Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]
Tack!
Was worn!
By one of our horses!
After a short handwalk, Rodney did a few circles on longlines.
Being Rodney, he trotted off thinking this was Hard Work.
No, no. Just walk quietly for a few minutes.
Oh, walk quietly.
Like this?
Okay, enough of that. Time to go to my header.
Unfortunately, his header was holding Milton. We had to arrange them so that Rodney could come get his cookie without encountering the chipper blades … on either end.
Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]
Fourth month post surgery Two weeks at clinic DONE One month of at-home stall rest DONE One month of paddock rest DONE Starting week 5 of one month of pasture rest
You may notice a change in the wording of the headers.
Veterinary directions call for one month of each. I apparently made up the concept of ‘four weeks’ used in previous posts. Liberty Day hasn’t changed, I just had the units wrong.
In my defense, a) due to Milton’s release date, the first month was trimmed a few days, making it four weeks in practice, b) In February, four weeks equaled one month & c) not sharpest knife in the drawer at the moment.
It keeps astounding me the stitches I have been dropping lately.
For example.
I managed to miss half of email message for a work project. It was a short, simple message. Wasn’t like I had to scroll down several screens to get the bit I missed. I read the first half and went hairing off. I completely missed the second, relevant half until I responded the next week. I came close to starting a new message instead of using Reply, in which case I would have missed it completely.
It all worked out. Recipient was not discommoded. It wasn’t a practical problem as much as a reflection on my mental state.
I don’t DO things like this. I have many flaws, but lack of obsessiveness is not one of them, particularly when it comes to work. My writing may be pedestrian (direct quote from an English professor) but I am reliable.
I don’t feel tired, but I keep doing tired things.
In return for your patience in listening to my whingeing, here’s a free read. Nature: Tourist season, by Marissa Lingen, 05 April 2023.
I’ve written hundreds of articles, 403 at last count, with a handful more since then. Almost all for print media. Therefore, my online professional links are a small fraction of my CV. Below are the results of an ego search to see what I could find of my commercial writing on the Internet.
Horses, General Articles
the Horse: Katherine Walcott, 15 articles listed, 2000 to 2011. You have to sign up for an account to read them. “Katherine Walcott is a freelance writer living in the countryside near Birmingham, Al. She writes for anyone she can talk into paying her and rides whatever disciplines she can talk her horses into doing.”
The Bloodhorse: Girth Tightness and Performance, Deirdre B. Biles, March 20, 2001. “A girth that is too tight can have a negative effect on a racehorse’s performance. That conclusion is based on recent research conducted in Australia, writes Katherine Walcott in the April edition of The Horse.” Summary of article.
Your Dressage: The Unreliable Partner, by Jessica Ransehousen with Katherine Walcott, May 20, 2022, Reprinted from the March/April 2022 issue of USDF Connection magazine.
Horse Illustrated: State Ambassadors, November 2011. PDF not embedding. Available by search. Put my name or “horse” in search box, otherwise you get the U.S. Embassy.
Blurb from book column, “Younger girls will be inspired…adult girls will remember back to when just being near a horse was all you needed to make your day. – Katherine Walcott, Eventing USA.” Willow Bend: Blackjack: Dreaming of a Morgan Horse
More blurb. Quoting a rider’s favorite book. Paul Belasik
Horses, Personal Column
Back To Eventing was one of my few online projects. It seems to have been taken down. I reposted them. [BTR 7 of 7, Coda scroll down for list of posts]
Riverchase Galleria. Embracing the stereotype of being an old fart in America, I went for a walk in the mall on a rainy day. I can see why it is (was?) popular, particularly if you live somewhere with inhospitable weather. I haven’t been to this mall since the LEGO store closed in January of 2020. I was so busy looking about that I forgot to take a walk photo. The other walk photos fell flat, so Strava maps this month.
Oak Grove Park. Click over & scroll down for photos. Not pictured is a cute, free-standing stage for summer plays? concerts? Internet is not forthcoming.
The Y. Now that we have rejoined, I can walk there on rainy days. On this track, 14 laps = 1 mile. Used Strava because there is no way I can count to 14. I lose my place when I do three laps in the pasture. When I do four laps at a park, I walk two laps in one directions, reverse, walk two the other way. I still occasionally wonder if I’m on lap 3 or 4. Once, I did an extra lap to be sure. So 14 laps in one direction is a no-hoper. Map is complete spaghetti b/c inside. The next time, I walked until I was between 20-25 minutes and called it a mile.
Oak Meadow Park. As with last month, I couldn’t think of anywhere new or clever to go. When I started running out of month, I picked a simple track and walked for an hour. Photos.
Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]
Fourth month post surgery Week 4 of four weeks pasture rest
We suspect Milton might be a little much to live with these days.
Last Monday was a rainy, overcast day. Rodney decided that he needed some alone time.
Breakfast. Rodney goes in stall to eat.
After breakfast.
Me: Wanna go out? Rodney: No, not really. It’s raining out there and I have hay in here.
Later.
Me: Wanna go out? How about I give you a carrot? Rodney: How about I stand in the open doorway and stretch my neck reallllllllly long?
Still later.
Me: Wanna go out? Rodney: (napping) Me: (refills water, heads back to house) Rodney: (never moves)
And yet still later.
Me: Wanna go out? Rodney: (standing with nose over hay spot, giving me the look) As soon as you care to stop this charade and give me hay, that would be good. Me: Okay, if you want to stay in until dinner, I guess that’ll work.
Shortly before dinner.
I go up to get the feed buckets. Rodney is standing at the stall door.
Rodney: I’m ready to go out. Me: Really? Now? R: Yup. Places to go. Things to see.
I let him out. Wasn’t like they wouldn’t come thundering back for eats.
What do I do with my day? I am doorminder for a horse.
Explanation. We have a horse on stall rest following colic surgery. This has taken over the blog. Mostly. [Begin, Phase IV]
Took the horses for a walk last weekend.
Wasn’t expecting much. Which is good. We didn’t get much.
This wasn’t going back to work.
This wasn’t even the first day of class, handing out the syllabus & putting covers on books.
This was driving past the building saying here’s were your classes will be.
The horses are unfit.
I mean, we knew this. Three months of utter idleness will do that. We watching muscles melt off and top lines sag.
It’s one thing for a horse to lose form along the back and hindquarters. A nice rounded, muscled topline is hard to maintain. Rodney has lost topline along his neck. He looks like a ewe-necked three-year-old. I didn’t think Thoroughbreds could fall that far out of condition.
And all he did was stand and watch.
Milton has same level of activity – or inactivity – plus a massive physical insult to his system.
We know it’s going to be a long, slow road.
Halters on. Let’s go.
Last Sunday we took them for a short handwalk. Along one side of the pasture, to the corner at back, twice.
Everyone behaved. Feet on the ground. No running off. So, gold star there.
In every other way, more of a work in progress.
Milton went charging off. Second pass, less charging. Maybe he settled. More likely he ran out of steam.
Rodney also went charging off. Got upset when we got behind making the turnaround. His was more mental than physical. Forgetting his manners. Getting anxious.
Later, I went up to the barn to check. Milton got all up in my grill, ‘That was a lot of work. I deserve cookies.’
Virtual Brush Box 