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Had a cavity filled.
Feeling too punk to assemble the bits.
Back tomorrow.

Update, Tuesday evening: Feeling better gradually. It isn’t so much the dental work as the epinephrine in the Lidocaine that lays me low. If I remember in time, I can usually convince my dentist to use “the old stuff” without it. Doesn’t work as well and has to be re-upped halfway through, but doesn’t leave me with the shivers. When I go for my implant, they will have to use L for the vaso-constrictive properties. Oh, goody. Still, I’d rather be a regular at a dental office than with a cardiologist.

I spent Monday afternoon whining and feeling decrepit. Was I really getting so old that a relatively minor procedure could wipe me out? No. Husband says I was no different 20 years ago.

My timing was fortuitous. Mathilda is in a mare mood. When she gets like this, she has no sense of self-preservation. She will trot (!) around her pen, screaming for Rodney to come back to her. Yes, she trots. No, it’s not pretty. So, I sit with her while Rodney gets his field time. I bask in the sun, read books, and look like a hero. Shiny.

Boot Camp Battle

Back off peasant!
Back off, Peasant!
Saturday was the last boot camp lesson before Nationals. I was assigned Lola. Back in the spring, Lola and I showed to good effect [Report & below]. However, that was a class of four horses in huge ring. Boot camp is twice as many horses in half the space. Lola does not appreciate crowds. She had made her feelings known the last time I rode her [Boot Camp Bucks].

Of course, bad behavior causes worry causes tension causes bad behavior. Lola hopped and fussed around the ring while I snarled hysterically at anyone who got too close. There were small children present, so I tried to keep my language clean. Instructors kept telling me to loosen my reins, loosen them even more, and ignore the fact that I was going Mach 2 at a trot.

Finally, I called her a bitch, dropped my hands, and rode like a hunter. We got along ever so much better. I have far more authority riding from nearly 50 years of hunter/jumper/eventing/dressage experience than I do riding from one year as a saddleseat student. Plus, we moved on to canter. I am less likely to fret about a horse running away at a canter than at a trot. Go figure.

I can ride effectively or elegantly. Pick one. While the ablity to fall back on being effective is good for my ego, it does not bode well for my future as an equitation star. Before I congratulate myself too much on my equestrian brilliance, we cannot overlook the possibility that

a) We changed directions. Horses have definite preferences from one side to the other.

b) She got tired. Exuberance tends to diminish as the work goes on.

c) I am deluded. I am simply telling myself a pretty story to cover up the fact that I made a hash out of the ride. Witness accounts may vary.

OR

If you wish a more concise summation, see Dana’s Doodles here.

Lola & me on a better day. Maunter Photography
On a better day. Maunter Photography

Elegance Evolves

I seem to have helmets on my mind lately. (Helmets -> mind -> head? No? Well, at least I amuse myself.)

Last Thursday, I made a point of getting my paws on our iPad2 for the day so I could stream the sidesaddle division from Penn National. Back when I showed, we wore top hats for the flat and helmets over fences. In retrospect, duh. In my flimsy defense, I was always at the forefront of what was considered safe at the time. We have just gotten collectively smarter over the years. When the ASTM certifications came out, huntcaps were listed in catalogs as “Item of apparel only.” I had already stopped wearing them. Riding an OTTB helped with that decision. But I digress.

The Ladies Hunter Sidesaddle Under Saddle (non-jumping) class had five entries. Four wore standard plastic hardshells. In the interest of maintaining my helmet evangelist street cred, I will will only say that the helmets looked … practical. One woman had a black velvet, low-profile helmet with a fitted brown leather harness. I thought it looked just as lovely and elegant as a top hat.

It’s all what we are used to seeing. In another class, a rider had black stirrup irons. I imagine the idea was to blend,to not have the silver color stand out. However, I am so used to seeing that bit of shiny silver at the end of the rider’s leg that I don’t even notice it. The black irons drew my eye by omission. Where were her stirrups? Oh, there. I spent more time staring at her leg than I would have had she used standard stirrups. Similar tricks have been used for helmet harnesses. Clear plastic is supposed to be invisible, but sparkles in the light. Black straps are too much of one color in one place. Nylon is too sporty for traditional turnout. Simple brown leather straps fade into the background of all the other tack draped around the horse. In addition, her harness fit. It didn’t hang under her chin like a third jowl.

Progress doesn’t have to be ugly.

As I have said before, I love awards ceremonies, watching as well as riding in. For the Penn National classes, a friend with whom I used to show sidesaddle was the presenter. Cool.

Helmets at Shows, Postscript

I have said this before but it bears repeating: the saddleseat world has been totally cool with my helmet.

Helmets are not traditional saddleseat wear. Performance classes wear derbies or top hats, academy riders wear nothing. I, OTOH, wear an ASTM helmet with harness. I am nigh-on always in the minority, for both lessons and shows. However, I have not heard a negative word, seen a raised eyebrow, nor imagined a whisper of criticism aimed in my direction.

Personally, I got more static from the hunter world when the first, and supremely ugly, ASTM helmets came out back in the 90s. The materials were less space age, so the profile was far larger. The helmets looked as if an old Styrofoam bike helmet had been covered in black velveteen. We called them mushroom hats.

Currently, the dressage and eventing dressage worlds are undergoing helmet realignment. I am not in either world to gauge what is being said in person, but I have heard haughty sniffing noises in the media.

Score one for the saddleseat folks.
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Gratuitous Sunset Picture

sunset oct 11 2013
Taken from the top of our pasture during an evening dog walk.