Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
Terrific pic – although quite expensive! Hope you don’t have to do that very often. That’s about 3 months rent for me
Heh…
I sympathize with you, sir. I truly do. My oldest decided on a private girl’s school that has now decided to go co-ed. You can imagine the tuition associated with that.
My son took a different path. he dropped out of school to persue his dream of becoming the next Heavy Metal God. He’s actually quite a darned good guitarist, but equipment costs money, almost as much as airplanes and lessons do. Include the words airplane or music in a product descriptor and watch the prices advance in a logrythmic fashion…
Respects,
“Why couldn?
“Why couldn’t she have played soccer?”
Why then she couldn’t have launched her own high-powered steed down the sandy deck to rotate at VR(equine) and clear the obstacle at the end of the runway. Multiple times. While you were watching.
So she could scare you to death and make you proud of her at the same time.
The apple does not fall far from the tree.
Soccer travel team fee: $3-400/season (2-3X per annum)
Tournament fees: $80 (15 or more a year)
Transprtation and lodging: $200 per tournament
Equipment: $2-300/year
Summer soccer camp: $2500
Grand total: Almost $10,000 for high-end competitive youth soccer
So, all in all, you might be ahead of the game Captain.
Nah. Priceless.
Lex,
The Hobbit is a beautiful young lady, truly beautiful. Looks just likeyah, too!
Money well spent. She could have taken up flying, you know.
Vr
-SJBill
There are three black holes for money: Airplanes, boats, and competitive horses.
My daughter was a Hunter-Jumper rider for eight years. It was damnedly expensive and we stretched to find the money. I often hated the horses, the judges, and the stable owners.
What did we get for all those bucks? A young woman who has discipline, responsibilty, courage, sportsmanship, and competitive spirit.
Could she have gotten those things through soccer? Oh yeah, but riding was her passion. Looking back now I can see it was a bargain.
More thoughts on horses vs. planes (disclosure: I take dressage lessons)
- a perfectly functional plane never says “I don’ wanna you can’t MAKE me!”
-a plane never interprets its own radar and takes over the controls because of the imminent danger of … a white fence post.
-a plane does not overinflate its own tires, then deflate them just before takeoff (note to beginners: the saddle should NOT rotate around the horse)
-a plane doesn’t get mad at you for being forceful on the controls
-a plane will not fall asleep in midflight because it has done this so many times before (yes, happened to me)
-a plane won’t misbehave just to see if you are paying attention, and won’t adjust the level of said misbehavior to your skill
On the other hand,
-a plane won’t return to you after ejection, looking sheepish (happened to me. I laughed through the pain ..)
-a plane won’t learn with you until it takes the tiniest shift of weight or barely perceptible touch to change direction. A good day on a dressage horse … you start believing in telepathy
How she’s grown… turning into quite the beautiful young lady! And yes, there’s no mistaking who her father is–in both appearance and spirit.
Oh, dang, BCR, teh Poneez! My Uncle Zed had a pony which I refused to ride, seeing that he had to get kinda rowdy with it to get it to accept the saddle without doing the inhaling-loose girth trick. Was a biter, too.
A gal I used to know had a pony, too, when she was a kid (she and her friends used to trick-or-treat on horseback) but she swore that critter was always looking to run under a tree with a convenient branch at human face level.
Ponies remind me of that Randy Newman song, “Short people.”
I avoid short horses
Um, SJ, I think the Hobbit is the Missus. That kid is either the Kat or the Biscuit, I ain’t sure which.
All these cryptic call signs and convoluted code names…
JTG
Mythanksaplenty. I forgot my cast of characters in this play. Still stand pat on my assessment of the young lady (whom I now believe to be the Kat — I think).
Hope her classmates do not tune into this blog by accident. The Famiglia di Lex collective cover might be blown.
Vr
-SJBill
People who ride and jump VLA’s (Very large animals), are talented, gutsy, and crazy. People who fly jet aircraft off and on aircraft carriers (especially on dark, dark nights) are talented, gutsy, and crazy. Is there a pattern developing here?…Good luck Captain, I hope you look good in grey hair…
Those ribbons represent the hours of practice, the falls, overcoming fear and getting back in the saddle, and the final, rushing joy of making a jump as well as the horse and rider are capable of.
Napoleon said, “A man will gladly give his life for a shred of cloth and a scrap of metal.”
A cynical observation that all of us draw meaning from the recognition of our valor.
Cap’n,
Spent six (6) Saturday hours at the Midwest Horse Fair. Of course, it was a CAVU (to use the old aviator’s parlance) day, warm, perfect for riding The Bike.
Don’t think I’d change my decision. Got to meet very good people, saw some awsome animals and decided to stay on my Trek. The costs were larger than those Clydesdales and Percherons.
Do encourage your daughter to continue. LOTS of money floats around horses. Maybe a future SINL with attachments to said horse money?
i do not like Green Eqs and Hams,
i do not like them Lex-I-Am.
Seeing her with a smile on her face.
-Priceless
Therapist1,
You know, as i do, that the real value in those ribbons is more than just the experience. Those bits of cloth and metal are tangible proof that she did something no one else did. No matter what else she does in life, or where she goes, those will always be HER ribbons, and no one can ever take them away.
Those sorts of things are important to kids and young adults. They are a recognition of accomplishment, a small but solid reminder that they were important, for that one time, that one day, at least, they were among the best, and that osrt of thing counts oh so much to them. And it should.
My own son was quite down on himself for a couple years. he was failing, he thought, at many things, and in some cases he was correct. However, i kept encouraging him musically, because he has that gift, those skills that can’t be taught. Now, he and his band have won a couple awards, and it made all the difference. Now he sees the tangible proof that his efforts are paying off.
Respects,
That would be The Kat – and a ringer for her dad to be certain. Why is it the most petite of young ladies seem to be the ones attracted to beasts such as horses?! She’s just a teeny tiny thing, isn’t she…but a steel spirit I’ve no doubt.
Cost is relative – look at that face.
My mother-in-law is similarly afflicted with equinophilia. I thank God on a regular basis that it was not passed onto her daughter.
Actually, looking at that face again (as I have a few times, its a beatiful smile that says so much), she reminds me a bit of my youngest neice. Same colouring, same smile. Which I suddenly realized made at least some small bit of sense because I have seen a few photograps of Lex which have strongly reminded me of my brother (her dad). Okay, guess I will stop there.
I thought I had it bad with foot/basketball, year round ballet and of course, parochial school tuition x 2, so I can have a say in what happens at school. On the other hand, I don’t get to eat shrimp much and I had to give up motorcycles and German cars eons ago.
You know what? I don’t care if’n my car is 16 years old, my shotguns are over 20 and my fly rods, too. Golf clubs? hell- Spaulding executives circa 1977! Heck even my Rolex Submariner just died and now I’m wearing a $20 Casio! All stuff.
Whatever it takes, eh? That smile is the reward in itself. BTW, when are you gonna quit renting a horse and buy one for her?..Horses are cheap-it’s the vets and boarding that cost. LOL.
b2
A beautiful young lady. It reminds me of when I was her age and riding horses. My Dad didn’t support my efforts, in fact, it was all a pain in the ass to him. I remember him standing around, clearly annoyed that he had to attend… I didn’t last long in the show circuit, wonder why?
I am so happy to see that great big smile on your daughter’s face. Rather than petting the horse, she should be petting her Dad for allowing, through energy and finance, her growth as an adult willing to take on challenges.
Granted, competing on horses isn’t the cheapest thing a person could do but, you would be surprised to find out how expensive other sports are. My boys swam for a club team. You would think that all they needed was a teensie suit and a pair of goggles…
Nooooo, traveling to the meets, trainers, etc., never mind the huge time dump for the parents involved running the team, all kinds of expenses and, this went on week after week after week. In SoCal it goes on 365 days/year.
Do you like to mow your grass on the weekends? Forget it if your kid swims… You are at some pool somewhere, with a cooler by your side (if you are really organized) watching times, getting sunburned, and watching your kids.
In some respects, I look back at those days as the happiest days of my life. In other ways, I look back at it as a huge drag.
I will say this, it would have to be some extraordinary circumstance for either of my sons to drown. And, funny thing, that is exactly why we got into swimming as SoCal is the children’s drowning capitol of the world and, I bore a fantastic recruit to those numbers, son #2. The fact that he is a strong swimmer and never drowned as a child is still something I am proud of (you would have to meet him to fully understand my pride).
Might I whisper three words of warning for what awaits you as Kat’s passion advances: three day eventing.
