Virtual Brush Box

Riding, Horsekeeping, The Horse World

Awareness of the outside world. Tune in tomorrow. Mental Floss: Why Did NORAD Start Tracking Santa? Soniak, December 19, 2016 (Updated: November 12, 2021).
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Happily liberated from Anxiety at A: Would you Rather: Horse Edition. Ended up being a bit of a cheesy clip show. I’ve been doing this for so long that there is usually a blog post on any given topic.

Spooky or Steady

Steady. I can be, shall we say, high-energy. This is great if you are veteran show horse such as Alvin or Dottie. Let’s do this! [Missing The Saddlebreds]

Not so great if you are a horse of sensitive disposition. Milton is still traumatized by encountering me in full show mode.

Me: “Once those gates shut, it is on.” [Hanging With The Saddlebros IIa]
Milton: (Egad! Who dropped a ferret down my pants?) [ibid, Someday This Will Be Amusing To Look Back On]

Matchy Matchy or Mismatched

Classic. I’ll do show colors for shirt and saddle pad. I won’t go out of my way to colorized things that are usually brown or black. [Doctor Whooves and The Master, photo by Meg McKinney]

I balance my desire to be a curmudgeon with the knowledge that riding needs to lighten up. As long as you are clean, tidy, & tucked in, I don’t care what colors you feel the need to express yourself in.

Tall boots or Half chaps

Tall boots. Practice in what you intend to compete in. Don’t get used to one and they try to show in the other. [My Heart Is In My Boots, and That’s a Good Thing]

When I wasn’t showing, well-fitted half chaps worked fine. [New Equipment: Britches & Boots]

Or that’s the happy version. In reality, I bought half chaps in a fit of anguish, “My chances of ever riding in tall boots seemed so remote that the thought of buying a pair was too depressing.” [Heart]

Indoor or outdoor

Good footing, then I don’t care. Of course, this answer changes as one goes farther north. [When Life Gives You Rain, II]

Bay or chestnut

I would say either, but all of my horses have been bay. After dealing with Milton’s bumps, I’m going to be a hard sell for another gray.

As in, all of MY horses, i.e. Rodney, Previous Horse, First Horse & so on, including those leased & bought. Mathilda was never my horse. Milton? Jury still out.

Long or short mane or roached mane?

Anything but roached. Once rode an big time Three-Gaited horse. They show with no mane. Not at all happy about no grab strap in front of me. Used to give Mathilda a buzz cut in the summer. I always left an emergency handhold halfway down her mane.

Lazy or hot horse?

Lazy. See Question 1. Tact has never been my strong suit.

Private barn or a boarding barn?

Private barn. After having horses at home for almost 30 years, I would drive a barn manager nuts. [Why Not Rack Off Into The Sunset ?]

Create your dream barn or own your dream horse?

Horse. As long as the barn is safe, I can work out of it.

Ride an Olympic-level horse or take a lesson with an Olympian?

I like AaA’s answer, “Um, how about both? Can I take a lesson from an Olympian on an Olympic-level horse?”

If I had to chose, I’d go for the lesson. An Olympic-level horse would have to be super understanding as well as super talented. Those rare unicorns exist. I suspect most O-horses would have no patience with me.

Own a miniature horse or a donkey?

None of the above? I could see a sporty driving pony, but not a mini. Don’t have enough experience with donkeys to know what I was getting into.

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I didn’t answer all of their questions, so I rounded out the dozen with one of my own.

Would you rather have a good ride or win?

My virtuous side wants to say a good ride, but I do like winning. Both, please? [Show Tweets, Georgia Fall Classic 2015, Show Report]

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Looking over my answers, including the questions I did not post, I lean heavily toward both &/or neither. If I have an opinion, it is in stone. For example,

Someone else caring for my horse? No. Someone else making decisions about my horse? So much no. Someone else riding my horse on a regular basis? A thousand times no … Not now. Not ever.

[Why Not Rack Off Into The Sunset ?]

The rest of the time, meh, whatever flips your skirt.

Which would you rather?

Update, Other People’s Choices
Anxiety at A: Would you Rather: Horse Edition, the originator
Breed.Ride.Event: Blog Hop: Would You Rather
Fat Buckskin in a Little Suit: Blog Hop: Would You Rather
A Enter Spooking: Blog Hop: Would You Rather
Gray Flannel Horses: Blog Hop: Would You Rather, makes the point that top riders don’t automatically make good coaches.
Bel Joeor: Blog Hop: Would You Rather, If private barn means not your own, I agree, “Horse people are crazy, even the ones I love, and I would not want to sour a relationship like that.”
Raincoast Rider: Would You Rather?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Ancient Alabama, part six, “Alabama has the most complete geologic column in the United States.” Jun Ebersole, collections director for the McWane Center, AL.Com: Hunting the largest shark ever in ancient Alabama, Pillion, 19 Nov 2021.
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New horse at Hunter Barn last week. As my third ride, horse shall be know as Trey.

Trey and I cantered a course! While it was only four crossrails, each was on its own line. So it was a full course of inside, outside, inside, outside. Yay us! Mostly, yay Trey, but I was along for the ride.

A course means changing direction. A course at a canter means changing leads.

Hunter Barn horses are taught to maintain their pace after jumping a line. One must continue to canter around the turn. Only then is one allowed to walk. This is to prevent the habit of dissolving into a heap at the end of a line.

If you land on the correct lead, all well and good, you may continue.

If you land on the wrong lead for the upcoming turn, you must address the problem.

Being a well-educated soul, Trey knew all about lead changes.

After I made a hash out of two lead changes in a row, it became clear that I did not know all about lead changes.

I realized it is possible that I have never asked for a lead change.

I starting showing at a very basic, local level of hunters, in which we were happy to get eight decent jumps. We didn’t need no fancy, schmancy lead changes.

Then the switch to eventing and jumpers. Being on the correct lead for a turn is useful but not scored. Memory says that First Horse was good about listening to a tap on the rein in order to land on the required lead.

Plus, eventing includes dressage. One absorbs the dressage attitude that tempi changes are difficult and complicate maneuvers that await one at a much higher level. [Different Versions of the Same Thing]

Previous Horse had the balance of a gyroscope. On a tight turn, he’d throw in a lead change if he needed one. On a wide sweeping hunter turn, he saw no reason to bother. So I left him to it.

Ride lead changes? Yes. Ask for one? No.

Once we switched to a simple change through the trot, all was good.

Huh. Lead changes. A gap in my riding education that I didn’t even know was there.

Previous lesson, with Rodney! [In Which We Almost Have a Jumping Lesson]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. Solstice. The cold is coming, but so is the light. “The 2021 December solstice moment – when the sun reaches its southernmost point in the sky – will happen on Tuesday, December 21, 2021, at 15:59 UTC.” EathSky: 2021’s December solstice falls on the 21st, Byrd, December 17, 2021.
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Completion ribbon for No Stirrup November by Equisarte. Red, gold, and black streamers, with glitter accents. Custom button. Fancy. [Lessons from No Stirrup November]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding

Awareness of the outside world. ThoughtCo: How Do Mood Rings Work? Helmenstine, Ph.D., 2019.
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Note to self. Winter riding is gonna suck pond water. Note to self. That’s okay. Note to self. The plan is to buckle down & wait for the warm.

Whenever we have a frustrating ride this winter, I need to remind myself that winter is not our season. Yes, riding at all is a privilege, blessed, etc. You know what I mean.

Item one. Rodney has never liked cold. You get a different horse depending on the temperature. Ah, yes, this is the 50-degree Rodney. This is the 70-degree Rodney. It has nothing to do with being senior. He has been heat-lovin’ from the day he arrived. [Piling on the Therapy 2012]

Okay, you northern folks, cold-ish. Cold for us.

Item two. With some horses, you can tell whether tension originates in mind or body. Previous Horse might have been in a mood, but his body would be loose. Or his muscles might be tight from work, but his brain was still online.

Rodney, not so much. Rodney has never believed in the mind/body duality. If he is anxious, his body is tight. If his body is stiff, he gets anxious.

Combining item one with item two makes for a long winter of working a horse who lets cold weather go to his head.

The other day, we had ended with some nice work. This was, of course, due to my brilliant, progressive training plan. It had nothing to do with the fact that the sun came come out halfway through and kicked the temperature up 10 degrees.

Sigh. On the up side, it means he takes hot Southern summers in stride. As much as one can.

So, we will plug away. Rodney will maintain fitness. I will maintain saddle time. Maybe we will make a smidgen of progress. Then we will emerge like a sun-warmed butterfly in the spring.

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Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Images

Awareness of the outside world. “WCS’s {Wildlife Conservation Society} goal is to conserve the world’s largest wild places in 14 priority regions, home to more than 50% of the world’s biodiversity.” WCS: About Us.
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Part of the loot for joining the Bronx Zoo as a Virtual Member. Most zoos offer virtual resources. As far as I can tell, this is the first membership program designed for virtual participation. Zoo membership is usually about admission perks.

On A Broader Note

It will be interesting to see what part virtual plays in our lives. It was coming. The pandemic sped up the process.

After two years of virtual, Breyerfest is returning to KHP. “BreyerFest: Prost! will be the first ever hybrid BreyerFest, so tickets will be available for both the in-person experience and the online experience, and each will come with its own set of perks and access.” Breyer: BreyerFest Ticket Information! Given the category descriptions, they appear to be prioritizing attendance over virtual rather than creating equivalent tracks. Their party; their choice.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Words

Awareness of the outside world. More send ups of holiday movies. Hat tips to K & M for these. [Cue Cheesy Music]

I watched a Hallmark movie backwards.
A woman in an ugly Christmas sweater dumped her loser, small town boyfriend to pursue a law career in NYC where she lived happily ever after in pencil skirts and amazing shoes.

— Crystal Lowery Comedian (@Crystalllowery) December 2, 2021

Every big city heroine in a Hallmark Christmas Movie needs to ask where that small town guy was on January 6, 2021.

— Rohita Kadambi (@RohitaKadambi) December 1, 2021

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A few things on my Christmas wish list.

Background Check. A decent backdrop for holiday Zoom calls. Not a generic, cute, seasonal scene. I suspect I could figure that one out. I want a filter that shows my house, except cleaned, decluttered, and displaying that artwork I’ve been meaning to get framed. You know, my house as it looks in my head, not as it looks in reality.

The Gift of Song. The ability to sing. For one month. So I can sing Christmas carols. Even one song. I’d love to belt out Adeste Fideles without causing the cat to leave the room.

It’s A Parallel Life. A look at where I would be if my life had gone in a different direction. If I had take this job. If I had gone to that college. If I had chosen to gee instead of haw. Would I be more happy? Less happy? Differently happy?

What would you ask for?

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Text from above in case they disappear from Twitter.

Crystal Lowery Comedian @Crystalllowery I watched a Hallmark movie backwards. A woman in an ugly Christmas sweater dumped her loser, small town boyfriend to pursue a law career in NYC where she lived happily ever after in pencil skirts and amazing shoes. Dec 2 2021

Rohita Kadambi @RohitaKadambi Every big city heroine in a Hallmark Christmas Movie needs to ask where that small town guy was on January 6, 2021. Nov 30 2021

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Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Shout out to the woman in the parking garage. Four people were already on the elevator. Although there was plenty of space, there was not enough socially-distant space. She indicated she would wait for the next elevator. From the back corner, I give her a thumbs up. She returned my gesture with a brief nod. It was a small moment, taking longer to tell than to occur. It made me feel that we are all in this together. We need more of that.
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The Walk

UAB Medicine Walking Trail
UAB Medicine Buildings and Concourse Walkways
30 November 2021
~1 mile. GPS was still on kilometers from a virtual 5K over the weekend.
~22 minutes

Went in for my annual mammogram. (Have you had yours – as appropriate? Did you know they stop at age 75? But I digress.) Afterwards, I did my daily mile in a loop around the UAB Hospital buildings, using corridors and over-the-street walkways.

Searching on “UAB Medicine Buildings and Concourse Walkways” leads to a PDF of the map. Wasn’t sure how to link to a PDF.

The Signs

The hospital has put up motivational signs to encourage walking. I started taking pictures of the signs to send to my online walking group. I ended up with so many that I decided a post was more appropriate than clogging up the group message queue. And that is why you got a walk report on a one-mile walk. (Usually, I do posts on 5Ks.)

Update. Listed with monthly walks. [The Next Step, State of the Fitness, November]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine