Virtual Brush Box

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. Eventing Nation Announces 1st Annual $1,000 Diversity Scholarship. Posted here to a) boost the signal and b) recognize Eventing Nation for finding a way to use their wheelhouse.

Update. Commenters have raised objections that it is not much money and that it places the burden of education on POC. Good points. Putting my writer’s hat on, I can say that they – probably – will be getting a lot of text for a pittance. Not paying the writer is a different issue. Overall, this has has gotten too multi-faceted for an introduction. For my part, I am envious that EN came up with something to do that utilizes their capabilities. They can’t control how much it costs to horse show; they can promote conversation.
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[Sandra Hall Captures The Moment]

When I switched from occasional reading glasses to full-time prescription, I was mostly riding saddle seat. Style and verve at an ASB show is all about looking straight ahead, zipping along, and making that flamboyant pass in front of the judge. [New Glasses]

[Milton Is Chill]

Even doing dressage and jumplets with Milton, I was mostly looking straight ahead.

Then Rodney and I started … well, I wouldn’t call it jump schooling, that is far to grand a term … when we started wandering around the ring walking over poles, I found myself using more peripheral vision. Spotting the next jump pole out of the corner of your eye as you round the turn.

My glasses became a problem. This part of the world would be in focus. When I looked over there, everything was wildly out of focus. The sudden switch back forth was distracting. My eyes were not amused. Turns out a mild, uniform blur is easier to work with. I’m far-sighted, so I can see large things, such as jump standards and other horses.

Now I wear glasses all the time, except to sleep, shower, ride, and bike. Odd combination that.

Riders with glasses, ride with them on or off?

Update. Follow-up post, [ Expanding the Question, Contact Lenses While Riding].

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Thoughts

 
Awareness of the outside world. It’s all outside world today.
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“We could not even be said,” replied Ford, “to be home and vigorously towelling ourselves off.”

Dear Future Researcher, this is what it is like to be living in a pandemic. [The Ugly Bits]

I’m mentally exhausted.

Physically, much is the same. We remain well and safe. No one I know IRL has gotten sick. (Touches wood. Tosses salt over shoulder.)

My schedule is the same; my mind is mush.

I get up and bike because it’s easier than deciding not to. [Route 66]

Ditto the blog. The earlier hypermotivation is gone. As with biking, I continue because it’s easier than stopping. I spend more time than usual figuratively staring at blank spots on my calendar. This post began as a comment on another blog (waves hi), where I was apologizing for my lack of recent participation. [Blogging In A Time Of Crisis]

The horses continue. They even make mild progress. Rodney cantered to the corner of the field and back. Progress. Yay. Not narratively gripping. Also remedial, in that we are trying to work our way up to normal. We are struggling to arrive at a place where one can get on one’s horse in a variety of circumstances and have a reasonable expectation of being able to walk, trot, and canter in a sensible fashion. Is that too much to ask? Apparently it is. [Why Is This Hard For You]

Reading/watching the news ties my stomach in knots. Not reading/watching the news feels like hiding my head in the sand.

My neighbors appear to be willingly heading toward catastrophe. People I love, people I want to respect are acting in ways I find incomprehensible. The cognitive dissonance is tiring. To quote Scalzi, “I want to be a friend to my friends and I also want to chuck them off the side of the fucking boat and be done with them.” He’s talking about a different issue, but yeah. When Friends Fuck Up, and So Do I.

As for racial justice, the conversation seems to have derailed into discussion of statues. One counterargument is that no one from the past has 21st C values. So what. Maybe it’s time to stop using our public spaces to deify dead white men. Give them an alcove in a museum. Write PhD theses about them. Just get them the hell out of my face. That Lincoln emancipation statue? It has got to go.

I have now shown how easy it is to get derailed into a discussion of statues. I say this as a history major – Who gives a shit about statues? We should be worried about people. Protecting the old, sick, & hungry, educating the next generation, providing everyone in society with space to work and play and pray, you know, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity.

I never said dead white men didn’t have good ideas. Let’s act like we believe those ideas.

Not to undercut the moment, but anyone else out there read the Preamble & hear Schoolhouse Rock?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Lettering & Graphic Design

 
Awareness of the outside world. I am trying to stay connected to current events. The outside world is not making it easy. Bad weather hasn’t helped.
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Process notes. In Inkscape, make the stroke a different color than the fill. To be changed or removed later. This creates an outline on the letter that shows where path breaks. Why didn’t I figure this out months ago?!?

