Virtual Brush Box

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. Virtual Tevis entrant Whiskey Ranch-Horse is taking time off from talking about their ride in order to raise money. “From Aug. 20 until Sept. 19 (one people-month) 30, I am gonna donate $2 from every *paperback* book sold (of both my paperback books) to the UC Davis Veterinary Need Catastrophic Fund. They have real good vets, who are likely not evil vet-ladies at all, who help animals that need it the most. This is all about UC Davis: give.ucdavis.edu/go/vcnf.” County Island: Help for Critters in Northern California Fires. Emphasis mine. Update. Fundraiser for UC Davis extended to Sept. 30, 2020.
~~~
Overall
Three miles! Twice!

Not much for real endurance horses, but good for two pasture puffs.

In both cases, we had to wander around the ring while I watched the GSP tick over from 2.96 to 3.0. No functional difference. Magical thinking.

Milestones

Red Star Ridge, mile 28, Image source & additional photos, The Tevis Cup: Red Star Ridge.

Elephant’s Trunk. Listed on map.

Daily Log
We are doing our rides in 1/3-mile laps around our pasture. Link to standings, Doctor Whooves, Major Milton, All.

Thursday, August 20. Today 8 laps, 2.58 miles. Total 26.7 {25.7} miles. Time 57:37 min. Pace 22 minpermile/ 2.7 mph. Warm-up trots, then 2 long trots.

Friday, August 21. Day off. Planned.

Saturday, August 22. Today 9 laps, 3.01 miles. Total 29.71 {28.71} miles. Time 58:50 min. Pace 19 minpermile/ 3.2 mph. Rodney getting large & in-charge. Led many of the laps, including first lap. Weird. Three long trots today.

Sunday, August 23. Today 8 laps, 3.02 miles. Total 32.73 {31.73} miles. Time 1:02:03 min. Pace 20 minpermile/ 3 mph. Extra warm-up trot/canter attempt. 2 long trots.

Monday, August 24. Day off. Planned.

Tuesday, August 25. Today 6 laps, 2.01 miles. Total 34.74 {33.74} miles. Time 53:05 min. Pace 26 minpermile/ 2.3 mph. Technically riding in the rain. An easy day of walking after all the trotting.

Wednesday, August 26. Day off. Planned.

Scenery
I am getting a handle on map vis-à-vis streetview. There is a line that shows the Virtual Tevis trail. There is a line that shows available streetview. These were not in the same place this week. I dutifully collected two streetviews from each riding day before I sorted this out. I can’t remember if the two lines converged in previous weeks. My sense of accuracy is offended; otherwise, mox nix.

You’d think I would have realized this earlier. I had some half-expressed theory that one was an estimate of the other. Spent far too long figuring out how the proportions related in order to gauge where I was. News flash. It is a totally different trail.

Oh.

Streetview on roads and highways? That I can handle. Streetview in the middle of trees? I get lost sitting at my desk.

Nearby, but not the Virtual Tevis trail from this week. Included because scenic. Gives a general idea of the terrain.

Recent Posts
Mine
[Miles 16-24]
[Virtual Gaits, Virtual Trees, Update]

Others
Moonlit Pastures: Virtual Tevis Week 3: Red Star Ridge

Trail Horse Adventures: 2020 Tevis Cup
Trail Horse Adventures: I Conquered “Cougar Rock”
Trail Horse Adventures: We Finished the Tevis Cup Virtual Ride!

[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 plot of No Fixed Line by Dana Stabenow (Gere Donovan 2020 Kindle) hinges on two children separated and detained at the border. A friendly reminder that old horrors don’t disappear when new horrors arise.
~~~
The ride is virtual. The gaits and the trees are real.

Gaits
Milton has bad moments and a good attitude. Rodney has good moments and a bad attitude.

Milton has decided that going around the pasture together is not a race. When Rodney trots off into the distance, Milton toodles along, knowing he will get there eventually. So far, the one time Rodney and I disappeared around a corner, Milton responded by putting up his ears. Wonderful.

We are working on deescalating his issues at the mounting block. Some days he’s relaxed. Other days, he’ll ratchet up the tension meter. Just intermittent enough to keep us on our toes. After a few steps, maybe as much as a quarter of a circle, he’s over it and ready for the day. He’s the same with driving. Weird.

Rodney has decided he is a big, bold endurance horse who cannot be contained by the pathetic paces of his traveling companion. If we are in front, he strides off at a walk, and motors off at a trot. If we are following at a walk, he tries to pop into a trot. Just where do you think you are going? If we are following at a trot, he gets all round and bunched up. If I pick up the reins and tell him where to put each foot, he will do a passable western jog. I am so not interested in riding a horse who I have to supervise at every step.

Our theory is that he has decided to behave but be as unpleasant about it as possible. He thinks I will blink first. Little does he know that Tevis rules allow for the rider to dismount and run beside the horse. Listen up, you big dork. We will finish this 100 miles, if I have to walk you in-hand for the next 67 miles. Put that in your feed bucket and chew it.

I know, I shouldn’t call him a dork. Name-calling is not going to help my attitude.

Trees
We went around with a lopper and a handsaw. Took down the more obvious projections. The result was heaps of branches off to the side along the path.

Milton gave them all the side eye. They had not been there before. He did not like the look of them.

Rodney kept trying snack on the downed branches, even as the leaves faded. Leaf jerky. It’s a thing.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

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

 

Awareness of the outside world. Whatever: I Was Writing a Piece About Six Months of Quarantine and Annoyed Myself as I Wrote It, So Here’s Zoe Keating Instead. Six months? Nah. Can’t be. Counts on fingers. March (partial). April. May. June. July. August (almost over). Not six. Five plus. With no end in sight. Mouth hangs open.
~~~
Wrote the check for Rodney 10 years ago today.

I wish I could broadcast a message filled with unicorn farts. Serendipity! The unexpected road! How I have learned! and grown!

Nope.

Sitting here, exactly where I was 10 years ago, with addition of a failed writing column (thanks Rodney) and 8 years of whining on the blog.

Have I had horses to ride? Yes. [Sam I Am] 2012

Have I had shows to attend? Yes. [An Attempt To Freeze Time] 2020

Would I have preferred to spend those years running and jumping? No question.

Do I have anyone but myself to blame? No.

Could I have done something about it if I had only gotten my shit together? Of a certainty.

Way back on the initial post for this incarnation of the blog, the first two commenters (Waves hi!) wrote about how setbacks can shake one’s confidence. Tru dat. Doubt eats away at your will, whispering of pointless futures. Just because you know it’s happening doesn’t mean you can stop it. [We Begin]

Get a new horse?

Tried that.

Milton’s Gotcha Day was August 23rd, 6 years ago. We all know how that went.

Get a third horse?

Not as obvious as it sounds. I had to look out of the state for Rodney. I had to look out of the freaking country for Milton.

We are deep into tailspin territory.

Before I pull up, I’ll add that the biggest frustration is the feeling of spinning my wheels. I haven’t done anything with the last decade except get older. I have been given the gift of time and have nothing to show for it in return, except for the morass of stagnation I have wandered into. [A Look Inside My Head]

Or maybe it’s just the horrible month of August. More than five months into a pandemic.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. CDC: Considerations for Events and Gatherings. CDC: COVID-19 Considerations for Animal Activities at Fairs, Shows, and Other Events, includes ‘Livestock and horse shows’.
~~~
There was a dressage schooling show last Saturday. Will there be a show report tomorrow? Let’s examine the factors.

Factor 0) All Previous Reasons
As before, I have less than no interest in performing yet another mediocre exhibition of lower level dressage. [Finishing The Season]

As before, Rodney and I need the experience.

Verdict. Go

Factor 1) Covid
Should we be horse showing? No.

At least not in a state with hundreds of new cases a day and an undesirable postivity rate.

Too many people are wandering about, pleasing themselves instead of sitting at home not being the next match. Juan Delcan, Visual Artist

This disease is highly contagious, has no cure, no vaccine, minimal treatment, and is not under control. Maybe if we had a picture of what was going on. Maybe if we knew where transmission was actually occurring. Maybe if we had reliable test & trace. We don’t. So we are just guessing that X is dangerous but Y is okay.

Having said that, this show is as low a risk as possible, given our current educated guesses.

Local. No one is importing germs from other states. No restaurants. No hotels.

Outside. Wide open space. I probably didn’t get within 10 feet of a non-bubble human in pre-pandemic times.

Acceptable size? Depends on your definition for outside gatherings. Will it be over 25? Yes. Over 100? No.

Solid Covid plan, including wearing masks, minimizing contact, etc.

Since it is a dressage show, I can plan my day. No hanging about watching the show schedule drag on. No hordes of horses swarming the ingate waiting for a class to start. Show & go.

Really torn about this one. I want to be socially responsible. I also know that perfect compliance is not humanly possible, so calculated risks need to be accommodated. Close, tipping toward …

Verdict. Go.

Factor 2) Timing
Before we could go anywhere, we needed new Coggins tests. Back in the spring, the vet was not making farm calls.

Before we could ship the horses to the vet clinic, we needed new tires. [Shod]

By the time we got tires, the vet was making farm calls again. [Vetting]

By the time we got tires, got shots, and Sir Precious Petunia got over his shots, we had no time to school off grounds before the closing date. We had not been off the grounds since March.

No problem. He’s been to the showgrounds plenty of times. He was going all over the place earlier this year. He’ll be fine. Then we started trotting on our trail walks. I was reminded that Rodney does not adapt quickly. Springing a show on him with no warning is not the optimal path to success. [Virtual Gaits]

Verdict. No go.

Factor 3) Virtual Tevis
All of our walking meant no practice in the ring. That might be a good thing for both of us.

We would lose mileage that weekend. Meh, we have 2 1/2 months to go.

Rodney has been doing a great job coping with about all the activities the VTevis is asking of him, walking and trotting and going around the pasture. (Yes, I think it is ridiculous that he needs to think deeply about such simple issues. That’s not my call to make. But I digress.) Is it fair to ask him to think about two things at once?

Verdict. 2/3 go, 1/3 no go.

Factor 4) Class
If I did USEA Novice A, I would …

… be able to convince both horse & rider that we are doing eventing flatwork rather than dressage

… have a test that suited us better than Training 1.

… not go up against straight-up, serious dressage types.

… better acceptance of my rhapsody-in-green turnout of green saddle pad, green reins, and green shirt. People expect eventers to be over the top with colors.

… do a test of choice. Never done that before.

Verdict. Strong go.

Results.
Survey says: 3 go, 1 no go, 1 mixed.

However, the factors are not all equal. We gave heavier weight to the psychological component. We did not have sufficient time to prepare. Rodney has enough to think about at the moment.

A roundabout way of saying we didn’t go to a horse show last weekend.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Celebrating Art

 
Awareness of the outside world. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. Matthew 22:39–40.
~~~
 

Walter lives in the Alabama Woodlands section of the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

The gift shop had a shelf-size horse and rider in the same style. No artist listed on the piece. Since Walter was an Eagle Scout project, I assume the gift shop merch was a different artist. While it would have made a cute pic to include here and would have given the post more equine legitimacy, I don’t need any more dustcatchers in my house. You will have to use your imagination. Or search on ‘horse statue made of nuts & bolts’ for similar examples.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Words

Writing & Writing About Writing

Awareness of the outside world. News fatigue. Quarantine fatigue. Fatigue fatigue. Lately, it seems that the message is, If we work really hard, we can reestablish normal. What about improving ourselves as a society? Being visionary? Doing new and wildly creative good things? Something to get excited about, rather than ‘Oh Dear Lord in Heaven, let this dark madness be over.’
~~~
Did another virtual 5K last week. I will catch up with my walk reports once I’m done yapping about the Virtual Tevis. Short version, wandering around public gardens is not conducive to fast finishes.

While I was tromping along, I got to thinking about fiction. Okay, truth in advertising. The walk was on Friday. The thinking was more along the lines of, ‘Eeek, I have no post for tomorrow. Whatever shall I say?’ Thus endeth the brief look into how the sausage is made.

A 5K would make a great narrative frame: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, denouement. In the audio version, the narrator could read as if they were jogging along. “Hold on a moment, here is a hill.” Verisimilitude.

A shorter story could be done as 3.1 miles: three acts with a coda.

A marathon would mean 26 chapters would mean a pretty strong hook to keep the story going for that long.

Other narrative frame possibilities.

Recipe. This has probably been done.

Car repair manual. A little too much Zen and ….?

Really, any list of instructions.

A jumping trip, particularly cross-country as the jumps would all be distinct. A story based on the jumps in a jump-off would have to be short and speedy.

An saddle seat class, since they all fit the same pattern: enter trot, walk, canter, walk, reverse, repeat, line up. Each one could be a horse memory. Hmm. I might have to try that one. Surely, I have 10 ASB anecdotes.

Dressage test. Lots of movements. Not enough interest in dressage. Anyone want to take this one?

A tour of a museum, particularly a house museum. The tour guide would go through the house in modern time while the story built in flashbacks.

No, I still haven’t written any fiction. This post is a cheap attempt to squeak along by talking about fiction instead of posting any.

Why do I keep hitting my head against this wall? Because I want to write, I am capable of writing, I just can’t think of what to write. This is not a problem that is addressed in writing advice.

Better luck to me next week.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. Fran Jurga’s Hoof Blog looks at wide range of topics from a narrow point of view. Naturally, most posts are ones that only a farrier or lameness doc could love. The blog is worth checking on for the general interest posts. For example, the involvement of horseshoer unions in early Labor Day celebrations, given the prevalence of the horse in pre-automotive cities, Labor Day parades: When American horseshoers marched down city streets. Another example, did you know that a major event had a shoeing competition? Now you do. Burghley Horse Trials’ Best Shod Horse for 2019: What was he wearing…and why? I find it interesting that the blog covers so many different events and ideas while staying focused on one subject.
~~~
 

Not what you want to see.

Three days, Milton. You were shod three days ago.

Sproing!

Tidy as can be.

All dressed up and ready to ride.
~~~
Milton sprung a shoe then twisted it almost off. Removed all but two of the nails. Looks like the shoe was taken off by a blacksmith. How? How did he do that?

Horses never cease to amaze.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott