My reinterpretation of Life Muses by Ro‘s nifty graphic 10 Tips for Overcoming F**r. (Click on the blue lettering under the share buttons to pull up the jpg.) The first tip is “Do something. Anything. F**r feeds on inaction.”
Excellent advice all through. However, my understanding is that the practicing mind does not register negatives. If you are told, “Don’t lean forward over your jump.”, your brain fastens onto “Lean forward …”.
Instead, I reversed the ten tips into ten positive words. For the lettering, I picked bright but non-competition colors, as far as possible. “Action” got a buzz cut when I trimmed the subtitle with the f-word in it. The sheet went with me to the show yesterday. Just reading through all 10 words gives me a lift.
This year
Coach, in general email: “Please let me know if you intend on doing this one.”
Me, in response: “Sure, sign me up. I still have a few flickering shreds of confidence and optimism left to be stomped out.”
A while back, I attended a blogger meet-up. Since then I have been following some of the bloggers I met. I read Budding Fashionista because she’s local and as a glimpse into an alien landscape. I am as likely to go clothes shopping for pleasure as I am to sell everything and move to Paris. But I like to read about people who engage in these unlikely activities.
I have nothing against the fashion industry. Surrounding one’s self with beauty is a noble aim. I’m sure Budding Fashionista spends less on her clothes than I do on horse shows.
Recently, she posted a Denim Guide. She talks about boot fit versus skinny, distressed versus color. She talks about how to style the jeans. She talks about balance. And fun. And color-blocking.
Say what?
I have two types of jeans. Ones I wear to the around the barn and ones that are suitable for the general public. This is how I tell the difference:
A fashionista I am not, neither budding nor otherwise.
BTW, the site referenced above has a jeans giveway that ends tomorrow tonight at midnight. Definitely not barn jeans.
~~~
Failed attempt at this week’s art photo.
A Riot of Color
Great colors. Good shapes. The whole is less than a sum of its parts. Reveal on Monday.
~~~
Show tomorrow. One-day, there and back again. Perhaps packing tweets later today.
At the end of the summer, Rodney developed wrinkles around the top of his tail. I have never seen the like. They are now fading. WTF? Any ideas?
Mystery #2: Hay Holes
I sweep old, unused hay out to the dirt area in front of the barn for erosion control. Some critter comes along and digs perfectly round, 3″ holes. Over a dozen in one night. Again I say unto you, WTF?
Previously seen as a sign of weakness, the neck strap is the latest hot new thing in eventing. Big Name Rider William Fox-Pitt wears one. Now everybody must. The goal is to have a piece of leather around the horse’s neck to grab when plans go astray.
Back in the dim, dark past, I fashioned one out of a stirrup leather for my first Training Level stadium jumping course. My horse was braided. The rest of the time, I am all about grabbing mane. It’s right there. My horses have never objected. No extra equipment required. When I had to roach Mathilda’s mane one summer due to sweet itch, I left a soul patch right where I might need a handhold.
At the risk of the Internet falling down on my head, I must confess that I don’t like neckstraps. They seem unsafe to me. If the horse has a simple strap around the neck on a regular basis, what is to keep said strap from sliding down the neck when the horse lowers her head during, say, a stretchy circle? A moment of inattention from horse or rider and the front foot is caught. What if the horse reaches down to itch a leg? Takes a bite of grass during a hack? Seems to me that remembering to grab onto a strap to keep it from sliding is just one more thing to go wrong.
While we are on the subject, I also do not understand western tie-downs that go from girth to nose without benefit of breastplate. This is a foot-tangler waiting to happen. OTOH, I don’t know much about Western tack. Anyone care to enlighten me on this one?
Yet, I am not one to sneer at safe concerns. So I bought a yoke. It has a piece that goes through the legs to the girth to keep the neck section in place. Yokes are used at racetracks to attach martingales and as general panic straps. I figure if they can work with hysterical two-year olds, I should be covered. Most of the time. No, it would not have helped me on Milton. There was no time to grab anything.
There have been a lot of purchases lately. Husband says he starts to worry about me when I stop buying tack.
Post update: Breastplate – I could spin a theory but most I forgot about them. Big in Eventing but not as big in Jumpers, so they fell off my radar. I suspect the whole exercise is moot. Come the heat of the moment, I’m gonna grab mane the way I always have.
Fire ants – Burn on contact. Bites take forever to heal. They are the work of the devil.
~~~ Horse Update
Poor Milton learned about fire ants the hard way. His whole back is covered with devastingly itchy bumps. I suspect he lay down on an anthill. Not a mistake one makes a second time.
Blurry, but shows how much he cranks his head around when I scratch him.
Virtual Brush Box 