Virtual Brush Box

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. A Descent into Madness. A friend has started a blog. If you feel so inclined, click over & check it out.

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At the moment, we have a small selections of different types of grass hay in the barn. We are running a survey to see which ones they will eat.

Orange plastic string with flag. Local. Most convenient in that store is open when others aren’t. Inconsistent quality. Sometimes they eat it; sometimes they don’t. This lot has already been rejected. Seriously, when I came back after breakfast, both servings were in untouched flakes.

I am not going to force the issue. One does not play food brinkmanship with a 23-year-old hard keeper. Milton will be offered this as an amuse-bouche in addition to his regular meals. Seems unfair to make his entire meal unpleasant just because he eats well.

Orange plastic string. Local. Convenient. Inconsistent. Have not served yet.

Green twine. Local. Convenient. Inconsistent. Seems to go in runs. Great for a while, then they suddenly turn their noses up at it. This batch meets with their approval.

Blue plastic string. What we have been serving. Store has consistent quality and has hay when others don’t. Not convenient. [The Feed Quest Becomes an Exercise in Perception, Store T]

Of course, nothing is as good as shredded money, excuse me, alfalfa. Expensive. Convenient. Everyone always has it, probably because it is expensive. Super palatable. Milton will ignore yellow hay to demand green hay.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Legend

D – The light returns.

E – The year rolls over.

C – The cold weather comes. (Northern Hemisphere)

E – Holiday

M – Cold Moon [timeanddate: Full Moon Names.]

B – Dec = 10. Tenth place is light blue.

E – Holiday

R – Turquoise Birthstone

Last Month [The Non-Illustrated Month, November]

Archive [The Illustrated Month 2022]

Onwards!
Katherine

Words

Now is hard.

Having trouble figuring out how to approach the Now page. [State of the Now, New Feature, Same News]

If I write about Now as in ‘right this moment’, that’s no different than a regular blog post.

If I recap of the previous month with a list of links, it’s a rerun. While I am not above recycling material, doing it so soon sounds boring even to me.

If I say how I feel on a standing page instead of in a daily post, the whining lasts all month.

For example, the current Now page, “Horses taking the winter to investigate progress that can be made with ground-driving.” [Status Quo Equine, State of the Now]

Greg is long-lining/ground driving both horses. I am helping to get them ready. I’m thrilled that the horses are gaining strength & confidence. I’m not thrilled to be sidelined in my own barn.

Yes, I could learn to work horses from the ground. Will do so eventually. For now. 1) Greg is way better at reinwork than I am. 2) Milton does not like me working with him at all. 3) We are trying to get Rodney to relax into his work. Causing relaxation in others is not my forte.

Anyway, the point is, how much of this should go onto the Now page? I chose none. Didn’t want to sound grumpy all month, again.

Also, to follow up, on last month’s Now page I said, “November has a few possibilities.” Did not pan out the way I was hoping. Did not mention on this month’s page. Another example of not wanting to sound grumpy all month, again. [Losing the Light]

I aimed for overall trends, hoping the result wasn’t too vague.

[STOB Archives]

Onwards!
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Tai Chi

Have added tai chi back into my exercise mix. Had stopped when I torqued my ankle. [I’m Bored Already]

The online group I virtually attend does the first third of the form three times and then the entire form twice. For now, I am doing the three intro pieces and then signing off.

I am starting small to rebuild the habit. No matter how unmotivated I feel, I can do 10 minutes, right?

It’s not me being lazy. Or, not only me being lazy.

The point of a form is to know the pattern so well that you can flow through the movements with your body while your mind relaxes and centers. This does not happen if you are spending the entire time thinking, ‘You put your left foot in. You put your left foot out …’

I was having no luck learning the entire form. So, biting off one chunk and learning that.

Walking

Daily mile most days. One new place, Coach Kate’s gorgeous backyard, complete with water feature. Otherwise in pasture with Rodney.

5K for November was Magic City. Walk done. Walk report scheduled for next Friday. Spoiler – I finished.

Admin

I didn’t even last a month. I had resolved to walk without obsessing over the details. [Rearranging the Admin]

When I started drafting this post, I was annoyed that I couldn’t say for certain if I’d walked anywhere other than the pasture and Whip Hand Farm.

So. Back to keeping track. Keeping it simple. Where? How far? If pasture, did I walk by myself or with a horse? Not worrying about time or tenths of miles.

Links

Virtual Miles [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, Part One] Minnesota

Last Month [Rearranging the Admin, State of the Fitness]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Updated Now page

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State of The Now, 27 November 2022

Horses taking the winter to investigate progress that can be made with ground-driving.

I hope to take lessons and investigate what to do with all the energy that usually goes into riding.

Overall, Milton happier as a driving horse than he was a riding horse. Rodney about where he has always been.

Until next month.

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Last month [Losing the Light]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Note. No ASB since the fun show. Intend to stay with it, at least on a casual basis. However, things kept coming up this month. So, here’s a thought from summer. [Finishing Out The Year]

Background. All Saddlebred classes start the same way of the ring.

Courses for Falcon Hill Farm Jumper Night. Go in. Once around the outside. Next class. Once around the outside the other way. [Crossrail Contender]

Or as they told the kids, white-white-brown-brown, brown-brown-white-white.

Or, as most people would say, clockwise, counter-clockwise.

Or as I thought of it, second direction, first direction.

Onwards!
Katherine

Working but not Riding

Both horses are on ground-driving program. Milton possibly permanently; Rodney temporarily, we hope.

Milton

We are seeing how Milton feels about being a driving horse instead of a riding horse.

Fitness walks up and down in the pasture. Lunging circles at walk and trot. Steering exercises around barrels. All done with (driving) saddle and long lines.

So far, so good. [Milton Rises To The Occasion]

Rodney

Worked with Milton. Let’s try with Rodney.

Rodney will never hitch. He’s too claustrophobic about things touching his flanks. Given the foot-long scar on his side, one can’t blame him. [Why Rodney Will Never Be An Outstanding Obstacle Horse]

Long-lining allows him the opportunity to sort himself out without a rider. Or maybe it just gives us something to do with him until the weather warms up. He is such a summer vegetable.

Rodney gets double sessions with a hand walk later in the day. Easy duty but gets him in a working frame of mind.

Onwards!
Katherine