What I Did While I Was Away, Instagram Through May 2018

Instagram from @rodneyssaga
Previous Instagram recap [February 2018]

Individual Instaphotos with commentary, as promised [Back to Blogging].

One of those that was cuter IRL. He looked like a kid in a tree fort.

I had a theory. I always have a theory. My departure post was March 16. This was taken that evening. The plan was to have this on the sidebar for the duration. Then, when I restarted, I would put up a photo of a sunrise over the pasture. Poetic, no? Come the day, I had posted enough photos in the interum to dilute the the sunset/sunrise metaphor beyond redemption.

I posted this because I was utterly convinced that the next photo would be a ribbon shot with Milton. I wanted to soften the appearance of breaking radio silence to brag. So I put this up as a icebreaker. As it turned out, vanity was the least of our problems [Not a Post].

Depth of field exercise for photo class.You are to be impressed by the blurriness of the leg in contrast to sharp focus on nose.

First canter. Posted b/c first canter!

Pretty cat. Do I need another reason?

Adorable halter. Also cuter IRL.

Text to a friend that became an Instagram post. This happens disturbingly often.
Alternate title – Tooooooth drugs.

I saw the quote right before going to the grocery store. It was so completely on point that I had to share.
~~~
Blog 1.0. At the end of each month, I made sure the number of photos was divisible by three. This made for a symmetric visual on the recap post, as above (happy accident this time). This was the sort of gratuitous detail that added to my stress level [Struggle Bus] to no needful purpose. So, I am trying to do better about taking both life and Instagram photos as I find them.

Blog 2.0 – photos as they occur. Default to NOT reaching for my camera. This means I share the ones I really gotta tell you about. Archive as I accumulate a sufficient number. Comment. Look into changing the title on the account.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Road to the World Cup, Traveling for the Team, Guest Post

Adventures in Saddle Seat

Stepping Stone Farm rider Reagan Upton is on the U.S. Saddle Seat World Cup Team. She is sharing her story. Welcome Reagan.

Part 1 [Have Saddle, Will Travel]
Part 2 [First Team Practice]
Part 3 [Three-Gaited & Five-Gaited]
Part 4 [Do I Miss Equitation?]

Not many of us have the opportunity to represent our country in international competition. Do you have a question Reagan to address in future posts?
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The World Cup team riders are from all over the country.

Midwest 50%, South 35%, West & West Coast 15%

Midwest: Wisconsin 2, Illinois 2, Indiana 1, Ohio 1
South: Louisiana 2, Alabama 1, Kentucky 1
West & West Coast: California 1, Arizona 1

The coaches change for each World Cup. They have to apply just like the riders do. This year’s coaches are from Illinois and New Jersey.

So, in order to get everyone in one spot there is a lot of traveling involved. Practices had to be strategically planned in order to find a weekend where everyone can attend. They were mandatory but they gave us the option of two different weekends to choose from and whichever the majority voted was the weekend we had practice. We did this for both practices. We also needed locations where there would be enough horses for us to ride.

The first practice was in New Orleans at Cascade Stables. New Orleans is a 5 1/2 hour drive for me, close enough so I was lucky enough not to have to book a flight for this practice. We traveled on Friday, rode on Saturday afternoon, and then traveled back home Sunday.

The second practice was in Tampa held at the Gasparilla Charity Horse Show at the Florida State Fairgrounds. Unfortunately, this practice was scheduled the same weekend I had planned on attending a horse show in Clemson, SC. Missing the horse show was not an acceptable option. I worked it out where I could show in Clemson earlier in the week and still make it to Tampa for practice.

Wednesday – Birmingham AL to Clemson SC. I flew from Birmingham to Greenville and then rented a car and drove 1 hour to the horse show.

Thursday & Friday – I showed Jimi twice on Thursday and once on Friday. We were 1st, 2nd, and 1st, in that order.

Saturday – Clemson to Tampa FL. Shuttle from the airport to the hotel. The team van drove us from the hotel to the practice. We had to be in Tampa Saturday night in order to be ready for practice Sunday morning. Practiced lasted about four hours. Sunday after lunch we were free to travel back home.

Sunday – Tampa back home to Birmingham. I was home by 7:00 pm.

It was a wild weekend of traveling but totally worth it.

We only had two practices. I think it was enough. Two practices gave the coaches an idea on what type of riders we are and which type of horses we ride best. I wouldn’t change anything logistically.

The World Cup competition will be held in Lexington, KY. Lexington is close enough to drive so I get lucky again and get to avoid the airports. Stepping Stone Farm is lending three horses to the competition and my mom has agreed to haul them up there. So I will be traveling to World Cup in a truck and trailer.

Pony for a Gift

Random Snaps, Combined Driving

What do you get as a thank you gift for a person who has helped a lifelong competition dream to come true [Show Report: Indiana CDE 2017] and more [Nashoba, scroll down for 2017 season links]? Money? No amount would be enough. In-kind equipment? I wouldn’t begin to know what to buy Coach Kate for her carriage. So, I went creative. Pony for a Pony.

One for Coach Kate. Her show colors are blue & red.
One for us. Milton’s carriage is black with red trim.

I got the idea from The $900 Facebook Pony in That Holiday Haul. The artist’s preferred method of contact is through Pony for a Pony Instagram.

I sent the artist a photo of Milton with his Pony for A Pony.

 

Update: I feel the need to add that I follow Pony for a Pony, both on the blog Instagram & on my personal account. Dunno why it’s not showing up that way.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Seeking Summer Schedules

Home Team

Milton
This year, we had two competitions in mind for Milton. Having attended them last year with Bliss, we were hoping to return with our own horse.

1) The MTCC mini-CDE [Show Report 2017]. After Tennessee [Not a Post], this became unlikely. It is in two weeks. We are not going.

&

2) The Indiana CDE [Show Report 2017]. This was always a long shot. After, Tennessee, it became a moon shot. We recently found out that the competition has been canceled.

So now what? Concentrate on driving? Concentrate on riding? Lots of options.

Rodney
Inspired by last year’s summer of leisure [Rodney Lately, Rodney Tests The Vest], Rodney is getting a good start on a repeat this summer.

First, we went for a walk [A Walk on the Mild Side]. Success. Too close to actual work. Must rethink.

Then, vet. Our special snowflakes are always sore for a few days after their annual shots.

Then, sore RF. Warm in the shoulder. We suspect a kick.

Then, sore LF. A bruise/abscess that is taking forever to heal.

In all of these, Rodney does just enough to stay on injured reserve while causing the least possible amount of pain or inconvenience to himself.

I swear this is a new photo.
[Hoof Meet Bucket] 2012
[Rodney’s Feet] 2017
You may be sensing a theme.

Blog
Testing my resolve not to whine all over you. Or, more importantly, not to let whining all over you make me feel even worse about going nowhere. Time to haul out some of those light-hearted, less-personal posts that I talked about [Back To Blogging].

Thank you for reading,
Katherine

The Winding Path to My New Blog Title

Writing & Blogging

Attributes of a Brush Box
A container for horse paraphernalia.
Non-horse-related objects can be found in them as well.
Odds & ends accumulate in the corners.
The contents are unique to the person using it.

Dead Ends
Take up/Taking the Reins
Short, expressive exhortation. I liked that reins apply to both riding and driving. Unfortunately, been done.

Take up the Reins – A program to encourage people to #GetHorsey in the UK.
Taking up the Reins – Advancing Girl Power Through Horsepower in Los Angeles, CA.

Both worthy-sounding organizations. I left them to it.

Taking Up My Reins
Same idea, personalized. Unfortunately, the initials spell TUMR. Not a good sign.

Pull Your Socks Up
A ongoing reminder to get my act together. Unfortunately, a secondary meaning of the phrase is, Duck, bullets are about to fly. A signal to your team without alerting your foes. Too much violence. Urban Dictionary

Katherine’s Kollection
Kute. Unfortunately, there are some initials you just don’t want to mess with.

The Way Thru the Maze
… move the focus off Rodney … use my/me/name as a signal that this is a personal narrative, not an examination of the horse industry … leave it open-ended so i can post chapters of my science fiction novel should i stopping talking about it and get around to writing it … Hanna Schock of Picture Book Theology suggested using a happy place, perhaps Katherine’s Pasture? … hmm … a tool? Katherine’s Muck Bucket? … doesn’t say much about the contents … i like the idea of a container … what do i use so often that i don’t even recognize it anymore? … Katherine’s Notebook? …. i always have one on my person … too literary … where do i store ideas? … Katherine’s Spreadsheet? …. not a math blog … Katherine’s Tack Box? … since i’m not boarding and not showing my own horses, i don’t actually own one at the moment … brush box? … i carry two in my truck …

… one for the saddle seat barn [What Makes You, You? A Blog Hop.]

… one pretty wooden version that i use for storage in the front seat [ASHAA Banquet 2017] …

… i have brush boxes in the trailer … i have brush boxes in the barn … each horse has his own … one for first aid, one as a pantry, at least one spare …

… one for foot care [Milton February 2017] …

… i guess i do have a lot of brush boxes … who knew? … IRL, i am as likely to call it a grooming box … Katherine’s Grooming Box? .. too much beauty blog … Katherine’s Brush Box? … Katherine’s Virtual Brush Box? .. okay, that’s not gonna fly … my name is way too long … i’ll never survive all the typing … My Virtual Brush Box … ehhh … after all that, I like the three-word version.

Virtual Brush Box

I also tried to keep in mind Hanna’s other advice. A good title is nice. Good content is better.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott