Turnout

For the last week, Mathilda has been given the option to go out at night. Callooh! Callay!

Mathilda loves it. I suspected free-choice turn-out would do her good but I didn’t expect to see her this perky this quickly. Her spirit is positively bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. Her body is not as exhausted as I thought it would be, even the first night. She’s happy to spend the day resting in front of her fan, but she’s not wiped out. Sadly for the stall cleaner, she still comes into her pen to poop. With acres of pasture at her disposal, she prefers indoor plumbing.

I am thrilled. She had been getting turned out for short periods twice a day, which meant four trips to the barn to catch everyone, move the barrier, & swap them around. My life is not so onerous that this was a difficult task, but I’m just as happy to skip the trips. We haven’t decided what to do come the cold and dark. One season at a time.

Rodney, on the other hand, is not pleased. Horses don’t like change. Rodney adapts to change even more slowly than most horses. Last night (as in Tuesday night, I wrote this on Wednesday), I went to the barn after they had been put up to lay some goop on his back, ‘What are you doing here? No one comes to see us at this time of day. You can’t be here. No one comes in my room.’ So any change to routine is going to twist his shorts. Plus, Mathilda going out to graze means leaving him behind in the barn. He does not appreciate the abandonment.

Update [posted at midnight, updated 8am]: I had put off saying anything about this until I was sure that it was more than a freak event. Then, two hours after it posted, we had an unannounced gullywasher. Last night (Wednesday night), Mathilda was soaked from trotting back and forth on a hill in the storm. Barn was flooded from the door being open. Rodney was hyperventilating from being left behind. This morning, the horses are fine. We, however, may never find the courage to let her out again. On the up side, she trots mighty sweet for a gimpy, old girl.

Update on the update: Mathilda did go out last (Thursday) night. She made it clear we had no choice. Monster. We have created.

Camera Question

[Meta-post on blogging. Others.]

I need a camera. This blog needs a camera. I am getting tired of the unbroken expanses of text. You must be getting tired of the u. e. of t.

My camera armory used to be a Nikon D50 slr and a Canon PowerShot point & shoot. The Nikon obviously took better pictures but the Canon was small enough to fulfill the adage ‘The best camera is the one you have with you’.

The Nikon is a doorstop. The electrical bits have died. They tell me the rest is not worth fixing. The camera’s advanced age of over 5 years makes it obsolete for a digital camera. Mind you, Hubby’s film Nikon that was ancient when I used it in the 90s probably still works. >Insert old fart rant about the ephemeral nature of modern life<.

The Canon is nearing retirement. It has developed dust spots on the processor. Hubby cleaned it once using widgets at his work. It needs to be cleaned again. The last time I used the camera, the viewing screen had a little degraded spot that looked like a UFO in the sky of the picture. The blemish did not show up on the images, but such a spot can't be a good sign. Plus, the camera box has developed a parallelogram shape from being carried in my back pocket so often. The majority of photos in this blog have been taken with the Canon. It doesn't owe me much at this point.

What to get?

Point & Shoot
Last time, I called the nice folks at B&H and asked the fellow for the smallest camera with the biggest viewing area. He recommended several. I sat on the line and hummed until he said, This one. Buy this one. I could do that again. Find the most portable camera that takes blog-quality snapshots. It wouldn’t be much use for weird lighting or tricky focus distances, but it would cover more than 90% of what I photograph.

Big Camera
If I were to replace the D50, I have decided on the D7100. It sits on the border between a high-end amateur camera and low-end professional equipment. It is reputed to be good for sports photography. I do not consider myself a true professional photographer. I lack the eye for light and the mindset for the technical details. If I sell photos, they go with an article, perhaps covering shots while the assigned photographer was busy elsewhere. Nor am I a hobbyist. I take photos for the same reason I write – when someone is offering me money. (Except for the blog, which I still can’t explain. Aside from a few spasms of text here and there, this is the most unpaid writing I have ever done.)

What if the little p&s is enough? I don’t want to buy a big, expensive camera just to have it sit on a shelf. No one is waving money in my face for photos. So, right now, I’m good with the little Canon. I don’t need an slr. OTOH, if I never have a fancy camera, I will never be able to sell photos taken with it. Should I buy a camera and be open to opportunities? Or should I accept that that part of my life is over and move one to whatever window is supposed to be open in its place?

Furthermore, when I looked at the specs for the D7100, I didn’t understand half of them. Do I need a camera that will let me frambulate the wharnickel ratio when I don’t know what a wharnickel is nor why I would want to frambulate one? Or should I see it as an opportunity to explore the exciting world of wharnickels? Foto-Friday on the blog would be an excellent practive venue. Or am I kidding myself? The D50 stayed on automatic more than I care to admit.

Mixed
I could find a camera that was portable enough to carry with me yet big enough to take at least the easy paying shots, for example a grip-and-grin in bright daylight. This strikes me as the worst answer. It wouldn’t be quite right for either task. Too big to slide into a pocket yet not hefty enough for real work. I don’t carry a purse, so I’d be tempted to leave it behind. I’d try to use it where a zoom lens and adjustability were required only to end up with lame or useless shots.

Which way to go? A question of purchase and of philosophy.

Show Report: ASHAA Fun Show, Leeds, AL

Results: third & first with Alvin Ailey. The yellow is new. The only other yellow ribbons in my saddleseat collection (so far) are part of the championship ribbons (puff, puff). That makes at least one blue from every saddleseat show except the Horsemanship Challenge (she says, tempting fate….).

Preshow
When I arrived, I found that Adult Academy Walk-Trot had six riders. 6!! I had been getting far too blase from classes with two entries. My second from the previous show may have been last place, but it was still a red.

In the last few lessons with Alvin, I had skipped my standard pre-ride panic attack. So, the nerves on Saturday where straight-up show nerves. I don’t care what it is. If I compete, I want to win. There is a good reason Hubby refuses to play cards with me.

cov NerveI am slowly working my way through Nerve: Poise Under Pressure. Serenity Under Stress, and the Brave New Science of Fear and Cool by Taylor Clark [Little, Brown 2011].

Research on test anxiety … found that reminding students that they’re multitalented, whole people helps reduce their performance worries. [p 176]

I reminded myself that neither first place nor last is a referendum on who I am as a person. It helped. Not completely, but somewhat.

I considered that any placing had advantages. A win would be lovely. A last place would point out areas I needed to work on. Again, partial success.

Finally, during the class before mine, I watched Alvin go with one of the juniors (They won). The thought slipped into my head, Hurry up, I wanna get on & ride. Slowly, I make progress.

First Class
Alvin was his stellar self. I rode fine. I heard “Sit back” from the rail a few times. Situation normal. We came in third. Apparently, I would sit back on command but only briefly. Within a few steps, I would lean forward and get on with whatever mysterious business keeps me so occupied in the show ring. I would have said I rode exactly the same as I did at home. Apparently, no.

Second Class
In between classes, I asked Assistant Instructor for advice. I had no doubt that Head Instructor was correct. I thought hearing the problem phrased differently might help the message sink through my cranium. When I asked her what body part I was moving, she said, “All of them.” Her buzzword was ‘Still’. This is a lifelong challenge for me. Hence the inspirational wall decoration from Wortman Pottery.

still

I was determined to be still. If I was going to get yelled at, it would be for doing too little. I achieved the riding equivalent of sitting zazen while thinking about my breath. Do you have any idea how HARD it is for me to remain quiet even for the duration of a walk-trot class? I was so focused on holding myself neutral relative to the horse that I did not have the brain space left to organize a smile. We won.

Afterwards, folks congratulated me. I agreed with them. No polite demurrals here. I’m proud of that blue. It may be from a little fun show, but I worked my @$$ off for it.

Next step: Achieving repeatability.

Elsewhere at the show
Good news for the helmet evangelists among us. A rider in the five-gaited class wore a helmet.

Other Writing: US Eventing Links

As you may have read elsewhere on the site, this blog started as a column for the USEA. To quote myself:

The idea was to buy a new horse, ride, train, and return to Eventing after 20 years away. I would use that structure to commit Deep Thoughts on horses, the new face of Eventing, the fate of civilization, etc. [Where]

Sweet deal, no? When Rodey declined to be a competition horse, he not only torpedoed my riding career, he didn’t do my writing any favors either. Moving on.
Back to Eventing: How I Won the Training Level AEC
BTE: The Cast Assembles
BTE: The AEC, a Realization in Five Phases
BTE: New Horse Blues
BTE: Buying a Horse is Only the Beginning
BTE: Back to Square One
BTE: Getting to Know You
BTE: Spring Fitness
BTE: Forward Planning

In addition, I wrote a bimonthly book column for many years. The last year was online:
Book Reviews – Horse Trivia and Wofford’s Eventing Tips
Second Chance for Racehorses – Book & DVD Reviews
On The Bookshelf
On the Bookshelf – Life Among the Winners
Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction
Book Sale Prizelist

Most of the other articles I wrote for them were pre-digital. One of my favorite series was going behind the scenes at Rolex. I’d pick a segment of the event, often small or obscure, and follow the folks around to find out about the enormous amount of work involved in fence decorating or running the victory presentation. Did you know it takes over 30 volunteers to organize and hand out all the prizes? In 2007, two competitors, Tiana Coudray and Kristin Bachman, were kind enough to allow me along on their weekend. One of them has the article on her website.
Tiana Coudray/News, “A Tale of Two Riders”, click on page image for PDF.

Other Writing: TheHorse Links

Back when I had a writing career, I wrote for TheHorse: Your Guide To Equine Health Care. Since the audience was vets, barn managers, and similarly serious horse folks, the articles had to be in depth and current. I managed this by finding experts and listening to them talk about their work.

Fireproofing Older Barns, Apr 1, 2000
Prepurchase Exams: What Can They Tell You?, Jul 1, 2000
Girth Strap Tightness, Apr 1, 2001
Wildlife Disease: Contagious Critters, May 1, 2001
Common Barn Injuries, Sep 13, 2001
Posting The Guard, Sep 17, 2001
Airing Out Your Barn, Oct 18, 2001
Mosquito Patrol, Jul 1, 2002
Frangible Pins: Making Cross Country Jumps Safer, May 20, 2003
Feeding Horses With Laminitis, Aug 1, 2004
Buying Better Hay — Stacks of Decisions, Oct 1, 2004
Early Jump Training Unnecessary, with Stephanie Church, May 3, 2005
Safe and Healthful Stall Mats, Jun 1, 2007
Eradicating Pasture Erosion, May 1, 2008
Eliminating Ammonia, Dec 1, 2011

Free registration required to see the complete articles.

Lesson Horses

Last week, I had a lesson on Alvin. I got sucked into his tendencey to drop out of the canter repeatedly and without warning. This week, I found that a slight driving aid kept him in gear. Mostly. I prevented a few attempts to downshift and could start to feel the warning signs. Until, of course he decided we were done with that gait.

A good lesson horse doesn’t do what you ask at the press of a button. Where is the learning in that? A good lesson horse does what you ask when you ask correctly.

At the same time a good lesson horse cuts the rider some slack. As long as your request is framed reasonably well, you will get a reasonable response. In contrast, Previous Horse was not a reasonable horse. If I asked for anything, his first response was, No. Not possible. If I knew deep in my heart that my aids were correct and I insisted, he would see things my way. At the first sign of weakness or doubt, he would insist that I was the one in the wrong. He won those discussions more often than he should have.

So, good lesson horses are difficult enough to help you learn but kind enough to reward you for getting close. Priceless.

What have you learned from lesson horses?