Ups and Downs of Cavalry Training

It has been a busy week. We finally tested in our three new riders on Tuesday. All did really well, and I'm looking forward to getting them into the next phase of training which involves weapons employment from the horse on obstacle courses which include jumps. The test was uneventful, fortunately, and nothing really exciting happened other than Charlie was reintroduced to the riding demonstration for the first time since his surgery.

Gun training with Duke progresses. Lisa D and I have worked with him a couple of times since Monday. On Monday he did not progress, but on Wednesday he absolutely regressed. Duke would refuse to ride past me as I fired the cap gun. In fact, he refused to ride past the spot I was firing from even after I had left it and had stopped firing. Lisa eventually got off and led him around the arena until he calmed down. Then she got back on but rode at a trot. Duke had trouble at first but eventually calmed down and was able to ride past me without reacting too much. Today we tried again, and at first, Duke balked at riding past me. Lisa forced a few corrective circles on him and then he was able to ride around the arena without incident. I was able to fire even as he passed me without any problems or reaction of any kind. The key in his case seems to be the gait. If his feet are moving in at least a trot, he is okay.

I also worked with Monte this week. I've been round penning him to achieve a little respect and have been teaching him the hip-over cue. Although Monte was fairly homicidal during the first round pen session, as described earlier, he was a lot more calm the second time. He gave a little head tossing and lots of sullen looks, but no really bad behavior. Today I saddled him up and worked on the hip-over cue from the ground and then from the saddle. We also worked on lowering his head as he, like nearly all our horses, holds his head above the bit. Monte learned to lower his head within about five minutes of training. His attitude is also much better than it was when we started. He was almost affectionate today. Of course, he may be trying to lull me into letting my guard down.