Virtual Brush Box

Finishing Out The Year With A Blue, Show Report, SSF Fun Show 2022

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Alabama News Center: Alabama Power’s Baker selected Wildlife Biologist of the Year, Chandler, October 24, 2022. Photos by Meg McKinney.

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Stepping Stone Farm Fun Show
Transformer (Optimus)
10. Academy Adult WTC Showmanship – 1st of 2
11. Academy Adult WTC Equitation – 2nd of 2

Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL
Saturday 29 October 2022

No show media from me. Did not have phone on me for an ears pic. No time to retrieve it. Show was moving quickly and I needed to get aboard.

Had a blast. Blew into the first class at a trot, which is tricky given the approach to the ring at SSF. You want showmanship? I’ll give you showmanship.

Did an unplanned, early seque back to trot in the first direction of the second class.

Me: (Floating along in happy canterland.)
Opt: If you aren’t going to participate, I’m not going to either.

When I haven’t ridden saddle seat in a while, I forget how much support ASBs get from the outside rein at the canter. Yeah, even unto tipping slightly to the outside.

I am now 3 for 4 with 2 horses for not keeping the canter at shows this year. Starting to think it might not be the horses.

In other news, Optimus was three different horses for this three riders.

With me, he could tell that I’d signed on for the low-drama ride. [The Comfort Ride]

Me: Go fast.
Opt: You don’t really mean that.
Me: Okay.

With his junior rider, he picked up his feet and positively sparkled. With the walk/trot beginner, he had the most adorable soft, quiet trot so as not to jar his jockey.

Optimus is such a good dude.

Milton came with for a) socialization, b) the costume class, & c) hitching. Stood by the trailer like a champ. Had a short screaming fit when he decided one of the pasture horses was his new best friend, but kept his feet in order. Stellar for costume and hitching.

Onwards!
Katherine

A Bout of Bodywork for Both Horses

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. Gothamist: Creatively costumed canines at NYC’s 2022 Tompkins Square Halloween Dog Festival, by Jaclyn Jeffrey-Wilensky, Oct 22, 2022.

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Horses got bodywork from Anita A. Miller & Michaela E. Miller of Robin Hood Therapy, LLC. Social media & website coming soon.

Rodney. MagnaWave & massage. Color him dubious. We are taking this as a good sign. Rodney has had so much bodywork that he usually very accepting of it. He loved the massage part. MagnaWave is supposed to get deeper than other modalities. The fact that he thought it was weird might mean that it was reaching new places.

Milton. BEMER & massage. Much yawning and relaxing during. Appeared not happy to have it end. All good. The next day, went terribly. Refused to trot. Much swearing and lifting of hip by horse. Stayed at a steady walk, just completely refused to upshift. Driver maintained an admirable calm. Eventually coaxed horse into decent trot work. The following day? The best Milton has ever gone in harness. Correlation? Causation? Unrelated training moment?

We hope to make Robin Hood Therapy a regular visitor to our barn.

Both are CESMT (certified equine sports massage therapists), CMWP (certified MagnaWave practitioners), Bemer specialists, trained infrared and red light therapists, and headed for equine accupressure training in December. Anita is currently in training for essential oils therapy in animals and herbology.

Onwards!
Katherine

C is for Cookie, C is for Costume Class, Halloween 2022

Holidays

Awareness of the outside world. Does anyone else remember Trick or Treat for UNICEF? Do kids still do that? I wonder what they did with all those pennies we collected. I looked. The Internet was not forthcoming on either question (gasp!).

Update. Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF. It was right there when I searched. Dunno why I didn’t find earlier. Hat tip to K for the heads up.

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Cookie Monster with Chief Cookie Dispenser
Costume Class
Stepping Stone Farm Fun Show 2022

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Links

Muppet Wiki: Cookie Monster

Smithsonian: Cookie Monster’s First Name Is Sid, And Other Icon’s “Real” Names, Colin Schultz, 2014

C is for cookie.
C is for cookie.
Cookie starts with C.
That’s good enough for me.
Milton’s abridged version of the Cookie Monster song.
Muppet Wiki: C is for Cookie (song)

SSF Costume Class
[Neither Sound Nor Light, Halloween 2019]
[Minions of the Night Unicorn] 2018
[It’s a Rat Race, Halloween 2017]
[Macho Dresses Up As Dr. Whooves] 2016

Update The Rest of the 2022 Costume Posts
[The Return of Cookie Monster, Guest Photos]
[The Return of the Son of Cookie Monster]

Onwards!
Katherine

A Plentiful Postcard Parade

Images

Art from the outside world. MFA Boston: Postcards at the MFA.

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World Postcard Day was October 1. Through Postcrossing, I sent out five postcards and received 8. Woot!

Links

Interesting things I discovered from the postcards & postcard messages.

Syksy-terveisiä is Finnish for Autumn Greetings.

“Olomouc Zoo, is a Czech zoo, located in Svatý Kopeček, Olomouc in Czech Republic. Olomouc Zoo is one of the largest breeders of South African Gemsbok in Europe and the stud book keeper of the East Caucasian tur.” Wiki: Olomouc Zoo. Website, Zoo Olomouc.

Hohenschwangau Castle

How’s this for a subway stop? Metro In Moscow: Station Komsomolskaya

Live Science: Who invented the bicycle?, Palermo, March 04, 2022

Atlas Obscure: Tampere Cathedral Frescoes

Royal Delft Museum. Switch to English, as needed. Click on Museum collection > Visit the museum online. In Dutch, “Bezoek het museum online.”

[Postcrossing & postcard post archive]

Onwards!
Katherine

Amersterduck Celebrates Rubber Ducky Day

Holiday

Awareness of the outside world. Amsterdam Hangout: Why do They Sell Rubber Ducks in Amsterdam?, Zaslabsky 2020.

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By Schnabels®, from Ducks In The Window. Border color, Netherlands Insiders: Why Is The National Color Of The Netherlands Orange?

[Rubber Ducky Day Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Architectural Photography Linkfest

Images

Awareness of the outside world. Architectural Photography Almanac.

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Have signed up for a class in Architectural Photography taught by Meg McKinney at Samford Academy of the Arts. [Archive]

This is why I bought a tripod and cable release. [Photo Safari The First, Beeswax Creek Park]

I would define architectural photography as an image where building or structure is the subject, not that it just happened to be in the photo.

Do water towers, stairs, bridges, windows, bollards count as architecture or just buildings?

Since I have not done any homework yet, it is time for a cheesy clip show, cue The Simpson’s music.

Update: the class was canceled.

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Landmarks & Public Buildings

Bridges

Walkways & Sidewalks

Homes & Hotels

Stairs

Stores

Horse Houses

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Process notes. For my reference. This is where I discovered tiled gallery, which places the photos much better than regular gallery. Also used for Pastureau’s Palette post. To edit a tiled gallery – because I won’t remember – open list view, select, convert to gallery, add photo, convert back .

Links. Also for my reference. Clockwise, starting at upper left.

Landmarks & Public Buildings

[Circling The Capitol, Walk Report, Montgomery 5K]

[Strolling In Another Park Another Day, Walk Report, Savannah Bridge Run, Virtual 5K, December 2020] Regions Field

[Spirit Of Mississippi, Toomsuba, MS] brick rest stop

[Murals at the Birmingham Zoo]

[Mood On Monday, When?] Empire State Building & skyline from Rockefeller Center.

Bridges

[Exercise and The Illusion Of Social Contact, State of the Fitness, March 2022] lake, Veteran’s Park, Alabaster

[Over and Over and Over, Walk Report, Savannah Bridge Run, Virtual 5K] walkway with railings

[Skirting the Swamp, Walk Report, DIY 5K, Kymulga Grist Mill] covered bridge[

[Strolling In Another Park Another Day, Walk Report, Savannah Bridge Run, Virtual 5K, December 2020]