The Ramblings of an Artistic Equestrian

This should have posted last night.

Getting back into the swing of things. Snatched this meme from panda because it felt like a good way to shake off the rust and get going again.

Today's weather: Sunny to start and then clouds moved in. Slight breeze now and again. Humidity is high.

How I'm feeling: Pretty good, occasionally overwhelmed. Saturday was a day because I "lost" the keys to the truck. I had opened the little house and shed and locked them before losing the keys. We didn't find them again until after my second lesson. Tristan found them.

They were in the ignition of the truck.

The ignition of the truck.

Is where I lost my keys.

This did not bode well for my lesson later that day, but I actually did pretty well. I do think it might be a sign of some more burnout and overscheduling myself despite taking Thanksgiving weekend off from Thursday to Sunday and not doing anything with the horses but feed them and do two work sessions with Nell.

Probably more information than necessary. To add to the complexity I am feeling quite accomplished because I overdid my word count goal, got the fresh copy off to Muss and Hana. I'm also starting to poke through book two to get that off to them as well.

ALSO! I started to get my palettes together. My paints arrived Monday after accidentally ending up at a neighbor's down the road.



I'm excited as this is one step closer to getting really going on the graphic novel. I have started the base sketch for the first two page spread as well. I did start a Patreon for it, but I'm not going to actually advertise it until I have more than just a couple pages finished.

Today's accomplishments: Kitt dragged the arena with my student Chris.

We got over an inch and a half of rain on Saturday and into Sunday. I got a bit soggy during my lesson. The horses stayed in their stalls Saturday night and we turned them out Sunday afternoon. They were overly exuberant to be out free again, but no one did anything terrible, even if Chewy kept trotting around to stay out of the knuckleheads' way.

I taught five riding/driving lessons and an art lesson. Bess did over a mile today on a new route because it was too soggy to ride Ludo. During the art lesson I was able to get started on putting the palettes together (see above rambling). I caught up on some of my bookkeeping. I'm still way too far behind, but I made progress. I also did a little work on Depths of the Forge.

I hosed out Dave and Marty's truck bed because it still had hay in it from Friday and, of course, it got rained on so it was nasty wet moldy hay in it, which is terrible and I couldn't return it like that.

What I'm thinking about today: All of the above I've been rambling about. Also, working towards finishing Quentan's blanket. I need to finish my bookkeeping. I'm not nearly caught up enough yet for the year to be ending in three weeks. The truck looks gorgeous now that the door and fender are repaired and I almost don't want to drive it because it looks new and pretty. They even replaced the little siding on the rear drivers side door too. They also detailed it. So pretty.

Today's physical exercise: Moving the drag before hooking up Kitt, walking during multiple lessons. Mucking the arena, grooming horses who are filthy bog ponies with caked on layers of filth.

What I'm listening to:
Currently listening to/watching Lego Masters with the boys. My current shower playlist is Faye Wong (yes, I usually listen to music when I shower and singing along is not out of line either).

What I'm reading: Still working my way through "Lessons in Lightness" by Mark Russell and I've been working on "Creating Character Arcs" by K. M. Weiland that Muss recommended to me. I'm about halfway through, which is pretty speedy for me right now.

What I’m watching: Lego Masters

What I'm eating/drinking: Dinner was roasted pork tenderloin, which I made during my break this afternoon. Chris made garlic mashed potatoes and spinach to go with it.

What I enjoyed today: Watching Kitt really work, driving Bess, doing the art lesson, riding Zeke.

What I'm grateful for today: Having the Lil' Rig back. Picking it up yesterday it felt like getting a new truck. They did an awesome job. A happy bank account. I've been catching up with the bookkeeping and had some clients that we'd gotten behind on payment for. Being able to pay down more credit card debt and still having spare money in checking and knowing that I have more checks and cash to deposit tomorrow. I can't wait to be done paying down my debt and be able to do more saving and maybe even paying more into my ROTH IRA.0

Needed to note the Anti-mask Moron shouted at me again yesterday. For symmetry it was the same student and her parents walking with me as the second time when he called me a F*n communist C*. He shouted "I see you finally ditched the mask!" I hollered back "Air quality!" because heaven forbid he think I wasn't wearing the mask because of him. O, no. I have my own reasons and none of them include his rude idiocy.

I'm catching up on LJ again, it goes in spurts between comments and entries. I'm sure you've all noticed the pattern.

( A group of questions )

Stealing this verbatim from edgeofthewoods

In honour of All Hallow's Eve, I'm inviting trick-or-treaters to my LJ door.

Comment "trick-or-treat" to this post and I'll respond to your comment. Treats can be anything that strikes my fancy: a photo or gif that I think you'll enjoy, one sentence fics, graphics, a few words of why I'm glad to have you on my flist, etc...

The more "houses" to visit the more fun it'll be, so go ahead, open your journal's door, and help spread the fun!

Pulled from clevortrevor

A is for Argument: Who is the last person you argued with and what was it about?
Not over the internet? Probably with my mother-in-law Marty dealing with Chris and the boys.


B is for Breakfast: Do you eat breakfast? What do you usually have?
I almost always eat breakfast. I used to HAVE to eat first thing in the morning or suffer the wrath of an empty gut, but it has gotten better the last few years. If I have time to sit down and eat summer is cold cereal of various types and winter is oatmeal and/or cream o wheat. If I don't have time to sit down it will consist if a couple granola bars (Nature Valley honey N oats is a favorite, also Clif kid's, and Chewy) and fig bars (Nature's Bakery).

C is for Car: Do you have one? What kind? If not, how do you usually travel?
We have a Jeep Grand Cherokee and a Chevy Silverado 3500. I usually drive the truck unless I am going far like my Scottsdale/Cave Creek clients.

D is for Dinner: What's on the menu tonight?
Hamburgers on the grill. I should do meal planning. Chris argues it doesn't work, but whenever I do it we don't have to waffle around trying ti figure out what to have for dinner or end up eating the same three meals over and over.

E is for Excellence: Name one thing you think you're really good at
Problem solving.

F is for Friends: Tell us something you like about the last friend you spoke to.
Kathryn, she randomly calls or texts me, I do the same. Not constantly, but enough to know I'm present in her life, which is nice. She also likes my cooking/baking.

G is for Games: What's the last game you played (computer or board game)?
Does Duolingo count? Otherwise Horseopoly with the boys.

H is for Home: Where do you consider to be your "hometown"? Is it where you live now?
I grew up in Mesa from 5-18 years old. No it is not.

I is for Internet: What websites do you look at every day?
Livejournal, tragically Facebook, I should diminish the habit.

J is for Job: What did you want to be when you grew up? Are you doing that now?
I went through a couple phases, the equine veterinarian lasted a while, then teacher (English and/or Art), very briefly thought about being a counselor. I decided I would rather work with horses than on them. I did get my BFA in Art Ed, but the horse biz was going well and gave me flaxibility so I ended up getting sucked into that, just as I have gotten sucked into driving horses.

K is for Kitchen: Are you a good cook? What's your go-to dish?
I think I am decent. I'm starting to get braver and not follow recipies and measures exactly, but I can't just whip up something amazing off the top of my head. I don't think I have a single go-to, but the boys like my meatloaf and chicken squares.

L is for Learning: Are you studying or learning anything new right now?
Russian and hoof trimming.

M is for Movies: What's the last one you watched and did you like it?
We watched Shazam last night. It was fun. We've enjoyed Zachary Levi's work since Chuck, he has some of the best facial expressions.

N is for Nightmares: Do you have bad dreams? Any recurring themes?
Occasionally. "Death dreams" are the worst (someone close to me dies. Sometimes I have the dental teeth crackling/falling apart dreams. The most frequent anxiety dreams involve trying to park a car that won't stay in park and sorting rodents by gender, but they keep multiplying.

O is for Orders: What's the last thing you bought online?
I ordered a "soap saver" for bar soap that helps it lather up without burning through the bar. It also has an exfoliating side.

P is for Pop Culture: Do you follow the world of celebrity and know what the hottest new music, movies and trends are?
Not with intention. Sometimes I hear about it on NPR.

Q is for Quiet: If you're home alone, do you like silence or background noise like music or the TV?
I'm cool with silence, though I do like my local NPR station as background noise. If I'm at the computer I'll have music.

R is for Reading: What's your go-to genre?
Fantasy/Sci-Fi and I do love me some good graphic novels.

S is for Sweets: What's your favourite dessert or sweet treat?
Do artichokes count as a dessert? That aside I am a sucker for cheesecake, though I haven't had it in forever and most anything that includes raspberries or caramel.

T is for Travel: Where did you last take a trip?
We did a short trip to the Mogollon rim. Before that Heber Valley almost a year ago.

U is for Useless: Name something you're just really bad at.
Speaking my mind when it counts. Less personally I don't do make up. At all.

V is for Vision: Do you wear glasses or contact lenses?
I enjoyed over 12 years without a perscription thanks ro Lasix. This year I started wearing glasses again pretty much full time. I don't want to go back to contacts so I got my first ever pair of perscription sunglasses.

W is for Weather: What's your perfect day, weather-wise?
Somewhere under 70° for a high and preferably above freezing for the low. I don't mind clouds and a brief drizzle. The sind should behave itself and not gust above 10 mph

X is for X-Men: If you could have a superpower, what would it be?
Shapeshifting

Y is for Yesteryear: What period of history is most interesting to you?
I am interested in preindustrial times. How things were done, travel, etc.

Z is for Zero: What popular activity do you have zero interest in doing?
Drinking alcohol.

Top 5 Authors (no order)
- Ray Bradbury
- C. S. Lewis
- Piers Anthony
- Ursula Vernon
- Mark Rashid

Top 5 TV Shows (no order)
- Chuck
- Community
- The West Wing
- Smallville
- Neon Genesis Evangelion

Top 5 Movies (no order)
- The Last Unicorn
- Night and Day
- Hidalgo
- Unbreakable
- Brother Bear

Top 5 Bands (no order)
- Sister Hazel
- They Might be Giants
- Pink Floyd
- Trans-Siberian Orchestra
- The Patient Wild

Top 5 Solo Artists (no order)
- Nena
- Peter Schilling
- Peter Gabriel
- Alanis Morissette
- Christina Stürmer

And some comments from Facebook. Someone on a bitless grouped asked what Parelli was and what people thought of it.
( I try to reason with people on Facebook ... I should know better )

I just wanted to record it. This conversation is indicative of the problem I see in a lot of the bitless and positive reinforcement groups. Negative reinforcement is viewed as terrible because the scientific community uses the words "negative" and "aversive" to describe it and therefore it is terrible and evil because something you want to avoid must be emotionally destructive or painful.

Of course it isn't just the clicker training people who get the quadrants of operative conditioning wrong, but they are more prone to use emotionally charged words. The admins closed the conversation so I won't know if the people had any response to my last comments.



I got Kitt a new boot. Can you tell which one it is? She would have had two had the Scoot Boots not been too large. Tru-D had her first ride in the Scoots, which went pretty well. Anyway, couldn't afford two sets of boots so Kitt got one, Kash has one of Kitt's old ones, Chewy took Kash's smaller ones and now I have a spare. I guess I could have just gotten one boot for Kitt in the first place and saved me some money, but now I don't have to get Tru-D boots before taking her out on trail.

( Kitt boot pictures )

Pulled from flirting.
( The grown up survey )

herecirm gave me a prompt back a few weeks ago as part of a meme. I need more writing prompts in my life apparently.

The prompt: Write a conversation between an assassin and their next victim.

A shadow flickered in the moonlit darkness. Na'ry was a mere sliver and Roshir was fully covered. Aveshar sat up. Someone was coming. The feeling prickled up his spine, settling at the base of his skull. He turned his head slowly this way and that to orient himself. It was to the North and on the move, but not directly. For a moment he thought it might pass, but no, it made an arch and slowly spiraled inwards, swinging from North to South and back again, getting closer and closer with each pass.
( Who would be looking for him... )

More random stuff about Kashi'an can be found on the community for it: kashian

Comment with "I wanna play!" and you will be assigned a number between 15-50 of facts for you to share. I was given 37 by herecirm.

1. The first horse (er... pony) I fell off of was a POA named Rosie. I was in my early teens and had a brief stint of jumping lessons (my only formal lessons until I was 19). We landed crooked over a small crossrail and I clung on sideways a few strides before bailing.

2. We initially thought of breeding Ruby to Hedzer (Z's sire), but decided on Panda instead.

3. I was getting over a nasty sinus infection when we went to look at Hedzer, fever and all a day or two before, but when Hope asked if I wanted to ride him I jumped on it (and Chris got quite the glare as he thought about pointing out the fact that I was a recovering sickly person). I only did walk and some trot, but he had the coolest trot, lofty and thrusty. Riding a Friesian stallion checked off the hucket list.

4. I did concurrent enrollment my senior year in high school. I took classes at the community college for high school credit. It was awesome.

5. The three classes I took at the high school my senior year were Seminary, AP Studio Art and (AP) German III.

6. I claim semi-fluency in German. My grammar has slipped, but I definitely know more words than I did when I took my last class in '04.

7. I decided I wasn't going to be a large animal vet in my early teens when I came to the conclusion I would rather work with horses than on them.

8. I briefly thought I was going to go into counseling.

9. My first year of college I thought I was going to dual-major in Art and English with a minor in German, possibly teaching all three.

10. Judy was the one that showed me the newspaper ad for Kash. For sale 5 y/o bay Arab gelding $500. She thought I should check it out and I did.

11. Judy is also to "blame" for me doing the Equine Science program at SCC. She's the one that told me about it and encouraged me to go.

12. When I applied to work for Judy (newspaper ad) I was one of over 60 applicants. I still don't really know why she chose me, especially since I hadn't ridden in a year and had almost no formal riding education.

13. I had my concussion working with Thunder, one of Judy's young horses. Had I been wearing a helmet it would probably not have even been that. I've been a helmet person ever since.

14. I did a one month exchange in Germany my Junior year in High School. I lived with a Greek family in Hamburg. It was my first time really away from home and I was only briefly homesick the first call home after I arrived. The rest of the time it was awesome. Even when I got sick briefly and Frau Demi nursed me back to health with camomile tea and greek honey.

15. My second trip to Germany was just after I graduated high school. Two and a half weeks cruising Bavaria with a few days in Salzburg, Austria and Zürich, Switzerland.

16. A group of us were looking for a bank to do an exchange in Zürich and couldn't find one for almost two hours. You know ... in the banking capitol of the world?

17. I learned to drive during a cross-country trip where we did a church history tour, driving all the way out to Palmyra, New York to start and weaving our way along the pioneer's trail to Salt Lake City. I think over the course of those two weeks I logged ALL the hours necessary for my license on that trip.

18. I bought my Mamiya RB67 Pro S, a 120 back, a polaroid back, and three lenses from my dad's work when they were having a silent auction to get rid of a bunch of equipment that wasn't being used. I bid $525 for it. It was the highest bid in the entire auction. I was stupidly happy to get it and continue to enjoy it some 13 years later.

19. I learned to photograph on an Olympus OM-1 and still have my OM-1 MD. It went to Germany with me the first time.

20. I have a little white stuffed moose named Milton that Angie gave me to keep me company on travels. He has done it a lot. He went across the US with us, Germany twice, and he even came on Chris and I's honeymoon.

21. My first car was a 1968 El Camino and still is the yardstick by which I measure all vehicles. Had I the money/time to maintain one I would have one again.

22. I once got the Camino stuck on the side of my parents' house ... it required a jack stand to get it off.

23. My depth perception/ability to judge the space around me is poor (see above), yet I have very good spacial intelligence so far as getting things to fit in a space if it is remotely possible.

24. While I could have continued with advanced classes in Middle and High School I decided that it was dumb to do all that extra work and stress when I could do well in my normal classes and have time to pursue my own interests outside of the classroom. I think it was a good choice.

25. I have made up close to a dozen writing systems and have snippets of several languages for my world building projects.

26. I have small ring folders with all of the information for my world projects. I call them my "Books of Knowledge."

27. I took "Mixed Media" in college thinking that it was about combining various media, but it turned out to be "Intermedia," which covered everything from video, performance, audio, installation, and all such art. I was such a fish out of water in that class, but I never quit a class and stuck it out. I did surprisingly well (A!) despite feeling like I was flailing around 3/4s of the time.

28. I did this for my Intermedia class:


This is located on top of ASU's library and I had to go through the process of contacting the facility manager and several other people, filing paperwork and all to get permission to do it. Talk about out of one's comfort zone!

29. Kitt was the first Fjord I ever met ... and I bought her the same day at the auction. Apparently I have no self-control. (In my defense there were two other Fjords there I did not buy...)

30. I didn't plan on dating until after I had finished college ... and then I met Chris and we were married after year two.

31. We did postpone adding kids to the mix until after I was finished (and two years after I graduated actually).

32. Naming Tristan was super easy because Chris and I both liked it. No arguments and when he was confirmed a boy the name was set for sure. Kelhan's was much harder.

33. My first real instructor was deaf. I stopped taking lessons from her when I was pregnant with Tristan and after he was born she had stopped teaching (partially due to a messy divorce). She did qualify for the National Eventing Championship in Texas last fall. I haven't heard how she placed, though. She taught me a lot of good things (namely how to effectively use that dangboutside rein) and I got pretty good at understanding her "accent."

34. For about six months I took lessons an hour and a half away. So worth the four hour investment of my time! I wish I could find something similar again, but closer.

35. I didn't start reading until the middle of first grade ... and then they couldn't get me to stop. (I was reading high school level by the time I finished 6th grade.)

36. I took the SATs without doing a minute of intentional studying (1200s?). It really annoyed my friend David that I did better than he did without really trying. I would have done better had I not answered all of the questions (being penalized for getting a question wrong is stupid by the way).

37. I learned to whistle when I was three or four and I do it out of the right side of my mouth instead of the middle.

kudosirony What is a dream amenity you'd like your farm to have (unlimited money/magic/etc)?

If the no limit applied to maintenance costs too it would be an enclosed climate controlled dressage arena. That would be awesome. No worries about wind and dust storms and melting in the heat. It would be glorious. I guess I could make it bigger, but that would eliminate room to dink outside of the arena area in the future jump field and the like so 20mx60m working area it is!

If it didn't include maintenance costs then just having it covered would be great. One hundred degrees isn't TOO terrible if you don't have the sun beating on you.

In completely unrelated things because I am loathe to make multiple posts in one day Kelhan is officially weaned. I guess it's been that way almost two weeks now, but he decided he didn't want to settle in and nurse before bed anymore so there it went! I figured he would self-wean, but I didn't expect it to be quite so abrupt! It's all good.

foalstory What one chore or life task do you absolutely hate to do?

My relationship with chores is not necessarily avoidance, but hinges mostly on not thinking about it. If I think about it I do the chore, no complaints, but if I'm not thinking about it things can start reaching critical mass.

I don't know if I have a single chore I really HATE, but if dust wouldn't accumulate on things that would be great because I never have time to dust. It's not so obvious as staring at a dirty toilet and deagging hay through the house is justified a hazard of keeping horses, but I don't drag dust into the house nor use the things regularly that must be dusted so I guess that would be it. Dusting because you have to do it even if you do nothing.

I just realized why my audio was so off for the Dressage video. I had recorded it on the "male voice" setting in garage band, which slowed the recording down to drop the pitch. I re-recorded it this afternoon on "female" and it matches perfectly. Now had I only realized that sooner and not spent HOURS trying to pseudo line up the audio and make it work well enough. The good news is that my voice recorder isn't broken.