Spooky! (Mimi part 6)

Mimi, the opinionated walking horse has passed a significant milestone in her education.  She has learned that it is not such a big deal to leave the farm for a trail ride without the other horses.  We arrived at it incrementally, going a short distance down the road and turning back to the farm.  Now, the change of seasons has given us a bit more daylight to play in.  There is time for the occasional short ride after work. 

On one such afternoon, I saddled Mimi up and headed for the trails.  She behaved perfectly going down the long driveway and out onto the paved public road.  As usual, the cars and trucks on the road did not bother her at all.  Mimi left the farm and tooled down the road and into the woods as if she had been doing it all her life. 

We only went a short distance down the trail.  I didn’t want to be on the public road in the dusk.  But when we turned around, another problem popped up.  Since we were headed back towards the farm, it was Mimi’s opinion that we should get there as fast as we could.  She tried to speed up.  When I pulled her back, she fought the bit, throwing in a few dance steps for emphasis.  I simply turned around and started back the opposite direction.  She fought that for a while.  But when she settled down and accepted the change of direction, we turned back towards home.  We went through this dance several times before she would calm down immediately after I turned her away from the direction home.  After that, whenever she would get anxious going forward, I simply stopped her until she stood calmly before continuing on our way.  By the time we reached the last leg toward the farm and the paved road, she was walking calmly.

The following weekend, we took another solo ride.  Again, she behaved perfectly on the ride out.  We had the whole afternoon to ourselves, so we rode down the loop trail to the little lake in the state park.  The lake is a nice, relaxing place to be.  We took some time to enjoy the view, and work on standing still for mounting and dismounting while away from the familiar environs of the farm.  Mimi was a little fidgety, but nothing that won’t be improved upon with repetition. 

Stopping by the lake
 

Instead of continuing on the loop, we started back the way we had come.  I wanted Mimi to recognize that we were heading back in the direction of the farm.  This was to test how much she remembered from the last lesson.  Turns out she’s a fast learner.  She behaved so well at first I thought that she wasn’t aware we were headed back home.  The worst that she threw out was increasing her pace a bit once we were on the last leg of the forest trail.  That was solved by simply stopping and starting again to reinforce the previous lesson.  Then, Mimi really showed me her intelligence and value as a trail horse.  She spooked. 

Mimi has started at a few things before, but they’ve mostly been unexpected things popping up on the trail.  In those situations, she simply tenses her back muscles in preparation to move out if necessary.  Once she gets a good view of whatever it is, she relaxes.  She rarely even breaks her stride.  But this time, she tensed her muscles, planted all fours and took a sudden hop to the left. I could feel her getting her back end under her in preparation for spinning back the way we had come. About the time she took the hop to the left, I heard the crack and caught motion in my peripheral vision to the right. About 3 feet off the trail, a dead pine tree, about the size of a phone pole, had decided to fall just as we passed. The horse was spooking in the direction to keep us out of danger, so I never moved to correct her. The tree fell parallel to the trail, and she never executed the spin. Instead, she resumed her forward motion, keeping a wary eye on the down tree. I praised her, then walked her back past the spot again.  From there, it was a rather uneventful ride back to the farm.

 

On the Road! (Mimi part 5)

Mimi, ready to go to work

Things are starting to shift a bit in the battle of opinions between Mimi and myself.  We’ve had her on the trail again, this time with minimal problems.  A small group of people had gathered for a Sunday trail ride and I saddled up Mimi to join them.  She has shown no problems when riding out with a group.  Her opinion is that she shouldn’t have to leave the farm alone.  I’ve had incremental success in persuading her otherwise, but we haven’t yet pushed out by ourselves.  The biggest obstacle is that the only way off the farm is out the driveway and onto the paved public road.  I’ve tried a couple of things to avoid having a fight out in traffic.  I figured that this was the day to see if it was having any effect.

I’m usually among the first to be saddled and ready, and so it was on this day.  While the other folks were taking the time to pamper their horses, Mimi and I saddled up and got to work.  We rode down the long drive to the road.  There was no traffic, and I didn’t give her time to think about it.  We pushed right out onto the road and turned toward the trail head.  Mimi never flinched.  We went down the road about a hundred yards and turned back to the farm.  About halfway down the driveway, we turned back and went onto the road again.  This time, I pushed her all the way to the power line right of way where we usually take the horses off the pavement and out of traffic.  Mimi handled it like she had been doing it every day.  I still wanted to join in on the group ride, so we turned back to the farm again. 

When we got back to the barn, the other folks were ready, so we turned around once more, and this time hit the trail.  Just as before, she never flinched at the cars, trucks or cyclists that we shared the road or trail with.  We did encounter one new problem.  Mimi has a nice little ambling gait, but she is not a fast horse.  The horses we were with were all long legged, eager trail horses with ground eating gaits.  When they moved out, poor Mimi couldn’t keep up.  In spite of our victory on the road, Mimi is still buddy sour. 

As the other horses pulled away from her, Mimi would break gait and try to canter.  Each time, I checked her stride and started over.  But the rest of the ride was a constant test of wills.  We still have to work on the buddy sour problem.  But now, we can get off the farm and work on it in a safe place.

Take the Lead (Mimi part 4)

Mimi, the opinionated walking horse, has made some incremental progress lately.  She has impeccable ground manners and rides well in the arena.  She also does well with a group on the trail.  Problems arise when she needs to be ridden off the farm alone.  Once she realizes she’s about to leave, she will balk and attempt to turn back.  If allowed to, she would also buck and rear.  I’ve pushed many a horse through that problem, but Mimi chooses not to make her play until we are entering the paved public road.  I’ve been trying to find a way to solve the problem without having a fight in the middle of traffic. 

On a recent Sunday, several folks gathered at the barn.  The winter had been mild so far, and everyone was up for a good trail ride.  I had been debating different tactics to get past her problem without putting the horse, myself and drivers in danger.  I had thought of putting a couple of folks out to block traffic while I got her started.  But once we were saddled and ready, the boss said “Why don’t you just take the lead and let’s see what happens.”

We started out, and the boss held everyone else back about 50 yards.  Mimi went out into the road with no hesitation.  And just as she had on other rides, she paid no attention to cars, trucks and motorcycles passing us by.  Once off the road and into the trail, the group stayed back 100 yards or more.  They say they caught glimpses of me from time to time, but I didn’t see them until we all got back to the farm. 

Mimi and I forged ahead, sometimes walking, other times at an easy amble.  We met several other people out enjoying the trail.  There were hikers, dog walkers, and cyclists.  As usual, Mimi shared the trail with them without any fuss.  At the creek crossing, she picked her way across calmly and confidently. 

There are several places where the trail comes near the paved road.  At each one, I took Mimi out onto the pavement for a short distance.  She never flinched.  This convinced me that it is not the road she is bothered by.  Rather, it is leaving the farm and her pasture mates that has her overly concerned.  And that is what we will continue to work on. 

Mimi standing ground tied at the barn

Looking for Trouble (Mimi, part 3)

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.

She's ..... Opinionated (Mimi part 2)

 
When the boss asked me to work with Mimi, he had one main goal in mind.  He wanted her to be calm and rideable even when there were unusual and spooky things all around her.  Her primary job at this barn will be as a trail horse.  But riders and horses from this barn have been winning prizes at the local open horse show for years.  The boss sees that kind of potential in this little walking horse. 

He first wanted to see how she would act around distractions and “spooky stuff”.  We used a noisy plastic tarp as an acid test.  As I led her from the pasture toward the hitching rail, he pulled a tarp out and laid it on the ground in front of us.  Mimi walked over it with no problems.  After we passed by, he picked up the tarp and gave it a good shake.  Mimi jumped a bit, but it was a simple thing to get her attention back to me.  I turned her around and walked toward the boss as he continued to shake the tarp.  The little horse wasn’t fazed at all.  I took the tarp and drug and shook it as I led Mimi to the arena.  There, we went through the whole routine.  She walked over the crumpled up tarp and stood there as I draped it over her.  I made it a point to make as much noise with the tarp as possible.  I covered her as far as her head before she started to get nervous.  We worked with that a little bit, then called it a day.

The next session, I saddled up with the intention of taking a ride off the farm into the nearby State Park.  To get there, we have to ride for about an eighth of a mile on a paved public road before reaching a power line right of way where we can get off the road if needed.  Things went fine until we got to the end of the driveway.  Mimi stood perfectly still while we waited for traffic to clear.  But when the time came to move out onto the road, she refused.  I pressed her, but she got more and more agitated.  I decided not to have the fight on pavement and in traffic, so I turned her onto the perimeter trail that circles the farm. 

She continued to resist, but here, I could concentrate on the horse rather than traffic.  I kept pushing her forward and each refusal got a little less enthusiastic.  This portion of the perimeter trail parallels the road.  Several types of vehicles drove by as we worked there, but Mimi paid them no mind.  We rode back and forth beside the road, passing by the driveway several times.  She attempted to duck back down the driveway toward home at first, but after a while she realized we were going to stay here till I was ready to go home.  Each time she refused, I kept her facing the direction I wanted to go and pressed her forward.  She is very responsive, so I didn’t need to get harsh at all.  At odd intervals I would reverse direction, and she gradually settled in with the program.   

After a while I started looking for a way to end the session on a positive note.  She had stopped fighting about going back and forth along the trail.  I decided that the first time she went past the driveway without trying to duck back down it, we would head back to the barn.  When we reached that point I rode past, then turned her around and made a loop into the drive. 

When I got her put away, the boss and I sat and talked for a while.  He told me that he’d had a couple other folks riding her and that they had the same problem.  They had solved it by taking her out with other horses.  I need to get her to move out alone.  I’m still reluctant to engage in a fight in traffic.  I’ll have to figure out a safe way to do that.

A Christmas Surprise (Mimi, part 1)

All my horse gear has been packed up and readied for shipment.  However, the move to our ranch property in the Philippines has been delayed for a while.  Still, the last thing I anticipated was an opportunity for more saddle time here in the U.S.  All that changed with an invitation to the Christmas party at Beaver Hollow Farm, the barn where I’ve been riding for several years.  Folks were surprised to see me.  All indications had been that we would already have moved.  But all of us expressed the hope of a few more rides together. 

The barn owner sympathized with the delay, but I could see the wheels turning in his head.  He asked about my new timeline, then hit me with a welcome request.  “Since you’re going to be here for a while, I just got this little mare I’d like for you to take a look at.”  He knows just how to pique my curiosity.  He continued to add “she’s a good little horse, but she’s…. opinionated.”  He left it at that and we continued with the party. 

This past weekend, I went out to “take a look” at her.  Mimi is a 6 year old Tennessee walking horse, black, with a small white snip on her nose, and just a hint of a white spot on her face.  Bruce, a fellow rider, caught her up for me.  As they approached, I could see that she was a bit nervous.  She was not paying attention to Bruce at all.  Instead, her eyes and ears were focused on her new surroundings.  That’s normal for a horse in a new place, but I wanted her attention on me.  When I took the line from Bruce, I spoke to her and shook the lead to get her attention.  It took a couple of times, but she settled in by my shoulder and walked calmly with me to the hitching rail. 

Mimi has been to charm school.  Her ground manners are impeccable.  Before I mounted, I sacked her out with an oversized shirt.  She stood for all of it, obviously from prior experience.  She stood perfectly still for mounting, and I continued the sacking out from the saddle with no problems.  I tossed the shirt onto the fence and began working on the rail. 

The little horse works off of voice commands.  She turns with very little pressure, almost neck reining.  She stops and backs on voice command.  In short, she has none of the problems I’m usually asked to fix.  But, when I asked for a faster gait, she would start in a smooth running walk for a few strides, then switch into a bouncy pace.  We worked on that for a short time, stopping her when she changed her gait, then starting again.  Then I put her away.

A short time later, the boss and I were sitting in the garage lounge area, and he told me Mimi’s story.  He had bought her from a hunter / jumper barn, an unlikely place for a Tennessee walker.  She wasn’t working out for them there.  I suspect partly because walking horse gaits don’t mesh well with the way a hunter is supposed to move.  He has had two people ride her before I climbed on.  She bucked with both, and tossed one of them.  Both had immediately gathered the reins up tight and stayed in her mouth.  I pride myself on having a light touch on the reins, so that issue didn’t come up with me. 

The boss told me that he wanted to enter her in the local fun show next spring.  He also wants to see how she reacts to distractions such as tarps and obstacles.  So that is my next move with her.  We’ll see what develops. 

Horses of our own

Horses of Our Own

 

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done any horse work.  We’ve shifted our focus to our upcoming move to the Philippines.  We have a house full of furnishings and such to sell off prior to selling the house itself.  Many of our smaller items can be shipped over, saving us the expense and trouble of locating and acquiring suitable replacements.  Included in this category is a quantity of horse and cattle related supplies and equipment. 

Much of this, as it relates to horses, is largely a mental exercise.  We are thinking on and planning just how to build our horse herd.  The easy portion of this is something every prospective horse owner should do before acquiring a horse.  That is to know just what you intend to do with the horse once you have it.  It does no good to buy an expensive and voracious animal, only to find that it is not suited for the job you want it to do.  The horse’s disposition and physical capabilities need to match the job it is expected to perform.  In our case, we need sturdy animals that can carry us safely along the mountain roads and trails of the Cordilleras.  They must be calm enough to safely negotiate through traffic in the barangays, or small villages that lie near our ranch.  At least one of them needs to have enough pep and intelligence to work with small bunches of cattle.  This makes it fairly simple for us.  We don’t need to look for an expensive, imported breed of horse.  The small, tough, “native” horses of the Philippines should work well for us.
 
These “native” horses are of no particular breed.  They are descended from the Asian, Spanish, American, and more recently, Australian horses brought to the islands over many hundreds of years.  Similar to wild or feral horses in other parts of the world, these horses are mostly small, tough, and able to thrive on coarse and varied forage.  Although the tendency is toward small bodied animals, there is some variation in size.  We will be looking for horses on the tall end of the spectrum, at least 14 hands (about 56 inches) tall.  If we get many visits from our European and American friends, we’ll have to consider adding some stouter, taller horses to the mix.
 

Another thing to consider is hoof care.  No matter what, a horse is only as good as the feet it stands on.  So far, the calesa horses in a couple of tourist spots are the only ones I’ve seen up close in the Philippines.  Some of the animals seem well cared for.  Others, not so much.  For the most part, the farriery seemed clumsy.  Rather than heating and shaping the shoes to fit the hooves, the hooves were trimmed and filed to fit narrow, mule like shoes.  The hooves seemed elongated and artificially shaped, as if the horses were walking on blocks of wood. 

There are competent farriers in the Philippines.  There is a well-established racing industry.  There are also many stables that cater to well to do equestrians.  Many of these folks are involved in show jumping, hunter-jumper equitation, or the high form of horsemanship called dressage.  These athletic horses can perform as they do partly because skilled and knowledgeable farriers keep their hooves in good condition.
 
In our location, we are an inconvenient distance away from any experienced farrier.    I have decided to keep our horses barefoot.  This involves allowing the sole of the hoof to grow out and become tough.  The hoof walls must be trimmed and shaped by both natural wear and with hoof nippers and rasp.  I can do some of this myself, but I have to remember that I’m getting old.  I’ll need to train someone locally to help out and eventually take over the job. 

Except for sending our saddles and other assorted tack ahead, most of this is just mental preparation.  Even though we’ve been making improvements on our ranch during our annual visits, it’s not practical for us to own livestock until we arrive there permanently.  In the meantime, I’m studying how these things are done in the Philippines and working out how I can fit into the mix. 

Adventures of a country boy in the big city

Things are still slow on the horse front.  Busy prepping for our upcoming trip to the Philippines!  I'm still making entries in my travel blog.  You're welcome to have a look there.  The latest is about a little hike I took to the Statue of Liberty.  http://randomnotesfromtheroad.blogspot.com/ 

Take care,
Pete

A Slow Week

I didn't get to do much in the way of horse work this week.  When the weather was good, I was working, when I was off, it was raining.  So, for this weeks blog post, I have a reflective piece over on my travel blog http://randomnotesfromtheroad.blogspot.com/ .  Hop on over there and have a look if you like!

A String of Horses

I’ve been working with several horses lately. I’m always intrigued by the different personalities and abilities of each animal. But first, I have the news that Tex; the hard to catch Kentucky mountain horse has a new home. A lady came by the farm, looking for a new horse, and Tex caught her eye. She was fully aware that he was hard to catch, and that he might freak out if she touched his rump while mounting. But Tex’s smooth mountain horse gait, and rock solid trail horse performance won the day. She was riding on the road in front of the farm when a loud hot rod full of teenagers roared past, well over the speed limit. The lady got nervous, but Tex never broke his stride. Tex was her horse before they ever got back to the hitching rail.




