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]
Awareness of the outside world. Pay it forward. I will adopt 6″ of trail for every mile completed. If they both finish, I will adopt 100 feet of trail. The trail should have a future, even if I never set foot on it. Adopt-the-Trail Campaign
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2020 Tevis Cup – Virtual Western States Trail
100 Miles in 100 Days
Sat August 1 – Mon November 9, 2020 Run Signup: 2020 Tevis Cup – Virtual Western States Trail
I. Am. So. Excited.
The Tevis cup has gone virtual.
One hundred miles in one hundred days.
A riding division and a non-riding division for runners, walkers, bikers, swimmers.
Each ride must be one horse-one rider.
Mileage on the honor system.
Miles will be tracked on a map of the trail
One hundred miles in one hundred days. Surely we can do that.
It will not be as easy as it sounds. And don’t call me Shirley. Much like making time in a 5k, a mile a day means some days we will have to do more than a mile to make up for off days, rainy days, shoeing days. By extension averaging 7 miles a week will mean weeks of greater than 7 miles. [Bear With Me, Follow The Rules]
“You can complete the 100-miles in as many smaller excursions as you choose to finish the goal. We absolutely recommend NOT riding the 100-miles all at once unless you are participating at an actual sanctioned event with veterinary controls. As you log your completed miles, you will receive updates of where you now are on OUR historic Western States Trail.” Run Signup: 2020 Tevis Cup – Virtual Western States Trail, About the Event
The plan is to do with laps of the pasture. Three laps = 1 mile. Lots and lots of laps of the pasture.
On Sunday, we did a one-mile, test-of-concept team ride. They were absolute stars. Get on. Walk horses around pasture. No drama. Long-time readers will know what a miracle no drama is for us.
On Monday, I did a one-mile, test of concept solo ride. Success. For the first lap, I had to be more of a supportive happy alpha. By laps two and three, he was moseying down the trail. [Peeling The Emotional Onion]
Hours of long, slow work on a loose rein will do wonders for his confidence in himself. I’m not worried about monotony. This horse does not get bored. He will find reassurance in repeating the same trail over and over and over. At the walk for now. Perhaps introduce trot after a while. Possibly the c-word eventually?
Added bonus. I get to use his new show name! [Briefly]
Milton has signed up for the Weekend Warrior division. His rider will not be available for the mid-week rides. Officially, he probably won’t finish. We expect that.
Unofficially, my goal is to make up the miles with handwalks around the pasture. This will give Milton and me something easy and low-key to do together. Maybe he will stop looking at me as if I have three heads. Stretch goal would be for me to ride him on the laps. Because that went so well the last time we tried. As I said, stretch goal. [Two Hops Forward]
Granted, I could do all of this on my own. The virtual Tevis provides incentive and an organizing plan.
In Conclusion
Intellectually, I mourn the loss of this year’s IRL race for the competitors. Personally? Emotionally? Squuuuuueeeeeeeee. This is the closest I will get.
Awareness of the outside world. I got nothing. I’ve run out of words for appalled. If you are reading this from elsewhere in the world and are wondering what exactly the US is thinking, I don’t know what to tell you. I live here and I don’t understand.
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At the beginning of the this month, we swapped the schedule. Horses in am; bikes in pm.
We kept getting caught out by afternoon thunderstorms. Plus, the buggy evening hours are easier to zip through on a bicycle. Summer afternoons in the South are a festival of bugs, heat, and thunderstorms.
Previous Horse did not like being ridden before breakfast, He was so unpleasant about it, we rarely tried. Their schedule was feed early, finish, wait an hour, ride. That was acceptable to himself.
The current barn occupants have a much more extended breakfast ritual. Naps are involved. An hour after breakfast, they have barely looked at their emails or finished their first cup of coffee. Work is not on the agenda.
Instead, they are perfectly happy to work before breakfast. Wait an hour. Feed. Get on with their day.
Go figure.
What is your exercise preference? Morning? Evening? Never?
Awareness of the outside world. Upside of a weekend away: virtual vacation. Downside of a weekend away: the alarming psychic thud of returning to the wider world.
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Woo-Hoo! I’ve done BF! Spent the weekend (virtually) roaming Kentucky Horse Park. Plastic Ponies! People! Seminars! Shopping! Much fun was had!
Upside
All the joys of home.
Did they do a good job? Depends on your starting point. They could’ve canceled and said see ya next year. Instead, they completely retooled the event. In three months. During a pandemic. Bravo.
Seminars, workshops, hobby how-tos. Breyer Horses began as a side gig. “It was a special order for the F.W. Woolworth Company, made to adorn a mantelpiece clock. Breyer was flooded with requests from people who wanted to know if they could purchase just the horse! With that first horse, the Breyer Molding Company had changed the focus of its business forever!” Breyer: Breyer History. The smaller sizes were introduced during the oil crisis in the 70s when price of plastic went up.
One demonstrator had a large LEGO model in background of the video. LEGO & horses. Will you be my new best friend?
The video on how-to photo show sadly told me nothing new. I say sadly because that means I need to get off my butt and take pix. No magic tricks; just practice.
People on various social media channels chatted up a storm. Sharing photos. Helping each other navigate around the multiple pages. Bitching during problems. I include this as a benefit because it was good to find out that ‘Yeah, it’s not your machine, it’s a known glitch. Patience, Grasshopper.’
Downside
All the distractions of home. Pitchforks. Dishes.
Lotsa time starting at a screen. Until we have fully immersible rigs, that’s the reality of virtual reality.
Did they do a good job? Depends on your starting point. Will it win awards for computer management? No. I won’t belabor the problems, mostly to do with shopping. If you were there, you know. If you weren’t there, you don’t care. My completely unsupported opinion is that the site was wildly more popular than anticipated and blew up under the load. Good news for me for next year. Shows demand for a virtual component. I didn’t have a heavy emotional investment in any particular model. It was easy for me to shrug and move on.
Some tours were less interesting. Please stop talking and step aside. I’m here to see your horse. This could be addressed with a longer development time and the ability for segment producers to travel.
This one is completely personal. I have a cat who goes bonkers when my phone talks. Attacks phone. Tries to drag it off. I had to sit outside.
My Side
Did I have fun? Absolutely. I had no plans to go. Anything was better than nothing.
I attended out of curiosity. Have always wondered. While I have not experienced a true BreyerFest, I can extrapolate. Start with Virtual BreyerFest. Combine with Dragon*Con. Mix with the hours spent stomping around the Kentucky Horse Park. Leaven with years among horse people. I can close my eyes and have a good sense of how BreyerFest would feel IRL. [Peregrinatio in Stabilitate]
If they have a virtual component? Again, absolutely. Get myself a model or two. Watch a few videos. See what the model horse world has been up to. Then put down my phone and go ride a horse.
Four more posts, when they fit into the schedule or show up in the mail. That will make nine total. I’ve certainly gotten my money’s worth for the blog.
Awareness of the outside world. As has been my habit lately, Mondays are about pondering the moment we all find ourselves in. All really means all this time. I wonder if this qualifies as the first truly global event.
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Woo-Hoo! I’ve done BreyerFest! Spent the weekend (virtually) roaming Kentucky Horse Park. Plastic Ponies! People! Seminars! Shopping! Much fun was had!
Yeah.
But.
This never would have happened without a world-wide pandemic. I’m sure we would all prefer that I had stayed home and thousands of model horse fans had spent last weekend partying at KHP without me.
I’m interested in BreyerFest and model horses, clearly. However, it’s a low-key interest. A model here. A blog post there. I would not have taken the time and effort and expense to haul myself to Kentucky. Next time I drive through the gates of the Horse Park, I want to be hauling MY horse so that I can show MYSELF. Hear that universe? [7 Ways To Dodge Nostalgia, “Clearly, I am not as over this as I claim.” Dream Rides]
Ahem.
While I would not have rousted myself to a WorldCon, I am looking forward to participating in virtual CoNZealand that starts later this month.
Awareness of the outside world. “That electric blue that all of us dream of pinning on our horses’ bridles.” Calling All Horse Girls: One In Six Hundred and Sixteen, by July Urschel. No, I’m chopping onions. Why do you ask?
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Recent Additions. Thank you to Identify Your Breyer: for the model/mold data. Still have no plans for these, other than “Oooooh, pretty.” Bought back in December. I can’t blame cabin fever.
As I have done every year since 2015, I bought the MEPSA result book as inspiration for my model horse photo showing. I know the chances of me actually getting around to organizing a photo shoot and entering a contest are vanishingly small. If I wanted to, I would have done so by now. I like to think it’s a possibility. Allow me my fantasies.
Plus a handful of Stablemates Mystery Horse Surprise Blind Bags & Mini Whinnies Surprise Packs to relieve the ennui of errands.
Research Notes for Rest of the Herd
Model refers to the paint job; mold is the underlying body. AFAIK
Fire. The only one I have managed to name. Chinese Year of the Horse. Breyer model #1715, mold #717. “The Esprit mold was designed specifically for the 2010 World Equestrian Games (WEG). It was sculpted by Kathleen Moody.” Identify Your Breyer: Espirit. [Shopping: My First Model]
Illumination. Breyer model #1799, mold #1279. “Nokota was introduced in 2007. The mold name refers to a feral and semi-feral breed of horse native to the North Dakota badlands. It was sculpted by Kathleen Moody.” Identify Your Breyer: Nokota. [Low Key Photo Challenge: Toys]
Winter Wonderland – The 2017 Holiday Horse. Model #700120, mold #725. “The Totilas mold was introduced in 2013 and is a portrait model of Dutch Warmblood dressage superstar Totilas. The mold was sculpted by Brigitte Eberl.” Identify Your Breyer: Totilas. [Speaking of Shopping Sprees, My Latest Breyer Purchases]. Second photo from Breyer site.
Sam. Model #, mold #476. “The Cigar mold was introduced in 1998 and is a portrait model of 1995 Horse of the Year Thoroughbred racehorse Cigar. It was sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton.” Identify Your Breyer: Cigar. [Foto Friday: A Suitable Subject]
Frankel, left. Model #1712, mold #586. “Smarty Jones was introduced in 2004 and is a portrait model of 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner Smarty Jones. The mold was sculpted by Susan Carlton Sifton.” Identify Your Breyer: Smarty Jones. [Shopping Bonanza]
Harley D Zip, right. Model #1718, mold #728. “The Loping Quarter Horse, also known as Latigo, was introduced in 2013 … It was sculpted by Sommer Prosser.” Identify Your Breyer: Latigo [Shopping Bonanza]
Peppermint Kiss. Model #700118, mold #728. “The Gem Twist mold was introduced in 1993 and is a portrait model of Olympic and World Champion show jumper Gem Twist … The model was sculpted by Kathleen Moody. Identify Your Breyer: Gem Twist [Shopping Bonanza]
We – The Unicorns … Bring their magic, to the Magic City
Story and Photographs by Meg McKinney
Until now, we’ve only seen our visiting unicorns in daylight. But they go out at night, seeking adventures, and make discoveries in our world.
One recent evening, Twinkle, with her brilliant pink coloring glowing brightly, encouraged the herd to visit downtown Birmingham, Alabama, a.k.a. the Magic City.
“Let’s go! We must make the most of our time here. There’s so much to see. Maybe we’ll make new friends,” Twinkle said, breathlessly, while shaking her product-enhanced mane and tail.
Mystic took the lead, naturally, directing the group towards the city’s lights, avoiding traffic jams, and gawkers, altogether.
The unicorns begin their Birmingham adventure, at night, on Morris Avenue’s cobblestone pavement, that changes to a purple carpet as the unicorns walk and trot down the street.
With their unearthly powers, they transformed Morris Avenue’s red brick, cobblestone pavement, into a purple carpet, as their hooves touched down. The buildings – former livery stables and boarding houses – faded into the shadows.
While the unicorns’ colors and glittery speckles were enhanced by the street lights, they didn’t pay attention to the street’s transformation. Unicorns are used to magic.
A sliver of rainbow, seen between Twinkle and Mystic, is a good omen for the unicorns, when they visit the Alabama Theater.
Seeing a sliver of a rainbow in the east, as the sun was setting in the west, as a good omen, they cantered to the Alabama Theater, on Third Avenue North. Theater lights were blazing.
“Oh, they’re showing films tonight!” Twinkle said, and trotted in place, hoping to attract a Hollywood talent agent. Starlight and Mystic stayed close to her, not wanting to attract agents of any kind.
To Twinkle’s disappointment, no agent materialized.
Melody, herd coordinator for all things practical, sniffed the air, and detected freshly popped popcorn. She spied food trucks down the street from the theater.
“Nothing here for us to eat,” she sighed, “only provisions for people. And, Birmingham doesn’t have water troughs for horses, any more.”
The dark purple unicorn mare thought longingly of their guest stables, where the herd’s daily menu consisted of delicious oats drizzled with pomegranate molasses, first-cut alfalfa hay, and fresh spring water.
Theater-goers network among themselves in the lobby, not noticing unicorns in their midst.
Not having been to an historic theater before, the unicorns walked inside the Alabama Theater’s lobby, and looked around. Theater-goers were intently networking among themselves, so the unicorns went unnoticed.
A few notes from the Mighty Wurlitzer organ reached the lobby. The unicorns had to see what created this music, and they went inside the theater itself.
The Mighty Wurlitzer sits on stage, prior to a show. The unicorns were speechless at the grandeur.
The grandeur of the theater left them speechless. It was beyond anything they’d seen before.
They returned outside, and toured more of Birmingham.
Traffic zips by the unicorns in the 18th Street tunnel, where the light display matches the colors of the unicorns.
Mystic sensed brighter colors for the herd to enjoy, and followed traffic to the 18th Street tunnel. The changing LED light display entranced the unicorns, as traffic streaked past them.
Starlight, head of the unicorns’ security detail, with her no-nonsense blue coloring, thought they should stay there until dawn. The unicorns coloring matched the tunnel’s light show. She felt secure.
But, after several cycles of the light show, Melody, Mystic, and Twinkle wanted to see more of the Magic City.
The unicorns trot around Birmingham, taking in the sites, with skyscrapers reaching to the night sky.
They trotted for a few blocks, and saw very tall buildings.
“These are called skyscrapers,” Mystic announced, as they looked to the sky.
Melody asked, “I wonder what skyscrapers are for? I don’t see any paddocks, and the windows look too small let in sunlight.”
Mystic was hoping to see the tunnel lights one more time, but the other unicorns decided it was time to return to their guest stables. They were thinking of a late night buffet with oats and hay.
The big surprise, to us mortals, is that no one noticed the unicorns, or, at least, reported seeing them, in our midst.
Unicorns have their own magic, for travelling in the Magic City.
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Camera rests on household objects, while getting a closer view of the unicorns, with back lighting.
Photographing toy unicorn models is a welcome challenge presented by “Virtual Brush Box,” during the pandemic of 2020.
For this edition, I photographed them in my kitchen, with a back light, projected through a soft-light reflector. My camera is resting on household items, to get closer focus on the unicorns. I photo-shopped the unicorns into my own Birmingham photographs.
The opportunity to create a fictional story — a complete diversion from photojournalism and corporate photography –- is new territory.
Follow “We – The Unicorns…” as they let me know when, and where, they roam.
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Virtual Brush Box 