We’ve had a couple of good rides since Mimi, the
opinionated walking horse and I had our little fight at the end of the
driveway. Her basic problem I believe,
is that she doesn’t want to go off the farm alone. The only route off of the farm is the paved
public road leading to the trail system in the nearby state park. Fighting with a balky horse on pavement and in
traffic is never a good idea. I had to
devise another way to solve her problem.
It’s not good to work in a vacuum. Discussing training problems with other folks
is always a good idea. I’ve been doing
just that via the internet at site called horseforum.com . The best advice I got was to set the horse up
for a balk in a safer place and work it out there. That is a bit problematic since the farm has
only one way off the property, but I had some ideas.
The perimeter trail around the property runs past a
wooded area. It also has a boggy place
in it that bothers some of the horses.
So, on a recent sunny afternoon, Mimi and I saddled up to see what would
happen. The idea was to set her up for a
balk in a safe area, then spank her backside sharply to keep her going forward.
In the barn area, Mimi was her usual
well behaved self. We walked down the
long driveway, and before she had the chance to tense up at the road, I turned
her onto the perimeter trail. The front
part of the trail is dry and fairly open.
The part we had started on bordered the pasture she is kept in. Mimi walked out calmly and confidently. The woods begin to close in on the back
corner. I could feel Mimi getting
worried, but she continued to move forward.
The trail on the backside is a bit muddy and the tree branches overhang
it in places. Mimi showed her agitation by getting a bit prancy but I insisted
on a walk. The deeper we got into it,
the more she showed signs that she wanted to turn back. Still it was a simple thing to keep her
moving forward. When she was walking
calmly, we turned around and went back through it. When we got to the front, Mimi made a
halfhearted attempt to dodge back down the driveway, but we pushed past that
easily. The front section of the trail
parallels the public road, but we had already dealt with that. Around the corner, the bog awaited.
The farm property drains to this wooded area. I think there is a seep spring here as
well. The place stays damp, even in dry
weather. But we’ve had a wet winter,
with several heavy rains. The bog is
knee deep to a horse in places. We
approached it at a walk. Mimi hesitated
slightly but she stayed on track. Once
we were into it, I took a chance and gave Mimi her head. She put her nose to the ground and picked her
way through like a veteran trail horse. We
continued around, through the wooded back side and past the driveway. Then, we turned around and made a complete
lap in the other direction. She stayed a
bit nervous on the back side, but never offered to balk. I took her back and forth in front of the
driveway to reinforce that we only go home when I’m ready. Then, instead of turning directly into the
drive, we made a little half cloverleaf turn at the top and went back to the
barn.
While Mimi is proving that she will make a good trail
horse, we were not successful in setting things up to correct the one flaw
we’ve found in her. We’ll have to get a
bit more creative next time.
Hello Pete! I am a horse enthusiast from Manila. I enjoyed reading your blog as you are a sort of horse whisperer!! May I ask what kind of ranch you have in Luzon? I would like to visit and ride along the mountains!
ReplyDeleteHello Olen. Thanks for commenting! I won't claim to be a horse whisperer. I just use calm and mostly gentle methods and stay consistent.
ReplyDeleteOur ranch isn't up and running yet. We have some crops and fruit trees established, but no livestock yet. That will be our project when we move there permanently in the next year or so. One of the things we hope to establish is a trail riding program for tourists.
Here' are a couple of places near Manila that You may be able to visit also.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Marikina-Equestrian-Center/378667392189391?sk=timeline
https://www.facebook.com/elkabayosubicbay?fref=pb&hc_location=profile_browser
Take care,
Pete
Yes I already know those 2 places you've mentioned! Subic is get for trail riding! The marikina though is just a stables and a bullring. Mostly just for lessons :) I hear about the horse tours in Bukidnon but I have yet to visit there. I hope you update your blog about your livestock acquisitions for your Philippine farm! I also have a Western saddle for sale. It is quite small and perfect for (bigger) native horses! I bought it for our pleasure horse, a 14hh of mixed native and TB. No more use for the saddle now as he passed away last 2012. If you would be interested, jUST send me away email! :)
ReplyDeleteVery excited for your trails,
Olena
Oh, sorry to hear about the loss of your horse. Native, and native crosses are the type We'll be looking for. They are sturdy and easy to keep on the local diet. Fourteen hands is a good all around size for what We are planning. If we get many American or European tourists, way have to get some larger ones. I may be interested in buying your saddle, but it will be a year or more before we are there permanently. Only a short visit or two between now and then.
ReplyDeleteI will certainly be updating my blogs as things progress. I have a little bit about the ranch in my travel blog if you're interested. http://randomnotesfromtheroad.blogspot.com/. You should be able to access it from this blog.
May I ask how you found my blog? I'm hoping to get more readers and commenters. I'm just learning how all of this works.
Take care,
Pete
If I rember correctly, I found your blog when you used your username to comment on another horse-related blog somewhere! :)
ReplyDeleteYes it is true that Native horses are much sturdier and easier to keep than horses with breeding! Hahaha!! Even with their small size, I believe they can carry larger adults with no problem! It's just that they are lacking in physical beauty.
Oh you have another blog! I will read your other blog as well. about the saddle, it's just sitting in our farm house. You can get it next year or so. No problem!