Arrogant Whine, the Opposite of a Humble Brag

It’s hard to complain about good fortune, but I’ll give it a go.

I wanted to be able to take Rodney places [Dubious Future]. I can now take Rodney places [Weekend Voyages]. Great. Wonderful. Terrific. I can’t ride him once I get there.

It’s showing Milton all over again. Yes, I am showing my horse. Great. Wonderful. Terrific. I had hoped to be doing more than bad walk-trot at the smallest of competitions [Wild Horse Goes Walk-Trot, For This I Cleaned My Tack?].

Load a horse on a trailer. Go somewhere. Have a lesson. Ride in a show. People do this all the time. I used to do this all the time. That was before I met these two.

I feel as if I am stuck in a benign version of The Monkey’s Paw. I’m getting exactly what I asked for but not at all what I had in mind.

Is it the rider? Undoubtedly. I wish I could wave a wand and become bolder. Is it the horse? Also, yes. With both of them, every step of progress has to be chipped out of granite. Does it matter? No. We have to work with the strengths and weaknesses of the team we have.

I’m not asking for overnight success. I know lessons can be frustrating and shows can go badly. I just want to be able to try: lessons, clinics, a Training Level dressage test, a local jumper show, maybe even a backyard event. I want to see hope and smell daylight. I want to get my foot on the bottom rung of the ladder. Right now, I’m wandering around in a dark basement wondering if I left the ladder in the garage.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Does My Instagram Reflect My Life?

There’s a lot of talk about one’s persona on social media versus who one is IRL. I think mine are pretty close. Call it authenticity or call it a lack of depth. I’m not that complicated. High maintenance and anxiety driven? Sure. Mysterious and subtle? Not so much.

Let’s go to the tape.

Breakdowns
Subject
Horses – 4/12: Rodney, Whiskey/Sam, Rodney again, Milton
Cats – 5/12: four kitten, one Blue
Other – 3/12: two scenic, one dressing error

Place
Home – 4/12: all the kitten pictures
Barn – 5/12: pasture (three horses, one sunset), stall (cat)
Elsewhere – 3/12: show, Birmingham, lesson

Horses and cats. A horse show and a riding lesson. The occasional trip into town. Yeah, that’s my life.

Instagram posts from September to November 2018, @myvirtualbrushbox. Previous recap [Be Vewy, Vewy Quiet, I’m Back On Instagram].

The camera angle makes the ring look bigger than it is. By coincidence, the dimensions are similar to a large dressage arena [The Forging of the Ring].

[Once More Into The Cart, Show Report, Winter Tournament 2018-19 #1, Driving]
[Once More Into the Fray, Show Report, Winter Tournament 2018-19 #1, Riding]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

A Small Jump Forward

Milton – cantered high caveletti on long line.
Rodney – walked poles under saddle.

The latest activity* was to visit a local barn to talk about jumping lessons. This is the second jumping barn I have investigated this year. The first barn was nice enough but did not return my text or call. Coach Courtney felt that trainer etiquette permitted me one more try and then move on. Instead, I opted to check out a barn closer to me. I don’t need stupendous grand prix talent. I’m not even trotting crossrails. I require a moderately competent jump instructor who can set low fences and cheer me over them.

The current barn under consideration is the same barn I visited several years ago [Looking Back at 2015]. Back then I was barely riding Rodney and not riding Milton at all. The jumping never got off the ground. (Ha, see what I did there?)

As I told them, we are not ready. Before a jump lesson, I would think the minimum level of acceptable achievement should be a horse who can walk, trot, canter, and at least trot caveletti. That is so not us right now. OTOH, if I wait until I am ready, I will never start. They seemed to find this reasonable.

The plan is to take Milton over first for a schooling session, to let him see the place. No reason for them to spend the first lesson watching Milton look around. Then, maybe a lesson or two on one of their schoolmasters. Then, Milton.

I am being deliberately coy about details. Once I start taking lessons, I will ask the person how much they wish to reveal.

*Activity is necessary for progress. OTOH, one can have activity without progress. It remains to be seen which this is.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
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Making Adjustments

Adventures in Saddle Seat

 

At my last lesson [Styles], Coach Courtney moved my foot forward several inches. This had the effect of straightening my ever-slumping shoulders. It all starts with the leg. The effect was remarkable, at least in a saddle seat. It has been harder to implement with the home team.

Changes are easier for me to make in saddle seat. Partly, I’ve spent less time in it. Partly, I’m usually on reliable lesson horse. Mainly, adopting a new position is easier because saddle seat feels so d*mn weird. My hands are too high. I’m sitting too far back. I have my lower leg off. Move my foot here instead of there? Sure. What’s one more weirdness?

When I try to move my foot in a hunt seat saddle, forty years of muscle memory says, ‘Nope. That’s not how it’s done.’

I would have said that my leg position was decent. However, this small change at the other end of my body had an effect like a magic bullet. Suddenly I was straight, still, and sitting deep. Hard to believe that such a chronic position problem could change so completely. For the rest of the lesson, I didn’t even have to think about my shoulders, just my foot position.

Unbeknownst to me, I was sitting tipped forward ever so slightly: leg too far back, shoulders too far forward. I’m a good enough rider – why is this so hard to say – that I could compensate as long as my attention did not waver. I could hold my shoulders back until I started thinking about the horse, or got tired, or got distracted by a shiny object.

The possibility of this much positive change is exciting. Now to make it permanent, at any time, in any saddle. #wintergoals

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Weekend Voyages, Rodney

I thought he was looking for a place to roll, but he was inhaling all the smells.

Rodney Goes Places!
On days 2 and 4 of our Thanksgiving adventure, Rodney loaded, shipped, and returned home with ears up and four on the floor. Yay!

Milton learned to be the one staying behind. He did not have the run of the pasture, but – as far as we can tell from the lack of horse sweat and the lack of churned up stall – he mostly stood about eating hay and napping. He did not start screaming until we began unloading. He makes more noise when I put him in the stall and take Rodney for a walk around the pasture.

Gold stars all around.

Rodney Is A Twerp!
The first day, I rode Rodney in the covered ring at a walk. Every two or three strides, I had to remind him to keep his eyes in the boat, not staring over the horizon. The second day, we didn’t even get that far. He decided that the horses in the next pasture where is newest bestest forever friends. It took 10 minutes of long-lining to get Rodney to even pay attention.

However.

Rodney was NOT being a special snowflake. Everything he did was typical of a horse excited to visit a new place. All of his attention was outward. Horses! Smells! More Horses! Grass! Other Horses!

He never thought about retreating into himself or about putting his hooves over his ears and going to his happy place. That, in its way, is also progress.

In Other News!
Since I have done a lot of body work with Rodney, I am familiar with his patterns of tightness and relaxation. I could feel how he used the muscles through his waist for balancing on the trailer.

Milton discovered that the only thing worse than going is not going.

It’s great to have a facility we can use so close to home, with such understanding management. OTOH, it does mean loading up each time we want to work a horse. I keep balancing the hassle of building and maintaining our own versus wondering how long we will need the rings before these two can work successfully at home.

‘We didn’t come here to help, We came here to mock.’

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Weekend Voyages, Milton

We used the four days of the Thanksgiving weekend to ship the horses to Stepping Stone Farm, one horse each day. It’s not everyone’s holiday, but it works for us.

Days 1 and 3 were Milton’s turn. On Thursday, we worked on our own with the long lines. On Saturday, Milton had a groundwork lesson with Coach Courtney. I rode a little each day.

A very little.

Between the time off for Nationals and time off for bad weather, Milton and I have backslid. Before Nationals I was riding in the big ring, cantering, and riding at home, although not all at once. Now, all I feel up to is riding him at a walk in the round pen. OTOH, I *wanted* to ride him at a walk in the round pen. There was a time when I was dubious about riding him at all. Once I’m on, I usually squeeze in a bit of trotting. I may have cantered a few steps as well. Still, not my boldest hour.

One of the problems issues features is that I am trying to give my driver more time with his horse. I rather monopolized Milton over the summer. So I ride less often, which is fine, but that means progress is commensurately delayed.

Milton and I are slowly going somewhere, not sure where that is yet, but somewhere.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott