Horse Worship

One of the things I like to do, when not browsing Russian nationalist websites in search of Bear Cav pics, is to go riding. It's good for mind, body and spirit, provided, of course, that you don't come off at a full-tilt gallop and break.

Speaking of which, I've been working JB at the slower gaits, walk and trot, around mesquites and small trails  in the brush. The objective being to build her fitness, confidence, response to aids and overall unity with the rider after a couple of months of not being ridden.

spurious target photo...

The principle's simple enough -- make it easy for the horse to do what you want it to do and hard for the creature to do the opposite. I guess you could translate that into church terms.

Say a Solemn High Mass and get a reward.

Say a Clown Mass and ________ Well, fill in the blank.

The Western Church has a liturgy, it just needs to use it.

LSP

Circle Y - Neck Reining

Circle Y

Had to reschedule picking up the Lee and a go on .375(!) pistolry, so I consoled myself with a stroll to the Gold Nugget Pawn and Gun, where I said a prayer over the owner, Miss Jane, and sprinkled some Holy Water about. Keeps the demons at bay.

Then I bought an old Circle Y saddle. It fits JB pretty well, though she needs a cut away pad because of her high withers. 

I like riding Western after a couple of years of English and find it gives a little more control, but maybe my horsemanship has improved... Regardless, we practiced neck reining and I was pleased to see her picking it up pretty quickly. 

The method, as I understand it, is pretty simple. Cue the turn with seat and legs, touch the animal's neck with the outside rein and show the creature the movement with the inside rein. After a while the horse starts to get what you're asking for and turns with a light touch to the neck and relevant cues from leg and seat.

On a cold gray misty morning

Some people think neck reining means yanking the horse's head around with a great left or right tug of the reins. 

I'd say that was wrong, not that I'm an expert.

I read somewhere that it takes around a 1000 rides to train a good horse. JB's a little over half way there; patience, I remind myself, is key.

Stay on the horse.

LSP

Scorcher

Incredibly hot, something like 107 by 10 am this morning, but that didn't stop a drive over to JB's new pasture and a ride.


A few months ago she would have regressed back to being flighty, hard to catch and generally difficult, which was what I expected.

Not at all; JB was easy to catch, saddle, bridle and ride. We got up to some simple walk, trot, canter exercises until the heat got even more searing than it already was. So I was pleased with that, had a good shoot afterwards too, never mind the heat.


On a less sanguine front, unless you happen to be a gold investor, is this (from the Daily Telegraph via Drudge). It's a statement from Peter Hambro, chairman of the U.K's biggest gold listing:

"One of the big US banks texted me today to say that if QE3 actually happens, we could see gold at $5,000 and silver at $1,000. I feel terribly sorry for anybody on fixed incomes tied to a fiat currency because they are not going to be able to buy things with that paper money."


We're all doomed.


Stay on the horse.


LSP

Belloc - Modern Attack

Belloc -- the Anti-Crowley

From time to time I like to read to read Belloc, one of the more aggressive catholic apologists of the last century and a sort of 'bad cop' to Chesterton's good one. Here's what he had to say about modernism and the nascent secular state:

"The Faith is now in the presence not of a particular heresy as in the past - the Arian, the Manichean, the Albigensian, the Mohammedan, nor is it in the presence of a sort of generalized heresy as it was when it had to meet the Protestant revolution from three to four hundred years ago.

The enemy which the Faith now has to meet, and which may be called "The Modern Attack," is a wholesale assault upon the fundamentals of the Faith, upon the very existence of the Faith. And the enemy now advancing against us is increasingly conscious of the fact that there can be no question of neutrality. The forces now opposed to the Faith design to destroy. The battle is henceforward engaged upon a definite line of cleavage, involving the survival or destruction of the Catholic Church. And all, not a portion, of its philosophy."

You can read the whole thing here, from chapter seven of The Great Heresies (pub. 1938).

I think his analysis is pretty much on target, whether his conclusions follow remains to be seen.

In the meanwhile, horse training proceeds apace, with Jeanne Belle (Thoroughbred mare) making excellent progress -- lunges well, gaits are becoming smoother, there's increased collection and all 'round improvement in manners. Still, a long way to go for the pair of us; I'll post some photos when the camera decides to work again/is replaced.

Cheers,

LSP