Hm. I very rarely post on controversial threads, but I often read them. I've noticed what seems to me to be a great improvement in forum moderation recently (last couple months or so). Is that just me? :p

Does she know the full extent of your situation? IME trainers will try their very best to work with you, if at all possible.

That's tough. :/ Would he be allowed to ride the current lease pony in lessons if you dropped the lease? The price you posted in the other thread is ouch. I could get a full lease on a nice horse (without bartering any work) for that price where I live. Could you look at eventing barns? They're often cheaper, but still jump a lot, if that's what he wants.

There is something very special about having your own horse. I've never technically owned, but I have had longterm full leases, which essentially work out to the same thing. I've also ridden a variety of other horses, some for lengthy periods of time. It's not the same if the horse is ridden by a million other lesson kids; it's just not. In that, I don't think ownership is the defining characteristic -- leasing works, too -- but the opportunity to work with the horse without other riders influencing the horse allows the horse and rider to really bond. Also, at least with some horses, it is extremely frustrating and unproductive for multiple people to ride them, as each person may not be working toward the same goals. As an example, I rode a lovely dressage horse once. For a while, I was the only one riding him, and we moved from Training Level to Second Level. Then, someone who wanted to do hunters with him started riding him, and it was a complete mess. Higher level dressage and hunters require a different frame and mindset, and the horse was seriously grumpy constantly switching between two things.

:seeya: from another FTC programmer. Too bad about the scholarship. :/ I just missed it too (I'm a senior this year).

Oh, and is she on a FIRST or VEX robotics team? WPI has a couple scholarships for those robotics leagues specifically (and I think there's a scholarship offered every other year that will be offered next year that is geared towards FIRST team members who are minorities [and it includes women as minorities for the purpose of the scholarship]).

WPI was one of the schools I applied to, and they were very generous with merit aid. I'm not sure if this is a trend across the board, but they do have quite a few scholarships listed on their scholarship page.

Another to say maybe it will pass, and maybe it won't. My mother was always convinced the horse-crazy was a phase that would pass, but it never did... Horses have been a huge part of my life for many years now (well, I'm writing this just after returning from mucking stalls and riding on New Year's Day, if that tells you anything :p). Horses can be very expensive, but there are ways to ride (relatively) inexpensively. I currently have a full lease on a horse in exchange for mucking stalls 4x a week, and I pay for nothing except lessons, and show fees, if I want to show. I've only been at this barn 2 months, but in addition to the horse I lease, I also have other horses available to me to ride. Basically I could ride 2-3 horses every day, if I wanted. These are pretty nice horses, too. Yes, some of them are quite green, and none of them are capable of Grand Prix level anything, but they are capable of things like 3' jumpers and 1st level dressage (some of the greener ones will be capable of more eventually). My situation is not unique; many trainers are willing to let kids work off lessons/leases, etc. However, it does require a lot of work and proving yourself before you get such opportunities.

Yes, agreeing that she can't use a Troxel for show. I have two different helmets -- a schooling helmet and a show helmet. The show helmet looks nicer, but I prefer my Troxel. :p

I have a Troxel Spirit. I have a different show helmet, but I don't remember what brand it is. Fit is really the most important thing; there's no real difference in protection so long as they are ASTM/SEI certified. If you want to know all the minute details of helmet fit, Chronicle of the Horse will tell you all you need to know. The very best protection against falls is an excellent instructor and a reliable horse. Not jumping would probably help too, but I'm assuming she'd like to continue jumping. :p How often does she ride? Has she had other falls besides the two you mention that have not been as serious? For reference, I tend to fall off maybe a couple times a year (probably shouldn't say that, lol), and I ride a minimum of one horse five times a week, and sometimes more than one horse. If she's only riding once a week, two serious falls in about a year would concern me and I'd definitely evaluate the horse/instructor situation. Of course, accidents happen no matter what, and the situation may be safe, but it's worth looking critically at it.

:confused1: Did you read the article? It was very interesting, and worth your time, I think. It did not claim that all people think exactly the same thing. It did talk about some general functions of the brain, and how that affects everyone (everyone with a brain anyway, I suppose the Tin Man is exempt :p)

Nobody else was around; Tamir wasn't a danger to anyone. The police could have stayed back and assessed the situation for longer than two seconds. I honestly don't really see the other side here. The kid was not an immediate threat to anyone, and he was given no time to drop the airsoft gun before the police fired. Did Tamir behave in a way that lacked good judgement? Probably. But he was twelve. Twelve. Twelve year olds are just kids. :( Also...Ohio is an open carry state, so even though he lacked good judgement, he did nothing illegal. He was not an immediate threat and not doing anything illegal. Where are the grounds for the police shooting him? I know you said you didn't disagree with Katie, but I'm really not seeing room for justifying what the police did at all.

So there's a large group of peaceful protestors, and a small group of people who destroyed property. The people who destroyed property do not negate the fact that the other large group of people has been peacefully protesting for 110 days. So, sure, tell your children about the looting. But just because some people looted does not mean that there have not also been 110 days of peaceful protest.

Those looting are in the minority. The majority of protestors have been peaceful. If you're interested in reading about peaceful protestors, Pam in CT posted some interesting links from Sojourners in the post above. This is a decent general piece about some peaceful protestors. I'm sure other people can give you a more extensive list of links as well.

No other context? It looks like a silly game of 'change the emoticon' to me. :p

I live quite close to Cinci. We had 3" of snow a week or two ago...temps in the single digits. Last winter, we had snow on the ground almost the entire winter and temperatures below zero (before windchill). So yes, I'd say they need cold weather gear.

I was offered bifocals at 15 in an attempt to slow the deterioration of my sight. :p I ended up not needing them for that -- my prescription has stayed steady for a while -- but I expect I'll need them pretty young.

Qwirkle?

Some links that might be helpful: Facebook pages with advertisements for horse jobs and working student positions (1, 2) and a thread on one of those pages discussing college or not for horse jobs. Chronicle of the Horse also has many, many threads about working in the horse industry and being a working student. Oh, and Yard and Groom is great for getting an idea of what horse jobs require (and what they pay). I very rarely see anything that requires a degree, but many jobs require extensive and specific experience (e.g. for working students 2nd level experience for dressage, training level experience for eventing, 1.1m experience for jumpers, etc. Basic horse care skills such as grooming, tacking up, turning out, mucking stalls, basic first aid and so on are pretty much universal requirements). Keep in mind that those are expected for working students; barn managers or assistant trainers will be expected to have more skills/experience.

Agreeing with everyone else that experience is what counts in the horse world. Nobody cares if you have a degree in equine anything. They care about 1. What you know, 2. Who you've trained with/what experience you have, and 3. How hard you work. If she's really interested in running a barn, I'd recommend spending a year as a working student (she could also work as a groom for pay, depending on experience, but that generally involves little riding). That would help a whole lot with experience, and also give her a view of what life working at a barn is really like. With decent references, it's also possible she could land a working student type position while in college ... some barns will be flexible and will work around class schedules. I would say going with that and considering it a "double major" along with getting a degree in business or accounting or something would be a good option. The degree is a backup; practical experience is what really counts. Also consider that running a boarding barn is not profitable. For all but the biggest farms, barn owners will have another job. For many, that other job is offering riding lessons, training horses, and selling horses, but others have a more traditional job.

Have you used a calibration program? This one is the one my team used in the past (not my code). How dark are the grey areas? What exactly are you trying to do? I could probably help more with video of the robot and screenshots of the code you're using. I get the frustration of the robot; it wasn't so long ago that I spent 5+ hours fixing one problem with Mindstorms coding (and now I still do that, just with bigger robots). I'd be happy to give you my email address if you'd like to send along some more information.

This one looks quite good, thanks. I cannot open the PDF; the site is telling me I do not have permission.

I actually work at my local Mathnasium. We have a few kids working ahead of grade level, but those kids are mostly there due to parents, not because they love math. However, the majority of kids are really struggling or just doing ok in grade level math. For struggling kids, it is a fabulous place and I've seen much improvement in the kids who come regularly, but I would say it's not the best option for an advanced kid. *Disclaimer that Mathnasium is a franchise and so every location will be different.

Does anyone have an AP Bio syllabus with week by week assignments they would be willing to share? I'm currently self-studying, and while I'm doing alright, I'm kind of just muddling along. Most of the AP Bio syllabuses do not really have week-by-week assignments, and I could use something a little more structured. I'm using Campbell if that makes a difference, but I think most Bio books are similar enough that I could figure out the chapter in Campbell that corresponds to another textbook if anyone has a syllabus for another textbook. Thanks!

Voted. :001_smile: