Horses & Other Interests
I read about these on The $900 Facebook pony: Hamer & Clay wins Christmas. Want! Without tack & rider, Rodney or Milton would look kinda generic. Who to get? Sam, of course. I sent her a pile of links to various photos with a wodge of instructions, including an invitation to improve my saddle seat position and Mr. Grumpy’s ear position, but not too much, “Us at our best moment, not an us that never existed.”
Nailed it.
Update: How big is it?
If I ever show Milton at the FEI levels, I will have to pay $1000 or show him under his racing name.
The FEI will first default to the name of the horse in a document issued at birth … (or) … the horse’s first studbook document … (or) … the first original document issued for the horse. Eventing Nation: New FEI Rule Charges $1,000 Fee for Passport Name Changes, Adding Prefixes
If the horse has no documentation, please yourself. I guess.
Clearly, this is not a pressing concern. However, it did make me realize that I never shared his race name. For a compulsive data freak such as myself, this is an inexplicable oversight.
Introducing:
Major Conn
by Bold Executive out of Ginger Gerry
with contributions by Bold Ruler (4 generations back), Northern Dancer (4), & Native Dancer (5)
2 starts, $790
Pedigree Online
Good? Bad? I have no idea. Anyone understand TB bloodlines?
From a reader vacationing in Mexico,
We were on our way down a dusty, unpacked dirt road to see the crocodiles, who are now fenced in to protect the tourists. And voila! You just never know.
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More Foreign Barn: El Palomino Ranch, Guest Photo
That awkward moment when you are alone in the pool and the sweet young thing who swims well enough to be a lifeguard has nothing to do but watch your discoordinated flounderings.
That awkward moment when you realized that not only does your mother-in-law buy your husband’s clothes, she buy most of yours as well.
That awkward moment when you are amazed at the advanced age of someone in your college alumni bulletin only to realize they are in your class.
That awkward moment when you are taking a lesson that involves moving around the dance floor, riding arena, teaching space, you pass by your instructor talking to onlookers, you hear your name and then you move out of earshot before finding out the rest.
That awkward moment when you realize that you forgot to check the paper situation before you sat down.
That awkward moment when you are greeted by the entire staff of a small restaurant and you attempt to convince your dining partner, ‘No, really, I don’t come here that often.’
That awkward moment when you are taking a lesson that involves moving around the dance floor, riding arena, teaching space and you look over to see your husband and your instructor laughing together.
That awkward moment when you hear a noise and realize that the cat and the dog are in the room with you.
That awkward moment when you are watching your boyfriend do a long pan to check out a woman walking by the car, then he whips his head back toward the passenger seat to see if you noticed, and you are looking directly at him.
That awkward moment when you realize you pressed Reply instead of Forward.
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Gratuitous Soothing Moment
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OT 4.21.14 edited
On the way to Saturday’s show [Report], my medical advisor dosed me with 200mg of caffeine, the equivalent of more than five 12-ounce Cokes (35mg each). Those who know me IRL are saying, “Why? For the love of all that is holy, WHY?!” I can be … perky. I am not an obvious candidate for a stimulant.
In stressful situations, the standard response is an activation of the sympathetic nervous system [Wiki], otherwise known as fight-or-flight. The opposite is an activation of the parasympathetic nervous system [Wiki], otherwise known as rest-and-digest. Part of the parasympathetic nervous system is a vasovagel response [Wiki, Mayo Clinic]. This is the process that can cause one to faint when giving blood (done this) or have a systemic response to a minor injury (this too).
His theory was that my show nerves are the latter rather than the former. We already know that I vagel out in other situations. The idea was to see if straight caffeine would keep me from crumbling at a show.
It worked. My stomach stopped hurting. I stopped trying to nap in the car. I didn’t feel quite so awful getting ready for my classes. He’s not denying the mental side of the game [Report], but feels that getting the body tuned can’t hurt. As a surgeon, he takes a mechanistic approach to health.
This would explain why exhorting myself to calm down wasn’t working. This would also explain my obsession with the little red can [Motivation], when I have no other strong food behaviors.
It didn’t work as well for the Horsemanship Challenge on Sunday [Report]. First, I fiddled with taking several lower doses over time. Second, there was not enough caffeine in the world to make me happy about hopping on strange horses.
Much less nervous, particularly at the show on Saturday [Report]. Oh, I still have butterflies. However, I have gone back to a sustainable population of the native species: gray bodies with long silver antennae and wings of Inner Princess pink. On one wing is written “Nerves”; on the other, “Excitement.” I let the invasive species takeover for way too long.
I’m not the average saddle seat rider …
Most Academy riders are not as intense about riding as I am. Last year, I showed more than most of our suit riders.
I am new to saddle seat but not new to riding. I am an adult in an introductory division, but am not a beginner nor a rerider. I did not take a break from riding to have a career/raise kids/join the Peace Corps. I’ve been here all along, plugging away. I don’t fit into the standard narratives.
I am an AOT (amateur-owner trainer), this in not common in my corner of the saddle seat world (although, I hear it is more common elsewhere). While I don’t have Saddlebreds, I am familiar with the struggles of attempting progress outside of professional supervision: riding on my own, preparing my horses, arranging lessons, picking shows. It gives me a different outlook. And throws me off when this is all done for me.
… trying to make myself one …
It takes a great deal of self-belief when everyone else is over there & you are over here. More self-belief than I often have. There was not any particular activity, lesson, or show that I should have done or not done. It was more a matter of trying to make myself feel a certain way, or to have a certain outlook.
The desire to fit in is not necessarily bad. It is how we learn the unspoken mores of group. Plus social acceptance = a share of the mammoth and a place by the fire.
The desire to fit in can be bad – or at least not helpful – when it masks a desire to be loved. Rodney is not the only one in the barn with a bottomless need for approval & attention.
Nota Bene: All of this Sturm und Drang has been internally imposed. Folks have been happy to accept me as I am. Take helmets as an example. I said: I’m wearing one. Universal saddle seat response: Okay [Postscript].
… was making me nuts.
Self evident. This was the theory that came out of my last sports psych appointment [And So We Leave Behind the Sports Psychology Adventure].
Bottom Line
Be myself. I suck at being anyone else.
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Tomorrow, the other half of the mind/body equation.
