Perusing the News

February 10, 2014
February 10, 2014

I bought a recent issue of The Chronicle of the Horse to see how it had changed. Back when I read it regularly, the magazine was still black and white inside with the orange and black masthead and an artist on the cover. It’s been a while.

New names, color, updated layout, and more readable format for the results. Some things have changed. Others have not. Show coverage. Rule changes. People seeking to do a while avoiding b. Things change, people don’t.

I stopped reading when Previous Horse retired. I’m not generous enough to read about other people competing when I’m not. That hasn’t changed. Reading about pretty people riding pretty ponies in pretty places was not conducive to maintaining my serenity. Small sobs of self-indulgent self-pity may have accompanied the page-turning. To the rest of the world, an issue of The Chronicle is a harmless, glossy magazine. To me, it is an 80-page, sucking vortex of envy.

No more Chronicle for a while.

November 25, 1994 (Coverage & photo by Yours Truly p23.)
November 25, 1994
(Coverage & photo by Yours Truly p23.)

Getting Ready

Mathilda has undergone a few reversals of fortune lately. Mostly mechanical, mostly minor. The front end is still bright-eyed & bushy-maned … and opinionated & obnoxious. At some point, the accumulated mechanical errors will overwhelm the system. At some point, the minions will run out of saving throws.

We are in the endgame. Whether that means 3 days, 3 months, or 3 years, I don’t know. I don’t think it will be years, but neither am I betting against it.

Thank You #2

hobbyhorse-header_880x100

Saddleseat rider Buffy Bourbon was kind enough to comment on a show post [Third]. Stalking her digitally (waves hi) led me to the Hobby Horse Clothing Company. I don’t ride Western (yet?) but I’m not against bling, so I perused, which lead me to the page for the Froglight Illuminated Hoofpick. Our barn is a retrofit, so the lighting is not ideal. I ordered one through my local, Carousel Tack Shoppe.

Cons: As with some reading lights, it is disorienting to have the light move instead of staying put. On more than one occasion, I have zapped myself in the eye with the light when I flipped the hoofpick over to use the brush.

Pro: A handy flashlight to see if I’ve gotten all the dirt out.

Time will tell if it is something without which I cannot live, such as heated car seats*, or just a cute idea.

(*Seriously, have you tried these? Awesome. Keeps you warm in the winter without stifling heated air and is portable heat therapy for the overly ambitious weekend warrior. A luxury yes, but one that I will defend with tooth and claw.)

Thank you, Ms. Bourbon.

Thank You #1

SafeChoice bag

A New Path was kind enough to comment on a Twelve Days of Christmas post [3 Feed Sacks]:

“I finally have all mine on the same feed – Safechoice Senior (the only senior my old guy will eat). The others will eat anything that looks like grain.”

Clearly, no one other than us is responsible for what we feed our horses. However, we had been pondering Nutrena for a while: bring home the brochure, talk about it, forget & move on. Having the name brought up again, particularly in connection with palatability, was one more prompt in that direction.

I don’t recall our thought process for Original rather than Senior, but Mathilda loves it [Update]. Rodney was on it for less than two days before he started acting cranky, the way he does when his stomach bothers him. New barn rule: Thou Shalt Not Mess With The Thoroughbred’s Digestion.

Thank you, A New Path.

2014 Show Schedule LW&TCDR

General Theory
Attention SSF horses: put on your show shoes and get back to work. The performance horses, that is. The school horses have been trucking along with lessons and Winter Tournament shows.

Onwards to the 2014 show season.

While last year’s heavy show schedule was wonderful, it is not a viable way to continue. If I were single, pet-less, and oozing dollars, I would a) go to every show on the calendar and b) attend from set-up to take-down. OTOH, if I were those things, particularly the first two, I wouldn’t be me.

Therefore, I am going to try – try, I say – to trim down the number of shows. Plus, I will do a few more as day trips, thereby saving money on hotel and food. I favor shows that have championship classes, i.e. more chances to ride. My instructor favors shows that have higher year-end points.

Specific Locations
I am attempting to loosen up. I moved my name from the bottom of the About page to the top and added the scan of a nametag [About]. Yet, I still find myself too paranoid to say exactly where I will be and when [Identity].

So, here is your broad hint. I will be showing in Academy classes at shows in Georgia, Alabama, and possibly Tennessee, in the Southeast US. If you are involved in the saddleseat world, the particular shows shouldn’t be too hard to figure. Or, if you look back over last year’s posts, ditto.

Come say hello.

Or, come say hello after my classes. If you talk to me before a class, I will stare at you blankly.

Update: origin of title phrase discussed here. Well, there goes another expression [Eeny]. I always thought this one had to do with rising waters & impassable roadways.