Virtual Brush Box

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

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. Family stuff. Outside world can go hang. Vague for the sake of privacy. Everything should be okay. One worries. Later, All clear has been sounded.
~~~
 

Overall
Our pasture is on a hill. We have enough flat places along one side for riding areas. When we go counter-clockwise (first direction in ASB terms) around the edge, the terrain has a short, sharp rise, which also involves going around the downed tree. When we go clockwise (second direction), the path has a gradual steep slope. Subjective experience says the hill in this direction is bigger. [The Tree Didn’t Get The Memo]

We have been trotting both hills!

Milton has had a moment or two on the short, steep part in the trees. Both horses prefer to lead here. When Milton is leading, Rodney just gives up and walks. Doing his trail jog behind Milton up the hill is too hard. Both horses think the clockwise hill is a lot of work. They are not wrong. I feel the same way when I walk the pasture.

In other news, Milton handles new shoes better than Rodney does. Shoes Thursday. On Friday, Milton went on his own around the field. Did great. Even a bit of trot at the end. He is now one mile ahead. Rodney and I will catch up at some point so that we can finish together.

We are up to 8 laps per ride. That means ~2.5 miles. The plan is to ride 8 laps four times a week for a total of ~10 miles a week. This gives us a cushion if we get a rainy week or someone is indisposed.

Milestones
Hodgson’s Meadow, listed on map.

Lyon Ridge, mile 21. Image source & additional photos, Tevis Cup: Lyon Ridge.

Cougar Rock, mile 23. Photo provided by virtual ride management. Getting photographed going up Cougar Rock is THE iconic Tevis pic. More photos and fun facts, Tevis Cup: Walking Tour of Cougar Rock & Tevis Cup: Fact and Fiction About the Tevis Cup Ride…

Video of trail between miles 14 & 21. Tevis Cup – Technical Riding in Granite Chief. Eeep.

Daily Log
Thursday, August 13. Day off. Shod. [Follow The Rules]

Friday, August 14. Today 3 laps, 1 miles (estimated). Total 16.17 {15.17} miles. Time 24 min (estimated). Milton’s solo day. Rodney reclined on the couch adjusting to his new shoes.

Saturday, August 15. Today 8 laps, 2.58 miles. Total 18.75 {17.75} miles. Time 56:44 min. Pace 22 minpermile/ 2.7 mph.

Milton, 21 miles.

Rodney, 20 miles.

Sunday, August 16. Today 8 laps, 2.63 miles. Total 21.38 {20.38} miles. Time 56:29 min. Pace 21 minpermile/ 2.9 mph.

Monday, August 17. Day off. Rest.

Tuesday, August 18. Day off. Rest.

Milton, 24 miles.

Rodney, 23 miles.

Wednesday, August 19. Today 8? laps, 2.7 miles. Total 24.08 [23.08] miles. Time 55:21 min. Pace 20 minpermile/ 3 mph. Check out that pace! I’m guessing at the laps from the mileage. The best way to fit in trot sets is to trot a flat stretch, reverse, and trot back. This messes with my ability to keep track of which lap we are on.

Note. the streetview screenshots are my best guess for location and direction. They could be way off. Still, I get the general idea.

Recent Posts
Mine
[Miles 7-15]
[Trail Talk]
[Virtual Gaits]
[Virtual Trees]

Others
Go Pony: Virtual Tevis: Week 2 and into Week 3

Moonlit Pastures: Virtual Tevis Week 2: Passing Cougar Rock and Lyon Ridge

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott

Training Journal

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

 
Awareness of the outside world. Regardless of your politics, voting during a pandemic is a logistical hairball. Look into what you need to do for yourself and your area. Don’t assume status quo ante. Let’s get everyone counted.
~~~
 

The ride is virtual. The trees are real.

As I said yesterday, Rodney is pouting. He’s having to work and he doesn’t approve. In the past, his response to new ideas is to get wound up. Say what you want about anxiety, it provides energy. [Virtual Gaits]

Now, everything is relaxed. Everything is low key. He’s trotting the path around his own field for the … pauses to check spreadsheet … 64th time in two weeks. He’s not braving these wilds alone. Milton is with him. There is nothing to get anxious about. There is just trotting along in a straight line.

We hates it. We hates it forever.

Rodney’s method for expressing this displeasure is to crash me into tree branches.

I’m not talking about overhanging branches that require you to duck. I’m talking targeting trees, veering off the path to brush through bushes. In one extreme case, he left the path entirely to pass through two trees growing close together.

I’m not imagining this. Milton’s rider says you can see Rodney aiming at trees.

Rodney has been know to weave from side to side to get three trees in a row in 20 yards of path. The more annoyed he is, the more new tree branches he finds.

This is particularly fun on dewy mornings.

Rodney is not a grumpy horse. Previous horse was a grump old man the day he was foaled. I know from grumpy. Rodney is passing through a phase. He’s in a mood. He’s working and it’s hard and it’s new and he’s going to be bad at it and … and … and …

Whack.

As I said before, real Tevis horses can’t be like this. Taking the drunkard’s walk down the trail takes too much extra time.

[VTevis archives]

Stay safe. Stay sane.
Katherine Walcott