Saturday, January 27
Jan. 27th, 2024 11:57 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
gottawonderToday I am grateful for:
Wow, has this month just flown by!
Crazy beautiful weather again for this time of year.
The cats have been letting me sleep the last few days, and it's been really nice.
I didn't do a lot today; mostly just my normal chores, because of the Awards Night at the riding barn.
I actually timed my preparation time well, so that I didn't feel rushed. I hemmed and hawed a bit about whether or not to wear a pair of satiny cargo pants, whether it would be a bit much, but then recalled that one of the other riders often dresses UP for everything, and it just seems fun. Hey, if she can do it, so can I, right?
So I had time to clean up, wash my hair, actually put on a bit of makeup, and wear clothes that I rarely get a chance to wear.
I got there pretty much right on time, which is also nice.
The awards were based on points earned in the ILHA shows this past year, though everyone was acknowledged in some way, as everyone has had quite the journey to get where we are with our horses. No exceptions to that, it seems.
It was nice to see everyone, and to dress up, and to have a chance to talk.
It's funny, there's one woman especially that I end up talking with a lot at these things, and she's a really nice person, and we do both really seem to care a lot about our animals. I know that she's possibly almost polar opposite of myself politically, in terms of I do know she's on the "trucker convoy" side of things, on the other side of the Covid issues, and so on. Several people at the barn are in that camp.
I do like her, and others, as people though. I'm not sure how we can be so different in some areas, but have overlapping areas of similarity, and I hope we can all use that knowledge to understand that we're all people who matter.
So, at this event we did all get up and speak about how we started doing Liberty, and what it means to us, and of course when I got up I got all emotional and teary. I kind of wish I didn't do that every time I try to be emotionally sincere, but it do.
Being at this barn really does mean a lot to me. R's methods of working with the horses really does mean that I feel more aligned with my values, in that I do love horses, and it always bothered me that most trainers advocate certain levels of cruelty and brutal treatment in order to work with them. It's a sad truth that there is often an expected level of hard treatment that is considered acceptable by most people when it comes to horses, because of their sheer size and power.
R works with horses in a way that is pretty darn low on the hard treatment, and is generally based on building trust and working through fears with the least amount of force possible.
When I came to R's barn, I was happy to see that her horses were mostly older horses that she'd had for years and years, something that is nearly unheard of in the horse world. Most riding barns cycle through lesson horses before they get older so that they don't have to do any maintenance on them, or have to pay to feed/care for retired horses. Most lesson horses break down either physically or mentally after a few years, or get sour from the repetitive work, or burn out on showing. R's horses are mostly older horses, all of them are over 15, and they are nearly all horses that were sold to her because they had either behavioral or physical issues that no one else wanted to deal with. She took them and worked with them until they were healthy again, and worked through their training/mental health issues.
Her solutions are not a harder bit, a bigger spur, or drugging the horse. She just goes back to the beginning and works on communication.
It's not the easy way by any means, and it's not always going to mean that you get the most points in a show, but it's a very compassionate way to work with a horse. Often with the rider (who is just as often suffering from physical or emotional trauma) as well.
So, how do you not get emotional talking about that?
This is the part about Liberty that matters to me, more than the shows or costumes or competing. It's the part where we work with horses in a non-violent way.
I talked briefly with my husband when I got home. With him being two hours later, it was very late for him to talk, since he still has to be up early to fly home again. It's going to be a long day again for him.
He was able to go to see the History Museum today before he had to work at the booth for his company. The actual time he had to be there was in the evening, which I thought was odd.
It sounds like he really had very little to do at this event; it was a job fair conference. Students paid to attend for the weekend, and the part that my husband was at was at a booth, where students could ask questions and such, and presumably apply for jobs. My husband said he only worked at the booth for about two hours.
They flew him to Ottawa for the weekend to work at the career booth for his company for two hours.
The rest of the evening was the gala supper for the conference, where I guess both the students and everyone who had been at the booths got to eat, but it was one of those things where there were speakers all night, and it took forever to eat, and was apparently deadly boring.
Where his hotel is, and the conference, is only a few blocks away from a famous Canadian address; "56 Sparks Street". If you aren't a Canadian of a certain age, that address won't mean anything to you. To the rest of us, it was probably the most well-known address of our time, something all children could recite.
All through the '70's, Lotta Hitschmanova was the voice of the USC, an organization that did work overseas to help people. Those ads were seen ALL DAY LONG on Canadian television (on both channels!) and every kid from that time knows EXACTLY what I mean by the importance of "56 Sparks Street".
He's going to try to go there tomorrow just to be able to say that he was there in person.
https://youtu.be/N83imVpucCw?si=ETUDWN8skDMYdMHc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotta_Hitschmanova
For a while, I am going to try to learn about Geography, since I have a hard time remembering countries since I have so very little personal context.
I learned about Tuvalu, a group of islands in Oceania, near Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu
I watched a Youtube video about them, and their greatest current challenge is climate change. The islands are very flat, and any increase in the level of the ocean will submerge them. They also have no fresh water source other than rain, and agriculture is a tremendous challenge for them.
It's so weird, when you see how beautiful it is there, you'd think it was paradise, but they have so little in the way of food or natural resources, no industry or way to make money, and are so far away from anywhere with a hospital or other services. They are modern people, aware of the rest of the world, but live fairly simple lives just from pure isolation.
https://youtu.be/umPfcQLxEvI?si=ry6bAi31KDdeX1sH
Wow, has this month just flown by!
Crazy beautiful weather again for this time of year.
The cats have been letting me sleep the last few days, and it's been really nice.
I didn't do a lot today; mostly just my normal chores, because of the Awards Night at the riding barn.
I actually timed my preparation time well, so that I didn't feel rushed. I hemmed and hawed a bit about whether or not to wear a pair of satiny cargo pants, whether it would be a bit much, but then recalled that one of the other riders often dresses UP for everything, and it just seems fun. Hey, if she can do it, so can I, right?
So I had time to clean up, wash my hair, actually put on a bit of makeup, and wear clothes that I rarely get a chance to wear.
I got there pretty much right on time, which is also nice.
The awards were based on points earned in the ILHA shows this past year, though everyone was acknowledged in some way, as everyone has had quite the journey to get where we are with our horses. No exceptions to that, it seems.
It was nice to see everyone, and to dress up, and to have a chance to talk.
It's funny, there's one woman especially that I end up talking with a lot at these things, and she's a really nice person, and we do both really seem to care a lot about our animals. I know that she's possibly almost polar opposite of myself politically, in terms of I do know she's on the "trucker convoy" side of things, on the other side of the Covid issues, and so on. Several people at the barn are in that camp.
I do like her, and others, as people though. I'm not sure how we can be so different in some areas, but have overlapping areas of similarity, and I hope we can all use that knowledge to understand that we're all people who matter.
So, at this event we did all get up and speak about how we started doing Liberty, and what it means to us, and of course when I got up I got all emotional and teary. I kind of wish I didn't do that every time I try to be emotionally sincere, but it do.
Being at this barn really does mean a lot to me. R's methods of working with the horses really does mean that I feel more aligned with my values, in that I do love horses, and it always bothered me that most trainers advocate certain levels of cruelty and brutal treatment in order to work with them. It's a sad truth that there is often an expected level of hard treatment that is considered acceptable by most people when it comes to horses, because of their sheer size and power.
R works with horses in a way that is pretty darn low on the hard treatment, and is generally based on building trust and working through fears with the least amount of force possible.
When I came to R's barn, I was happy to see that her horses were mostly older horses that she'd had for years and years, something that is nearly unheard of in the horse world. Most riding barns cycle through lesson horses before they get older so that they don't have to do any maintenance on them, or have to pay to feed/care for retired horses. Most lesson horses break down either physically or mentally after a few years, or get sour from the repetitive work, or burn out on showing. R's horses are mostly older horses, all of them are over 15, and they are nearly all horses that were sold to her because they had either behavioral or physical issues that no one else wanted to deal with. She took them and worked with them until they were healthy again, and worked through their training/mental health issues.
Her solutions are not a harder bit, a bigger spur, or drugging the horse. She just goes back to the beginning and works on communication.
It's not the easy way by any means, and it's not always going to mean that you get the most points in a show, but it's a very compassionate way to work with a horse. Often with the rider (who is just as often suffering from physical or emotional trauma) as well.
So, how do you not get emotional talking about that?
This is the part about Liberty that matters to me, more than the shows or costumes or competing. It's the part where we work with horses in a non-violent way.
I talked briefly with my husband when I got home. With him being two hours later, it was very late for him to talk, since he still has to be up early to fly home again. It's going to be a long day again for him.
He was able to go to see the History Museum today before he had to work at the booth for his company. The actual time he had to be there was in the evening, which I thought was odd.
It sounds like he really had very little to do at this event; it was a job fair conference. Students paid to attend for the weekend, and the part that my husband was at was at a booth, where students could ask questions and such, and presumably apply for jobs. My husband said he only worked at the booth for about two hours.
They flew him to Ottawa for the weekend to work at the career booth for his company for two hours.
The rest of the evening was the gala supper for the conference, where I guess both the students and everyone who had been at the booths got to eat, but it was one of those things where there were speakers all night, and it took forever to eat, and was apparently deadly boring.
Where his hotel is, and the conference, is only a few blocks away from a famous Canadian address; "56 Sparks Street". If you aren't a Canadian of a certain age, that address won't mean anything to you. To the rest of us, it was probably the most well-known address of our time, something all children could recite.
All through the '70's, Lotta Hitschmanova was the voice of the USC, an organization that did work overseas to help people. Those ads were seen ALL DAY LONG on Canadian television (on both channels!) and every kid from that time knows EXACTLY what I mean by the importance of "56 Sparks Street".
He's going to try to go there tomorrow just to be able to say that he was there in person.
https://youtu.be/N83imVpucCw?si=ETUDWN8skDMYdMHc
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotta_Hitschmanova
For a while, I am going to try to learn about Geography, since I have a hard time remembering countries since I have so very little personal context.
I learned about Tuvalu, a group of islands in Oceania, near Australia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuvalu
I watched a Youtube video about them, and their greatest current challenge is climate change. The islands are very flat, and any increase in the level of the ocean will submerge them. They also have no fresh water source other than rain, and agriculture is a tremendous challenge for them.
It's so weird, when you see how beautiful it is there, you'd think it was paradise, but they have so little in the way of food or natural resources, no industry or way to make money, and are so far away from anywhere with a hospital or other services. They are modern people, aware of the rest of the world, but live fairly simple lives just from pure isolation.
https://youtu.be/umPfcQLxEvI?si=ry6bAi31KDdeX1sH
no subject
Date: 2024-01-28 08:53 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-01-28 11:12 am (UTC)Do you also know how I count to twelve?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-28 08:45 pm (UTC)How do you count to twelve?
no subject
Date: 2024-01-28 10:33 pm (UTC)https://youtu.be/Hcx44e2gnfI?si=Kd0Ts5WxhxMw088O
The burnt toast reference has stuck around too.
no subject
Date: 2024-01-29 02:50 am (UTC)No wonder I can't do simple math past seven.
"Dr. Penfield!" we all shout whenever we smell something burnt.
https://youtu.be/pUOG2g4hj8s?si=1m2b6m0NIGX5mt_L