theboondork's RV blog

Will I be "snowed in" Wednesday

2/21/2022

Everything you do in life changes the future to some degree.... Think of the devastation you could cause by clicking the pics.

Sunrise at the boondocking area Pima County Fairgrounds. The start of yet another warm wonderful day.

It looks like the middle of the week is shaping up somewhat worse than the initial weather forecast. The temperatures look about the same, but they're predicting a little bit of snow for the Tucson area, but only a skiff, and then it's supposed to get back to normal a day quicker than before. Even though that doesn't sound very good for someone as opposed to snow as I am, the moisture could be a good thing for the soon-to-be upon us spring flowers.

But, Wednesday is the day the new Hunter Jumper competition starts, and for sure it's going to be cold and rainy, so I feel sorry for all those immaculate girls riding their immaculate horses in the mud.

Things have gotten considerably quieter since the latest version of the Hunter jumper competition ended yesterday afternoon, and I was fortunate enough to be there to witness it. Unfortunately, I was taking some video at the time, and it didn't occur to me to take a photograph, although I could pull a photo out of the video if I needed to.

I don't fully understand how the prize money is given out for these events, but it sounded like the young lady that won had just about $25,000 handed to her. Since I can easily live on that for a year, I'm now looking into taking horse jumping lessons and measuring the camper to see if a horse will fit in here with me. Most RV parks will take pets if they're not dangerous breeds, and I don't think Arabian horses are dangerous; they're just not too bright.

So what was I doing taking video? I'm glad you asked... When I first started full-timing, I made several videos for YouTube but found it a lot of work to take the videos and even more time-consuming to turn the bits and pieces of video into something watchable on YouTube. And since I'm all about enjoying my life and the freedom to live my life the way I want, I determined that creating videos was getting in the way of my goal of becoming a world champion couch potato, and not just any champion couch potato, I wanted to be a couch potato the kids would look up to, and say, "that's the kind of couch potato I want to be when I drop out of school."

I enjoy taking pictures of things, it's quick, easy, and I can watch and enjoy whatever event I'm at and at the same time snap a photo now and then; it works out perfect. And since my camera takes better pictures now, there's less for me to do to it on the computer, so taking pictures and putting them on my blog is more fun than work. But am I fulfilling my artistic potential? Could I be another George Lucas? Is Popeye a real sailor?

As is often the case, I have bloviated on this blog post for too long, so these and other questions will have to be answered tomorrow.

Theboondork

I see these step-stools scattered all over the area. It would appears these Hunter Jumper girls can't mount their horse without some kind of assistance. I don't recall seeing cowgirls carrying around a step-stool, the barrel racers seem to be perfectly able to hop up on their horses without a problem.

Just like a ballet dancer, this horse is standing on its tippy toes.

There are apparently something akin to teams here at this competition. They're not working together, there just affiliated with this one Hunter Jumper school or maybe it's a boarding stable, like I worked at in high school, in this case it's Coventry Farms. And the competitors are proudly displaying the ribbons they've won during this five day competition.

Hunter jumper event Tucson Arizona Picture

For some reason I feel it necessary to throw in a black-and-white photo every now and then

Under Jumper event Tucson Arizona Picture

Neat, clean, and meticulously dressed, these Hunter Jumper competitors are ready to be judged on their looks alone.

Here's another picture of the fanciest horse trailer I've ever seen. And judging by the trucks tag, these folks have come all the way from Ontario Canada dragging a whole herd of horses behind them.

The end of another day in paradise.

8 Comments

OFM

2/21/2022 04:26:51 pm

I have watched all your header videos several times. They are well done and a valuable asset to someone trying the boondocking out that way. thank you for making them.

Tom

2/21/2022 05:29:16 pm

Well thank you so much Barney, that's very much appreciated.

Early on since I used to do a lot of handyman stuff on the Arctic Fox I thought I was gonna make a DIY video of all the projects I had planned. But it was so time-consuming and complicated to do the job and video myself doing it at the same time, I finally gave up on the idea.

Have you ever considered doing some video? You do a lot of walking and running around it seems like there might be an opportunity for a couple of hiking videos every month, showing the trails and the terrain, and maybe a brief interview with people you meet along the way. Possibly even a GoPro straped to some portion of your anatomy so you didn't even have to fool with the camera just walk and talk.

Tom

2/21/2022 06:14:01 pm

Yep I considered it until I found out all the trouble it was and what I would have to give up to have enough time.

2/21/2022 06:51:55 pm

Yeah Barney, its definitely a lot of trouble, especially when I was still doing it. But all things digital seems to get easier as time goes on, and I'm hoping that getting video in and out of the camera, and working on it in the software is quicker and easier than it used to be.

It may not be, but I'm not doing much of anything anyway. And the Hunter Jumpers will be back in town Wednesday, actually a lot of them never left, and more have been coming in today, so I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice taking videos, even though it looks like it's going to get pretty chilly late next week.

Tom

Judith

2/21/2022 08:35:37 pm

Some horses have shorter legs than other horses. Some stirrups are longer than other stirrups.

2/21/2022 09:17:52 pm

Well, I guess that would explain the stair steps all around the arena. And I did notice that some of these horses are rather tall, I guess long legs make them better jumpers, but to me, long legs just meant you had further to fall.

Tom

KennyD

2/22/2022 09:38:11 am

Most of those outfits look pretty well fitted. I doubt there is enough stretch there to get a leg up over a horse. The real cowgirls wear a lot looser fitting pants to allow just that.

2/22/2022 10:43:17 am

Not being very knowledgeable about the pants the Hunter Jumper girls are wearing, which by the way come in two styles, what you see in the pictures of them on my blog, are what is known in the jumping horse world as britches, and the other style is jodhpurs, which are baggy around the areas used predominantly for mounting a horse and sitting.

You raise an interesting question about whether or not the girls britches are tight-fitting or just stretchy. Even though I've been around these Hunter jumper women for about a week I obviously have not been paying enough attention to their britches. So the first chance I get I will take some closer looks at their britches to see if I can make an educated determination as to their nature.... For educational purposes only of course.

As for cowgirls, I have more experience being around them and they predominantly wear some brand of blue jeans that are tight-fitting, similar to what other girls wear except their extra long in the leg so when they're sitting on a horse their jeans don't ride up above their boots. And their boot-cut so their jeans fit over their boots the way they're supposed to.

You have posed some interesting thoughts, and opinions KennyD. And I believe that more investigation is not only needed but absolutely necessary. And since I am in a perfect situation to investigate this matter I will volunteer my time to dig deeper into this women's pants issue, and for everyone's personal edification use my limited though well-meaning photographic skills to further investigate this women's pants kerfuffle.

Tom

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.

Will I be "snowed in" Wednesday

Leave a Reply.

Archives

CONTACT THEBOONDORK