Virtual Brush Box

Training Journal

In our continuing quest to help Rodney explore his universe, we went to Full Circle Horse Park last weekend.

Walked about. Looked. Long-lined. Looked. Rode. Looked. Rodney looked at everything. His ears were so busy his ear muscles must have been exhausted.

We explored all the exercise areas. We went into the covered ring (ridden), wandered into the field to sniff – and lick?! – a cross-country jump (in-hand), walked around the show jumps (in-hand) and checked out the sandbox (both). We even executed a few dressage maneuvers at the walk: circle, serpentine, a bit of sidewaysness that passes for our lateral work at the moment.

Rodney did everything he was asked. While he did not put a foot wrong …

… he still had a BIG day.

A thin undercurrent of nerves was his constant companion. For example, he couldn’t hold a stand. That is one of his tells for anxiety. We could have trotted, but he would not have been comfortable in his mind. So we underplayed our hand and kept everything at a relaxed walk.

He gave the occasional hairy eyeball to a wheelbarrow or a tarp. Mostly he was fascinated with the other horses, the people, and a paint pony who was his new best friend. The facilities didn’t seem to bother him at all. Umbrella? Pffft. Walking the ring road? Whatever. Arenas? Judge’s stand? Sure, although he was aware that he was in a dressage ring.

He wasn’t scared, as much as so intensely curious that …

… his head and neck were on constant swivel. Look at that! And that! And that over there!

At one point there was a person off in the distance to the left and a person off in the distance to the right. He kept looking from one to the other. Left. Right. Left. Right. It was tough for him. He kept having to count to 2.

I jest. He was a star.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Blogging About Blogging

 
State Of The Blog [Archives]
 

debandtoby: Pictures of random items are nice.

Me: I get caught in a loop of thinking I need to be reporting our progress. No. This is not a training journal. This is for amusement, yours and mine. Training is part of it. So are random images. I shall endeavor to remember that.

Comment exchange on an earlier blog post. [SitRep Summer 2019]

I often find myself sliding into a mindset that stresses over not being comprehensive in my recounting of how Rodney and Milton are progressing day-to-day. Their most recent rides. What they are eating now. Schooling plans are for the next few days. Minor health issues.

Meh. Boring to write. Boring to read.

I only need to hit the highlights. You’re smart. You can connect the dots. If I say I’ve been to a horse show, I don’t have to detail every practice ride leading up to it. Unless the practice is part of the story, for example, boot camp at Stepping Stone Farm [Third & Final Progress Report].

You can assume they are eating. I don’t have to document every change in amount or additives. Hint, we keep our horses at home. We are *always* tinkering with amounts and additives. Unless, again, the food is part of the story, for example experimenting with a possible soy allergy [Feed Adventures]. BTW, results inconclusive & assumed to be negative. Back on regular feed [What’s In The Feed Scoop].

And so on.

There is no mandate. There is no editor expecting a certain word count, no House Style that I need to match, no expectations for this content or that. Clearly, creating demands where none exist is a recurring issue for me [Attitude Check 2015]. I am free to record whatever amuses me, whatever interests me. The hope is that what amuses & interests me will amuse & interest you. The big moments. The small moments. The interesting moments. Each entry is part of a mosaic that makes the whole picture. What is the whole picture? I have no idea. We will find out together.

Fun to write. Fun to read.

I have incorporated Training Journal and Random Images into my subhead roster to remind me of this.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott