The return of the blog carnival
Props to Lynda at Hoofbeats, without whom I’d never know anything that’s going on.
Horse Approved has restarted the blog carnival. The upcoming Thanksgiving carnival has an appropriately Thanksgiving-esque theme.
The announcement says something about being open to Horse Approved members, so I’m not entirely sure whether this is still open to the general horse-blogging community or if it has switched to something exclusive to HA’s community. I guess we’ll find out when my entry gets accepted (or rejected, as the case may be).
Assuming, of course, that I manage to write and submit the thing on time. I’m so bad at that part.
I’ll submit on time if you do.
Eight Things You Don’t Know About Me
Hoofbeats tagged me with the Eight Things You Don’t Know About Me meme. Let’s see…
- I really, really want a blue velvet helmet. Unfortunately, I can’t find any in the U.S. and I’m hesitant to order from England for fear the helmet wouldn’t fit right. Along the same lines, I couldn’t convince myself to buy a skunk-stripe helmet. I think they look awful.
- It always puzzles me when people say they won’t touch a small, chestnut, TB mare with a ten-foot pole, especially as a resale project. Hello? You can sell her to me—that’s my dream horse.
- The walk is the hardest gait for me to ride. I have a hard time putting (and keeping) the horse together at the walk. My canter work, however, has improved tremendously from all the time and attention my trainer and I have given to the walk work.
- My favorite type of horse is the big, bouncy mover who might get a little worried from time to time but will come right back with some reassurance from the rider. Since I have a bad back and I can get a little worried sometimes, you’d think this would be an awful combination, but I’m never so relaxed and confident as I am on this type of horse.
- I secretly long to do three-day eventing, despite my lingering fear of jumping.
- I don’t give out many treats to the horses. Scratches, yes. But not treats. But then, I don’t give my cat many treats, either.
- I’d love to bring a horse up through the levels. Probably not start it, but go from green walk/trot on up.
- I heard there is such a thing as a Marvin the Martian schooling pad, and I’m afraid to find out, because I’d have to buy it. And while I am getting away with turquoise splint boots in a fairly conservative barn, I’m not sure I could explain Marvin to my trainer.
Instead of tagging anyone in particular, I’m going to try something different. If you read this blog and haven’t done this meme yet, do it. Then let me know you’ve done it. I’m always looking for new blogs to read, and I’m sure (hoping, anyway) there are people lurking here whose blogs I don’t know about yet.
When I’m a famous rider…
MiKael tagged me with the “When I’m a Famous Rider, I’ll Demand…” meme. The only problem: I don’t feel very demanding right now. I mean, my list begins and ends with “my own horse.”
Actually, given the sniping of famous riders that tends to happen on online forums, I think I’d have to demand a personal press secretary. Their job would be to find all the snitty posts about me and provide me with regular digests, because I would find such things amusing. And, I hope, as a famous rider I’d be spending too much time on horseback to find them all myself.
Oh, and it would probably be a good idea to demand frequent interaction with other riders and instructors, so I never forget that there are others who know more than me, and ride better than me, and have ideas that could help me improve.
Ok, is that enough humbleness? Good.
I want a fancy air-ride trailer with box stalls and a tack room chock full of stuff. I want a farm in a temperate part of the country that has four seasons, reasonable temperatures year-round, and an indoor arena for the inevitable climate temper-tantrums. Plus miles and miles of trails. With a view of the mountains and a beach within day-trip distance. And huge pastures with green grass in the summer.
Mostly, though, I demand my own horse. And I don’t say this just because I’m horseless at the moment. I hear too often about riders whose sponsors buy them a horse, and just as they are doing well, the horse gets sold out from under them. That’s one aspect of being a famous rider I can live without.
Hey, what can I say? I’m selfish like that.
I’m not sure how far around the blogging world this meme has made it yet, so until I figure it out, I’m going to have to tag people whose feeds say they haven’t done this one yet: Learning Horses, Rider One, and Pony Tail Club.
Where’s the proof?
Saw this spam post on a forum:
If your online advertising and words that describe you, your company, its products and services present a messy, disorganized and confusing picture then know that each word is driving away important, special customers and opportunities. It is no more a job of mediocre writings. It is rightly said “Easy reading is damn hard writing”.
We turn unproductive and boring docs into fresh, professional, and attention-grabbing pieces of marketing material for today’s demands.
Does anyone else find the last sentence hilarious in light of the first paragraph? Oh, sure, it’s attention grabbing, but I doubt it’s attention grabbing for the reasons the spammer thinks it is.
Oh hell no
Plaxo plans to let friends keep track of their contacts’ Web surfing habits, paralleling a feature fuelling the rapid rise of Facebook, which allows users of all ages to create private networks to connect to their immediate friends. Watching and learning what your friends are doing on the Web—and being watched yourself—is today’s hottest online trend. — New York Times
And people wonder why I never join the online social networking sites. It’s because they pull crap like this. I love my friends, but I’m not turning my life into a fishbowl for you.
Erm. Beyond what I voluntarily do in this blog, obviously.