Virtual Brush Box

Recent Changes, Rodney’s Bit

Training Journal

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

Old Bit [Worth 1000 Words] Sprenger UK: Stainless Steel Butterfly Bit

New Bit [Getting Our Hunter On] Sprenger UK: Stainless Steel D-Ring

“The Max-control is a double-jointed bit which … locks at a certain angle and thus becomes a straight bar.” Sprenger UK: Stainless Steel D-Ring. Bit images from Sprenger website.

Same mouthpiece, different cheekpieces. Rodney accepted the change without comment. This was what I was hoping for. I did not count on it.

It’s a little too big. The company does not make/carry his exact size. I figured better too big than too small. Also, I would have preferred one would have worked in both hunters and dressage, for example an eggbutt. No dice. This one seemed to be the best option available. In the dressage arena, we will look like escapees from the hunter ring. We’ll probably look like that with or without a D-ring bit.

The company markets the straight bar position as a more severe option. To my mind, it is gentler. A regular snaffle would collapse in half. Given the shape of Rodney’s snootbox, this means the end of the V bops him on the roof of his mouth. That’s why I borrowed then bought the driving version from Coach Kate in the first place. I figure he would like the lack of pointiness in his mouth. At that time, being street legal was the last thing on my mind.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Wearable Art, Dr Whooves

Celebrating Art

I also ordered a t-shirt, a tote bag, stickers, and a coffee cup for those of us who work in an office where having unique, identifiable mug is a plus. Given that my horse is available as a work of art, I think I was reasonably restrained.

Previous Posts
[Bubbling Over With Excitement]
[Look Whoo’s Featured]

Update: pingback Tails From Provence

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Have You Read This? Inspiration

From The Bookshelf

Series Intro
I know the feeling of finding a good book. I want to spread the joy.

Not reviews. Imagine we are in a bookstore. I wander up to you, hand you one of these books, say ‘Have you read this one?’, then wander off. Whereupon you look at the cover, turn it over, look at the back cover, read the blurb, flip through the book, and decide for yourself if you are interested. It’s like that. Enjoy.

Scanner broken. All covers off the Internet.
[Have You Read This? Graphic Novel Edition]
[Have You Read This? Travel]

Post Intro
As I type, these books sit in a pile to my right, on the corner of my desk. I leave them there for moral support.

Creative Struggle: Illustrated Advice from Masters of Creativity
by Gavin Aung Than
(McMeel 2018)
Than draws Zen Pencils.

On the blog. I’ve mentioned Zen Pencil more than once, particularly Ira Glass’s Advice For Beginners, most recently [Fiction Faith Graphic],

In Progress: See Inside a Lettering Artist’s Sketchbook and Process, from Pencil to Vector
by Jessica Hische
(Chronicle 2015)

On the blog.
[N is for National Velvet]
[Letter Art, AlphaBooks: C is for Cooper]
[Letter Art: Invitation]
[Letter Art: A Superabundance of Swashes]

Make Good Art
by Neil Gaiman
(Morrow 2013)
A dude who needs no introduction from the likes of me.

The books is from a speech given as a commencement address at Philadelphia’s University of the Arts, Neil Gaiman: Keynote Address 2012. While you can read the text online, or watch the video on YouTube, the book is intriguingly laid out and beautifully made.

On the blog.
[New Title, New Twitter]

Draplin Design Co.: Pretty Much Everything
by Aaron James Draplin
Draplin Design Co.
(Abrams 2016)

On the blog.
[Logo Study, Descending Capitals]
[Letter Art: Logo]

What books inspire you?

Update. Crossposted WWFF.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
WWFF 12/14/19

In The Field, Accidental Photography

Random Images

Milton gets put in the stall to eat breakfast. We let him out after. If I am away from the farm after breakfast, I am likely to be gripped by the panicked thought, ‘Did I let Milton out?!’ To circumvent that, I snap a pic of his fuzzy gray butt in the pasture. Concrete proof that he is not standing in the barn, waterless and bereft.

Waterless. We don’t leave water buckets in the stall if is only being used for meals, i.e empty most of the day. Too many drowned rodents. This doesn’t happen when a horse is in the stall. Go figure.

Bereft. If Rodney is up, Milton will keep him company. If Milton is up, Rodney wanders off as soon as he is done eating.

Long way of saying, I took this when I was going to be away for the day. Quite the poetic sunlight-rainbow-shadow effect, particularly from a camera phone, snapped semi-blind. I could barely see an image on the sun-bleached screen.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Throwback Thursday, The Whatever Horse, Guest Photo

Random Images

Just George
Seneca Valley Pony Club Horse Trails
1987 (I’ll save you the math. 32 years ago. I was 24.)
Photo by Deborah Rubin

George took everything I threw at him.

Eventing? Whatever.

Hunters? Whatever.

Side-saddle? Whatever.

Foxhunting? Whatever.

Bridleless & bareback? Whatever.

Fancy dress side-saddle with imported double bridle? Whatever.

George had the light-footed grace of a carthorse and the effervescent joie de vivre of a phlegmatic tank. We didn’t win or excel at any of these activities. We just did them. Whatever they were.

We did win a 3′ hunter class at a local show. I think the judge was startled that George got around the course. A lot of folks couldn’t see the point to George. His owner and I adored him.

More George
[Saddle Seat Sidesaddle photo]
[26 Years photo]

Update. Another George post. [What’s In A Name, The Time I Rode In A World Championship, Seriously Would I Lie To You About This? Guest Photos]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Tree Topper, Christmas Party 2019

Adventures in Saddle Seat

The top of the Stepping Stone Farm Christmas tree is Coach Courtney’s first-timer ribbon from the World’s Championship Horse Show this year [Pretty Ribbon, Them There].

The blue curtain in the background is hiding the Christmas Surprise horses. We had six(!) this year [Party Horses].

Prior Year Christmas Parties
[2018], [2017 bench & bow Instagram posts], [2016], [2015], [2014], [2103 gifts]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Problems That Younger Riders Have Never Had To Worry About, aka The Boot Jack List

Training Journal

I come in the house. I get distracted talking about how the horses went. I look down. I am using a boot jack in an attempt to pull off my zip-on boots.

Which got me thinking about other things the younger generations of riders have never done, or conversely have always done. Have you heard of the ~~Beloit College~~ Mindset List? Check it out, it’s awesome. “One reason we began the List was to remind faculty members and the general public that entering college students have a particular and limited range of experiences,” notes McBride [The Mindset Lists of American History].

It reminds us old farts about the reality of being 18. They’ve always had cell phones. They’ve never had the Soviet Union. And so on. In that light, I have started a version for the horse world.
~~~
If you are talking to a group of 18-year-old riders, they have ….

Never used a boot jack to pull off their tall boots.

Never competed at Pre-Training in Eventing. It’s now called Novice, and is no longer the lowest level.

Never had to worry about penalty zones on their cross-country courses.

Never seen a long-format Olympic Event. Short format was introduced in Athens 2004.

Always ridden with a helmet in hunters or jumpers. Yay!

Always had Warmbloods as the standard in hunters. They have never had a need for a Non-TB Hunter Class.

Always had Academy as an option in saddle seat. The first ever class was in 1989, per Saddle & Bridle: Whatever Works.

The Chronicle of the Horse has been in color since they were 6 years old.
~~~
I may be off on the dates here and there, but you get the idea.

According to Wiki, Beloit College no longer claims the list, “ ‘A poorly written compendium of trivia, stereotypes and lazy generalizations.’ ” Wiki: Mindset List. There’s even more vitriol in the full quote. I smell academic infighting. Marist College has taken up the mantle.

What do you have for the Boot Jack List?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott