At The Dog Show, Photography

Awareness of the outside world. The National Canine Cancer Foundation. A sad topic but good news that people are working on it. Dunno anything about this organization specifically. Found online as proof of concept. A while back, I asked my medical advisor why it seemed so many folks were dying of cancer these days. His response, ‘We’re curing everything else.’ I would think this would hold for animals as well. Hugs to anyone with an ailing dog. 😦

~~~

Birmingham Kennel Club & Tuscaloosa Kennel Club Dog Show
6 April 2023
Columbiana AL USA

Artistic Photos

Waiting for the Winners
Bryan McNabb Dogshow Photography

Endless Task

Game Face

Amusing Photos

Technical Details

On auto with no flash because I had to move fast. I am not ready to make setting decisions on the fly. Indoor. Remembered my lesson from MTCC to respect my camera’s abilities, and not to expect high zoom in low light. [Tennessee Travels]

Post-processing limited to cropping, watermark & border. And one leveling. Image manipulation is a challenge for future me.

Point Of It All

Nothing that wows me, although turned out better than I thought while I was snapping. Regardless. The point is to practice.

Go somewhere? Check.

Take photos of things? Check

Therefore, success.

Frustration of not remembering how to twiddle the knobs & mash the buttons? Also check. That appears to be par for the course.

“Completely, blatantly using the blog as combination carrot & stick to motivate me.” [Photo Theory

Camera is sitting on a dog bed I bought at the show. I have low willpower around show vendors.

Onwards!
Katherine

Lesson Scheduled, and Thoughts Thereon

Awareness of the outside world. Your Dressage: Where the Real Action Happens, by Jennifer Bryant, April 6, 2023. The warm-up ring at the FEI World Cup in Omaha. Some riders went to the warm-up ring AFTER their tests, “for a short cool-down consisting of a stretchy rising trot and a couple of laps of relaxed walk before dismounting.” I did not know this. Cool.

~~~

Saddle seat lesson scheduled for today.

I don’t want to go out.

I don’t want to ride a new horse.

Neither do I want to sit on the couch for the rest of my life.

Two weeks ago, I tried to schedule a lesson. Got myself all wound up. Loins girded. As I said, “Take lessons at the barn that has welcomed me.” [Making Time For The Other Horses]

Only to find that the barn was off in another state at a show.

I couldn’t believe it. I couldn’t believe I am so far out of it as to let the show schedule slide. Even if I’m not showing, I keep track to know when the ring is available to take the home team over.

So that week was a no. The week after was logistics, blacksmith I think. On to this week.

I plan (hope) to be bold about new horses, but maybe not the first time I’ve ridden since the show.

Show was 18 March. [Bringing in the Year with Blues, Show Report, Spring Fun Show]

Today is 20 April.

Over a month.

It is annoying to be hip deep in horse shit and to have only ridden twice this year.

In the grand scheme of things, this is sitting on a yacht, complaining about the ice cubes. Given the yacht that is my life, riding is a pretty big ice cube.

Onwards!
Katherine

Team Snail Hits The Trail, Virtual Tevis 2023 Begins

Awareness of the outside world. Western States Endurance Run: Trail Stewardship.

~~~

We’re off. Virtual Tevis 2023 starts today. We have until Sunday 30 July to ride 100 miles. Counting the start and end days, I get 103 days to ride 100 miles.

After their extended time off, the horses top out at a mile. That leaves us almost no wiggle room. Consistency is going to be a key factor this year.

The plan.

One. Get out every possible day.

Two. Count ring work. I’m using 2 mph as an estimate. So 15 min of ring work is 0.5 mile. I haven’t included ring work in the past. This is not the year to leave steps on the table, as I did in 2021 or 2022. [Moving the Goal Posts, Virtual Tevis, 98 Miles and Holding, 73 Days 2021, Virtual Tevis Announced For 2022]

Three. Work up to longer mileage. We need miles in the bank for days when the weather dice or the logistics of life don’t roll in our favor.

It’s doable. We need to start diligent, stay diligent, and hope everything stays shiny side up.

“In 2020, due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Western States Trail Foundation Board of Governors voted for the first time in history to cancel the annual Tevis Cup Ride. But we wanted to offer a way for our riders, crews, volunteers, supporters and lovers of the trail to still be able to participate. Thus the creation of this virtual event, which was so well received we have decided to host as an annual fundraiser.”

The Tevis Cup: Virtual Tevis Cup 2023

Virtual Tevis Posts [Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

The Tack Room Door Creaks Open Again

Awareness of the outside world. Climate Clock. “To stay under 1.5°C warming, and prevent the worst effects of climate change from becoming irreversible.” Climate Clock: Our Story.

Earth is dying! Well, not really. Worst case scenario, there will be global adjustments, minor on a geological scale. The thing is, people don’t live on a geological scale. Worst case, the planet is gonna be fine; the human race, not so much.

I bring this up because I think it is an error of messaging. Make it real to people, to you, to me, to us. Altruism is nice. Self-interest gets people moving.

~~~

Tack!

On Milton!

Long lines. Walked a bit. Trotted a circle in each direction.

Once he got over the surprise of going back to work, he remembered fairly quickly. Also got worn out fairly quickly.

Go, Milton!

Onwards!
Katherine

That Reminds Me Of A Story, Life with Horses Is Never Orderly, Book Club Blog Hop

Welcome to the Book Club Blog Hop. “So, for post content, I would be more interest hearing stories that only you could tell.” [Stall Rest Chronicles 11 Feb, and Book Club Blog Hop Announcement]

Life with Horses Is Never Orderly, by Morgane Schmidt (Trafalgar Square 2021).
From the webcomic The Idea of Order

New Story

He’s never done anything like that before. Page 7. The Idea of Order: Every.Single.Time.

Tried out a horse for sale. Walk. Trot. Between trot & canter, horse misbehaved. I don’t remember the specifics, but it was a dealbreaker. Owner said ‘he’s never done that before.’

Actually, she was quite friendly about it. She understood that we would not want the horse after that. If she were trying a horse, she wouldn’t either.

But really, he’s never done that before.

She was mystified.

Stories I Have Already Told

Top 10 Ways to Bring About Lameness (in the not so distant future) #6. Step up and get a USDF lifetime registration for your horse. Page 34. Cartoon, Horse Nation: Top 10 Ways to Bring About Lameness. Rider rather than horse, but the spirit is similar. “I splashed out on life memberships for the USDF and the USEA … I have never used them.” [Ambushed By My Mailbox]

The barn … where time goes to die. Page 165. Cartoon, The Idea of Order: Barn Time… . Saddle seat lesson day. “A 10 am lesson means I get home no sooner than 3 pm. I arrive home hungry, tired, and in need of a shower. By the time I repair the damage, it is 5 in the evening and I am wondering where the day went.” [Have You Got All Day? Anatomy of A Saddle Seat Lesson]

Blog Roll

(Your post here)

Links

Eventing Nation: Ocala’s World Equestrian Center Opened for Hurricane Ian Evacuees, Morgane Schmidt on Sep 29, 2022

Instagram: @mschidt83
Facebook: Schmidt Dressage
Twitter: @Messerschmidt

The Musings of Morgane Schmidt: X, halt, salute. Five months of a blog in 2015.

More links on announcement post [11 Feb]

Onwards!
Katherine