Virtual Brush Box

Awareness of the outside world. LRK3DE: Grayson-Jockey Club Research Foundation Named Official Charity of 2022 Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian™. Although press release is dated 2022, Grayson is still listed as Official Charity on 2023 Fact Sheet PDF.

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An outline for a mystery trilogy, dreamt up after spending the weekend watching the the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event.

Death In The Dressage Ring. Judge dies during Main Character’s dressage ride. The circumstances are complicated, so MC is drawn into investigation rather than being punted off to the side, as a member of the public would ordinarily be. MC may spend time as suspect.

Detective is female. (This becomes important later.) If a romance subplot is required, MC can become enchanted with another member of the investigating team, while Detective meetcutes a horseman. For a queer twist, arrange genders of supporting characters as required.

MC breaks the case by noticing judge’s schedule. A weird combination of locations and/or types of show. Why would they take position X at show Y when they are qualified to take position A at show B? A nuance that only someone who knows the show calendar would catch. Turns out judge was using cover of traveling to shows for nefarious plot purposes.

Corpse On Cross Country. Body is found days before big event. Arrange forensic details so that event is allowed to continue. Maybe body is found on adjacent land that was to be used for the day. After discovery, that loop is cut off & course is rerouted. For plot reasons, there is pressure to get things solved before event is over. Therefore, Detective asks MC to act as translator and tour guide for ins & outs of horse world. MC has job that makes her willing to take on danger of poking around a murder. Resolution of mystery is related to events in book one.

Showdown in Show Jumping. Detective starts taking riding lessons.

EITHER

Detective starts lessons strictly out of her own interest. Because of friendship with MC. Because of romance with X. Whatever. She hears things.

OR

The infiltration is deliberate. Deaths in books one & two point to larger criminal enterprise. Many, many people are tracing this organization from various angles. Detective is sent to take lessons because of her experience with horse world in previous cases, using above scenario as plausible explanation. No one expects much to come of it, but are chasing every option. Has to lie to MC &/or romantic interest as to reason for sudden interest in lessons? Romantic interest is a trainer him/herself?

Making plot choices. The second, undercover, version strikes me as more noir. Lots of gritty realism. Lots of emotional fallout from hidden motives. The first version has possibilities for ‘It’s all interconnected.’ Detective honestly and truly starts lessons because she’s curious, because she rode as a kid, because she needs to get out more, whatever. However, the villain assumes that Detective is closing in and this prompts haste and mistakes and ultimate leads to villain’s downfall.

In either case, Detective is only semi-undercover. She makes no secret of her job and she really does take the lessons. She hangs around. People start get used to seeing her. They start to treat her as just another rider at the barn. This is why detective is female. Easier to write her as friend of MC. Also, easier for her to merge into horse world and become just another anonymous amateur rider.