It’s sort of like graduating from Cessnas to F/A-18s. Without an ejection seat to save you from the crash.
Pure joy.
A couple of thoughts old paint. From a commencement speech at the Cal Maritime Academy, “The only thing that changes with children is the cost of the things they need.” Wait til she needs help buying that first home, lol. And, these things always remind me of Anthony Quinn’s character in Lawrence of Arabia, when he says, “I am a poor man, because I am a river to my people.”
That’s a great pic of a lovely young lady. And there are NO inexpensive great passions in life. None that I know of, at any rate.
Money well-spent, Cap’n!!
AW1Tim, that is what makes good parenting. I still have some of the trophies I won.
Lex,
Missed having a daughter as you know. She is absolutely precious. I am jealous. But in a good way.
GreyEagleO6
My Good Wife has two (horses that is, not daughters). The old grey mare is now 29, the gelding approaching 13.
I don’t know what it is with women and horses. To me they were livestock, animals that had a job to do and were expected to pull their weight on the farm. To My Good Wife, they’re part of her family, having aquired the mare when My Good Wife was a gentle lady of merely 9 years.
I’ve been told in no uncertain terms that *I* may do what I wish but she is staying with the horses. And the farm. So there.
I figure those horses cost me about $20K/year in land, taxes, feed, and care. Know what? I’m starting to think that’s awfully cheap as family members go.
For one, they won’t need a college fund, and secondly they’ll never wrap my car around a telephone pole on a Saturday night. Finally, even if she does need new shoes every month at $75 a pop I don’t have to buy her pre-torn designer clothing or braces or a medicine cabinet full of makeup and zit creme and let’s not forget that whole checking out the guy she decides to go to prom with thing. Which, you know, is a lot easier to do if you can be certain he’ll be locked in a paddock the rest of his life and won’t be coming over for Thanksgiving dinner and such.
Nope, horses are cheap in comparison to the other things children could be doing. And you know what? They’re better company than a lot of folks your kids could be spending time with. If both Presidents Reagan and Rooseveldt endorsed the equine as a companion I’d say she’s in pretty good company.
– Max
That’s Velvet Brown in “National Velvet”! (just saw the movie last night and it just came to me…)
b2
There’s a lot to be said for “little” horses and young women. And, it’s mostly all good I guess. Fortunately, for us guys, God made Belgians: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgian_Heavy_Draft_Horse.
My cousin and her husband raise them on their ranch in Idaho. Sitting high up on the wagon seat learning how to drive a two-up, or a four-up is really work. (I was thankful they, (the horses), were so patient until I learned. Think: driving and backing and parking a semi)
But the truth be told, I kinda like the way the ground shakes as they trot over to see if you have some snick-snacks hidden on your person.
I’m not an equestrian by any stretch. I did learn to ride when I was younger, and on a vacation trip to Hawaii the wife and I thought a trail ride would be “fun”.
The people who ran the tour were unique to say the least. They didn’t believe in bits for the horses mouth and frowned on the tapping of heels into a horses side for encouragement to “GO”.
I believe our tour guide’s words were “Just put your energy in front of the horse to make him go, and behind him to make him stop.”
I liked the ATV tour better, there is a gas pedal and a brake and the seat is padded.
Yes, I know, I’m a wuss.
Mabye all you got, in material terms, was a few pieces of ribbon but, just having your daughter smile like that MUST be worth the $900. Money well spent!
[...] by Lex?
[...] by Lex’s trip to the horse show, I just have to tell you this short saga – It was 1984 – I’m deployed to Spain and I call [...]
Been there, done that. Bought the T-shirt. And a pile of tack.
But the memories of the Mistress of Sarcasm winning her first ribbon in a Class A show really are priceless. And the smile on your young lady’s face must be equally so…
It’s a great thing to be able to do the things you dream of. It makes those other dreams so much more realistic and attainable.
$900.00 is a smirk. In the next few years when the blog title reads ‘Just passed $30k’ it’s sure to be ear to ear!
Saw the picture of your daughter, very beautiful! I have a 9 year old who has the same passion. Our first A show $1800.00. Value of her 5 ribbons priceless. I work as an oncology nurse, lots of extra shifts to pay for it all. It is the greatest joy in my life to watch her ride and in the long run it will be worth every penny. Good luck to your daughter with her riding!