carolina-bound

[thehorsethief]

Black Lives Matter. Trans, nonbinary, ace, sex worker inclusive intersectional feminist.

Put your own oxygen mask on before helping others.

I'm Lily, and I live in rural South Carolina where I work on a warmblood (Westfalen) breeding farm and at an independent consignment tack store.

I'm incredibly lucky to have access to my mentor and friend @magnoliasporthorses 's vast repertoire of knowledge about dressage, breeding, training, and business, as well as not one but TWO highly educated independent certified saddle fitters at the tack store.

I love being one of the lucky 10,000 whenever it happens.

I love talking about equestrian pedagogy, saddle fit, tack choices, training methods, husbandry, technology, tradition, privilege, learning disabilities, sexuality, bigotry, and the ramifications of capitalism on animal welfare and how political and social reform can improve the lives of humans - which will ultimately improve animal welfare.

I have a BFA in fine art and am teaching myself how to customize and paint model horses. Its super fun.

I'm always on the discord.

[transperceneige]

Art selection from @ Musée du Louvre

[systlin]

I saw a thing and thought it seemed like something you might find cool

-This is GENIUS-Systlin-

[jacobwren]

“When we set children against one another in contests - from spelling bees to awards assemblies to science “fairs” (that are really contests), from dodge ball to honour rolls to prizes for the best painting or the most books read - we teach them to confuse excellence with winning, as if the only way to do something well is to outdo others. We encourage them to measure their own value in terms of how many people they’ve beaten, which is not exactly a path to mental health. We invite them to see their peers not as potential friends or collaborators but as obstacles to their own success… Finally, we lead children to regard whatever they’re doing as a means to an end: The point isn’t to paint or read or design a science experiment, but to win. The act of painting, reading, or designing is thereby devalued in the child’s mind.”

— Alfie Kohn, The Myth Of The Spoiled Child

[audible-smiles]

lowering the social stigma of gender nonconformity also lowers the threshold of how bad people have to be suffering before they’re willing to discuss their feelings openly. I guarantee you that a TON of humans who felt vaguely alienated by/uncomfortable with their assigned gender have lived and died within a cisgender identity framework, because the enormous social cost of being honest just wasn’t worth it if they weren’t miserable. that was a bad thing!

letting people weigh their options for themselves without putting a thumb on the scale is freeing. so of course we’ve started hearing people discuss wildly unusual ways of experiencing gender. it does not matter whether the teenagers who made up the goofy-sounding new gender term you’re annoyed about end up being capital-T trans or not. it just matters that they feel safe talking about it, because everyone benefits from that. you cannot lower one threshold without lowering the other. this is a feature, not a bug. this is a good thing!

[papasmoke]

NYT Opinions

Why we should stop fetishizing having asbestos-free baby strollers

John D. Smith

John D. Smith is the owner of an Asbestos mine

[comradesaucegay]

for those who don’t get what this is satirizing:

and here’s another fun example of a NYT opinion piece, where they just casually let a eugenicist write about immigration

[gustavowasright-deactivated2022]

i love when you're friends with an animal and you become more and more familiar with the specific places and ways they prefer to be petted, and their little rituals and routines, and different patterns and quirks to their individual behavior, and so you are able to pet them and respond to them more accurately, and they learn the same information regarding patterns of behavior, about you. whether it's aspects of our behavior we are including deliberately for training purposes, or the 95% remaining stuff we broadcast anyway. it's just nice to get comfortable with one another and feel Observed, but not Judged. my animal friends are amazingly amiable about my eccentricities... be attuned, and be invested, and they don't even notice everything else.

[nonsequential]

So a little while ago, I was asked to submit samples for a possible comic adaption of Karen Cushman’s wonderful book “Catherine, Called Birdy.”

As I am sharing these samples with you now, you might have guessed the project is not happening, at least not at the moment. At least I got to do some very fun art and learn that Karen Cushman and I share a strong admiration of Trina Schart Hyman and her work. 

[chronically-overwhelmed]

I made a few Spoonie versions of the Same Hat!! meme.

[darkwood-sleddog]

Ya know what. Some breed standards...are bad.

[queerautism]

[bieddiediaz]

hannah gadsy roasting the shit out of men in douglas (2020)

[thecoggs]

So apparently last year the National Park Service in the US dropped an over 1200 page study of LGBTQ American History as part of their Who We Are program which includes studies on African-American history, Latino history, and Indigenous history. 

Like. This is awesome. But also it feels very surreal that maybe one of the most comprehensive examinations of LGBTQ history in America (it covers sports! art! race! historical sites! health! cities!) was just casually done by the parks service. 

[tarastarr1]

This is really great??

Chapter 1: Prologue: Why LGBTQ Historic Sites Matter by Mark Meinke

Chapter 2: Introduction to the LGBTQ Heritage Initiative Theme Study by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 3: Introduction to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) History in the United States by Leisa Meyer and Helis Sikk

Chapter 4: The History of Queer History: One Hundred Years of the Search for Shared Heritage by Gerard Koskovich

Chapter 5: The Preservation of LGBTQ Heritage by Gail Dubrow

Chapter 6: LGBTQ Archeological Context by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 7: A Note about Intersectionality by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 8: Making Bisexuals Visible by Loraine Hutchins

Chapter 9: Sexual and Gender Diversity in Native America and the Pacific Islands by Will Roscoe

Chapter 10: Transgender History in the US and the Places that Matter by Susan Stryker

Chapter 11: Breathing Fire: Remembering Asian Pacific American Activism in Queer History by Amy Sueyoshi

Chapter 12: Latina/o Gender and Sexuality by Deena J. González and Ellie D. Hernandez

Chapter 13: “Where We Could Be Ourselves”: African American LGBTQ Historic Places and Why They Matter by Jeffrey A. Harris

Chapter 14: LGBTQ Spaces and Places by Jen Jack Gieseking

Chapter 15: Making Community: The Places and Spaces of LGBTQ Collective Identity Formation by Christina B. Hanhardt

Chapter 16: LGBTQ Business and Commerce by David K. Johnson

Chapter 17: Sex, Love, and Relationships by Tracy Baim

Chapter 18: LGBTQ Civil Rights in America by Megan E. Springate

Chapter 19: Historical Landmarks and Landscapes of LGBTQ Law by Marc Stein

Chapter 20: LGBTQ Military Service by Steve Estes

Chapter 21: Struggles in Body and Spirit: Religion and LGBTQ People in US History by Drew Bourn

Chapter 22: LGBTQ and Health by Katie Batza

Chapter 23: LGBTQ Art and Artists by Tara Burk

Chapter 24: LGBTQ Sport and Leisure by Katherine Schweighofer

Chapter 25: San Francisco: Placing LGBTQ Histories in the City by the Bay by Donna J. Graves and Shayne E. Watson

Chapter 26: Preservation of LGBTQ Historic & Cultural Sites – A New York City Perspective by Jay Shockley

Chapter 27: Locating Miami’s Queer History by Julio Capó, Jr.

Chapter 28: Queerest Little City in the World: LGBTQ Reno by John Jeffrey Auer IV

Chapter 29: Chicago: Queer Histories at the Crossroads of America by Jessica Herczeg-Konecny

Chapter 30: Nominating LGBTQ Places to the National Register of Historic Places and as National Historic Landmarks: An Introduction by Megan E. Springate and Caridad de la Vega

Chapter 31: Interpreting LGBTQ Historic Sites by Susan Ferentinos

Chapter 32: Teaching LGBTQ History and Heritage by Leila J. Rupp

[granniekid]

We used it in my LGBT history class and it’s SO WONDERFUL I LOVE it PLEASE READ at least some chapters. It has photos and sources and goes into detail in footnotes when it doesn’t have time for a tangent.

[babyanimalgifs]

This makes me so happy 

(via)

[thehorsethief]

I'm going to propose what I hope to be an actual discussion in good faith about how to discuss tack with people you aren't close with. To me, "close with" means you can say "I think that bit is a bad idea" or "that doesn't look right i think you put it on backwards" or "I think your trainer isn't helping you with that problem and I'm concerned."

but other people at your barn or strangers online aren't in that category, so im going to say what has been incredibly effective for me when discussing tack and the proper use of it.

ask Questions.

I work at a store that sells tack, so I get the benefit of "expertise" from many customers that I wouldn't get just hanging around a barn or posting anonymously online. asking Questions works best for me in person or over the phone too, because people can hear the genuine curiosity and care in my voice. I say genuine because I am genuinely curious why someone is looking for a 6.5" bit for a lusitano or why they are concerned that their saddle doesn't fit their horse.

to reference the post made by equikage, if i didn't know him and thought he was going to do... something irresponsible, I would ask something like "why are you considering using a drop noseband on your horse?" or "it looks pretty low, how are supposed to fit?"

thats it. I won't say that this question would have completely avoided the drama (which it is. when multiple people are calling something "drama" and others are insisting its misinterpreted polite conversation... thats drama) but it would have circumvented the assumptions made about equikages intelligence, experience, and ethics.

plus, it takes a whole lot less time to ask a simple question than it does to write several hundred words and articles to cite.

[38258447]

Hi I’m glad you were able to add your thoughts to this discussion because that’s literally the point of tumblr. Also if you want to talk about about a situation I’m involved in feel free to @ me or use my username so everyone can get more clarity on the situation.

You suggestion is to ask questions but I don’t need to ask “is that how it’s supposed to fit?” If you want to check the original post in the reblogs I am a trained and qualified bridle, saddle, girth and harness fitter. I was sharing information specifically relating to those qualifications which was educational and totally misconstrued, at the end of the day I can’t control how people want to perceive it or go on the defensive over the perceived slight of having facts popped on their post.

Weaponising the word drama to dismiss legitimate points does nothing to help anyone and that could be something we could all do better at being aware of. There were zero assumptions made about any of those charctarteristics and I only responded directly to what was shown in the picture without guessing at things beyond that especially not anyone’s ethics.

It also takes a whole lot less less time to just @ me and ask than write out this whole post. I don’t understand how writing a longer post with citations is a critique? Is our standard not supposed to include scientific research now?

@sanddancingwithanxiety feel free to @ me if you want to call me an arrogant dick but we could all do with being more open to learning and less arrogant to presume that we are above reproach or don’t have anything else we can learn beyond the scope of a manufactured echo chamber.

[sanddancingwithanxiety]

I would like to re-iterate that this was not specifically targeted at you. It’s been happening for years that people seize on a happy post of someone sharing their horse with unsolicited commentary which turns people off posting. And then people go to Instagram and we wonder why.

[38258447]

Okay, counterpoint you responded to post that was about a situation I was involved in so yes it might apply to multiple people but if you’re going to complain about someone’s arrogance at least have the backbone to stand by it when the person responds. Not specifically means i was still included in that grouping so my original point stands, feel free to @ me next time

I don’t understand why this happy post/ fluffy post/ personal post is a defence? You post on public platform where people are free to respond? And if you want to engage with others then why is it acceptable to maintain the double standard that they can’t engage with you? Maybe if people could stop being defensive for a hot second we could all stand to learn something rather than presuming there’s nothing more to be learned

[howtotrainyournoodle]

People probably go to instagram because they’re sick of a benign and educational response to a post being made into ~drama~ and blown way out of proportion.

Literally no one needed to respond to our commentary. We both don’t have that many followers - but no no Dmitri needed to reblog it in a childish, rude exasperated fashion (because he can do no wrong and is clearly just being attacked), which immediately set his follower base on us.

If you can’t deal with unsolicited comments then why are you on the internet? Post anything and people will respond to it - just because it’s a “happy post” doesn’t make it immune. Especially when it’s to a large follower base who are clearly so besotted by this person’s posts they have to all fall over themselves to defend him.

They should probably pop out of the echo chamber for a bit and do a bit of learning and critical thinking. It might help them become better at looking after their animals too.

[idreaminbayandgrey]

Well, I’m going to engage in this in good faith, so please keep that in mind when reading it.

First off, I don’t think it’s quite right for people who haven’t left tumblr to basically dictate why people have left. I’ve repeatedly had people who did leave this app reach out to me on other social media’s to explain why they left. The post I have about missing old Tumblr actually evolved from those conversations I had with them as well as my own feelings. Nowadays, there aren’t any conversations because it’s always turned into drama without any need. There is not push to be better or to read other solutions to problems. There’s not any ACTIVE engagement. Either you passively just reblog cute things or you are a meanie starting drama.

And I’m not saying I’m perfect in this realm. I’ve definitely gone wayyyyy too hard before. I believe we all have if we came here in the old days. But I’ve had moments where I just tried to tell someone “hey your rope halter knot is incorrect and could be dangerous, here’s how to tie it” become drama just because it was me who said it.

I think it’s also important to notice how Instagram and tumblr differ. Tumblr is designed for your posts to get reblogs and potentially leave your “sphere of influence”. People who don’t know you or your past will more than likely see your post and the platform is designed for people to reblog and add commentary. This is a more discussion based platform. On Instagram, your images stay on your page and the discussion has to happen below that image. You can delete comments as you wish. Links cannot be added. It literally is a platform just to enjoy cute pictures, not foster discussion.

Also, when it comes to unsolicited comments on your posts, you cannot control what people say to you, you can only control your response. So just start assuming everything comes from good faith unless given strong reason to believe otherwise.

[thehorsethief]

I dont think the original response was intended to start anything, but it did indeed start... something. I think a big difference is indeed in how discussions happen. Unlike blogs, the majority of content tends to be reblogs rather than original, so you see posts made by people you don't know anything about other. On blogs, comments are made under the blog, and to share a post you have to send it via email or text or group chat, etc, rather than reblogging it to a contact list of tens, hundreds, or thousands of followers. Unlike forums, conversations are non linear and notifications are hilariously broken so nobody is seeing the discussion in full at any time. Its honestly more like sharing posts on Facebook than a blog or forum, except that Facebook has a better commenting system than Tumblr. I really can't emphasize enough how shocked I am that there are now accusations of neglect being made, in addition to the name calling and accusations of dog piling. The nature of tumblr is that if you comment by reblogging, and someone else responds to your comment, the number of strangers reading your words without any context other than the post increases *exponentially* Thats honestly another reason to send a message via ask or DM, so that people don't see the first reblog you make and respond to *that* while you are several posts and reblogs later in the discussion. Tumblr honestly sucks for discussion and by its nature discussions are made extremely visible (more than any forum or blog post) and utterly non linear and hard to follow in full. This leads to people coming across version 4 of a reblog chain and responding to it, while in version 6 there is key information that people who haven't seen version 6 are ignorant of. obviously that hasn't completely driven me from this website but at this point I'm not exactly sure what will. Call it nostalgia maybe.

[thehorsethief]

fuck me there were *supposed* to be paragraph breaks in there

[thehorsethief]

I'm going to propose what I hope to be an actual discussion in good faith about how to discuss tack with people you aren't close with. To me, "close with" means you can say "I think that bit is a bad idea" or "that doesn't look right i think you put it on backwards" or "I think your trainer isn't helping you with that problem and I'm concerned."

but other people at your barn or strangers online aren't in that category, so im going to say what has been incredibly effective for me when discussing tack and the proper use of it.

ask Questions.

I work at a store that sells tack, so I get the benefit of "expertise" from many customers that I wouldn't get just hanging around a barn or posting anonymously online. asking Questions works best for me in person or over the phone too, because people can hear the genuine curiosity and care in my voice. I say genuine because I am genuinely curious why someone is looking for a 6.5" bit for a lusitano or why they are concerned that their saddle doesn't fit their horse.

to reference the post made by equikage, if i didn't know him and thought he was going to do... something irresponsible, I would ask something like "why are you considering using a drop noseband on your horse?" or "it looks pretty low, how are supposed to fit?"

thats it. I won't say that this question would have completely avoided the drama (which it is. when multiple people are calling something "drama" and others are insisting its misinterpreted polite conversation... thats drama) but it would have circumvented the assumptions made about equikages intelligence, experience, and ethics.

plus, it takes a whole lot less time to ask a simple question than it does to write several hundred words and articles to cite.

[38258447]

Hi I’m glad you were able to add your thoughts to this discussion because that’s literally the point of tumblr. Also if you want to talk about about a situation I’m involved in feel free to @ me or use my username so everyone can get more clarity on the situation.

You suggestion is to ask questions but I don’t need to ask “is that how it’s supposed to fit?” If you want to check the original post in the reblogs I am a trained and qualified bridle, saddle, girth and harness fitter. I was sharing information specifically relating to those qualifications which was educational and totally misconstrued, at the end of the day I can’t control how people want to perceive it or go on the defensive over the perceived slight of having facts popped on their post.

Weaponising the word drama to dismiss legitimate points does nothing to help anyone and that could be something we could all do better at being aware of. There were zero assumptions made about any of those charctarteristics and I only responded directly to what was shown in the picture without guessing at things beyond that especially not anyone’s ethics.

It also takes a whole lot less less time to just @ me and ask than write out this whole post. I don’t understand how writing a longer post with citations is a critique? Is our standard not supposed to include scientific research now?

@sanddancingwithanxiety feel free to @ me if you want to call me an arrogant dick but we could all do with being more open to learning and less arrogant to presume that we are above reproach or don’t have anything else we can learn beyond the scope of a manufactured echo chamber.

[sanddancingwithanxiety]

I would like to re-iterate that this was not specifically targeted at you. It’s been happening for years that people seize on a happy post of someone sharing their horse with unsolicited commentary which turns people off posting. And then people go to Instagram and we wonder why.

[38258447]

Okay, counterpoint you responded to post that was about a situation I was involved in so yes it might apply to multiple people but if you’re going to complain about someone’s arrogance at least have the backbone to stand by it when the person responds. Not specifically means i was still included in that grouping so my original point stands, feel free to @ me next time

I don’t understand why this happy post/ fluffy post/ personal post is a defence? You post on public platform where people are free to respond? And if you want to engage with others then why is it acceptable to maintain the double standard that they can’t engage with you? Maybe if people could stop being defensive for a hot second we could all stand to learn something rather than presuming there’s nothing more to be learned

[howtotrainyournoodle]

People probably go to instagram because they’re sick of a benign and educational response to a post being made into ~drama~ and blown way out of proportion.

Literally no one needed to respond to our commentary. We both don’t have that many followers - but no no Dmitri needed to reblog it in a childish, rude exasperated fashion (because he can do no wrong and is clearly just being attacked), which immediately set his follower base on us.

If you can’t deal with unsolicited comments then why are you on the internet? Post anything and people will respond to it - just because it’s a “happy post” doesn’t make it immune. Especially when it’s to a large follower base who are clearly so besotted by this person’s posts they have to all fall over themselves to defend him.

They should probably pop out of the echo chamber for a bit and do a bit of learning and critical thinking. It might help them become better at looking after their animals too.

[idreaminbayandgrey]

Well, I’m going to engage in this in good faith, so please keep that in mind when reading it.

First off, I don’t think it’s quite right for people who haven’t left tumblr to basically dictate why people have left. I’ve repeatedly had people who did leave this app reach out to me on other social media’s to explain why they left. The post I have about missing old Tumblr actually evolved from those conversations I had with them as well as my own feelings. Nowadays, there aren’t any conversations because it’s always turned into drama without any need. There is not push to be better or to read other solutions to problems. There’s not any ACTIVE engagement. Either you passively just reblog cute things or you are a meanie starting drama.

And I’m not saying I’m perfect in this realm. I’ve definitely gone wayyyyy too hard before. I believe we all have if we came here in the old days. But I’ve had moments where I just tried to tell someone “hey your rope halter knot is incorrect and could be dangerous, here’s how to tie it” become drama just because it was me who said it.

I think it’s also important to notice how Instagram and tumblr differ. Tumblr is designed for your posts to get reblogs and potentially leave your “sphere of influence”. People who don’t know you or your past will more than likely see your post and the platform is designed for people to reblog and add commentary. This is a more discussion based platform. On Instagram, your images stay on your page and the discussion has to happen below that image. You can delete comments as you wish. Links cannot be added. It literally is a platform just to enjoy cute pictures, not foster discussion.

Also, when it comes to unsolicited comments on your posts, you cannot control what people say to you, you can only control your response. So just start assuming everything comes from good faith unless given strong reason to believe otherwise.

[thehorsethief]

I dont think the original response was intended to start anything, but it did indeed start... something. I think a big difference is indeed in how discussions happen. Unlike blogs, the majority of content tends to be reblogs rather than original, so you see posts made by people you don't know anything about other. On blogs, comments are made under the blog, and to share a post you have to send it via email or text or group chat, etc, rather than reblogging it to a contact list of tens, hundreds, or thousands of followers. Unlike forums, conversations are non linear and notifications are hilariously broken so nobody is seeing the discussion in full at any time. Its honestly more like sharing posts on Facebook than a blog or forum, except that Facebook has a better commenting system than Tumblr. I really can't emphasize enough how shocked I am that there are now accusations of neglect being made, in addition to the name calling and accusations of dog piling. The nature of tumblr is that if you comment by reblogging, and someone else responds to your comment, the number of strangers reading your words without any context other than the post increases *exponentially* Thats honestly another reason to send a message via ask or DM, so that people don't see the first reblog you make and respond to *that* while you are several posts and reblogs later in the discussion. Tumblr honestly sucks for discussion and by its nature discussions are made extremely visible (more than any forum or blog post) and utterly non linear and hard to follow in full. This leads to people coming across version 4 of a reblog chain and responding to it, while in version 6 there is key information that people who haven't seen version 6 are ignorant of. obviously that hasn't completely driven me from this website but at this point I'm not exactly sure what will. Call it nostalgia maybe.

[thehorsethief]

@brightside-blue

I was pretty shocked by the turn the discussion has taken, and I see that you have called other tumblr users "a hoard," because they criticized your behavior, and have reblogged a post accusing equikage of animal hoarding and neglect ("demonstrates an appalling level of lack of essential daily care for all of the animals in his care").

I still do have questions for you, but I understand if you wish to disengage at this point.

How do you approach strangers in real life who you see using tack incorrectly?

Do you think education and the spread of information about tack and training should be limited?

Does the word of a professional trump the word of an amateur?

What does citing an article that cost $1595 to be published and another article with no n greater than 12 prove?

I have seen around a dozen blogs interacting in reference to the post made by equikage and the response you made: at what point is it "legitimate" to call something "drama"?

[thatpaintedpony]

SO THIS HAPPENED GUYS