dancinghorse | Horse Neep, Writer Bits, and Other Delights

More randomosity from Fat White Pony Central.

There are winners for the steampunk photo contest at Book View Cafe. Lovely photos, and very much in the mood.

While this was going on, I finished my story for Shadow Conspiracy II. It's a mystery-thriller set in and around Cambridge (UK, not MA) in the summer of '42 (18, not 19 or, yet, 20), and among other things, features a mysterious mansion full of mechanical courtesans. SC II will be out in ebook form in December.

Steampunk is fun.

On the print front, I have ARC's of House of the Star. Contests are pretty well Done That these days. And yet I'd like to put a few of them out there. Any ideas? Random drawing? Comment contest? Solemn promise to review on your blog/website/mass gathering site? Make huge donation to Clarion Write-a-Thon?

This is a middle-grade book about girls and horses. Buzz so far is highly positive.

And the ARC's are Beautiful.

But you don't come here for the writing talk, do you? I know what you want. You want HORSE NEEP!

And I have it. Ephiny is alllllllmost ready to become a ridin' hoss. And there are Other Things Happening As Well.

Ephiny has finally reached the point I've been waiting for. The Wild Child of March, doing courbettes and needing to be turned loose to fly around when presented with the idea of Work, has had time to think, and has been watching the riding horses carefully. She's been wearing the saddle and her new bridle (ebay, I love you--I found a good-quality and normally rather pricey bridle for a pittance). The saddle doesn't faze her at all. Since she's Miss Mouthy, I've had to fit a flash strap to the bridle to keep her from sucking the reins into her mouth, but that won't be permanent. She likes the way it stabilizes the bit. She likes the bit--Miss Mouthy, you know. Something legitimate to chew on.

So we've got the grooming and tacking up routine down. We've been adding in the groundwork routine--relaxation, flexion, connecting our back to our front. With her, since she has that highly restless right leg (it's her kicking leg), that's important. Now and then I've stood her over by the mounting block and done groundwork and standing-square work. She's been seriously overbendy, like a folding table with loose screws. Persuading her to raise her back and she feels weight in the stirrup has taken a little time. Ditto convincing her that if I lean against her, she should stand unless I specifically ask her to step over.

On Monday I upped the ante. I tacked her up, put on helmet and gloves, set up the same way I do for a ride. I did all the exercises, and actually stepped into the stirrup and applied real weight (as opposed to pulling on it with my hands). She was Collapso Girl...until I moved to the right side. Then her kicking leg said WTF?! and instead of kicking, she grounded it. Solid, square.

That's what I've been waiting for. She got high praise and a kiss on the nose. And cookies. Of course.

So. Next day I rode Capria. I had to peel Ephiny off--she wanted the turn! Right now! ME! When I came out to the mounting block, Ephiny marched over and stood watching while I set up and mounted. She cocked her head, she peered. She studied. She thought. She considered going with us into the warmup, but changed her mind. She was too thinky. She needed to process.

And that's were she is. I want to go beyond stirrup weight to lying over her back, then in the next lesson with S, we'll do the sitting on the horse thing. That will be along about the 29th.

Meanwhile Tia has been agitating for a turn, TOO. She's been busy growing like crazy, and just the other day I looked at her back and said, "Now this I could sit on." It's nice and strong, and she's grown a good inch in height, maybe even more. And more to the point, her mind has matured. She's no longer so reactive, she's stopped biting and kicking when I get, in her opinion, uppity, and she's been self-training diligently. When I ride Capria, she's right there next to us, so close I've got my leg on two horses--walk, trot, and a little bit of canter, through figures and transitions. I keep the whip handy in case she forgets and throws a kick--this is very much Don't Try This Unless You SERIOUSLY Trust Your Loose Horse. She follows my instructions, knows the gait and turn commands, and if she pulls ahead, Capria CHOMPS her.

Capria, who is not the happiest horse in the world when it comes to sharing space, thinks this is just fine. The only other horse she tolerates that close to her when she's working is ze keed. So this is huge. Tia has made it clear that she intends to be Capria II. It's pretty clear Capria agrees. (Tia's 5. Capria's 22. A very young, sound, energetic and healthy 22, but looking at the numbers, yes, I see it.) Capria at 5, be it noted, was a pistol, too. Tia has the distinct seeds of Awesomeness in her, and she's letting us all know it.

So yesterday at lunch, Tia was mellow, and I went and got the block and lay over her back and wubbled her sides where my legs would go and messed with her for a while. And she was a rock. With happy ears.

Now we have to incorporate the little thing called tack. Because all of this has been done with her completely at liberty. As I said on facebook, she may be Shadowfax's badass kid sister, but I'm no Gandalf. I want my grab strap.

I'll leave it to

tcastleb to tell the story of how she had her lesson on keed this morning, and rode the full KeedMonty, which includes serious Ayrab Recreational Spook(tm), intermittent canter commentary, and S's declaration that T is now an Intermediate Rider and has her blessing to ride ze "Not A Beginner Horse" keed outside of lessons. If she could stick that (and he felt her slipping and rather than bucking her off, sucked her right into his back--he's his mother's kid, yes he is, good BOY), she's good to go.