A Good Evening’s Work – Milton

One evening last week, we took both horses out to the ring. Rodney watched [A Good Evening] while Milton worked.

Milton is a brat.

Brat. Brat. Brat.

Greg ground-drove. Milton wandered. He dragged his feet. He saw no point to whatever was being asked. Greg would drive him down a chute of ground poles. Instead of taking the obvious path forward, Milton would take two steps, then step over one of the poles and drift off to the side.

Milton is clever but lazy, mentally as well as physically. He’ll fulfill his contract, but has an eye out for subclauses that work in his favor. He has a strong streak of self-interest. Milton is always pleased with himself. You, he’s not so sure about. He’s not gonna go out of his way to do you any favors that you haven’t earned. If he were a person, he’d have gone to an Ivy League college. He’s a smart ass.

If Milton & I ever get to serious work, I will need to invent constant changes of direction and exercise. He will not suffer endless 20-meter circles. By the second circle, he will be looking for what trouble he can get into. Similarly, if I ever aim him at a corner on cross-country, I had better be dead on my line. If I give him an inch, he will run to the side of the jump with the smug air of Don’t blame me. I just went where you pointed.

However, if the rider (or driver) can get his respect and attention, Milton will put all that cleverness to work for you.
~~~
Show Report Teaser

NE GA Sam 4

Details tomorrow.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

A Good Evening’s Work – Rodney

One evening last week, we took both horses out to the ring. Milton worked while Rodney watched.

Rodney is not dumb. Okay, he is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, but he is not dull-witted. His mind goes a million miles an hour. Usually wondering what part of the sky is about to fall on him.

For our evening’s activity, we stood. That’s it. No work. No walking. He played couch. He was a star. The tricky bit is that we were OUTSIDE of the ring. When I tried this exercise pre-neck adjustment [Zap], he couldn’t do it. He’d fuss. He’d mill. He could not hold it together.

Rodney wants things to be simple. He wants clear, discrete tasks that he understands. Given his limited brain space and his anxiety level, that means really, really small steps. We have yet to underestimate how small to make a step for him. If Rodney & I ever get to serious work, I am going to have to break explanations down to words of one-syllable. Or less.

However, once he grasps an idea and believes in himself, he is thrilled. He loves to be presented with work that he can do. He stood quietly, and happily, and was very proud of himself.

Tomorrow, Milton. A horse of a different stripe.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Letter Art: N is for Nature

2016 letter N

Nature: that which, without horses, I would Never eNcounter.

Naturally, no pasture photo shoot would be complete without a photo bomb by Blue.

N Blue

~~~
2016 Alphabet

M is for My Missing Motivation
L is for Leadline
K is for Knabstrupper
J is for Jenny’s Jodhpurs
I is for I Love You
H is for Halter
G is for Ghost Gallery
F is for Fence
E is for Eventing
D is for Do
C is for Carrot
B is for Brush
A is for Apple

2015 Alphabet

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

State of the Blog: Instagram Hiatus

Camera on phone has flaked out. Mostly likely off Instagram until it is fixed/I update my phone. Alas, I have not been diligent. In the 6 weeks since I opted to concentrate on blog-related photos [SotB: The Daily Object], I have posted nine. @the900facebookpony I am not.

For the time being, I have removed the Instagram widget from the sidebar and am archiving my pix to date from @rodneyssaga.

Igram storage June 2016

Any advice for Instagram once I get reconnected?

Previous state of the blog posts here.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Taking Reference Photos, Driving Version

Greg found last week’s photos to be helpful [Announcement]. For the next lesson, I skipped the attempts at art [Panning Practice] and concentrated on information: 285 variations on Study of Horse and Driver.

Occasionally, it looked like this.

Harmony
Harmony

Once or twice, it looked liked this.

Dude! Watch the hands!
Dude! Watch the hands!

Most of the time, it was somewhere in the middle. This was his fifth combined driving lesson and only a year since his first-ever driving lesson [Driving On]. #wifebrag

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott

Put Down the Hammer, Pick up The Paintbrush

Saddle Seat Wednesday

Chicken or egg? I’m good with the technical details of riding because I’m intrigued by the technical details. I’m intrigued by the technical details of riding because I’m good with the technical details.

Either way, I can spend quite a bit of time pondering the effect that raising the hands has on the rest of the body. Or how the rest of the body affects raising the hands. And so on. Unfortunately, there is a point of diminishing returns. I have ridden in 11 Academy classes so far this year:

3 blues, including a super solid win in the Championship at ProAm [Show Report]
2 reds
2 yellows
1 white
3 thank you for playing. (Yeah, I “won” at ProAm, but only b/c the other person had a worse day. Not my finest hour. Would have been toast in a larger class.)

Ribbons are lovely. I will take them and say thank you. However, the classes are small enough that one usually walks away with a ribbon of some color. In 3 of the 4 shows, my Adult division classes had four entries or fewer. Overall, I left the ring empty-handed only once, to date.

That’s a win rate of just over 25%. I want better. I try to improve by even tighter attention to detail. Where exactly do my hands need to be. How far out do I need to turn my heels. It’s not working. And it’s making me nuts.

When one is building a bookcase, one needs to hammer the parts together. Once the shelves are connected, it does no good to keep hammering on nails that are flush with the surface. One needs to pick up the filling caulk, the sander, etc, and finally the paintbrush.

I can do the riding. I need to work on the overall picture, the pizzazz, the pleasant.

Door prize from a recent barn party.
Door prize from a recent barn party.

In figure skating terms, I need to dial back on the technical merit and work on artistic impression.

In therapeutic terms, I need to relax – to the extent I am able.

In equitation terms, I need flair. [Clinic report]

In sport psychology terms, I need to ride with confidence.

In mechanical terms, I need to loosen the parts of the mechanism that are over-tight, mainly the inside of my head.

In scientific terms, I need to synthesize the data in a workable whole.

In Dionysian terms, I need to have more fun. If that is too frivolous, I need to ride with more joy.

New clothes.
New saddle.
New attitude.

I got this.

Thank you for reading,
Katherine Walcott