Wednesday, October 5
Oct. 6th, 2022 12:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday i am grateful for:
Cool weather, but okay.
Getting to the barn before my lesson, so that I could meet with the other rider. We planned to work with her horses together, to see how we all get along. We may ride together at her place to do a trail ride or two before it gets too cold.
Her sweet little girl was a hoot to ride. Very gentle and kind. She has a pair of Icelandic horses, which are just barely at the mark for being horses (14.2 hands being the pony/horse cusp). They are very stocky though, and fully capable of carrying an adult's weight.
We did our ground work first, which is a good way for the horse and I to become acquainted, and we deemed each other to be acceptable.
When we rode in the outdoor arena together, I was kind of focused on getting Mocha (the mare) to be a little forward, since she kind of likes to just walk. I got her to trot a fair bit (she didn't go into the Icelandic gait of "tolt", and a tiny bit of canter. She just seems not very fit, and unsure of herself at the canter. The other rider says she does 95% of her riding at the walk, which kind of explains it.
We had no real issues with each other, so we should be able to manage a trail ride together.
I made sure that the mare's owner was satisfied with how I was riding her horse, too.
It was funny to go from River, who is 16.2 hands to her mare, who is right at 14.2, but just as wide as River.
Then she had her lesson, and it was convenient that she was already tacked up.
She gave me some plants that were outdoor plants that might winter inside, but she didn't want to bother bringing them in. I said I would be willing to try.
I fetched River, and we did our warm up and practiced the obstacle course at Liberty while the other lesson was taking place.
Then, for our lesson, we filmed the obstacles at Liberty. The same as the last time I posted. We did pretty well, but I have to say it is almost painful to watch myself on video. I imagine most people feel a bit like that. It's strange to see yourself that way. Also, River is VERY SLOW, and I never seem to be able to inspire him to be more peppy in his responses. I find myself watching the video, mentally trying to get him to speed up.
Then we worked in the indoor arena, because it started to rain. We practiced riding with just the neck rope and no bridle, and he did really well with that.
R's husband K was in the arena, and it seemed normal and relaxed. I hope that whatever weirdness was going on with him has passed.
I came home, and put a light blanket on Hollywood, since it was raining and cold. She needs the protection at her age.
I didn't do much else. I had a nap.
My "today I learned" is going to be a bit of a rant. A rant against the whole "we should go back to being subsistence farmers who live off the land and live simple lives, and not worry about being sophisticated etc.
You know what that leads to? Poverty, isolation, and ignorance. We would slide right back into the Dark Ages if we all started living that way again. The internet is not destroying us, it is opening us up to information and integration and allowing even people who live in the boonies to participate in the global zeitgeist.
Prompted by the "fact" of the day that people in Papua New Guinea are mostly poor subsistence farmers with a grade 6 education or less on average, and not much sophistication. They are still incredibly superstitious just like...just about anyone with little education or exposure to science or the world outside their isolated village.
They literally still believe in witches and witchcraft, and blame everything from their kid dying from malaria on a neighbor that might have had a grudge on the family to integrating Harry Potter into their understanding of witch craft (their witches now have cloaks that allow them to be invisible).
There are many murders committed there every year, of alleged witches.
To some degree, it is nothing more than horrible people using the tradition of killing witches to get rid of people they don't like.
The nation is considering actually making it illegal to use the defense of "she was a witch" in murder trials. Not that many of these murders are even investigated, since they take place in areas with few police, and most aren't even reported.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/43895m/papua-new-guineas-sorcery-refugees-women-accused-of-witchcraft-flee-homes-to-escape-violence?utm_source=reddit.com
Cool weather, but okay.
Getting to the barn before my lesson, so that I could meet with the other rider. We planned to work with her horses together, to see how we all get along. We may ride together at her place to do a trail ride or two before it gets too cold.
Her sweet little girl was a hoot to ride. Very gentle and kind. She has a pair of Icelandic horses, which are just barely at the mark for being horses (14.2 hands being the pony/horse cusp). They are very stocky though, and fully capable of carrying an adult's weight.
We did our ground work first, which is a good way for the horse and I to become acquainted, and we deemed each other to be acceptable.
When we rode in the outdoor arena together, I was kind of focused on getting Mocha (the mare) to be a little forward, since she kind of likes to just walk. I got her to trot a fair bit (she didn't go into the Icelandic gait of "tolt", and a tiny bit of canter. She just seems not very fit, and unsure of herself at the canter. The other rider says she does 95% of her riding at the walk, which kind of explains it.
We had no real issues with each other, so we should be able to manage a trail ride together.
I made sure that the mare's owner was satisfied with how I was riding her horse, too.
It was funny to go from River, who is 16.2 hands to her mare, who is right at 14.2, but just as wide as River.
Then she had her lesson, and it was convenient that she was already tacked up.
She gave me some plants that were outdoor plants that might winter inside, but she didn't want to bother bringing them in. I said I would be willing to try.
I fetched River, and we did our warm up and practiced the obstacle course at Liberty while the other lesson was taking place.
Then, for our lesson, we filmed the obstacles at Liberty. The same as the last time I posted. We did pretty well, but I have to say it is almost painful to watch myself on video. I imagine most people feel a bit like that. It's strange to see yourself that way. Also, River is VERY SLOW, and I never seem to be able to inspire him to be more peppy in his responses. I find myself watching the video, mentally trying to get him to speed up.
Then we worked in the indoor arena, because it started to rain. We practiced riding with just the neck rope and no bridle, and he did really well with that.
R's husband K was in the arena, and it seemed normal and relaxed. I hope that whatever weirdness was going on with him has passed.
I came home, and put a light blanket on Hollywood, since it was raining and cold. She needs the protection at her age.
I didn't do much else. I had a nap.
My "today I learned" is going to be a bit of a rant. A rant against the whole "we should go back to being subsistence farmers who live off the land and live simple lives, and not worry about being sophisticated etc.
You know what that leads to? Poverty, isolation, and ignorance. We would slide right back into the Dark Ages if we all started living that way again. The internet is not destroying us, it is opening us up to information and integration and allowing even people who live in the boonies to participate in the global zeitgeist.
Prompted by the "fact" of the day that people in Papua New Guinea are mostly poor subsistence farmers with a grade 6 education or less on average, and not much sophistication. They are still incredibly superstitious just like...just about anyone with little education or exposure to science or the world outside their isolated village.
They literally still believe in witches and witchcraft, and blame everything from their kid dying from malaria on a neighbor that might have had a grudge on the family to integrating Harry Potter into their understanding of witch craft (their witches now have cloaks that allow them to be invisible).
There are many murders committed there every year, of alleged witches.
To some degree, it is nothing more than horrible people using the tradition of killing witches to get rid of people they don't like.
The nation is considering actually making it illegal to use the defense of "she was a witch" in murder trials. Not that many of these murders are even investigated, since they take place in areas with few police, and most aren't even reported.
https://www.vice.com/en/article/43895m/papua-new-guineas-sorcery-refugees-women-accused-of-witchcraft-flee-homes-to-escape-violence?utm_source=reddit.com
no subject
Date: 2022-10-07 06:12 am (UTC)What was his name? I forget. Think.
no subject
Date: 2022-10-07 07:05 am (UTC)Then, as you say, there are others with an agenda to use the ignorance and fear to control others.
People just seem to have no idea what life is like when you take away the scientific process, modern law, and reason.
They think that if they live in the country in isolation and live off the land, that is freedom. You would likely never meet anyone so absolutely tied to one place because of no cash, no translatable skills, lack of understanding of how the world works, and mind-boggling fear and superstition as someone who lived that way for any length of time.
I guess if you're already ignorant, superstitious, don't understand science and afraid of the world, what have you got to lose?
no subject
Date: 2022-10-07 08:46 pm (UTC)I still haven't remembered the name of that guy who was brazen enough to post a clarion call to sending women back to 1066. Oh, he's just trying to be provocative.
The Luddites to whom you refer haven't any idea what freedom means. They think freedom means an abdication of responsibility.
Why do superstition and heavy-handed religion seem to go hand in hand?
no subject
Date: 2022-10-08 08:21 am (UTC)I feel that this mindset is largely about control, and fear of other views.
To them, freedom is to be free of the responsibilities to others, but as well to be free to do and think what they want without anyone to question the validity.
I feel that heavy-handed religion is from the exact same desire to control people, to create a bubble of people who can huddle together in their church community, and block out anything they don't want to understand. Better yet, use it as a weapon against what they don't want to understand.
Both ideas are about control, isolating people from outside influence, not having anyone question their beliefs, and denying responsibility to anyone outside of their group.