North Irish Horse, Guest Photos

Back to Ireland. Welcome Amy [Archives].
~~~


 
“There is above a smaller figure of St George on horseback slaying a dragon.”
Belfast City Council: Tourism and Venues: Belfast City Hall: Stained Glass Windows: > World War I North Irish Horse window

Belfast City Hall
Donegall Square
Belfast
BT1 5GS
Northern Ireland
Type: Non freestanding
Location: Internal
Setting: Inside a building – public/private
Description: Stained glass window
Materials: Glass > Stained Glass, Metal > Metal (any)
Lettering: Incised
Conflicts: First World War (1914-1918)
War Memorials Online: North Irish Horse WWI

“On 20th September 1917, the second regiment was dismounted … The first regiment … establishment was reduced to become a major’s command; one man in four, no longer being required to hold the horses while fighting dismounted.”
The North Irish Horse Regimental Association > History

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

A Spirited Horse, Slane, Ireland, Guest Photos

Introduction, next few days. I am away from the blog being morally supportive. I leave you with a handful of photo posts from the reserves. Back soon.

Introduction, today. My friends are awesome. They go places. They send me pictures. Today, we travel vicariously to Ireland courtesy of Amy Vanderryn [Archives]. Photos by Amy. Text & links by me. Welcome Amy.
~~~


 
Slane Irish Whiskey,
Slane, Co. Meath

Artist: “Made from old whiskey barrels and steel.” Lynn Kirkham, Sculpture Art & Commissions. Scroll down for horse info. Scroll further down for basketry dragons.

Location: In the courtyard outside the distillery that is “Housed within the 250-year-old stables of the iconic Slane Castle Estate.” Slane Irish Whiskey, Visit the Distillery, must be over 18 to enter.

Most of us think of green when we think of Ireland. The Journal asks, So you know Ireland’s national colour might not be green, right? Mar 17th 2013. Also Wiki, St. Patrick’s blue. What say Irish readers, have I been led astray by Google?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Photos On Ice

Fit To Ride

 

Trying out ice skating in the exercise mix. Much like swimming [Black Line Therapy], I have oodles of experience at the intro level. I can propel myself forward around the ice. After that, pfffft.

The advantage to skating is that it can be done alone or as a social activity. Also, it is not subject to thunderstorm restrictions the way the pool is.

Unfortunately, it is yet another leg exercise to add to the walking and biking I already have on the list. I must find a way to address my noodle arms.

There exist photos of me skating along with aplomb on this day. This one is more honest. It’s been maybe twenty years (?) since I last skated. There was a lot of wall hugging.

Pelham Civic Complex
Pelham, AL, USA

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Non-Material Cost of Showing


 
The goal was to attend a horse show [A Huntering We Will Go] without warping our training schedule too badly [To Show Or To School, That Is My Question].

How did we do? Pretty good for a first attempt.

Week before show. 100%. No change. On Wednesday evening, Milton went to Stepping Stone Farm to lunge in the big ring and be ridden in the covered ring. Excellent work in both rings. Tired but proud-of-himself pony.

Friday. T-1 day. 50%. Without the show, we would have gone back to SSF for a repeat of Wednesday. With the show, we lunged at home and I trotted about mildly. If we could have worked in the morning, or if the show classes had been in the the afternoon, we might have taken him over anyway. As was, it didn’t seem fair to give him a heavy workout and then get back on 12 hours later.

Show Day. 0%. There will always be opportunity costs in showing rather than schooling. We could have had a lesson, or hacked outside the ring, or worked at home. The hope is the lost time will be replaced with valuable lessons from the show.

Sunday. T+1 day. 0%. Milton got the day off. Another sunk cost. Rodney had his turn at SSF.

Monday. T+2 days. 25%. Milton went for a handwalk to loosen up. By the time the designated long-liner got home from work, we were both done. Neither horse worked. We probably would have been perkier on Monday if we had spent more of Sunday recuperating rather than hauling Rodney about. The Bay Wonder is many things. Restful is not one of them.

As with taking time out to attend the show, there will always be a mental toll, that translates into time lost to recovery. As soon as local shows become NBD, it’s time to aim for bigger shows.

Week after show. 100%, in theory. Massive scheduling problems, but they had nothing to do with the show.

What about you, how do you planning showing & recovery time into your schedule? Pointers appreciated.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Showing In The 21st Century, Online Entry, El Gezira, June 2019

El Gezira Jumper Show
[Show Report]

As it says in the title, I entered the El Gezira show online. That was a first. For me at least. It may be old hat in the horse world by now. Aside from the ultra-local dressage schooling shows Milton has been to, I’ve had someone else doing my entries since 2012. And that’s a weird thing to say considering I’ve always been an AOT and have had my horses at home since 1992. But I digress. We all know my riding career has been odd lately.

Anyway.

I am familiar with the websites HorseShowsOnline and horseshowtime.com from stalking following Stepping Stone Farm at shows over the years.

Entering was simple. Make a free account. Add personal & horse info. Pull up specific show. Click away. When you arrive at the show, the secretary has a pile of numbers with pre-printed labels, sorted by barn. Give your name. Get your number. One less thing for an overburdened show secretary to worry about.

They have a $50 late entry fee. That is large enough to scare anyone into entering on time. Worked on me. Well, I’m compulsive enough that I would have entered on time, but it did prompt multiple emails to Coach Molly. These classes? It only says submitted. Does it need to say processed?!

Welcome to the new millennium.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott