Virtual Brush Box

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Speaking of searching for the right word. MW: Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year 2021, ‘Vaccine,’ plus ‘insurrection,’ ‘cicada,’ ‘perseverance,’ and more of our top lookups of 2021.
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Y’all are awesome.

I asked for words. You came up with words.

A few days ago, I wrote a post asking for words that mean unstiff. [Riding Needs A New Word]

You delivered. I started to respond in the comments, but realized I had thoughts about each one. If I have that much to say, I smell a blog post, Et voilà.

Here are the suggestions.

Suave & Smooth

Suave, perhaps? In the “smooth” sense.

Cheryl

I love this. The word “sauve” is unexpected in this setting, so it catches your attention. Plus it has undertones of elegance and debonair confidence, attributes we can all use more of in the saddle.

Ride sauve!

“Smooth” is equally fitting, with undertones of calm and tranquil seas. (I’m reading about Yankee whaling at the moment. Smooth sailing is good.) We can also use calmness and imperturbable tranquility in the saddle.

Ride smooth!

Puppies and Kittens, Oh my!

Hmm. I feel like this ‘made out of wood’ state can be found in other situations… (at least for me). Maybe it’s the difference between holding a stack of plates or the line when water skiing, and how one has to hold a kitten or puppy? ‘Soften’ or ‘relax’ too much and you drop them, too tight or ‘stable’ and they squirm or scratch you, lean forward and you both might end up splayed on the ground.

Lizzy

Can’t you see standing in the middle of the warm-up ring and yelling, ‘Don’t let the puppy scratch you!”? That will get your rider’s attention. Such a great encapsulation of the concept, with humor to lighten the mood. You won’t get a laugh out of your rider – this it the warm-up ring after all – you might get a smile.

Supple

Supple

saraannon

Doh! Smacks forehead. Yes, exactly. This is the antonym for stiff. Dunno where it was hiding in my head.

Ride supple!

To Recap

Suave! Smooth! Supple!

I love having the right word. Now I have three, plus the puppy/kitten thing.

So awesome.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Huffington Post: Air Force Offers Help To Military Families Hurt By States’ New Anti-LGBTQ Laws, Bendery, Apr. 13, 2022.
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Small victories. When the cheap hardware store gloves come in your colors.

Greg wanted to try riding with grippy gloves.

The ones I like are no longer available. [Navigator Gloves]

For proof of concept, he bought a pair of non-skid gloves from a hardware store.

They work well.

They are neon green.

Wanted toned-down color for appearing in public.

Different hardware store.

Not only black but black with with red trim.

Spiffy.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. “Donations go towards maintenance and development of the trail and staging areas.” The Tevis Cup > Donate.
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Distance: 7.4 miles, both horses.

Activities: Walking in the pasture, a few power walk segments.

Standings: Not last but definitely in the Turtle Power crew. Not dwelling on exact placing. Unlike IRL Tevis, VT is about completing rather than competing. What is of interest on the leaderboard is over 200 entries. The more they have this year, the more likely they are to do it again next year.

Notes

On track for 7 miles a week. Need bank to miles for rainy days, muddy days, and when the horses have ‘I have a hangnail, I just can’t cope’ days.

Starting in April rather than August means cooler mornings. Lovely weather, at least for three of us. Rodney thinks anything under 70o is chilly.

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Admin note. Virtual Tevis posts are generally on Tuesdays. Made sense to finish up the clinic posts first. Dunno if the post schedule matters to anyone else. Such are the things that keep my world organized, or at least lend me the illusion.

Image from Announcing the 2022 Virtual Tevis Cup!

Previous post [Virtual Tevis Announced For 2022]

Onwards!
Katherine

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. The Guardian: Ceramic cockerels surprise Boris Johnson and Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Kyiv walk, Rachwani, 9 Apr 2022.

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This is what happens when you hide alfalfa among boring, late season hay. [Spring Snacks]

We Bid Adieu To Our Clinic Adventure

The day after the clinic, we debated taking the horses out for a stroll. Loosen up the muscles. Enjoy the beautiful Spring day. Cool down from the mental effort of the clinic. Yes? No?

Horses hanging out in barn.

We move trailer up to barn to unload.

Start moving tack.

Rodney disappears from sight.

Milton moseys out after him.

Milton, want cookies?

(He *always* comes for cookies.)

Nope, I’m good. Continues walking away.

No haste. No drama. Simply a slow sashay down the field.

Okay. Catch you tomorrow. Enjoy your day off.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. ESPN: Ignore the score and the limp, Tiger Woods had a good walk at the Masters, Thompson, Apr 9, 2022. (Note. I am trying to feel inspired by this rather than a total weenie, given the content below.)

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When I get nervous, I try to use the time figure out why.

A) I am better able to cope if I know why.

B) The fact that I can’t verbalize what I feel is weird in itself. Putting things into words is what I DO. Professionally. Personally. Reflexively. So, I examine what is going on while it is going on.

As the clinic approached, I decided that part of the stress is having to be at a specific place at a specific time. [for clinic, see last week’s posts]

A) Slightly elevated stress is a normal response to schedule demands. Being on time to catch a plane. Knowing you have a meeting at 2:00. This adds a level of attentiveness to any day.

B) This is not something I do often. My schedule does not contain much specificity. Buy feed? Get it done; no one cares when. Doc appt? Get there a bit early; get seen whenever. Riding lesson? At SSF, I generally have solo lessons that occur when I get horse and self organized. I don’t do group lessons that require being in the ring, ready to ride at X:XX o’clock on the dot. (I get a tiny stomach flare even typing that.)

It is a rare day when I have to be at a certain place at a certain time to do things that involve other people. I’m not used to it.

This would explain why I get equally nervous before riding lessons and work interviews.

It is not the entire answer. It is a fraction of the answer.

Onwards!
Katherine

Images

36 Days of Type
[Project Intro]
[36 Days of Type, A to G]
[36 Days of Type, H to N]
[36 Days of Type, O to U]
[36 Days of Type, V to 1]

Blogging About Blogging

Awareness of the outside world. Free fiction. Whatever: A New Story For You: Grizzly Bear Conflict Manager.
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Going somewhere interesting? Live somewhere that is not here? Take us with you! I’d love to give guest space to your holiday/home photo(s).

Horse mural? [Green Horses on the Wall, Lisbon, Portugal, Guest Photo]

Horse, or horse-adjacent, statue? [Travel Foto Friday: London, Imperial Camel Corps Memorial, Guest Post]

Horse logo? [Hipico Del Mar]

Horses in history? [Shipshape, Travel Week, Day 1, Greenwich, England, Guest Photo]

I wanna see it all!

Comment or DM me. Let’s talk. virtualbrushbox@gmail.com

To everyone who has sent photos over the years, thank you!

To everyone, more please!

[Archives. Go have a clickfest, my friends are amazing.]

Dreary Bits

No money. For amusement only.

Usage, one blog post. Possible reprints in later posts, as above.

Take the photo yourself. Avoids complicating the copyright. Plus, we want your eye and your creativity. Most cellphone or small auto cameras will render a decent daylight snapshot.

Onwards!
Katherine