mild’ ad campaign will tame skepticism about flu vaccines, Goodman, September 6, 2023. Hat tip to M.

CDC: Wild To Mild. Created to be shared. These have been resized, click over for originals. Four because I couldn’t decide on one. Also Lion to Kitten & Elephant to Mouse.

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Phase I was Rodney standing quietly away from the stall while I opened the door. [Rodney’s Spot]

Phase II involves getting from his spot into the stall without a mad dash.

Rodney’s issues. He came to us with a long scar on this left side. We were told it was from a run-in with a stall latch. There is undoubtedly more to the story, but he can definitely get weird about doorways. [Remnant of Rodney’s Past] & [Why Rodney Will Never Be An Outstanding Obstacle Horse]

My issues. I know of two local horses who had bad outcomes after getting a hoof stuck in a stall. So, we build up the ground under the doormat to keep the door as flush as possible. Occasionally, it can take a moment or two to shove the door open.

All of which means that getting himself through the door can become a production.

Would we expect any less of Rodney?

I recognize that there is difference between a horse trotting in with enthusiasm and one dashing through in a panic. The former, hey, what are you gonna do. Then latter they can rush about and run into things, making it worse for themselves. “When Rodney goes into panic mode, he completely loses his proprioception.” [Remnant]

So, we model correctly behavior.

I have to make sure he gets all the way it the stall before I release him. He can be a few feet from the door and still go from zero to run.

How do we do it?

Sometimes, I can talk him through with a calming voice. Easy. Easy. Easy.

Sometimes, I hold his snoot and request that he move quietly.

Sometimes, I use a halter.

A work in progress.

Onwards!
Katherine

Nature Will Prevail, Sidewalk Cracks

Another on from the vaults. I have thoughts. Life. The blog. The relation between the two. Possibilities that one can help me reach ambitions in the other. However, I have neither the energy nor the coherence to assemble the parts into an interesting whole. Maybe for next month’s state of the blog.

What I have learned about recovery. Recuperating takes soooooo long. I’m mind-numbingly tired every day. Looking back, I see that I am getting a bit more done each day before I fade. So the feeling is that I am always tired, but that hides the progress.

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Nature I [I Call This, ‘Nature Will Prevail, Eventually’]

Nature II

Birmingham Airport, September 2021 [Flying Low, Walk Report, DragonCon Virtual 5K]

UAB Campus, July 2022

Westin Hotel, Birmingham AL, July 2022

Previous Post

Galleria parking lot, Hoover AL [Persistence] 2015

Reader Contribution Corner

Mid-Atlantic USA

Onwards!
Katherine

Restarting, State of the Fitness

Sports of the outside world. OmegaBall. Three-sided soccer.

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Swim supplies from Dick’s Sporting Goods

I do remember that the original goal of Fitness Friday was getting in shape for riding. A dog can dream.

Swimming

Haven’t been since pre-pandemic.

Got new gear. Found bathing suit. Went swimming. Lasted 10 minutes.

Only went once. We moved into a period of afternoon thunderstorms.

It’s a start.

Biking

Did a bunch back when husband was working from home. Haven’t done much since.

Dusted off bike. Went for a short ride.

Also once.

It’s a start.

Walking

All walking was in the pasture. No new places. [The Morning Constitutional]

While I went out every day but one, some days I didn’t get the full mile.

Therefore. This is the first month in over three years that I haven’t walked a 5K. At the beginning of the month I was stressing about the horse show & work. I figured I had the rest of the month. As turns out, I didn’t. During the second half of the month, I wasn’t finishing my daily mile. Trying to do 3 miles didn’t make sense. So I gave the 5K a miss for the month. I am oddly unperturbed by this.

Fun Fact

Post pandemic (I assume), the Y no longer supplies towels. This is a piece of information one would like to have before one arrives. Ah well, it was a hot day. I dried off fast.

Onwards!
Katherine

Let’s Do This! A New Month, State of the Now

Time of the outside world. When is now? Fervent thank you to the person who reminded me that an interview which takes place at 11 am PDT is at 1 pm CDT, not 9 am CDT.

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Updated Now Page

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September 2023

Let’s do this!

Andiamo!

Allons-y!

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Last Month [Here Comes That Month, State of the Now]

Onwards!
Katherine

The Morning Constitutional

Awareness of the outside world. Went to the dump. Went to get hay. Saw a lot of my truck. Did not see a lot of news.

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Horses and humans go for a walk each morning.

Get up. Get horses. Walk back and forth for a mile. Go on about our day.

Even weekends.

Some days they wear tack. Some days they wear halters. Some days they long line. Some days they stroll along. Some days they work after. Some days, one mile and done. On hot days, it is the only time work is possible. We’ll see what happens on cold & dark days. Rainy days are a miss, but the weather model around here tends toward wet in the afternoons, mostly.

We started the practice with this year’s Virtual Tevis. We needed to get our daily mile in before Milton’s (metaphorical) rider went to work. [Archives]

We keep it up as good exercise for everyone.

Onwards!
Katherine

Small Steps in the Horse Search

Awareness of the outside world. Mark your calendars. FEMA: FEMA and FCC Plan Nationwide Emergency Alert Test for Oct. 4, 2023.

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We have a few names to contact. They have horses available now &/or might be helpful in the future.

Not local, but in the same time zone.

I, of course, am wallowing in a sea of overwhelm. [Status, I keep citing this post, it’s a good recap of my situation]

Thank you to the kind people (waves Hi!) who have taken interest in our search for Tertium Quid. [TQ, Redux]

Onwards!
Katherine