Easy Job

This morning when I got to the stables I had a plan of action knowing that I had to ride in a ceremony tomorrow and would need to take care of my Friday chores today. I fed and mucked out my horses but found I needed to get another bag of grain out of the grain shed. When I opened the shed, I realized I needed to pick up another load of grain, as we were nearly out of everything.

I made a mental note of that fact and went to get the pressure washer out of the tool shed because I needed to clean out the water trough in the main pasture before we turned horses out tomorrow. I was able to knock that task out in 30 minutes and returned to get the keys for the truck so I could go get grain. However, I then remembered I was supposed to go pick up one of our horse trailers from the repair shop, so I shifted gears to fit that task into the day. When I arrived to pick up the trailer the maintenance guy told him he still needed to check the lights once I got the trailer hooked up. We did that and he made a few quick repairs and then I was off. I returned to the stables and jumped in another truck to go get grain.

The grain purchasing process went quicker than normal, which was good because I still needed to give Wyatt his daily rehab session. When I got back to the stables and unloaded the half ton of grain I'd purchased, I noticed that the pin in the hitch receiver was missing. I guessed that the missing part might be in the back of another truck and I was right but, discovered that this other truck also had a fully discharged battery for some reason. I made a mental note of that problem and then turned to the task of working with Wyatt.

My plan was to pony Wyatt behind Charlie again but I determined that I didn't have time to saddle up Charlie. Wyatt needs a 30 minute work out and adding Charlie to the process makes it an hour long process. I didn't have an hour, thus, I walked Wyatt over the poles for 30 minutes on foot. While I was doing that another trooper arrived at the stables to give me a report on the ceremony rehearsal that he had attended that morning. Seeing an opportunity, I asked him to jump start the dead truck while I worked with Wyatt.

By the time I'd finished with Wyatt, the trooper had gotten the truck started, so we repositioned all the trucks and trailers where they were supposed to be and then I took the truck with the battery problem on a drive around the fort to recharge it. When I got back, I took a quick lunch break at my desk while sorting through e-mail messages.

After lunch, I saddled up Apache to give him a workout on the jogging track again. We worked some more on lead changes, bending, and transitions. It was a pretty good workout and the Wonder Horse was well lathered about 15 minutes into it. About that time another trooper showed up in his jeep and stopped to talk to me while I was working Apache. He made a remark about what a good job I had, "You just sit around and ride horses."

Ha ha. He was kidding...I hope.

Wyatt's Rehab

Photo by Ty Holland

Wyatt has been lame on his left rear leg for some time now. We're not really sure why but, we're treating it as a stifle injury. We have been instructed to walk him over cavaletti poles to strengthen and rehabilitate his leg. For the last couple of weeks I have been walking him by hand. He is doing pretty well and only shows lameness when trotting downhill. I've been increasing the amount of trotting that Wyatt does in these sessions in and effort to continually challenge him. The only problem is that it is a lot or work for me to trot a horse around. Very little effort for the horse, lots of effort for me.

Today I wasn't able to take him on his walk in the morning because we had to weigh all the horses (a monthly chore that drives the feed schedule). Since I also had to exercise Charlie in the afternoon, I decided to kill two birds with one stone and ponied Wyatt behind me. I walked Charlie over the poles and pulled Wyatt over as well. For some reason, Wyatt was better able to walk the poles than Charlie. Between the pole sets, I would trot both horses around the jogging track. It all went pretty well accept that one time Wyatt decided to walk around the cavalettis instead of over them. Charlie's if-he-goes-any-slower-he-would be-going-backwards trot is perfect for exercising Wyatt. Since Wyatt is putting on weight due to his inactivity, I plan to trot him more and more. Now that I don't have to do it from the ground, I'm much happier.

Riding the Wonder Horse Again

Me and Apache at Fort Concho last October.

Friday is usually a busy day for me for some reason. Today, as usual I had lots of things to do but a couple of troopers came by to help out which freed up an hour this afternoon for riding. I decided to give the Wonder Horse another whirl on the jogging track to see if we were making any progress.

He was fired up today, as he usually is on Friday, because he knows he gets to go out to pasture for the weekend. Friday afternoon is horse "happy hour" around here. Anyway, when we got onto the track, Apache was ready to go. We worked on bending on the curves at first, which went much better today. In fact, he didn't do his usual outward bending but had his head set in just slightly toward the inside--right where I wanted it. That was going so well that I decided to work on getting the correct lead. That didn't go as well, but not too bad. However, since I was having so much luck with keeping him under control, I decided to let him cut loose.

Cavalry horses are notorious for bolting in a charge. I usually don't let Apache have his head completely because it is hard to reel him back in. Today I decided to let him off the leash. There is a marked difference in a horse that is galloping and one that is in a full gallop. You can feel them lower their front ends and really engage their back ends--kinda like a dragster. Apache usually announces his "power up" phase with a loud snort--just so everyone knows what's happening. It is exhilarating but can be dangerous if you don't have a good handle on the horse. Control on the track is important because the ground is not level and sometimes your horse can loose his footing on the curves. Today, I had no trouble bringing Apache's speed down when I needed to. A tickle of the outside rein brought him down smoothly and without effort. That is when riding becomes fun. Being able to push your horse to his full potential and still bring him back safely is a great feeling and allows you to achieve a real partnership with your horse.

Riding The Wonder Horse

I rode Apache today to get him out of his pen and to work on some issues that have cropped up. He, as I've discussed before, has trouble picking up the correct lead. Apparently, it is not a mechanical problem but maybe some confusion in the cues I'm giving him or maybe he's just being a jerk. He also has problems bending in the correct direction. He doesn't have problems bending his neck, he just bends in the wrong direction, so when I'm going around a curve his head is pointed out of the arc instead of inward. It is odd and annoying.

So today we rode around the jogging track and first practiced getting on to the correct lead. He started out all wrong, so we would slow down to a trot and try again. Eventually, he started taking the correct lead fairly consistantly. Then we worked on bending. We first practiced going around the curve at a walk and keeping our head in. Then we tried at a trot. Then a gallop. He's still trying to figure this one out. He is confused by my "bring your head in" cue with the "slowing down or stopping" cue because they are essentially the same cue. I have to teach him that the inside rein is for setting his head and the outside rein is for speed control. We will get their eventually. Probably after I get it straight in my own head. Nevertheless, it was a good workout despite the gusting winds.

Rounding Ruger

Ruger was given his final health check last week by the mil vet so we have finally been able to let him meet the rest of the horses. We were worried that Bandit, our alpha male out at the ranch, would take umbrage at the young colt being in his kingdom. Bandit is a giant, black Tennessee Walker that had to be retired from the Army several years ago due to arthritis in his pastern. Bandit is still lame but doesn't have any problem enforcing his rule.

We had kept our boys in the north pasture to keep them away from Ruger until he was cleared by the vet. The horses could see each other and smell each other but couldn't touch each other. The day after the vet check, we kept Ruger in his stall and let Bandit and the other boys through. Bandit walked straight up to Ruger's pen, stuck his giant head over the rails, and then.......began licking Ruger's face.

Debbie does most of the work with Ruger during the week, but I can get a little time with him on the weekends. Our first session together, about a week ago, went okay. Ruger is spirited and young but reasonably controllable. The first grooming attempt by me didn't go so well. Ruger hadn't figured out how to stand on three legs very well when you're cleaning one of his hooves. When I picked up his left rear hoof, he kind of stumbled. I lost my balance also and toppled over underneath the horse--one of my least favorite orientations in relation to a horse. I got mad at him for that and he quickly calmed down and stood still.

In the round pen, I turned him loose and it was obvious he knew what the round pen was all about. However, he didn't much care for me turning him. He'd try to bull his way through or turn without permission so I'd have to get rigorous with the whip and smack it on the ground to turn him. Then, Ruger would get angry and jump in the air and kick. After about ten minutes he calmed down enough so we could have some semblance of a normal training session.

Since today is a holiday, Presidents Day, I was able to spend some more time with Ruger. Our grooming session went much better. Debbie has been working with him on being able to balance on three legs and the training showed. I had no issues with grooming him and we made it to the round pen without incident. Once we started working, he again would get upset with the turns. Each turn was accompanied by a huge leap into the air with either a back leg kicking out in defiance or a front leg striking. He was no where near me when he kicked out, but it was obvious he was upset with me. However, after ten minutes of this nonsense he calmed down and could execute a nice turn without acting stupid or speeding up. Later, when I ended the lesson, he wouldn't immediately join with me. Initially, he turned away from me, so I made friendly noises until he turned and faced me. At that point, I approached him and gave him a pat and praised him. There was lots of licking and chewing going on as he considered all that had happened.

Of course, when Debbie takes Ruger to the round pen, she doesn't get any of this behavior. Her challenge is getting him to turn without him coming in to join up with her. She says he has trouble focusing on the lesson. In my case, I don't see a lack of focus, but a very energetic and focused defiance. He doesn't like being herded around by me and he hasn't developed enough respect for me yet to be willingly obedient. With Debbie, all he wants to do is be next to her. With me, it is a battle of wills. It is funny how the same animal can react so differently to two different people.

Wonder Horse Unleashed

Photo by Ty Holland

I rode Apache during the riding school last night. I haven't been doing much work with him lately since I've other horse projects to work on. It seems I'm only able to ride him about once per week.

Last night's riding school lesson was a fun one. We've been working on lead changes, so we set up the plastic barrels in a straight line about ten paces apart and had the students ride a pole bending pattern. I also set up a cone box in which the students had to stop their horse at the end of the barrel course. It gives the students a chance to practice lead changing cues at a gallop and then learn how to stop their horse from a gallop in a limited space. It is pretty fun.

I went through the pattern twice on Apache to show them how to do it and the Wonder Horse was nearly perfect. He missed one of the lead changes but otherwise glided through the pattern effortlessly without dropping out of a canter. After all the students had gone through on their mounts at various gaits until they could do it at a canter, I had them switch horses so they could feel what it was like on a different mount. Changing mounts is a good way to learn as the rider has to consider the way each horse moves and responds to cues.

I offered up Apache to the two assistant instructors who both gave him a try. Of course, Apache doesn't like anything new, and apparently that includes other riders. He made it known to the other riders that he wasn't happy with this new development. He didn't do anything particularly bad, he just wouldn't perform the way he was supposed to. He engaged in a little crow hopping at first but eventually became more and more agitated until that was pretty much all he was doing. I took him back before things got out of hand and stroked his nose until he calmed down and stopped hyperventilating. It's good for Apache to work with other riders once in a while but there's no sense in pushing it. Once he starts getting agitated it is just best to dismount and calm him down.

Fort Lowell Park

Yesterday, the troopers put on a small demo at Fort Lowell park in Tucson as part of an event called La Reunion de El Fuerte. A local group puts on a festival every year to try and raise money to fund the restoration of the old neighborhood around the remains of Fort Lowell. Fort Lowell was a cavalry post during the later part of the nineteenth century. There is not much left now but a few adobe walls.

The troopers first participate in a mass held at a local chapel. The troopers provide a saber arch through which the people walk to get into the chapel for the mass. It is a struggle for the troopers to keep their sabers elevated while all the people walk through. After the mass, they have to cross a busy road to get back to Fort Lowell park. The event sponsors stop traffic so the horses can get across the road safely.

The riding demo in the park is done at a trot because the ground is so dangerous to ride on. They ride on a soccer field which is very hard and covered with a thin layer of grass which is very slick. The field also has a lot of gopher holes in it. They have had a lot of horses slip and fall on the field in past years so they have to keep their speed down. Also, there is no fence to protect the crowd should a horse get loose. The event attracts a small crowd, some who have been coming to watch the troopers perform for about 30 years now.

The video is by Ty Holland.