Jumping Horses

We practiced jumping horses a couple of times this week. On Wednesday I set up three different sized jumps and had everyone see how far they could get with their horses. We have new riders now, so they had their first introduction to jumping. I did not ride that night as I had been given a steroid shot in my thumb that day and couldn't use my left hand for much. A few people jumped very well, but several were having issues with their horses. I noticed these horses were not jumping smoothly, but were sticking their noses way down to look at the pole before they'd leap over it.

On Friday my hand was feeling well enough for me to ride again, so I gave the Wonder Horse a whirl over the jumps. He'd given me a lot of trouble the previous weekend during the Military Child event, so I wasn't expecting much. However, he was having one of his good days, so I had a great ride with him. He did not get over excited and he did not hesitate at the jumps at all. I started out with a low cross-bar jump and then changed to verticals and gradually increased the height.

Martina and Lisa S were with me and did some jumping also. Lisa was riding Kidd and did fairly well but was consistently behind the saddle and rocking after each jump. I couldn't figure it out until I later noticed that her saddle was too far forward and I believe that was causing her legs to slip forward and thus putting her weight behind the saddle. Martina was having a hell of a time with Chili and Cochise. She could get them over the obstacles, but it was a major battle each time. I had ridden Cochise the previous weekend and had several really good runs through the jump course and we were all surprised at his inability to function normally a week later. Chili has always had problems but Martina can usually get him to jump. He does fine in the training area next to the stables but, for some reason, couldn't jump poles in the arena. On our way back from the arena, Martina took Chili over the jumps in the training area with now problems.

Yet another horse training mystery.

Hot Riding

We were asked to support an event on Fort Huachuca today called the Celebration of the Military Child. It is more or less a festival for kids on the post but is open to the public. We were asked to put on a performance in a field next to the pavilion where most of the activities were. We know from experience that no one is particularly interested in watching us ride horses at these things. Because we don't have an enclosed arena to perform in, we have to tone down the activities.

We tried to put on a little demonstration near the pavilion but becuase there was a band playing in there, our horses were not particularly cooperative. We finished our rather pathetic demonstration and then moved to another area where we could have some fun.

We set up a pistol and saber course and just practiced taking our horses through it. It included a series of low jumps and some targets we could engage with our weapons. A few people came down to watch but soon left. We didn't really care because we were having fun with it. I took the Wonder Horse a few times and then switched over to Cochise. Both horses are high strung but managed to go through without too much trouble. We brought Bob along who hasn't been in a public event in about a year. He did fine and didn't get overly sweaty. Charlie revealed that he needs some remedial training in jumping but all the other horses did find. It was a long day and hot as blazes but we made the most of it.

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.

Duke's Gun Training

Lisa D and I have had several sessions with Duke as we try to get him re-adjusted. I again tied up Charlie in the nearby round pen and had Lisa ride Duke around the gray pen. We have had steady progress with Duke and got to the point where he could handle the cap pistol from about 20 feet away. Today, however, he plateaued in his training. As Lisa rode him in a circle in front of me, Duke would get agitated as he got close to me. Not really badly, but not good enough to progress to the next level of training. I had her increase his gait from walk to trot to see if the extra speed would calm him down, but it didn't seem to work. We will stay at this level until Duke progresses some more.

After we finished with Duke, I did some work with Charlie who is starting to muscle up very nicely. After his colic surgery in August, his back end atrophied and he looked pretty pathetic. Not so much now. He's starting to show his "guns" back there. I worked him in the round pen, concentrating on turns in a specific direction and changing gaits on command. Most of our horses know the words "walk", "trot", and "gallop", so I build on this. Charlie, although basically lazy, can really get wild when his dander is up. I'm trying to get some respect down with him before I get up and have to push him hard from the saddle. He's a friendly horse for the most part and is a pleasure to work with most of the time. However, after several trips to the emergency room over the years, I've learned that taking things slow works best for horse training.

Wild Horse Training

We had another riding school last night during which we gave our students their pre-evaluations to ensure they are ready for their final riding test next week. I again rode the Wonder Horse with the anticipation of being rocketed around the arena like the last time. However, without his arch nemesis Regent there to goad him on, he was very calm and controllable for the whole evening.

Unfortunately, our lead horse Monte was not having a good evening. Monte, in recent years, has developed a tendency to buck when transitioning to a gallop in the arena. He was recently assigned to a more experienced rider who we figured would have better luck with him. However, his new rider suffered the same fate as his predecessors and wound up eating arena dirt not once, but twice. When an experienced rider gets bucked off when he knows what's coming, its time to take the horse out of the lineup and re-educated him.

I took Monte to the round pen today to see what his personality was like. Monte is one of our best horses and has always been a solid performer. The bucking thing began gradually and has gotten steadily worse. I always considered Monte to be a lazy horse and an easy ride. Today, in the round pen, I came to know a different Monte. He leaped about the round pen making all kinds of what I call "homicide gestures". That is, he was aiming kicks and strikes at me every time I turned him. At one point he got so mad he cussed at me in horse language. I wasn't sure of the words, but I recognised the tone.

After about 15 minutes of this we managed to get things settled down enough so I could do some work with him. I began to work on teaching him the "hip-over" cue which the horse experts say is how you control a bucking horse. The theory is that if you compel the horse to disengage his hips, he can't power up and hurt you. I don't know how well this will work, but I think it's worth a try. I can't afford to lose riders to a bucking beast in the arena. Monte, to his credit, responded to this training well. I have a gradual training process in mind that I will implement in between other projects and will hopefully have him re-educated in a month or two. We will see.

I also began the process today of re-educating Duke in gun training. I screwed him up last year by putting him into the riding demonstration before he was fully gun trained. As a result, he is now terrified of gun fire. His primary rider finally got a schedule that permits her to help with this training during duty hours, so we began today. I had her ride Duke around a small arena while I fired a cap gun at the opposite end. I also tied up a veteran horse, Charlie, nearby so Duke could see there was nothing to get excited about. It worked pretty well and Duke progressively got less and less excited by the sound of the cap gun as we worked with him. This is another long-term project but one worth the effort. Duke has come a long way since we got him and he promises to be a good cavalry horse.

Since I am not a professional horse trainer and have only limited time to spend on training, I don't know how well all this will work out. All I can do is try and hope nobody, especially me, gets hurt in the process.

Arena Charges

On Tuesday we had the new riders work on the preparation for their final test which is coming up in a couple weeks. We basically just have them perform our riding demonstration. The demonstration involves a series of maneuvers at the gallop and at a walk and several other displays before culminating in a couple of charges.

Arena charges are safer than open field charges, but still require a fair amount of control. The arena is 400 feet long by 190 feet wide which allows the horses to get up a fairly big head of steam. I was leading the charges on the Wonder Horse who is reasonably good in the arena.

In addition to the students, I had a couple of instructors riding at the front of the column. Our German lady rider, Martina, was riding Regent in the #1 position. Regent is hot and I forgot that it was the first time that Martina had conducted charges on him. The first charge is a pistol charge which, of course, means the rider has only one hand on the reins. I elected to keep my pistol holstered to better control the Wonder Horse and then set up the troopers in a skirmish line and called for the charge.

Apache started out under control but out of the corner of my eye I could see Regent bearing down on us. I could almost feel the heat coming off of Regent. When we get to the end of the arena during a charge, we curve to the right and rejoin into a column of twos. Because Martina was on the right of line, I feared she and Regent would cut me off, which could spell disaster. Apache saw the problem too so I gave him his head. He lit the afterburners and we dug in at the rail and turned hard to the right. My right knee was nearly in the dirt, but the Wonder Horse kept his footing and drove out of the fur ball right under Regent's nose. We lit up the rail as the rest of the herd reformed behind us.

The second charge is done with sabers and I again decided to keep both hands on the reins. We lit out at a good gallop but the line held back this time and Apache didn't feel compelled to bolt. Fearing I would get too far ahead of everyone, I turned early and let everyone form up behind me. No worries. The second charge was a little less chaotic and, of course, any charge you can walk away from is a good one.

The student riders are about ready to test and have only one more practice session before the real deal. Hopefully all will go well and we will soon have three more riders on the team. Maybe one of them will want Apache.

Dead Bolt

Photos by Ty Holland

Last Saturday we practiced charges on Brown Parade field on Fort Huachuca. This is where we normally conduct our ceremonies and I wanted the new riders to get some experience in a controlled charge before they have to do it in front of an audience. I also wanted to work with the horses as they tend to get out of control during the pistol charge. Instead of a controlled charge where everyone is on line, it turns into a mad dash to see who can finish first.



The calm before the storm--the Troop rides to the parade field

With cavalry horses you have to not only train your horse individually, you have to train as a group. If you want your horses to move together, you have to train them together. This is also how the Army used to conduct charges. Horses were moved in a line starting out at a walk, then a trot, then a controlled gallop so the entire force would arrive at the enemy position simultaneously for maximum effect. To train the horses this way, I started out moving everyone up and down the parade field at a walk. When I could see that everyone was able to control their horses (the horses get very excited on the parade field), I had them go to a trot about half way up the field. Once everyone could move their horse up the entire length of the field at a trot without breaking the line, we moved to a gallop. The training worked very well and both riders and horses performed as expected. Even Apache, who has the peculiar ability to gallop in place, was able to hold the line.



What a controlled charge is supposed to look like

However, for the final charge, I reversed the order of the line to add variety. Big mistake. Apache was used to being on the left of the line and now I had him on the right side of the line. Up to that point, I was able to control him with a single rein. Once we began the charge, he started out okay, but then broke into a flat out bolt. I had anticipated this and had a plan to use S-turns to slow him down. Unfortunately, there was no controlling him once he began the bolt. I'd pull on one rein and then the other but he barely responded and then cut diagonally across the field to get where he thought he was supposed to be. He is very competitive also, and when he realized another horse might beat him down the field there was no stopping him. He was so out of control and violent that I lost both stirrups. My efforts to slow him down were then replaced by an effort to get my feet back in the stirrups to improve my chances of staying in the saddle. I figured I was a dead man at this point. I was alternatively swearing at Apache and praying that I'd survive the ride. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see our photographer darting behind a tree to get out of the way. We were passing through the trees and headed for parts unknown when, for some reason, Apache came to a stop. I was angry and sore and glad to still be breathing. My thighs were burning with the effort to stay in the saddle and my hands were cramped from squeezing the reins. I turned the troopers over to the Executive Officer and asked him to lead another charge while I dismounted and worked the cramps out of my legs and hands. Apache's eyes were bloodshot and crazy looking. It is hard to stay mad at him when he is so obviously distressed.



The Wonder Horse in full bolt mode

Accept for that last episode, the Wonder Horse had done really well. I don't know what his problem is, but I need to find a solution before he kills me. The training strategy had worked for every other horse in the herd accept for Apache. Of course, when the other horses saw Apache take off, they wanted to bolt too. It is the nature of horses to want to race each other. If one horse departs the line, they all want to depart the line. The ceremony season is still a couple of months off, so hopefully, I will get this figured out. Until I do, Apache won't be participating in any ceremonies in front of an audience. The rest of the troop will, I believe, look great.



Trying to walk out the cramps