Taking The Easy Way, A To Z Reflections

Posts: 30
Letters: 21

The A To Z Challenge plays to my strengths, perhaps too much.

I’m already blogging daily. I have been since 2012; unbroken, since 2014. Twenty-six posts is not a problem. Barring drastic life changes, I do 30 posts in April anyway.

At the moment, I have a list of activities and a schedule that works for me: my horses, saddle seat lessons, driving, photography, writing, & lettering. I wouldn’t want to take a month-long break from blogging about them. Therefore, no theme. Unless I can come up with a meta-theme that applies to all sections on which I can pontificate on once a week for 4 weeks. Hmmm.

So, my A To Z 2017 Challenge boiled down to putting alphabetical labels on posts. I missed on 5 days for an 81% success rate. In all of the missed cases, I had a time-sensitive post that didn’t match the letter.

This approach involves being clever. That’s easy for me. Diligent, insightful, nuanced, not so much. Quick? Smart-ass? Good with words? That’s me.

Plus, I’m already messing about with two other alphabets. Lettering on Sunday [H is for Hatch] and playing the alphabet game [Origin] with myself on Instagram [@alphabet2017]. That is ample alphabetization for one person.

If I want to visit blogs, I can still use the list. No blogger is going to complain that I can’t visit because I’m not participating in A To Z.

Why does it matter? Changing the post title from New Equipment: Stirrup Leathers to New Equipment: Stirrups Up doesn’t take much time. It matters because the little bits add up.

I need to do what’s hard. Write thoughtful essays. Take better photographs. Or I could turn away from blog, to writing letters for my near-moribund freelance career, to writing my Hugo-winning novel that doesn’t seem to be writing itself. Or I could step away from computer entirely.

Spending time on what comes easily to me. It’s possible this applies to other areas of my life as well.

A To Z 2017, list below
A To Z 2014 [list of posts]

Any challenge suggestions for A To Z 2018?

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

A To Z 2017
[Awards Weekend]
[Rodney Channels His Inner Brat]
[Milton’s Contract]
Delight [Winter Tournament Results 2017]
Education [Lots of Lessons]
[Foto Friday: Instagram March 2017]
G Missed by a day. My yearly alphabet almost matched the monthly one.
[Why I Ride, Six-Word Essay] & [Letter Art, AlphaBooks: G is for Gray]
Heart [Keeping it Real]
Impressions [Rodney in Wraps]
J-K-L [Show Reports, list, Spring 2017]
M [USDF]
Had the posts. Couldn’t make the letters fit.
Not Again The Bratitude Increases
Milton’s Overtime
This Is Why I Am Paranoid Around The Barn
Que Pasa?
Foto Friday: Reflection
Self-Improvement
Tape We Spooked. We Survived.
New Equipment: Stirrups Up
Different Versions of the Same Thing
Show Photos: Pro-Am 2017, The Wonderful Mr. Whizbang
Foto Friday Fail, X Version
Young At Heart
Letter Art: Zebra Stripes

Foto Friday: Instagram April 2017

April Instagram from @rodneyssaga.

Orchard grass.

This was in response to a post about bad hair days.
… hairdo …

 

 

Previous [March 2017]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Styling, Or Not

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Over the years, I have compared saddle seat to dressage [In A Nutshell]. Probably because they are both on the flat. Now I’m thinking that saddle seat has more in common with hunters. And that’s not a good thing for me.

In jumpers, cross-country, and show jumping (phase 3 of eventing), the goal is to get ‘er done. Go fast. Jump high. Make it to the finish line. Style is important in that a classic rider and a horse with a classical way of going are more effective and more efficient. Michael Jung and FischerRocana FST on the Rolex XC are outstanding examples of this. However, in classes scored for faults &/or time, artistic interpretation is a non-starter.

I’m told that there is room for expressiveness in dressage. But that comes after one has mastered the maneuvers. I have enough to do executing the right figure in the right place.

Hunters (saddle seat) is all about style. For the rider in hunter (saddle seat) equitation. For the horse the rest of the time. Simply getting around is not enough. One is assumed to be able to meet the basic requirements of the class, i.e. jump the jumps (execute the correct gaits). The heights are low, or relatively low, with jumps that are well-built and inviting (3 or 5 gaits in a flat, enclosed ring with good footing). Rounds are judged on smoothness, on flow, on panache and pizazz. It’s all about art.

I don’t do art.

Museums bore me. I listen to music just about never. When artists talk, I understand the words but the sentences don’t register. I have many sterling virtues. An aesthetic soul is not one of them.

This may be why I feel so at sea out in the ASB ring. I keep trying to find something mechanical to fix. I master the 40% that is the technical side but have no clue about the performing aspects that make up the remaining 60%. There are no metrics for my hyper-analytic mind to grab onto. More hand? More speed? More leg? A different line? It depends.

Oh well. A learning opportunity. If I survive the frustration.

Counterpoint: I ran this all past Coach Courtney. She agreed about the importance of style in saddleseat. She agreed that it’s about game-time decisions. Then she pointed out that I’m already plenty stylish in a cart. She said I just need to ride like I drive.

Arrg.

Counterpoint II: Coach Husband points out that my driving style has been mentioned before, “Sent into the ring with the injunction to ride like I drive, i.e. More Alvin!” [Show Report].

Yeah, looking back, I’ve talked about the need for artistic merit. 2015: “My presentation veers toward intense and scary rather than toward relaxed and pleasant.” [Boot Camp 2]. 2016: “I try to improve by even tighter attention to detail … And it’s making me nuts … I can do the riding. I need to work on the overall picture, the pizzazz, the pleasant. [Put Down the Hammer, Pick up The Paintbrush].

Well, the hunter part is new.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Sand Colic?

We continue to pursue the shadowy NQR in Milton.

Our latest effort is a week-long treatment for sand colic. We don’t have sand or even sandy soil. OTOH, Milton is big on picking up every last iota of feed. I have no doubt he ingests a lot of dirt. Perhaps there is a component that he did not meet in Canada. Maybe he is allergic to Alabama.

How’s it going? Over the weekend he had a subdued hissy fit while lunging. He carried on bucking and hopping and cantering, yet stayed on the circle. The lunge line has a 25-lb breakaway. Better to have them run around the pasture than tangle their legs, we figure. He never came close to challenging it.

It was one of the odder things I’ve seen a horse do. He was clearly in PAIN, or UPSET, or SOMETHING, but the cause was not at all obvious. Perhaps the psyllium husks were doing their job and the gunk was shifting around in his gut. (We checked for colic, etc.)

Or he could have been reacting to the weather …

… or a different bit, or Swat on his zipper (although that usually makes them feel better), or the newest batch of hay…

… or he had a Thoroughbred moment and the rest of it is on our heads.

That’s the problem with NQR. It’s only obvious in retrospect.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

It Takes A Village

Riding Rodney is a group endeavor. Due to issues, I have have never ridden him without Greg in attendance. Time to change that. Did Rodney like it? Not so much. We lasted 8 minutes.

Downside
Tension from the rider? No. I could be deluding myself. Would not be the first time nor the first rider to do so. OTOH, I often rode Previous Horse and Mathilda by myself. Perhaps not ideal from a safety point of view, but riding solo is not a habit that freaks me out a priori.

Did I amplify his tension? Possibly. Probably. I will totally put my hand up to this. Especially since I am naturally a sedate, calming person.

Tension originating from the horse? Yes. I felt that I was sitting on a keg of dynamite. A small keg, with a long fuse, but a keg nonetheless. As proof, I offer that fact that he reverted to his old habit of popping out of gear at the halt [Meanwhile]. He has been nailing the statue maneuver lately [Feb 2107].

Upside
The “old habit” was less than five months ago, back in December of last year. Given our history, that’s lightning progress for Rodney & me.

In all cases, my response is the same. Pull my socks up and be the sedate, calm person that I need to be.

He used to be this way when his chaperone was present. He learned that. He will learn this.

Super Upside
Today is my wedding anniversary. Therefore, I would like to publicly thank the husband for being my village over the last 29 years.

Anniversary Posts [2016] [2015] [2014] [2013] [2012]
The year I forgot [Aftermath]

2016

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Letter Art: Zebra Stripes

Z of for Zebra. If you are joining me from Blogging A To Z, welcome! Since the blog is already daily, with topics for each day [About: Schedule], there is no specific A To Z theme. I may even skip a few letters. Gasp. Clutch the pearls. The goal for this year is less crazy, more visiting. [Ze State of Ze Blog 2014]

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Process notes: Made by scanning a strip of Printed Duck Tape® Brand Duct Tape – Zebra. Font is Comic Sans. While the tape is straight up black and white, the pink cast added by the scanner is more suited to a zebra IRL.

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Lettering 2017

 

[Wallpapering with Light]
[Winter Tournament Letters]
[Watercolor]
[Daylight Savings]
[Connect The Dots]
[Pen & Pastels]
[NYC 2016]

Previous Lettering
[2016] [2015] [2014] [2013]

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott