Roaming Rodney

Training Journal

 

Taking Our Time

Last Thursday, we went to Stepping Stone Farm for the evening. We wanted to take a long, leisurely time to give Rodney a chance to adjust to barn activity. Staring raptly at other horses has been a big deal for him on our trips to Full Circle Horse Park [1,2].

At SSF, we hung out. Waited for the ring to be clear. Turned him out to graze and stroll. He spent a few minutes staring at the horses in the pasture. When they were not interested in being his new best friends, he gave up and grazed. Vacated the ring for a lesson. Wait. Long-lined. Tacked up. Here comes the Road Pony.

We hid in the covered ring until it was clear Rodney thought of a horse pulling a cart. He was fascinated but not at all perturbed. Hey, look, that pony has wheels.’ He was more interested in the full-size horses who were being hand-grazed after their rides.

Getting Down To Business

We took the opposite approach on FCHP two days later. Was he ready to come off the trailer, warm-up and get to work? Could we dispense with the long, get-acquainted walk? Yes, we could.

We walked and trotted in warm-up and even did a practice dressage test in the arena. He knew he was in the sandbox, but he kept his sh*t together and kept his head in the game.

We didn’t hurry him, but neither did we dawdle, so no media. In any event, it looks all lot like the previous times.

Conclusion
Rodney likes to horse-watch. Perhaps a result of not being off the farm for so many years. There is a manic edge to his looking at FCHP. Perhaps, while the behavior is standard, the exaggeration of the behavior is a result of anxiety. Much the same way that tearing at grass can be both a stress activity and because they have not seen decent fodder in ages, I tell you, ages!

Heading Home
On the way home, we took the slightly longer route with straighter, quicker roads.

 
Milton has picked up BBQ [Getting Lunch]. Now, Rodney has stopped for ice cream.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Scheduling Combinatorics

Training Journal

 

I’d like to be a person with a plan. I’d like to be known as a person with a plan. On Tuesdays, we go here. On Thursdays we go there. Alas, there are too many choices.

First: Pick a mount.
Rodney
Milton
Lesson Horse

Second: Pick a location.
Stepping Stone Farm
Full Circle Horse Park
Falcon Hill Farm
Home

Third: Pick an activity.
Flat lesson
Jumping lesson
Schooling on our own

Fourth: Add modifiers
Are instructors available or away at horse shows?
Is my driver available or will I be flying solo? This effects where I am willing to go & what horse I am willing to take. Rodney is a joint effort at the moment.
What is the weather?

To be clear, having all of these choices is a good thing. Having all of these choices is is a Very Good Thing. But it causeth me to dither. Each week is different. Each week gets planned at the eleventh hour.

Last weekend was a good example. Sunday was taken. Saturday was in play. Whip Hand Farm had a driving clinic. While not ready to drive in it, we could audit. Stepping Stone Farm had riding clinic. Three rides in one day with Coach Courtney and Equitation Triple Crown Winner Reagan Upton. I told Coach Courtney maybe. We decided not to drive 8 hours in one day to get frustrated watching other people drive. I told Coach Courtney yes. Since we bailed on riding the last time we took Rodney to Full Circle Horse Park [Circling Back], I decided I wanted another shot at walking about the dressage arena, perhaps even trotting. I told Coach Courtney no.

I don’t want to be the airhead client from hell. Nobody wants that. And yet, I dither.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

As I Said, A List of Writing Links

Writing About Writing

Crossposted on Will Write For Feed Blog: As I Said, my new blog. Explanation [Step One].

In an effort to organize – and possibly jumpstart – my writing career, I have collected my past posts on writing. From here on, writing posts will self-collect over on the writing blog. At least, that’s the plan. For the moment.

Virtual Brush Box/Rodney’s Saga
(Why the two names? [Introduction])
2019
[Daily Inklings, Another Internet Writing Site]
[Now Or Forever? Six Publishing Possibles To Ponder]
[Branding Without Having A Brand]
[Writing Rules, Which Ones?]
[State of the Blog: A Marketing Haiku]
[750 Words, A Place To Write]
[Writing Utter Nonsense]
[Schadenfreude Saturday, My Pain Is Your Amusement]
2014
[10 Reasons to Get Paid to Write]
[Off Topic: My Origin Story]

Off Topic
A secondary blog I had for a while.
2014
[My Origin Story]
[Two Sentence Genre Stories]
[Two Sentence Horror Story]
2013
[You Say Escapism Like It’s A Bad Thing]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Synecdoches and Soft Kitties, Instagram Recap August 2019

Photography
Random Images

 

Posts through early August 2019 from my blog Instagram account, @myvirtualbrushbox. Previous [What Does Your Phone Say About You? Instagram Recap, June 2019].

Well Rodney, the good news is that you made the Instagram account more than Milton this time. The bad news is that only parts of you did.

Posts By Subject
Horse, five – Rodney 3, Milton 2
Cat, three – home 2, SSF 1
Other, one – sidewalk art

Posts By Location
Home, seven
SSF, one
Other, Birmingham, one

Most liked
1st – Milton jumping
2nd – sidewalk fish


[February 2019]

The Extraordinary Life of Ricky

Jeremy Novy

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Fencing False Alarm, Fortunately

Horsekeeping

 

… time to get the horses … put Milton up … Rodney is right over there … hmm, were’d he go? … must have wandered off … he does that all the time … has no problem leaving Milton in the dust … walk out to his usual spot … not there … keep walking around pasture … no horse … I know the pasture is in summer growth but I can usually spot them … going around again … checking all the corners … WHAT??? …

… crap, crap, crap … NOT what you want to see when you have gone all the way around the pasture and not found a horse … crap, crap, crap … this is how Rodney got out last time [Fencing, A Photo Essay] … crap, crap, crap … okay, the fence isn’t as low … the underbrush on the other side does not look as if 1400 pounds of horse just went through … he *probably* didn’t escape … not something one wants to be wrong about … crap, crap, crap … exit pasture … check side field … no horse … crap, crap, crap … walk gingerly down driveway … listening for squeal of brakes … crap, crap, crap … no squeal, no horse in sight … he’s really not the sort of horse to head over the horizon … he’d stop at the nearest patch of grass … crap, crap, crap … come back up …

… block driveway with truck … crap, crap, crap … go back to barn … cr …

… Rodney standing quietly in the aisle. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Thank you. Time to go fix a fence … and take photos for a blog post.

Seriously, I got agita all over again just typing this.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Switching Gears

Adventures in Saddle Seat

 

I have a card in my brush box that I read before my saddle seat lessons at Stepping Stone Farm. It gives me a headstart so that I don’t spend the first 5 minutes reinventing the wheel [Swapping Back and Forth]. Reverting to hunt seat does not require reminders.


 
Front
BEFORE
Gloves

POSITION
Sit back, all the way to the cantle. It’s not the safety seat that eventers use when coming down to the Head of the Lake. It’s a balanced seat, just farther back to allow for lofty shoulder action. Okay, maybe not on Sam, but in theory.

Legs off. Heels away. Dig your knees in. Just like h/j trainers tell you not to do.
Feet forward, true h/j, worth noting

Hands up, way up, even higher.
Pinkies in. Saddle seat, rein goes around the outside of the pinkie. Hunt seat etc, rein goes between 3rd and 4th fingers. This issue has followed me into the show ring [Getting The Band Back Together].

Whip perpendicular, straight down along shoulder.

Back
RIDING
Energy goes up ^ not fwd >.

All aids are lighter.
Steady contact is ~1/2, still steady

If use lower leg, remove after.

Outside aids, esp canter. This one catches me in both saddles. I’ve sat on Milton getting ready for the canter, thinking, hunters, inside rein, outside leg.
Outside rein, outside leg.

Set hands at canter. Collect, collect, collect, every stride.

For canter transition, tip head to rail. more. Dressage has an obsessive emphasis on straightness; saddle seat, not so much.

Your Turn
I know several folks out there ride or have ridden saddle seat as well as hunter/jumper/dressage/eventing. If you rode/ride saddle seat, do these reminders ring any bells? If you still ride both, or any two differing disciplines, how do you switch?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott