Best Laid Plans, Writing Accountability, August 2019

Writing About Writing

 

Crossposted [Will Write For Feed Blog: Best Laid Plans, Writing Accountability, August 2019]

I need a new plan.

In August, I signed up with 750 Words, an online writing site. Does one need a computer site to write? No. Does it help me? Yes. I talked about it earlier [A Place To Write].

Writing for the blog happens in the morning. I like to get the next day’s post done and scheduled. Writing for work happens when it needs to. So, the plan was to write my 750 fiction words at night. Freewheeling creative work right before bed would fire up my resting neurons to worry about plot details rather than letting my brain gnaw on itself.

It was a great plan. Thinking about fiction allowed me to separate from the activities of the day and put me in a better place to get to sleep. I came up with some cool ideas. I even wrote an entry that might charitably be called a sketch. Another time I started with a fiction idea and ended up with a blog post.

So, it worked great. When I got to it. The plan utterly failed to take into account the fact that I crash like a falling tree immediately after dinner.

Yes, yes, if I really wanted, I would do it. Fiction writing is like exercise. I should do it. It would be good for me to do it. I enjoy it when I can – metaphorically – drag my ass of the couch. I certainly enjoy having done it. Alas, as with exercise, I am full of good intentions.

August stats. I wrote anything at all on 8 out of 31 days. I wrote over 750 words on 4 of those days. This is ridiculous. I can bang out a 1,000 word blog post without breaking a sweat. I am capable of generating a cover letter that is longer than the article I am submitting. Surely, I should be able to write 3 pages of fictional nonsense. But then, I should be able to exercise for 30 minutes a day as well.

How are you doing with your projects?

See you on my book tour,
Katherine Walcott

Advice Sought, Kid Wants Horse

Horsekeeping

 
A friend has a child who is interesting in getting a horse. They asked my advice. I gave it. I then asked for permission to fuzz the details and post the exchange in order to see what the hive mind had to say. Do you agree with my advice? Disagree? Have anything to add? Please forward to any persons or groups who might be interested in weighing in.

To Me From Relative of Child
Child is interested in buying a horse. What advice can you give them about buying a good horse. Any advice will be helpful.

To Me From Parent of Child
A bit of background. Child is 11. They are very good at taking care of chickens, guinea pigs, and dogs. However, I told them that they can look into it but I can’t help in terms of buying and carrying food and cleaning poop etc. They are smart and understand there will be work but I’m not sure how much work.

My Advice
A horse at home is a big commitment. I was an adult, had been riding for 15+ years, and was still surprised at what I didn’t know. What to feed. When to feed. What’s normal. What’s not normal. What to do in an emergency. When to call the vet. And so on.

The good news is that there are tons of ways to explore intermediate steps. Take lessons at a barn that emphasizes horsemanship, i.e. not just showing up and riding. Lease a horse. Board at a barn that lets you work off some of the expenses. Become a working student. Try different disciplines. They may like to ride English but find a Western barn that has a good program. Or vice versa.

Start talking to your neighbors. Drive to a local barn & start asking questions. Horse people LOVE to give advice. Be warned, they also like to sell their horses, services, etc. People will offer solutions that fit you into their program rather than what might be right for you.

(Direct Address to Parent). You know exactly who is going to end up unloading a pickup truck full of hay, or hefting feed bags that I can barely lift.

We haven’t even touched on riding facilities or supervision at home. I have these problems to this day.

I hope I helped somewhat. You live in a horsey area. There are tons of ways to get involved with horses.

Oh, wear a helmet. Every ride, every time.

From Me To Blog Readers
Thank you for reading and for your advice.
Katherine Walcott

Looking Back, Awards SESHA 2014

Adventures in Saddle Seat

 
Found a draft from 2014 that I had never posted. as I am not one to let text go to waste, here it is. I am in the third photo, with Alvin. One of the original aims of the post was to illustrate the range of classes at saddle seat shows. Win reported [On the 5th Day of Christmas: Five Fluffy Foofs].
~~~
Winners of Southeast Show Horse Association Year End Awards
SESHA
SESHA Facebook

sesha 1 border
Three-Gaited: Denise Treathaway (top left)
Equitation: Reagan Huguley (top right)
Open English Pleasure: CH Best Day Ever, with mother-daughter team Diane Dorsey and Allyson Bass (bottom left, Bass up, I think.)
Amateur Five-Gaited: Shiftin Gears and Alexis Braswell

sesha 2 border
Country Pleasure: Big Boy Elroy (left top)
Show Pleasure: CH Reggies Indigo Jim and Diane Dorsey (left middle)
Hunter: A Riot on 43rd Street with Ashley Brandies for Nancy Fortner (left bottom)
Western: New York Fire! with Jan Henderson riding, Jay Love training (right)

sesha 3 border
Academy WT Equitation and Showmanship: Brooke Zell (top left)
Walk Trot Pleasure: Autumn Zwilling on Chantillys Clarice, the youngest winner (top right)
Academy WTC Showmanship: Katherine Walcott (bottom left, photo from 2013. This year was Sam, Maggie, Lola & Bingo)
Academy Equitation: Grace Murrow (bottom right)

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

That Fresh Stall Smell

Horsekeeping

 

 
Our horses live out. Milton is the one who mostly uses the stall: for a few minutes at mealtimes and when Rodney is working in the pasture or away on a trip. So, the stall is only occupied a handful of hours each week. Since Milton prefers not to pee in his house, spot cleaning of the poop is all that is needful.

As a result, I go weeks without having to strip the stall. When I do, I’m usually tossing out old, uneaten hay as much as old bedding. Rake everything into a pile. Remove pile. Fill any holes that have developed. Adjust mats. Let air. Slice open shavings bag. Dump. Spread.

Is there anything prettier than a clean, raked stall with a pile of clean shavings in the center?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Happy Horse Labor Day

Horsekeeping

 
Thank you to …

The people who feed and clean up after our horses. In my house that would be us. The people at Stepping Stone Farm and Falcon Hill Farm who take care of the horses I ride for lessons.

The people who sell the feed and hay our horses eat. The people who sell the shaving our horses sleep on. The people who grow the corn, oats, or soybeans. The people who work in factories that mix the feed. The people who grow and bale the hay. The people who grow, chop down, and chip up the trees that go into a bag or pile of shavings. The people who make the bags the feed goes into, who make the bags the shavings go into. The people who deliver bags of feed, bales of hay, piles of shavings.

The people who choose to be farriers and vets in order to take care of our horses. The people who make the supplies they use. Their assistants and accountants and advisors.

The people who make our brushes, our bridles, and our britches.

The people who run those tempting tack stores that sell brushes and bridles and britches. The people who keep the brick and mortar stores lit and heated. The software coders who keep the online stores metaphorically lit and heated.

The people who box up, ship, and deliver all our goods, either wholesale or retail, either before or after we buy. Everything we touch has been transported multiple times by multiple methods, passing through the hands of countless people.

The people who make horse shows possible. The people who run shows, who judge, who ringmaster, who announce, who mind the gate, who mind the warm-up, who mind the office. The people who clean up once the show is gone. The people who manage the facilities that provide us with places to show.

The people who make it possible to get to shows and recall them after. The people who run convenience stores so that we can fill our trucks with gas and ourselves with trip treats. The people who provided us with our photos. The people who run the stores that keep the photographers in cameras and cables and memory cards.

The people – instructors, family members, and barnmates – who stand on the horse show rail and ride every stride with us.

How far back could we take this? The people who raised the cows that were used in our leather saddles and leather boots. The people who mined the ore that was smelted to make the metal that went into our stirrups and bits. The people bred our horses, the people who bred our horses’ dams and sires, the people who bred their dams and sires and so on ad infinitum back to Eohippus.

It doesn’t take village. It takes the entire freaking planet.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott