Virtual Brush Box

Referral Saturday: Accidental at Heart

I want to apologize for my title on a post about inspirational older women [Young at Heart]. The implication is that being young at heart is better than being old at heart. Ageism. Shame on me.

This consciousness-raising moment was brought about by Accident Icon, a 63-year-old fashion blogger who is cooler than I have ever been or could ever be. She is serious about fashion, but doesn’t take fashion seriously. While she doesn’t talk much about her academic life on the blog, a little bit of ~~stalking~~ Googling turns up the LinkedIn entry for for Lyn Slater, Clinical Associate Professor, Fordham University Graduate School of Social Service, (specialization) Social Work & the Law and Child Welfare. One doesn’t work in those areas without realizing what is important in life. Fashion is her way of expressing herself in the world.

Why a fashion blog, when I am on record as being as far as possible from a fashionista and still be dressed [Barn Jeans, My Denim Guide]? First, it is beautifully photographed. This made me realize what a large role photography plays in the fashion industry. I mean, duh, but I had never thought about it. Second, she has a strong personal style and a look that says, ‘No I am not 20. I see no reason to pretend to be 20. I’m me. Deal with it.’ Third, the NYC angle. The counterfactual version of me that doesn’t have horses in the backyard is a successful weaving artist in Manhattan. So I live that life vicariously [Posts: NYC].

I often forget the dignity of my age. At SSF, I am surrounded by kids and I ride in a beginner division. I fall into thinking of myself as one of the kids. Literally.

A young’un said, “Am I the only kid here?”
I thought, “No. I’m still here.”
[Boot Camp Moment]

But I’m not. I’ve learned a few things over the years. If only when to shut up [Jealousy]. No small feat. Accidental Icon reminds me to be proud of who I am now, at this moment.

Of course, my idea of Accidental Icon/Ms. Slater is a construct. She exists at the intersection of what she reveals online and what I project onto what she reveals online. Still, for a figment of my imagination, she is powerfully persuasive. She inspires me, not to copy her but to take my personal energy and put it toward what I value. She makes me want to be creative in my day-to-day life.

The assist goes to Bored Panda, Journalists Accidentally Confuse A 63-Year-Old Teacher With A Fashion Icon And It Ends Up Changing Her Life. I think (?) she had already started the blog before the Fashion Week recognition.

Previous Referral Saturdays
Horseback Reads
Cover Girl
Snark-o-licious
Adieu

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Foto Friday: Distance Problems

I need to figure out how to photograph Greg’s combined driving lessons.

Too far. CDE dressage rings are enormous. I’m sitting under a tree by the side of the ring. Greg is the distant red dot in the center of the ring.

Too close. From my navigator’s perch, over the driver’s shoulder.

I have a feeling I’m gonna need a really big, i.e. expensive, zoom for this. Or perhaps a GoPro.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Greg and the Ladies

Driving Thursday

Greg had driving lessons both days last weekend.

Saturday: saddle seat with Posh. I was ~~kibitzing~~ observing, so no photo [Photo Fail].

From earlier
MSSP 2016
Sandra Hall Photography

Sunday: combined driving with Bliss.

Both were as good as I’ve seen him drive in either style. I’ve always thought he would be a great driver. The only question I have is, What’s up with him and mares?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Back To Kindergarten

TLDR: Saddle seat deteriorating. Trying to fix.
~~~

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Back where I belong.
Photo by Courtney Huguley

Confidence is not doing well when things go right, or it is not just that. Confidence is knowing you’ve got it covered when things go wrong. I have this with Sam. I never managed to get there with Desi or Mr. Whizbang. Which is a long way of saying that I am back riding Sam [Sultan’s Miracle Man].

How do I feel about the demotion? First off, it is a demotion. Sam is a beginner’s horse. If I have any hope of saddle seat progress, I need to ride other ASBs better than I have been lately [Graduating From Sam]. Which leads to, secondly, the demotion is legitimate. I’ve been a hot mess for a while. The shows were simply the culmination [Report Pro-Am, Report Dixie Cup]. So, third, if you have a problem, go back to the point that you know it was working and go forward from there.

How was the first ride back on Sam? Awesome. The beginning was weird. It was as if I had never ridden saddle seat. I automatically slid to the middle of the saddle and put my put my leg on. When I sat back on the cantle and put my knee in, my entire body screamed ‘Why? Why are you doing this? It is so wrong.’

Since I was on Sam, I felt able to experiment. Legs were out as an anchor point. So, I put a hunter curve in my back for stability. This had the added advantage of bringing my shoulders back. I had let the reins, and therefore the horse, get long. Not long as in on the buckle, or even long for hunters/dressage. More of a working trot length. However, that is still too long for saddle seat. They want a short, short rein with a soft, light hand. AFAIK.

I shortened my reins, asked Sam to be more compact, and everything snapped together. Suddenly I remembered how to saddle seat. A few of our passes were the best I am capable of. Seriously. As good as anything I have done.

I’m going with the conflict of styles theory. The better Rodney goes, the worse my saddle seat has gotten. The more I ride hunter/jumper/dressage, the more that feels familiar. At the moment, I can’t cope with changing from one to the other on a new-to-me horse.

In Lads Before the Wind, Karen Pryor calls the problem the New Tank Syndrome. When adding a new feature (Rodney), the solution is to relax the other variables (saddle seat) for a while.

I called this “going back to kindergarten,” and it became an accepted practice in all our training. When a new and difficult criterion was introduced–working in a strange tank, for example–all the rules about perfection that had been established would have to be set aside temporarily (perhaps for a day or two, perhaps for no more than half a training session) while the animal learned to accommodate to the new circumstances.

The strict trainer who cannot tolerate “going back to kindergarten” simply wastes time and causes stress, trying to force perfection from the beginning in a new circumstance when it will come back anyway once the new circumstance has been accepted. I have seen this happen dozens of times in a human situation. Here’s an example: singers and musicians who perform splendidly in a rehearsal room then get yelled at for making gross errors with the music in the first on-stage rehearsals; yet they may be, for the first time, scattered in new groupings, standing on ladders; wearing huge costumes, and staring into spotlights. People or porpoises, it’s the same problem. It’s the “new tank syndrome,” and you can lick it by relaxing criteria temporarily, by “going back to kindergarten,” In the long run it is not time wasted, but time saved.

Pryor quoted in Stale Cheerios: Going Back to Kindergarten

Sam is my back-to-kindergarten. Of course, Pryor also says that it should be a short period. I am ignoring that part. Perhaps my summer will be comfort rides on Sam until I get used to swimming in the hunter/jumper/dressage tank again.

Eventually, I think I will be able to ride Rodney and stay with saddle seat. Eventually being the key word here. There is no logical reason why I can’t ride both ways. I’m not asking to be Michael Jung and ride at the highest levels of three Olympic equestrian sports. I’m looking for some jumping, a little eventing, the occasional spin around an Academy class.

The two styles may even complement each other. During my lesson, I widened my hands – a Mr. E maneuver [Dressage Lesson] – for a moment to smooth out Sam’s shoulder around a circle.

New outlook. This it is not a conflict. It is an opportunity to look at the same activity from two perspectives.

Then there is Coach Courtney’s summation of the situation, “You’re a head case and we love you for it.”

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Time Out for Routine Maintenance

Last week was weirdly full of appointments for horse & human. All routine. Dentist. Farrier. Eye doc. Vet. Everyone’s fine. Between house rules (day off for shoes), travel time (dentist & eye doc) and recovery time (eye doc & vet), not much got done.

That’s okay.

Rodney’s one tiny jump [!] will carry me for a while. The Coggins tests [Names] means that now, finally, we have all the pieces to move forward with Milton.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Show Names

Vet has come. Blood has been drawn. Names have been chosen.

Registered Name: Major Conn [Real Name]
Stable Name: Milton
Show Name: Monochrome Rainbow

Registered Name: none
Stable Name: Rodney
Show Name: Double Solitaire

Despite my love of data, I am not doing a retrospective of Rodney’s aborted show names over the years. I am looking forward. This is will be the one that matters, the one that gets used. Onwards.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott