Virtual Brush Box

Show Report, Not

Saddle Seat Wednesday

I did not ride at the second Winter Tournament show last Saturday. Car accident. No transportation. I’m fine.

The accident happened Thursday night, with no traffic, on a major four-lane road. I was driving harmlessly along, heading home, thinking about stopping at the grocery store to pick up canned cat food. The other car drove straight into my back-end. I was going maybe 50 mph. The other driver was going 60? 70? This sounds dramatic, but the lack of vector differential significantly reduced the effective force.

The other car, a Honda Fit, spun wildly, ended up far off the road, and had a completely crumpled front end. Driver was up and fine. My valiant little Fiat 500 stopped in a straight line on the side of the road with a broken fender and dented trunk. After the deputy sheriff Hulked-out the piece of plastic rubbing one of the rear tires, I was able to drive home!

I don’t know if going home was the right answer. Once I did that, I had no way to get anywhere. I had no idea how deep the damage was. Car wasn’t moving again until headed for the shop. My husband’s car was at the airport. However, solving possible tow/taxi/rental issues at 11:30 at night did not appeal. All I wanted to do was creep home and pull up the drawbridge.

This meant I was stuck carless at home for 2 1/2 days. In more serious circumstances, there are people I could call who would be glad to help. I was fine. The house had enough food. Sitting quietly was a sensible response. Boring, but sensible.

Probably just as well I did not go to the show. It would not have been my A-game. I was very fortunate, but being subject to that much kinetic energy left me stiff and sore. Plus the adrenalin backwash took at least a day to work out of my system. So I sat.

Clearly, the ones who suffered most were the cats. Nothing but dry food all weekend. We were low on dog food, but I made up the difference with enough people food that they didn’t mind.

Over at the show, my schedule would have been the same as last month [Report]: three riding classes, one driving. The non-equitation classes had 12 entries. I had been looking forward to seeing if my showmanship had improved enough to get us noticed in the crowd. I had high hopes for the equitation class. The main movement of the new pattern is a canter circle that I ride as a jumper roll-back. In lessons, I was knocking it out of the park.

I mention the accident here because when the Winter Tournament banquet rolls around, my inner competitor will have a fit. She wants all! the! ribbons! I will need to remind her that I missed a show. I will need to reminding her why I missed a show. Won’t matter. Bitch has tunnel vision.

What Are You Driving At?

breastplate

Greg (husband): You aren’t doing anything with Milton. I’m going to make him my driving horse.

Katherine (me): Have you lost your mind?

G: He’s athletic. He’s competitive. He’ll love it.

K: Thoroughbreds don’t drive. Have you ever seen a Thoroughbred at a Combined Driving competition?

G: Our friend J drove a sleigh through the snow with his Thoroughbred stallion. So-and-so mentioned that her a Thoroughbred gelding loved to drive.

K: Okay, a handful. You hear about it because it’s unusual. The Internet has videos of jumping Clydesdales. Should I get one as my next jumper?

G: Milton lunges. He long lines. He’s happy wearing Mathilda’s old blinkers [Driving Miss M].

K: What happens if he has a Thoroughbred moment while pulling a cart?

G: We’ll let him tell us if he wants to do it. We’ll keep going until he says no. Or yes.

K: What the green thing?

G: I made a breastcollar out of webbing (Strapworks.com) for proof-of-concept. We’ll see how he feels about the idea of pulling before we invest in harness. Think of it as a trial run.

K: Funny you should use the word ‘run’. Is it a good idea to take a horse with a history of galloping into the sunset [Universe] and tie him up with indestructible straps?

G: It has breakways, like Rodney’s reins [Headgear]. We’ll get leather before anyone’s ass is on the line.

K: I have to admit, you do good work.

breastplate closeup

Barn Rule: High Tide Raises All Boats

Rodney Jan 10 2016

Rodney’s nose is out of joint. Now that Milton is less of an equus non grata, he is getting more attention. Rodney thinks this is coming out of his total. Rodney thinks life is a zero sum game.

I’ve sat them down together – figuratively – and explained that this is a team event. What is good for one is good for both. Let’s say Milton galloped around the AEC in North Carolina this year, to pick an example at random. My resulting good humor would benefit every living thing within shouting distance. Milton would get seriously spoiled, and so would Rodney.

This is the first time I’ve had two horses. There were times that I was lucky enough to have a second ride, for example, with Party Manners [Yin, photo], and with George [Sidesaddle, photo]. In both cases, the horse was cared for and ridden by the owner. With Previous Horse and Mathilda, Previous Horse came first. Period. If I rode him first, he would wander off to graze in another part of the pasture while I rode Mathilda. If I dared to ride Mathilda first, PH would strafe us. Seriously. He would canter up next to us and start kicking. Plus Mathilda belonged to Greg. Soothing her ego was his job.

It will be interesting to balance Rodney and Milton. Both horses have high opinions of themselves. Both horses expect the world to agree.

Letter Art: Definitions of Terms

I have been incorrect in my usage for Sunday posts.

Typography Versus Lettering
Typography has to do with type. Little bits of metal (usually) used in repeat printings. Lettering is the custom drawing of a small group of letters for a specific purpose.

“Type: prefabricated letters that are made to be reused many times and in any order.
“Lettering: one-of-a-kind letters that are made (drawn, painted, carved) in situ for a single piece.”
Lettering is Not Type: Clear Definitions for Commonly Abused Terms by Stephen Coles

My use of “typography” as a category was flat out wrong. The “Text Art” title was technically correct. It’s all text. OTOH, text can also refer to the block of words or to the content independent of the text style. The current running title is more accurate.

“Mark Simonson made a nice analogy that helps distinguish the two: Lettering differs from type in the same way that modeling clay differs from Lego bricks.” ibid

(Speaking of correct usage, it should be LEGO bricks. At least that is what the company would prefer. As an AFOL, that’s what I use. In the newspaper world, AP style trumps corporate style. But I digress.)

Lettering Versus Calligraphy
Calligraphers write letters. Letters draw letters.

“Calligraphy is based on penmanship; it’s essentially “writing letters.” Lettering, on the other hand, is based on draftsmanship, i.e. “drawing letters.”
Understanding The Difference Between Type And Lettering
By Joseph Alessio

Typeface Versus Font
While we are at it, typeface & font are not the same

Typeface: the design of a set of characters.
Font: the vessel for a set of characters.
Clear Definitions

Not sure I grok this.

“I often see “typographer” used to describe someone who makes typefaces, but we have separate terms for these two very different disciplines, just like blacksmiths make hammers and carpenters use them.” ibid

So What?
Does the difference matter? In the sense of ‘Ooooh, look at the pretty letters”, not at all. In my effort to learn about the field, yes. I would be interested in a book on lettering. I would be less interested in a book on typography.

Milton Meets My Little Pony, Guest Post

LB color page purple

From the same hand that brought us Art Nouveau Horse.

Out of Creative Haven Nature Mandalas Coloring Book by Marty Noble (Facebook page).

How is this My Little Pony? The image echoes the show’s color scheme, which hovers at the pink/purple end of the spectrum, albeit less pastel. MLP:FIM Wiki

BTW, in Googling the above, I came across a post on the creator’s motivation behind MLP: Friendship is Magic. My Little NON-Homophobic, NON-Racist, NON-Smart-Shaming Pony: A Rebuttal by Lauren Faust (Deviant Art page). Of note, the subtitle is extremely important. Earlier versions of MLP are too insipid to be borne. MLP:FIM counts as generation four. MLP Wikidedia

Foto Friday: The Daily Object, December 2015

Photo project from my Instagram feed, @rodneyssaga.

TDO Dec 2015

Began and ended with Starbucks.
Food-related photos (food item or taken at a restaurant): 9, four of them from Starbucks. Used the “free” downloading for new tablet. Given the price of their hot chocolate, this may be false economy.
Horse-related photos: 4. The pearlesque thing is a hairband for this weekend’s show. [*]
Travel (NYC) photos: 3. The Auntie Anne’s pretzel bite was both food & travel
Total 15 photos.

Routine explanation: started Instagram as a blog tie-in. Did this instead. A single object each day. Nothing to do with the blog. Occasionally to do with horses. Published here for archival purposes.

Last month – Foto Friday: The Daily Object, November 2015

*Update: No show. Report, Not.

Goodbye Dr. Margaret

Dr. Margaret has left The MindSide. Since my financial arrangement for sport psychology appointments was with the company rather than with her personally, I am following the money. I meet with my new MindSide person tomorrow. Details when I find out what level of exposure the new person is comfortable with.

The advice so far has been great: daily progress is a paper thin layer that accumulates over time, being nervous means I care, treat feelings as information. On the other hand, the advice so far has also been general. I could have gotten it from a book. The point, I assume, of a personal consult is advice tailored in a way that I am most likely to hear it.

This is nothing against Dr. Margaret. I was impressed with her diligence. After our first meeting, she responded to all the emails, tweets, and links I sent her way. She even came out to Stepping Stone Farm to observe a lesson. She watched closely but asked fewer questions than I expected. I had a sense that she was gathering and processing. We never had a chance to go over her synthesis of the data stream that is my life. I leave it as an exercise for you to imagine how much information I am capable of dumping on a person.

She offered to continue working with me. I will keep that in mind. However, at the moment I feel less riddled with nerves. I’m energized from the trip to NYC [Crystal Horses]. It is off-season for the Saddlebreds. The home team is showing flickers of progress [Naptime]. I feel motivated about work [Hello 2016!]. Do I really need this? Was I simply bored and living too much in my head?

If they had offered a refund, or conversely if they had been sticky about the changeover, I might have bailed on the whole idea. Instead, they came up with a compromise of an introductory half session to get the new person up to speed, along with Dr. Margaret’s notes. As I said earlier, I have no illusions of being a special snowflake. Anyone with experience in the field could probably sum me up in a sentence: Katherine is an ABC type, with XYZ tendencies. Inscrutable has never been a good look on me.

So, I shall keep going. Even if I’m not so badly off, I can always improve.

Previous The MindSide Posts
Meet Dr. Margaret
First Appointment
Why Bother With Nerves?
Positives 12/1/15

Update: Appointment postponed to 1/14/16.
Update: Second appointment canceled. Insurance adjuster chose that time to check out the car [Not]. As with blacksmiths, one says thank you & waits.