Virtual Brush Box

60 Before 60

Random Thoughts

The world is vast & weird.

Today is my birthday. 57 years old. I have three years before I turn 60. Moving quickly past the existential angst, I decided to ~~steal~~ be inspired by See Jane Write: Help Me Create My 40 Before 40 List.

So, a list of things I would like to do in the next three years. Some are simple; some are complex. Some are realistic; some would require a holodeck. A handful are broken into stages, mainly the riding ones. Doing all of them is mutually incompatible.

0 Baseline. Continue to be happily married to this wonderful dude. Have my health. Keep our horses at home. Have time to enjoy all of the foregoing.

So, this list is basically the life I have now, just doing a better job with it. Since this is a horse blog, I start there.

Horses
Half of the goals are horse-related (34/60). Sounds about right. Disciplines listed in reverse alphabetical order [A-List].

Travel
1 See the Western States Trail Ride in person. Volunteer? [Tevis Cup Magic]
2 Take a mule ride in the Grand Canyon.
3 Attend the All-American Quarter Horse Congress.
4 See a performance of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. I’ve see a practice in Vienna. I’ve see two performances in the US. Be nice to see them do their thing in their own place.
5 See horses on an airplane during a nice safe flight in which the horses ate the snacks & enjoyed the inflight movie.
6 Compete at the Kentucky Horse Park [7 Ways To Dodge Nostalgia].
7 Compete abroad. Half credit for Canada & Mexico. Double credit for Asia/Australia
8 Earn a ribbon abroad.
9 Win abroad. Even if the result won’t be the right color.

Saddle Seat
10 Learn to use a double bridle.
11 Move out of Academy. As soon as someone loans me a horse.
12 Ride a game horse … happily.
13 Show in the ASB jumper class at the the St. Louis show [Saddlebred Versatility].
14 Show on the green shavings [Spotted on the Green Shavings]. Why not dream big?

Obstacle Challenge
15 Complete all the obstacles in a class.

Model Horses
16 Show in a model horse photo show.
17 Show in a model horse live show. For real this time. [What Happens at a Model Horse Show?]

Jumpers
18 Yes. I don’t know the state of the industry well enough to know what I want, other than Jump! All! The! Things!

Hunters
19 Ditto.

Eventing
20 Event at any level.
21 Event at Beginner Novice.
22 Event at Novice.
23 Event at Training.
24 Complete a Prelim event.
25 Win an event, any level.
26 Win an event, Training or higher.
27 Ride in the AECs. Been a goal for a while [I Owe It All To Rodney].
28 Win the AECs.

Dressage
29 Ride First level.
30 Ride Second level.
31 Ride Third Level.
32 Earn my USDF bronze [Bucket List: USDF Bronze].
33 Ride a trained Lipizzaner. A kind, understanding one.

Awards
34 Win year-end awards, 3rd or higher, in three disciplines from three different associations in one year: saddle seat, obstacle, hunter/jumper, eventing, dressage [A Dog Can Dream].

Body
Swim
35 Learn the Australian Crawl [Black Line Therapy].

Fitness.
36 Get fit. Vague, but I know what I mean.
37 Learn an entire Tai Chi form. Use it to start a daily practice.

Dance
38 Be able to follow along in the adult class [Challenge, Do Something You Are Bad At].
39 Take a class with Intercity Dance Collective. Lifted directly from 40.

Biking
40 Bike 100 miles. I’ve done 50 miles. I could see doing 100 … slowly, carefully, and fully supported.
41 Go on a bike tour. Chateaus of the Loire Valley comes to mind.

Mind
Work
42 Restart my career.
43 Have a writer’s website.
44 Find a writing group, in person or online.

Writing
45 Write a book, i.e. finish a book-length piece of fiction.
46 Publish a book, self or otherwise.
47 Publish a book with a commercial publisher.
48 Be invited to a panel at Dragon*Con.

Hobbies
49 Weaving. Finish something. Anything. I’m sure I will have more. This is a start.
50 Travel. Walk the NYC Marathon 5K [Proof of Concept, Race, er, Walk Report, Magic City Run 2019].
51 Stamps. Create & show a stamp display. What? Examples AAPE. [My First Stamp Show]
52 Photography. Have an art photo published. In other words, have a photo published because of technical merit, not because it shows the winner of the class.

Blog
53 Attend a blogging conference.
54 Reach post #3900. Today #2827 + three years, 1096 posts = # 3923. Gave myself wiggle room in case I have drop everything to do something wonderful [Delay Of Game].

Life
55 Find volunteer work that is both useful and satisfying.
56 Leave space for my spiritual life.
57 Get on top of my chores. Live in a house that is acceptable for people to see. Tidy, repair, decorate, and so on.
58 Find a charity to get behind, as The Fat Cyclist did with World Bicycle Relief, Superduper Cool News.

59 Reader suggestions. Anything to add? Things I should do? Things I would have fun doing?

60 Left blank for things wondrous and unthought of.

Well, that takes care of my New Year’s resolution posts and gives me automatic blog posts on this date for the next 3 years.

Notice how I have avoided the g-word? I don’t do the g-thing. [This Is Why I Don’t Set Goals]

Previous Posts
[Dream Rides, Shows] 2019
[Goals 2018. Not.]
[Hello 2016!]
[Looking Back at 2015]
[On the 8th Day of Christmas: Eight Resolutions] 2105
[My Go Mighty 10] 2013
[Bucket List] & [Bucket List – Accomplished] 2012

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Recent Changes, Milton’s Padding

Training Journal

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

After the success with Rodney’s padding [Recent], we decided to see if anything of that sort would help Milton. He’s always been girthy and hates to be touched. Perhaps he would like to be insulated from the slings and arrows of life.

We messed around with pads and girth covers, with the saddle and with the driving harness. I’ve lost track of the number of pads we have ordered, tried on, cut up, and tried on again. Some were learning experiences [Tiny Victories]. Hop, hop, hop.

Current configuration. For long-lining, Milton wears a jointed wither pad and a sheepskin girth fuzzy. The wither pad is a second purchase of the one we cut up for Rodney. The driving saddle gets the fancy fuzzy because the girth is shorter. For riding, he wears a thick felt pad and a Muppet-fleece girth fuzzy.

Yes, we are enveloping our horse in bubble wrap.

In the photo, Rodney demos Milton’s felt saddle pad. Rodney’s padding lead us to try the concept of padding with Milton. The success of the big felt pad on Milton lead us to circle back and try it on Rodney. The black line is from where we trimmed the pad. Turns out Milton does not like an extra long pad touching him on the back. No sir, he does not like that at all.

The mail fairy just brought a foam girth channel and a double-ended elastic girth with bright red fuzzy lining. More options to ask Milton about.

How will we show in all of this? I have no idea. First step, ride the horse. Second step, practice at schooling shows where one can get away with non-standard gear [1000 Words]. Third step, figure out a way to make it all rule-compliant and stylish [Rodney’s Bit]. Fourth step, take the show on the road. Many steps between here and there.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Recent Changes, When You Find Out You Are Not As Good As You Thought You Were

Training Journal

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

At some point earlier this year, I burbled on about how Rodney was a sensitive horse and how I was learning to ride him in balance and how I was understanding the concept of being on the outside rein. I likened the feeling to being on the inside or outside edge of a figure skater’s blade. As I rode, I had to make a conscious effort to monitor my form in order to stay in harmony with my horse.

All very poetic.

All very wrong.

I wasn’t riding subtle shifts in my horse’s balance. I was riding a slight saddle wobble. Once we stuck a matchbook under the table leg [Padding], my seat was as dead as ever.

Well, then.

Good to know.

Onwards.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Recent Changes, Rodney’s Padding

Training Journal

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

Rodney has always had a torn-up back [Daddy Dearest]. It looked more scarred than deformed and the saddle seemed to fit. Still, we decided see what would happen if we put a thin piece of felt to fill in any possible gap.

Thin, ha! We ended up wedging an inch of felt in there.

My tack designer found a western wither pad that came as two 11″x 8 1/2″ x 1″ rounded felt pads joined by nylon straps, State Line: Western Felt Wider Wither Pad. We – the barn “we” – cut the straps off and shaped one of the felt pieces to match the area behind Rodney’s withers, mostly by thinning it toward the back and bottom edges.

He loves it. We have shaken off the first 10 or so minutes of anxiety at the beginning of each ride. Turns out the saddle was wobbling more than I realized. More on this tomorrow.

The photo shows the taper on the pad. This is where “we” did the most carving. The upper left corner in the photo is the lower back inside corner on the horse. Curry comb for size. Cat for supervision. It is impossible to keep hay off of this. Rodney has a regular cotton pad under, so he isn’t being poked by hay stalks.

The filler pad has been feature since September. Long enough that it’s here to stay. For now. We are still messing with the rest of the padding.

Last weekend, we tried a full-size, square felt pad. Nice but thick. We tried a folded western saddle blanket. Thinner, so I feel more of the horse. Seems to have the same effect as the thicker, stiffer felt. We have not determined if he likes the additional saddle pad for the cushioning (felt), to keep his back warm (wool), or both (?). We know he likes to be warm. [Piling on the Therapy].

It’s a work in progress.

Update
[Recent Changes, When You Find Out You Are Not As Good As You Thought You Were]

“BTW, filler pad stayed. The second saddle pad did not. He preferred more stability over excess padding.” [Being Happy Alpha, Peeling The Emotional Onion]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
———

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]