Reader Survey: Legit or Not?

As you read this (Jan 12, 2013), I will be at my second saddleseat show. I am entered in Beginner Walk-Trot. According to the rules, I am at the correct level.

However.

At times I find this ridiculous. I’ve been riding for how many years? On Previous Horse, I was able to check my girth at the canter. Why am I taking ribbons away from true adult walk-trot beginners?

At other times, I feel distinctly qualified. I’ve been in a saddleseat saddle maybe a dozen times. I haven’t a clue where an American Saddlebred keeps the go, stop, turn buttons.

At yet other times, my previous riding gets in my way and I’m worse off than if I’d hadn’t ridden before. I go into panicked obedience at the announcer’s command instead of “finishing my pass” [Sorta]. When a crisis arises, I revert to hunt seat [Old Habits]. At which point, Stepping Stone Farm’s well-trained saddleseat mounts wonder why I’m hovering up around their ears. If I would please sit back on their kidneys where I belong, they could get on with their jobs. Even when I know intellectually what needs to be done, decades of muscle memory react to the horse without my consent.

Philosophically, where do you draw the line between legitimate contender and ringer?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney's Saga Arthur belly

When Safety Doesn’t Come First

The promised update:

Both horses are fat and furry. Mathilda’s winter coat may be plumping her figure more than than she actually is, but overall doing well for an old lady. Using the universal horse birthday of Jan 1, she just turned 29.

The biggest problem we are having with Mathilda is keeping our promise to let her be a horse. After her last Houdini act [Out], she was going out at night by herself. Then it started raining and we lost our nerve. When the footing gets slippery, it’s all too easy to keep her penned up for just one more day. She is making it quite clear she does not appreciate the hovering nanny attitude.

Rodney is amenable about going wherever we need to put him. When we don’t want Mathilda hanging over the barriers [Debriefing, pictured] or trying to escape [Jailbreak] at night, into the stall he goes. When we want to let her out for a few minutes during the day, into the pen he goes. As long as he has a pile of hay or grain scraps to scavenge, he’s a happy pony.

My biggest problem with Rodney is the weather. Cold, dry air increases the odds of static electricity. Rodney does not appreciate being zapped while being groomed.

How do you balance what’s good for their minds with the desire to encase their bodies in bubble-wrap?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Rodney's Saga Reason broom

Is It Safe To Crawl Out From Under My Rock Yet?

Funeral, dental woes, rainbow bridge. I’ve been an off-topic basket of cheer haven’t I?

Sunday: We had to take our seriously senior dog on the one-way trip to the vet. He’d been decrepit for a while but until last week he passed the bologna test. You know the one. Animal lying about marinating in ennui, uninterested in life. Then you wave a slice of bologna and they rise up like a feeding shark. He was finally uninterested in even that. So we – actually Hubby – had to make the decision. The right thing to do, but still wretched.

On a procedural note, this has been a dog phenomenon (2 of 3). Horses and cats have made their own arrangements (1 horse & I-don’t-want-to-count-number of cats (Not that we are tough on cats. My previous Siamese lived to be 16; Fluff, to 17. We just have fleets. Thus endeth the digression)).

The joy is that they live with us. The sorrow is that they do not live as long as us.

Monday: Tooth update. I have an active infection and it will be two months before my dentist can pull the tooth. Two months! Unless I swell up like a chipmunk again and end up in the emergency room again. This is no way to run a railroad.

Tuesday: Week 1 of new diet & exercise. No exercise. I’m citing antibiotics/infection and giving myself a bye. Four sodas. On the downside, more than I wanted. On the upside, a) a fraction of what I’m capable of, b) I went inside the convenience store to pick up the gas receipt without buying a soda, & c) this week gave me provocation.

Three bags of M&Ms and some Christmas cookies. Minor transgression of a minor goal. Two missed meals, both lunches. Two of the sodas were related to the missed meals, so lesson learned.

Overall, a plus if not a total victory.

Since he was kind enough to Like my original diet post [Not So New], I have installed this man as my imaginary personal trainer. When I contemplate eating against my diet, I think, ‘I can’t. Mr. 2Fit wouldn’t approve.’ (Yes, it’s all mind games. Do not question how the sausage is made.)

I’ve also written a quote from a commenter into my diet/exercise notebook. Of course I have a diet/exercise notebook:

Good luck, the more you stick to your plan, the better you’ll feel, and the better you feel, the more you will stick to your plan…… Cheri Isgreen

I can’t say that I’ve had enough change to feel improvement, but I can see how it could/will be true.

Tomorrow: Back to horses. The update I intended to write on Sunday.

Yesterday: To everyone who worried, thank you. The mood meter was in the foul zone when I wrote yesterday’s post. On the other hand, if I’m still writing, it’s bad but not horrendous. I haven’t had a truly horrendous since I’ve been blogging. I imagine I would simply drop off the face of the earth.

Years ago on a fire call, I did a faceplant over a firehose. A witness said he knew I wasn’t badly hurt because the first thing I did was look around to check if anyone saw. Similarly, if I am together enough to care about the daily post – short though it may be – I’m gonna be okay.

All in all, 2013 needs to pull its socks up.

Hi There

I had planned to write an amusingly-phrased update of our two horses (both fine), but I’m so tired I can’t see straight. Two weeks and counting of antibiotics and OTC pain meds will do that. Dentist again tomorrow at 9 am to discuss plans. I’ve already been to the ER the Sunday before Christmas, seen the dentist once, and visited the endodontist for a failed root canal redo. It’s been a lovely holiday season around here.

The good news is that I may have been wrestling with a low-grade tooth/jaw infection for a while, possibly years. That’s good news because fixing it might go a long way to invigorating my attitude. I might finally have the enthusiasm to work with Rodney and the energy to tackle horse shopping.

As I said elsewhere, my teeth have always been bad. OTOH, heart, skeletal, digestive, etc. systems appear to be ticking along without much supervision. So that’s good.

G’night. It’s daylight as I write this, but it’s bed o’clock somewhere.

A Book By Its Cover

cov Black Beauty threads

“That which is no longer necessary becomes art.”
Source forgotten.

I have gone on record that, far from dying out, the codex will flourish in the Internet age. Freed from the pressures of mass information delivery, books will be created with an eye to art.

It has begun. Penguin Threads features embroidered covers on classic works: Little Women, The Wizard of Oz, The Wind in the Willows, Emma, The Secret Garden, and Black Beauty. The originals are, “sketched out in a traditional illustrative manner, then hand stitched using needle and thread.” The commercial covers are embossed to follow the contours of the embroidery.

Short of putting the book in your hands, I cannot adequately convey how cool this looks and feels. Even the title on the spine is raised. The inside of the covers shows the reverse side of the embroidery, down to knots and loose threads. Someone had fun coming up with that idea. The paper, printing, and graphic design are in keeping with a beautiful, touchable book. The artist for the Black Beauty cover was Jillian Tamaki.

Now that I have this fancy copy, I’m not sure if I will reread the story. It isn’t the happiest of plots. However, makers of beautiful books need to be encouraged. My purchase is a vote for art.

The series is worth checking out if you have any interest in books, book making, graphic design, or crafts.

Coincidentally, The Wall Street Journal appears to agree with me on the longevity of the codex, Don’t Burn Your Books—Print Is Here to Stay, January 5, 2013.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
RS cat paws