Virtual Brush Box

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 

Awareness of the outside world. It goes over the nose.
~~~
Most of the 2020 shoeing routine remains as it was. Money left on a stool. Horse left in crossties. Assistant holds horse. [Shoeing at a Social Distance]

I have added a mask to wear when I am in that half of the barn. To switch horses. To scoop poop.

Do I think there is a high probability of contagion from a few minutes of arm’s length proximity in a well-ventilated, semi-outside space? Nope.

Do I want to risk the faintest chance of transmitting the disease to my blackmith’s elderly & ailing parent? Nope.

Mask on.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Images

Awareness of the outside world. National Coming Out Day.
~~~

Process. Squooze drops from cartridge thru the nib of pen. Failed to follow reinterpreted the directions and did not wait for ink to dry. Added lines. Smeared with finger. Tilted page to make shapes.

What I learned. I default to spidery/starburst shapes. Ink did not run easily. Had to bump the page. Thick? Still learning about different inks.

Inspired by Mark-Making Exercises: Day 8: Ink Blots. In truth, the initial idea came from an illustration in Artistcoveries: It’s Much Too Early! I didn’t want to get all staker-y & keep citing same source.

“or just do the 5K and post once a week.” Inktober: Rules & Prompts.

Ink & pen: Cross
Paper: Canson Mix Media, spiral bound, 98 lb
Digitization: cell phone camera
Post-production: resized, border, & watermark in GIMP
Retouching: none

[Straight Lines, Week 1, Inktober 2020]
Inktober [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Words

Awareness of the outside world. In thanks for giving me the idea for a blog post, a link to this blogger’s most recent BLM activism post, a simple request to read a few essays. Viva Carlos: Never Take Small Steps For Granted.
~~~

Hungry + anxious = Hanxious

When lack of food raises your stress level.

Or when you are sensitive and fragile flower and your roommate eats up the leftover hay leaving you with a gaping void in your midsection which makes room for imaginary ulcer rats to move in and gnaw on your vitals which causes you to be unable to cope with the mundane details of day-to-day existence.

Derivation
I wrote a post on hay & Rodney’s eating habits. L. Williams from Viva Carlos commented, “Aww Rodney gets hangry.” [Routine? What Routine?]

Cute.

Although …. Rodney’s not really an angry being. Subject to every other emotion, which is then worn on his sleeve, but not anger.

For him, discomfort manifests as scared.

Hared? Hungry + scared.

Hooky? Hungry + spooky.

Hense? Hungry + tense.

Hanxious!

Thank you, LW.

Equine Neologisms [Archive]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Random Images

The world is vast & weird.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Giveaway, of a sort. The catch here is that you are not advocating for yourself. I have a few duplicate/excess Breyer models still in box. Let me know your recommendations for where to donate them. Unless the idea is brilliant, local is better due to postage costs. What say you? Hospital? Scout Troop? Toys for Tots? Please note, I am not regifting any models that were gifted to me. These are extra herd members that I purchased.
~~~

Haul photo delayed. Shirt was on back order.

Ballynoe Castle RM. Celebration model. Breyer: BreyerFest Blog, BreyerFest 2020 – Meet your Celebration Horse!, Identify Your Breyer: Show Jumper.

Favory Airiella & dam. Identify Your Breyer: Lipizzaner Mare, Identify Your Breyer: Lipizzaner Foal

Éire, Brittanys Breyers: Irish Draught! . Shirt. Thorn, special run, Breyer: BreyerFest Blog, The reveal you’ve been waiting for!, Identify Your Breyer: Trakehner

I was offered two copies of this model for my SR time slot. Since this was 8th out of 9 on my preference list, I passed. I felt so virtuous. Due to a computer error, BreyerFest had to go back and evaluate every order. (Can you imagine!) I was reoffered Thorn. Are you sure you don’t want this pretty horsey? We’ll just leave it over here for you to look at. Hmmm. I was so proud of my restraint over the weekend. But, you only regret the ones you don’t buy, right? Here, take my money. Take it. Before I change my mind. Well played, Breyer, well played.

[I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch, Show Report, Virtual BreyerFest 2020]
[Virtual BreyerFest 2020, Haul I, Kentucky Horse Park Gift Shop]
BreyerFest 2020 [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. GIVEAWAY. Loot included a pass to the Toronto Zoo, valid through December 2021. Does me no good. Free to first one to claim in comments.
~~~
Note. Slow week in other exercise. Decided to try three 5Ks in one week. [Strolling Along The Edges]

Oasis Zoo Run Virtual 5K
Official – September 1 – 30, 2020
Toronto Zoo
Me – Wednesday, September 23, 2020
Birmingham Zoo
Time – 1 hour 09:41 minutes
Pace – 22:20 min/mi
Placing, all – 413th of 450
Placing, gender – 280th of 302
Tracking App – Map My Walk
Results not final
Update. 460th of 505, 314th of 341

The Stats

Bib

Results in various forms.

Update: final results in various forms

Ended up walking the parking lots, shaded area, to make up the mileage. Visited places in the outer parking lots that I had never seen before.

The Walk
Birmingham Zoo

Remembered to turn off the tracker for photos. Birmingham Zoo: Animals, North American Black Bear.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Effective advertising is not a clever story line, or pretty pictures, or awards. Effective advertising asks, do you remember the product? Given this criteria, the “Go to your Skiiippy place.” campaign is brilliant. The tune-phrase is on message and annoyingly catchy. It has been bouncing around my brain for days. I don’t want it there, but it won’t leave. Earworms, the ultimate product placement.
~~~

Scene: Having conquered a crossrail at Falcon Hill Farm the week before, Rodney came off the trailer like a jumper schoolmaster who already knew everything about everything. He was riveted by horses jumping in lessons. He would not stand still. He pulled me toward jumps, at a walk. He may have also been flexing his pecs for the cute little mare in the ring. The excitement level subsided once the CLM went back to the barn, the ring cleared out, and the fences dropped. The rudeness remained. He was not tense. He was not anxious. So, yay? [Small Hop Forward]

RODNEY: Mr. Amazing has arrived. Time to jump all the jumps.

ME: Yes, you are amazing. I have no doubt you can fly over every jump in the ring. But you don’t get to jump the big ones until you’ve shown that you can jump the small ones correctly.

RODNEY: Lemme at ’em. Lemme at ’em.

ME: You can’t win jumpers with good looks & charm. You need basics. We’ll start with a trotting around a course of poles.

RODNEY: Piffle. This is too easy for my magnificence.

ME: … straightness … rhythm … pace …

RODNEY: Don’t wanna trot. Wanna canter.

ME: … straightness … rhythm … pace …

RODNEY: Don’t like your way. Your way is hard.

ME: Suck it up, Buttercup.

RODNEY: Buttercup this!

ME: Now do it again. This time without the bad language.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

If you’re riding a horse, you’ve already won.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Two days of over an hour in the saddle has tightened my lower back to the point of pain. I’m okay as long as I am careful with certain movements. For example, rotating my head to look down is OUT. Makes me less interested in watching the circus, excuse me, following the news.
~~~

Overall
More time required; less time available.

The walking. So much walking. Both horses doing well with the current emphasis on relaxation, but rides take proportionally longer.

Shorter days, less daylight. Weekends becoming the only time we can fit in long rides.

Shorter days, colder mornings. I realize 48 degrees is nothing to folks north of me. It requires adjustment when an eyeblink ago we were fighting 90+ degrees.

No problem, just more planning.

Milestones

Cal2, mile 78. Image source & additional info, The Tevis Cup: Peachstone/Cal-2

Daily Log
We are doing our rides in 1/3 or 1/2-mile laps around our pasture. Link to standings, Doctor Whooves, Major Milton, All. Daily screenshots from VTevis results page.

Wednesday, September 30. Today 2.59 miles. Total 73 miles. Time 1 hour 2 min. Pace 24 minpermile/2.5 mph. Technically 23:58 pace. Usually lop off. Rounding up feels more accurate in this case. This view may be back over our virtual shoulder, so say my notes. Not sure why.

Thursday, October 1. Today 2.06 miles. Total 76 miles. Time 49 min. Pace 24 minpermile/2.5 mph.

Saturday, October 3. Today 3.96 miles. Total 79 miles. Time 1 hour 37 min. Pace 24 minpermile/2.5 mph. Total is 79.99 miles. The GPS giveth; the GPS taketh away. Screenshot Streetview following a different trail on this section. I was impressed with our progress along the map.

Recent Posts
[Miles 67-71]

[Tevis post archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott