Virtual Brush Box

Strolling In The Park One Day, Walk Report, Gaelic Gallop 5K, Virtual BreyerFest 2020

Fit To Ride

Awareness of the outside world. Run benefits Old Friends, a Thoroughbred retirement facility. BreyerFest Blog: The Gaelic Gallop!
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Gaelic Gallop, the virtual 5K run associated with virtual BreyerFest. When I signed up, my walk was a virtual option of the IRL race during IRL BreyerFest. Come the day, everyone was virtual. [I Came, I Saw, I Sat On The Couch, Show Report, Virtual BreyerFest 2020]

The lettering sparkles and the kilt swings. Cool bling.

Gaelic Gallop
Sunday, July 12, 2020
Oak Meadow Park
Time – 54:43
Pace – 17:37
Overall – 93rd of 127
Age Group – 6th of 9

Went to a small park to walk their perimeter, paved loop, 4 laps = 1 mile. It would appear that 54/55 minutes is my pace on concrete. I’d make an attempt to move along, then I’d stop to stare at an overhead biplane. Still, under an hour is feasible. Doubt I will ever achieve that in the pasture.

Let the walking begin. Yes, I walked in public, by myself, wearing my bib number. Why not?

Walk Reports [Archives]
Model Horse Posts [Archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Feed Change, Back To Where We Started

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

Awareness of the outside world. Donation to the ACLU. If that constitutes virtue signaling, so be it.
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Well, that didn’t take long.

We are back on two bags of feed. Milton is back on ProElite Performance. We have ended the experiment to switch Milton over to Rodney’s feed. [Milton Joins the Senior Set]

He was doing great. Fat, shiny, bright-eyed, working well.

Except.

He pulled back during grooming. He does this.

He misbehaved and got smacked by the blacksmith. This happens.

He hopped with a rider (not me!). His go-to move, but not recently.

Momentary disobediences. Nothing usual. Statistically higher frequency.

We had three options:

Option 1) Stay on Senior. It was a calorie issue. Cut down the amount. Might have worked. However, if Milton and I are ever to work together, we need everything as harmonious as possible at the onset. Given our history with Rodney on the wrong feed, I would be suspicious of Milton being on rocket fuel. A self-fulfilling prophecy. [Square One]

Option 2) Switch to another feed. The feed industry does not lack for choices. Within ProElite, low starch feed? Diet feed for easy keepers? A lot of these were soy-based. While we never definitively ruled on Milton being allergic to soy, beet-pulp has been good to us over the years. [Feed Adventures]

Different brand? Nutrena alone has seven types of feed, with two to ten varieties within each type. Thirty-five different bags of feed. Welcome to overwhelm city.

We chose option 3

Option 3) Go back to what worked. Reestablish a baseline. Then consider what, if anything, to try next.

Note to self. Reducing the herd to one bag is a lost cause. It has never worked in the past. It’s not going to work in the future. Don’t even try. Be happy that two horses only require two bags.

Re Milton’s hop. Milton has been doing great with mounting lately. Out of an abundance of caution, I am in the habit of putting Rodney in park and heading Milton. Usually no need. This time, rider on. A few steps. Head down, shoulder up. Fortunately, I had a grip of the cheekpiece. I yelled and hauled. Rider yelled and hauled. Milton stopped.

It was a half-hearted hop, but that is easy for me to say. I wasn’t aboard. After 10 strides, horse was over it. After 20 strides, rider was over it. I choose to blame the feed.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Our Continuing Quest For Normal, The Casual Trot

Training Journal

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

Awareness of the outside world. What the hell is happening in Portland. Unmarked cars?!? The symbolism is alarming. First they came … We must keep saying, Not Today. From Vox: The unmarked federal agents arresting people in Portland, explained, by Alex Ward, Jul 20, 2020, US Holocaust Memorial Museum: Martin Niemöller, & Atlantic: ‘First They Came’: The Poem of the Protests by Megan Garber, January 29, 2017.
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You know the trot you have in a flat class at a schooling hunter show? Or in a local Intro dressage test? Or even a schoolie bopping around the ring? Enough hold on the reins to keep them from flapping in the breeze. Minimal steering. Happy kid on a happy pony.

Easy-peasey, right?

Ha!

That’s our destination. That’s what we are working towards.

Rodney has been getting alongside the idea that he is responsible for carrying his own head and neck. We can mostly walk, trot, and canter both directions on a loose rein. [Cameo]

The time has come to – drum roll – pick up the reins.

You think I jest.

Rodney cannot trot around in simple Horse 101 fashion. As soon as I touch the reins, he tucks his head into Dressage Frame ™. He’s hoping that I am impressed with the Fancy Front End (r) and will ignore the fact that his hind end is trailing out behind him like a toy duck on string.

We are working on trotting *with* rein contact *without* queuing the above response. A few circles at the walk. As little weight in the reins as I can manage. Nose stays out. One or two circles at the trot. Declare victory. Retire. Give him time to process the lesson.

It’s how I imagine training a baby horse would be. My geriatric, green horse.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Mood on Monday, When This Is Over

Thoughts

Awareness of the outside world. Encyclopedia Britannica: Apollo 11 landing from PDI to Touchdown. YouTube. The historic video and audio with subtitles and explanatory captions. Chokes me up every time, “We copy you down …”
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Another one to read in five years.

I think a small part of me held tight to the belief that someday this would all be gone. Yes, there would be pain and horror and exhaustion. Then …

… one day …

… poof …

… it would be 2019 again.

I would have my old life back.

I would pick up where I left off. Swim. Dance class. Horse shows. Whine about horse shows.

That’s not going to happen is it? We are never going back.

When the status has found the new quo, some parts of life will be similar; some parts will be unrecognizable.

You can’t – as a person, as a nation, as a society – go through a shitstorm of this magnitude and not come out the other side fundamentally changed.

What will social occasions look like? Exercise? Travel? On a larger scale, what will health care look like? Politics? Education?

No one knows.

Could be worse. Could be better. Could be a giant step sideways.

I can tell you one thing, it’s not going to look like 2019.

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

An Exercise in Green

Celebrating Art

Awareness of the outside world. “My existence is not a difference of opinions.” Being Black in the horse world & the model horse world. Kristian Beverly: All Parts Of Me. Also, check out Kristian’s mural, About. From here, I believe, Cupboard Maker Books. Mural, bookstore cats, Novik in the display pile. Wanna gooooooo there, she whines. But I digress.
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BreyerFest Blog: BreyerFest Coloring Page!

Hard to see, borders of the insets are Breyer yellow to match the logo.

Full-scale original available as a downloadable/printable PDF, here.

Process Notes. GIMP. Seeing what I could do with a single color. Pleased with the plaid background. It involved multiple layers and brute force, but looks nice.

Model Horses [archives]
Coloring Pages [archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane,
Katherine Walcott

Magic Is Real, Now What? Fiction Micro Fragments

Words

Micro Fragment I
I hate magic.

Breaking news. Magic is real. Every urban fantasy novel you’ve ever read has come to life.

So what?

As far as I can tell, magic is simply another way for people to be terrible to each other. Someone kills you with a gun or someone kills you with a spell. You’re just as dead.

And I have to figure out who did it.

I hate magic.

Micro Fragment II
I hate magic.

Magic is gender-blind.

Magic comes randomly regardless of class.

Magic doesn’t see color.

Bullshit.

Okay, magic TALENT is all of those things. How does that play out in the real world? Let’s see.

Who has the time to devote to study?

Who has the money for good materials?

Who has the ability to concentrate because they get three square meals a day?

Who gets the job offers?

Who is told they aren’t good at “that kind” of magic?

Magic is just another way for the rich to get richer.

I hate magic.

Micro Fragment III
I hate magic.

Magic is hard.

There’s tonal magic. You have to practice for hours each day to deliver smooth and nuanced spells.

There’s chemical magic. You have to memorize the characteristics of each spell so you don’t blow yourself up.

There’s mathematical magic. You start with the premise that the square root of negative one is real, and then it gets weird from there.

There’s engineering magic. You have to understand how much stress each spell can take before collapsing in heap.

Where’s the fingersnapping? Where’s the ‘Alakazam!’?

Magic is work.

I hate magic.
~~~curtain~~~

Pretty Picture, A Postcrossing Parade, Plus One

Random Images

The world is vast & weird.

Awareness of the outside world. As of 5pm yesterday. “Alabamians must wear a mask when within 6 feet of a person from another household; in an indoor space open to the public; … or an outdoor public space where 10 or more people are gathered.” AL.com: Gov. Ivey issues statewide mask order. July 15, 2020. Image from Al.com.
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Recent crop of Postcrossing postcards, plus one sent by a friend to say hi. Still liking my decision to take the request for horse images off my profile. Less relevant for the blog, but better vicarious travel for me. [A Herd of Horseless Postcrossings]