State of the Blog: Reading Blogs

End-of-the-month commentary on blogging. [Previous Posts: State of the Blog]

Help me out here.

The Internet stumps me on a regular basis. I see people staring at their phones for hours. What are they reading? I know a vast wealth of information lurks beneath my fingertips, but I don’t know where to start. I’m a data junkie. I should be all over this. But I’m not. I’ll do a quick tour of my standard treadmill: The Devil’s Panties, Whatever, Fat Cyclist and a handful of horse blogs. After that, I stare at my screen thinking, Now what?

Finding readable blogs is never-ending. Favored blogs either don’t post often enough. I’m looking at you Writing From the Right Side of the Stall. Or they will get caught up in writing more books (Yay!) and slow down the posting frequency (Boo!) – Inky Fool. Or the blog will end suddenly under forboding circumstances – Literary Horse: Plagues and Curses Upon the House of Hudson. Or the blog will have ended before even I found it – Ballroom Junkie.

I’ve never been a newshound. International news is dire. National news is parties slinging mud at each other. What ever happened to the ideas of loyal opposition and civilized discourse? Local news is a list of highway fatalities. None of this is conducive to my being able to sleep at night.

What do you read online, equine or otherwise? Do you read single blogs or composite, for example Eventing Nation or Horse Collaborative? How do you find new blogs to read?

Foto Friday: Meet Meg

Photographer Meg McKinney has agreed to be my photo guru.

I’ve been claiming for years that I will improve my photography [Texture, 2012]. I’ve tried downloads [Foto Freebie, 2013] I’ve tried books [Recommitment, 2014]. No dice.

I’ve had good luck with other gurus: Saddle Seat [Value of a Coach], Combined Driving [Driving Forward, Lesson] & horse shopping [Mail Order Horse]. (I may have let the side down re Milton, but Fairy Godmother did her part fabulously.) Perhaps with a person holding my toes to the fire, I will finally get my camera off automatic.

Meg has appeared on the blog before [California Girl becomes a Southern Belle, guest post with photos]. She has generously allowed me to post her photos [Show Photos by McKinney, Vulcan & Fireworks].

I’ve talked about her skills as a photographer, “This is what happens when you give a weak camera to a strong photographer. Result, a picture of myself that I can almost stand.” [Barn Christmas Party]

I’ve even whined about her, “Hopeless despair brought on by professional envy … Last weekend, she took photos at the show … The choice of subjects. The timing. The focus. The composition. The color. The … everything.” [Foto Friday: Or Not]

After she agreed to take me on, Meg checked out my camera [Story]. She snapped a quick shot of me & Bingo using my settings (auto minus flash).

McKinney Photography (A 'What Not To Do' teachable moment. )
McKinney Photography
(A ‘What Not To Do’ teachable moment. )

Then she fiddled with knobs to show me the difference when the photo was done right. (I look like a dork, but Bingo no longer looks like a blurry devil horse.)

McKinney Photography
McKinney Photography

Exactly! Now teach me how to do that.

Meg’s links
Website
Facebook
Instagram

Meg head

Walking Along

Rodney and I are working on staying in front of my leg [Positives]. Since the goal is to walk with relaxation, I can’t thump my heels to send him forward. It’s more a matter of keep my weight centered and insisting he move off with a correct step from the beginning. We generally manage a circle or two before we both collapse under the weight of the concentration required.

One thing I have noticed. When he goes right, Rodney rides like a helluva lotta horse.

He still has issues. A few days ago, he was done and sans halter. The riding and grooming areas are within the pasture, so he was free to go. He was hanging around to see if any more horse pats would be forthcoming. When I picked up the leather halter for Milton [[2.0:discussion, Moods:photo], Rodney spun around and flew out of the barn. He doesn’t like leather [Slow Lane, Here We Stand].
~~~
Gratuitous Giveaway

Pacific cov

Pacific: Silicon Chips and Surfboards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires, and the Coming Collision of the World’s Superpowers
Simon Winchester
(Harper Collins 2015)
Unabridged audio CD, read by the author

Vignettes that illustrate the history, ecology, and politics of the Pacific Ocean. Property of the first person to comment below. Limited to US or APO.

Loving The Loot

Saddle Seat Wednesday

2016 AWTA banquet centerpiece

Winter Tournament Ribbon Math
Advanced Horsemanship Adult
2 + 4 = 3

Advanced Equitation Adult
2 + 4 = 4

Advanced Pleasure Adult
4 + 5 = 4

Driving
1 + 1 = 1 (Greg)
2 + 2 = 2 (Katherine)

In other words, my high-point haul for the 2015-2016 Winter Tournament was a third place and two fourths. Because of the accident [Report, Not], I only attended two of the three shows. I projected receiving more pastels. So, am I pleased that I did better than I expected? Have you MET me?

On the upside, by placing well enough when I did show & by showing in a fourth division, I was High Point Adult for Stepping Stone Farm. (Each farm is awarded HP Adult & Youth. I tell you, saddle seat folks are awesome about loot.) For the third year in a row! Would have been four, but they didn’t award them in 2013.

Photo of me from the banquet, looking inordinately pleased with my High Point jacket.

Photo by Courtney Huguley
Photo by Courtney Huguley

As soon as I got in the car, I sent brag pix. (Note the dog hair mere seconds after coming in contact with the seat.)

2016 AWTA banquet jacket 2

Yes, I am that, um, young at heart.

Greg won a boot bag for the Driving Championship. I will valiantly keep on eye on it until such time as he needs it for his own show boots. What can I say, I’m selfless like that.

Family Ribbons
Family Ribbons

My Academy Award
Silver Medal from the ASHA

ASHA silver

The American Saddlebred Horse Association runs a medal awards program. It is more of a participation award than a performance award. One point for showing up, second point for a ribbon. Since the classes are split if they get large, Academy riders usually come home with two ribbons per show, chance of a third if there is a Championship class. With a streak of blues, a rider can qualify in as few as three shows. Even a bless-their-heart rider should earn a medal with a moderately active show year. I think that’s sweet for what is essentially a youth award.

First year is bronze. Second year, silver, Third year, gold. I have not mention this before because our bronze medals got lost in the mail. The ASHA swears they were sent. Next year, gold!

Previously on Rodney’s Saga
2015-2016 Winter Tournament #3
2015-2016 Winter Tournament #1

Winter Tournament Banquet 2015
Winter Tournament Banquet 2014
Winter Tournament Banquet 2013

a

In Which Milton Gets a Gold Star

As Milton and I wandered around the field on a walk [2.0, Moods], we came across what is left of the kiddie wading pool. We bought this a while ago as a groundwork obstacle. Rodney had plodded right through it [Dry Pool]. Milton, not so much. The one time he saw it, Milton point-blank refused to go near it. Hard to blame him. This is a fairly normal horse response. Rodney is freakishly brave about some things.

Over time, the pool has lost both air & water. It is mostly a pile of plastic lying in the field. Hmm, a fairly narrow pile of plastic at the moment. A horse could step right over that. Let’s see what he does with it.

I walked Milton up to the edge. He stopped. Not as a refusal; more as a ‘Yes, there is a question in front of me’ manner. I encouraged. He moved a step forward, putting a toe on the plastic. Success! This was light years ahead of what he had done the last time. I praised. We waited. Again, I encouraged. He looked at the plastic. He looked at me. I encouraged. He considered the plastic. He considered me. He considered my credit balance. ‘Okay, you haven’t lied to me lately. I’ll try.’ Whereupon he took four enormous steps over the narrow band of plastic.

Callooh, callay, my beamish boy! How clever and wonderful you are!
~~~
Gratuitous Cat Photo: Rhyme
Rhyme Feb 8 2016

Burchell’s Zebra, Guest Postcard

zebra postcard

Do you want to drop everything & roam the world for a year? I don’t. But I wonder. Fortunately, Nova Halliwell is doing the heavy lifting for us.

Starting in mid-February, I’ll be taking this show on the road.

My first stop is in South Africa, followed by Madagascar, Israel, Turkey, Thailand, Vietnam, Australia and New Zealand. Plus a little safari through Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe… and a quick skip over to Jordan.

Or, at least, that’s what’s booked as of today. All told, I plan to spend 10 or 11 months working my way through that itinerary.
Advice I Needed Yesterday: Set better goals.

I found Miss Halliwell’s blog, Advice I Needed Yesterday (blog, Instagram, Twitter), on the sidebar of The Bloggess. The post noted above has a slide show. One of the goals is “Send 365 postcards.” Along with an email address. Well, sure. I added that if said postcard contained a horse, it could double as a blog post. On the back of the postcard is the message, “Does this count?”

zebra postcard back

Yes, it does. It will do nicely. Thank you & safe travels!
~~~
Horse post on AINY, about people misbehaving on Assateague Island: Don’t punch the horses.