Horses & Other Interests
Charles Owen microsuede. Much sleeker than the less expensive schooling helmets I usually have. One has to pay more to get the same safety rating with less material.
Yes, it is a Charles Owen, but from the “lower” end of their price range. The number induces slight staggering rather than a full-on faint.
Since I am often the only one in my saddle seat academy classes with a helmet, I went for as traditional and as elegant a look as possible. Also usable for dressage and hunters.
My legs are well placed, as usual. Nice angle with the feet. Stirrups need to be on ball of foot. Upper body still pitched a little bit too far forward into hunt seat mode. I should sit back to give the horse’s front end room to come up. Arms and hands too floppy. I should be gathering the horse rather than giving to. Looking up! Hat needs to be settled further down in front.
Bingo looks happy. He wasn’t.
Samples scanned. Cut-outs drawn with GIMP. Hand-drawn cutouts would have had more sympathetic shapes but less precise edges. A trade-off.
Continuing to post the entries from my previous monthly blogs Back To Eventing and Back To Riding. This was originally posted on the USEA website Tue, 2010-10-26, archived here.
Back To Eventing: Installment 3 – The AEC, a Realization in Five Phases
by Katherine Walcott
(The author chronicles her return to eventing after 20 years as a jumper rider)
“Have a wonderful time, and let the games begin!” Carl M. Bouckaert
Event Program, 2010 Land Rover USEA American Eventing Championships and Festival of Eventing
[For those only familiar with the short format, eventing used to have 4 phases: A – Roads & Tracks, B – Steeplechase, C – Roads & Tracks, D – Cross Country, plus until 1967, E – Run In.]
A – Roadtrip & Temptation
Since my publicly stated goal is to win the Training AEC, I went over to Georgia to scope out my future. So what did I learn?
I learned that Chattahoochee Hills is huge: six dressage rings, a stall assignment list that ran to 12 pages, and a parking lot that doubled as a horse trailer trade show. Yet, it felt neither squashed nor sprawled. The cross-country warm-up contained three stadium jumps, four permanent jumps and eight horses zooming about with plenty of room.
I learned that I am greedy. The USDF offers three medals covering First to Grand Prix. The USEA awards three medals for each level. A USDF medal represents years of work. A USEA medal could represent one good season. I believed this watered down the impact of a USEA medal, until I saw one on a friend’s lapel. I want one. I want them all.
B – Sidebar
Pause for rant.
During cross-country, it is your horse’s job to perform to the best of his ability. After cross-country, it is your turn. I do not care if it is a long walk back to the barn. He is a tired athlete, not a shuttle service to cart your sorry ass to the stable area. Get off, remove the saddle, and sponge him down, if possible. Now would be a good time to take off your helmet and vest, but I’m less concerned about you. If you don’t have helpers to carry your saddle back, carry it yourself. If you are not fit enough to do a proper job as a rider, go home and come back when you are.
Rant ends.
C – Reflection & Trepidation
I learned that competitions can be disheartening. On my last ride before leaving for Georgia, New Horse didn’t pay me the slightest attention. He only slowed down because he overshot a turn and objected to wading through tall grass. When I tried him, I had an outstanding ride that was indoors, flat, and supervised. My ring is none of the above. Intellectually, I saw daylight. Emotionally, I saw a vast distance between the cross-country in front of me and the amount of control I currently possessed.
D – Course Comments
I learned that fences have changed. Gone are the hay bales, old tires, and slender tree limbs we jumped in my youth. Today’s fences look better than my furniture. I also need to master narrow and angled fences. WEG was all about holding your line.
I learned that courses now run back and forth over open areas, which is easy to watch but hard to ride. Even with ropes, the paths crossed and riders would zip down the wrong galloping lane. Another lower level event had the same format, albeit unroped. Does compact and manageable mean we lose scenic? Doesn’t anyone canter through the woods on shady trails anymore?
E – Reaffirm Intent
Finally, I learned competitions can be invigorating. I stand by my goal of winning this sucker. As for specifying which year, I have no comment.
~~~
Rodney’s Saga Repost locations
BTE 1 of 9: How I Won the Training Level AEC
BTE 2 of 9: The Cast Assembles
I almost quit, took a break, stomped off. Again. [Where Do We Go From Here?]. I had the post written & scheduled.
Undoubtedly there was an element of snit. I have a bad habit of surrendering to despair [Hiatus]. Mostly, it was a problem of content. After a brief flurry of positive activity, I am back to pointless head scratching. I have nothing to say that you haven’t heard a dozen times with Rodney. I’m was bored just thinking about writing it.
(Aside. Why do I insist on daily or nothing? Monthly worked for Back to Eventing when someone was paying me. On my own, I’ve tried monthly with Back To Riding and weekly with Off Topic. Meh. Once I lose the rigidity of daily posting, the whole operation slides into a slimy heap of good intentions. End aside.)
Then I started talking to myself.
I don’t want to write about my lack of progress with Milton.
Then don’t.
But I can’t ignore the subject and just put up amusing photos and cat pictures.
Why not?
Because people won’t like it.
How do you know what people will like?
…um…
Are pictures of cats suddenly unpopular on the Internet?
…um… people might not like MY funny photos and cat pics.
So what?
…um… I’ll have to watch the numbers fall.
The numbers were gonna fall anyway. A new horse is a red circle event, i.e. of interest to distant acquaintances, you are back in blue, green, and gold territory, i.e. of interest to you, your mom, and friends. [For an explanation of circles, see Wait But Why: 7 Ways To Be Insufferable On Facebook 3) The Literal Status Update.]
I’ll have to watch the numbers fall.
And this will effect your position in the universe how?
I’ll have to watch the numbers fall.
Poor you.
Do you really want to quit this close to 1000 posts?
No.
After your last hissy fit, what did you decide?
My blog has a purpose – to keep me from going batshit crazy. [Baaack]
Will posting amusing photos do that?
…yes…
Do you have another goal?
…no…
Is anyone paying you?
…no…
Have you promised anything to anyone in any way?
…no…
So why are you creating imaginary constraints?
…um…
Well then.
If I don’t hit it out of the park every day, I will fail to become the next Whatever/Everywhereist/insert name of your favorite blogger.
Yeah, like that was happening.
You can be a bitch sometimes.
One of us has to be.
Myself had a point. I will continue. Look for diverting photos and cute cats. If I have anything substantive to say about the horses, I certainly shall.
Update: “Adjournment sine die is a Latin phrase which means ‘without assigning a day for a further meeting or hearing.’ ” http://definitions.uslegal.com/a/adjournment-sine-die/
By which I meant that I was planning to run away without saying when I would be back.
Monday at 9 am, I had one of those annual check-ups that ladies must endure. Spotted was still in my bag from the show over the weekend. While I was changing into the stupid open-front gown, seeing her face poking out at me was surprisingly comforting.
To show early -> 3 nonshowing days -> lots of tweets.
[Show Report]
Day 1
“It takes a lot of control and practice to command a chisel with confidence without aggressively destroying a stone or passively letting the stone control the chisel”
Artist & artisan by Adam Paul Heller LAR 28:3
Just like horses.
Horses.
Day 2
OTOH, if amateurs didn’t have mood swings, trainers wouldn’t have jobs.
As I said during an earlier show, given my inability to feed myself, my eating habits are of interest to those who have to live with me when I get home.
Day 3 – Show Day!
Day 4
Virtual Brush Box 