The Old Training Oval

Being an engineer, I like things that are designed, being a creationist I see design everywhere. When I bought the Farm it had been empty for six years, and the previous 20 years to that, there hadn't been a lot of investment in upkeep, but underneath the ruin, weeds, poison, etc there was 60 acres of design.

In the middle of the Farm there was a broken down training oval because it had been a horse farm and years ago (ending in the 60's) the Pennsylvania Horseshow used to hold there annual event here. It was ugly. So my cousin and I tore it down, boy did things look better, and off we went to the next project on a long list of projects.

But the space was empty and generations of horses and people had tracked the earth into the oval, everyday I walked past it, there would be a whisper, "needs a training oval". My father and I, my cousins, my uncle had been replacing the rest of the fencing on the farm, killing the poison, etc. Nice straight fence we did, a couple of acute angles - not a problem.

An oval, I don't think so.

So I hired someone to build me an oval, six men showed up, they had wet wood, they had special tools, down-sized "come alongs", they had experience, they sweated alot, I'm pretty sure they drank some beers. In two days they were finished, it was awesome even without paint which we put on ourselves.

Having watched Derek being trained on a horse, (he sits a horse nicely by the way), I noticed that the trainer knew what they were doing, the horse knew what it was doing, the trainer's horse knew what it was doing. Derek was trying to learn what to do. I even knew what I was doing (not to try).

I think about that oval, it has no moving parts, no electrical connection, no software, it doesn't appear very complex, but to get one trained rider there is huge stack of design and experience, experiences that I am willing to admit I don't have and won't even attempt.

But I enjoy the aesthetics of the oval, I enjoy watching a horse, a rider on a horse. I know the story of the oval, I saw the experiences in operation. The kids now repaint the oval every now and then, yet more experience.

The oval looks simple, I take it for granted that it is simple, but is it really?

What else looks simple to me, and that I take for granted....