Virtual Brush Box

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. Broadway Backwards. Tomorrow through April 3rd.
~~~
Milton is fine. Much riding. No driving.

Not much long-line driving practice. He aces those exercises. We really are at the point of hitch or get off the pot. [Back In The Traces]

I’m not the one riding him. I keep intending to get back on. [Milton Goes Back To Being a Pony Ride Mount]

I would prefer to do this in an enclosed space. Generally when we are somewhere with an arena, we ride for a while. By the time we are done, Milton has been good/is tired and/or I’m tired. [Old Arena]

It never seems to be the opportune moment.

Since I’m not riding/working Milton, he tends to disappear from the blog. It’s not my story, so I don’t tell it.

Upon reflection, I’m willing to talk about Milton’s driving because I am involved to the extent of being his header and – maybe, eventually – a navigator. [When Milton Adores Me]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Words

tldr: Pfizer #1 last Tues. Went smoothly. Mild tiredness.

PSA 1 – Make an appointment to get vaccinated.

PSA 2 – If you find an earlier appointment, awesome! Take the first available. Then, please go back to cancel the first appointment. This will allow the vaccination site to schedule more people.

Writing this for the record & in case anyone is curious as to the process.

Signing Up
The local major medical center is hosting several vacc sites. My age group opened up on March 22. The week before, the vaccination sign-up page had my age group already listed. Did that mean I was eligible? Did that mean they were taking names for when I would become eligible?

Whatever. Sign up & let them sort it out.

Filled out form. Answered questions. They asked what day, what time, which site. I said first available, first available, first available. Crossed fingers that they wouldn’t schedule the same time as the blacksmith, just about my only immovable appointment in any given month.

How did I feel about Tuesday the 23 at 9:40?

How did they feel about me showing up an hour early on Tuesday the 23rd?

Come the day, I was only 5 minutes early. There is enough morning chores that it’s hard to get off the farm in the single digits. That’s why my saddleseat lessons were always 10:30 or 11.

Drive-Thru Vaccination
First person. Was I here for the vaccine? Yes, I was. On you go then.

Second person waved me into one of 8(?) lanes.

Third person waved me down under a long, shallow tent that covered all lanes.

ID. Was my car in park? Did I have my pen handy? They had advised appointees to bring one. Paperwork. Explanation of shot & procedure.

Roll down to next tent. Paperwork checked. Door opened. Shot. Tiny, tiny needle. I’ve had mosquito bites that I felt more. I will be scheduled to come back in three weeks.

Windshield was marked with my departure time, after the mandatory 15-minute observation period. As I passed down the line, various marks and checks were put in the top corner of my windshield. Trucks are not convenient for short volunteers.

The whole operation was amazingly efficient. I barely had time to strip down to the short sleeve shirt. They also advised this. Obvious, but I could see myself automatically putting on  long sleeves in the morning.

Roll down to the waiting area. Chat from person with medical type ID. 15-minute wait explained. Honk if I feel anything at all. Please leave door unlocked in case we need to reach you quickly.

I brought a book, of course. Spent as much time people-watching. Particularly since I needed to keep my eye on the line of cars that advanced as the people ahead of me were released.

People kept circling thru to check that I was vertical.

Ready to go. Please follow the direction of the people in the yellow vests.

Done.

Drive-thru vaccination. Who knew?

Reaction, Or Not
The next day I was tired. Hard to tell if it was reaction, sloth, or relief. Took the day off.

The second day after was a bad weather day. Second one in a week. The sort of day when you have lots of time standing around waiting but you get nothing done. I wrote it off as a second sick day.

Day three, Friday. Still tired and cranky. A bit foggy. Misdated a few checks.

Reaction to vaccine?

Natural inclination?

Reaction to long week?

Only the Shadow knows.

My arm? Mild, but sore enough that for two nights I did not want to sleep on that side. Sharp amount of discomfort for a few hours on Wednesday. Go body! Train that immune response!
~~~
For your entertainment.

Humor – New Yorker: Things Fully Vaccinated People Are Still Not Allowed to Do, by Grober, March 22, 2021. Preach.

Reads – Lock In, “Unlocked”, & Head On, by Scalzi. Author takes the zombie/pandemic trope, adds robots, and makes it into a science fiction detective story.

Video – The Sacramento Bee: My Shot: Doctors remix ‘Hamilton’ song for COVID-19 vaccine. Watch the video, by Capron, March 16, 2021. Thanks to AV for the find.

Vaccine posts, [Mood On Monday, Vaccine Trials Volunteer, Guest Post] & [Intruder Alert! The Vaccine Trials Volunteer Returns, Guest Post]

Pandemic Posts [archive]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. NPR: Poll: Most Americans Want To See Congress Pass Gun Restrictions. This was 2019. Yet we do nothing.
~~~
Lately we have been riding 3 to 4 times a week. Longer on the weekends, shorter during the week, if we ride at all during the week. Horses are sound and happy and making progress.

My inner perfectionist(?) uptight competitor(?) is not happy with this schedule.

IPUC: You must work at least an hour a day as hard as you can.

IPUC: Anything else is slacking off.

IPUC: You call yourself a serious rider?

And more of the same.

I try to ignore her.

Me: It’s working.

Me: I don’t understand why, but it is.

Me: Shut up.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. Going Medieval: On the myth of short life expectancy, and COVID complacency, 4 March 2021.
~~~

 
“You never finish anything.” My groundperson, last Saturday.

We were back at Full Circle Horse Park practicing USEF Beginner Novice B. 3rd time in 4 weeks. [Let The Acclimatization Begin, A to X, Marco Polo]

It was pointed out that I was not completing each quarter arc of the circle before I arrived at the relevant tangent point, those points being the two sides of the arena, C, and X for a 20-meter circle at C.

I thought I was demonstrating a different line between corner and circle. Mostly I was reaching a theoretical circle marker and then turning and heading for the next one, which meant I hadn’t finished one before I started the next, which meant I had to yank Rodney around to start the next 90 degrees, which meant we were executing flawless diamonds.

In my defense, it was intentional. I was doing the same thing each time. Just the wrong thing.

I need to aim a bit ahead of the mark, straighten up, and put a full stride on the rail or at X as I pass. As soon as I asked for it, that’s what I got. At one point, I had the degree of bend exactly right so that all I had to do was go forward and the circle unrolled at our feet. Wow.

It was mentioned that this habit applies to my corners as well.

Hmmph.

I’ll give you the circle, but don’t tell me how to make a corner.

I know how to ride a corner.

I went to the corner.

Establish correct bend before you arrive.

Bend through the corner.

Leave corner.

Then I felt it.

About 7/8ths of the way through, I stopped riding the corner and moved on to the next thing. This left us not quite straight, which aggravated Rodney’s tendency not to keep his eyes in the boat.

I needed to ask for one, maybe two more steps. Not even a full stride. Just a step or two more out of the corner to ensure that we were straight and on the rail. This why I fail to make smooth, graceful turns in the hunter ring. I tend to turn and head straight for the nearest jump. This has been noted in places as far afield as the ASB ring. Per Coach Courtney, “my eyes glaze over and I’m looking for the next jump.” [Dixie Cup]

Asked for. Got. Again

I blame this habit on Previous Horse, plus natural inclination. PH didn’t not appreciate micro-managing. Stop. Go. Turn. Jump. Anything else was unnecessary fussing. Fine by me.

Fortunately – in the long term, unfortunately in the short term – Rodney comes with many more buttons. How much turn? What kind of turn? You want 7/8s of a turn? Okay.

I liken it to an advanced computer program. Ask a word-processing program for a line, it will give you a line. Ask a design program for a line, it will ask how long a line? How thick? What color? Where does the line start? Where does it stop?

Way more ability. Way more powerful. Way more options for the operator.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. Vaccine today! Report Sunday.
~~~

 
Procedural error.

Previous horse was rigid about his trailer protocol. He came off. He had a bite of hay. He had a nap. Then and only then was one allowed to commence.

Knowing this, I have worked fairly hard to NOT establish this sort of precedent with the current occupants of the barn. As a result, we can unload and leave them to eat hay, or get right to work.

Except.

Habits get established when one isn’t looking.

At home, we tack up and get on. Easy enough. Home isn’t a weird place that needs to be examined.

At Stepping Stone Farm, we tack up and get on. However, one of the main reasons for going to SSF is using the round pen for liberty work. So, when I tack up, Rodney has already run about for a while. [Recap]

Last weekend, we arrived at Full Circle Horse Park. We brushed. We tacked up. I got on.

Bzzzzt.

Milton was having a lunge warm up. I figured Rodney could stand and watch. Statue is one of his go-to moves.

He would not stand still. He wasn’t bad. He’d listen. He’d halt. But he couldn’t stick the landing. He had ants in his pants. Making him stand would have involved constant nagging.

I got off.

I had forgotten that at FCHP, I have been taking him down to the dressage arena to walk through the test once on foot. This gives him a chance to look at that and that and that over there. He doesn’t need lunging to warm up his muscles. He needs time to let his brain settle. Standing around or walking in-hand serves the purpose. Easier to do that without a rider, at least, easier on the rider.

I got off. We went down to the arena. We walked the test. I got on. His statue gear was back in place.

My bad.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine