http://halt-near-x.com Halt Near X's blog, plus horse-related poems and images (more poems than images). en rider@halt-near-x.com Copyright 2010 2010-02-28T04:03:13+00:002010-02-19T04:54:19+00:002010-02-16T02:33:18+00:002010-02-14T15:29:20+00:002010-02-09T02:36:02+00:002010-01-27T06:24:19+00:002010-01-25T01:48:02+00:002010-01-20T05:53:32+00:002010-01-08T03:54:06+00:002010-01-08T00:38:06+00:002010-01-05T03:05:09+00:002010-01-03T19:59:37+00:002010-01-01T07:23:50+00:002009-12-24T04:41:55+00:002009-12-23T02:32:57+00:002009-12-19T17:47:01+00:002009-12-17T06:14:34+00:002009-12-15T05:48:02+00:002009-12-12T03:43:11+00:002009-12-06T04:24:21+00:002009-12-04T07:49:45+00:002009-12-01T02:41:20+00:002009-11-30T06:45:10+00:002009-11-26T02:02:50+00:002009-11-23T05:19:37+00:002009-11-11T00:22:21+00:002009-11-09T05:05:56+00:002009-11-01T20:17:15+00:002009-11-01T16:35:07+00:002009-10-31T22:08:32+00:002009-10-31T06:19:35+00:002009-10-29T00:52:53+00:002009-10-28T01:12:32+00:002009-10-21T04:12:51+00:002009-10-17T05:54:43+00:002009-10-14T04:09:56+00:002009-10-13T03:00:38+00:002009-10-13T02:11:08+00:002009-10-08T02:55:52+00:002009-10-05T06:30:52+00:002009-09-30T02:42:35+00:002009-09-20T23:47:37+00:002009-09-18T02:14:21+00:002009-09-17T00:30:27+00:002009-09-11T00:25:12+00:002009-09-07T00:04:57+00:002009-08-30T14:27:20+00:002009-08-24T09:30:36+00:002009-08-22T03:01:17+00:002009-08-19T03:17:30+00:002009-08-16T05:36:38+00:002009-08-09T07:08:01+00:002009-08-03T06:33:17+00:002009-07-26T03:41:20+00:002009-07-25T02:51:48+00:002009-07-16T03:51:35+00:002009-07-15T23:40:18+00:002009-07-06T02:26:47+00:002009-07-04T23:51:08+00:002009-06-29T04:56:06+00:002009-06-23T04:25:21+00:002009-06-15T03:47:50+00:002009-06-12T04:10:51+00:002009-06-03T23:46:18+00:002009-05-29T00:05:52+00:002009-05-26T01:54:09+00:002009-05-23T18:58:06+00:002009-05-23T00:06:45+00:002009-05-21T23:39:59+00:002009-05-18T23:50:38+00:002009-05-17T18:44:57+00:002009-05-16T04:52:43+00:002009-05-11T13:21:58+00:002009-05-10T22:44:06+00:002009-05-09T14:38:43+00:002009-05-07T01:45:54+00:002009-04-18T03:15:33+00:002009-04-15T04:36:29+00:002009-04-15T04:27:40+00:002009-04-14T04:27:41+00:002009-04-13T05:12:43+00:002009-04-13T05:11:08+00:002009-04-13T05:11:04+00:002009-04-13T05:10:20+00:002009-04-12T04:40:01+00:002009-04-11T18:34:32+00:002009-04-09T05:11:17+00:002009-04-08T04:18:37+00:002009-04-07T00:38:35+00:002009-04-07T00:38:14+00:002009-04-05T03:14:03+00:002009-04-05T02:10:47+00:002009-04-04T14:00:05+00:002009-04-03T14:00:39+00:002009-04-03T14:00:09+00:002009-04-02T14:00:52+00:002009-04-02T14:00:27+00:002009-04-02T04:52:04+00:002009-04-01T14:00:39+00:002009-04-01T14:00:06+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/brief-sabbatical/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/brief-sabbatical/#When:04:03:13Z I have decided the most dangerous activity I do is not riding. It is not driving on the Houston freeways. It is not even eating my own cooking. It’s sleeping. Somehow—and I don’t know how—I managed to pull something in my rotator cuff while sleeping. We can skip over all the condolences bits—I have prescription pain pills. Life is good. I am also faithfully practicing lots and lots of RICE—reading, ice cream, etc. Again, life… 2010-02-28T04:03:13+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/hallmark-moments/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/hallmark-moments/#When:04:54:19Z As I walked out to her paddock tonight, I saw Gabi was—unusually—standing right by the gate. Her full attention was focused on the path: ears pricked forward, eyes fixed, posture just radiating “I’m watching you.” Once I was within a few feet of the gate, she started pacing back and forth, and even tried to “help” me unfasten the latch. Every time I told her to back up, she would—and then crept forward again, barely… 2010-02-19T04:54:19+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/for-all-the-bridle-recommendations-recipes/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/for-all-the-bridle-recommendations-recipes/#When:02:33:18Z Thanks everyone for the bridle recommendations. Tack buying is on hold temporarily, but I’m sure you’ll hear about it if it happens. I did promise recipes, though, and here they are. Killer White-Sauce Lasagna Ingredients: A box of lasagna noodles. A couple chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces. Mushrooms. Onions. Peppers—green, red, orange, yellow, whatever you like. Two jars of white sauce. 15 oz. ricotta cheese. 4 cups mozzarella. 1/2 cup parmesan. 2… 2010-02-16T02:33:18+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/all-in-the-name-of-competition/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/all-in-the-name-of-competition/#When:15:29:20Z Please don’t talk to me about the Olympics. I find the news coming out of there horrific and incomprehensible. Actually, we can talk about Lindsey Vonn and the way the media is enabling her idiocy. There is nothing “brave” or “admirable” or about someone saying, “Gosh, you know, I just don’t want to face reality.”—I’m synthesizing and paraphrasing here, obviously—“Didn’t that little gymnast compete on a broken ankle? Sure, she was competing in an event… 2010-02-14T15:29:20+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/how-to-tell-when-you-are-distracted/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/how-to-tell-when-you-are-distracted/#When:02:36:02Z All evidence on this blog to the contrary, I do not have ADD. When I want to, I can buckle down and focus just fine. Nothing I say in the rest of this post will prove that, but I assure you it’s true. So I am plugging away this weekend on my new project site, the bigger, better, more powerful version of O Pegasus. This is why it’s taking me so long to get… 2010-02-09T02:36:02+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-need-a-personal-shopper/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-need-a-personal-shopper/#When:06:24:19Z Maybe it’s because I started in hunter land, but I really hate Dressage bridles. They’re so… big. And blocky. And padded. And cranked. And blingy. And full of buckles. And the padding is all contrasting colors. And they’re black. And… Unfortunately, I suspect my budget is not going to give me the luxury of buying a brown dressage saddle quite yet, so I’m going to have to buy a black bridle. My hunter princess soul… 2010-01-27T06:24:19+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-should-have-known-better/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-should-have-known-better/#When:01:48:02Z I am sitting on the couch with various parts of my body on ice and other parts on heating pads and others being smothered by Pook… although, to be honest, I think she’s just trying to steal the heating pad. Today started out so well; it really did. After a fantastic lesson yesterday that culminated in some incredible trot work at the end, I was on a high. I tacked up for today’s lesson and… 2010-01-25T01:48:02+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/in-which-we-progress-slowly-without-drama/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/in-which-we-progress-slowly-without-drama/#When:05:53:32Z [This bout of shameless bragging brought to you by the letter A for Awesome] No pain, no gain. That’s what they say. They can tell it to my abs, which are currently so sore that even menstrual cramps sound pleasant. This is what happens when you try a new exercise and, while you’re doing it, think Hey, I can really feel this working! Awesome! More reps! More! More, I say! More sense would have more… 2010-01-20T05:53:32+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/photo-op/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/photo-op/#When:03:54:06Z I realize I never post photos, but Gabi’s owner sent me some she took a couple weeks ago and I thought I’d share. She takes this trot and just floats across the arena. 2010-01-08T03:54:06+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-am-a-cruel-cruel-person/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/i-am-a-cruel-cruel-person/#When:00:38:06Z With the freezing weather coming in, horses were not being turned out tonight so I figured I’d go hand walk Gabi. I tossed her in cross ties, threw a cooler on her back, and out we went. After the walk, I tossed her in cross ties again, grabbed brushes out of my locker, tossed the cat out of the locker, gave her a good grooming, tossed the cat out of the locker again, put the… 2010-01-08T00:38:06+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/call-out-the-national-guard/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/call-out-the-national-guard/#When:03:05:09Z It’s going to be below freezing in Houston! For a day! Maybe two days! Maybe two and a half days! Maybe it’ll break the record 53-hour freeze! There may be sleet! Run! Run for your liiiiiiiiiives! (Actually, the last is not bad advice. Whatever you do, don’t drive. There is a reason every person I know who has lived in a Northern climate and cut their teeth driving in real winter conditions is already calling… 2010-01-05T03:05:09+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/feeling-irresolute-theres-an-app-for-that/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/feeling-irresolute-theres-an-app-for-that/#When:19:59:37Z It’s that time of year again: we all get peer-pressured into making resolutions we know we won’t keep. “I am,” we say, standing on the living room couch and waving a pretzel in the air like a scepter, “going to lose weight this year!” And our friends bench-press their champagne glasses and shout, “You go, girl! You’re awesome! We’re going to exercise more!” And then we wake up the next morning, hungover and uncertain where… 2010-01-03T19:59:37+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/jumping-into-the-new-year/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/jumping-into-the-new-year/#When:07:23:50Z As you know, I’ve been dealing with a crippling—can’t-ride-over-poles-on-the-ground crippling—fear of jumping. I kept trying to tell myself I was resigned to it, but as everyone but me realized (I’m sure), I really wasn’t. The thing is, I liked jumping. A lot. And I don’t like giving in to fear. A few weeks ago, I was watching a rider school over a vertical and I realized something very important: when the horse jumps, they go… 2010-01-01T07:23:50+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/in-memorium/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/in-memorium/#When:04:41:55Z Multas per gentes et multa per aequora vectus advenio has miseras, frater, ad inferias, ut te postremo donarem munere mortis et mutam nequiquam alloquerer cinerem. Quandoquidem fortuna mihi tete abstulit ipsum. Heu miser indigne frater adempte mihi, nunc tamen interea haec, prisco quae more parentum tradita sunt tristi munere ad inferias, accipe fraterno multum manantia fletu, atque in perpetuum, frater, ave atque vale. Catullus 101. It’s… 2009-12-24T04:41:55+00:00 http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/this-is-the-world-we-live-in/ http://halt-near-x.com/blog/archive/this-is-the-world-we-live-in/#When:02:32:57Z I just… I… you know… I… Oddly Specific It’s not that there’s a blog collecting all these signs, it’s that these signs were necessary in the first place. I’m a little worried about the future of humanity. 2009-12-23T02:32:57+00:00