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Notes on a Horse

Published at August 31, 2007 in The Great Outdoors and Science. 0 Comments

My mom is an adamant horse person, and today she asked me to accompany her to the farm where she takes riding lessons. Obliging her request, I got to meet her steed (”Pilgrim”), and notice some interesting things about the horse.

My first observation resulted from the comment of the teacher/coach/trainer/friend when she mentioned that horses have excellent depth perception. I noticed that, like most animals that were once not dominant on the food chain (aka prey), the horse’s eyes were positioned on the sides of his head, which (beyond providing better peripheral vision) spreads the eyes out farther apart than, for example, those of a human. Thus providing better depth perception (better triangulation).

The aforementioned exceptional peripheral vision was also of note. I noticed, when looking into his eyes, that his pupils are oval shaped (quite dramatically, actually), thereby allowing a purportedly full 180 degree horizontal visual range per eye. I find this fascinating. This means, though, that the horse has a lower vertical visual range, which could be the reason that horses are so touchy about things beneath them.

The 180 degrees per eye do not, of course, cover the whole area around the horse, overlapping and concentrating in a section directly in front of the horse. This makes sense, so they can see in front of them without any blind spot (which would be caused by the separation of the eyes; this way there is only a small triangular blind spot very close to the head). One casualty of this, however, is the blind spot in the back, which I noticed Pilgrim monitoring with back-turned ears quite often. Horses are very alert.

My last and quite a bit less scientific observation was of the slightly magical feeling one gets when in the presence of a horse. It must have something to do with the sheer size of the animal (1/2 ton!), or perhaps its immense physical intelligence. Anyway, it is slightly calming, and thoroughly enjoyable. I can see why horses reside as my mothers primary passion.

New Bike!

Published at August 13, 2007 in The Great Outdoors and Life. 0 Comments

Trek 7.2 FX

Above is a picture of my newly purchased bike. It is a Trek 7.2 FX, a hybrid between a mountain bike and a road bike. When we were visiting Corvallis, OR (the #2 bike city in the US, second to what, I don’t know), we thought that the time was right to replace my decrepit previous bike, so we did! The cost was a steal too, as they accidentally mismarked it for $70 less than it was supposed to be. I picked it out, and my parents bought it for me on the occasion of my birthday. Some features are as follows:

Thin, baldish tires for speedy transit on roads (by the way, this baby goes fast)
A featherweight aluminum frame, also contributing to speed and ease of movement
Large (diameter) wheels
Low, flat handlebars
Rapid-fire (trigger) shifters
A comfortable seat, with a shock in the stem
A nice gear set, which unfortunately makes some noise on certain gears, though I think I can fix it after obtaining some education on the subject
A rack, fenders, kickstand, front and rear lights, and combination bar-lock, all of which being purchased in addition to the bike

It is so much better than my old bike in many ways, fitting me properly, and providing me with a comfortable and efficient mode of personal transportation. Thank you Mom and Dad!

An Unconventional Fourth

Published at July 5, 2007 in The Great Outdoors and Life. 0 Comments

I know blogs are not supposed to be diaries (at least I for one am not interested in reading anyone’s diary, unless they have a really interesting life) but I intend to recount my celebration of Independence Day strictly for the purpose of demonstrating that one can have an enjoyable fourth without running around and blowing stuff up like a madman. Not that I am greatly opposed to such behavior, but when exhibited on a massive scale (like that in most major cities), I see it as a demonstration of typical human irresponsibility. Everyone who wants to make noise should go out somewhere rural and detonate their wares in an open, non flammable space, as opposed to what sounds like my backyard. Instead of participating in all of this (this year), I pursued a fun and rather celebratory agenda that proved just about as fun as instituting combustion on city streets.

I woke up early (9:00; quite early for the season and person in question), and took off for a wilderness hike with my folks. After the conclusion of the hour plus drive that took us to the trail head, we had consumed a beverage and pastry each, and purchased a map and forest pass (for parking…I guess). The hike was fun, taking us along a river through some forest for a few miles, then coming out on the river a bit higher up on a small beach. On this beach, we consumed sustenance, shot some photos of the surrounding scenery (and my dog), and cooled our heels (literally) in the ice cold river. We then returned to the car, evading the flying, biting, demonic bugs, whose existence I have hence used to argue the absence of a compassionate higher being.

We considered staying in a hotel for the night, but the hotel’s jacuzzi was too small (there were also some other things we didn’t like). I did get to use the hotel’s internet to check my email, however, while my parents phoned around for a different place. Not finding one, we vacated the current town for another, finding a small restaurant in which we dined on assorted pasta dishes. I had beef ravioli with a four cheese sauce. Quite satisfactory.

To drown out what we assumed would escalate to the sound intensity of a war zone (and indeed it did), we planned to watch a movie. Having obtained Superman Returns, we headed home and proceeded to watch it. It was quite good, with the small exception that the chief antagonist (Lex Luthor, played by Kevin Spacey) at times looked and sounded startlingly like my calculus teacher of last year. He had the same bald head, the same sardonic remarks, only differing in subtle facial features, and the fact that my math teacher does not want to nefariously gain control of the world (I don’t think).

I ended the day by reading one or two chapters in my current book, Ethan of Athos. A rather strange book, I probably wouldn’t be reading it if it weren’t in a series I have been enjoying (the Vorkosigan Saga), but it is getting better. I went to sleep around 1:45 by my best estimate. So not a bad day, eh? And I touched nothing explosive (except perhaps the insect repellent)…wow.