I want to be the bold, aggressive rider who takes on any challenge. I’m not. Especially now that the saddle seat barn is third on the Feelin’ Froggy list.
First. Energy, drive, and enthusiasm goes to my own horses, i.e. riding Rodney and being Milton’s header.
Awareness of the outside world. I don’t remember the exact statistic, nor where I read it. My point here is my reaction. Statement: Important-Covid-Factiod does not effect people under 50! Okay, I’m safe. No, I’m not. Not by 9 years. Sheesh.
The evening before, Rodney’s leg blew up again. Just the inside of the forearm this time. We weren’t sure if we wanted to leave him on his own recognizance from before sun up to after sun down.
When we checked him in the wee hours of the morning, leg was not better, not worse. He was bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Nothing for us to do if we stayed home. Off we went.
We did cut the trip short. Left after the derby. This is why the lunch photos are not mine. We left before the food. [Tennessee Travels, Photography]
Got home in daylight. No change.
That was Friday & Saturday. Rodney was better by Tuesday. Just in time to get new shoes. Which means more time off to cope with the new wardrobe. After being stoic for several shoeings – well, for a Rodney version of stoic – he’s back to the post-shoe bootie.
In the good news department, the heel is getting better. The bell boot appears to be protecting as hoped. As I said, I picked neoprene for the padding potential. Neoprene gets a bad rap for heat retention. That is a good thing when one is a lizard and wants one’s body as warm as possible. [Tennessee Travels,Shopping]
Speaking of heat-worshiping lizard, the post that called Rodney a drama llama went up last Tuesday. That night, he wore a winter blanket. In September. In Alabama. With his winter coat growing in. He was delighted.
Back to the leg.
No idea what is going on with him. Two sets of tree-trunk-like swelling (bug bites?) and a sore heel. All on the same leg.
Either.
He has had three separate events on one leg, which is weird.
Or.
He had some underlying issue that is manifesting this way, which is weird.
Plus.
Same foot as the sprung shoe. Might be related to bruising the heel. Can’t see how it could be related to the swellings.
New hats. One for me, left. One for Greg, right. Since our current hats were bought in 2014, we were well past due for new. Got a discount due to Safety Awareness Week. [3rd Day of Christmas]
Aside, requiring people to replace their helmets seems like planned obsolescence. As I understand it, shattering is a better way to dissipate force than absorbing. This makes the material more brittle. Similar to the way modern car fenders decompose on impact. Any safety scientists want to weight in? End aside.
Second aside, personal. The poor lady at the store asked, ‘What kind of riding do you do?’ A simple question with complicated answer. More of a fraught question than she was intending. Back to our shopping list.
I wanted to check out the new Mips helmets. None of them fit the shape of my head. Despite being willing to splash out on the high(ish) end of the price scale, I ended up with the cheapest – still ASTM/SEI approved – helmet.
Why not? The color makes me smile.
The saddle seat folks can’t complain. They had me in a blue hat.
The eventers probably won’t complain. Two of the three phases in eventing are objective. No one cares what color you wear on cross country or in stadium. One of those two phases actively encourages people to bling out.
The hunter barns? Well, I’m coming to the conclusion that disciplines where I can’t wear a raspberry helmet are not places I would not be happy anyway, i.e. serious hunters, upper-level dressage.
That particular black helmet was chosen for driving as it gives more coverage at the back of the head. Going out the back door is a serious option in a cart.
I’ve had a Troxel helmet before. Very comfortable. Not the first time I have gone in ready to spend big bucks and come away with what suited me best as the least expensive. Back in the dinosaur era, my favorite black show jacket cost $29. Cheap, stretchy, thin. Looked fine from a distance. Technical before technical clothing existed.
Awareness of the outside world. “An honor to give the opening keynote at Italia Tech Week. As we face the fears of our present the past can remind us we really have made great progress with things like vaccines, refrigeration, affordable books & education, things our ancestors never dreamed we could achieve.” Ada Palmer, @Ada_Palmer, Twitter, Sep 29, 2022.
~~~
“Middle Tennessee Carriage Club was having an in-club Driving Derby at Coach Kate’s house. We went up to help. Greg officiated. I took photos. More on being a show photographer tomorrow.” [Tennessee Travels, Driving]
Coach Kate asked me to wander around taking pictures. I reminded her that it has been a long time since I have done this. She reminded me that people like to see pictures of their horses, photo technique irrelevant.
Fair enough.
First time I’ve done this in years. All my recent work has be interviews by telephone. Photos were either supplied by the subject or a local photographer was dispatched. So, X since I’ve taken any professional shots. X times 2 since I’ve done straight up horse show photos. Turns out, it comes back.
Big camera but full auto. Still calling it a photo day because it was educational. Thoughts and photos follow in no particular order.
I found a place to stand. Until I remembered how much my back hates standing in one place. I sat. I knelt. I moved around. Things I should be doing for better photos anyway [Photo Theory, comments].
Had no luck getting light. Cranked the ISO. Score one for digital. It was overcast but not that overcast. Despite 6400 ISO, the photos were still dark. I decided it was my lens but not my lens’ fault. Zoom in on faces? Fine. Zoom in AND ask for speed? No. Would need another zero on the price tag. It’s a nice lens. It does what it is designed for. It was not designed for that. There is a reason horse show photographers have cameras with long snouts and big glass.
Because of the lack of light and the auto setting, the flash kept trying to turn on. I was deeply annoyed that I could not remember how to turn it off. I had done so just two days earlier. One of my problems with photography is that I can’t keep things like this in my head. The only class I ever truly struggled with was an engineering class. My brain doesn’t work that way. This feels similar.
Since it was a club function, I took people shots as well as competition. Faces. People sitting on the side lines. Not exciting unless you know the people involved. The sort of images that would play well in an annual dinner slide show.
Being able to zoom in for candids meant I could be far from subject but still get close. People were less self-conscious without me up in their faces.
I have good habits. As much as humanly possible, I will stand near an immovable object, such as a tree, or in the case of carts, the dressage railing which they would not vault. The idea is to be somewhere the horse will not go.
Looking for a new angle. I’ll stand here. Get a photo as they go thru that set of cones. Then they will pass in front of me over there. Unfortunately, my understanding of driving courses is not as good as my understanding of ridden courses. I completely misinterpreted the route they would take and was very surprised how close the next cart came. Fortunately, I was already smashed up against the fenceline. The line of cart tracks in the grass right in front of me should have been a tip off.
Speaking of good habits, only one horse spooked at me. I was standing sidled up next to a tree. I am very good about staying still as the horse goes by. The spook was a tiny eek and a sidestep. I decided this was part of the educational portion of the day. Judging by the photos, a few more horses had their ears on me as they zoomed past.
Coach Kate
The photos turned out good! I’m not bragging. I’m surprised. They look way better than they did on the camera screen.
Often the subject was too small in relation to frame. This is a common newbie mistake that I learned to correct with horse with rider. Driving is hard to get right. It’s a long subject. I cut off a lot of rear wheels.
Learned to look for three sets of eyes: horse, driver, and navigator.
Never format a card in the field. Do all of them in the morning before a single shot is taken. Too much is at risk if you cross up your process. I started to format the second set of cards and stopped. Nothing was at risk of being lost. A) I had the correct card & B) I forgot to hit go on the format. It was the possibility for error that gave me the shudders.
Grand total of 413 photos turned over to Coach Kate. Some repeats trying different angles. Not too many flat out duds. I think I got multiple photos of each competitor, which was the whole point of my being there.
Awareness of the outside world. “Do you not see the things?” Your horse is the sophisticated city dweller. You are the country mouse oblivious to dangers. Video by Erin ZW @zimerin Instagram 26 Sept 2022.
~~~
Lots of driving. No driving by us.
Middle Tennessee Carriage Club was having an in-club Driving Derby at Coach Kate’s house. We went up to help. Greg officiated. I took photos. More on being a show photographer tomorrow.
So much gear. I forget how much gear is involved with driving. When we pulled in, I was surprised to see so many big trailers at a small competition. Oh, that’s right, everyone has to bring a cart. Even competitors with only one horse need a big trailer.
Good weather. Fun was had by all. Experienced horses ran around; new horses walked and learned. Coach Kate always does a good job of putting up a fun course and beautifully decorated obstacles.
We should be doing this. Greg should to be doing this. I have no idea how to find & buy a driving horse, any more than I know how to find & buy a riding horse.
Well, that took more of a glum turn than I intended.
Short-term the day was great. Driving is alive and well in Middle Tennessee. It was good to get off the farm and have a day with friends. Long-term, I would rather be doing than watching.
Virtual Brush Box 