Virtual Brush Box

Livestream of Rolex XC Today!

What: The Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event

When: Colleen Rutledge and Shiraz start off at 9:45 EST. Boyd Martin and Master Frisky are the last ride at 1:25 EST. Looks like they are going straight through. No two-hour lunch break. Ride Times.

Who: I have no idea. I vaguely recognize about half the names. No clue who is hot these days. I’m just hoping for an American win. It’s been seven years since Phillip Dutton won in 2008 with Connaught. Much as I admire Mr. Dutton’s riding, he is a product of the Australian system. It’s been 10 years since American eventing produced a four-star winner. Kim Severson won Rolex with Winsome Adante in 2005. Full list of Rolex winners. Simplified list of Rolex CCI**** winners.

It would be nice if we could win our own damn event.

~~~
Rolex is not only continuing without me, but has the audacity to change and improve. The media tours are now given on horseback. Saddle seeks Horse: I’m Riding at Rolex this Week. For Reals. Want!

Rolex reminiscences:
2012
Monday, Preparation: Peregrinatio in Stabilitate
Tuesday: Lexington, sorta
Wednesday, The Jog: Riding at Rolex
Thursday, Day 1: Digital Killed the Party
Friday, Day 2: Foto Friday: Celebrity Mounted Games
Saturday, Cross-Country: From Inside The Ropes
Sunday, Finale: Aftermath
Monday, Coming Back to Home: Living Virtually

My Rolex haiku on Eventing Nation

2013
Kentucky Memories

2014
This time last year, I was finishing up the month of alphabet posts: What Do You Want?

Foto Friday: Milton, Mark II

Part 4 of 3: A New Hope

[Part 3: Perseverance]
[Part 2: Hindsight]
[Part 1: Clean Cups!]

Perseverance

Part 3 of 3
[Part 2: Hindsight]
[Part 1: Clean Cups!]

Did we keep plugging away at Milton’s issues from strength of character? Not really. We got stuck. Actually, I got stuck. My steadfast support staff maintained that it would work out. Partly in self-defense. He didn’t want to be living with me if it did not.

As a hypothetical exercise, I imagined a stranger rolling up my driveway with a trailer to say, “I want to buy Milton. Here is X dollars in cash to cover the cost of the horse and the shipping. It will be be as if it never happened.”

Hypothetical response 1: Take him he’s yours.
Hypothetical response 2: No. No. I want keep him after all.
My hypothetical response: ???

I had no idea what I wanted. Even hypothetically.

Logistics
Where would I find another horse? I was not swimming in options. In several years of horse shopping, the closest candidate we’d found was an unbroke 9 year old. Not a good idea at all, but my rescue impulses were running strong. At least Milton saved me from that blunder.

Psychology
I was done. So very, very done. If this didn’t work out, I could not imagine starting again. Overreaction? Undoubtedly. Didn’t make it any less real.

Trust
Despite all evidence to the contrary, I retained my trust in Fairy Godmother’s judgment [Mail-Order Horse]. If she said Milton was a good one, then there was a nice horse in there. Somewhere.

COUNTERPOINT
All of the preceding assumes that things will be different with Milton. Perhaps nothing has changed. Perhaps this week’s posts have been an exercise in misguided optimism.

Hindsight

Part 2 of 3
[Part 1: Clean Cups!]

Why were we so thick? Why did it take us so long to notice that Milton was Not Quite Right?

Novelty
A new horse has no baseline. What is normal? We tried ulcer meds for a month [So What, November]. He got pissier. We showered them with hay [Ranch, March]. They ate it. We raised feed rations [Miseries, February]. Ditto.

Maybe Milton simply had an irritable personality. It happens. Previous Horse could have been grumpy on a national team. After living with that for 20 years, Milton’s mild case was not remarkable.

Blame
Clearly any problems were All My Fault [Deconstructed, December]. Milton was uncooperative and unpleasant. He was not awful. He was not impossible. If I tried harder, was more motivated … If I was a better rider, a better person … If I would just suck it up and ride the damn horse …

Despair
Milton was supposed to be the easy horse. The horse I turned to as a relief from the quagmire of frustration that is Rodney. The specter of a second pasture ornament exceeded my ability to cope.

Clean Cups!

Part 1 of 3

“`I want a clean cup,’ interrupted the Hatter: `let’s all move one place on.'”
Alice in Wonderland

Milton is a different horse.

Changing his feed has finally addressed the what-the-hell factor that has plagued us since the beginning. To quote Buffy Bourbon [again Patterns], emphasis mine:

“My best guess for Milton might be a soy sensitivity? Most of the extruded feeds like senior are heavy in soy, and some horses just can’t deal with it. From anecdotal evicence i’ve heard that in horses that are sensitive, it can cause just all-over malaise and body aches and just general NQR.” [Feed]

Milton is still young and ignorant and an occasional brat. But now it’s what one would expect from a 7-year-old ex-racehorse. This I can deal with. OTOH, the plan is still for Milton to go an enclosed ring for a cowboy or cowboy-equivalent to ride first. I’m hopeful, not foolhardy.

Can I declare the last six months never happened? Can we start over?

Update: Feed Bag Comparison

Same Word, New World

You’ve heard of horse rescue? Dog rescue? How about plant rescue?

Last week, I attended a talk at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens on identifying native plants (inset).

One of the plants we saw was a “rescue”. When a property is to be developed, plant folks swoop in to dig up, transplant, and save the greenery. Plant rescue. Who knew?
~~~
Gratuitous Garden Picture