Virtual Brush Box

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Congratulations to the future Honorable Ketanji Brown Jackson, Associate Justice, The United States Supreme Court. Background & experience record, whitehouse.gov: President Biden nominates Ketanji Brown Jackson to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.
~~~

Two of my regular exercises are solo activities with a digital social component.

Tai Chi is an online class. Think full-body Zoom meeting. Since we live out in the country, I still have to beam up to the mothership for wifi. No broadband cable access here. So, it is slow. I can receive video and talk, but sending video tends to crash the system. I feel weird talking without showing my face. Therefore, I stay dark & muted aside from saying thank you at the end. All anyone sees of me is Meg’s lovely photo as my Zoom screen. [Inside and Outside TC class, Author Photo]

Walks are solo. Afterwards, I message my online walking group. They cheer. They message me when they have walked. I cheer. [October Walks, walking group]

I go into detail in order to ask a question. Is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Why This Is A Good Thing

People! Human contact! Someone other than my husband! The knowledge that people are out there in the wide world doing things! A reminder that the wide world is still out there!

Why This Is A Bad Thing

I am looking at people. I am texting at people. I am not actually interacting with people.

In the TC class, I see people but do not converse with them. In the walking group, we converse in sequence. At no point am I in real-time dialogue with another human.

What Sort Of Thing Is It?

An exciting aspect of the digital age? Or, I’m kidding myself because humanity has not changed since we gathered around fires before civilization began? Or, I need to get out more? Well, that last was true before the pandemic.

Activities

Walking – 25 days out of 31 days. Pretty happy with that. Of the six missed days, two were SSF lessons, one was biking, one was stormy, one was a Saturday undoubtedly doing horse things. That leaves only one day of giving it the complete raspberry. Again, walking comes easily to me, and my strolls are as much mental as physical. On one hand, pleased that I’m staying with it. OTOH, not particularly upholding tradition as a graduate of a jock school.

Tai Chi – 14 days out of 23 possible weekdays. I seem to go in streaks. Once I miss a day, I’ll miss a few more. When I miss the morning live session, I always make the intention of catching up with a video. I never do. [State of the Fitness, Inside and Outside]

Biking – one day. The bikes work! We remember how to ride them!

IRL Places

Pasture

Falcon Hill Farm, twice. Combining Rodney’s preride in-hand walk warmup with my daily walk. [Ears, Ring]

Veterans Park, Alabaster AL

Strip Mall # 1. Because mud in pasture.

Strip Mall #2. Ditto.

Downtown Montgomery. IRL 5K. [Circling The Capitol, Walk Report, Montgomery 5K]

Virtual Places

Mississippi River
Post [Rolling Down The River, Guest Photo]
Mileage log [Biking and Walking Virtually, Mississippi River, Part One, Minnesota]

Kyiv
Post [Walking With Ukraine]
Mileage log [Walking Virtually Kyiv]

Australia
Mileage log [Biking Virtually, Great Ocean Road, The Sequel]

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Equine Ink: Re-Envisioning the Medieval Charger.
~~~

Ellen Beard
Success in the Saddles
Multi-Disciplinary Clinic
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Friday 1 April & Saturday 2 April 2022

Alas, no miracle moments for Milton. [Thoroughbred Theatrics]

Upside

Clinician recommended tack adjustments that were put into effect with immediate improvement.

Clinician had rider suggestions that will prove useful moving forward. Some we knew. Some were new.

Clinician had Milton & Greg going well by the end of the session.

Downside

Milton continued to prove that he does not rise to an occasion.

Greg can get Milton going that well, or better, on his own. Might take longer. Might not be as smooth getting there. Destination about the same.

Changes were good but minor. No Aha! moments.

Conclusion

Whatever the keys to Milton are, we will have to figure them out ourselves.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. The International Day of Sport for Development and Peace.
~~~

Ellen Beard
Success in the Saddles
Multi-Disciplinary Clinic
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Friday 1 April & Saturday 2 April 2022

tldr: the school horse and the old lady hold their own against suit horses and their kids.

Reposted photo. Was bad about mounted media all weekend. [Saddlebred Attitude]

Folks rode their own horses twice and a school horse once. So that’s what I did. For my second session on Saturday, I swapped disciplines and rode Optimus. Everyone else had their school horse ride in the morning when I was having my second ride on Rodney, or trying to. [Thoroughbred Theatrics]

Which meant I was in the ring with some very nice horses, including two National Champions from last year and a Louisville Champion of Champions.

This round was in the nature of a practicuum. Less teaching, more showing what had been learned from previous sessions. Run as a pretend horse show class.

Some of the fancy horses were having a Big Time. I spent my round practicing traffic management in order to show my horse and to stay away from trouble.

So nice to be able to ride without having to wonder if the marbles will roll off the table. (Gives a hard side eye to the home team.)

I learned that “Speed is not your friend.” This is particularly true when a) one has just come from riding hunter/jumper/dressage/eventing, which is all about forward forward forward & b) one is on a school horse and is subconsciously trying to keep up with the fancy horses. I slowed down a hair and thought about presenting my horse within his ability.

Shades of Sam. On more than one occasion, Optimus wondered what I was doing up there. ‘If you would care to ride me like a Saddlebred, I will go like a Saddlebred.’ During the line up, Optimus kept moving around until I sat in the back of the saddle where I was supposed to be.

Personal Progress Unrelated To The Clinic

When I found out I was riding Optimus in the afternoon, I relaxed. Relaxed! I wasn’t fussed at all. I had a small moment while adjusting my stirrups but it passed and I was fine. Even at the mounting block.

Optimus isn’t Sam. Optimus will never be Sam. But then, Sam probably isn’t Sam anymore. In that the Sam in my heart is less and less related to the Sam who trotted on the earth. As with Previous Horse, time is casting a golden glow over memory. But I digress.

Optimus is his own horse. He is developing his own place as a horse I can be comfortable on.

~~~

Note to self. Must remember that one of those “kids” is now a young adult. Hard to move someone from one mental category to the other.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. First Contact Day. TV Tropes: First Contact.
~~~

Ellen Beard
Success in the Saddles
Multi-Disciplinary Clinic
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea AL, USA
Friday 1 April & Saturday 2 April 2022

Second day. You will note that Rodney is NOT in the ring with the rest of the class, explained below, Unfortunately, no media from our good day.

As always, I present what I heard, which may or may not be what the clinician said.

Day One, Private

Introductory discussion.

Demo walk, trot, canter.

Her verdict: Rodney needs guidance. I’ve heard this before.

Her twist: Soft. Soft. Soft.

Not as strong lower leg.

Precise.

Get a good walk before asking for a clear trot transition. Keep his head in place. Not locking his head down but preventing him for being sloppy with it.

Guidance, but gently.

My synthesis is that when I was providing guidance I was too heavy. Unsubtle, moi? When I was light, I was not sufficiently authoritative.

I think of it has having two sliders: laissez-faire/authority & light/loud. Either I had both sliders to the left: light & laissez-faire. Or I had both sliders to the right: authoritative & loud. I need to have one of the sliders to the right and the other to the left: authoritative & light.

This is 110% telling him what to do. Go at this pace. Go on this line. You will pick up trot without flinging your head about.

BUT

Light. Light. Light. Opening my fingers instead of opening my elbows. Steer with my body. (This one I already did, kinda.) Strong eyes.

Rodney was excellent. Walk. Trot. Extended trot. Stretching forward. Listening.

For most of the lesson, Milton had been grazing next to the ring. They had to leave to get ready. Rodney noticed. He would get distracted. Look over. I’d tell him to No, look this way. It happened several times but that was all. No ‘tude about it.

There’s nothing I would change about how he went. Possibly the best he’s ever gone.

Ms. Best was taking about keeping him in a frame. (She may have used different words, that was the gist.) I said I like giving the horse freedom to decide. She offered a compromise (or I was confused) strong guidance through the transitions, ease up within the gaits. I can work with that. [Fifth Leg]

Day Two, Group

Horse fretful. Tired from yesterday. Don’t often do two travel days in a row.

Rider concerned over so many other horses in the ring. We had only ever done a group class once before, in this ring. A horse ran up his tail & he got upset. [Getting Our Hunter On]

Not set-up for success.

Then, out of the not-so-clear-not-so-blue-sky, Milton started screaming and rearing. Greg had brought Milton over to graze, which had worked the day before. Greg thinks it was when it started to rain. I thought it was when everyone started trotting to warm up. It’s a bit blurry.

Whatever the exact sequence, it blew everyone’s fuse.

We didn’t even make it one lap. We “started the class” by passing a certain point in the ring, made two corners, came down the long side, and Rodney threw his toys out of the pram. (Read that somewhere. So evocative.)

He hopped. He jumped forward. He slung his face about. Typical Rodney maneuvers. It is always concerning when he flings his head about to the extent that I can see his tongue flapping.

Wrestled to a stop. Got off. Asked to be excused.

A small incident that I could have worked through? Or, an incipient meltdown?

Was I being a weenie? Or was I advocating for my horse?

Meh. I didn’t sweat the question.

Subjective group classes are not an important life skill for us.

Went into the round pen. Walk, trot, canter both ways. Built on what we learned yesterday. I’ll take it.

Day Zero, Getting Ready

We delivered Rodney to the start of session one as tuned as he’s ever been: feet, tum, tack, warm-up routine. He was 100% rideable. She asked me to walk, trot, canter right off the bat and we did.

On day one there was some shrimping (curling neck down) and some pretzeling (curling neck to the side). Didn’t last. Even the fuss on day two was an opinionated fuss, i.e. ‘I do not like this.’ With a less difficult history between us, I might have reacted differently. Didn’t feel a moment of anxiety from him on either day.

The schedule worked out so that the blacksmith had to come the day before the clinic. Rodney’s feet felt so good that he was shod on Thursday and did the clinic on Friday. Riding that hard the day after shoeing? Riding at all the day after shoeing? For Rodney, this is huge.

Ditto fixing whatever was bothering his neck. [Routine]

The clinician was good. She also had good material.

Clinic Shine

Clinic reports, my own most definitely included, are often presented as if the ride was the most magical thing that ever happened on horseback.

Partly, reports are written in first flush of enthusiasm in the days after.

Partly, you so deeply, desperately what you learned to be the Ultimate Answer to Life, The Universe and Everything. You want this to be the key you have been searching for.

Is the optimist tone merited or is it an an artifact of needing to get a blog post up by Tuesday?

Time will tell.

Is this the miracle cure to fix everything with Rodney?

Time will tell.

If it is a fix, better late than never or too little too late?

Time will tell.

The Terrible Twosome in time-out.

Tomorrow, the Saddlebred side.

Onwards!
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Busy weekend. Riding clinic, which you will hear about at great length. American Crossword Puzzle Tournament, which you will hear about eventually. Focus has been inward.
~~~

Riding needs a word for Stop Being Stiff.

We need a way to get a rider more in tune with the horse, generally in regard to holding the reins.

We need a word that conveys …

Don’t change the length of your rein.

Don’t change the amount of your grip.

Don’t change your posture or hand position or anything.

Change nothing.

Just …

Stop riding like you are made out of wood.

Theory says to use positive terminology.

Wrong: Don’t lean forward.

Right: Sit back.

So we need a positive word or phrase that means don’t be stiff.

Relax – carries undertones of flopping down on the couch to chill out.

Soften your hands – usually equals loose reins. I, for one, will fling my reins at the horse with the slightest provocation.

We need a way to say that everything you are doing right now is wonderful, just put some grease in your elbows.

I know a rider who had astounding heavy hands. Yet, their hands are so unstiff that the horses think, ‘Well, hmm, okay, I can deal with this.’

The thesaurus has failed me.

Update. My vocab may have failed me but you have not. [Don’t Drop The Puppy, And Other Words To Yell In The Warm Up Ring, A Follow-Up Post]

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]