Saddle Shopping

cantle

I quake in fear.

My beloved Harley Apollo has been has been sent to the tack closet in the sky. This saddle has served me well since I bought it used in 1980. What can I say, I hang onto things. After its most recent restuffing, the saddler warned me that was the last time. There’s nothing left to sew back together. Plus it was the saddle worn in both meltdowns [Universe]. So, retirement.

When I look at saddles these days, I am appalled at the amount of padding. The seats look like buckets. The knee rolls look like pillows. I want a soft, flat saddle that doesn’t tell me what to do. Sure the Hermes saddles are nice, but I don’t feel like mortgaging the house for a saddle.

I have the Wintec [New Equipment]. What is the likelihood that either horse will wear this as a forever saddle? Both Rodney and Milton will need jump & dressage saddles. What is the likelihood they will wear the same size?

I have stuck my head in the sand over the whole issue.

Party Horses

Kayman Mitchell & Sam Photo by Anonymous
Kayman Mitchell & Sam
Photo by Anonymous

“Do all the horses get sold this time of the year? I am completely befuddled by the concept, so enlighten me! ”

This question was asked privately after my Christmas party post [2015]. I answered here in case others wonder the same thing.

At Stepping Stone Farm, as at other barns, horses come and go all year long. Horses are bought, sold, go out on trial. The barn frequently brings new horses home from a show, or leaves horses to relocate elsewhere. Logistics make showgrounds into good swapping places.

At a show barn (I say from my vast lack of experience), horses are often bought/sold at the end of the season as riders move up to a new level, age out, go off to college, etc. I assume this happens in other disciplines as well: hunter/jumper, western, Arabian. Basically, I would imagine this would hold true at any barn whose calendar is tied to a show schedule.

Therefore, horses move around at the end of the year. Doing this as a surprise seems to be a pervasive in the saddle seat world. In December, my Facebook feed is filled with images of horse and bows and delighted new owners.

At Stepping Stone, many of the new arrangements are leases and in-barn sales. It is easy enough to save these announcements until the Christmas party. More difficult with a “new” horse, but not impossible if one is willing to make the effort.

The kids have gotten wise to this. Excessive machinations are often required to maintain the element of surprise. Horses have been sent to other farms, hidden in a back stall, falsely presented to the wrong owner, and so on. Coach Courtney appears to take particular delight in this form of gentle torment.

Driving Forward

hands Jan 16 2016 small

 

Little progress lately [Energy Shortage]; lots of planning. Mainly for Greg’s driving career. My riding career remains the same mix of ultra specific and maddeningly vague, i.e. win the  American Eventing Championships eventually [AEC], have no clue what to do with myself this year.

ASB
Driving is big in the Saddlebred world. Many horses ride and drive. Many trainers start their horses with a cart before introducing the saddle. Even if Greg has no interest in Fine Harness – so not him – we can both learn a great deal about driving from the Saddlebred folks.

Shows
I suspect we will be able to talk him into the little, local shows, particularly the home shows [SSF], if there is a cart for him to occupy. Although he has driven in a big show [Photos], he’s not overly interested in doing more of them. He says he would rather spend his time and money on lessons. He doesn’t want to show just for the sake of showing. Heathen.

Combined Driving
We have found a Combined Driving guru. [See Clinic Report for my explanation of CD]. Kate Bushman of Whip Hand Farm, Franklin, TN, has agreed to help us navigate (Ha, see what I did there? A Combined Driving pun) the specifics of the sport: how to drive a dressage test, how to steer around the cones, which cart, what harness, how to transport the whole shebang, and so on.

“I’m excited for you – folks who come to driving after a lot of horse experience in other disciplines (and especially couples) usually get completely hooked.  I hope I can get you ‘into’ it, too!”

 

n

Energy Shortage

Rodney MIlton field Jan 16 16 small

The boys did nothing much last week. I had barely enough enthusiasm to run a brush over them and pick out their feet. Some days not even that. I hated myself for it, but couldn’t find the motivation.

At the time, I figured I was recuperating from being shaken up [Gratitude]. That was part of it. A greater part was the fact that I eat for shit when my chef is away. Without someone putting food in front of me, I forget to eat. No calories = no energy. Duh.

High maintenance and a hard keeper. Is it any wonder I am drawn to Thoroughbreds?

Gratuitous Books

Aaronovitch BW 1 cov
If you are here for the horses, move along, nothing to see here. If you are here for the Touch of Geek, continue.

While I was sitting about last week, I treated myself to a Kindle-fest. I have long been a fan of the Rivers of London series by Ben Aaronovitch. Also, of note are the audio versions read by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.

Feeling pitiful, I splurged on the companion comic/graphic novel series Rivers of London: Body Work. The color is glorious. The drawing superb. The plotlines rely on wit rather than violent punching scenes. The female characters are good-looking (as are the male) but they are human-shaped & adequately covered. (For a fascinating take on the female form in cover art, and by extension in comics, see the Cover Posing series by Jim Hines.)

In his blog, Aaronvitch mentions The Chronicles of St Mary’s series by Jodi Taylor. I downloaded the free sample. We have a winner! The only thing better than find a good book to read is finding a good book to read that is the first in a series of six, with a seventh coming out in May.

These are not deep literature. I don’t read deep. They are amusingly clever. Something the Brits do well. Both books are in the urban fantasy genre, i.e. magic is alive & well and living among us. Rivers is also crime drama; St. Mary’s is historical time travel.

If you have not read these, enjoy. If you have, what can you recommend for me?

Taylor 1 cov
 

n

Letter Art: Handwriting, Guest Artist

lettering R

 

My first Lettering Guest Artist is my step-brother, Rainer Arndt. Once, we were a team in Pictionary. When he drew and I guessed, we were unstoppable. He could render the object in a few lines. When I drew & he guessed, he couldn’t identify my drawing even when he knew what I was aiming at. Welcome Rainer.

Rainer on Rodney’s Saga
Happy Rubber Ducky Day