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

The Old Grey Mare

Recently, someone asked if my meltdown with saddle seat riding [Sine Die, Pondering] might be related to menopause. I know one reader has had this issue (waves hi), wherein doubt takes over from certainty. A legitimate question. I’m gonna say no.

I’ve always been a weenie about riding. Some days, with some horses, when the planets align, I can gallop my fool head off. After one Academy Driving class with Big [Show Photos], Miss Courtney had to remind me, ‘This is not a chariot race.’ Other days, not so much brio.

I’ve never been much of a hormone storm. Of course, I can get cranky and bitchy and unpleasant, but it tends to be in reaction to what I think rather than what is happening physically. Either I have a low hormone level or am so emotionally repressed that the hormonal response is squashed along with everything else. I’ve always lived too much in my head.

Or I could be deluded. I’ve known more than one person to say, “I am X.”, to which my unspoken response is ‘Really? Seriously? That’s how you see yourself? Yowzah.’

Or I could simply be alone too much. No deep psychological problems; rather a lack of contact with the outside world. (Which is one reason I talk to you every day.) Work at home. Horses at home. Surrounded by neighbors who see the world differently than I do. In absence of external data, my over-active brain feeds on itself.

If there is a problem, I think it is more mid-life crisis than menopause. I’m almost 55. What do I have to show for it? Even if I spot myself the first 20+ years, that’s three decades of adulthood: frantic activity, good times, but no big-ticket milestones. No one thing that I can point to and say, There, that’s what I did with my life so far.

I chose not to raise a family. My career never took off. Ditto my hobby. I don’t have an advanced degree. I have not immersed myself in art or charity. Yes, I have a long, wonderful marriage, but that speaks more to my winning the husband stakes than to my stellar qualifications as a wife. My life has been a string of amazing opportunities. My follow-through has been less impressive.

Yes, I should look forward to the next 20 years (1? 40? Who knows?) instead of looking back over the last 40. When I figure out how to do this, I’ll let you know.

What does this have to do with horses? The realization that you are not the person you though you were. You still feel as you did, but results do not support your inflated opinion of yourself.

And then, of course, the guilt [A Look Inside My Head]. Always the guilt.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Laugh or Cry

What can you do?
Ya gotta laugh or cry.

Greg hopes to compete a horse all season.
He competes a horse all season. [Driving Derby]
I hope to compete a horse all season.
The horse is leased to someone else. [Graduating From Sam]

Greg would like CDE lessons.
Greg takes CDE lessons. [Tennessee Travels]
I consider taking CDE lessons.
The horse is loaned to a handicapped riding program.

Greg wants to ship to a lesson.
He ships to a lesson. [Milton’s First Lesson]
I want to ship to a lesson.
I try and my horse goes lame for six weeks. [Rodney’s Dubious Future as a Dressage Horse]

Greg wants to put a piece of tack on Milton.
He puts a piece of tack on Milton. [Milton Meets Butt Brakes]
I want to put a piece of tack on Milton
Milton tries to run me over. [ibid]

Greg wants to go to an event.
He goes to an event. [Show Report: Indiana CDE 2017]
I want to go to an event.
The universe gives me the side-eye.

What can you do?
Ya gotta laugh or cry.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Show Tweets: Indiana CDE 2017

Tweet record from the Indiana CDE [Show Report]. 93 tweets, plus replies.

Day 0: Getting Ready
Wednesday, September 20, 2017
5 tweets

Day 1: Travel
Thursday, September 21
22 tweets

Second note to self: navigators/grooms are *not allowed* to walk cones, even if they will be riding on the carriage. It’s a crowd issue. Those not on the carriage don’t need to know. Grooms on the carriage are not supposed to move. They are there as ballast. So, they don’t need to know the course either. Also, drivers must walk the course in show clothes. Rules not strictly enforced below the FEI level. “Only Athletes, Chefs d’Equipe and Trainers are allowed to inspect the course on foot and they must be correctly and smartly dressed.” 973.7.1

Day 2: Dressage & Cones, CT
Friday September 22
23 tweets

… make (ya wonder) …

Day 3: Dressage & Cones, CDE
Saturday, September 23
24 tweets

Day 4: Marathon & Trip Home
Sunday, September 24
19 tweets

The interesting point of all these beer photos is that these are the only 3 beers I will drink this year.

This ended up being a photo essay as much as a tweet storm, maybe because it was our first CDE, making everything all new and shiny and interesting. Although, it is a photo essay of everything else. As soon as the competition got going, I was watching/participating instead of reporting.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott