The Power of the Ring

Home Team

 

How do the horses like the new riding area [The Forging of the Ring]? On the plus side, it’s easier to work. On the minus side, it’s easier to work.

Sides
The contrast between the remaining high grass/small trees and the mowed area gives the sensation of being in an enclosed ring. Milton clearly feels more protected than he had felt about riding in the pasture.

Being “in a ring” has lured the horses, particularly Rodney, farther from the barn than they were working before. I’m too far away. That’s bad. But I’m in a safe space. That’s good. But I’m too far away …. The conflict resolved itself after a few sessions.

It’s not an impenetrable barrier. I can’t drop the reins and kick the way I can do in either ring at Stepping Stone Farm. I need to maintain some contact with the steering mechanism, otherwise, back to the barn we go.

At one point, Milton shot off on a diagonal out of the ring. Now, he eyes to the spaces between the treelets as his own personal runaway truck ramps.

Space
The length of the long sides gives us the chance to develop some trot before we have to turn. Previously, we were turning almost constantly. That’s a real momentum suck.

Grass
Count Fussy Feet can no longer complain about grass engulfing his ankles [I Will Take My Victories Where I Can Get Them]. Rodney didn’t seem to mind the high grass as much, but he certainly doesn’t object to it being shorter.

Slope
One side of the ring runs up into the slope of the pasture. It’s maybe a 10 degree slant along the two short sides. Perfectly ridable, but I need to sit up and ride the downturns, particularly the far, upper corner on the left rein. That seems to be everyone’s bug-a-boo. Sit up. Inside shoulder back. Weight not dumping onto inside seatbone. Otherwise, it’s a drop-shouldered, counterbent nightmare of a turn. On one hand, I’m learning to ride correct corners. OTOH, I’m coming to hate that corner.

Bottom Line
The new space has allowed me get a lot more done when I ride. Everyone has been working – comparatively – hard lately. Rodney is a bit overwhelmed by it all. Then again, Rodney can get overwhelmed by a leather halter [Here We Stand], so it’s not a high bar. OTOH, while he may be a special snowflake, he’s not wrong. I’ve been registering some creaks and groans of my own.

Onwards!

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Forging of the Ring

Home Team

 

Do not let your eyes deceive you. This unexciting photo of a patch of grass is actually a very exciting photo of our newly-mowed riding “ring.”

Our field has gone feral. Our tractor has been lame for a while. (Yes, in addition to the cart & the car [Where Did The Year Go?]. I tell you, Mercury is in permanent retrograde around here. But I digress.) A week ago, we rented a walk-behind bushhog. I had no idea such a thing existed.

We trimmed the riding area, a path around the perimeter, a route for hill work, and a second riding area that is shorter but wider. All within the 24-hour rental period. Zoom. Chomp. Buzz. We chopped grass, pulled up young trees, and ripped out vines. I love the destruction phase of a project.

As one does when one is playing with motorized tools, the size got away from us. We mowed what we could until stopped by the terrain or trees that require bigger tools to uproot. The resulting area is slightly wider and about a third longer than when Previous Horse graced the space.

The main mowed area is 75 x 25 Katherine strides. Back when I was jumping things, I was reasonably accurate at pacing off distances. So 1 K-stride should be about 3 feet. That translates to 66 x 23 meters, give or take. By blind luck, we ended up with darn close to a large dressage arena.

Tomorrow, the horses respond.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

AlphaBooks, H is for Henry

Graphic Design

 

A Pictorial Life Story of Misty
by Marguerite Henry
Rand McNally 1976, 1977

Bought from Robin Bledsoe, Bookseller.

TBR. Of course, I read the original lo these many years ago. Spent a fair amount of time wanting my own Assateague pony, until I realized you couldn’t jump them. I chose not to endanger my rose-colored memories.

I am not alone in not going back, for whatever reason, “The vast majority of respondents had read Misty of Chincoteague. It was a whopping 92 percent. However, when I asked how many had read Misty as an adult, the result was only about 26 percent.” Saddle Seeks Horse – Misty of Chincoteague: Rereading a Classic Horse Book as an Adult.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

In Which I Ponder Reading Horse Books

Writing & Blogging

I like horses. I like books. Given that these are both massive understatements, you would think that I grew up obsessed with horse books. Oh sure, I read more than the average city kid, but not as many as you might think.

