Virtual Brush Box

Riding Journal

Awareness of the outside world. File this under, I had no idea. “Neighborhoods with a majority of people in poverty have 25% less tree canopy on average than those with a minority of people in poverty, according to our Tree Equity Score … The average temperature can vary up to 10 degrees between places with trees and those without.” American Forest Instagram, side-by-side comparisons in six cities. Makes sense. As a society, we have decided that space & trees = nice. Therefore, space & trees = expensive. More info, AF: Tree Equity In America’s Cities.
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Checking in to say both horses are chugging along.

We’ve been riding most days – weather and appointments permitting.

Progress on a personal scale ; unremarkable on a grand scale.

Went for a walk around the pasture. Some trotting. Worked on increasing duration for Virtual Tevis. Went over to X. Worked in ring.

That’s nice.

Actually, it is nice.

It is not narratively gripping.

Like travel slides. Fun for the traveler. Not so fun for the audience.

And so, I post about more inherently interesting, out-of-the-ordinary events, such as shows and clinics and new purchases and visits to other barns and random moments of barn life. Meanwhile, horses are trundling along.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Horsekeeping

Awareness of the outside world. Lexington Junior League Charity Horse Show starts today. Stepping Stone Farm has enough rides that I sprung for the whole week of Richfield Video livestream this year. As for the charity part of the title, JLL: Current Funded Agencies. [Happenings at the Horse Park, In Which I Live Virtually and Vicariously, Meanwhile, Elsewhere in KHP, 2020]
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Do snakes poop?

I mean, of course they do. Food goes in one end. Waste has to come out the other end.

I just never thought about. Whenever I had the occasion to clean a snake habitat, it was a matter of dump all bedding and refill. I didn’t give much thought to the individual bowel movements.

Until I walked into the barn and saw this.

Scatologically explicit photos after the jump. [Photos]

Rodney’s booties were sitting on a stool under a rafter. One of them was covered in … what is that?!

Because of the white splatter, my first thought was bird. But a bird that big would not fit in the rafter area above the booties. OTOH, we do have some pretty big snakes. [Exterminator In The House]

White shmutz was all over the bootie & stool. More substantial squishy-looking brown material was inside the boot.

That’s a lotta poop.

Clean up was a snap. The material in question was still damp, so it rinsed off easily.

Barn life. Gotta love it.

UCL: How do snakes poop? Lund 2016

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Images

Awareness of the outside world. Amazing ‘Everyone Is Awesome’ construction video on Instagram, “The minifigures decided to build the set themselves.” @josvu22, July 1, 2021. While we are on the subject of the little plastic bricks, The Biophysicist: Designing a High-Resolution, LEGO-Based Microscope for an Educational Setting. Voss, Blesa, Betz. June 22 2021.
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Definition. “A design in which the letters of a word (such as a name) are rearranged so as to form a decorative pattern or figure (as for a seal).” Merriam-Webster: calligram

Examples of multi-word images. Wiki: Calligram

Rigorous calligrams. Worth clicking over for. “The challenge is to visualize the meaning of a word, using only the graphic elements of the letters forming the word, without adding any outside parts.” Ji Lee: Words As Image.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Words

Awareness of the outside world. Kristian Beverly: National Museum Of African American History And Culture: Level One. Thoughtful tour. I assume more will be forthcoming.
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I haven’t been out & about much. Others have. Here are three dressage riders that I have been stalking following.

Cob Jockey: Dressage with a Welsh Cob
Connor is adorable. 2nd level.

contact: a dressage rider’s journey & her unsolicited thoughts and opinions
A normal human riding Intermediaire. Rode saddle seat in another life, Among Us: The Imposter.

I read their blogs. I have linked to them previously. We reach, at least digitally. Would we get along IRL? Would it be a disaster? Do bloggers have writing selves that differ from their three-dimensional selves? Dunno. I can’t tell from blogs by people I know. When I read their posts, I picture their faces and hear their voices in my head. Haven’t had enough blogger meetups to judge in the other direction. [An Exercise in Green KB, Odd & Ends CJ, A Dash of Hollandaise In The Cupcake c]

@zimerin, Instagram
Amish Warmblood, PSG Intermediaire.
Author of the hysterically relevant Instagram account, @dressagequeen_of_memes. Halt, Salute, Mayhem.

Process note. Header photos from target sites. I would posit as fair use in the spirit of book cover images.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Equal time for TdF beefcake. I like how the style changes along with the color. The dude presenting the yellow jersey is wearing yellow suspenders and a bow tie. Yesterday, end of stage 12. [The Restart]

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Odenville City Park

Little Walking Lately

1) More riding. Yay!

Less walking. Boo!

2) Resting seems to have addressed the aches in my knees & left hip. I find myself uninterested in reviving them. My joints are not amused by slipping in mud. So, I don’t walk the pasture in bad footing. In my defense, the mud around here is super slick. A few drops of rain and you are skating through slop.

Conversely, I am not amused by driving somewhere to walk. It’s not a green practice and it’s silly to spend more time on the drive than on the walk.

Net-net, less walking. Weekly 5Ks not happening.

Little Walks Lately

1) Rainy Day Trio
Drove around checking out parks for future walks.

McCallum Park (Bham Wiki). Was here before for photo backgrounds. [Low Key Photo Challenge: Toys, M is for MEPSA]

Georgetown Lake Park. Came here a while back for a Spotted photo shoot that did not make it into the blog. Update [Wandering Around The Water, Walk Report, Baltimore Running Festival Virtual 5K]

Loch Haven Park, aka Hoover Dog Park. Rain let up, so I took a get-acquainted lap. Coming home from dance class, so didn’t feel the need to walk an entire mile. Logged for the virtual Mississippi River project. [Biking and Walking Virtually, June 10] Update [Walking Goes To The Dogs, Walk Report, Virtual Abbott Dash to the Finish Line 5K, 2021]

2) Stopping On The Way
When I’m out, I look for places to do my daily mile.

Odenville City Park (Ency of AL). Stopped here on the way home from a social (!) engagement. Logged for the virtual Mississippi River project. [Practice photo, Biking and Walking Virtually, June 30]

I’ve said it before. I continue to be amazed at the number of tiny parks tucked into civic spaces.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

The Horse World

Warning. Downer post. If you are not in a headspace for that, please come back tomorrow. I’ll be talking about parks.

Awareness of the outside world. Special Equestrians.
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Last Purchase

Due to the sudden and unexpected death of Rita Mendel, owner of the Carousel Tack Shoppe, the store will close Monday, June 28 at 5pm until further notice. Thank you for your patronage and understanding. Please keep the Mendel family in your prayers.

Carousel Tack Shoppe

Shelby County Reporter: Mendel brings horse expertise to Indian Springs, Brakhage, 2013

Shelby Living: Equestrian Extraordinaire, 2018

After moving to the area from New York, avid horsewoman Rita Mendel recognized a need for therapeutic riding in Birmingham. She started with just a few volunteers with big hearts and a passion for horses, and with the help of instructor Pam Ibrahim, special education teacher Annette Troxell, and physical therapist Patrice Murphy, a program was born.

Special Equestrians: History, The Beginning

This is part of what made last week so tiring. [Practice]

Monday, I went by the store for what might be the last time. No one is sure what the future will bring. Thursday was the Celebration of Life for the Alabama crowd. The funeral had been held earlier in California with family.

I mainly knew Rita from being a customer at her store. That may not sound like much, but I was a customer for a long time and bought a lot of stuff.

Boots [Boots, Before & After]

More Boots [New Equipment: Britches & Boots]

Tall Boots [My Heart Is In My Boots, and That’s a Good Thing]

Horse Boots [These Boots Were Made For Shipping, New Equipment]

Helmets [On the 3rd Day of Christmas: Three Hard Hats]

Shirt. “I’m so out of touch that I simply bought what the nice ladies at Carousel Tack Shoppe recommended.” [Show Shirt Surprise]

More Shirts. “I am the diametric opposite of a shopasaurus. I loathe every aspect of the process. I went to a place I trust, Carousel Tack Shoppe. These items were available. They solved my problems. Done.” [Clothing Kaleidoscope].

Rodney’s Saddle. “Her professional recommendation was a Wintec 2000 with suede seat and air panels in the all-purpose style, because reasons. Hmm. I have been shopping at Carousel Tack Shoppe for 20 years. She has yet to lead me astray. Let’s do this.” [New Equipment: Saddle]

… along with uncountable odds & ends. Plus all the stuff I bought before the blog began.

Rita didn’t sell me all of this to me in person. She did recommend the saddle. Not sure I would have listened to anyone else on that. Several local horsewomen worked for Carousel over the years. They did a fine job. Regardless of who was behind the counter, it was always Rita’s shop.

It was a small shop, tiny even. She had to be selective about what she carried. This made for limited choice at times. I didn’t always agree with the choice, but it was always a difference of opinion, not a matter of quality. For example, I prefer pink Swat. Carousel carried clear.

[Wagging Its Streamers Behind It]

Rita was a supporter of the local horse community. Blue ribbons from Full Circle shows often came with Carousel gift certificates, above. I still have the gift certificate Rodney won earlier this year. I forgot about it for a recent purchase and then I couldn’t bring myself to spend it on the last day.

Rita always greeted me with a smile and good advice.

Memorial donations may be made to Special Equestrians.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding Driving Journal

Awareness of the outside world. Robin Groves joins the American Driving Society Centennial Club for her drive at the Vermont Morgan Heritage Days. Click for photo, ADS FB page. “The ADS Centennial Club recognizes carriage drivers and their one equine partner whose combined ages total 100 years or more.” ADS: Championship & Award Programs. More details, ADS FB. Squad goals! [Weekend]
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• 

• 

A friend is scheduled to have their first driving lesson today. Yay driving!

Of course, this got me thinking about my own driving. How much I enjoy it. How I haven’t been in a cart since my last ASB show, back in 2019. In pondering who had done what when, I realized I had shorted the driving horses. [Taking The Reins]

A while back, I did a post recapping my experience at Nationals, I included the driving links but not the driving pics. I am hereby correcting that, with thanks to Alvin and Snippy. [Nationals I Have Known, List of Links]

Driving at Nationals is two classes. No Sunday final. I majored in pastels. My best placing was 3rd of 8 in 2017. In 2014, Alvin & I got 4th & 5th out of 5. I recall being very annoyed on Alvin’s behalf. In 2017, Snippy and I were 4th & 3rd out of 8. Count ’em, eight student drivers in one ring. It was all about traffic management.

I was surprised to find I had only driven two years. Would have sworn more.

2014

Alvin Ailey [Show Photos]

Why don’t you drive at Nationals?
Say whaaaaat?

[Annotated Camp Tweets]

[Show Report: Important Questions from NACHS 2014, Part 1]
[Show Report: Important Questions from NACHS 2014, Part 2]
[A Horse Show In 80 Tweets]
[Lessons From Nationals: The Value of a Coach]
[Show Photos]
[Annotated Camp Tweets]

2017

HB Whizbang

[Show Tweets: NACHS17, A Horse Show in 6 Tweets]
[Show Photos: NACHS17]
[Show Reports: NACHS 2017 & Winter Tournament 2017-18 #1, Driving]

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Now that I’ve sorted all of this out, I’m leaving it here for reference.

2013. I did not drive. Coco & Alvin showed with other people.

2014. Alvin

2015. I did not drive. Big showed with someone else.

2016. I did not drive. Iggy showed with someone else.

2017. Snippy

2018. I did not drive. Whiskey showed with someone else.

2019. I did not show. No carts from SSF.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine