Virtual Brush Box

Dogs

Awareness of the outside world. ivt: Patron the Jack Russell: Meet the Ukraine dog with a life-saving job sniffing explosives, Irvine, 7 December 2022.

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Jasmine and Rose needed a relo. [Jasmine and Rose, Meet The New Dogs]

So we loaded up the car and drove two dogs from their home in Massachusetts to their new home in Alabama. This is a record of our updates to the family as we drove. Hat tip to N for the title.

On our way.

[no photo] They are starting to realize they are not in Kansas anymore.

RI

CT

Goodbye NY. The ladies are asleep.

NJ

[NJ]

[no photo] Blink and you miss Delaware.

MD by streetlight

[no photo] DC, another blink

VA

NC

[no photo] They’ve been stars. Jazz has taken to stretching out along the seat. Rose runs out of room & uses J as a pillow.

[Blog note. Footwells filled in with duffel bags & other soft, squishy stuff. No danger of falling off the seat.]

South Carolina [G]

[no photo] Another stop in SC. Rest area had designated pet area. They both enjoyed the sniffbook posts.

GA. Checking out the view from the front seat.

[no photo] AL. Played Sweet Home Alabama for the dogs. Rose was dubious. Jezz slept thru it.

[no photo] May be late with Eagle has landed text/photo. Looks like we will arrive at same time as horse feeder so a bunch of shit will be happening all at once. Dont worry if I disappear from keyboard. 🐶 🐶

[no photo] 🦅 🍴 (We copy you down. Stick a fork in me Im done.) ❤️ to all.

~~~

The dogs did not put a paw wrong the entire trip. Slept quietly during the driving. Got out and walked about in a civilized fashion when we stopped. Did not offer a drop or speck of infelicitous bodily functions. After a bad bagel, I came closer to messing up the car than the dogs did.

Of geographical interest. We played hopscotch with the Maryland/DC line. From Maryland south into DC, as one would expect. Then through the east corner of DC and back into Maryland. In crossing the Potomac, we returned to DC for a few seconds, where the southern tip of the DC border crosses under the bridge on I-495. Virginia Places: Virginia-Maryland Boundary, scroll down about 2/3 of the way for the color photo of Jones Point, or look up Jones Point Park on a map.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horses

Awareness of the outside world. CNN: ‘A whole new world’: Georgia debuts all-terrain wheelchairs at its state parks, Sottile, November 12, 2022.

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My beautiful dork.

Rodney will be trotting on the long lines with the most minimal contact, only enough to suggest that he continue in a circle, and he’s tucking his chin as if someone is asking him to do Third Level dressage. It’s not really dressage, since it’s all front-end flash without a shred of work from the hind end. It’s a false frame that comes from tension. He can’t simply loaf along in a relaxed manner. He has occasional moments when he sticks his nose out and acts like a horse, but nothing consistent.

He’s learned to be chill at a walk, most of the time. Trot and canter, not so much. If he could just (just!) get over himself, he would see that it’s not as hard as he thinks it is. Nothing is as hard as he thinks it is. If he could just (just!) get over himself, we could go out and conquer the world.

There exists, theoretically, a level of performance that Rodney could turn in that would make up for all the years, all the tears, everything. Performance does not necessarily mean winning extravagant national &/or year-end titles. Performance means the sort of rides that come with their own soundtrack. The sort of rides you remember years later. And, perhaps, one or two extravagant national &/or year-end titles.

It could, theoretically, happen.

Similarly.

There exists, theoretically, a horse who would cause me to throw my plans out the window, don a suit, and trot into a full schedule of saddleseat shows. Not necessarily an expensive, fancy horse, although he or she probably would be pricey. Not necessarily winning fistfuls of blues, although – as above – that would be nice. My ASB unicorn would be a horse that I hit it off with on a tremendous level: Sam’s attitude, Dottie’s showmanship, and enough pizzazz to take me to interesting places.

It could, theoretically, happen.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. MAR-A-LEGO: Search and Seizure Edition. At approx minute 5:50 in the monologue YouTube: Jimmy Kimmel Live or on Facebook: Jimmy Kimmel Live. Hat tip to M.

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A unseasonably early snap of low temps a few weeks ago jump-started our winter habit of bringing hot water to the barn on cold nights.

Downside. Carrying heavy buckets of water to the barn. Getting attitude from Milton when it is the wrong temperature. I think one should bring the water as hot as possible. That way it will stay hot longer, right? Wrong! Milton wants it served in an immediately available condition.

Upside. Knowing they are getting enough to drink. Watching them enjoying their tea.

Previous Tea Posts

“Mathilda would wait for her tea to cool to a drinkable temperature. Rodney plunges his nose right in and slurps down half a bucket. Milton gets pissed … Yes, we laugh at him. We also bring him a bucket of warm water.” [Goldisnoot 2015]

“At the end of last week’s cold snap, the water deliveryman provided reduced service for the final trip. Hot water placed next to cold leftovers … Instead, Milton took a sip of hot, then a sip of cold, then a sip of hot …” [Goldisnoot Revisited 2015]

Fighting over the hot water. (I brought more.) [Foto Friday: Snow Day Photo Essay 2018]

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Art of the horse world. FEI: Horses in Art Throughout the Ages.

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Seen on my TV screen October 2022 during CBS broadcast of FEI: Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final 2022 – Barcelona 29/09 – 02/10/2022 – Barcelona ESP.

Rider, horse, and *groom*!

Fence heights on the fly.

I was pleased to see that many of the top riders are getting away from the over-bridling that has plagued the jumper ring. There was also a lot more of riders giving the horse liberty to run and jump. You know, they way it is supposed to be. The way we used to do it. Back when we were winning things.

Results.

Notice anyone missing?

“The U.S. didn’t qualify for the final in Barcelona this year due to …” Nancy Jaffer, EQUESTRIAN SPORTS” How will U.S. show jumpers get to Paris? Jaffer | Aug 19, 2022.

Excuse me!?!

I’ve said it before, American riders in forward seat on Thoroughbreds. It’s what we do best. Why did we ever move away from that? [Get Off My Lawn, And Take Your Warmblood With You]

But I digress.

FEI: Longines FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ – Calendar 2023

The Plaid Horse: Let’s Break It Down: Nations Cup™ Jumping, Kraft 2017

Onwards!
Katherine

Words

My stepsister is so spoiled.

She insists on sleeping up in one of the attic rooms although she has a perfectly good bedroom down in the main part of the house. She says she needs her space. Then, she complains that the bed she sleeps is worn and shabby. Well, yeah, it was a nursery. The furniture is older than she is.

So that’s where she sleeps, of her own volition. Except for the time that she slept on the hearth. It was during a cold snap and we were low on heating fuel. We all slept in the kitchen next to the cooking hearth for most of a week. It was the warmest place in house at that point. To hear her tell the story, she slept there for months.

Speaking of the kitchen, it still needs to be cleaned even though we had to let most of the staff go. Since she’s the tallest, she can reach the farthest into up the chimney. So she cleans the fireplace. She carries on and & cries so much that her face gets smeared. Boo hoo. Scrubbing the kitchen floor is no joy, but no one calls me Bubbles.

Of course her clothes are rags. She refuses to wear anything Mom buys her. Only Daddy’s clothes will do. You wear anything day in and day out, it’s gonna get ratty. When my sister and I offer to share our clothes, she screams about hand-me-downs and second-hand clothes. I don’t know what she’s complaining about. Thrift stores have great deals, especially if you go to the rich parts of town. I shopped there back when we had money. But no, that’s not good enough for her.

Okay, sometimes we talk about people we knew before we meet her & her father, or places we went when we were younger. We can’t help it. We had a life before her. When I try to fill her in, she flounces off with an injured air.

I get it, she’s an orphan, that’s tragic. But she’s not the only one who has lost a father. Hello, that’s why my mother was available to marry her father, because we were down one parent. In fact, you could argue that my sister and I have now lost two fathers. We did not live with our stepfather for long but we liked him.

She seems to forget that he was our parent as well. She hates to share him. Frankly, she hates to share anything. Again, I get it. It’s hard to go from being the only child in a rich, single-parent household to one in a family of five. Even if there are no financial reversals, more people equals less money per unit person.

Speaking of reversals. De mortuis nihil nisi bonum. Our stepfather was not without flaws. Yes, he was a fun guy. But maybe less party, more on task, we wouldn’t be so broke now.

Herself won’t hear a word against her sainted father. The way she sees it, all the evils in her world are her stepmother’s fault, or her stepsisters, in other words, us. It is never her fault nor her father’s.

She gets away with it.

That’s what really frosts my cookies. She tall and blond and beautiful. People believe her. My sister and I are already getting looks. Nothing obvious, but a little less conversation, a little more whispering when we go out and about.

Speaking of looks. Once a week, some guy comes to our door to declare undying love for her. I saw your sister at the market. I talked to her at the Town Day celebration. I ran into her at the shops. I must see her. She is my everything.

Yeah, because sharing pleasantries with someone for ten minutes in a public setting is such a sound basis for a relationship.

~~~ Curtain ~~~

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. “Our events benefit the Ruben Studdard Foundation for the Advancement of Children in the Music Arts, and is the fall focus event for Girls on the Run of Birmingham.” Magic City Run.

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Monthly 5K for November

Thank you to the race for the complimentary photos. Photos resized to upload and kid faces hidden.

Magic City 5K
Sunday, November 20, 2022
Birmingham AL
Time, gun – 55:05:48. Race start to my finish.
Time, chip – 54:18.99. Crossing start line to crossing finish line.
RunSignup: Results, Individual

Start to finish.

Before the race, I was not enthused. Magic City shares part of the course with the Drum Run, so this would be my fifth time wandering around that particular section of downtown Birmingham. Snore. I used the predicted forecast of below freezing as an excuse to talk myself out of it.

The night before, I checked the forecast. NOT below freezing. Grumble. Grumble. Oh well, getting out and doing is better than not.

During the walk I found that a) there is always something to look at & b) I liked knowing where I was going.

While I was walking, pictured the swingy, relaxed walks we have been working on with the horses. Images rather than words. That’s a new one for me.

Previous Posts & Current Pix

It’s that time of .year again.

[In Which I Set A PR, Walk Report, Magic City 5K 2021]

[Vulcan Stroll, Magic City Virtual 5K, November 2020]

[Proof of Concept, Race, er, Walk Report, Magic City Run 2019]

Update. Did not walk in 2023, then run was cancelled, Bham Now: Magic City Marathon has been canceled, an economic blow to the city, Byington 11/03/23.

Onwards!
Katherine

Horse Training

Awareness of the outside world. I am declaring it to be December. That’s it, just December. Another month on the calendar. I have nothing against Christmas itself. The Whos singing Dahoo Dores always chokes me up. It’s the red and green ramp-up that is getting to me. Unless something really grabs me, the blog will henceforth ignore all major holidays that occur in December. We can all find plenty of Christmas glitter elsewhere.

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Horses doing fine.

Working daily and getting good reports.

Not the stuff of gripping narrative.

Horse training books should come with one exercise and then 100 blank pages to reflect the amount of time and repetition it takes to make solid progress.

Onwards!
Katherine