Horses & Other Interests
Blog Contributor Michelle Duplichien [Archives] is a sister of the Mystic Krewe of Nyx, a New Orleans Mardi Gras organization. Their parade throw is purses, or more accurately sculptural objects that started life as purses. This year, one of Michelle’s purses was inspired by Stepping Stone Farm and the American Saddlebred. Michelle painted and decorated the body of the purse and handwove the handle.
Laissez les bon temps rouler.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
655 miles
12H 45min
We found a cart.
In North Carolina.
We tried to find a shipper. No luck.
The easiest way was to get it ourselves.
We considered stopping here. Staying there. Combining trips. No luck.
The easiest way was to get in the truck and go.
We went.
Hardwick Hideout
Teeter-Totter
#TT042
October 15, 2010
Aluminum
Estimated weight 200 lbs. The weight for a cart suitable for a 15.2h horse is advertised as 175 lbs. Bigger horse, heavier cart.
New to us through Country Carriage USA.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Instagram posts from December 2018 through February 2019 for @myvirtualbrushbox. Previous [Does My Instagram Reflect My Life?].
Nine posts, plus one that got posted to my personal account by mistake. I keep a second account to follow friends, family, and random accounts that have no relation to the blog.
Horse: 2
Cats: 2
Weather: 2
Horse-related: vest, obstacles,
Off Topic: street art, stamps
Having the second split screen post on top of the first would get me frowned at by the Instagram gurus who advocate cohesive accounts that employ forethought and flow and a sparkling grid layout. Instead, my Instagram philosophy is Oooh pretty picture/interesting event. Can I use it for a post? No? How about Instagram? Thus the account is bits and pieces too small for a post, which then get saved here.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsYCr13llxH/
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Took a class in pewter casting at the local art museum. When I cast my carefully crafted random object, the plaster cracked in two. Now when I claim to be a super special snowflake, I have proof.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
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
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
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
Virtual Brush Box 