Horses & Other Interests
Milestone: Rodney, standing by himself, tied to the trailer, while we both go off to do other things.
When you finally achieve normal, you need to stop and remember that there was a time, not too long ago, when normal seemed out of reach.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
From line art supplied by Mares In Black, A Model Horse Podcast. “Christine Jordan whipped up this wonderful holiday themed coloring sheet for us … Entrants are welcome to color in the art anyway they please, digitally or manually, in any media they please! Markers, watercolor, Photoshop, acrylics, crayons, MS Paint, mixed media, you name it! The sky is the limit.” Mares In Black: The 2019 MIB Holiday Contest!
Deadline: December 24th, 2019.
Entry: Free, as far as I can tell.
Image: contest page >”download the line art here.” > download page > PDF.
Divisions: Open & Youth
Prizes: “MIB swag, OF models and other fun surprises.” (ibid)
Entries already showing up on Instagram, maresinblack. Assist scored by Road To BreyerFest. I found out about the MIB contest from the RtB Facebook page.
Update
Mares In Black: MIB Coloring Contest Results!
[Overstayed Welcome, December Contest Entries]
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
D for the Dance
R for the Reins
E for the Education
S for the Seat
S for the Shoulder-In
A for the Aids
G for the Gaits
E for the Entrance at A
Written while watching Working Equation lessons, taught by Brendan Wise, organized by Barbara, at the Stables of Shiloh Farms.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Detail of show ribbon hanging in trailer, [Our First Blue]
Liniment bottle, product
Well-used cookie ball, [Cookie Ball!, Semi-Permanent Gold Star]
Water jug, product
And of course, the supervisor, Blue
Photo Exercise. 1. Pick A Color. Five Self Assignments That Teach You To See. Color + barn = blue. Naturally.
What’s blue at your barn?
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Yesterday, I said that my life would be easy if I committed to saddle seat. So, why don’t I?
It’s expensive and I’d hate every minute of it.
Not riding or showing. I love the ASB attitude and showmanship. It’s the rest of the process that fails to appeal.
It’s expensive … Other people caring for your horse does not come cheap. Other people training your horse is an even faster wallet suck.
Let’s talk about showing. A new show outfit. A second suit if I wanted to do equitation. A show bridle. Fancy horse shoes. Show fees. Academy horses have several riders to share the costs. The show bill for my spiffy suit horse would be all on me.
… and I’d hate every minute of it. Someone else caring for my horse? No. Someone else making decisions about my horse? So much no. Someone else riding my horse on a regular basis? A thousand times no. I understand the paradigm. I know it works. Not for me. Not now. Not ever. Mine. Mine. Mine. Have I sufficiently conveyed my level of possessiveness?
If I had my heart set on ASB dreams, I would adapt. I would find a way to pay for it, as much of it as I could. I would come to terms with my control issues. If it was my dream, I’d deal. I just don’t want it enough. I don’t want it enough in any discipline. If the road to equestrian fame and glory means giving up the reins and being a guest on my own horse, I won’t go. I’ll keep my horses at home and stay a backyard hero.
I’ve said all of this six years ago, in my first year of showing saddle seat [Suiting Up]. Nothing has changed. Why repeat myself? I figured ‘Why not?’ was an reasonable response to yesterday’s post. So I answered the question.
One last note. Lack of barn drama is another benefit of the AOT life. Some barns have more; some barns have less. No barn is immune. The only sure-fire method to avoiding barn drama is the ability to walk away chanting, ‘Not my circus, not my monkeys.’ If I had a horse in training, at SSF or anywhere, I would be one of the monkeys.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Do you have any idea how easy my life would be if I decided to rack off into the sunset on a high-stepping American Saddlebred?
I’d give Coach Courtney the nod.
She would find me a horse. The length of time involved would depend on my ambition and budget. If I wanted to show locally, she’d need – maybe – five minutes to decide which horse in the barn would do the job. If I wanted to shoot for the moon, it might take her as much as half an hour to have six potential Louisville horses lined up for me to look at between here and Kentucky.
She would go with me to try the horse. Reagan [Barnshine] might come along to ride them first. I would have supervision for the test ride, advice on the horse’s suitability, and someone to negotiate with the seller for me. No standing about on my own wondering how to exit gracefully if the horse proved to be a no hoper [We Are Not Idiots]. In the first place, there would be fewer no hopers. This would be true whether I chose sale or lease.
My future superstar would live at Stepping Stone Farm. Someone else would climb out of bed to feed in the dark of winter and in the heat of summer. Someone else would worry about finding enough hay and setting blacksmith appointments. Someone else would already be taking care of the horse if I had to leave town.
Coach Courtney would oversee wonder horse’s training. She would decide how much work and how often. I would take lessons on my horse and on practice horses. She would oversee my show schedule, advising me on which shows to attend and which classes to enter. My show career would have a plan, rather than being a drunkard’s walk through local prize lists.
I already know 90% of the shows. I’ve been in the arenas. I know where stable parking is. I was going to say that my horse would be wafted to and from the shows without me, but that already happens with Academy horses. No change there. Ditto, help in warm-up and on the sidelines. I would have advice on how to dress for my show ring suit debut. In fact, try to get into the ring without Reagan’s sartorial oversight and approval!
Can’t you see me, zipping around the ring, resplendent and well-prepared, on a lovely horse who has been trained as my perfect teammate? All it would take is a nod.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Tsundoku is acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in one’s home without reading them. Wiki
Now that I am riding my own horses (Kermit Dance!), I am back in the land of schooling myself, with the help of my eagle-eyed groundperson. To inspire us, I bought several books of horse exercises.
Creative Riding with Obstacles by Barbro Lagergren and Lina Zacha (Brightmare 2013/2106)
Creative Riding in the Arena by Barbro Lagergren and Lina Zacha (Brightmare 2016/2019)
Core Conditioning for Horses by Simon Cocozza (Trafalgar 2019)
I’m not sure of difference between the two Brightmare books yet. Since they were shipped over from Sweden, I tossed the second one on the boat.
Do I need these books? No. Get on. Ride forward and straight. Do figures and corners. Do transitions within and between gaits. It’s simple, it’s just not easy. The quote comes from Steve Maraboli, so Google tells me, and was made popular in horse world by Wofford, Practical Horseman: Simplify Your Riding, [Weekend with Wofford].
“Adopt a classical position, resist all fads and gadgets, and ride the horse quietly and softly between the two straight lines of the stirrup leather and the elbow to the horse’s mouth,” he explains in the book (Training the Three-Day Event Horse and Rider). “It’s simple. It’s just not easy.” Jimmy Wofford Teaches the World
The rationale is that the books may have an idea for a new exercise or a different way of thinking about an old exercise. In truth, buying riding books grants me the illusion of progress.
Props to The Errant Moon: Books and how much I love them for my new favorite word.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 