For those who don’t understand the trauma. Saddlebreds show with long flowing manes and tails. Except the Three-Gaited who get buzz cuts of their manes. They still have long tails. Therefore, everything possible is done to preserve every single, precious hair. Manes and tails are hand separated. No brushes or combs need apply. When not on display, long tails are carefully braided and put up in protective wraps. False tails are bought to fill out thin ones. Or, I should say false tail$$$. The sign of a truly retired Saddlebred is to have their tails cut off and donated to making switches for those still showing. Sam had this done recently. Don’t worry, he was left with enough to swish flies.
Me? I will take a pair of scissors to a mane or a tail at the drop of a hat. Rodney recently had his mane hacked, pictured, so that I could put liniment on his neck more easily. I don’t worry about braiding. I trust my braiding skills to be able to stuff knots into a mane if needed. So, I merrily chop away. And then send a photo to Coach Courtney.
OTOH, they shave off the forelocks. Entirely. All gone. I can always tell how much I’ve been around Saddlebreds by how weird/not-weird this looks.
Speaking of rabbits – and it is properly rabbits not bunnies – I will leave you with these random factoids for the day, “This form of story telling with a pun ending is also known as a feghoot.” Wiki: Little Bunny Foo Foo. “The “Mr. Peabody’s Improbable History” segments on Rocky and Bullwinkle were animated feghoots, right down to the pun at the end of each episode.” Wiki: Feghoot. Ah. They don’t make TV like that anymore. Now, get off my lawn.
From the bookshelf. Rereading/relistening to Rivers of London. My comfort read of the moment. ~~~
Finally achieved a second perfect month with the NYT Crosswords. It only took me two years. [2019, 2020-almost]
I would also recommend the NYT Spelling Bee. I have always been terrible with anagrams. I can barely find three-letter words in Scrabble. Possibly from being traumatized at an early age by my paternal grandmother who could have Scrabbled for her country. Yes, I’ve tried since. Wasn’t pretty. I am so bad at anagrams that I simply skip them when they show up in crosswords and hope I can find the answers from the cross clues. Despite my previous inability with the form, I’m having great luck finding words with Spelling Bee. Possibly the non-linear arrangement. Possibly the ability to repeat letters. Dunno how much is accessible without an account.
ntybee.com. NYT Spelling Bee Answers and Analysis. While I usually get to the top scoring level, I rarely get ALL the words. So, I have created an intermediate goal of getting all the pangrams and all the four-letter words. I use this to find out the word-count distribution. An unofficial fan page?
NYT: The Genius of Spelling Bee by Amlen, Nov 2020. Update. Explains the origin of the nytbee site. I admit, I did not read it completely before posting. I figured a NYT article on a NYT puzzle would not go too far astray. I did make a point of finishing it before the day was over. #HowTheSausageIsMade
Speaking of Scrabble. Word Freak: Heartbreak, Triumph, Genius, and Obsession in the World of Competitive Scrabble Players by Stefan Fatsis (Houghton Mifflin 2001). Mentioned before. Worth repeating. [Writing Rules, Writing Life]
Awareness of the outside world. Your Local Epidemiologist. Thanks to AV for another interesting find. ~~~
Weekly Walk Columbiana Sports Complex March 17, 2021 Distance – 3.14 km, note units Time – 43:41 min Mileage [LEJOG, this date]
The Boston Athletic Association offered a Pi Day Challenge. Run (or walk, in my case) 3.14 miles on 3/14/21. I missed it by THAT much.
Not quite Pi Day.
Not quite round.
Not quite the diameter.
Definitely not 3.14 miles.
I had plans, such plans. I would walk a circle on Pi day. I would draw a circle with the GPS.
Scouring the map led to ovals galore, a few triangles, but no circles. Perhaps a cul-de-sac in random neighborhood? That would thrill the residents. Perhaps 70 times on the paved inside of a traffic roundabout? Boooooring. Free-hand a circle in the pasture? Lots of walking while staring at the screen to adjust the path. Aha! The Court Square Fountain in Montgomery, complete with BLM mural. A long drive for a walk, but definitely hits the Find New Places metric. Al New Center: King’s Canvas is an Alabama Bright Light in living color, by Shamsi-Basha July 2020, fountain photos by McKinney.
Turns out I didn’t walk at all that week. Resting hip. Doesn’t hurt during the day or when I walk. Aches at night enough to keep me from sleeping well. I sleep, just not well. Very little keeps me from sleeping. So, time off.
When I started walking again, I looked for a flat, dry area. I think slipping around in the mud in the pasture was what made my hip sore in the first place. Our soil has a high clay content. The slightest amount of rain leads to skid city.
I found flat. I found no mud. Dry? Not so much.
Your factoid for the day. Due to their day-month-year notation, Europe celebrates Pi Day on 22 July, or 22/7. “Pi denotes the relationship between a circle’s circumference and its diameter and is denoted by the fraction 22/7 which calculates approximately to 3.14.” timeanddate.com: Pi Approximation Day
Awareness of the outside world. I hate April Fools. To quote myself & to paraphrase Lewis, unless very cleverly executed, pranks are merely socially acceptable cruelty. Do I dislike the day because I am a credulous sap who is easily gulled? Absolutely. That does not mean I am wrong. [2012, 2013]
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Rodney and I have been legit jumping over tiny crossrails. Why haven’t I mentioned it?
The aim of the exercise is NOT to jump. Instead, we need to learn to trot over little piles of wood as if they were ground poles rather than jumps. Give them the effort they deserve, which is minimal. I’m all for cantering into the ring sideways ready to slay dragons. Let’s wait until that level of enthusiasm is merited.
Second, last time I warbled on about Rodney jumping, it disappeared almost immediately. [Recap]
We saw that documenting each jump Milton took led nowhere. [Getting A Break]
I wanted to establish repeatability before I went public. OTOH, one day of good schooling does not a habit make. I’m glad of our progress but we are not doing what I would call jumping yet. We are not trotting, much less cantering, down to little jumps. However, talking about our three-phase progress yesterday meant letting the cat out of the bag.
Awareness of the outside world. Ugh. Where to start. Shootings, plural. Georgia voting law. Chauvin trial. Here, have some happy news. NYT: America’s Bald Eagle Population Has Quadrupled, by Taylor, March 2021.
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How far are we from dominating the AEC? Or at least completing a local, micro, mini, intro event?
Progress Dressage. Rodney will walk, trot, and canter on command in a dressage arena! We could probably get from A to Z in any Beginner Novice or Novice test. Ready to go. (Hurriedly crosses fingers.)
Cross-country. We trotted out in the XC field at FCHP!! Even though he pretzeled himself during part of it, the marbles did not threaten to roll off the table.
Show Jumping – We trotted a course of tiny, tiny crossrails!!! Even when he jumped, it was a calm, quiet little hop.
In Work Dressage. At some point I am going to have to pick up my reins and actually ride dressage. We are currently doing our best hunter flat class impression. Meh. Finish with a number not a letter.
Cross-country. Not going to pay the extra fee for XC schooling until we are super calm over show jumps and reliably quiet about hacking in the field.
Show Jumping. Still leaping where the script calls for trotting. Putting in more effort than required, which means he’s still rushing them in his mind.
Outro
Yes, we have been jumping. More on this tomorrow.
Virtual Brush Box 