Virtual Brush Box

Ther Jumps In Them Thar Hills, Scouting Trip to Chatt Hills

Standing water in the ring. Squelchy, slippy mud on the paths. Nothing to do but let them bask in the sun while we drive over to Georgia to watch a horse show, Winter Fest by Elite Show Jumping. It seems that both hunter/jumpers and eventers in my area hold competitions at Chattahoochee Hills Eventing, this includes an adorable, low (really low) level event series that would be perfect for a certain gray OTTB: tests can be called, jackets are not required, limited coaching is allowed, schooling is offered, eliminated riders can show in the next phase if there is no safety issue, and so on. SESSC is a super beginner-friendly competition. (Rules here. http://chatthillseventing.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Chatt-Hills-Show-Participation-Guidelines.pdf)

The Amoeba/Tadpole XC jumps looked simultaneously tiny and impossible huge. Milton could walk over at least one. The rest did not come as far up as my knees. Well-made. Inviting. Every adjective you could want for a starter course. And yet, all I could see was the abyss between where I was and where I wanted to be. Going to horse shows for motivation can be a tricksy proposition. It can backfire so easily.

It’s hard to fight the defeatist voices in my head when they have history on their side. My record for buying horses who can event is not good. I’ve written before about a scouting trip to CHE [Repost, BTE 3 of 9: The AEC, a Realization in Five Phases]. “Since my publicly stated goal is to win the Training AEC, I went over to Georgia to scope out my future.” That was nine years ago. Nine? Really? Moving on.

On a different note, the ribbons were completely average. While I would absolutely give wall space to siblings of these dears, they could use a touch of saddle seat flair.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the horses totally enjoyed their play day. Roll in the mud. Bake in the sun. Roll. Bake. Where is our dinner minion?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Roll Call, The Many Names of Milton, Unreport #3

Still no definitive answer for Milton’s show name.

Major Conn. Registered name [Milton’s Real Name]. The name we would have to use for any FEI-level competitions or pay a $$$$ name-change fee. Not likely to be a problem. 2008

Pedigree Database

Milton. Stable name. Came with him. pre-2014

Canadian Cold Front. First attempt [Meet Milton]. Died on the vine. Get it? He came down from Canada. No one else was amused. 2014

Monochrome Rainbow. Playing off the variety of grays in his coat. Came up with in 2017 [Show Names]. Used on stall card for non-compete shows in 2018 [Notes from North Georgia, Here for the Experience]. 2017

Moonlight Rainbow. A more poetic version of the above. Used for dressage shows in 2018 [Maintaining Our Firm Grip On Last Place, For This I Cleaned My Tack?]. 2018

Miltonn. Note the 2 Ns. Differentiates him from the other Milton, see below. Harks back to the 2 Ns in his registered name. Used for the postponed dressage show [Unreport #1]. I’m concerned that the funky spelling would be more trouble that it is worth. 2019

The easiest thing would be to show Milton under his stable name. I have no problem with that in theory. First Horse had a single barn/show name. However, one of the best show jumpers of the 20thC was a grey(UK) named Milton [Wiki, Horse & Hound: 12 fascinating facts about our hero]. Seems presumptuous to show my gray(USA) Milton under the same name.

My Milton?
Minor Milton?
Minor League Milton?
The Other Milton?
Another Milton?
Major Milton?
Milton Mark II?
Milton 2.0?
Maximum Milton?
Millennium Milton?

Show managers understand about indecisive horse owners. The dressage show entry form asked for Show Name and Name On Coggins.

Update
As I suspected, the two-n version of Milton won’t wash. It failed first time out of the box. [Pre-Flight Check].

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Cross Country Called On Account of Rain, Unreport #2

The other activity postponed last weekend [Unreport #1] was an impromptu cross-country school. I had no plans to do this. We are not ready for a full day of galloping in the open, which is what one normally thinks of when considering a XC school.

As I filled out the entry form, I saw the words, “Cross-Country schooling, $25 with entry.” Flying high off our jumping session at Stepping Stone Farm [Still Recording Every Effort], I decided to go for it. Why not? We’d be there anyway. Milton was good the last time [Mr. Excitement Regards His Future]. So I signed up.

An even better jump school confirmed the marvelousness of the idea [Juggling The Options, photo].

Then came the hissy fit [Two Hops Forward], which took the wind out of my sails, and the admonishment to ride forward AWAY from the jumps [Big Trot], which upped the ante on what we should be doing over the XC fences.

As a result, we didn’t jump during the schooling adventure [Where In The World Is Milton?], due in part to the lack of value in the little amount of jumping we would have done.

Had we gone to the show, I would have at least walked over some jumps. Might as well, the fee had been paid. If all we had done was plod over a few log piles, didn’t cost nothing but time.

So that’s the plan for the new show date. After the rides, I’ll put on my vest. We will go out to the cross-country course. We will do something. Not sure what. Maybe I’ll be feeling froggier by then.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Dressage Called on Account of Rain, Show Unreport #1

Last weekend was supposed to be Milton’s 2019 show debut. Then the weather dumped Noah’s Ark amounts of water on us. Show postponed.

At first, the goal was show acclimation. We aren’t ready to have our canter transition seen in public. So, no WTC tests for us. I signed up for the same two walk-trot tests we did last year [Maintaining Our Firm Grip On Last Place, For This I Cleaned My Tack?]. Sigh. I was even going to schedule a blog post for the day to remind myself that our goal was getting Milton used to the show atmosphere, regardless of what we did in the ring.

Then we had our jumping lesson [Big Trot]. The warm-up from that helped me ride Milton better at our dressage schooling [Where In The World Is Milton?]. No surprise. Flat work is flat work. Maybe there is a difference when one gets to 4′ hunter derbys and shadbelly levels of dressage. Where I’m standing, it’s all about forward and listening and happy kid on a happy pony.

So, I have a small flickering hope that our actual tests won’t be horrid. Now, we have even more time to get ready. If it every stops raining.
~~~
Process notes: Fiddled with lightness & saturation sliders to make the photo look more like what I saw. A first, or close to.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Easing On Down The Road

In reading the archives for ‘Fraidy Cat Eventing, I noticed that she used to haul often. I suggested a possible post on maintaining one’s motivation for shipping. She responded with stress-free horse hauling.

“In the spring of 2014 I started hauling out for weekly lessons, a routine that persisted until Charlie moved to his current barn in the summer of 2017. During the winters with Isabel, we often shipped out 2+ times a week to local indoors, since our own outdoor arena would freeze solid for a couple months each year. Plus, obviously, we ship out to almost all our shows.”

She goes on explain her set-up and give pointers on making the process go a little more smoothly. Let’s see how I did.

1. Getting Comfortable with the Rig
Been driving a truck for years. This is my third one. So I speak truck, probably better than car.

2. But Will the Horse Load?
Yes. All of my horses load. I have been know to show off by tossing the leadrope over Milton’s neck & letting him auto-load.

3. General Strategies to De-Stress
Take your time. So true. We get to lessons and shows way early.

Have an equine buddy. No. The only option would be to bring both horses. Shudder. Right now both of them require two people. Plus, Milton has separation anxiety if I ride Rodney in the field and leave Milton in his own stall. I don’t want to think what Milton would do left alone in a strange place if Rodney came along. Shudder again. Probably some day, but not now.

Have a human buddy. Yes. So much easier when ground crew comes with. But then, everything is easier when he comes with.

All the necessities in reach. Yes. In 2017, we did many, many eight-hours-in-one-day drives for lessons with Coach Kate. Although we weren’t trailering, we learned how to keep the people healthy & happy for long trips. We got the in-cab system tuned.

4. Equipment to Make Life Easier
Yes. Spare halters. Dedicated manure bucket and fork. Bucket hooks. And so on. And so on. The only things we have to load are the horse’s personal brush box, lunging/riding/driving equipment, and people gear.

So did I learn?
I’ve got the process as trimmed down as it’s going to get. The only thing left is to load up and go.

I find myself much more motivated when I am shipping in order to do something I can’t do at home: take a lesson, use a covered ring/nice footing, leap over pretty jumps either stadium or cross-country, attend a show. I will always want to go places and do things with my horse.

I get frustrated when I am traveling to do things that I should be able to do at home: borrow a ring because my horse doesn’t want to canter “out in the open” of his own pasture, or jump tiny crossrails that look no different than the ones at home.

Trailering always takes time. The time has to be worth the trade-off. The ideal would be to have a sustainable, regular program at home, and then trailering for additional adventures.

Thank you for reading, and thank you to FCE for her sharing her trailering experiences.
Katherine Walcott

Color & Shadow & Spotted

On My Mind, Miscellaneous Visuals

Photography Workshop: Color and Shadow
Sloss Furnaces

Colors, Power House.

Shadow, Blowing Engine Building.

Spotted stands at the mouth of the iron notch, the pipe at the bottom of the No. 1 furnace out of which molten iron poured every 4 hours, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, from 1929 to 1971, barring shut-downs every 5-7 years to replace the internal bricks that kept the furnace itself from melting. The previous furnace on this spot began running in 1882, (3-5 years for shutdowns). The iron notch is in the center of the furnace photo. The notch to the right was for slag.

Process Notes: Shadow photo cropped & furnace photo leveled, but no other post-production adjustments for color etc., mainly because I don’t know how. Need to get on that.

Previous Links: [Sloss Furnaces] & [ Weaving With Light]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Lingering Laments, A Heath Update

On My Mind, Miscellaneous Thoughts

Since y’all were kind enough to express concern about my health, I’ll let you know how it’s going.

Mostly fine. Having trouble shaking off the last lingering effects of whatever was bothering me. I’d blame sloth but I have an occasional cough that hangs around like the smell of ripe laundry, enough to convince me that it is not all in my head.

My first theory was digestive troubles. I was a symphony of gas pain after meals and gurgling noises and indigestion when I lay down. Whatever bug or bacteria I hosted had derailed my tum sufficiently that it was not processing correctly. Therefore, my food was not bio-available. Lovely theory, no? Too bad it had no bearing in reality.

1) I hadn’t dropped any weight, so clearly I was squeezing nutrition from what I ate.

2) A week of human UlcerGard had no effect.

Then, after the show weekend [Report, Options], I slept for two days. The next day, I rode 3 horses. The day after that, I slept most of the day. Then, I was busy two days in a row [Lesson, Sloss (pending)] and tried to keep going. Cue stomach troubles.

So, I’m tired. When I got my truck back [Wheels], I started riding, shipping to lessons, and swimming. It was too much. When I try to do too much, I get tired. When I’m tired, my digestive system lashes out.

Which is utterly ridiculous. Half of my rides are walks. I’m in the pool less time than it takes me to drive there [The Downside of Being Mobile]. None of this should wear me out.

However, my brain doesn’t get to make that decision. If my body says it’s tired, then it’s tired. So, I have I stopped swimming, temporarily. I still ride and ship, but accept that I need to rest. Well, I try to accept that I need to rest. And yes, ponder why I think of my brain as “I” and think of my body as a convenient vehicle to carry me around.

None of this is serious, just annoying. Been spending this dark, rainy week napping, writing blog posts, and running errands. With luck next week will be more festina, less lente.

Thank you for reading, and for your concern,
Katherine Walcott