Blog
October 2008
Total Coincidence
Behind the Bit has an entry on horses displaying the ability to reason.
I’ve seen that a time or two, but what about those coincidental moments that just seem like higher reasoning?
For instance, at a former barn there was a young colt who was, well, a young colt. He had his young horse moments. However, since all I did with him was hand walk him, groom him, and feed him treats, he thought I was the greatest. He was also my favorite horse there.
So, his owner and I were standing outside his stall, talking. He was munching on hay, head hanging over the door. She mentioned something he’d done earlier the day.
“Not him!“ I said. “He’s perfect!“
He dropped the hay out of his mouth and stared at me with absolutely slack-jawed disbelief: Clearly, the fact that he was perfect was news to him.
I’m sure the whole thing was coincidental and a reaction to the tone of my voice, but his expression was priceless. He was absolutely bewildered by something.
I realize I have no fashion sense, but…
Surely I’m not the only one who looks at these pictures of black dressage bridles with white padding, gold thread, blinged browbands and cavassons, brass buckles (plus buckle closures to attach the cheek piece and reins to the bit, instead of hook closures) and brass buckle keepers and thinks ew. Surely I’m not. These thinks look like tack Peter Jackson could have used to dress up the Nazguls’ horses.
On a positive note, I saw some Passier bridles that still use hook closures and have an adjustable crown instead of buckles on the cheek pieces, and they are yummy. I am not entirely sure about the mechanics of having the buckle over the horse’s poll, but can you imagine how clean and understated that would look on a horse’s head?
Of course, it had a sparkly browband. Do they even sell bridles without sparkly browbands anymore? Probably not; it’s like trying to find an unpadded bridle. What a nightmare this bling trend is. I hope people get over the My Little Pony With Diamonds thing soon.
I will say this, though: given my intense dislike of bling, I am a little floored that I saw some engraved stirrup irons and I loved them. They would be a nightmare to keep clean, and I imagine there would be a much greater chance of scuffing the saddle when they are run up, but they are very pretty.
No news is exceptionally good news
I haven’t posted much over the past month because… well, Ike didn’t help, certainly, but primarily because I had been given the opportunity to ride a horse whenever I wanted. Since I hadn’t talked to his owner about this blog, I didn’t want to post anything about riding him—some people just aren’t comfortable with even pseudo-anonymous postings on the net, whether they are good or bad.
I’ve had fun riding over the past month, as much as Ike and my work schedule allowed, and was genuinely sorry as the end of the month approached. He’s a fun, fun guy to ride with a very patient and forgiving attitude.
Fortunately for me, the horse’s owner offered me a half lease. We all know that I really want to buy my own horse, but let’s be honest: I can keep doing this “I’ll buy next spring/fall/year” thing until the sun explodes. I still don’t know what I’m going to do next spring, but like I said—I really enjoyed riding this guy. Right now, leasing is an excellent idea. So I am.
I may even get talked back into the show ring in January. Eek!
Now to come up with a pseudonym for the horse. His owner is ok with the blog, but you know me—I like my mostly anonymous space.
In other news, I finally broke down and ordered the poster from Dressage Extensions. I still object to paying their exorbitant shipping fee (although I admit the poster was nicely packaged, but it wasn’t $9 worth of nicely packaged).
This is the poster:
I bought it because years ago I was given this poster as a gift:
I love that print and I’ve always wanted something to match it. Now to get the new one framed.
September 2008
Hey you—with the keyboard—you’re weird
It’s been a while since I did this, so here we go: weird keywords that bring people to my blog.
things
And here I thought I use “stuff” when I want to be vague and inarticulate, but apparently not. FIVE people have found my blog searching for “things.“ I want to know what went through their heads when they typed that into the search box. “I heard you can find things on the internet… I wonder if that’s true?“ Other similarly useless single-word searches include “about”, “sometimes”, “website”, “people” (ha! poor person wanted to find people, and stumbled upon one of the most self-absorbed blogs around. Whoops), and “would.“
making guilts from ribbons
I advise starting with some good Catholic ribbons.
humidity profile in halt
Say what? I have this image of a dressage queen frantically trying to find out if the judges at E and B will mark her down for frizzy hair at the halt.
quilting why arent my blocks the same size
If you’re anything like me, it’s because you can’t sew a straight line.
how do you teach dressage????
That’s a secret told only to people who use six or seven question marks. By using less that that, you show you just aren’t serious enough about learning.
how to make quilt heavy
Baste some coins to the batting. The more coins you put in, the heavier it will be. On the weekends, you can use it as makeshift armor at Ye Localle Ren Faire.
h/j rider?
That is not a question. It’s an abbreviated adjective and a noun.
term in dressage for a half pass left
I believe that is called a… wait for it… “half pass left.“ (Now someone can tell me I’m an idiot and there’s some fancy name for it, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of one.)
dressage horse won t halt
No problem. Claim you and the horse were inspired by Anky’s ride on Salinero in the Olympics and have decided halting is for the birdies.
houston traffic blog
There were a surprising number of variations on this. Ok, I get it: I’ll shut up about the traffic already.
———
And, of course, the never-ending searches for “how to teach my horse to….“ People, find a trainer. If you try to learn how to teach a piaffe from the internet, the closest you are going to get is a horse that is pissed off.
I’ve had it. Up to here and then some.
Like far too many people in the US today, I eat badly and don’t exercise enough. And, like far too many people in the US, I’m overweight as a result.
This is not something I’ve always struggled with; it’s relatively new (the past four years or so), and all the more annoying for that. I know better. I have had better habits. I’d like to blame genetics, but I really can’t. I got myself into this, and, frankly, I’m sick of it. I’m getting myself out.
Of course, I’ve been telling myself that for the last six months or so, with no result. So this time, I’m pushing my own buttons. I actually signed up for a gym membership and some sessions with a personal trainer to jump start me. I know it will drive me insane if I’m paying for it and not using it, so hopefully that will help keep me on track.
It’s ok—I can see the look of disbelief on your face from here. No, I don’t really think that “I paid for it” is going to be enough motivation. I have a better motivation: for all that I talk about TBs, what I really, really want to buy is a pony. I’m short enough that I would fit a large pony just fine, if I were at a normal, healthy weight.
Only fifty pounds or so between me and that “if”, and six or seven months to make it. That’s doable, as long as I stay serious about this.
We’ll see. The only one who can make this happen is me. Let’s find out just how fed up (ha ha) I really am.