Driving Forward, Looking Back
Driving Thursday
It’s been Lesson Central around here. The day before Greg’s saddle seat driving lesson [Photo Fail], I had one of my own with Alvin.
This was my first driving lesson since before Alabama Charity last October [Show Photos], and the first in a long while that was not prompted by “Eek, a show. I must remember how to drive.”
Back in 2012, I had my first driving lesson.
Other signs you are having trouble in a cart:
When you try to get the horse to move off by goosing the cart with your seat.
When you cut the circle too sharply and the poor horse ends up on a diagonal between the shafts
When you aren’t quite aimed at the center of the outgate and you find yourself trying to shimmy the cart sideways. Carts are not known for performing lateral movements.
[Control Issues]
It took me two years to venture back in the pool.
Maybe I should try driving again. Maybe in the future even try a show or two. A small show. Alone in the ring. As a schooling exercise only. In the future. For now, we will concentrate on ridden equitation. After Nationals, we can revisit the driving question.
I had just launched into this speech when she-who-talks-me-into-all-manner-of-sh*t says, Why don’t you drive at Nationals?
Say whaaaaat (insert rising bleet)?
[Annotated Camp Tweets]
I never would have predicted that one day I would request a driving lesson, just for fun, because it’s been a while.
One never knows, do one?
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
No Show
Saddle Seat Wednesday
The barn went to a show last weekend. I did not. Gasp! Clutch the pearls.
It would have been possible. The lesson ended noon-ish on Friday [Rodney’s Dressage]. Even with a five-hour drive and the time zone difference, I would have arrived in time for dinner. However, I wanted to stress over concentrate on being ready with Rodney. Not on digging out my show clothes, packing the car, buying trip food, etc., etc. Maybe next time, when it’s not the first show of the season and Rodney’s first lesson in seven years.
~~~
On more amusing note, I had a practice long line session with Alvin. It was … educational. As in, I was the student and Alvin was once again the patient schoolmaster (riding [Show Report], driving [Show Report]). At one point, I attempted to reverse direction. I lost the plot. Alvin ended up heading straight toward me. (NB: when long-lining, one should be behind, or to the side of, the horse.) Many horses would have taken advantage. Alvin simply said, ‘I assume you want me to turn around and go the other way?’ I said, ‘Yes, please. Thank you.’
After trotting, I had planned to let him walk around the circle and cool down. He came directly to the center and stood, as if to say, ‘Your quarter has run out.’
God bless school horses.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Milton Gets Shafted
Friend Sharon [Masterclass] came over to watch Rodney’s lesson [Dressage]. Taking advantage of the extra pair of hands, we asked Milton how he felt about shafts to either side [Practice Cart].
All horses are prone to claustrophobia. When flight is your defense, being in a box is a threat. Furthermore, Milton is off the track. The shafts of a cart might remind him of a start box. Would this be a problem?
Apparently not.
We did not attach cart to horse. Greg led. Sharon and I each took a shaft, wrapped one of the harness straps around the pole and held on. Hence the need for a second set of hands. If the call came to Abandon Ship, all we had to do was drop our straps and step away.
Milton was completely amenable about everything, including the cart/harness arrangement pulling strangely around corners. We never took our eyes off the horse, but Sharon and I found our attention drifting sufficiently that we were exchanging stories in short order. Milton was that calm.
Gold stars for everyone!
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Rodney’s Dressage Lesson
I trotted my horse! For the first time in 7 years! Said that way, it’s pitiful. Nevertheless, Rodney and I trotted for the first time since 2010.
I’ve had my eye on the dressage instructor Mr. E for a while. He seemed sympathetic to horse and rider. We (cough Greg cough) decided that now was the time. Even if we weren’t ready, ya gotta start somewhere. If I waited until I was absolutely ready, I’d never have a lesson.
I was expecting more of a consult than a lesson, heavy on the discussion. Instead, Rodney and I moved for 30 minutes. No need for stops to reset his brain, either. Mr. E maintained a steady flow of instruction that kept both horse and rider organized and – as a result – calm. Right now, I doubt I can recreate the conditions on my own. That’s okay. We did it.
Mr. E had me pick up a contact with an exaggerated giving motion to encourage Rodney to stretch his neck. We did a few halts. Mr. E saw something in the halts that made him think a trot transition was not out of the question. I said that when I trot Rodney in hand, he flings his head up and gets tense. Mox nix, I was told. That was in hand.
So we did a few steps of trot. Rodney picked up a quiet trot, shuffled along, then ran out of gas in a few strides. Kaloo! Kalay! We trotted a few more times. Rodney failed to get his knickers in twist. After once around the ring in each direction, we declared victory and stopped.
Mr. E complimented me on being willing to trust him and try the trot – which had NOT been in my lesson plan. Really, it wasn’t so much trust on my part, as ‘Well, you’re the new guy. I’ll give you some rope and see what you do with it.’ Same result, more cynicism.
Afterwards, Rodney’s back was mildly tight, particularly on the right – scar – side. This is something we will have to attend to any time he works.
Rodney was very, very proud of himself.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Letter Art: Daylight Savings
In honor of More Time at the Barn – aka Daylight Savings – in the US, the blog name spelled out in time zone abbreviations. Who knew there were so many?
Réunion Time
Oral Time
Davis Time
Niue Time
Easter Island Standard Time
Yakutsk Time
Samoa Standard Time & Singapore Standard Time
South Australian Daylight Time
Afghanistan Time
Gilbert Island Time
Argentina Time
Sources
Wiki: List of time zone abbreviations & http://docs.aws.amazon.com/redshift/latest/dg/time-zone-abbrevs.html
Time Zone factoids
Naming conventions, problems of, in Time Zone Abbreviations from Code of Matt: Adventures in programming, featuring Time Zones! The Internet is a weird & wonderful place.
China is one big time zone.
Several places are offset by 30 or 45 minutes.
Map & explanation of clock time versus solar time.
The poor man’s math blog: How much is time wrong around the world?
Updated, The poor man’s math blog: The time it takes to change the time
The alphabetic spelling was not hard. Wiki: List of time zone abbreviations has every letter except Q & X. Timeanddate.com: Time Zone Abbreviations – Worldwide List has Quebec & X-Ray, both military time zones. As in, Quebec the NATO call letter, not Quebec the city. Worldtimezone.com: Military Time Zones- World Map of Time Zones
Lettering 2017
[Connect The Dots]
[Pen & Pastels]
[NYC 2016]
Previous Lettering
[2016] [2015] [2014] [2013]
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
You Know You Have Fallen Down The Lettering Rabbit Hole When …
Me, behind a Coke Zero truck.
(Please note that I waited for an intersection to take the photo.)
Hmm, that R looks odd.
It’s too thin.
The O is even thinner.
(looking left) Ohh, the E and Z are progressively fatter.
The letters are “losing weight” from left to right.
Cute.
Hmm.
The R has rounded ends.
The O is round.
Then why do the Z and the E have square ends?
It would have been easy enough to round them.
That way, the letters would have an organic, “human-body” feel.
This way, half the letters are square and half are round.
For no reason.
This is just stupid.
You know you are a letter nerd when you have violent opinions about a label.
Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott
Virtual Brush Box 