Virtual Brush Box

And The Winner Is …

“The Winner Of Haynet Blogger of the Year 2013 is Frances Taylor!” Full announcement here.

Well, I am firstly a mother and secondly a photographer. I live in Shetland, Britain’s most northerly outpost.

I have ridden ever since I can remember but got my first pony when I married, had 2 children and was in my thirties.

Now, a decade later, I have *** cough *** “some” Shetland ponies, Icelandic horses and a Welsh Section A. About Me

Shetland Ponies in Cardigans
Dance Pony Dance
Advent Calendar, for December 2013

Didn’t even get on the podium. Ah well, it was fun to be nominated. Seriously. After almost two years of daily posts, I welcome any subject on which I can write at length.

On a side note, I woke up a few hours before the voting closed and was nervous until the announcement was made. Therefore, horse show nerves are not physical fear, nor fear of failure. Apparently my upset stomach is a manifestation of my competitive side. Must win. Everything. Now.

Barn Rules

After last horsekeeping adventure [Windbreak], we instituted a new barn rule. We will always have one full bale of hay for use as a horse prop. Voila:

Instead of remembering not to open the last bale whenever we got low, I decided to dedicate one to the purpose. On the next hay run, I asked for a bale of their cheapest. It was likely to be smaller and lighter, but that would be okay. It would only be for that rare occurrence when we had a crisis AND were low on hay. It turned out to be a foot longer and 10 lbs heavier. Win!

The plastic tape is a reminder not to feed it by mistake. We would use up our spare bale and our picky pair probably wouldn’t eat it.

I hope it sits there until it rots.

Text Art: Last Day

Voting closes midday Monday 9th December in the UK. That means 11pm Monday in Sydney and 4am Monday in California. So, you still have parts of Monday, but today is the last full day.

For those of us who can’t do clock math in our heads: Time Zone Converter

Flag images: CIA World Factbook

One more time:
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VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
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Yet Another Horse Shopping SitRep

This is more in the way of a non-progress report. Since you have been slogging through this adventure with me, I figured I should let you know why nothing is happening.

After Nationals [list of posts here for those just tuning in], I had a bit more free time and a lot more free mental space. Time to GET ON this project. Troops mobilized (thank you). Candidates located. A trip to Lexington KY floated on the horizon. You can imagine my despair at the prospect of a KY road trip [Lexington, Sorta].

While December was looking crowded with family & holiday commitments, January loomed. Not an ideal time to horse hunt, but barns big enough to be worth the drive would have indoor rings &/or decent footing. Bubblings of enthusiasm shifted under the bedrock.

Then my barn help pointed out how hard it would be to introduce a third horse until winter is over. Our barn and pasture are perfect for two. Three horses would be doable if they could all hang out in the pasture 24/7. However, since Mathilda has no sense of self-preservation when near her boy toy, the two we have now are kept separate. When one goes in, the other goes out. Vice versa. A three-horse shell game would get seriously annoying while dodging bad weather. If we start in the Spring, we will have months of warmth and daylight to learn a new juggling routine. As for the obvious question, smart money says that Mathilda ain’t going anywhere anytime soon. LW&TCDR.

Do I like this? No.
Is he right? Yes.
Sigh.

So, unless someone drops Gem Twist at the bottom of my driveway with a bow on his nose, no new horse until spring at the very earliest. Oh well, gives me time to get fit.

Double sigh.
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Gratuitous Cat Picture

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VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:

Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
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Almost there …

Foto Friday: Paisley

The lower leg of the new schooling jods I bought at Nationals. From this we learn two things:
1) Saddleseat has much to teach the rest of the horse world about having fun.
2) Never go through the vendor area when one is tired, hungry, & has just won a major award. Everything sounds like a good idea.
________________________________________________________________________
VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
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You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
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Digital advantage: Unlike the physical world, no one has to go back to pick up all the campaign signs with which I have littered the information superhighway.

ZAP!

Winter logistics just got a whole lot easier.

A few days after Mathilda opted out of winter wear [Windbreak], we took Rodney out of the wardrobe rotation as well. Long story short, the poor horse was getting zapped by his blanket.

In previous winters, we’d had problems with static electricity while grooming [Safety]. As best we can tell, the problem had been mild. He was always happy to see his blanket & seemed to enjoy being warm. We wrote off the occasional zaps as isolated phenomenon.

This year, Rodney is furrier that usual. Last weekend was colder, and therefore drier, than usual. Cue science experiment. He comes flying over. I reach to adjust his blanket. Sudden snap, crackle of a shock that startles both of us. To add insult, I then zap him with a carrot.

In retrospect, this would explain why the shavings in his stall had been mix-mastered more than usual for the previous two mornings. We thought he was reacting to the cold. Turns out he was running up and down, agitating his blanket, and then shocking himself. Which caused more agitated running about. Which caused more shocks. Poor horse. He has been naked and calm(er) ever since.

I’ve never had this problem. We kept Previous Horse and Mathilda in the same climate, in the same blankets for eons. I’ve never even heard of the issue. It wasn’t until I Googled horses & static electricity that I discovered blankets could be a contributing agent.

We will adjust the routine and they should be fine. I have friends living in much colder climates who don’t blanket at all. (T.E. I’m looking at you.)

Horse needs to hire better minions.

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Gratuitous Cat Picture

You’ve heard of the Ghost in the Machine?
This is Ghost on the Machine.
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VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
___________________________________________________________
I thought about shortening the banner after the first few days, but what if a new reader came across the short banner & didn’t know all the particulars?

Other Writing: USDF Connection December 2013/January 2014

“Behind The Scenes: Sheryl Rudolph, FITS”
December 2013/January 2014
USDF Connection
United States Dressage Federation

A short interview with a clothing designer.
___________________________________________________________
VOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTEVOTE
Accessing Jedi mind control.
Go here: Haynet. (No need to join to vote but you might wish to consider. Nice place)
Click this icon on the sidebar:
Vote. (In the interest of fairness, nominees listed here. If you vote from there, use the “HERE” link not the “VOTE” link lower down.)
OR use this link directly: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Z9JTZCD.
You can go about your business.
Move along.
Releasing Jedi mind control.
___________________________________________________________
I thought about changing the banner each day, but that would have required too much cleverness.