Metallic Odyssey

I love my minion.

2009-11-09T17:43:13Z

So, on occasions in the past I've been talking to people about Sarge, and they ask me my plans for backing him and stuff. And it would come up-- "Oh, have you put a saddle on him yet?" My response was typically, "Nah, but he'll be fine with it."

At that point, they would make the assumption that my horse is like other crazy two-year-olds they've known or heard about that will freak out the second you girth them. The would offer me all the advice-- "Oh, do it like this, don't tighten it right away, go superslow, he won't like it, be prepared for him trying to get it off, etc etc etc etc". And I've politely nodded, thanked them for the advice.

Because, at the end of the day, I know my horse.

I put a saddle on him yesterday and he did precisely what I knew he'd do.

He stood there and didn't give a damn, even when I tightened the girth, treating him like any of the lesson horses I ride. (Tightening it in increments, of course, but without pussyfooting around the task.)

"Mom, you tied me too short and I can't reach the grass. Oh, is there something on my back? I didn't notice."

The biggest issue was that the girth was too short, and the girth extender made it a bit too long, and I didn't adjust the other side before lunging him, and he was full of himself and bucking a bit...

Wearing A Saddle- ur doin it rong

After some lunging, in the three seconds I took to turn around and find the lunge whip, Sarge decided it would be cool to pull down the fence to our little riding/working area.

That's my boy.

All in all, a productive day, fence aside. My horse is awesome.

vayshedruvon @ 2009-11-04T14:27:00

2009-11-04T19:27:34Z

Most songs are about extremes in emotion. Love, hatred, sadness.

I adore the fact that these particular two Wolfsheim songs (Find You're Here & Find You're Gone) are not. They cover the realm of indifference; an often-overlooked song topic.

When I wake up, I find you're here
I should feel joy but I am not even near
I dunno where you've been tonight,
I guess you've been with someone else but I don't care if I'm right
I do not feel
no jealousy
if I would lose you now I'd simply say it's destiny
destiny, destiny

I find you're here, you're moving on
you're just doing what you want, and I can't find it wrong
I know for sure, you would be gone
you wouldn't stay with me if something better comes along
I do not feel anxiety
I wouldn't be alone for long, it's destiny

There's this certain cockyness to the song that is particularly German. I love it.

Woot.

2009-11-02T22:20:01Z

Still a bit bloody, because I didn't want to rub too hard while washing 'em. Quite happy with how they turned out. :)

vayshedruvon @ 2009-11-01T09:45:00

2009-11-01T14:45:48Z

So, I’ve been thinking a lot about goals recently. All sorts—life and career goals, writing goals, and riding goals. I feel like, particularly now that I’ve matched up so well with Atticus, I sort of need to step things up with my horseback riding. I don’t really mean level-wise, just yet. I’m content with showing Itty Bitties for now. (Even if I hate the name of the lvel—couldn’t they have chosen something less childish?) The height of the jumps and complexity of the courses is just fine for me, though.

Granted, it drives me nuts when people don’t take my horse knowledge seriously because I “only” show at the lowest level. (One particularly younger girl where I ride refuses to take me seriously when I say that too much padding under a saddle can be just as harmful as too little. Arg. I rode with a saddle fitter, thank you very much.) But still, I know that, as far as my abilities go, I’m where I need to be. No rush to move up the levels or anything, particularly as I’m just doing this for fun and not glory.

I want to improve though, as there’s always room for that. One of the issues I feel is coming to the forefront for me is getting the right distances when jumping, and better assessing and choosing where the horse takes off from. I’ve got a decent sense of rhythm, and I can usually tell “well, alright. We’re either going to have to leave long from here, or squeeze in an extra stride.” The problem is mostly that I usually choose the cautious route and put in that extra step. I want to try and change that. Sure, I don’t want to leave from ridiculously, dangerously long spots. But I know that Atticus doesn’t mind the bigger distances, and I really should start trying to choose more of those. Hell, I’m doing jumpers; I should be aiming to go faster instead of mostly doing the cautious thing.

I’ve got one more show on the 7th, and I’m looking forward to it. Both then and at my Tuesday lesson I’m hoping that I can work a little bit on finding the longer distances more comfortable. I know the horse is going to jump; it’s just a matter of telling him that it’s ok to do so earlier as opposed to later. (Granted, if we have a nice, comfortable distance anyway, I suppose none of this really matters.)

In a way, it’s quite comforting to know that I have a tangible goal for improving my riding. I’m sure there are a million other things I could improve, too, but for now, this one is something I know I can work on.

vayshedruvon @ 2009-10-31T16:22:00

2009-10-31T20:22:09Z

Watching Untamed & Uncut on Animal Planet.

How the fuck does "Wild Horse Racing" comply with animal cruelty laws?

Fucking idiot deserved to get kicked in the head. A shame he didn't die. But hey, he went back to the sport, so we can only hope another of those poor horses finishes the job.

Ug, humanity, you are such a disappointment.

<3

2009-10-29T23:11:33Z

I love my beast.

Dreamcatcher Complete!

2009-10-27T22:06:58Z

So, I finished up a dreamcatcher today. Woot! Granted, the ring was already wrapped & most of the webbing done from a previous time, but still. Got it beaded and feathered and whatnot.

It's up for sale on Etsy at the moment, woohoo. Along with a candle that never sold. We'll see how things go with that. I need to balance out another purchase I recently made, haha...

Peacock feather, little bit of iridescence on the tip

Seed beads & fancy jasper

Another fancy jasper chip, leather-wrapped ring

Whee.

2009-10-27T14:54:24Z

So, let's see. Life.

Got one more weekend of Corner of Chaos. The end of that also heralds the end of work until Christmas Tree season starts up. I'm not really worried about that, though I should probably be more concerned about earning money. But in all honesty, I could use the break. (I say that, but I've been off a lot this week due to rain and stuff... ha. Yeah, I'm getting lazy/burnt out.)

So, since I'll have just about all of November totally free, I'm going to embark on the NaNoWriMo mission once again. In the past, school and stuff always got in the way, but this time around there's no excuse. I have the characters. I have a vague idea of plot, and an outline for the first bit. So let's hope I can actually manage to finish a novel for the first time ever, instead of just starting one and then not writing for huge stretches.

I'm also going to be trying to get back into crafting. It would be awesome to have some dreamcatchers or candles or both to put up on Etsy in time for the holiday season. Not sure how much interest there would be, but still! I like making them, so I really do actually do that instead of just saying I will. Oh, the procrastination. It must end.

In vaguely-related news, I'm already gearing up for Christmas. Anyone who knows me should have been expecting that. But don't worry, I won't break out the music until after Thanksgiving.

Last horse show of the year is November 7th. I'm hoping the weather is nice and that we do well. I think Jacob's coming, which is cool, as it'll be the first time he sees me ride. Hooray! On that note, though, he came to meet Sarge and the got along well. Yay! My pony approves of my boy! A necessary thing.

Alright, since the rain today means no work, I should get some stuff done here. Maybe work on dreamcatchers? Gasp!

vayshedruvon @ 2009-10-16T11:42:00

2009-10-16T15:42:51Z

Yeah, I'm bad about updating.

Life has been really busy, mainly with work. The stand is getting tiring; I love my bosses and coworkers, but dealing with bitchy customers is really tiring. You wouldn't think people could get so nasty over produce and flowers, but oh, they do. Ug.

Corner of Chaos, at least, is more fun since my job is to be 'mean' to customers. (Well, to scare the hell out of them.) Last Saturday we didn't get out until after 1am, and it was cold and I wasn't in my comfy jeans and I was pretty miserably, but on the whole it's good. On Sunday, I got to break character to escort out some poor hyperventilating girl.
I've met some cool people working there, though a lot of the others seem to fall into the "townie" category, and they almost exclusively just talk about smoking pot and drinking. Way to have meaningful lives there, guys. My 'favorite' obnoxious coworker ("Hey Tory, want to have vampire babies? hahah!") got fired, so the mood is slightly improved, at least ;)

I'm already gearing up for Christmas, because I'm psychotic like that. Oooh man, need to get to New Hope to do some shopping. Excitement!

Horse show tomorrow, should be freezing and rainy and possibly miserable, but we'll see how that goes.

Alright, that's enough for now, as I should be spending this day off cleaning.

Today, I left work early.

2009-10-04T20:49:22Z

Time spent in a field is time well-spent, I'd say :)

Sarge & War, racing around and enjoying the good weather :) My boy is massive...

Points of Interest:

2009-09-22T04:48:23Z

1. Love is wonderful.

2. Corner of Chaos opens on Friday! COME!

3.

I have fangs. :D

ponies-chaos-fangs-tattoos

2009-09-17T00:21:34Z

So, had a good few days off though there's still a ton of stuff I should do, cleaning-wise. Must get it done as Jacob will likely be coming over Friday/Saturday.

Riding last night was good. Atticus and I had a great last course; got the speed & shorter distances. He's so much fun, particularly when he puts his game face on. They won't have my division in the show this weekend (sadface!) but I suppose it's good, because it'll be a packed weekend.

Went into NYC and spent the night at Jacob's place Monday. Met some cool dogs. Ate pancakes. Good times. Before I went in, we had a meeting at work for the Corner of Chaos. Man, it made me feel old, because so many of the other kids are in the let's-smoke-cigarettes-and-blast-metal-from-our-cars mode. Someday, they'll realize that it's not as hardcore as they probably think it is. And also that lung cancer sort of sucks.

The night before, John took me out to see the trails, and oh man, pretty sweet. (Also, it was like an amusement park ride, flying down the trails on the Gator. That thing is like a golf cart on steroids.) I know I want to be on either the Devil's Den or the Trail of Treachery path, in the woods somewhere. The third trail, the Barbaric Barnyard, will be around the house. That'll be the more clown-freaky-animal trail. I'll probably shoot for woodsy Devil's Den.

On a related note, I think I'm finally going to spring for a pair of Andrew's fangs. I'm starting to pull together a costume idea for the CoC, and it would work better with fangs. And hey, I've been wanting them for a while, and I finally have the money, and he's got a sale thingy going on, so why the heck not?

Also, I'll probably be getting my two other tattoos soon. Just need to figure out where I'll go to get them. Tattoo parlor recommendations, anyone? I have one, but it's in Tom's River, which is sort of far. We shall see.

Alright, I really should stop procrastinating, and just go clean my apartment...

vayshedruvon @ 2009-09-11T10:12:00

2009-09-11T14:12:32Z

I am of the opinion that 8 years is long enough to dwell on the present and future instead of the past.

Help the Mustangs in the Pryor Mountain Range!

2009-09-01T15:38:32Z

Now, normally, I don't post stuff like this or ask for help in a cause, but this is something I feel strongly about.

For anyone who watches PBS, you might have seen a show about a herd of wild horses in the Pryor Mountain Range, featuring one named Cloud-- his journey from foal-hood to stallion. The herd has been found to be descended from Spanish conquistador horses, and as such, they are unique, genetically important creatures.

Living in the mountains of Montana, the horses number around 190, and have been studied extensively by The Cloud Foundation. The range where they live is designated land for wild horses-- something that's taken quite a bit of effort to get. The herd is a beloved group, and the TV documentaries featuring Cloud have allowed so many people a wonderful glimpse into the world of the American Mustang. The next show will air October 25th.

By that date, if nothing can be done, Cloud's herd might very well be decimated.

The Bureau of Land Management is planning to round up the entire herd on or after September 3rd. (It was supposed to be today-- September 1st-- but a judge is currently overseeing the court case filed against the BLM on this issues.) A group of horses (including foals) will be kept aside to be sold, and the rest re-released. In theory, it sounds fine.

However, the roundup is done with helicopters-- as it stands, a 2% (or around 6 horses) death rate is expected. Likely, it'll be the foals. Terror from being chased by a helicopter is a fantastic way to break a leg. This is a stressful event for the horses. Old horses will be culled-- thus removing the knowledge from the herd; these horses are the ones who know where to go for grazing and water.

The roundup will leave only 120 horses-- some given infertility drugs. Researchers involved do not think this is an adequate number to safely preserve the genetics of these Spanish-decent horses.

Not to mention, this roundup goes directly against a Horse Protection bill currently pending before Congress. In the words of Ginger Kathrens, filmmaker for the Cloud show and head of the Cloud Foundation, "Is BLM just trying to do as much irrevocable damage to America's wild horses as fast as they can before the Senate can act?"

The BLM is closing off roads, and making this roundup extremely private, not allowing any of the observation that usually would be fine. The circumstances seem to be more suspiciously shaky than necessary, and they certainly seem to be rushing in.

Hopefully, the judge will grant the herd more time-- perhaps a compromise can be found, but this dramatic of an approach is bound to do more harm than good.

For anyone who wants to help, contact any of the following to speak your opinion.

(The following is copied & pasted from The Cloud Foundation website)

1. Call/write/fax President Obama as often as you can—this herd is a national treasure and should not be wiped out by a government agency. Please flood the phone lines with calls! Phone: 202-456-1111 or 202-456-9000 Fax: 202-456-2461
E-mail Obama

2. Ask Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar to stop this round up
Call: 202-208-3100

3. BLM Director Bob Abbey, tell him to halt this round up-- he must reconsider his agency's actions
Call: 202-208-3801 or 866-468-7826
Fax: 202-208-5242

Robert_Abbey@blm.gov

4. Call and write your own Senators and Congress people- tell them that Montana is allowing the destruction of Cloud’s unique and historical wild horse herd. Politely express your outrage and ask them to help stop this round up.

Find your state offices here

It just makes me so angry and frustrated to see that the BLM is so determined to get rid of these horses. A symbol of American freedom, and we have to fight just to let them stay free... it's a shame. Let's hope that some better solution can be found.

We don't want zombies on the lawn.

2009-08-27T05:17:49Z

What have I been up to lately?

Well, mostly work. The other girl that worked up at the front with me quit, so I'm basically the only one (besides a more part-time-ish 15 year old) who can sell the produce. My boss is almost always in back now, working on the trails for the Corner of Chaos Halloween thingy.
As for that-- I can't wait. After going to so many of those haunted trails throughout highschool, I can't wait to be on the other side of one. My boss better not try to stick me on register. The thing is going to be big-- he's doing three separate trails, plus a non-scary corn maze for the younger kids, and your expected pumpkin-picking and such. At least it gives me something nice to look forward to in fall.

As for the job now, meh. It's not stressful, and I like my coworkers, and the pay is decent. I can read a book when there aren't customers. I really shouldn't complain. But working 10.5 hours a day, five days a week, is exhausting. I feel like I get nothing done, because by the time I come home at 7pm, I'm too tired to really want to clean/run errands/etc.

Riding has been going well; Atticus is a star. He was a bit insolent last night, but I think in part it was because there were no big-enough martingales left, so I rode him without, and he spent much of the flatwork doing his finest giraffe impression and fighting contact. Jumping was fine, though, but I certainly could have ridden better.

And then, coming home, I got a flat on a small road near the barn. Oh, glee! Luckily, Carole, my superawesome trainer, comes that way anyway to go home, so she helped me change the tire to my donut. Got it fixed today... ug, driving 35mph on Route 1 sucked a lot. Dude, if the car in front of you is in the slow lane with flashing hazard lights, please, just pass them in the EMPTY LANE to your left, instead of riding their ass. Kay? Kay.

Apparently, since my tires were only a few months new, they were covered by some sort of Road Hazard Warranty, so getting a brand new tire was totally free. Sweet deal, PepBoys.

Spent some time with Sarge today, too. Got him to jump over a low pole. No halter, no lungeline or any of that. Just a handful of grain and the cues he already knows. He's such a good boy. But then the other horses were all "OH HAI" and it was getting later, so I headed out. But my horse is awesome.

In other news, I met a boy. Haha, yeah, yeah. It happens a lot, I suppose. This one is pretty damn awesome, though. A lot of matching interests and such. And he managed to convince me to watch a horror movie AND anime on the same night, and I actually enjoyed them, so that's something.
Hoping it does not explode in my face. He makes me feel incredibly comfortable.

Aside from that, not a whole lot going on, I suppose.

Itty Bitties @ Briarwood with Atticus, 8/16/09

2009-08-17T15:55:11Z

Have I mentioned that I love this horse?

Arthur came along and took photos and video of our last course & the jump off. Man, I thought I was going faster... I can definitely get away with more speed, now that we've got the turns down. Atticus is such a star.

Course #3

Course #3's Jumpoff

(And yes, my form isn't perfect throughout. This is why I don't ride Equitation.)

I wish the standards weren't blocking the view of the last jump in the jumpoff... he saw it, got his go-face on, and took it huge. You can hear Carole laughing in the background as he does so.

I love this horse so much. At the end of the day, we got a blue (along with who-knows-how-many others) for the Touch Class. (I wish they'd change the way those are-- having everyone that completes it without rubs and in the time get a blue ribbon makes that 'win' feel sort of cheated. I liked it better when it was timed-with-jump-off and a definitive first-second-third placement.) We got sixth place in the 2nd and 3rd courses, and with 12+ other competitors on some [dangerously] fast-looking horses, I was quite content. Now that I know he has no problems giving me the tight turns, I can really focus more on going for speed.

Yay for Atticus!

My cat is weird.

2009-08-16T01:54:37Z

I went to the barn today

2009-08-11T00:00:59Z

"Oh hai, it's hot! Let me hose u down k?"

"Oh hai, yes plz the water feels nice on my front half... OMG IT IS EETING MY BUTT THO"
*dance dance*

"No is nawt. Plz to be standing still?"

"NO I RUNS AWAY"

"Ew. Lead rope covurd in durt. I HOSE UR BUTT"

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE fine."

"okie is clean and cooled off, lemme just get dis scrapr and i scrapes the water off--"

"I ROLL IN DIRT NAO YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYYAAYYYY!"

"..."

"NAO I RUB MYSELF ON U! We be dirttwins!!!"

"...sigh."

<3 forAtticus!

2009-08-09T22:23:15Z

Atticus n' me

We are teh winners.

Have I mentioned that I love this horse?
(Hell, have I even mentioned on here that I stopped showing Snickers, and started showing Atticus instead? Much better match.)

Granted, it was just Itty Bitty Jumpers, and there weren't many people at the show, but STILL. We are awesome. We got the 3rd course first place in the pouring rain.

vayshedruvon @ 2009-08-07T08:22:00

2009-08-07T12:22:00Z

So, last night I found this:

It's Depeche Mode (well, it's only really footage of Dave Gahan) doing Question of Time. Now, I hadn't heard the song before this really, and then I found it on one of the new cds that arrived in the mail the other day. The song is sort of strange but I love it; it's sort of 'protective' of innocence.

Well you're only 15
and you look good
I'll take you under my wing
Somebody should
Their persuasive ways
And you'll believe what the say
It's just a question of time, and it's running out for you
It won't me be long before you do exactly what they want you to...

So, original music video? Not really creepy or anything. No 15 year olds in it.

Concert? Well, for one thing, the song was written when they were in their 20s, I think, so their added age makes the lyrics a little weirder. And then... time 1:49 in that video.

They'll mess you up
and strip you down
and have their fun
with my little one

Ok, still sort of protective... but why is he grabbing his crotch for 'little one'?!

The worst part of this is... it only makes me love them more.

Thank you for being sort of creepy, Dave Gahan.

Even the stars look brighter tonight; nothing's impossible

2009-08-06T03:04:09Z

Depeche Mode concert = awesome.

I have some photos & videos, I'll get them up eventually.

I really wanted them to play Stripped, In Your Room, and Home, but didn't really expect them to play any of those three. They played In Your Room and Stripped. Oooh man, was I happy. Unfortunately, for Stripped, Dave Gahan didn't sing the chorus at all because he was holding up the microphone for the audience to sing. That was really my only complaint about the performance-- he did that a lot. Whole songs where he never sang the chorus. Sigh.

But overall? Freaking sex on a stage.

vayshedruvon @ 2009-07-30T11:29:00

2009-07-30T15:29:08Z

I have declared it National Cancel Plans With Tory week.

Please, feel free to add to the already-cancelled plans!

vayshedruvon @ 2009-07-29T13:21:00

2009-07-29T17:21:04Z

So, I've been back from Kentucky for over a week and hadn't gotten around to posting about it... until now! WOOHOO!

A random selection of photos...

Miniature 'performer' at BreyerFest

Hanging out with my inflatable friend

Kuchi n' Me!

Bluegrass Bandit & me!

Secretariat Memorial Statue

Darley @ Jonabell Farm's Trophy Room

Morning workouts at Keeneland Racetrack

Chocolate covered horses

Ogygian at Old Friends Thoroughbred Retirement Farm

Special Ring and Popcorn Deelites, who played Seabiscuit in the film, now at Old Friends

Mirror Image, found at the hotel room sales

Gala, one of the BreyerFest 2009 Special Runs

I've done a bunch of Gather photoessays/posts, so here'e the link to them, as they offer a bit more explanation.

BreyerFest Overview, Part I
BreyerFest Overview, Part II
BreyerFest Overview, Part III
Kentucky Horse Park
Trail Riding
Miniature Horses
Special Run Lines

And here, have some Friesians! (Excuse poor quality.)

More to come...

vayshedruvon @ 2009-07-16T08:14:00

2009-07-16T12:14:38Z

LEAVING TODAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY

BREYERFESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSST

excitement.

vayshedruvon @ 2009-07-13T21:13:00

2009-07-14T01:13:37Z

So, news lately...

Last week at my riding lesson I rode Griffin, because upon getting Atticus out of the field, I discovered that he had a large puncture wound. Seriously, I'm cursed with horses.
So, anyway, I'd ridden Griffin once before and found him... abrupt. His motions just don't flow to me.

So, when he stopped short at a jump from a pretty forward canter, I smashed face-first into the back of his skull. I stayed on, but it would have probably hurt less to have just fallen off instead.

So right now I can't eat anything that requires extensive chewing, because my jaw is not happy. (I hit with the left side of my neck/chin/jaw.) I saw a dentist today and they took x-rays-- nothing's fractured/chipped/etc, but things are still sore. And part of my chin & lip is numb. Bah.

Of course, this all happens right before BREYERFEST! I leave Thursday, wooo! I'm so excited. I realized last night, however, that I never did a Stablemate entry for the piece of cake contest. So... painting that tonight. And trying to figure out the theme for it I'm going with. It's leaning towards peacock at the moment... there will be photos, no worries.

So, aside from workworkworkwork, that's what's going on.