Art of Braiding

Lately I've been braiding Toler before I ride, mostly for practice as I haven't done it in years, but also because I thought it would be a good way to strengthen my hands. That, and braiding is tooted as massage-like for horses, which I would tend to believe, depending on the braiding being done.

I finally found a method that's easiest (to do and on my hands), and even stays in better while riding. So, I took my camera yesterday and took some pictures. This one was taken after our ride, and you can see it's a little looser, but still hanging in well. I had to do some photoshop here, adding a duplicate layer in watercolor effect than blending it in with the original photo to add a little richness to the details, and a bit of extra weight to the blacks. I just thought the wrap-around composition was cute for showing off a braid.

I'm doing a little blog-meshing today, so if you want to see more braided-horse photos, check out Not Quite Hercules. I'm on my way to post them right...now.

Genre Frontiers

For the past few months I've had a character and plot brewing in my mind for a science-fiction novel, a genre I've never written in (a genre I don't read a whole lot in, either, at least not yet). It's definitely going to be a rather dark novel with a villain type as the main character. I'm actually rather excited about the character, and I do have quite a bit formulated in my mind.

I'm just having a much harder time than usual bringing anything out to the page. So far I've only been able to write sketch-scenes (more like exercises and such). Usually I don't have that sort of problem. The first sentence is the hardest, but as soon as that's down the rest just comes as it wants. That's usually my way of things--my stories and characters really write themselves. I very rarely have any inclination to outline or do exercises or take notes--with the exception of the saga I've been working on for several years, but that's only to keep things straight, especially as the characters and basics have been through some rather extreme changes.

So now I'm trying to figure out if I'm having trouble starting with this because it's a different type of story than usual, or if that's just the character's style. He is rather nefarious, so, I wouldn't put it past him, but still. It probably doesn't help that I generally prefer to write one thing at a time, and I'm still working on the re-haul of the first part of the saga. So, there's my ramble for the month. XD

Spirit

I love this sellenium toned version because of the foggy effect of the background near her ears. I couldn't get it to turn out that way with any other processing, though. One more for you, same mare:

Back in action

I'm officially back from my unannounced hiatus. I just felt like I needed to take a step back from the blogsphere for a while. Nothing big; I just needed to take a break. I did miss all my blogger friends, and I probably have a lot yet to catch up on. Progress, progress.

At least I come bearing news and fresh photos!

A few weeks ago (the end of March, actually, I think) I went with a barn friend to watch our young riders at a jumping schooling show. I used to take Toler to those shows all the time, but hadn't been there in five years or so; it was nice to see how the place had (or had not) changed. Our girls did *great!* They placed well in nearly all their classes and we even had some division awards. =)


Here's a photo of one of the girls on Talisman, probably the cutest pony I've ever met. They make a really cute pair out in the show ring. Talisman's got an unmistakably flashy spunk to him. I was able to take a lot of cute pictures of them.

And now for my bigger news...I started a new blog! It's an equestrian-specific blog chronicling the (re)training journey of Toler and myself. It will probably be a bit equine-terminology-heavy, but I welcome everyone to follow it if you're interested--even if you're not a horse person. I'll be doing day-by-day (or event-by-event) training posts, sharing exercise diagrams, general horse talk, tack and bitting talk, equine nutrition and health, and general equestrian theory and book discussion.

I present Not Quite Hercules!

The Moose and I

Off post-topic, but...You know what makes me happy? Finally finding the tea I loved after looking for it for *two* years. Not only that, but 4 oz. of the loose leaf blend came in the mail today. A grin to anyone who can tell me what I'm drinking right now. =)

This photo was taken at Toler's first show. ( Fall of '03? I can't quite remember.) It was a dressage show, and we won High Point for our division (earning a big neck ribbon that only just barely fit around Toler's neck). Somewhere we have a video of his first test--though I can't bear to watch myself ride. It was a pretty perfect day. We don't have many photos of it, sadly, and the photo CD we ordered from the roll of film seems to have started to (horribly) degrade, as all the images have huge amounts of noise and speckles on them. So, I did some PS doctoring on this shot to make it at least presentable for my Awesome Photoblog. (=

But this post isn't really going to be about that photo, or even that first show, really. See, ever since that first show season we've done nothing but recover and return to the basics. Injury, retraining, injury, retraining. It feels like a never-ending cycle, which my being away for college didn't help.

Most of the time I wonder where we would be if none of those setbacks had happened. If I had gone to college here, in town. I'm not really sure. Maybe we'd be jumping 3'6" without a fault. Maybe we'd be finessing tempi changes, the passage, reworking canter pirouettes. Maybe we'd be old pros at the training-level three-day events, which, honestly, had always been my riding goal. Cross country over big, wide, solid fences. Over drops and water jumps. The sport of trust, endurance, athleticism, and a dollop of insanity.

After our latest setback--our jumping accident two summers ago--I'm not really even sure I will ever complete a cross-country course. I typically feel fine about the prospect of being an eventer. Enthusiastic, even. But then, in the saddle, counting strides to the base of a simple 2'3" oxer, I get caught by nerves and doubt, a tiny corner of my head pondering the worst. I find, after over ten years of riding, that suddenly *I'm* the one needing a boost of confidence, the one feeling wobbly and insecure. Like the roles have changed overnight. Somehow I've become the cautious rider. No longer the ambitious "crazy" of the barn, the one nicknamed (until I got Toler, at least,) "Velcro-Butt." I tell myself we're healing.

Toler does his best these days to instill my confidence in him. And, really, he has matured so much in the past few years. So much, in fact, that my mother can ride him quite comfortably. He has to hold his own jumping, now, no longer relying on me to hold him over every fence or correct his striding and balance. Not when I'm focusing so much on confidence. Sometimes I think he has decided that he let me down that summer. I hold his nose close to my body, kiss the soft hair between his ear and forelock.

I think the worst part of retraining isn't the repetition, the boredom of the old and already-(once)-conquered. The worst part is learning, again, to trust. Completely. Without question.

Trust.

Overlook

It has been one of those low photo-inspiration weeks. I get really excited for art and photography this time of year, then everything gets muddy and ick and while I feel excited to go out and take photos or something, I can't get over the "yuck" factor. Now it's starting to warm up a bit more, the sun is shinning, the mud is a little less suck-your-boot-off-your-foot...It's even 50 degrees outside, which to me means t-shirt time. (Unless it's windy, then I'll stick with what I've been wearing for the past month, which is a t-shirt with a long sleeved shirt underneath.) Haha, you may think I'm crazy, but that's okay. Viking blood in my veins--warmer than rum, almost. *big grin*

All right. I told myself I would write this morning. (This technically counts, yes?)

Into Light

We've entered into the "tween" phase of spring. There's still enough snow left on the ground, but everyday it recedes more and more from the edges of the lawn, from the street and curb. At the stable, that means only one thing: Mud. Deep, wet mud that squelches under your feet and attempts to eat your boots with every step. The horses, for the most part, don't mind it. For one, they can get dirty. A favorite passtime, not unlike how dogs love to roll in whatever smells foulest for their two-leggers.

It's around this time of the year, when the air is warming but still chilly, when the snow fades but never melts completely, when the whole world feels like a giant puddle of mud, that it seems nothing green could ever grow from it. It's a silly feeling considering there are already hints of life stirring from under the snow crystals over the flowerbeds.

So, here's to that forth-coming first shoot, the first glimmer of green in an otherwise monotone world, the first bud journeying into light.