I read Misty & Justin Morgan but not Stormy, Brighty or the rest of the herd.

I read Black Beauty, but not The Black Stallion.

I read Dick Francis, but who didn’t? At least until the violence grew overly gratuitous.

My strongest memories of childhood reading are not from books at all, but from comic books: Casper, Little Dot, and the rest. I can recall the visuals and plots of some of them to this day.

After that it was science fiction. Aside from Elizabeth Moon, no one really does horses in space. In fantasy, horses are most often tools of transportation, when they are not people in horse suits. Robin McKinley is one of the few who has real horsehair in her novels. But I digress.

My point, and I do have one, here, somewhere, is that I have had way more trouble than I would have expected coming up with 227 words on horse books for kids. Horse stories avoid the vortex of my To Be Read pile.

Live horses, yes. Literary horses, not so much. You?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Low Key Photo Challenge: Books

Photography

Theme: Books

Misty, out standing in her field.

Badum-ching.

But seriously folks, by rights, this should have been a beach shot. I want you to imagine scenic sand, crashing surf, and the gentle whiff of wild pony poop.

Process Notes
Outside in bright sunlight. Go to see how fast the camera setting would go when one has excess light to play with.

Procedure for Low Key Photo Challenge
1) I post photo(s) on a given theme.
2) You comment below with a link to your photo(s) on that theme.
3) We all click over to see what you have.

That’s it. No prizes. No rules. No submissions. For more explanation, see [Inaugural Edition].

Previous Challenges
[Hello!]
[Labor]
[Toys]
[Travel]

Update
Photo looks weirdly orange on my phone screen. The ‘bathed in golden light’ effect comes off better on my desktop. YMMV

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Where Did The Year Go?

Combined Driving

 

Our all but non-existent 2018 CDE season has come to a close. Indiana [us last year] has come and gone, in a modified format. We didn’t go. Nashoba [us last year] is later this month. We aren’t going. Sigh. We had such plans.

The Temper Tantrum in Tennessee [not a post. Yes, it merits capital letters] was a set-back, but was not the end. Milton kept working, including two non-compete appearances [MSSP, NEGA].

In June, right around the trip to Georgia, we had mechanical trouble with the schooling cart and with one of our cars, resulting in logistical problems that we have yet to resolve. We have a bad habit of getting stuck. Our 2-year truck search may have given that away.

This barely ticks the crisis meter. We have next year or the year after or the year after that. If we don’t, we will have more issues than whether or not we are driving a horse. I say we, it really is a group effort, even when I’m not on the carriage.

The problem is my social media feeds. Last year, we were in the thick of it. Thanks to the awesome Bliss & the generosity of Coach Kate. Now, I sit at my computer and watch everyone having fun without us. How is this possible?

It is such a shock to realize that the world spins on without one.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Swapping Back and Forth

Adventures in Saddle Seat

Saddle Seat does not hinder my hunt seat.
Hunt seat ruins my saddle seat.
This is not a surprise.

Saddle Seat -> Hunt Seat
Let’s say I rode two-a-day saddle seat sessions for week. If I simply sat in a hunt seat saddle, everything would snap into place. Center of the saddle. Check. Lower leg on. Check. Pinkies out, whip over the leg. Let’s go.

Hunt Seat -> Saddle Seat
I had two excellent lessons with Milton at Stepping Stone Farm on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a lesson with Joanie on Friday. The first half of the saddle seat lesson was spent trying to remember what exactly was involved with this here funny way of riding. I had just been to a show. I had won a class. It was still a struggle.

Legs and seat adjust reasonably quickly, especially with the school horses, who won’t go if I don’t sit right. The hands are a horror show, which is ridiculous, because there is an obvious metric. The whip is held straight down, along the horse’s shoulder. Adjust hands accordingly. The conversation runs along these lines, for several laps of the arena …

Me: Hands up.
Hands: Really?
Me: Yes.
Hands: This?

Me: More.
Hands: Really?
Me: Yes.
Hands: This?

Me: Still more.
Hands: Really?
Me: Yes.
Hands: This is weird.

Sigh, does anyone else get backtalk from their body parts?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott