Sweet Sixteen, Smokie Lynx

Yes indeed, the cat is sixteen years old today, fit and spry. So how many cat years is that?

If only I could look as good at her age!

A can of tuna is in order.

Post-Premier Crash

The Dark Knight was a pretty awesome movie. Y'all should go watch it, especially for the Joker.

I went to see the midnight premier on Thursday and it was totally worth it, albeit Rachel is totally ugly and Gotham City is now Chicago.

Go watch and enjoy!

Thoughts on Learning from the grad student Mom

Did you know that theories of human learning date back to Plato and Aristotle? Plato believed in the world of ideas, that learning takes place through abstract representation, and Aristotle believed that all learning originated in the concrete senses. This is of course oversimplistic, but I found it interesting. These two views have shaped the various theories of learning ever since, right up to the present day. Do you ever think about how it is that you learn something, and how this changes over the years? Fascinating stuff.

Girls > Boys

For the purposes of teaching, that is. I am attempting to give campers basic knowledge of horsemanship and create in them a spirit of proper western pleasure riding, and in this task I have found that girls are by and large the superior students.

First, the age group. The girls I had last session were ALL crazy about horses. Remember when Elena wanted nothing more than her own pony? I was teaching seven such girls. As long as I was talking about ponies, they were interested. They wanted to pet ponies, ride ponies, learn how to care for ponies, anything! I could not have asked for a more enthusiastic class. I could say the most boring, pointless things about saddles, bridles, and tack but they would hang upon each and every word.

Secondly, girls are much less familiar with the "cowboy culture", which is actually a gross misconception of real cowboy riding. Real cowboys were the most phenomenal horsemen seen since medieval knights. A cowboy would never whale away on a horse's sides with his spurs or sit slumped in the saddle! No, you couldn't see him move when he told his horse to go and they loved their horses to death. But in popular Westerns (especially bad Westerns) you see all that - bad posture, poor cues, etc. Girls are largely ignorant of this, so it is far easier to correct their posture errors. "Sit up straight! Relax your back! Don't grip with your knees! Heels down! Make a straight line from shoulders, hips, and heels!"

Third, girls have far less of a speed demon. This is a good and a not-so-good thing. They are largely content to walk and trot, accepting my reasons for forbidding them to canter. (my reasons are posture-related, not safety-related. If you cannot ride flawlessly at a trot, why should you be cantering or galloping?) They would never think of ignoring my command to slow down.

Fourth, girls listen better. I don't have to bribe them with candy or rewards in order for them to pay attention while I teach them about the Natural Aids. They sit quiet, absorb the information like a sponge, and then regurgitate it finer than I have ever seen it before. The result is that they go through the entire Basic material in three lessons and move on to the Intermediate material.

Thus, because I like easy work, if you give me the chance of teaching seven Basic boys or seven basic girls, odds are I'd choose the girls. On the other hand, it is awesome to see ten year old boys crack down and learn horses well and become fantastic riders, just like it's awesome to see them become dedicated pianists. So why does it seem like girls learn and behave better than their apish opposites?

Garmisch

Nate sends his regards from Garmisch. He took these photos yesterday. I found out today that I get to go down for four days at the end of the month, all expenses paid, to work at a retreat. :-)