Interview meme
4 May 2009 21:38![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glenatronSo the meme is this:
1. Comment on this entry saying "interview me" or likewise.
2. I will formulate five incredibly thought provoking or ridiculously pointless questions and pose them to you.
3. You will then update your journal with amazing answers for me to read.
4. Rinse and repeat.
My questions from![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
skiesfirepaved:
1. Whereabouts in Wales did you live? What made you leave (I, myself, really really want to live in Snowdonia :P)? Do you have a photo of the area you lived in?
I went to university in Swansea, which was a very good time indeed. I was there for five years at college ( four years of degree, one year of MSc which I never really finished ) and then stayed on working for another year. It was good times and in spite of the many brilliant things that have happened since I still often regret leaving when I did. A lot of other friends left the area over the following couple of years and I don't visit nearly as often as I would like to now, which means I end up missing out on the company of some outstanding friends.
I do have photos but they all predate the magic of digital cameras so I don't think I have any of them on computer.
2. Because I've just realised I don't actually know, who was your first horse? What was it that helped you overcome your fear of them?
My first horse was Othello, but not long after I got together withsleepsy_mouse and she moved over to live with us in Reading she took me over to meet her friend's horse and then introduced me some foals who were cute and started to persuade me that maybe they weren't so bad. Then she got me reading The Man Who Listens To Horses by Monty Roberts and that changed a lot of things for me because it was all about understanding horses and understanding was what I needed to get over my fears. At about the same time she bought Sharouf, or Roo as we referred to him from then on.
He was a little grey arab, late cut and unstarted when we got him. Even withsleepsy_mouse's considerable experience he was probably a bit much of a project but he was a really nice little guy.
Unfortunately he suffered from an injury to his sacroiliac joint and combined with his less than perfect conformation, it became clear that he was never going to be able to carry the weight of an adult or be a practical riding horse forsleepsy_mouse. He went to live with a very nice lady in leicestershire who accumulates waifs and strays, looks after them and last time we heard about him he was happy there. You can't win them all.
The interesting thing was that when I stopped being afraid of horses I really stopped being afraid of them. I've got into scary situations since, but I don't believe I have actually been afraid of a horse.
3. How did you get interested in natural horsemanship, and what's the most important thing you feel you've learnt so far?
Well, it was there in the start in that reading Monty was a chunk of what turned me around from being afraid of horses and it was a direction thatsleepsy_mouse ( by far the biggest influence on my horsemanship ) was going anyway. These days we kind of look at what Monty and all the Kelly Marks guys are doing and it feels a lot like the shallow end, but I certainly owe a debt for that introduction.
The next big deal was when Joe came to stay with us because we had him on loan from our friend Karen, who worked for Parelli UK for a few years and now organises clinics for Steve Halfpenny and Tom Widdicombe. She got us working with some of the Silversand stuff with Joe because he knew a lot of that already, and eventually got us to one of Steve's clinics.
I was surprised by how firm Steve was with the horses but very impressed by the results he got. I didn't really know what I was seeing then- I'm sure that four years from now I'll feel the same way about what I am doing now but it was learning with Steve and the other Silversand instructors in this country that has really been core to my development.
There have been a lot of books that have influenced me too- the big two being "True Horsemanship Through Feel" and "Be With Your Horse" but Mark Rashid's entertaining and thought-provoking work has certainly permeated my thinking a whole lot. "Life Lessons From A Ranch Horse" and "Horsemanship Through Life" are probably the most influential of his. Learning with people like Tom and Sarah Widdicombe who work in the same way as Mark was another big inspiration.
Right at the start I kept hearing these terms, Clarity, Consistency, Timing and Feel and every time I start to understand a bit of them I find more layers to them. I guess that one of the big things that I've learned ( which probably runs very counter to the whole hippy-dippy NH image ) is that actually I need to be pretty firm if I want to be clear and consistent a lot of the time. But of course, if I don't do that with timing and feel it's not going to help anyone...
4. How did you and sleepsy_mouse meet?
We were an early success of internet dating. Fact! She answered an advert on my part. It was idiomatic and I don't think any other people responded. The dating site closed down about a week after we first got in touch.
5. If you could live in any fictional world: which one would it be and why?
That is a really tough question, I was wondering about it for a while walking home from the ponies today. There are excellent fictional worlds that I would love to visit- the world of Steven Erikson's Malazan novels is kick-ass, but I think it would be a dangerous place to live, Prydein as described by Lloyd Alexander sounds like a very happy place, full of colour, interesting people and warm-hearted adventure but probably my favourite books are ones like the Mythago Wood family or Michael Scott Rohan's Spiral sequence that take the world we know and then put a mythic shadow-world beside them, that you might find by locating a path into the wood in the former or by taking a wrong turn down a back alley in the second. I love that idea, it gives me the feeling that if this could happen, this is how it would happen. I think perhaps I would choose the world of the Spiral because in a way when you enter the wildwood you are going deeper into yourself, whereas when you travel out onto the Spiral you are moving into the shadows of reality. Those books are awesome, I may have to reread them again, come to think of it.
Alternatively I might choose to live in Iain M Banks' Culture because that would be a cushty place to reside. But I don't know how one would find a meaningful life in that situation because everything is so available. What would a meaningful life even mean in that environment? I guess that's why his novels are always around the fringes of The Culture.
1. Comment on this entry saying "interview me" or likewise.
2. I will formulate five incredibly thought provoking or ridiculously pointless questions and pose them to you.
3. You will then update your journal with amazing answers for me to read.
4. Rinse and repeat.
My questions from
skiesfirepaved:1. Whereabouts in Wales did you live? What made you leave (I, myself, really really want to live in Snowdonia :P)? Do you have a photo of the area you lived in?
I went to university in Swansea, which was a very good time indeed. I was there for five years at college ( four years of degree, one year of MSc which I never really finished ) and then stayed on working for another year. It was good times and in spite of the many brilliant things that have happened since I still often regret leaving when I did. A lot of other friends left the area over the following couple of years and I don't visit nearly as often as I would like to now, which means I end up missing out on the company of some outstanding friends.
I do have photos but they all predate the magic of digital cameras so I don't think I have any of them on computer.
2. Because I've just realised I don't actually know, who was your first horse? What was it that helped you overcome your fear of them?
My first horse was Othello, but not long after I got together with
sleepsy_mouse and she moved over to live with us in Reading she took me over to meet her friend's horse and then introduced me some foals who were cute and started to persuade me that maybe they weren't so bad. Then she got me reading The Man Who Listens To Horses by Monty Roberts and that changed a lot of things for me because it was all about understanding horses and understanding was what I needed to get over my fears. At about the same time she bought Sharouf, or Roo as we referred to him from then on. He was a little grey arab, late cut and unstarted when we got him. Even with
sleepsy_mouse's considerable experience he was probably a bit much of a project but he was a really nice little guy. Unfortunately he suffered from an injury to his sacroiliac joint and combined with his less than perfect conformation, it became clear that he was never going to be able to carry the weight of an adult or be a practical riding horse for
sleepsy_mouse. He went to live with a very nice lady in leicestershire who accumulates waifs and strays, looks after them and last time we heard about him he was happy there. You can't win them all.The interesting thing was that when I stopped being afraid of horses I really stopped being afraid of them. I've got into scary situations since, but I don't believe I have actually been afraid of a horse.
3. How did you get interested in natural horsemanship, and what's the most important thing you feel you've learnt so far?
Well, it was there in the start in that reading Monty was a chunk of what turned me around from being afraid of horses and it was a direction that
sleepsy_mouse ( by far the biggest influence on my horsemanship ) was going anyway. These days we kind of look at what Monty and all the Kelly Marks guys are doing and it feels a lot like the shallow end, but I certainly owe a debt for that introduction.The next big deal was when Joe came to stay with us because we had him on loan from our friend Karen, who worked for Parelli UK for a few years and now organises clinics for Steve Halfpenny and Tom Widdicombe. She got us working with some of the Silversand stuff with Joe because he knew a lot of that already, and eventually got us to one of Steve's clinics.
I was surprised by how firm Steve was with the horses but very impressed by the results he got. I didn't really know what I was seeing then- I'm sure that four years from now I'll feel the same way about what I am doing now but it was learning with Steve and the other Silversand instructors in this country that has really been core to my development.
There have been a lot of books that have influenced me too- the big two being "True Horsemanship Through Feel" and "Be With Your Horse" but Mark Rashid's entertaining and thought-provoking work has certainly permeated my thinking a whole lot. "Life Lessons From A Ranch Horse" and "Horsemanship Through Life" are probably the most influential of his. Learning with people like Tom and Sarah Widdicombe who work in the same way as Mark was another big inspiration.
Right at the start I kept hearing these terms, Clarity, Consistency, Timing and Feel and every time I start to understand a bit of them I find more layers to them. I guess that one of the big things that I've learned ( which probably runs very counter to the whole hippy-dippy NH image ) is that actually I need to be pretty firm if I want to be clear and consistent a lot of the time. But of course, if I don't do that with timing and feel it's not going to help anyone...
4. How did you and sleepsy_mouse meet?
We were an early success of internet dating. Fact! She answered an advert on my part. It was idiomatic and I don't think any other people responded. The dating site closed down about a week after we first got in touch.
5. If you could live in any fictional world: which one would it be and why?
That is a really tough question, I was wondering about it for a while walking home from the ponies today. There are excellent fictional worlds that I would love to visit- the world of Steven Erikson's Malazan novels is kick-ass, but I think it would be a dangerous place to live, Prydein as described by Lloyd Alexander sounds like a very happy place, full of colour, interesting people and warm-hearted adventure but probably my favourite books are ones like the Mythago Wood family or Michael Scott Rohan's Spiral sequence that take the world we know and then put a mythic shadow-world beside them, that you might find by locating a path into the wood in the former or by taking a wrong turn down a back alley in the second. I love that idea, it gives me the feeling that if this could happen, this is how it would happen. I think perhaps I would choose the world of the Spiral because in a way when you enter the wildwood you are going deeper into yourself, whereas when you travel out onto the Spiral you are moving into the shadows of reality. Those books are awesome, I may have to reread them again, come to think of it.
Alternatively I might choose to live in Iain M Banks' Culture because that would be a cushty place to reside. But I don't know how one would find a meaningful life in that situation because everything is so available. What would a meaningful life even mean in that environment? I guess that's why his novels are always around the fringes of The Culture.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 4 May 2009 22:26 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 07:45 (UTC)2. As a real scottish person, how has devolution affected you?
3. How is balancing horses and university working out?
4. If there was a book that you could recommend for everyone to read, what would it be?
5. Can you think of three major decisions you have made that have taken you to the place you are now? Were they good ones?
no subject
Date: 4 May 2009 23:33 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 07:47 (UTC)2. What attracted you to the saxomophone?
3. Following on from 2, how many instruments do you play and are you keeping up with all of them?
4. What attracted you to library science/archivism/that kind of thing?
5. What attracted you to the Crump?
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 04:40 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 07:52 (UTC)1. Does their come a point during one of your adventures where you start to get a little scared or think you're maybe taking things a bit far?
2. What achievement with Ozzy are you most proud of?
3. Would you live elsewhere in the US or in the world, if so where?
4. Who are the photographers who have influenced and inspired you as an artist?
5. Who are the horses who have taught you most?
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 18:43 (UTC)2. I am just proud of Ozzy in general. This is a horse who wouldn't jog a mile and a half without having a melt down, and now goes 30 miles for me without asking any questions. Just the fact that he can be ridden at all makes me really proud. This horse had every bad habit in the world and now he's mostly a big, goofy puppy dog. My proudest moments with him are when someone says, "This horse was a problem? I have a hard time believing that. He's so sweet now!"
3. I wouldn't move right this very second because I'm pretty happy where I am. However, there are a lot of places I've dreamed of living and I LOVE travel. New Zealand and Australia are high on my list. So is the UK in general. I haven't seen enough of the US to say how I feel about it. I plan on going to Colorado this summer. I've been up and down the East Coast and haven't found places that are overall better than Jersey. Maine is pretty though. I want to go back to my parents' old hostel in Poland someday, but it hasn't happened yet...
4. I actually haven't had many. I have a vision in my head that I strive for, but can't quite accomplish. I loved Bob Langrish growing up, but that affair has sort of faded in my mind. These days I idolize Gabrielle Boiselle and adore several artists on deviantArt.
5. Ozzy. Hands down. I have never met a horse as smart or stubborn as my own. He has taught me patience like no other. He still frustrates me to tears more than I like to admit, but there is nothing more rewarding than watching him get it right.
Other than Oz, I learned my velcro butt from Troy, who tried to kill me on a daily basis. I learned pretty much all I know about jumping from a phenomenal, patient thoroughbred gelding named JJ. That poor thing lugged my butt around the ring until I got it right. And Garland, the EPM mare at Bluestone, taught me about fighting to stay alive and beating the odds. I have never seen determination that matched that which I saw in that mare.
Almost every horse I encounter has something to teach me, and I do my best to absorb all of it.
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 22:17 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 12:24 (UTC)no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 15:08 (UTC)2. How has Swansea changed over the last ten years?
3. Imagine that life is a game in which characters are created using a virtues/flaws system; which virtues and flaws did you choose?
4. What have been the best three things to happen in your life in the last five years?
5. What books would you recommend that I read?
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 18:25 (UTC)go on then, I'll try and answer some questions too...
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 23:11 (UTC)2. Who are the photographers who have influenced and inspired you as an artist?
3. What is the best larp event you have been to and why?
4. What music are you listening to these days?
5. It seems like work may take you elsewhere when you find a job- what will you miss and will you not miss about Swansea if you should move?
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 18:57 (UTC)I'm glad that Roo went to such a nice home: too many people just have horses put down when they can't ride 'em. If the horse is still leading a happy life, then why? The number of people who are surprised to hear I keep Peps despite being unable to ride her REALLY annoys me!
Ooh, the idea of walking down a woodland pathway/alley and accidentally finding yourself in another world is REALLY appealing. Particularly because I presume you can come back to the real world?
Great answers! :) Interview me? :D
no subject
Date: 5 May 2009 23:35 (UTC)You can, of course, come back to the real world, but you don't come back unchanged.
So, questions then:
1. What, if any, books have changed the way you look at the world?
2. You draw and you write, have you ever been tempted to combine the two and work on anything along the lines of a comic/graphic novel?
3. How did you first get involved with horses and how did you progress from that to where you are now?
4. If everything went as well as you could hope for, where would you be ten years from now and what would you be doing?
5. If you could go to anyone to be taught about anything, who would you go to and what would you learn?
I swear thinking up questions is the toughest part of this meme.