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Hay Bale Art: Thanksgiving 2014
To the US: Happy Thanksgiving!
To the rest of the world: Happy Thursday!
Courtesy of:
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Thank you!
Show Report & Tweets: Georgia Fall Classic 2014
Georgia Fall Classic Horse Show [Facebook]
Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter
Perry, GA
November 22 & 23 (Two days of Academy!)
Academy WTC Adult with Sultan’s Miracle Man (Sam)
1 of 4 in four classes. A sweep. That never gets old.
Thank you to the Donovan family.
Ending the year the way we began: me, Sam, and big ribbons [Show Report: Pro Am]. Plus, I didn’t have to stomp any children to win [Quietude: Plus, plus].
I rode hard. I did well. I had one major fail. In four tries, I was unable to achieve a successful victory pass. The first two times, we cantered. This has happened previously [Show Report: Decatur]. As I enjoy a good gallop around the ring, I may not downshift as quickly as I should. After the third class, we trotted, but in a flat, uninteresting fashion. Fourth class. We are gonna do this thing. I planned a nice wide turn. Sam had good energy. We hit the straightaway with a smokin’ show trot. Only to have Sam spook and bolt at a dog running in the stands. The dog belong to someone from Stepping Stone. It was his own damn dog. A fact that I reminded him of. Loudly. In the middle of the ring.
Oh well, if I am going to blow one element, better the victory pass than a section being judged.
Not all the riders in my class had a good day. After the class, I heard reports of numerous difficulties. However, my spotters did such a good job of keeping me by myself that I saw very little. Gonna miss the tradition of ringside coaching if & when I compete elsewhere.
Sam – as wonderful as he is – doesn’t do it for free. If the rider goes to sleep at the wheel, Sam is happy to oblige. For example, if I let him get strung out at the canter, he is likely to break into a trot in the corner. I have to keep a steady hand and give sharp, jabby picks with the reins. This feels wrong at a cellular level. On the other hand, I have never truly grasped the idea of contact in any discipline. It could be this is the take-and-give that dressage instructors have been yapping on about. It could be I have had the wrong end of the stick for all these years. It could be that what I consider contact has in truth been hanging on the mouth with a heavy-handed, inconsiderate pull. Sam certainly prefers when I do it his way.
Photos by Doug Shiflet
Saturday Morning > 024 – Aca Equitation WTC Adult & 025 – Aca Showmanship-Pleasure WTC Adult
Sunday Morning > 073 – Aca Equitation WTC Adult Championship & 074 – Aca Showmanship-Pleasure WTC Adult Championship.
The helmet is impossible to miss.
also
Saturday Afternoon > 068 – Parent Lead Line. I led Elvis. 068-035-GF14 is me inciting the crowd to greater applause.
Photo by Mom
… hear …
Got one from Wheels Down as expected, but can’t find it. Instead, another retweet that has even less to do with airplanes than mine:
At least my tweet involved traveling. I wonder if Wheels Down is automated.
Photo by Mom
Also a tidy canter equals a tidy downwards transition. Also duh.
If you ever show at the GA Fairgrounds, I recommend the NPH’s
Signature Cream of Celery Soup.
… are …
cp
Yeah, there are a lot of ribbon pictures. But we got a lot of ribbons. Plus, the show was nice enough to purchase championship ribbons for Academy. They didn’t last year.
“A sandwich figure eight is two figure eights done one on top of the other. Normally it’s done by trotting the first circle to the left, canter the second circle to the right, canter the third circle to the left, trot the fourth circle to the right. Stop. You want all four circles to be of the same size, so it looks like you are tracing an identical pattern.” Machogirl on Cutback Chat. Both riders got the pattern but did two (or more) trot circles, then two (or more) canter circles. Group fail.
One final ribbon photo:
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Spotted Working Out
Last scale encounter was 148.8 lbs. Goal weight of 150 pounds achieved. Unfortunately that means the squishy midsection is flab not fat. Winter Quest: the search for those elusive core muscles.
BTW, the outdoor pool at my local YMCA is bubbled over in the winter. There is a gap between the door to the bubble and the door to the building. I have the opportunity for a brief Swedish sauna experience every time I’m done swimming. Brr!
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Quotes on Writing and Blogging
[List of previous monthly State of the Blog posts]
“Our innate desire to control our world by means of satisfying narratives.”
The Folklore of Discworld
by Terry Pratchett & Jacqueline Simpson
[Corgi (or possibly Doubleday UK, online sources differ) 2008]
page 10, taken from the online extract here. My copy has gone walkabout.
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“Add to that the general slow migration away from blogs toward other social media, which is occurring in tandem with the Internet generally changing from something you read during a long sit in front of a computer to a thing you glance at from a phone while you’re on your way to (or wasting time during) some other thing.”
John Scalzi
Whatever: 16 Years
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“Yes, of course the media that’s being created on the spot, the live, the intuitive, this matters. But that doesn’t mean we don’t desperately need people like you to dig in and type.”
Seth Godin
Seth’s Blog: Without a keyboard
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“When you write a memoir, it seems to me you have to ask this question: Why would anyone care?”
Linda Holmes
NPR: What’s Wrong With Julie Powell’s ‘Cleaving’
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“I’m not happy when I’m writing, but I’m more unhappy when I’m not.”
By Fannie Hurst, Found on Blondewritemore: Good writing quote alert!
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“I really do love writing. It’s just that I also hate it with the burning passion of a thousand fiery suns.”
Listful Thinking: This Love Has Taken its Toll on Me, August 28, 2014
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“Readers bring a set of expectations with them, and my readers seem to be divided into three fairly distinct groups … How do I handle this? The only way I know how. I write only to please myself and pray you’ll come with me on my journey.”
&
“Writing gets harder for me instead of easier …”
Susan Elizabeth Phillips: Because Life’s Too Short To Read Depressing Books.
Author’s Website: F.A.Q.
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Text Art: On The Map
RODNEY, MS
“It was in the 1840’s and 1850’s — during the heyday of steamboats and cotton — that Rodney became one of Mississippi’s most prosperous towns and the busiest river port between New Orleans and St. Louis. In fact, it missed being named the capital of Mississippi by three votes.”
Southern Lagniappe: A Place Called Rodney
Atmospheric photos of desolate, abandoned buildings.
“Located in Jefferson County, about 32 miles northeast of Natchez, Mississippi, Rodney was once such an important city that it very nearly became the capitol of Mississippi. Today, it is a ghost town with only a handful of area residents.”
Legends of America: Mississippi Legends, Rodney – From Prominence to Ghost Town
MILTON, MA & Others
“There are more than 20 towns and cities in the United States named Milton—from the 200-person Milton, North Carolina, to the 25,000-person suburb of Boston called Milton, Massachusetts … The new experimental performance project MILTON looks at what five of these places tell us about what it means to be an American.”
WUNC: What Five Towns Named Milton Tell Us About America
“There are 20 states with towns or cities named Milton – with NY and WI each having TWO by that name.” Answers.com: CA, FL, DE, GA, IL, IN, IA, KY, LA, ME, MA, NC, ND, NH, NY, PA, VT, WA, WI, WV
How many states have a town named Milton?
Also
Australia – 2
Canada – 3
England – 7
New Zealand – 1
&
Scotland – 7
(ignoring the Milton _____ towns, e.g. Milton Keynes).
Wiki: Milton
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Show Today: GA Fall Classic Horse Show 2014
I didn’t go to this show last year. Therefore, no picture. [They Said It Couldn’t Be Done. Horse Show Version]
Regular readers have heard me go on at length about what I learned at Nationals this year. My goal for today & tomorrow is to see if that was solid breakthrough or a verbose flash in the pan. [List of 2014 posts]
It will be interesting to see how my vivid new outfit does at a smaller show. Things that rock on Broadway sometimes don’t play well in the provinces. [Photos]
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Gratuitous Parking Photo
It drives bigger than it looks. [What’s In Your Stocking]
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Virtual Brush Box 