Apache is a new horse in the line up. I believe he will stay a while. I gave him an evaluation ride, and found that he is a push button trail horse. He knows his job, and does it smoothly and seamlessly. Nexie is a 14-year-old standardbred, retired from harness racing. She has been off of the track for about 6 years now. Her previous owner took her in and cared for her, but never put a saddle on her. She said she did sit on her bareback a time or two. The boss put a saddle on her and longed her around a bit and Nexie seemed to take it all in stride. I worked with her the other day. The saddle didn’t bother her at all. I pulled on the stirrups to put some weight on them, to see how she would react. She stood calmly for it. I tried to step up, but found she wouldn’t stand still. I’m pretty sure she wasn’t being contrary or trying to avoid being mounted. I got the feeling that she’s just never been trained that she is supposed to stand still during this operation. I asked the boss to come over to hold her. I climbed halfway up and draped myself over the saddle. Nexie seemed puzzled, but not nervous, so I swung all the way over and got settled in. The boss let go, and when Nexie tried to walk off, I put some pressure on the reins, and gave the command “whoa”. After some hesitation, she complied. We stood there a moment, then I put some pressure on her sides, and we moved off at a walk. We maneuvered through some turns and I noticed that she readily turns left, but seemed to resist right turns. She didn’t seem jittery at all, so I took her to the rail and gave the command to speed up. Nexie flew around the arena with no hint that she’d never had a rider. Even though she was traveling rather fast, the arena was too small for her to open up to full speed. Later, I spoke with a friend who has years of experience with racing. She confirmed my suspicions that not standing to be mounted, and the reluctance to turn to the right are vestiges of Nexie’s racing career. Another one is a pinto walking horse named Rebel. He is nearly 5 years old, but has never been trained beyond wearing a saddle and tooling around a farm with kids. That experience has made him a gentle and willing horse. In the arena, I quickly found that he does not understand the cues for turns. I used several cues simultaneously to get him to understand what I wanted. If I wanted him to turn right for instance, I first touched his neck with the left rein, then gently pulled on the right rein. If he still didn’t get it, I touched his left shoulder with my foot. That usually did the trick. After about 30 or 40 minutes, Rebel was negotiating turns around barrels and poles set up in the arena. We weren’t setting any records for precision, but he was catching on to the cues.



Apache will move right into the rental / lease program at Beaver Hollow Farm .  Nexie and Rebel will get more saddle time to work out their minor issues. I’m just enjoying the challenge of figuring out how to work with each horse as it comes along.

A New Wrinkle (Tex part 4)

I worked a bit with Tex again. He is a Kentucky mountain horse who rides well, but is hard to catch. I’ve been working with him on that problem. You can read about our progresss here and here .


The situation had changed a bit this time. Tex had slipped into the main pasture with the other geldings while some other horses were being moved. There was only so much I could do to control his movements in this much larger field. We had to work largely on trust. It wasn’t such a problem getting to Tex. The problem was the other horses. Since Tex is the new guy in the herd, all the other horses were picking on him. It’s just something they do to establish a pecking order within the herd. Whenever I got Tex’s attention and started to move toward him, other horses would approach me, and Tex would back off. A few times, more aggressive horses would chase him away. Eventually, I got him separated from the bunch. When he tried to rejoin the group, I simply walked at an angle that he could see would intercept him. That turned him back. When other horses tried to approach, I chased them off with the lead rope. After doing that a few times, everyone understood that Tex and I had our own business to attend to.

Once we had some space to ourselves, we got to work. Tex had retreated to a small stand of trees by the fence. I approached him as I had in the previous sessions, sort of zigzagging my way towards him. I gave him plenty of space. When he got nervous and moved off, I just stayed between him and the other horses. He never made a break for the wide-open field. He just returned to the little stand of trees. We did that a couple of times before I could get close enough to touch him. When I did get beside him, I slowly raised my hands, keeping them close to my body. I allowed him to touch my shoulder and hands with his nose without attempting to catch him. I wanted him to see that he could do that without consequence. About that time, one of his companion horses from the other field approached from the other side of the fence. The other horse casually reached across the wire and started scratching Tex’s withers. Apparently, having two friends at once was a little more than Tex wanted to deal with. He walked off. I gently shooed the other horse away, then, circled around and got Tex back into position. This time, once he let me touch him, I gently clipped the lead rope to his halter and we walked to the hitching rail. While I was grooming him, the boss told me that he had found out some more of Tex’s background, and that they had accidentally found his “hot button”.

It seems that, sometime in his past, Tex has been beaten. I had suspected as much. Tex performs so well under saddle, yet he is tense and “jumpy” while you’re on the ground. That would explain why he flinched at my touch early on. I have gained a bit of his trust since we started. He doesn’t flinch, and it doesn’t take as long to catch him as before. Another rider had found his “hot button”. Fortunately she was in the arena at the time. Tex had been ridden, with nothing unusual happening. Then, this rider just happened to touch his rump with her right boot as she was mounting. In the bosses’ words, Tex “came unglued”. He didn’t say whether or not the rider was thrown. But, thankfully, she wasn’t hurt.

With that knowledge, changed my approach. I needed a way to convince Tex to stand still if someone drags their foot over his rump, or pokes him with a foot while mounting. I didn’t see the incident, so I don’t know how much pressure on his rump it takes to set him off. I started with a slight amount and began working my way up.

After he was tacked up, I took off my hat and began rubbing him with it. I started at his shoulder and worked up to his head. Then I worked back to his rump, being careful to stay out of range of a cow kick. Tex was tense, as usual, but he stood still on a loose rein. Next, I went over him with my hands. I rubbed him, scratched him, and gently poked him with my fingertips. Again, he stood still, but tense. He did flinch when I poked him in the hollow of his hip. That gave me an idea of where his sensitive spot might be. We went into the arena and I climbed on board, being careful not to touch his rump. I put him through his paces, and then we stopped in the center.

I did the same thing from the saddle with my hat and hands as I had done from the ground. I had to remind myself to keep a relaxed seat. I wanted to be ready if he “came unglued”, but I didn’t want to communicate to him that I was worried. I use a rather small, light, synthetic western style saddle. The big “cowboy easy chairs” keep me too far away from the horse’s back. The small saddle makes it easier for me to read the horse’s movements. The opposite is also true. The horse can read my intentions through the saddle.




This is the best pic I have of my little saddle.  (This is not Tex.  I don't have any good shots of him yet.)

 But Tex stood still with the reins draped loosely over the saddle horn. And he didn’t flinch when I poked near his hip this time. Next, I slowly went halfway through the motions of dismounting. As I did, I drug my leg across his rump. I was standing in the left stirrup, in a vulnerable position. My plan was to kick out of the stirrup and get away from him if he started bucking. He didn’t. He stood there on a loose rein. Then I reversed the procedure. I slowly drug my leg across his rump as I swung back into the saddle. When I was younger, I would have just done it without thinking it through. Now, I make sure I have an “exit strategy”. In this case, I would kick out of the stirrup and get away if he acted too badly before my leg was halfway across. More than halfway, I would try to get a seat and ride it out. If I couldn’t get a seat, I would use the emergency dismount. Having a plan helped me stay relaxed and not communicate any nervousness to the horse.

I repeated the drill two or three more times with the same result. Tex stood still on a loose rein. Next I tried bumping my right knee into the hollow of his hip as I mounted. Still, there was no reaction from him. During all of this, I was careful not to poke him with my foot. I’ll save that for the next session. I ended this one with lots of praise and neck scratching. We’ll see how things progress next time.

Derecho!

The derecho (dry land hurricane) knocked out our power yesterday.   I'll post the usual weekend update as soon as it comes back up.   There's more coming about Tex, the Kentucky mountain horse!   I'm using the portable I-gizmo at the library right now.

Slow Dance (Tex pt. 3)

I can’t help but think that it must be boring to watch some of these training sessions. But down in the dirt, even though there’s little physical action, the interaction between horse and human seems intense.


I just spent about an hour with Tex. He is a smooth riding, and trail wise Kentucky mountain horse who is rather hard to catch. I didn’t ride, and we didn’t go anywhere, just around and around in the corral. My idea was not to catch him, but to get him to trust me enough not to bolt away from me. Tex and a companion horse were in the turn out pen behind the barn. The gate to the adjoining corral was open, so they could have access to hay and water. I wanted Tex alone, so I pushed him into the corral. He knew something was up, and tried to get back into the turnout pen, but I closed the gate on him. We started just like before. I just slowly worked my way toward him, zigzagging back and forth, and not going directly toward him. I call it “sneaking up on them sideways”. I describe the reasoning behind this technique here .  Just like before, he bolted when I was close enough to touch him. Again, I swung the lead rope to make him move around the fence line. I pushed him for several laps around. I didn’t push hard, just enough to keep him moving. After a while, I swung the rope forward of him and got him to stop. Then, we started the process over again. At first he was snorting and shifting his feet. I got close to him again, and he bolted a second time. So I pushed him around the corral again. We went through this process about four times. Each time I could stand closer to him and for a bit longer. His snorts lessened and became a hard blow from his nostrils. I kept my hands to my sides, but after the second round he began reaching his nose toward me. We weren’t close enough to touch yet. He’d just put his nose out, then blow when he took it back. On the third round, he wasn’t blowing so hard when he reached out his nose. Eventually, he touched me on the shoulder with his nose. I continued working my way closer to him. Whenever I was close to him, I whistled softly and spoke in a low conversational tone. I also began bringing my hands up about chest high. I kept them close to my body, not reaching out. The movement made him nervous, and he took a few steps away. I turned my back on him and began walking away. Instead of making a run for it, Tex followed me. I went to the hayrack and held a handful out toward him. He tentatively took a few stalks from me and quickly got his head out of my reach. I tried working my way back to him, but he moved off again.

Round four took a long time. After pushing him around the corral, I began working my way towards him again. Tex had decided that he didn’t like me getting beside him. He maneuvered himself to where he could face me. Instead of stepping away from me sideways, like before, he stepped backwards. We danced back and forth like this for a while. I had been keeping his body parallel to the fence. This backwards movement just kept us moving along the fence line. I changed tactics. I backed up a couple of steps toward the center of the corral. Tex shifted to face me. He was now perpendicular to the fence. I worked toward him again, and step by step, he moved back until his rump was at the fence. I had made sure we were on a straight stretch of fence and not in a corner. I did not want him to feel hemmed in. I worked my way closer, this time staying in front of him to keep his rump to the fence. I don’t like standing directly in front of a horse. Tex had never offered to hurt me, but I was making him do something he didn’t want to. We stayed on the straight section of the fence so he had plenty of room to move away to either side if he wanted. I also had the lead rope I could swing at him if he panicked and charged at me. I stood at sort of an angle, not facing him directly, and sidled to within arms reach. I moved my hands about waist high and wiggled my fingers to attract his curiosity. Tex reached out with his nose and touched my shoulder again. His breathing was normal, no more snorting or hard blowing. I inched closer and held out my hand to him, palm down. He reached out his nose and touched it. I brought my hand back to my waist, and moved closer. I was so close that he couldn’t move his head without touching me or lifting it over my shoulder. He did that a couple of times. I was worried. If he got antsy and shook his head, he could give me a really big thump. I slowly raised my hands to chest level, keeping them close to my body. Tex reached out and touched my hand. He stayed there and let me stroke his nose with the back of my hand. I praised him softly, and slowly moved my hand to his neck. He let me scratch him under his mane. I stroked his neck down to his chest and moved my hand to his withers. I stayed there a good while, scratching his withers and speaking softly. Only a couple of days earlier, this horse was flinching at my touch, so I was pretty happy at this. Next, I moved my hand up his neck to his head. Before, if my hand got anywhere near his head or his halter, he took off. I scratched behind his ears, and around his face. I made sure I touched and moved his halter several times, but made no attempt to hold it. Tex, calmly stood there and took it all in.

I wanted to finish up with this success, so I turned around and started walking away. I was pleased that Tex followed along with me. Just for fun, I meandered around to see if he would stay with me. He did! We wandered over to the gate so I could open it back up. I was a bit worried that he would bolt through before I got it fully open, but he stayed with me as I swung it fully open and tied it in place. We walked into the turnout pen, and stopped. We stood there a while before he took a tentative step away. I stepped away from him, and he calmly walked back to his companion.

It was a long, slow dance, and likely not much to look at from the sidelines. But, it was a huge improvement from the last couple of sessions.

Hard to Get (Tex, the Kentucky mountain horse 2)

I took Tex for a spin in the Pocahontas State Park late Saturday afternoon. He proved to be a solid trail horse. We negotiated traffic, herds of deer, creeks, wooden bridges, and fallen trees without a single problem. He’s been at the farm for a week now, getting settled into his new digs. He has demonstrated that he is hard to catch. So, he’s still in the “new guys corral” and not in the big field with the rest of the geldings. Another rider had worked with him earlier in the week. As predicted, she had trouble catching him. She finally caught him using what the boss called “that Parelli thing, where you chase them around the ring.” When I went to fetch him up, I could get close to him, but when I reached for him, he would bolt. I decided to try “that Parelli thing” myself.

The method is not unique to the Parelli program, it is used by many practitioners of natural horsemanship. It takes advantage of a horses natural instincts and social behavior. This technique uses how a horse sees itself in the herd hierarchy of the animals and people around it. In its’ simplest terms, the horse or human that can make another horse move, outranks that horse. It combines that with what a horse perceives as aggressive, friendly, or passive actions and positioning.

I started by taking up a passive position near the horse, or in country boy terms, “acting like I wasn’t up to nothing”. I stood sort of sideways to him, facing in the opposite direction from him. I fiddled with a handful of hay. I hoped this made it look like I wasn’t interested in him. He’d already shown that he was curious, but was mistrustful of bribes. I fiddled with my hay and slowly zigzagged towards him. I was careful not to face him, but kept him in my peripheral vision. If he took a step away from me, I took a step away from him, but continued zigzagging toward him. I eventually got by his shoulder, close enough to touch him. I kept a “friendly position, standing beside him facing the opposite direction, the way two horses stand when they’re scratching each other’s withers. I knew that if I reached for him, he would bolt, so I waited for him to reach his nose toward me. When he did, I put my hand toward his halter, and he took off.

This is where the running around part comes in. The concept is, that the one who can make the other one move has a higher rank in the herd. When Tex bolted, he didn’t run away, he just moved well out of my reach. The important thing here is that HE made that decision. In other words, Tex was controlling the movement. To change that, I swung the lead rope toward him to move him away from me. It didn’t matter which direction, or what gait, he was moving because I wanted him to. When he wanted to stop, I swung the rope faster and moved toward him to keep him moving. I pushed him around the fence line like that for several laps. When I wanted him to stop, I swung the rope forward of him, picked up a handful of hay, and began zigzagging toward him again.

The second round went about the same as the first, so I pushed him around the corral again. The third time, he allowed me to take him by the halter. Tex is a joy to ride, but we’ll need to work on the first step in that process.

Rosie on the Trail and Tex, the Kentucky Mountain Horse

We took Rosie on the Amelia Springs trail ride. She did pretty well, for a youngster. I was very proud of her performance at mounting and dismounting. She did well in spite of all the excitement of a strange place, strange horses, and a big change in her routine. All weekend long, I mounted and dismounted from a block or the tailgate of my truck while Rosie stood quietly on a loose rein. She was obviously tired by the halfway point, so we took the short route back to camp from the lunch area. That way, she didn’t have to worry about keeping up with the rest of our group, and we walked a good bit of the way back.

Rosie and me at Amelia Springs
photo by AntscapePhoto.com

She was a bit nervous about being alone for a while, but she settled in as other riders overtook us. While all this was going on, the boss was in negotiations to buy another horse. We ended up bringing a Kentucky Mountain Horse named Tex home with us.


We had watched Tex perform on the trail and could see that he was an experienced and proven trail horse. I rode him for the first time the other day. Folks had told me he was hard to catch, and a little “jumpy”. I didn’t have to worry about catching him; the boss had left him in the stall for me, after feeding him. At the hitching rail, I could see what folks meant by “jumpy”. Tex was tense. He stood still, never offering to move or shy, but he flinched nearly every time I touched him with a brush or my hand. Tacking up was no problem. But, even though he accepted the bit, he kept his head high while I bridled him.



He was obedient, but stayed tense as I led him to the arena to mount up. We knew he was a good riding horse, we had seen him working on the trail. Still, his body language had me half expecting him to shoot to the moon when I mounted. But he stood still. He did move off before I got my right foot in the stirrup, but it was a simple thing to stop him and get situated. Once we started moving, I found Tex to be a dream to ride. He neck reins, he stops on command, he has a range of comfortable gaits. We’ll work with him some more and see what develops.

Tex, relaxed and all business under saddle.
photo by Debra Wood Ferguson

Keeping track of the horses

I've made a minor change in the blog.  Some folks have said they would like to be able to track the progress of the individual horses as they read.  So, I  added each horse's name and part 1, 2, or 3, as the case may be to each title.  It starts way down at the bottom of the sidebar on the left with "Dandy's First Ride".

Thanks for reading!

Rosie part 3

The third time up on Rosie was a very successful session. I’m working to make sure she will stand to be mounted using a mounting block. We started just like the day before. I groomed her on a loose lead line, again using the mounting block. I kept her on a loose line while tacking up as well. She has done so well standing on a loose line that I took a chance when I went to get the block for mounting up. I hooked the reins over the saddle horn, leaving plenty of slack in them. I also draped the long lead line over the horn. I repeated the command of “whoa”, and walked over to get the block. Rosie stood perfectly still while I picked up the block and brought it to her side.


The other times I have ridden her, Rosie has moved around some before I got well settled into the saddle. In reviewing the previous sessions, I realized that I might have caused some of the movement myself. Rosie has only recently been introduced to the bit. I’m using a short-shanked “tom thumb” bit on her. I use a very light touch on the reins, and I can tell that her mouth is soft and responsive. When mounting, I’ve gathered the reins somewhat close so I could be prepared to stop her if she moved off. It’s entirely possible that there was an increase in tension on the reins, probably on the off side, as I mounted. Rosie could have interpreted that as a command from me, or simply shifted her position to relieve the pressure.

This time, I left the reins and lead rope on the saddle horn and grabbed a handful of mane for support. I’ve had success with this tactic before with a horse named Hawk. It worked with Rosie as well. She didn’t move at all. I mounted and dismounted from both sides a couple of times, then moved into the arena.



Rosie has the mounting block down pat.
Photo by Debra Wood Ferguson

I led Rosie and carried the mounting block with us. I left the gate open and moved to the center of the ring. There, I tossed the block out in front of us, letting it bounce around. Rosie wasn’t fazed. I hooked the reins and lead rope over the saddle horn again and gave the command “whoa”. I went back to the gate and closed it. Rose stood there where I left her. She did try to take a step toward me when I started back towards her. Another “whoa” stopped her. She stood there while I retrieved the mounting block and rolled it noisily toward her with my foot. Once again, I mounted and dismounted from both sides. This time, I bounced and rolled the mounting block under her belly when I changed sides. No problems from Rosie.



Rosie, patiently waiting
Photo by Debra Wood Ferguson

I figured that she had the mounting block aspect down pat, so we took a couple of turns around the arena to break the monotony. We stopped parallel to the board fence, and I dismounted and mounted using the fence a couple of times. Then we went around the arena and did it again in the opposite direction. I took her out to the barnyard and tried a few different things. We mounted and dismounted using the well cap, the fender of a horse trailer, the floor of a flatbed trailer, and the tailgate of my pickup truck. Rosie handled it all.

I can’t take full credit for all this success. Rosie had a good start with a gentle trainer. She trusts her rider implicitly. She still has more to learn. She doesn’t know backing yet, and has a lot of work to do on her turns. But the parking brake works pretty good.

Rosie part 2

It’s been rainy and sloppy here, but the other day, I got back to work with Rosie, the 3 year old walking horse. I’ve been tasked to teach her to mount using a mounting block. A mounting block is a platform used to mount an exceptionally tall horse, or to assist riders who have difficulty getting a foot up to the stirrup. Sometimes they are permanent platforms with safety ramps and rails. Usually, they are lightweight, portable steps. The one I’m using is the lightweight, portable variety.



Marlyn using a mounting block on a horse named Pepper

I started by grooming Rosie without tying her to the hitching rail. I simply gave the command “whoa” and held her with a lot of slack in a long lead rope. I worked my way around her with the brush. When she tried to move, I repeated the command and reinforced it with a tug on the lead rope. It didn’t take long before she stood quietly on a slack rope while I moved all around her. Once she had that mastered, I picked up the mounting block and casually moved around her with it. I let her sniff at it to satisfy her curiosity. Then, I set it on the ground beside her. I continued brushing her then stepped onto the block and brushed her back. I draped myself over her and brushed the opposite side. Then, I did the same on the other side. Rosie never moved.

I kept her on the loose lead to saddle up. Someone was using the arena, so we stayed in the open area by the hitching rail and horse trailers to mount up. Once again, without tying to the rail, I casually set the block beside her. I mounted and dismounted a few times. The first time I had ridden her, I noticed that she had the habit of trying to walk off once I was in the saddle, but before I was settled in. I had to gather up the reins and stop her while I got my right foot in the stirrup. She did this a couple of times with the mounting block. She even bumped it with her foot a time or two. But she stood still while I got on and didn’t spook when she bumped the block. That was good.

I moved the block around to the other side and mounted and dismounted on her right side. Many horses aren’t trained to do this. The unfamiliar position could cause a horse to shy or spook. You can’t carry a mounting block on the trail with you. A person who needs assistance mounting needs to be able to use whatever might be naturally available. This could be a tree stump, a rock, or a dirt bank. You may have no control over which direction you can face the horse to utilize it. I want Rosie to accept being mounted from either side.

We did the same up and down drill several times from both sides in a few different places in the barnyard. After a half hour or so, I could slide the block underneath her from one side to the other before mounting. We finished up with that success.

Rosie Part 1

I’m mounted up again after a long winter hiatus from horse work. I haven’t been idle though. My wife, Marlyn and I spent part of the winter getting some things accomplished on our ranch property in the Philippines. If you’d like, you can read about that here on my other page, “Random Notes From the Road”.


My first project this season is a 3-year-old blue roan walking horse named Rosie. Most of my other projects have been older horses. Some are new arrivals at the farm that just need the kinks ridden out of them before they settle in to their new routine. Others have developed a bad habit or two and need to be reminded that they need to behave, even for novice riders. At only three years old, Rosie is a clean slate. She has had a good start. She’ll stand quietly for grooming, tacking up, and mounting. She’ll move out, stop, and change gaits, but needs work on her turns.

I worked her for a short time in the arena. With nearly all my project horses, but especially the youngsters, I start with sacking out. I still do it old style with an old saddle blanket. It only took a couple of minutes to see that Rosie had already been through this aspect of training. She stood calmly while I moved the blanket all around her legs, belly, and head. I did the same from the saddle with no problems. From there, we went on a short trail ride with a couple of other folks. Rosie did just fine crossing creeks and wooden bridges. She shied once at a herd of deer, but I made her stand and watch them bound off into the woods. The few times she has shied at anything, she’s settled right back down.



Rosie, on the trail.  That's us on the right.

 When we got back to the farm, the boss asked if I could train her to be mounted using a mounting block. He has a customer interested in Rosie, and that’s one of the specifications. So, in addition to the usual on the job training, a 3 year old gets, Rosie will spend a lot of time mounting and dismounting with a block in different places.

Pack Train! (Cocoa pt 4)

Here is the 4th installment in the series of posts about my adventures with Cocoa, the  BLM mustang . 

The January following our first experience horse packing into our hunting camp , our small group of woodsmen once again met at the trail head in the Powhatan Wildlife Management Area.  As usual, we were outfitted in our 18th century gear.  This time we had two horses.  My horse, Cocoa, and my friend, Mark Jeffries' horse, Blue.  Cocoa, by this time, had a hunting trip and several public demonstrations behind her.  Blue had been on a few trail rides, but had never carried a pack load. Also on this trip, I was using an Appalachian style pack saddle on Cocoa.  This allowed me to organize the load much better than before, and to safely carry more weight.  Because of Blue's inexperience, we opted to pack him lightly, lashing a set of pack bags over his riding saddle. 

As before, some of our party forged ahead to hunt while others stayed with Mark and I to pack out the horses.  Cocoa carried two bales of canvas wrapped hay, each cut down to 3/4 size.  These were lashed with barrel hitches to each side of the pack saddle.  In addition, she carried the picket rope, and our kitchen box filled with food and cooking utensils.  The box was tied down with a figure 8 lashing.  I had been a bit concerned about overloading her, so I weighed all of it beforehand.  Together, it came to just under 100 pounds.  Blue was carrying all the soft things that we could stuff into the pack bags.  I had my blankets and extra clothes folded individually, so they could be distributed evenly on both sides of the horse.  The other mens' gear was in individual bedrolls.  The bedrolls, extra canvas, and more food and rope were also balanced out in the pack bags.  We set off down the trail, paying close attention to how Blue handled the new job.  We needn't have worried. Blue conducted himself like a trooper all weekend long.


Setting off with the pack string.  Blue in front, being led by Mike Payne.  Cocoa and me in the back.  Photo by Mark Jeffries



Figure 8 lashing holding a keg to an Appalachian style pack saddle.


Cocoa also put in a solid performance.  But, I didn't expect anything less.  We went straight to the campsite we had used the previous winter.  By the time we got there with the horses, the others had already begun the camp chores.  They had cleared the area where we would set up our shelter, and begun collecting firewood.  One of them had also taken a squirrel on the way in.  Most of the camp gear was on the horses.  Mark and I unloaded them and began setting up the picket line.  The other guys grabbed what they needed from the pile of stuff, and finished setting up camp. 


Crossing the stream about halfway to the campsite.  Photo by Mark Jeffries

  Once our camp was good and snug, most of the group fanned out to hunt and explore some more.  Mark and I tended to the horses.  We had set up an overhead picket line to secure them.  We tied Cocoa and Blue far enough apart that they couldn't bother one another or get tangled up.  Each horse had it's own pile of hay to munch on. 



Picket line.  You can see the broken saddle sitting too low on Cocoa's withers here.


While we were unloading, I found that one of the joints on the forks of the pack saddle had failed.  The original it was based on had been made from the forks of a tree.  The fellow who made mine didn't have tree forks available to him.  He had made the forks using glued half lap joints with a dowel helping to hold the two pieces together.  The glue had failed, but the dowel  had kept the fork from separating into two pieces.  No problem.  Cocoa had not been hurt, and we had gotten everything into camp alright.  The camp and horses were secure, and there was plenty of daylight left. 

I decided to carry the broken saddle back out to the trail head on foot. While most of our party were out hunting, I stripped the rigging off of it and hiked it out.  I used the walk to puzzle out how we would get all our stuff back from the campsite.  I decided on a variation of an old style, a Spanish aperejo.  An aperejo was a stiffened pad used to protect an animals back, and to lash cargo to.  They often had an internal wooden frame that gave them enough body to lash to.  The thick saddle pad I had made was not stiff enough for that, but would be enough to get our gear out of the woods. 

Back in camp, I rigged up the pad with the cinch just to make sure I could keep it secure.  Then I settled in to enjoy the rest of the weekend. 


The makeshift aperejo

 We passed the evening pleasantly.  We dined on a stew of squirrel, root vegetables, parched corn, and a few other chance ingredients we had brought along.  After supper, we took the horses to water.  Then we made sure they were secure, and had plenty of hay.  Afterwards, we settled in for conversation and didn't neglect passing the jug around.

We slept snug in our open faced shelter, feeding the fire by turns.  Our camp was tight, and we had a mountain of firewood to last through the night.   In the morning Mark and I took the horses to water, and refreshed their piles of hay.  We breakfasted on oatmeal, cooked with dried berries, and fried sausages. 

In Virginia, there's no hunting allowed on Sundays, so we broke camp and prepared to head out.  We had to carry our gear out without the pack saddle, so we put my plan into action.  We tacked up the horses, blue with his riding saddle and pack bag, and Cocoa with the makeshift aperejo.  I made two blanket rolls and loosely lashed them together side by side.  These were draped over Cocoa's back and formed a platform of sorts to help support the rest of the cargo.  Loose gear was bundled up into a pack cover. and lashed into the center of the blanket roll platform.  Blue had worked well on Saturday, so odds and ends that didn't fit onto the aperejo were added to his load.  We got everything loaded except for the wooden box that had held our cooking utensils.  With the experience I've gained since then, I think I could have loaded the box as well.  But we left it to be retrieved on foot after the horses were safely loaded out.  As before, the horses performed admirably.  We all arrived at the trail head and everyone claimed their gear from the loaded horses. 

I repaired the broken saddle shortly afterwards.  It was a simple fix.  I had a blacksmith from a local historical site bend a piece of iron, and punch a few holes in it.  This was fitted over the forks and held in place with clinched nails. 

The repaired Appalachian style pack saddle.

I have used the saddle frequently with no problems since then.  We haven't packed into a hunting camp lately.  We have done plenty of demonstrations . 

A couple of years after this trip, Cocoa developed the heaves.  She is retired now, living out her days as a pasture ornament on a farm in North Carolina.  The old gal taught me a lot, and we had a few good years together.  Given the chance, I would not hesitate to take in another BLM mustang.  I hope anyone else with the patience to work with their peculiarities does the same.