Text Art: T is for Tweet

Alphabet 2015
S is for Stepping Stone
R is for Rodney
Q is for Quilt
P is for Peppermint
O is for Outstanding
N is for Nail
M is for Mathilda
L is for Longe Line
K is for Kopertox(R)
J is for Jump
I is for Irons
H is for Hay
G is for Green Grass
F is for Feed
E is for Eventing
D is for Dressage
C is for Caesar
B is for Boot
A Is For Appaloosa

Referral Saturday: Horseback Reads

Update, August 2018: Site has been discontinued.

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Equine author Maggie Dana is on a new site for horsey authors, Horseback Reads: “I’m really excited and honored to be among these writers. I like their books and they’re also great people … from all over. The gal who started the site is from Ottawa, and our most distant author is Kate Lattey (middle-grade/YA) in New Zealand. The rest of us are scattered around the US. I’m the token Brit.”

Pageflex Persona [document: PRS0000032_00020]

Maggie explains further: “Authors in Horseback Reads are Tudor Robins, Maggie Dana, Barbara Morgenroth, Kate Lattey, Mara Dabrishus, Natalie Keller Reinert, and Kim Ablon Whitney. Kate is a Pony Club leader in New Zealand and she actively competes in show jumping, Mara is a librarian, Kim is a former Medal rider and now a USEF “R” judge, Natalie was once a racehorse exercise rider. The rest of us either now own or have owned horses and we’ve all competed. Four of us have been traditionally published and together, we bring a wealth of knowledge and stories to Horseback Reads.”

Tudor Robins (the site’s originator) explains why these authors chose to work together: “We’re a mix of hybrid and indie published authors. We’re all writing for lovers of equestrian fiction … adult, YA, and middle-grade readers.”

“Horse-lovers tend to be book-lovers and we know there’s a big collective audience out there. We also know, as individual authors, that our readers can’t get enough of our particular books, and read much faster than we can write. To satisfy our readers, and tap into the larger pool of horse-loving readers, seven of us decided to band together. We don’t believe we’re in competition – rather we think we’re in cahoots – to keep our readers happy, to keep them reading, to make sure when they finish one horse book, and reach for another, one of us has a great book waiting for them.”

Thank you, Maggie. Good luck with the new venture.
~~~
Confession: I don’t often read horse books for entertainment, Dick Francis aside. Nor do I read books about firefighting, nor about Life in the South. I’m DOING those things. Why do I need to read about them? I am more likely to read for vicarious experience of something I would never do, for example The Lunatic Express: Discovering the World . . . via Its Most Dangerous Buses, Boats, Trains, and Planes by Carl Hoffman [Broadway 2010].

I offer the Horseback Reads page on the theory that others may feel differently.

Websites
Horseback Reads, Facebook
Maggie Dana
Timber Ridge Riders

Maggie on RS
You’re Not Done Yet: Writing the Book Is Just the First Step
Judging a Book by its Cover
Keeping Secrets

Previous Referral Saturdays
Cover Girl
Snark-o-licious
Adieu

Boot Camp 2015, Progress Report 1

I am fortunate to spend two months messing with horses, anything below is said with that in mind. [Let the Tune-Up Begin]

Expected
☺ Saddle Time? Check. Once the brain catches on, the body needs repetition until the muscles remember.

☺ Too tired to do more than come home, shower, & collapse into bed? Check. Cue understanding spouse.

☺ Time off while horses are away? Check. Fallow days are easier to enjoy after a series of busy days. [To Every Thing There Is A Season]

Unexpected
☺ Mental Tiredness. I know that one’s physical state affects one’s mental state. I keep losing track of how much. I forget how slow & stupid my brain gets when my body is slow & stupid.

☺ Solo Riding. If time allows after my lesson, I get turned loose with one of the beginner school horses. It’s been years since I rode alone. As I walked Old Reliable toward the ring, I found I was bracing myself, waiting for him to transform spontaneously into a bucking, snorting, twirling Tasmanian Devil. This is not an idle concern on my part. It has happened with Rodney [Back To Square One] and with Milton [Did I Piss Off the Universe?]. One thing Rodney’s saga (the experience, not the blog) has taken from me is faith in my ability to handle a crisis. Without this belief, one is reduced to school horses and horse petting.

☺ Purpose. ‘Equitation is a pointless exercise in posing,’ thought by me, in snit. “The difference between bad riding and good riding? I can‘t see good riding.” Jimmy Wofford. I go back and forth on this question. [Form Follows Function versus Form Does Not Follow Function]

One reason I had trouble sitting quietly was that I attempted to hold myself in position by brute force. This led to stiffness, which led to bouncing, which led to people yelling at me be still, which led to more stiffness, which led to more yelling, ad infinitum until the class was over.

I think, possibly, that a decent equitation position is secretly a dynamically active neutral position, from which a rider can influence the horse. Equation classes are exercises in body control. Maybe. Ask me after the next progress report.

Caveat
I am undoubtedly working harder at Academy than most. If effort was a measure, Nationals would be a walkover. Unfortunately effort means diddly squat. It’s all about whatcha got on the day. I could get smoked by someone who started riding as an adult, has natural poise, and rides an retired big eq champion. At which point I smile and say thank you. That’s the game I signed up for.

~~~
Gratuitous Cat Pic. What happens when I cat-sit.

Sagira
Sagira

More Sagira, Spotted with a Friend

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Show Tweets: Southeastern Charity 2015

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Southeastern Charity Horse Show
Georgia International Horse Park
Conyers Georgia, USA
September 16-19, 2015
Show Report

Pants comfortable while riding. Will cop to surreptitious waistband loosening between classes.

Heading to the ring. Photo by G
Heading to the ring.
Photo by G

Show Report: Southeastern Charity 2015

SE CH sign

Southeastern Charity Horse Show
Georgia International Horse Park
Conyers Georgia, USA
September 16-19, 2015

With Alvin Ailey
101. Academy Equitation – Walk, Trot & Canter – Adult, 1st of 4.
102. Academy Showmanship – Walk, Trot & Canter – Adult, 2nd of 4.
115. Academy Walk, Trot & Canter Championship, 7th of 11.
Thank you to the Wamble family for the ride on Alvin the Awesome.

SE CH Alvin 1

Pro Photos: Doug Shiflet Photography > 2015 Southeastern Charity > Sat ACA > class numbers above. Blue helmet (only helmet), black horse. Alvin was also in:
099A – Driving. Winner
111 – Aca Equitation WT 9-10
112 – Aca Showmanship WT 9-10. Winner
116 – Aca WT Championship
Copyright rant

The Spinning Plate Theory
My nerves are all about the run-up to a class. Once I’m in the ring, I cease to be nervous. I may be a hot mess, but I’m not nervous.

I was less eaten up with dread at this show. Of course, I was still stressed. Who isn’t? I still hate the waiting. Who doesn’t? But I felt more as if my ‘butterflies were flying in formation’, per Jimmy Wofford.

So what happened?

In the first class at my previous show, I aimed too high and fell into a flopping heap [Report]. This was partly out of arrogance. Academy? Pffft. I got this. Mainly, it was from trying to recreate the lovely feeling I had in recent lessons, wherein I maintained a solid position while Alvin trucked along in fine style. Turns out I can’t achieve elegant horse AND elegant rider on demand. Not yet.

First off, I vowed to respect the division and my competition. If I choose to play on a given field, I should take seriously the parameters of said field.

Second, I worried about my position and let Alvin worry about himself. This is why one rides a school horse in a training wheels division.

In a lesson, I can keep three or four plates spinning at once, five on a good day. No joy comes from suddenly deciding that six plates will be required for competition. Subconsciously, I know this will not be possible. Anxiety ensues. At a show. I need to concentrate on keeping one or two plates successfully aloft. In dressage terms: train at level X+1, show at level X. In jumping terms: just because you can jump one 4′ fence, at home, with a following breeze, doesn’t mean you are ready to show over a 4′ course. Current thinking is that my excessive nerves came from knowing that I was about to be floundering out of my depth.

Before my classes on Saturday, I thought about keeping my hands up. One plate. I can handle that.

SE CH Alvin 3

Photos by g with Nikon