Jordan's Croft
Musings about life, writing and politics from a small farm in Kentucky.
Sunday, March 24, 2024
The Enthropy in Travel
Wednesday, February 7, 2024
AI -- Making Reading Less Interesting
Monday, July 3, 2023
Senior in the Saddle 2
Friday, June 9, 2023
Senior in the Saddle
I rode bareback as a kid on ponies. The first ride or two was in a saddle, because ponies are opinionated and giving them a break from riding usually means a rodeo for the first couple of rides.
As an adult, I rode English, Hunter under Saddle, and really loved the thrill of low jumps. I had a desk job, and never was fit enough to compete. But I loved the sport, then and now. Fast forward - and life happens - all the things that happen to middle-aged women. I'm over 60, and back in the saddle.
This saddle, in particular, is a big part of my return to riding.
Once the American Quarter Horse Association decided that their horses had to show with their heads dragging on the ground and that odd broken-neck lope. I stopped riding Western. It was an ugly thing to do to a horse then - and it's worse now.
So I ride in this old, heavy Australian Saddle, and let my horses lope with their heads high. It's a good feeling.
Thursday, June 8, 2023
Back in the Saddle
The trauma of losing my parents, then cleaning up The Hoard, then my horses and finally Covid 19, left me feeling old and very frail.
Frail?
Me?
Yep, and it sucks.
But a few months ago, I came to believe that I could get back in the saddle, if I was very careful how I did it. First I had to find source of horses. There's a lesson barn near us, a huge facility with a herd of horses that numbers somewhere between 50 and 75.
It wasn't easy to go. I cried a lot that first visit. The memories of those first years with my old mare when she was young and difficult...sweet and sour. It was a rollercoaster.
So I signed up, and got a date for my lesson.
I have to admit that, my total lack of physical strength was frightening. I'd suspected that I'd lost all my muscle tone, but the proof was shocking. I could barely lift a light saddle, bridling the horse was a struggle and I needed help to tighten the girth. Getting into the saddle was iffy, I was unbalanced as soon as the horse moved. Two months have passed, and I'm getting back my strength and balance. It's been slow, and I go from being sore and tired to tired and starving.
I have persistened and my balance has returned, with some of my strength.
The best part is the knowledge of how to ride is still there. I can hold a fussing house, ride a canter and direct a horse. I can saddle and bridle and so on. I know what I see and I remember how my horses behaved.
It's pretty neat.
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Happy New Year
Tuesday, May 26, 2020
A Brief Rant -- America Needs to Vote
This weekend, the Kentucky Governor was hung in effigy, in the front yard of the Governor's Manson, where he and his family are living.
Fortunately, his children weren't home when armed terrorists invaded their private space and stood on the front porch.
Now I'm gonna get on my soapbox, because these terrorists aren't operating in a vacuum. These guys were whipped up a couple weeks ago, by other elected officials. Republican officials, who don't give a damn about saving lives. They are merely more GOP sociopaths drunk on power.
The pattern was set in stone years and years ago, by the likes of Newt Gingrich, and the cancer that has eaten the soul of America has continued unchecked since the creation of Fox News.
Why has this minority, because this emotionally dead contingent IS the minority, been allowed to take power?
Because not enough Americans vote.
Americans, especially those of us in #FlyOverAmerica, need to get off our asses and vote, in every election, every time. We have to take back our cities, towns, hamlets and townships by voting.
If everybody in America voted in every election, we wouldn't have ANY of the problems we have today. Because America isn't a nation of extremists, it's a nation of middle-of-the-road, good people who have forgotten their power is in unity.
OUR power is in the ballot box.
Buttercup War
One of the worst things about country life, farm life and hobby farm life, is how equipment breakdowns bring a homestead chores to a crashing halt.
Two years ago my old tractor broke down, the same time as my lawn mower. The tractor went into the shop, and due to it's age and the expense of replacement parts, we didn't get it back until March of this year. The weeds, particularly creeping buttercups and a couple nameless Roundup resistant weeds, colonized the pasture and choked out the grass.
This made my old horses lose vast amounts of weight because buttercups are toxic. I lost my beloved black hunter to old age and blindness last spring.
I was behind on mowing, seeding, stall cleaning all year, two springs in a row. I got some help, we've got great neighbors, but getting half caught up is not the same as getting it right.
This year, we got the old tractor back, but it wasn't fixed. It shot out oil and oily smoke, which combined with vast quantities of buttercup pollen, aggravated my asthma and gave me migraine headaches. I was in danger of letting these toxic flowers, already covering 75% of the pasture, complete saturation.
But instead of losing the game, we decided to make an investment in equipment. The old tractor was replaced with a new one. The lawn mower will get a new deck, but is currently in use to haul things and run the manure spreader.
The first thing I did was mow down the buttercups, wearing a mask. The tractor, a new 19 Horsepower diesel with a 48" bushhog struggled at a few points, but the buttercups went down. After two days it was more yellow than red, and needed a rinse, but we got the buttercups down to the point where I can work outside without a mask.
It will need a second pass. But at last I have the right equipment for that job. It's a relief to know that I've won the war for the moment.
The old tractor has gone to a new owner. It's one of those things that couldn't be fixed easily, unless one could weld the wrenches oneself. I'm not that kind of woman. I can do a few things, but rebuilding engines isn't one of them.
The Enthropy in Travel
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Goodbye old friends… I’ve had four saddles in my tack room, gathering dust for a decade. Three were good quality leather, two Western saddle...