Plot shenanigans occur.

~~~ curtain ~~~

Screenshots taken 29 April 2023.

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Free Fiction 4U. “Download Bold – The Eventing Series: A Prequel for FREE!” Natalie Keller Reinert: The Eventing Series, scroll down. You probably have to create an account. I have neither downloaded nor read. I was simply amazed to find free, eventing-specific fiction to offer you.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. For your next crisis, or when you want to find out how distant family members are doing during their crisis, PowerOutage.us.

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Logan Martin Dam
Alpine, AL USA
19 April 2023

Alabama Power Shorelines: Logan Martin

“There are always two people in every picture: the photographer and the viewer.” Ansel Adams.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Dogs in Medieval Manuscripts. British Library: Nothin’ but a Hound Dog, February 2013 & BL: Dogs: Medieval Man’s Best Friend, September 2013.

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Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Show Biz Cheat Sheet: Helen Mirren Proves to Be Quick Study in Driving Buggy in ‘1923′, by Nunn, February 3, 2023.

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Wilson Groves is the husband of Robin Groves, Milton’s favorite clinician. [Milton Rises To The Occasion]

There is a video of Mr. Groves hitching, screenshot above. [YouTube: Section C Welsh driving and riding mare. Driving demonstration]

Mare stands quietly, sans header. Driver moves calmly and efficiently around her. No Drama Hitching.

We have decided we will do this thing. Not standing unattended, that is a bridge too far. The rest of it. Milton will learn to put it in park for hitching. We will take the time it takes. For example, we had not been using the kicking strap to keep him from standing longer while it was buckled on.

No longer. We will aim for calm and efficient hitching. If we fall into the trap of hurrying to get it done, we will group. We will move incrementally as Milton accepts each step. We will regroup with understanding and patience if we have moved too fast or if Milton decides he wants to revisit a previous step. That’s the plan.

I’m hopeful. He has learned to be an excellent loader and a trailer has to be a lot scarier.

The biggest change is that I will no longer be dispensing pocketsful (yes, multiple pockets) of treats to keep him peaceful. If he needs to be distracted by cookies, we need to go back a step until he is cool with it.

So far, Milton has accepted this philosophically. He would, of course, prefer more cookies. He listened when I told him to stop fussing about another cookie and to center himself. He will still get treats, but at certain points in the process, not as a continuous stream.

We’ll see how it goes.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. “However, a 65% drop in cervical cancer incidence during 2012 through 2019 among women in their early 20s, the first cohort to receive the human papillomavirus vaccine, foreshadows steep reductions in the burden of human papillomavirus-associated cancers, the majority of which occur in women.” Abstract, ACS Journals, CA: Cancer Journal For Clinicians, Cancer statistics, 2023, Siegel et al., 12 January 2023.

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Virtual Tevis Cup 2023
100 Miles in 100 Days
19 April to 30 July

Rodney – 14 miles this week, 39 miles total
Milton – 15 miles this week, 35 miles total
Tues 2 May to Mon 8 May

Seven days, twice each day. Handwalks in the AM. Handwalks & walks with tack in the afternoon. Rodney under saddle. Milton long lining in harness, plus once hitched to cart.

That is the first mileage Milton has done for Virtual Tevis as a driving horse. Can’t do that in the IRL Tevis.

Not Chasing The Numbers

Rodney’s total is 39.8 miles. It was tempting to go a few more steps to hit 40 miles. I decide I didn’t want to chase the numbers. The margin of error might fall one way, might fall the other.

We did two standard handwalks on Monday. The GPS was not feeling generous. Logged the morning walk as .97 miles and the evening walk as .95 miles. The shortest yet. The wonders of modern technology. GPS.gov: GPS Accuracy.

Virtual Tevis Posts [The Joys of GPS, Breaking into the 20s], [Archives]

Update. On Tuesday morning, the exact same walk registered as 1.09 miles. The longest yet.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. For balance, good vibes. International Paralympic Committee: Behind the scenes of the Paris 2024 handover dance one year since its making, One week, 128 dancers, nine wheelchairs, sign language and a bionic arm: Learn the story behind the dance that stunned the world, 06 May 2022. NBC Sports: Paris welcomes the next Paralympic Games through Tokyo handoff (video on YouTube).

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What to do about bad news?

When hauling a sick horse to the vet clinic, one fears the worst. Or at least, I do. On our way to the vet clinic last month, I kept wondering, ‘What will I say on the blog?’ [Poop Watch]

Of course, this was a distraction from those things I did not care to think about. I love y’all, but in a crisis, the blog will be the last thing on my mind.

Or maybe not.

She Moved to Texas announced her husband’s overdose almost immediately. She seemed to derive strength from her online community. The blog as since been ended. She continues to write elsewhere on the Internet, Medium: How to Date Me (and My Dead Husband), A simple guide for a complicated situation. Lauren Mauldin, 2018. Author bio, “An MFA candidate, memoirist, editor & has just finished her first book, Animalistic, a memoir about losing her husband to addiction.”

I announced the bad news about Mathilda right away since I had to talk about that before talking about the horse show. Reading over the posts now, they come off as a little abrupt. I probably wasn’t as together as I thought I was. One usually isn’t. [Sad News & Show Report: Dixie Cup, GIHP]

During the funeral trips for my uncle and for my MIL, looking for blog posts gave me something else to do. [Touring The Towpath, & A Moment of Calm To Start The Year]

Having said all of this, I still think my first reaction to bad news events would be to hide under a rock.

That’s not fair to you. Having invited you to share my story, it’s unfair to suddenly drop off the radar. I know as a reader I worry when a horse blogger disappears. Two Paths Farm: Just a Little Farther…“, see comments where the author assures me that everyone is fine. [The Repost, Deuce Completes The Virtual Tevis]

So how to handle?

Definitely don’t put it in the title. That would ruin everyone’s corn flakes.

Nor would I want to dump the whole sad load into your lap all at once.

Ponder.

Speak of Angels, Hear Their Wings Flutter

As I was wondering about this, Hellomyliva gave an excellent example of how to share bad news in a considerate fashion.

Hellomyliva: Another Hospital Visit

Start with a title that is mild but indicates all might not be sunshine and flowers.

Give a calm, explanatory intro. Warn people who might not wish to continue.

Use keyboard characters to create space.

Then, tell the story.

I used the idea of forced distance in a happier context [Between The Ears, Mystery Mount, Guest Photos]

So, I would probably do something similar. Eventually.

Outro

At the time, I won’t care. That’s why I’m thinking about this now.

Onwards!
Katherine

Awareness of the outside world. Inès! The Design Air: A purr-fect new addition to CDG, 2020.

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Walking, biking, & weights. Technically our weight exercise is with weight machines rather than free weights, but that didn’t sing, graphically speaking.

Picking up the alphabet that I started a while back, “A gradual project as I have space on Sundays.” [A Is For Akhal-Teke]

Process Notes. My bike is blue. One pair of sneakers is pink. Weight machines are grey. Hence the colors.

Past Letters

[Feed] 2015
[Fence] 2016
[Francis] 2017
[Farley & Ebony] 2018

Onwards!
Katherine