Virtual Brush Box

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. The Atlantic: The Millions of People Stuck in Pandemic Limbo. What does society owe immunocompromised people?, Yong, February 16, 2022.
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If you want perky and chipper, come back tomorrow.

Last weekend, we took Milton down to The Stables of Shiloh Farms for another lesson with Stephanie Mosely, website The Empowered Rider. [Rodney & Milton’s Excellent Instruction]

Greg rode.

They were great.

It was awful.

For me, it was sitting with someone eating a fancy meal while your stomach growls.

Rodney did not go. He is getting so much food to maintain him through the winter that he can barely keep the marbles on the table for a 10-minute walk. A lesson was not going to happen. (For the record. Alfalfa twice a day. All the coastal he will eat. As much grain as we dare. But I digress.)

Back to the lesson.

Another on the long list of what that horse owes me. By which I mean Rodney has had a nice life. I have gotten jack in return.

I should have taken advantage of chance to audit. I like auditing. I believe in auditing. I just couldn’t. I’m not nice enough person. I have never been able to watch people doing the things I want to do but can’t.

We arrived several hours early to give Milton time to adjust. Plan worked well. For Milton.

However. My phone was plugged in but didn’t charge on the way down. Hours to wait and I got to watch my distraction for the day slowly lose power. Yes, I have a phone battery. No, I did not bring it. Neither did I bring any dead tree distractions. I have a lot to read at the moment & it is all on my phone.

All with a horse who doesn’t want me near him. I don’t even sit in the ring when he works.

What part of this is supposed to be fun for me?

Don’t worry. On the surface I was sunny and supportive. I vented my crankiness in my notes.

Oh yeah, the lesson.

Milton did weave cones, which he has always liked. The beginnings of turn on the forehand. Trot poles. Milton was a star. Smiles all around.

Oh. joy. yippee.

It’s not a zero-sum game. Their win is not my loss. I’m happy that husband & Milton are doing well. I’d like to be doing well also.

At least I got a blog post out of it.

Onwards!
Katherine

Enjoy The Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Smithsonian: Why Curling Ice is Different Than Other Ice, Hendry February 2014.
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Lesson with Optimus at Stepping Stone Farm.

One reason I keep coming back to saddle seat. I love the ASB attitude. Optimist is a happy dude who adored being the center of attention while I was at the barn.

Unlike some Thoroughbreds I could will mention.

One who doesn’t want me in his airspace. That would be Milton.

One who is so used to individually tailored four-star treatment that he takes it for granted. That would be Rodney,

Yes, I have said this to their faces. No, they were not impressed.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Not here, but I have lived this. “everybody born between 1985 and 1995 saw the Super Bowl halftime show lineup and was like ‘sweet, instead of doing a show for old people like the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney or The Who they did one for us young people’ … and then 10 seconds later it hit us.” @rodger, Feb 13, 2022.

everybody born between 1985 and 1995 saw the Super Bowl halftime show lineup and was like “sweet, instead of doing a show for old people like the Rolling Stones or Paul McCartney or The Who they did one for us young people”

and then 10 seconds later it hit us

— Rodger Sherman (@rodger) February 13, 2022

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So. A third horse.

I’m thinking a sporty ASB. I’ve ridden jumping horses. I’ve ridden Saddlebreds. Let’s try combining the two. [Finding A Horse To Match The Hat]

Unless I am out-of-this-world lucky, said horse would probably top out at Baby Novice, with the occasionally easy Novice just to say we did.

Right now that sounds fantastic.

Would it still be fantastic in five years?

It’s a good question to ask.

I see three options.

Amused

It has been so long since I have done such things. Yes, I would be content to hop over tiny logs. Run across fields. Zoom around low jumper classes. Trot down the centerline .. okay, nothing is going to get me excited about yet more basement dressage. Maybe do some driving.

Bored

Same horse as above, not the same attitude toward the horse.

Will I grow weary of finishing in the middle of the pack at events? Of getting the fish-eye in dressage? Of never winning a jumper class? Of being laughed out of the hunter ring? Of never jumping the big fences?

I can’t say I wouldn’t. Humans grow blase about the most amazing circumstances.

Bored, but in a Good Way

Here’s the scenario I like.

Same horse as in previous descriptions.

However.

My other horse is an athletic, talented, rewarding but challenging beast, probably a Thoroughbred, who is fulfilling all of my Walter Mitty dreams. You know, like Rodney was supposed to be, except for real this time.

Then, the lower-level trooper is my break from the drama. We got out. We lark around. We have fun. I go back to training reenergized.

A balance to the talent.

A dog can dream.

Onwards!
Katherine

Blogging About Blogging

“Meep? Meep. Meep!” Beaker

I wrote a longer post centered on the fact that I get as nervous before interviews as I do before lessons. [Crux]

We are talking oceans of stress chemicals surging back and forth for days.

Does the world need several hundred more words examining my stress response in detail? I think not. It is neither fun to write, nor fun to read. From a blogging point of view, both would be nice. Having at least one is mandatory.

The Mindset Monday feature started when I was planning a sports psych appointment. I figured I’d follow the process the way I would a riding lesson. This would be a lesson for the mind, as it were. [The Mental Side Of Sport]

Then the appointment got delayed. [Nevermind]

Mindset Monday kept going out of momentum. Repeating features help generate content. That’s one reason I keep circling back to them. What shall I talk about? Why look, it is X-day. I shall talk about X.

Surely I have enough mental issues to fill a series of Mondays?

Now, I wonder if I am doing this to just to hear myself rant. Is that a good reason to continue?

The problem is that I am not adding any new data. I’m a hot mess. We’ve covered that. And …?

One more story for next week. After that, will reevaluate.

And don’t call me Shirley.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Images of the outside world. Afro-futurism in LEGO bricks. The goal is to have kids seem themselves in the things they love. Ekow Nimako Studios.
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F, E, B – Groundhog Day

R – Family Birthday

U – Valentine’s Day, an unavoidable societal event

A – Super Bowl, an unavoidable societal event

R – Friend Birthdays. I know a lot of people born in Feb. Counts back 9 months. May. Spring fever I guess.

Y – end early

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Stone & flower colors are amethyst & violet/lilac.

Rabbit Hole

“Many people drop the first “r”… as if it were spelled “Febuary”. This comes about by analogy with “January” … as well as by a dissimilation effect whereby having two “r”s close to each other causes one to change.” Wiki: February

Since other months, like January, are named after Roman gods, you’d be forgiven for thinking February was named after the Roman god Februus. But, the word February comes from the Roman festival of purification called Februa, during which people were ritually washed. In this case, the god was named after the festival, not the other way around. Dictionary.com: How Did The Month Of February Get Its Name?, Published January 31, 2022

“The name Super Bowl comes from the Super Ball, a bouncy rubber ball for children. Lamar Hunt, the founder of the American Football League, reportedly came up with the name after seeing his children play with the toy ball.” timeanddate.com: February Is the Second Month of the Year, Rehberger

[The Illustrated Month, January]

Onwards!
Katherine

Words

Awareness of the outside world. BBC: A missing game of Wordle helps end a 17-hour hostage ordeal.
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I have read that the brain can’t process negation. If you give a riding instruction of “Don’t do X.”, the brain hears “Do X.” That’s the theory. Also that the brain accepts a visualized experience the same way as an actual experience. Again, that’s the theory.

I had no reason to doubt it, but not sure I bought into it. Until it happened to me.

Our story begins with five little green squares.

Lovely, right?

Getting Wordle in the first go.

It is FALSE.

I know it is wrong.

And yet.

This was how my Wordle should look from Friday.

A few hours later, an errant tap reopened the game. It was blank. What? Does it reset at a different time than I thought? Is it a new game? Huh. I’ll try today’s word …

Et voilà.

I know it is wrong. And yet. My brain takes one look at that image and does a victory lap.

Me: Yay! Look at me! I’m so smart!

Also me: No. It’s a doctored duplicate. Remember?

Me: Yay! Look at me! I’m so smart!

Weird.

Onwards!
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Eden Reforestation Projects.

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Angkor Wat Virtual Challenge – The Conqueror
20 miles/32.2 km

Walk Report, over on storage blog, mostly screenshots of streetviews. [Walking Virtually, Angkor Wat]

Started 1 Jan 2022. Ended 25 Jan 2022.

Done in 25 days with 23 walks, mostly one mile per day, logged as 1.5 km for ease of math. Two days of 1 km. Last day to wind up the little bit at the end.

Notes.

Virtual Fuji took me forever to finish. [Walking Virtually, Mount Fuji]

After that, I said no more. I got tired of having the unfinished walk hanging over my head. From now on, only one-offs.

But.

This one was short. I could finish it in a month. Didn’t know much at all about Angkor Wat.

Done. I was right about the length. It was just beginning to wear on me in the last day or two.

Not likely to do another at the moment. The Cairo virtual tour looks interesting but that is 46 Miles / 75 KM. Fuji was the same length and that felt like eons. I might do another long one with a team. A really big team. [Route 66, LEJOG]

They’ve also shifted to app-based walks. I see the point. Personally, I like the ability to come back to my desktop to process. I got used to using the app but it’s not a plus for me.

Virtual walks are great. I’ve simply done enough of them for now.

Onwards!
Katherine