Thoughts on The Night The Animals Talked

The myth is that animals are given the gift of speech on Christmas eve. Why? Why would I want my horses to talk? I can imagine what they would say.

More carrots!

You’re late!

Work? I would prefer not, thank you so much.

I sense danger! Flee! Flee! Flee!

More carrots!

They have no trouble conveying these sentiments without words. Besides, people use words. We are hardly an advertisement for the peace and joy that comes from sharing speech.

Possibly, the horses would have good things to say.

Breakfast!

Oooooh, hay. Yummy!

Time for a nap in the sun.

Hello human. Are you here to do nice things for me?

I itch right there. Ahhh, that feels good. Yeah, fingernails!

Dinner!

They have no trouble conveying these sentiments either. People who say animals don’t talk, just aren’t listening.

[From The Horse’s Mouth]
[Talk To Me]
[Ladies Night]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Show Report: Winter Tournament 2017-18 #2, Driving

Driving Thursday

Alabama Winter Tournament 2017-2018
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea, AL USA
Saturday, Dec 16, 2017
[Show Report]

26. Academy Driving with Whiskey – 1st of 2
Thank you to the Courtney Huguley for Whiskey

Back in November, Miss Courtney asked me to help her hitch a new horse. She took all the risk. I held the horse a little and then stood around with the metaphorical whiskbroom to pick up the pieces.

From the previous trainer, Miss Courtney had gotten conflicting reports on whether or not the horse, Whiskey, had been driven. Miss Courtney knew Whiskey’s original trainer and was pretty sure he was the type to drive his horses before teaching them to ride. Pretty sure. As she said, we all did a whole lot of praying in a short amount of time.

Whiskey was a star.

You could see him flipping through his mental files, trying to figure out where he’d done all this strange stuff before. The second time we hitched, Whiskey was all, “Yup. I remember this.” I took a turn that day. Third time, “I be a driving horse.” The fourth time Whiskey hitched, I drove without Miss Courtney warming him up and then Whiskey gave an intro driving lesson.

At the show, we took the precaution of hitching in the ring, given the chaos of horses coming in and out. Probably wasn’t needed. Whiskey was a total pro.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Show Report: Winter Tournament 2017-18 #2, Riding

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Alabama Winter Tournament 2017-2018
Stepping Stone Farm
Chelsea, AL USA
Saturday, Dec 16, 2017

1. Advance Horsemanship WTC Adult – 4th of 7
2. Advanced Equitation WTC Adult (Pattern) – 6th of 7
7. Pleasure Horse or Pony WTC Adult – 3rd of 4
Thank you to Courtney Huguley for Whiskey

Given the high-level suit riders in the class, fourth was a respectable ribbon to start with.

In the second class, we displayed a wee bit more, um, exuberance than was called for. For example, at the end of the equitation pattern we chose to canter back to the line-up rather than trot. That was not our only error.

During the break between classes, horse and rider brains got stuffed back into their respective boxes.

Third class was too quiet but at least not alarming. Best we were going to get at that point.

Whiskey looks to be my ride for a while. I need to learn how to get the flair without the flameout.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

New Equipment: Blinkers

Coach Courtney suggested blinkers to address Milton being jumpy about the saddle [Milton Meets Butt Brakes]. I had never heard of this. Apparently, Saddlebreds trainers use blinkers when getting horses accustomed to riders. Perhaps an easy transition from driving, something a lot of ASBs do first? Of course, then the big step is removing the blinkers. She says about 1 in 4 have trouble at this point. Milton is totally cool about wearing them. Rodney, not so much. So far, the results from working Milton with blinkers are inconclusive.

I have no idea why Milton would need blinkers. While he may have used them for racing, I have photos of him being ridden sans blinkers in Canada by Fairy Godmother. But then, I haven’t understood what is going on with either of my horses in years.

Apologies for the snapshot. I meant to get a better photo, but it’s been raining since.

Have you ever heard of/used blinkers to train riding horses?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Rodney, The December Dismals

The relationship between Rodney and me has completely cratered.

It could be him. He’s been jumpy since his first massage back in October [Massage Day]. As if the bodywork stirred up physical issues. He was more accepting of his second massage – when he didn’t think it was ultra-weird – but still jumpy after. Or winter is coming. Rodney’s tension level always goes up as the temperature goes down. Or …

It could be me. I believe horses like to have a job. OTOH, Rodney is currently delighted with time off and isn’t coping well with the little bit of standing and riding that we do. He’ll run away when I go to catch him in the field. That’s new. In turn, I am not coping well with this change in attitude. I feel that I have put so much work into this horse and gotten so little in return. Maybe he doesn’t want to be near the scary, angry person. Or …

It could be both of us. Dark. Cold. A time of dormancy.

In the grand scheme of things, never riding your horse is tiny. It feels big to me.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Letter Art, AlphaBooks: Recap 2017

[Z is for Zecora]
My Little Pony: Welcome to the Everfree Forest by Olivia London
[Y is for Young]
Mister Ed and Me by Alan Young with Bill Burt
[X is for Xenophon]
“On The Art Of Horsemanship” by Xenophon
[W is for Wodehouse]
Aunts Aren’t Gentleman by P.G. Wodehouse
[V is for von Tempski]
Born In Paradise by Armine von Tempski
[U is for USDA]
Special Report on Diseases of the Horse by U.S. Department of Agriculture
[T is for Tewson]
The Fat Pony by January Tewson
[S is for Severin]
Crusader by Tim Severin
[R is for Rubin]
The Big Book of Hidden Horses, Hidden Horses 2, Horse Trivia, If Wishes Were Horses by Deborah Rubin
[Q is for Queen]
The American Gun Mystery by Ellery Queen
[P is for Pace]
Old Bones by Mildred Mastin Pace, illustrated by Wesley Dennis
[O is for O’Connor]
Life In The Galloping Lane by Karen & David O’Connor with Nancy Jaffer
[N is for Newsum]
Milton by Gillian Newsum
[M is for McKinley]
The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley
[L is for Lewis]
A Book of Narnians by C.S. Lewis, illustrated by Pauline Baynes, text compiled by James Riordan
[K is for Krementz]
A Very Young Rider by Jill Krementz
[J is for Journal]
The Brayer, Journal of the American Donkey and Mule Society
[I is for Ipcar]
World Full of Horses written and illustrated by Dahlov Ipcar
[H is for Hatch]
The Year of the Horse by Eric Hatch
[G is for Gray]
Horsepower by Patsey Gray
[F is for Francis]
The Sport of Queens by Dick Francis
[E is for Endicott]
Taking Up The Reins by Priscilla Endicott
[D is for Doty]
The Monday Horses by Jean Slaughter Doty
[C is for Cooper]
Pandora by Jilly Cooper
[B is for Brown]
A Good Horse Has No Color by Nancy Marie Brown
[A is for Anderson]
Horse Show by C.W. Anderson

During the year, I took notes on the books with the intent of discussing them at the end of the year, i.e. now. But the point of the project was visual rather than literary. I’ll summarize by saying that I was happier with some of the books more than others but I did not include any books that I disliked.

Did I read them all? No. Started well. Lost my grip somewhere around the middle of the alphabet/middle of the year. The ones I did not are in my To Be Read pile. We all know how that goes.

I had ideas that I couldn’t execute because my draftsmanship is not equal to what I see in my head. Insert Ira Glass quote, Advice To Beginners (Zen Pencils).

Special thanks to Robin Bledsoe, Bookseller, for having so many great horse books and for pointing me toward interesting titles even if she didn’t have them in stock.

Project explanation [AlphaBooks 2017]. Open to recommendations for next year. Which books would you choose?

Past Years
[2016 Alphabet]
[2015 Alphabet]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott