Virtual Brush Box

AlphaBooks 2018

Graphic Design

Zigby Camps Out, Brian Patterson
[Letter Art, AlphaBooks: Z is for Zigby]
The Gypsies, Jan Yoors
[Letter Art, AlphaBooks: Y is for Yoors]
Winning Colors, Elizabeth Moon
[Letter Art, AlphaBooks: X is for Xavier]
The Horse’s Name Was … , Terri A. Wear
[W is for Wear]
A Special Kind of Courage, Barbara Van Tuyl
[V is for Van Tuyl]
Driving Horse-Drawn Carriages for Pleasure, Francis T. Underhill
[U is for Underhill]
Wrestling with a Pencil: The Life of a Freelance Artist, Norman Thelwell
[T Is For Thelwell]
Airs Above the Ground, Mary Stewart
[AlphaBooks, S Is For Stewart]
Riding Shotgun, Rita Mae Brown
[R is for Riding Shotgun]
Quick Draw McGraw Bad Men Beware by Dorothy Haas
[Q is for Quick Draw McGraw]
My Little Pony: Pinkie Pie and the Rockin’ Ponypalooza Party! by G.M. Barrow
[P is for Pinkie Pie]
Mark Twain in Hawaii: Roughing It In The Sandwich Islands by Mark Twain
[O is for Oahu]
National Velvet by Enid Bagnold
[N is for National Velvet]
MEPSA 2017 Championship Results by Jennifer Cole
[M is for MEPSA]
I Am Mister Ed … Allan “Rocky” Lane Revealed by Linda Alexander
[Alphabooks, L is for Lane]
Horses In Japan, Vivienne Kenrick
[AlphaBooks, K & J are for Kenrick & Japan]
Horses of Long Ago, written & illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar
[AlphaBooks, I is for Ipcar, Again]
A Pictorial Life Story of Misty by Marguerite Henry
[AlphaBooks, H is for Henry]
Gallopalooza II: The Horses of Possibility City by Lynn Huffman
[AlphaBooks, G is for Gallopalooza II]
The Island Stallion, Walter Farley & The Ebony Horse, Adapted by Anne Terry White
[AlphaBooks, F & E are for Farley & Ebony]
Hobby Horse Hill by Lavinia R. Davis
[AlphaBooks, D is for Davis]
Lady On The Hunt, Clinch Calkins
[AlphaBooks, C is for Calkins]
Hold Your Horses, Bonnie Timmons
[AlphaBooks, B is for Bonnie]
Not Quite A Horsewoman by Caroline Akrill
[AlphaBooks, A is for Akrill]

[Letter Art, AlphaBooks 2018: Looking for Letters]

[2017]
[2016]
[2015]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

My Lizard Brain Has Power Point

When you are young, your lizard brain wants to warn you, but it has no data. The best it can do is run around, waving its arms chanting, ‘Danger, Will Robinson, danger!’

As you get older, the lizard brain compiles experiences. It gains extensive files it can flip through to find a situation just like the one in question: things that happened to you, things that happened to friends or family, things you read about that sound plausible.

My lizard brain can now cite chapter and verse, telling exactly me when and where this was a bad idea. ‘Convinced yet? I have five more slides if you’re not.’
~~~
OTOH, Google tells me the whole idea of a lizard brain is incorrect, “(The) triune brain theory is completely wrong – and neuroscientists have known it’s wrong for decades.” You Don’t Have a Lizard Brain by Daniel Toker

Still, it makes a good metaphor. As a title, “My Basal Ganglia Has Power Point” doesn’t sing, does it?

OTOHx2, Wiki concurs that the concept is erroneous but still useful. “While technically inaccurate in many respects as an explanation for brain activity, it remains one of very few approximations of the truth we have to work with.” Wiki: Triune brain

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Counting Down The Days Shetland Style

Photography

An advent calendar featuring the adorable ponies and gorgeous landscapes of My Shetland. Or I assume will feature. Haven’t see all the days yet.

It’s too late to order one. Mine took a week & a half to swim over from Shetland. Plus, she doesn’t seem to be doing the online version this year. So why am I waving this under your nose if you can’t have one?

First, it’s a clever way to sell one’s photography. It’s a twist on the endless cups and calendars and computer mousepads.

Second, it’s a chance to tell you about her blog: six rescued Shetland ponies whose main job appears to be eating carrots and mugging for the camera; an active Icelandic horse breeding program which translates to foal photos each year; plus sheep, dogs, and cats; as well as sunsets, clouds, and waves. It’s a Shetland vacation without the hassle of air travel.

If you don’t follow her yet, trot on over, and check it out, My Shetland. Be sure to sure not to miss Shetland Ponies in Sweaters.

As usual, no deals. No collaboration with the creator. Bought calendar. Liked it. Wanted to tell you about it. (And yes, feed the insatiable maw that is a daily blog.)

Happy Advent!

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Lines Between Life and Blog are Blurring

Jumping

The jumping clinic that I mentioned last week [A Small Jump Forward] was delayed on account of rain. I am busy on the new date. My ground crew will go & report back.

First thought: Darn. I was looking forward to that. Now I’ll miss it.

Quickly followed by ….

Second thought: Darn. Now what can I use for Jumping Thursday?

It’s a good attitude for generating blog posts. Not as sure that it is a good way to go through life.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Second Day of Progress is Never As Good As The First

Adventures in Saddle Seat

Two weeks ago, I had an great lesson. Big changes. Huge potential for better riding and better ribbons [Making Adjustments]. Last week’s lesson was … good. This was inevitable.

1) Solidifying progress is never as much fun as the initial discovery.

2) You get on and immediately want everything to be awesome again. However, your last memory is from the end of the lesson. You forget all the steps that got you to that point, which you now must recreate.

3) You’ve probably inflated how well it went. A wee bit. Butterflies did not in fact descend in droves to bear you aloft on their wings.

4) If you tried to recreate it at home on your own horses, you may have let error creep in.

5) Beforehand to the first lesson was a much bigger contrast than from the first lesson to the second. Doesn’t look as remarkable.

6) Things take time. Everything takes more time than you want. Everything that is important to you takes more time than you want because you want to do it well.

Onwards!

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Considering Milton

Milton’s signature move is to lick and chew while pinning his ears.

What’s up with that?

Milton doesn’t like to be touched. We’ve ruled out the physical reasons. His skin feels smooth and clean. No rough spots, no scruff. The hair lays down as it should. He doesn’t quite shed dirt the way Rodney does but Rodney is greasy enough to qualify as a seal. You know, the good kind of greasy that means a healthy, shiny, happy coat.

Milton loves attention. One of his favorite activities is to hang with his people. You can touch, pat, & cuddle Milton all over his head. However, anything behind the ears is a no-go zone. If you continue to touch him, lets say brushing him because he has plastered the mud on with a trowel, he will eventually give you all kinds of releases, with the ears still back. If you massage him, he will threaten to kick you and then yawn.

Can horses be conflicted? I guess so, because Milton certainly is.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

New Tank Syndrome with Rodney

Since Rodney did more work than Milton last week, he goes first in the posts.

Rodney remains Very Excited about being in a new place [Weekend Voyages]. Therefore, we worked on an exercise that is Very Easy for him.

During the week, we went over our Stand, which has been going well for him lately [Switching Horses]. For this, I sit on the mounting block, Rodney stands next to it. Then, I get on. Rodney continues to stand. He nailed it. Twenty minutes unmounted, ten minutes mounted. Did an outstanding impression of a happy statue. The only reason I stopped was running out of time or daylight. The photo is from our practice at home. None from SSF. Once again, I forgot to take a picture in medias res.

Over the weekend, we shipped back to Stepping Stone Farm. I hauled the mounting block up to the big ring and took a seat. He stood. I sat. He fussed. We sat/stood a while longer. I sat on him. He walked off. We walked. I got off. Sat. He stood. On. Off. Stand. Sit. Walk. And so on. And so on. The tiniest bit of work at the walk and a few steps of walking on a long rein.

When I think about how this sounds from the POV of the average person who rides regularly, I feel slow and stupid. When I think about the progress we made since last week, I feel like a brilliant horse trainer. The reality is probably somewhere in between.

In the category of Horses As Individuals, Rodney does not have Milton’s preferences for the different rings at SSF. Milton feels safe in the covered, enclosed small ring; comfortable in the fenced-in big ring; and not at all comfortable outside of the ring. Rodney doesn’t seem to care. Little ring, big ring, it’s all the same. He is much more occupied with scoping out the new place and the residents. I have not ridden him outside the ring yet, but I suspect it would be the same.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott