Virtual Brush Box

Fit To Ride

 
Awareness of the outside world. The race raises money by direct runner fundraising and by donations to groups that supply volunteers. QB: Charity Participation.
~~~

Virtual Queen Bee 4-Miler
Suggested – August 10 to October 31, 2020
Date – Tuesday, October 20, 2020
Location – Montevallo Greenway, Montevallo, Alabama
Tracker – Map My Walk
Time – 1 hour, 23 minutes
Results, overall – 386 out of 421
Results, gender – 356 out of 390

Montevallo Greenway

From Main Street to Stephens Park, and back.

With Added Bling

Since I also “ran” the Flying Pig race, I earned a the Snout & Stinger medal. [The Strolling Pigventure]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. I was explaining the idea of Lawful Good to a muggle. In looking for examples, I found that idea had gone mainstream. *The Atlantic*: A Chart to Explain Your Entire Worldview, A simple grid from Dungeons & Dragons has become a way to categorize people, food, fonts, Shia LaBeouf acting roles, and everything else. by Kaitlyn Tiffany, March 5, 2020.
~~~
News Flash: Milton doesn’t listen to himself anymore than he listens to us.

He had a relapse.

He brought it on himself.

Two weeks ago, he was fine for a walk.

Two days later, not so much. Probably slipped while farting around in post-Zeta mud. [Temporary Pull]

That was Saturday. By Thursday, he had recuperated to the point that he might be ready for light work.

Then, Thursday evening incorporeal cougars invaded the field. Milton went on full alert. Ears up. Darting hither and yon.

His fetlock resumed its former slightly inflamed shape.

By Friday morning, he was visibly lame at a walk.

I went to catch him.

He trotted off. Hopping lame. At a trot. By himself.

Not wanting to chase a lame horse all over the field, I waited until they wandered back to the barn of their own accord. Then threw his ass in the stall.

Four days of stall rest.

For his own protection.

Bottom line. When Milton’s brain goes into vapor lock, he ignores everything from the ears back. We knew he ignored his rider/driver. We didn’t realize he ignored himself.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Riding Journal

 
Awareness of the outside world. As promised, I will adopt 100 feet of trail. Or I will, as soon as I can get the form printed. Really! Promise! Who uses paper forms anymore?! [Sippy Cup]
~~~
WHOOT!

Overall
Since we were not waiting for the clockpuncher to be off from work, Rodney and I finished our mileage with several short rides. I am loving riding every day. Rodney is thinking that a daily mile is not the worst thing that ever happened to a horse. I plan (hope) to keep up the practice over the winter. There may be a wax on/wax off hidden benefit. Or it may simply be a pleasant way to spend time.

We thought Milton might squeak under the wire for the original deadline of November 9th. Alas, he put himself back on injured reserve. More on this tomorrow. With only 7.36 miles to go and over a month to do it in, we expect him to make the extended deadline. Crosses fingers. [Extension, The Temporary Pull]

Milestones

Finish line, 100 miles. Image source & additional photos, The Tevis Cup: Finish Line.

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.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020. Rodney today 1/2 lap warm up in hand, not counted. Tracker program was speaking kilograms and wouldn’t reset. Three laps tracked at 1.64 km = 1.019 miles. The same ride that tracked 0.98 the day before. Pacing, walking. Total 95.7.

Outstanding! The sort of simple, quiet ride that has eluded us for so many years.

Although at the end of the second lap, Rodney floated the argument that three laps meant three total, including the warm-up lap, rather than three ridden, not counting the warm-up lap in hand. Nice try. Keep moving.

Wednesday, November 4, 2020. 0. Planned to ride. Ended up hunting down the last bag of Starch Wise in four counties. Farthest I’ve been from the house in months.

Thursday, November 5, 2020. Rodney today 1/2 lap warm up in hand, not counted. Three laps tracked at .99 miles. Pacing, walking. Total Total 96.7.

Another quiet ride. Yay! #squadgoals.

Friday, November 6, 2020. Rodney today 1 warm up lap in hand, not counted. Flat section laps, 1.7. Total 98.3.

Because going around the pasture wasn’t easy enough, we went back & forth on the flatter part of the field. In return, I squeezed in a few more feet in hopes of f-i-n-i-s-h-i-n-g tomorrow before Rodney or the universe got any ideas.

Saturday, November 7, 2020. Rodney today 1 warm up lap in hand, not counted, More flat section laps, mostly. 1.7 miles of which 1.681 counted. Total 100!

Milton came out to graze while we walked back and forth. Rodney was not pleased. I sympathized. Back in college, I always had classes with papers due at the end of the term. I would be in my room, struggling with 10 pages on the Gratuitous Use of the Word Belgium in Early Modern Screenplays while outside my window, people were celebrating and partying and packing to go home. Not fun times. Milton and his groom went back to the barn so we could finish in peace and then came out to cheer us over the finish line.

Recent Posts
Mine
[Miles 91-94]

Others
County Island: The Tevis Trail: Take Me to the River

Go Pony: Learning Arabian

[Tevis post archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. The avalanche begins. 2021 is gonna look a lot like 2020. Live Oak International.

~~~
It’s been quite an insert-adjective-here year, hasn’t it?

Among so many, many other things, 2020 was a year without horse shows. For me. There were shows. I did not go. I’d like to blame coronavirus. In truth, Rodney probably would not have shown much in a normal year. He’d make progress, then have a fit. Progress. Fit. Progress.

What I was doing while other folks were showing.

Our last chance for a show was last weekend. Same place as last time. Same discussion as last time. The outing would have been as Covid-compliant as one can get, short of staying home. Plus, we still we need the exposure at shows. [Show Or Not To Show]

This time around, I was aiming for a crossrail “jump” class instead of dressage. Hence the schooling trips to Falcon Hill Farm. Milton and I did this class twice last year. [Schooling, Course, Photos, Course Again]

Stunt ribbon for illustration purposes. [On Course Again]

Sensible Me: Do I really need to go through this entire song and dance in order to walk over crossrails?

Internal Benny: Horse show! Horse show!

Sensible Me: Its just a participation ribbon. Every clear round gets one.

Internal Benny: It’s so pretty. Just like a championship ribbon.

Sensible Me: You know it’s not really a championship, right?

Internal Benny: Horse show! Horse show!

In the end, Rodney was still adjusting to his new diet and saddle configuration. Not enough time to prepare. Again. Hopefully we have come up with a set-up that will work for more than a few weeks. [Variables]

I’m not as distraught as you might expect, given an entire year without horse shows. Oh, there were moments. Some weekends, there were *two* shows I wasn’t going to. Those are always fun. We get half-credit for a warm-up round at a barrel race. At the time, I said, “We will probably return a few more times for schooling purposes.” How innocent we were back then. But I digress. Overall, I have not once been under starter’s orders since October of last year. [Barrel, Hunter]

Meh.

Maybe it’s the year. Walking quietly around the pasture feels like a good plan right now.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Images

 
Awareness of the outside world. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. Ecclesiastes 3:1, KJV.
~~~

Photos by Roaming Reader [Archives]

Blue Gate Restaurant and Theatre

The Goshen News: Shipshewana entrepreneur pours back into the community, by DL PERRIN, 2013.

A town-wide empire that began with miniature horse models, “Miniature wagons and six horse hitches with everything from manes to bridles authentically detailed.” Blue Gate: About Us.

Examples, Breyer Value Guide: Riegseckers Draft Horses Set.

“Riegseckers is best known because they produced the OF runs for Breyer, but they made thousands of aftermarket flockies as well.” Model Horse Collectibility: Collectibility test: OF flockies vs aftermarket/CM flockies, 2016.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Words

Awareness of the outside world. Recent reads. *Fortune and Glory* by Janet Evanovich, Stephanie Plum #27 (Atria 2020); *Masquerade in Lodi* by Lois McMaster Bujold, Penric & Desdemona #9 (Kindle(?) 2020); *A Blessing of Unicorns: * by Elizabeth Bear, narrated by Zehra Jane Naqvi, Sub-Inspector Ferron #2, (Audible 2020). Clearly, I am in the mood for light. Also series, for some reason. Although, I found Ferron #2 before reading #1. That’s two ebooks/novellas and one audio book. I do read in codex. The last one I finished isn’t one I care to broadcast. A great premise that devolved into dragons. That’s trips the cliche meter almost as hard as vampires. But I digress.
Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott
~~~
I am not the magic police.

I am not Peter Grant, the debonair magician’s apprentice. I don’t study Latin. I don’t swan about London with sexy river gods. I can’t will a fireball into existence. I wish.

Magic is common. We all do it. A salesperson who can sell ice in the Antarctic? That’s Charm. A brilliant carpenter or a person good with animals? That’s Touch. We all manipulate the universe around us to some extent. It is not a special, exotic realm open only to the chosen few.

Occasionally, a person becomes conscious of that which is subconscious. They realize that they have direct access to the levers of the universe.

That’s when we go in to have a chat. We explain that those fascinatingly attractive levers are long and delicately balanced. Too much force on one end will cause said lever to swing around and whack one on the back of the head.

We have a Power Point. It’s not pretty.

That’s generally enough to scare people straight. We keep an eye on them anyway.

Occasionally a person finds a way to have the teeter-totter of the universe hit the back of someone else’s head.

That’s when I go in. Or someone like me.

I have no magic. None. Nada. I can’t do a spell consciously or subconsciously. Unlike squibs in the Potterverse, lack of magic is not a source of shame. You see, the flip side is that magic has no effect on me. None. Nada. Hit me with high-wattage Charm; I will just stand there and blink at you.

This makes me valuable when someone is misusing magic. There’s no point to sending a squad after an Evil Villain only to have them cave the first time E.V. smiles at them.

So I go in. I’m immune.

The sort of person who is willing to push the consequences of their actions onto others is also the sort of person who gets disconcerted when their big party trick suddenly stops working.

This gives me time to persuade them of the error of their ways, whether they want to be persuaded or not.

Of course, I’m human. I bleed. A person wishing me harm could simply shoot me. That’s why I wear a bulletproof vest to these little chats.

Okay, maybe I am the magic police.
~~~fin~~~

Photography

 
Awareness of the outside world. Did you know there was a Bureau of Outdoor Recreation? According to Wiki, BOR -> Heritage Conservation and Recreation Service -> National Park Service. Put that way, it makes sense.

~~~
Taken during my weekly 5k walk, this one at Joe Tucker Park, Helena, Alabama. No bling. Have gotten into the habit of walking a 5k each week, whether or not a race is available. Finding a plethora of civic recreation spaces in my area.

According to the Helena Museum, Joe Tucker was a local councilman.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott