Adagio Dazzle by imDRUNKonTEA
http://ift.tt/2qr1eK0
Submitted May 02, 2017 at 05:01PM by Sparroew
via reddit http://ift.tt/2pE2RRu
I've spent more time looking at horse trailers than I did finding my horse, but I'm desperate for some input!
So here is my situation. We are military and are coming up on a move to a new base about 16 hours away and I need to transport my boy. I have three options:
The area we are moving to is prone to natural disasters so I want a trailer for emergency use
My current trailering vehicle is a Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk with a towing capacity of 5,000 lbs with the towing package. While I know that there are people who are adamant that trucks are the only way to go, every single piece of literature I have read said that I will not have an issue with this car pulling a light trailer. I am placing my max towing weight at 4,000 lbs to allow a buffer.
My horse weighs roughly 1,000 lbs, leaving me to look for a lightweight trailer. I would like to avoid jumping into option 3 at this time as moving is expensive enough without tacking on the cost and upkeep of a new vehicle. I was looking at the Brenderup Trailers, but considering my current rural location (about 10 hours from the nearest Craigslist posting) and my concern about the scarcity of replacement parts I've started to look back into other brands light featherlite.
So I'm desperate for any insight anyone might have. I know I can always transport him and continue my research, but I want to be able to move him if an emergency occurs.
The farrier for the mare I lease suggested frog supports and packing for a few cycles. She's a great farrier and the owner and I respect her opinion on any changes. The pad covers the whole bottom of the hoof but there's a small gap around the frog where water and stuff can get under the pad. It's mud season in Vermont so no doubt there's some icky moisture and dirt up in there. I asked the owner if the farrier mentioned anything about special cleaning but she hadn't said anything. We're waiting to hear back and in the meantime I thought I'd ask my Reddit horsie friends. Should I try to spray water in the gaps to get mud out or rinse with saline or just leave it alone? This is the closest to owning a horse I've been so I still have so much to learn!
Pads look like this http://ift.tt/2qwa7PN
Edit: I know it would be better if it was dry under the pad but I guess I'm asking if it would be better to try and get the bad moisture out so at least it's clean-ish moisture.
The episode Rock Solid Friendship made me realize something about Starlight that I hadn't before.
When we first meet Starlight she is already the head of Our Town and dedicated to making everyone equal. However, what she is enforcing isn't so much equality as it is conformity. Her philosophy doesn't allow for her followers to seperate themselves by more than their name. Any deviation is an adoration to be quickly identified, ostracized, and rectified.
You can argue about whether Starlight's goal was really to create a utopia or just to make a safe space for herself, but at least initially she does seem to genuinely think that this is the best way to make everyone happy and to ultimately avoid all possible conflict.
It's only thanks to the more recent episode that I see now that this philosophy was indeed one internalized by Starlight, though not in a fashion one might expect. Starlight isn't interested in being treated equally, but she is painfully aware that she is not normal and really wants to be. Her every social gesture so far has been of one trying to fit in, and be normal, without having a good grasp on what that even means. When she doesn't use magic to try and smooth things over or distract from her social awkwardness, she is quick to look to others for approval of her actions.
Why this is an important insight has to do with her friendship with Maud. While Starlight made friends with Trixie based on their similar life experiences and shared grievances, Starlight befriends Maud exactly because she is different. "Weird, but in a good way" is how Starlight puts it, and this is actually a huge deal for someone who's life philosophy up to this point has been happiness through conformity.
That Starlight has come to the point where she can not only acknowledge but, also, value a uniquely different perspective on the world, like Maud's, is actually a big step in character development for her. More than any other episode so far, Rock Solid Friendship shows Starlight's personal philosophy changing in a subtle but very positive way. if Starlight can value what is uniquely 'weird' about Maud and admire her for it, she might be one step closer to realizing that her concept of 'normal' doesn't really exist.
It's going to be weird if Starlight ever stops being maladjusted entirely, but it's subtle insights into the characters thoughts and motivations (like this) that cause me to find her (and by extent episodes that focus on her) so entertaining.
If you've got things for sale, a personal blog, and other horse applicable stuff that will likely be taken as spam in the main forum - this is the safe place for it :)