Virtual Brush Box

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. AL.com: University of Alabama publishes digital version of MLK ‘Letter from the Birmingham Jail’, by The Associated Press, by Ken Roberts, The Tuscaloosa News, Feb. 06, 2022.
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Milton

Continues to do what he does. At a distance. [Home Team Update, Milton, January 2022]

Continues to think a short session of having to apply himself constitutes a wealth of work. Who are we to judge how hard an activity is for another being?

Rodney

Have a new theory.

Rodney doesn’t do well in cold weather. We know this.

Rodney doesn’t like hats. We suspect this. Years ago, I stopped wearing ball caps, that ubiquitous apparel of the horse world.

What does one do in the winter when it gets cold? Wear a hat. Winter is just mild enough down here that I am trying not wearing my knitted wool hat. Rodney appears to approve.

Coincidence? Causation? Wishful thinking? This horse has so many variables, I have no idea.

Filling Out The Unicorn Hitch
(Really, that’s what driving three horses in a triangle formation is called, Equine Heritage Virtual Museum: Driving configurations.)

Have taken the first, tentative steps into horse shopping. Have actually talked to actual humans instead of simply sending random vibes into out into the universe. [Tertium Quid, Tertium Quid Redux]

Hence VERSA. [Considering Saddlebred VERSAtility]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Ancient Alabama, part 12. The first Alabamians arrived 13,000 years ago, long before Moundville, Pillion 20 Dec 2021.
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I joined the American Saddlebred Versatility Association.

That caused me to gather my thoughts about Saddlebred Sport Horses.

At this point, gathering my thoughts means gathering posts. Here ya go.

ASB Sport Horse Posts

[Squad Goals, Another Class For My Imaginary Horse] Jumps and a cute name. How could I resist adding to my wish list? “When Pigs Fly” ASB Hunter Hack classes, Louisiana Carnival Horse Show. 2022

[Helmet Watch and Show Stalking, St. Louis 2021] Reviewing the hunter classes at the St. Louis National Charity Horse Show. 2021

“Would I drive all the way to St. Louis for the chance at one jumper class? In a heartbeat.” [Picking Classes For My Imaginary Horse] Analyzing the jumps for the over fences classes at St. Louis National Charity Horse Show. 2020

[Finding A Horse To Match The Hat] Job description for my unicorn Saddlebred. 2020

[The Magnetic Attraction of Saddlebreds] Show Horse, Sport Horse swag for sale at the Etsy shop, AnimatedTrot. 2020

[Saddlebred Versatility, Jumpers] Geeking about the jumper classes at St. Louis National Charity Horse Show. 2019

[Saddlebred Versatility, USDF Bronze for Will and Joan, Guest Post] A Saddlebred doing well in dressage. 2018

[Midwestern Mounts, Potential Horse #11] my one quasi-jump with an ASB, 2013.

[Support For A Wild Idea] In which I propose the idea of an American Saddlebred Sport Horse and get support 2013.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. “The economy has boomed under President Joe Biden, putting the lie to the old trope that Democrats don’t manage the economy as well as Republicans. (Para) This should not come as a surprise to anyone. The economy has performed better under Democrats than Republicans since at least World War II. CNN Business reports that since 1945, the Standard & Poor’s 500—a market index of 500 leading U.S. publicly traded companies—has averaged an annual gain of 11.2% during years when Democrats controlled the White House, and a 6.9% average gain under Republicans … The persistence of the myth that Democrats are bad for the economy is an interesting example of the endurance of political rhetoric over reality.” Letters From An American: February 5, 2022.
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Virtual Tevis is BEFORE the Tevis Cup this year.

For the first two years, the 100 days of Virtual Tevis started on the day of the IRL Tevis (or what would have been). This year, Virtual Tevis starts beforehand in order to finish with the IRL Tevis.

Registration to open mid-March. The Virtual Ride will start on Wednesday, April 6, 2022 and must be completed by Sunday, July 17, 2022 – as the riders of the Traditional Tevis Cup are finishing their own physical journeys. Finish under the Tevis Moon!

Tevis Cup: Virtual Tevis 2022 – 100 Miles in 100 Days!, Turnage · February 1, 2022

Key Dates

Registrations opens mid-March.

Start. Wednesday, April 6, 2022.

Finish. Sunday, July 17, 2022.

Note. I get 102 days. Counting 14 weeks is Wednesday, July 13. Then 14 weeks x 7 days/week = 98 days. Plus two days is July 15. Maybe start April 8? Or extra time?

Our Plan

We will sign up both horses. With any luck we won’t finish.

Allow me to explain.

We will be so busy with lessons and shows and clinics and other happy things that we will not have the time to walk 100 miles around the pasture. That would be nice.

As a secondary objective, when we do VT miles, we hope to trot (and maybe canter?!), and go actual places on actual trails.

I’m applying a purist interpretation for mileage this year. Trail time only. Not saddle time. I made this distinction at the end of last year. [Moving the Goal Posts, Virtual Tevis, 98 Miles and Holding, 73 Days]

Not that there is anything wrong with counting all saddle time. You do you. This is what speaks to me this year.

Unless I change my mind.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

“Buck up, Sissy Pants.” Dr. Beverly Hofstadter.

(I want you to imagine an illustration of a caterpillar looking at its feet.)

Despite saying I wasn’t gonna … [Taking A Hunter Break]

… I scheduled a lesson. [Back In The Saddle, Saddle Seat Style]

One. Looking at second week without riding. I hadn’t realized Rodney was planning to be such a gentlehorse of leisure this winter.

Two. In effort to look for answers, scheduling a lesson gave me a chance to examine the process. [Mindset Monday, Nevermind]

Short, Short Version

Didn’t learn anything new. Went as expected. Not meltdown at Nationals, but not good. [Show Report, of a sort, NACHS 2015]

Note 1. Doing okay with Rodney at the moment. Probably because a) not doing much & b) can take time, walk, get off if not right. Whatever, I’ll take it.

Note 2. Although this was occurring in the before times, living through a global pandemic certainly does not help cultivate serenity of mind.

Short Version

Arranged lesson Wednesday evening for following Friday. Spent Thursday in low-key dread, leading to …

Friday morning. Standing at mounting block. Stomach in knots. Concerned that Dottie will motor off as soon as I get on. Not misbehave in anyway but not stand quietly while I sort myself out. [Sam I Am]

Get on.

Actually, I start to get on, realize I haven’t done my tie-downs, step back to do so, readdress the mounting block, at which point, the distraction peppermint has been consumed.

Where was I?

I get on.

Dottie jazz walks out of the barn. We are halfway to the ring before I can get my second stirrup.

I’m fine with it.

There you have it. One moment, I’m a hot mess. 30 seconds later, I’m on the horse and it’s all good.

???????

Afterwards, I pondered what I had learned. This is what I came up with:

Me: 36 hours of stressing before a lesson. Shows will be geometrically worse. No sign that anything will improve. Not sure I want to live that way.

Also me: You know, if I do two of the three local, summer shows, I could probably climb onto the tag end of the year-end awards.

I have no explanation. I’m as mystified as you are.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

Awareness of the outside world. @Ada_Palmer posts pretty pictures on Twitter under #Something Beautiful.
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Process Notes. Idea for a collage came from Artistcoveries: “A Fearless Attitude of Play”. Although, these are closer to what the post considers a collection than “creating images from other images.” In other words, it’s not art, but it was interesting.

True art takes time. I did not take time.

Things I did. I cut out a bunch of letters. I laid down lines of double-sided tape. I plonked letters down. No backsies. Done. Moving on.

Things I did not do. Did not sketch out the size and shape of the letter profiles. (Kinda ended up wedged together didn’t they?) Did not do a preliminary positioning of the cut-outs to determine the optimal blend of shapes and colors. (The big letters are more of a pile than images in their own right.) I did not take the time to hunt down my stamp tongs to help place the letters. (I went with a plastic card, fingers, and best guess.)

Impatient? Moi?

However.

I hereby decree this to be an experiment. Give it a try. See what turns up. Do a better, longer, more elaborate version if the process turns out to be amusing. Proof of concept, if you will. For the idea of turning the negative “impatient” into the positive “experimental,” I thank Paper Ponderings: Experimenting.

Hat tip to the Valley Vet catalogue and to US Eventing & Bee Culture magazines. Among others. Cut out way more letters than I used. Although, note to self, ending up needed more little letters than I was expecting in order to fill small spaces.

Onwards!
Katherine

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. “Fourth, blogs are dead. OK, this is not actually one of the reasons I quit blogging. It is, however, basically true.” Fat Cyclist: The End, Jan 2022. If everyone is switching over to podcasts, does that mean we have circled back to radio? Also, regardless of the state of blogging, I shall continue to chug along. My blog wasn’t cool back when blogs were cool, so no change here.
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If you are on WordPress, can you comment on Blogger post?

If you are on Blogger can, you comment on WordPress posts?

I have trouble connecting with Blogger blogs. It comes and goes. Sometimes I can comment. Sometimes I have to go thru an elaborate login ritual. Sometimes, I jump thru all the hoops and the comment disappears.

I was going to spin this into a longer discussion on cross-platform access. Eh.

Mostly it is by way of an explanation and apology to Blogger bloggers for my lack of consistent commenting. It works for a while. It gets complicated. I give up for a while. Lather, rinse, repeat.

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To make up for the short post …

… Heeeeeeere’s Phil!

Plus …

… Punxsutawney vicarious travel courtesy of Roaming Reader. Thank you! [Archives]

Links

Punxsutawney Area Chamber of Commerce: Phantastic Phils

“Six More Weeks of Winter!” Punxsutawney Groundhog Club: Prognostication 2022

“Learn about the science and folklore of weather!” Punxsutawney Weather Discovery Center

CNN: ‘Groundhog Day’: The movie’s final life lessons for getting through the end of the pandemic, Allan, February 2, 2022.

Onwards!
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Winter Olympics, Beijing 2022. Athletics should be about international cooperation outside of politics. Yes. There are things in life more important watching a handful of folks slide around on ice and snow. Also yes. I don’t know where that leaves us.
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I’ve done the pasture loop many (many, many ….) times.

Part of walking is the chance to let my mind wander. [My Two Horses]

Given those two items, it is very (very, very …) easy for me to lose track of my lap count, even for as few as three laps.

Therefore, my method for keeping track, with or without horse.

First lap. Silence.

Second lap. Audio book.

Third lap. Silence.

Wait? What? Which lap am I on? Okay, the previous lap had noise, so this must be lap three.

Second horse, reset at lap one.

Note. Usually Rodney goes first. One day last week, he was standing in the barn. So, I put him up & took Milton first, in reverse of the usual order. It was a cold, blustery day. Milton was on his toes. Rodney was mellow. Is Rodney learning about walks? Does the order of go matter? Sample size too small. Will investigate.

Places

Pasture. Daily walks, sometimes with horse, sometimes not. One 5K, Tromsø Virtual Polar Night, which I did by moonlight, will post about once medal arrives. Daily mileage [Walking Virtually, Angkor Wat, finished!] & [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, Part One, Minnesota, gonna be a long time before I finish this one]

Star Lake. Checking out places in case night walk didn’t work out. Night? Star? I crack myself up.

unnamed corporate lake. Mud, running errands, change of scene.

Downtown Birmingham, [Traipsing With A Tempo, Walk Report, MLK Day 5K Drum Run]

Local park, once, brought dog along for outing.

Can’t wait to travel again & to look for parks elsewhere. Find out if the Birmingham area is specially endowed with parks or if I never noticed in other places.

Activities

WALK. 31 walks in 31 days. Walked every day. OTOH, I only rode a handful of times. Not a trade-off I want to make on a regular basis.

TAI CHI. 2 classes. [It Is Live Or Is It Memorex, Thoughts About Exercising Online]

STRETCH. Tiny bits, while the dog looked for the perfect blade of grass to anoint. Also practiced balancing on one foot in spare moments.

RIDING LESSON. One, SSF. Sore in the saddle-seat specific parts, but doesn’t lay me out the way a Hunter Barn lesson does. Walked both horses later that day. [Back In The Saddle, Saddle Seat Style]

DANCE. none of 4 or 8. Signed up for Intermediate, canceled due to low enrollment. Signed up for Beginner, did not go. I’m vacced and boosted. The dance studio is as as compliant as any place in my area. And yet.

“This made last Friday (Jan 21) the 10th deadliest day of the whole pandemic and the deadliest since vaccines were widely available to Americans.” [YLE: State of Affairs: Jan 24]

I hermited for much of January. Exercise was outside or online. Probably an extreme reaction. Even experts were saying mask up rather than stay home. But. I didn’t want to be a link in the chain that put someone else in the hospital. It’s hard to resist when safety and inertia are pulling in the same direction.

Onwards!
Katherine