Rodney’s Autumn Plans

Greg has good ideas. Make a ring out of candy floss [We Spooked], put a saddle on Rodney [Looking Forward], drive Milton [What Are You Driving At?].

Greg has bad ideas. Jump your horse [Recap].

Greg has ? ideas. After Indiana [Show Report], Rodney was finally, finally over everything [One Year]. However, we kept running out of light in the evening. One morning, Greg said, “Get up. We’re going to go ride Rodney.” Yes, we. It is a joint effort.

The three of us took a short stroll from the barn to one corner of the field, surveyed our domain, and returned. I thought it was a fantastic exercise: just enough to challenge Rodney; simple enough that he could have success. I decided we would do this until one or both of us got bored – Greg doesn’t get a vote – whether it takes 6 days or 6 months.

Therefore, we are now up and at the barn by 6:30 for our team walk. I think it was a great idea. Greg may not.

Superstitious? Moi?
I couldn’t bring myself to use the word F*ll in the title. Autumn it is.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Letter Art, AlphaBooks: U is for USDA

Special Report on Diseases of the Horse
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Government Printing Office 1903

When this book came out, few cars, no antibiotics. Cars existed, Early American Automobiles: 1903 Models, but horses were still the way most of us got ourselves and our goods from point A to point B. Antibiotics would not be discovered for another 25 years, Nobelprize.org: Sir Alexander Fleming. Think about that the next time someone talks about how fast the world is changing today.

Bought from Crabtree’s Collection Old Books via abebooks.com, recommended by Robin Bledsoe, Bookseller.
~~~
This Year

[T is for Tewson]
[S is for Severin]
[R is for Rubin]
[Q is for Queen]
[P is for Pace]
[O is for O’Connor]
[N is for Newsum]
[M is for McKinley]
[L is for Lewis]
[K is for Krementz]
[J is for Journal]
[I is for Ipcar]
[H is for Hatch]
[G is for Gray]
[F is for Francis]
[E is for Endicott]
[D is for Doty]
[C is for Cooper]
[B is for Brown]
[A is for Anderson]

Past Years
[2016 Alphabet] [2015 Alphabet]

Project explanation [AlphaBooks 2017]. Open to recommendations for the remaining letters. Which books would you choose?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

The Other Parts of My Life

A reader who has know me IRL for a long time pointed out that I have been letting my life get consumed by horses lately.

Practically, I can’t stop horsing. They live here. We have plans. In the next five weekends, one or both of us has a lesson or show (Awesome!). That doesn’t take into account Winter Tournament starting on weekend #6. Plus, I’m not gonna stop blogging (see Sane, Keeping me) and horses are what I have to talk about.

OTOH.

Maybe it’s time to stop pondering my problems, at least for a while. If wrestling with my issues was going to be successful, I would have pinned them to the mat by now. I could take a mental break. Look around. See what else is out in the wide world. Maybe find out what has been happening with the local LEGO folks. That’s as opposite to horses as I get (Of course I have a blog post on the subject, LEGO v. Horses). While I will always want to know why, leaving everything to simmer on the back burner may bring clarity. Stranger things have happened.

This is the reason one has friends. To point out when one has wandered into the weeds.

Confession Time
Her actual quote concerns driving in specific not horses in general.

I’ve seen you ride. Lots of times. I’ve never seen you look weak. You’ve been concentrating on the driving so much lately, you’ve simply forgotten what a good rider you really are. debandtoby [And We’re Back]

When I saw the comment the first time, I read it as “concentrating on RIDING.” I was struck coup de foudre. I really have been obsessing to an unhealthy, certainly unsuccessful, degree on horses and my riding lately. Hence the new mental direction and a post that wrote itself by that evening.

I didn’t see the correct version until I copied the quote here. Equally valid. Perhaps I saw what I needed to see. I don’t usually get words that wrong.

The statement on friendship is still true.

Update: What she said.
The Chronicle of the Horse: Getting A Life
by Lauren Sprieser
Nov 7, 2017

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Foto Friday: Instagram September 2017

September Instagram from @rodneyssaga.

Previous [August 2017]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Whizzing About

Driving Thursday
Reunited
Photo by Courtney Huguley

When I – possibly, maybe – go to Murfreesboro next month, I will also be driving. Why not? No one else from Stepping Stone Farm is driving and Mr. Whizbang [Show Photos I, II] will already be there with his junior riders.

Strangely, this doesn’t stress me out. At least nowhere close to the level that riding does. I have no agenda for driving. Go in. See if I can find an extended trot [Show Report]. Whatever happens, happens. Obviously, if I could have this attitude toward sitting on the horse, I – and everyone within stressing distance of me – would be happier.

Therefore, I climbed back in a cart last week. As far as I can count, I hadn’t driven since the Mid-South show in May. (Okay, I sat in the cart with Milton [The Family That Drives Together], but that was proof of concept, not serious driving. Bear on a bicycle.) That’s four months. It went great. No, I’ll say it outright, I did great. Best driving I’ve done.

All the time I have spent watching Greg and Milton, plus four days immersed in driving in Indiana [Show Report] appears to have rubbed off on me. Hitch. Get in. Drive. Yeah, sure. I got this. My technical ability hadn’t changed. Improved attitude meant better application of technique. Yes, the continued parallel to riding is not lost on me. Sigh.

Learning by osmosis, who knew.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

And We’re Back

Saddle Seat Wednesday

I’m going to Nationals.

What? I didn’t catch that.

I said, I’m going to Nationals.

Hey, that’s great. Good luck. I’m sure you’ll do …

Shh! Shh! Shh! I’m trying to keep it low-key. The tentative plan is Murfreesboro in November, but I reserve the right to bail at any point. With no disrespect to the folks at AA, One ride at a time.

The last day for entries was one of the Saturdays Milton was at SSF. The deadline had been extended due to Irma. I brought the subject up just to confirm that it wasn’t happening this year. I hadn’t had a lesson in months. Nationals had fallen off the radar and wandered out of the control tower.

Not necessarily. One of the new horses is Dottie, an 18-year old ASB who has spent her life being a champion kid’s horse. She’s won in the big-time at the 13&Under level. She is talented enough to be fancy, yet old enough to be steady. She’s great at taking care of her young riders. Since my mental age around the barn at the moment is 12 or less, she’s a wonderful horse for me right now.

 
I don’t like that I need an emotional support horse. But I do & she’s here. So, I’m trying to be okay with my good fortune. I will try not to get caught in the tailspin that is the inside of my head.

Thoughts Not To Have
(Obviously, I can’t let go of them completely. I feel the need to include them here. Maybe pinning them down will help me purge them.)

Why do I get on better with the older ASBs – Dottie, Sam, Willie, Alvin, Big – rather than the younger – Desi, Lola? Why is that? What does it say about me as a rider? Am I such a weak rider that I can only ride well-educated school horses?

Why am I a such hot mess about riding? Why am I like this? How can I fix it?

Riding Dottie does not address, much less answer, my underlying issues. I’ve simply lucked into a very nice horse who fits within the narrow parameters of what I can cope with.

Sometimes it’s hard to accept when things go well. Why is that?

Thought To Put In Place Of The Above
Go Dottie!

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

New Equipment: Carriage

A new-to-us Glinkowski Marathon Carriage

Carriage in winning action with Jewel and Coach Kate

We’ve known this carriage was coming. A while back, Greg and Coach Kate found it on the used market at the same time. Instead of getting into a bidding war, they decided that Coach Kate would buy it and use it for the summer. Then, if we were still interested, we could buy it from her when we were ready for it and her new marathon carriage was ready for her.

On the way up to Indiana [Show Report], we stopped at Whip Hand Farm to load this carriage onto our truck and bring it to the show.

On the way home, Coach Kate texted us. Did we want to just go ahead straight home, and keep carriage with us? Why, yes. Yes, we did.

After four states, three days of horse show, and 90o weather, I think we were more interested in saving the hour of driving over to WHF than in whether or not were were buying a carriage.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott