Memories, Changes, and Extreme Makeovers
Mar. 26th, 2005 08:43 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dancinghorseCoherence is not my strong suit these days, so this will be a bit impressionistic. Lots of little dabs. Maybe a sort of overall picture.
Much remembrance of Katherine Lawrence, who died on March 25th last year. It's a hard anniversary but I like to think she left a legacy of restored friendships, many of them on lj. Damn you, Kath, but thank you, too. You couldn't keep your own bridge from falling down, but you built so many others that are still holding on.
Rewrite From Hell is done. Heck with the title Production thinks it has. Its truename is Song of Extreme Makeover. 19 all-new chapters. 40,000 new words. Much much recasting and rewriting of the rest. No wonder it took five weeks of straight nose-down blitz. Either it rocks or it sucks rocks. I'm too far gone to tell. Last time I did a rewrite this size was in 1988.
It taught me a lot about writing modern serial fiction. Never did before. Separate books with shared characters are not the same thing. At all.
Also, it was made very clear to me what the real dynamic of the series is, versus what I thought it was. I get it now. Really.
Personnel change at DHF. The short form is, Pandora and the lady who bought her are not a match. (Not even close.) Carrma has been demanding a job. Loudly. By way of experimentation, during lessons last week, I told S to give Carrma a try.
We call it the McCaffrey Moment. The eyes swirl, the humming rises, the click is heard six states away. Rider develops huge sloppy grin. Horse gets all soft and white and puddly. It was the first time Joni had seen it on the hoof, so to speak, and she was blown away. There is nothing like it outside of a Pern novel.
Carrma has found her human. And I can finally confess that so has Pandora. We closed the deal on Friday. Carrma is moving half an hour east of here to live with a herd of Ayrabs, be a trail pony, and make some more babies for her new human. Pandora gets to stay here and make Pooklets and be a guest horse.
So I, the ultimate short-horse fanatic, am now the owner of a 16-hand Lipizzan. Who is Just The Right Size. Go figure. And Carrma is now the owner of the human version of herself. They are adorable together. As for how they feel about each other, anybody who has seen Pook with me knows what it looks like.
These are not horses. They arranged it themselves. Now Pandora no longer has the wrong human trying to claim her, the hatred has gone away. She's perfectly civil to the person she was freaking out next to (and that much freakout is very impressive indeed). I'm relieved that I can stop holding back around her. When it's a My Lipizzan and it belongs to someone else, it's difficult. She is the cutest thing in a Baby Huey sort of way. Whickers when she sees me. Wraps her great big head around me and snuggles. You may all join the chorus: Awwwwwww.
Or, Why standard horse wisdom does not work with Space Aliens. If they don't pick you, really, forget it. Carrma has been happy here, has been an excellent partner and has given me beautiful foals, but she's earned her own human and now she's found it. I'm delighted for her. Will miss her terribly but this is a very right thing.
Next spring, if all goes well, DHF will have a full-Lipp Pooklet. Bounce! And Carrma finally gets to make that Conversano Mima baby we've been waiting for so long. That's the kind of cross that sends shivers down the breeder's back--I'm betting it's gold. Mima is the stallion I would want to own if I didn't have Pook. And Carrma is exactly the type and bloodlines he was selected for--he's a handpicked import to White Horse Vale, a SRS dropout.
Of cuss this means some fairly major paradigm shifts. I was not expecting to breed any mares on the farm this year, and 16 hands of Lipp mare (the vet goes up to the armpit in her and then has to push the ultrasound sensor ahead with his fingertips--she's got the mass of a much larger horse, like all Lipps) plus 14.2 hands of stallion may mean nature will need some help. And the budget surely will, as AI costs the earth. But we'll see if they can manage it between them first. He'll let us know if it isn't working. He's good that way, as ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small}
lynnesite can attest.
Part of the deal also is transport to the spa for Pook throughout the season, so the fact I can't afford a truck right now is no longer a matter for panic. The Mother Ship, as always, has provided. Pooka's ladies will get their boy-in-a-box.
I'll still very much be a part of Carrma's life--will be helping with the breeding and all, and of course will visit her. She's family. She'll be going to her new home probably on Friday.
All of which is a very good omen for the farm. Last year I tried to breed a second FB filly out of one of Cele's mares, and she had a colt. Now here I am with a fully grown mare all ready to go. All hail the Mother Ship.
Ephiny btw is in no distress over having a sister-rival. She wishes I would let her have her boy now, and she has to wait because she really is not mature enough to grow a baby as well as herself, but life in general, she says, is just fine. She loves her Pooka and she knows she'll get him in the end.
She looks quite tiny next to the new girl in town. But she'll grow.
And of course we must have Neep. Amid the big fat grins about the new matchup, I had a superlative lesson on Capria. Working on that outside-aids thing again, and adding in the whole spectrum of the seat (with thigh)--riding changes of bend and transitions so that they were perfectly smooth and balanced. Big deal for us as we've always had connection problems (I drop the contact badly). Capria can be a llama, drops her back and throws up her head and rushes big time. All she wants is perfect aids, dammit.
When it's right, she comes completely in front of the leg and floats. Totally different feeling from the hand-to-spur riding that's so common. All the work is in the abs and thighs. Everything else is soft and floaty and light. Like hanging open in space, and the horse is floating along underneath with the front end 'way up and the back end 'way down and powering on.
At the end, we were working on canter and I was losing it. We got a sort of approximation and were ready to stop, but she refused. She insisted that we go one more time. And I had to do it right. Then she would stop.
Yes, she took control of the lesson. Usually that's a Pooka trick. Apparently she's decided it's time to take matters into her own hooves.
But hey. It worked. Joni laughed and said "Only a Lipizzan." It's the hardwiring. They know what's right and that's all there is to it.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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Date: 2005-03-26 08:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-26 08:58 pm (UTC)That is the coolest thing I've read in a long time. Gives me chills!
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Date: 2005-03-26 09:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-26 10:22 pm (UTC)16 hands, yeow!!
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Date: 2005-03-26 10:55 pm (UTC)Sounds like a great deal for all involved. Pandora is a sweetie -- I'm glad she's a permanent addition to DHF. I'm also glad that Carrma isn't going to be all that far away. I'm sure she'll love having you visit.
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Date: 2005-03-26 10:59 pm (UTC)I thought horse love at first sight only happened in the movies. And that it was only on the human side. Glad that you are pleased, and hope all horse and book things are working well.
A Pandora and Pook baby! Is it bad luck to hope about names? Are you hoping for a filly?
Just give Pandora a trench and Pook some room--they sound so interested already, who needs AI?
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Date: 2005-03-27 06:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 01:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 08:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 09:22 am (UTC)Love at first sight is good, but the other kind is good too. :)
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Date: 2005-03-27 10:10 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 10:27 am (UTC)It's taken me going on 13 years to really learn to ride her--but when I'm in that saddle, I'm home. Struggles and runaways and all. I'm finally learning to do it right and she just beams (then takes over the lesson to make sure I get the point).
Horse of my heart. Oh yeah. Camilla, too, and she scares me, she's a honkin' lot of horse. But I'll stick with it because she's what she is.
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Date: 2005-03-27 11:21 am (UTC)Man, I love that horse. It kills me that I'm going to be away from him for a month.
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Date: 2005-03-26 11:34 pm (UTC)Now, when you have a spare moment (hah!), can you expand on:
"It taught me a lot about writing modern serial fiction." Pleez?
If you do, I'll tell you how my cute but deadly mini schnauzer killed a ten foot long rat. (ok ok it was only a foot long if you included the tale)
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Date: 2005-03-27 07:07 am (UTC)Lessee -- what can I exchange. A contemporary Icelandic ghost story?
---L.
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Date: 2005-03-27 01:46 pm (UTC)"It taught me a lot about writing modern serial fiction." Pleez?
Me, too!
Was awed by Lipps and didn't mention that, but congrats on the revisions pleasing you and ending-- And always interested in new writing things learned, and new perspectives.
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Date: 2005-03-27 12:21 am (UTC)That is just so cool. *beam*
And congrats on getting through the rewrites!
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Date: 2005-03-27 06:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 06:25 am (UTC)So glad Carrma has found her human. That is a Goodness.
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Date: 2005-03-27 06:38 am (UTC)And congrats on the writing learning. I think I recently hit one of those too, and it's messy and good and one just hopes it works for Them Out Thar...
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Date: 2005-03-27 09:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 09:43 am (UTC)Then he opened up a bit, came to the gate when called rather than turning his back, and now, five years later, he thinks I'm a person who fixes things, and no matter how horrid the world is, once I arrive, it's fine, he can hide behind me.
He's very much a people horse now, *liking* people without being overly demonstrative about it, but he's my horse and I'm his person.
Judy's story is way cool, though.
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Date: 2005-03-27 10:17 am (UTC)What is interesting is that with full Lipps it has to happen. It may take a while--Carrma has been here for years and S. has seen her off and on throughout--but then one day bingo. They do not Do arranged marriages. You can't meet one, not get along, and hope to slowly become partners (which was the Pandora situation--horse logic would say that if S fed her every day, eventually she would come to associate S with food and start liking her--er, nope, sorry, not with a Lipp). If you're mutually neutral or you like each other but aren't bonded (like Carrma and me), you can have a long and amicable relationship. But the Lipp always feels something is missing. Carrma with a human is a different horse--much softer, more relaxed, and more outgoing. It's an amazing transformation, and it's typical of the Lipp. It's what they do. In Vienna there have been lifelong partnerships, and I believe they've selected for these. They make for better performances. The bonded Lipp will give his heart and soul to his partner--and the performance is accordingly more brilliant. Also, it's easier to train the Lipp if he agrees to it, and he'll take things from a partner that he won't even consider from anyone else.
It was hard to see Pandora get off the van and feel the tug and know she wasn't mine and I couldn't buy her. Now things are settled, we can relax together, and she actually thinks S is OK--they can be friends as long as S isn't trying to claim her. Pook is like that and so is Gaudia. They will drive a person off until that person acknowledges that there will be no bond. Friendship's fine. But don't try to get intimate.
Lipps are monogamous, and for the most part they bond for life. Very difficult in a world in which horses are commodities to be bought and sold.
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Date: 2005-03-27 01:43 pm (UTC)You are all very fortunate people--if charged with large and expensive soul mates!
Speaking of which...has this ever caused problems for any of you with a boyfriend/girlfriend? I hope not a spouse--that would become Bad. But are your horses as good as my cats as predictors of personality?
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Date: 2005-03-27 02:47 pm (UTC)Notice, however, that I'm single now. :)
None of my horses has ever particularly warmed up to a boyfriend of mine.
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Date: 2005-03-27 07:10 pm (UTC)The phrasing here makes me think that your horses like some of your friends just fine, as friends, not soul mates--but none of the boyfriends have made the cut.
I wonder if this is because they're jealous of your person, and don't want to share with anyone/non-critters? Or because none of the boyfriends have been worthy of you? %^)
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Date: 2005-03-30 09:15 pm (UTC)Lipps are excellent judges of character. One crazy barnmate had Capria going after her like a whirling dervish for months before the humans figured out the woman was batwhackers.
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Date: 2005-03-31 07:56 am (UTC)So I live through your life! %^)
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Date: 2005-03-27 07:23 pm (UTC)I actually thought about the Pernstuff when I Impressed (sp? usage?) my Twix-dragon at her moment of birth. Thanks to the Ladies for arranging it all, so happy for you guys. Now there's some baby photos I'd like to shoot, Carrma's with Mima...no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 09:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 10:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 10:22 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 11:32 am (UTC)And I'm so glad you weren't left "high and dry" by Fate.
Which one did I ride last summer? I know I had the feeling I was merely being tolerated.
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Date: 2005-03-30 09:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 12:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-27 04:55 pm (UTC)But let me ask, since I am curious, what's the source of this McCaffrey moment you think? I've known horses to take advantage of 'new riders'*ahem* never myself of course (being that I am an experienced rider, or act untrusting around certain people. I haven't been around horses enough to gage a personality, though having been a dog owner all my life, I know that if my animals don't trust you it's typically a pretty good indication of weather or not I can trust you...
-=Jeff=-
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Date: 2005-03-30 09:19 pm (UTC)Lipps are weird is all I can say--and McCaffrey's dragons are Lipps on giant steroids. They do Impress, really. Joni is a witness to Carrma doing it. She's got her own, she and Gaudia are completely gaga over each other.
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Date: 2005-04-01 04:22 pm (UTC)-=Jeff=-
And on a different tack--
Date: 2005-03-27 10:53 pm (UTC)How much? I ask this because...have you ever thought of selling "investment shares" in one of your babies? I know stallions are syndicated, but that's another game--I was thinking a formalized collection. Now--what you would give in return for this I have no idea (autographed filly hoofprints and photo? Pook tapes?) Because you will be feeding, sheltering, and training the result. But the idea did occur...
Re: And on a different tack--
Date: 2005-03-30 09:24 pm (UTC)Say roughly $2000 not counting feed and essentials that would be paid for anyway.
I don't know what one could offer in return. Usually when you do a breeding lease, the lessee gets the foal.
Not that I would be at all averse to a select person leasing Pandora. That's $500 up front nonrefundable, $200 a month from breeding until weaning (about 15 months), plus all vet and spa expenses. Would include stud fee since the boy is local, though when someone uses an outside stallion, they pay for that as well.
Re: And on a different tack--
Date: 2005-03-31 08:00 am (UTC)Off topic
Date: 2005-03-28 08:11 am (UTC)ObConfession: I only just got to Lady of Horses last week (Tor's way of delaying even the trade paperbacks has been hindering my keeping up). I think it's the best-written of the Epona novels, though I still prefer the story of The Shepherd Kings.
---L.
Re: Off topic
Date: 2005-03-30 09:27 pm (UTC)The historicals tend to sink from sight, though years later someone will duly adulate them. Unlike the LUNA book, which is getting major fan response. Maybe it's more accessible? I even got a fan letter for Caitie B. that said they were a big fan of Judith Tarr and they saw her book on the website and so on. And yet I never got a letter from them for the other books. Are they a little too Olympian to invite familiarity?
Re: Off topic
Date: 2005-04-08 04:37 pm (UTC)I suspect it's partly marketing (as in, Luna has some) and partly format -- trade paperback is easier on the pocketbook than hardcover, and the smaller size is more inviting than the Roc's big ones.
---L.
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Date: 2005-03-28 09:37 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2005-03-30 09:28 pm (UTC)I think you will like Pandora. Very big but very very sweet.