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Photography

 
Awareness of the outside world. Virtual schooling means we need to make sure everyone has access to virtual. An educated society benefits everyone.
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As so much is doing these days, the Lexington Carriage Classic went virtual. Screenshots from LCC Facebook page, saved 6/21/20.

Coach Kate, Whip Hand Farm, entered her horse Lyricc in Class 26 – Senior Horse/Pony. She used a photo of Lyricc & Greg from the MTCC Driving Derby in 2016 [Show Report]. “Lyric pulled out of moth-balls at age 20 in this picture, to take new driver Greg Walcott to some club driving events.” Lyricc entry.

They scored an Honorable Mention out of 26 entries. “The Committee loved seeing so many old friends celebrated in this class.” Sr Horse/Pony results & photos.

She also entered Bliss WH in Class 16 – Ladies Wicker Phaetons. for 3rd place. Bliss entry. Bliss looks great …

… hard to beat the fluffy legs. Wicker results & photos.

LCC is the reinvented version of the CAA Carriage Festival that we did in 2017 [Show Report]. Searching for these posts has been a stroll down memory lane. Dang, we had fun.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Fit To Ride

 
Awareness of the outside world. Medals4Mettle. An idea for what to do with athletic detritus, for those incomprehensible souls who are able to part with prizes. The website says marathon, half marathon, or triathlon. I still have a horse show blue ribbon from 1972. My medals are here to stay. Therefore, I will never have to find out if they would turn their nose up at my measly 5k medals.
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Medal, shirt, & cinchsack from the La Jolla Shores Virtual 5K. I did the walk and post in April [Strolling Along, Walk Report].

Yes, I will show off every shiny medal I get this year. What else I got to brag on? Not horse show ribbons, that’s for sure.

The goodies arrived a while back. They had to get in line for an open Exercise Thursday spot.

Since this is the second post on my walk, I ought to compensate with trenchant observations on the nature of exercise. Nope. About all you are getting today is Look! Loot!

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Horsekeeping

Lucky enough to have a horse.

 
Awareness of the outside world. No one lives unconnected. Weather is shared. Water is brought in, used, and released. Poison travels up the food chain.
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Warning, nature in the raw.

To avoid spooking ophidiophobes, photo [HERE].

Snakes: 3
Cats: 0

Incident 0: “When we first moved onto this property, I went to check the barn. A slight motion out of the corner of one eye resolved into a humongous rat on a rafter above the aisle. Panning back revealed an equally impressive snake looped back & forth over the other end of the rafter. I shut off the light, backed out of the barn, & left them to resolve their differences. Never saw either one of them again.” [Crush! Kill! Destroy!]

Flash forward. Barn is home to a family of rats. I feared for tack and electrical cords. Too environmentally conscious to use poison. Too soft to use live traps and deal with the sequelae. Looked into rat aversion therapy. Internet suggested hot pepper and Irish Spring soap. Bought soap; have not tried. So far, leaving it alone and letting nature take its course seems to be working.

Incident 1: Snake falls out of rafters with rat in jaws. Lands on unoccupied chair. Chair moved out of barn. When I got to the barn, large snake was wrapped around the chair back, attempting to load the rat butt first. I watched. I know snake jaws can crazy expand, but this was a lot of rat. No luck. Swapped around to try nose first. Geometry more in snake’s favor. I kept checking. Eventually snake fell off chair. Slithered off with snake snack. Never found out if it was successful in consuming said snack.

Annoyed that I lacked camera to document this. [Dead Phone]

Incident 2: I found a dead rat in the middle of the aisle. Head weirdly crushed. I later reasoned that this is what happens when a snake kills you and tries to eat your face. Was sorry that snakes were having so much trouble with their food.

Incident 3: Another snake fell out of the rafters. This time with rat wrapped in its coils. Since the rats use the ridge of the roof as a highway, the snakes use the ridge of the roof as rat fast food drive-through.

By the time I got to barn with phone, snake had dispatched rat and was attempting to eat. Had the same problems with as previous snake. Smaller rat, but smaller snake. Took photo.

Unlike the prior snake, my presence &/or the click of the camera caused alarm. It started to slither away. I left. It did not return. I scared it off or it gave up on the mega meal. Sorry dude, or dudette. I gave rat a sky burial into the woods.

Yay snakes.

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott