I took some time off to celebrate Thanksgiving last week but couldn't completely get away from the job. Well, actually, I couldn't get away from it at all. I had to bring two injured horses home with me so I could keep an eye on them (some people take their work home with them in a briefcase--I take mine home in a horse trailer). Of course, one of them kicked the other in the head. The head belonged to Charlie, of course. Everything happens to that horse.
Meanwhile, I was getting constant phone calls and e-mail messages about upcoming events. One of the events is a trip to Las Vegas this weekend for the National Finals Rodeo. We are to carry the national colors during opening ceremonies on Sunday night. We travel up Friday, rehearse on Saturday, do the ceremony on Sunday, and return Monday. It's a big deal--the Super Bowl of rodeos so I'm trying to make sure I have everything in order. I have planned in as much redundancy as I can with backup horses, equipment, and people. I'm also bringing our veterinarian team, just in case.
Selecting the right horses for the job is the most important task. Unfortunately, several of our best candidates are down with injuries. The horses need to be able to stand still in a darkened arena with a spotlight on them while the national anthem is played. I've selected four of our calmest horses with two backups and have also selected our most experienced riders. With horses you can never be completely sure things will go well, but you can at least reduce your risks with practice and good planning. We will see.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 19, 2010
Training Duke
After the National Cavalry Competition was over I resolved to spend more time training horses. Of the several projects I have, none is more important than gun training Duke. Last June we conducted a cavalry riding demonstration at Wren Arena which involves a fair amount of gun fire and, indeed, some cannon fire. I was planning to ride Apache in the show but he got sick and I decided to ride Duke instead. Duke's training wasn't complete but sometimes you can get a horse through the demonstration okay anyway. Big mistake. Duke didn't like the gunfire at all and it was a real ordeal to get him though the demo. Since then I've been keeping him away from gunfire until I could get him retrained.
Duke had regressed pretty badly. I have had to go back to the beginning with gunfire. I start out with a cap pistol using the usual technique of having someone fire the pistol while I ride the horse at varying distances until he gets accustomed to the sound, then I begin firing from the back of the horse. Duke, however, wasn't even able to handle this so I've been holding him on a lead line while firing the cap gun a few feet away from me and rewarding him when he doesn't move his feet.
Because of our schedule and other considerations, I haven't been able to conduct this training with any consistancy. However, I've decided that other matters can wait and horse training will be a higher priority. As such, I've been able to get three good sessions in with Duke this past week.
The training has been frustrating. Duke just didn't seem to be getting any better. Everytime I'd fire the cap gun he'd jump and start rolling his eyes and snorting or try to run in a circle around me. Just when I was beginning to think the whole thing was hopeless, I finally had a small breakthrough. I was finally able to get him to stand without jumping while firing the cap gun today. I could even hold it over my head and fire it without him moving his feet. He doesn't like it much, but he is no longer panicky about it. Hopefully, I can keep up with the training and we will see some more progress. Getting through that first barrier always seems to be the toughest when it comes to horse training. Duke's a good horse and has potential to be a good cavalry horse, so here's hoping things will get easier.
Duke had regressed pretty badly. I have had to go back to the beginning with gunfire. I start out with a cap pistol using the usual technique of having someone fire the pistol while I ride the horse at varying distances until he gets accustomed to the sound, then I begin firing from the back of the horse. Duke, however, wasn't even able to handle this so I've been holding him on a lead line while firing the cap gun a few feet away from me and rewarding him when he doesn't move his feet.
Because of our schedule and other considerations, I haven't been able to conduct this training with any consistancy. However, I've decided that other matters can wait and horse training will be a higher priority. As such, I've been able to get three good sessions in with Duke this past week.
The training has been frustrating. Duke just didn't seem to be getting any better. Everytime I'd fire the cap gun he'd jump and start rolling his eyes and snorting or try to run in a circle around me. Just when I was beginning to think the whole thing was hopeless, I finally had a small breakthrough. I was finally able to get him to stand without jumping while firing the cap gun today. I could even hold it over my head and fire it without him moving his feet. He doesn't like it much, but he is no longer panicky about it. Hopefully, I can keep up with the training and we will see some more progress. Getting through that first barrier always seems to be the toughest when it comes to horse training. Duke's a good horse and has potential to be a good cavalry horse, so here's hoping things will get easier.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Veteran's Day Parade
Photo by Ty Holland
I rode the wonder horse in the Vet's Day parade yesterday and, for a change, he was good. I didn't think things were going to go well when I arrived at the stables because Apache was running around in his pen. It was cold and dark and he knew something was up so he reacted to this situation in his normal scary fashion. But, when you've ridden a horse at his worse, nothing much intimidates you anymore. For whatever reason, by the time I had him groomed up, he was nice and calm.
We arrived in our normal staging area in good time and tacked up the horses. Next we drove the trailers over to the city park where the parade would end and then shuttled the drivers back. We were the last entry in a parade of about 52 participants. Most of the other parade entries were marching bands and military personnel on foot. Since we were last in line, we could watch the entire parade before it even began.
The crowd was fairly substantial and even though there were only seven of us riding, we often could not hear the commands of the XO as we marched down the street. Sierra Vista is a military town and the crowd was pretty patriotic--and loud. We performed out handful of parade maneuvers with our carbines resting on our right thighs. You learn over the years how to carry the rifle without all the blood draining from your hand as you ride.
When we finally got to the park, we held a short ceremony in which the city leaders, most of whom are retired military, reflect on the sacrifices of our veterans. The speeches were followed by a 21-gun salute from a howitzer battery which our horses stood pretty well for. We did have a problem with Cochise who somehow wound up on the end of our line. He doesn't like being on the end and constantly tried to fade back behind the line of horses. I finally asked Monte's rider to fallout and take the end. Once Cochise was safely bracketed by two other horses, he calmed down and stood still. Other than that everything went well and the Wonder Horse got a cookie for being so good.
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Horse Exams
We finally had time to take some of our boys up to the Arizona Equine Clinic to have them checked out. Both Charlie and Cochise were checked for stomach ulcers and Bob had an MRI done on his front feet.
Charlie was recommended for a stomach scope by the veterinarian who performed his colic surgery at the end of August. The surgeon had a concern that the colic may have been caused by stomach ulcers. However, since he had lost so much weight during the surgery and recovery that we didn't want to put him through a fasting cycle until his weight was up and he was healthy.
Cochise, who had gone off his feed during the trip to San Angelo, Texas in October, was also suspected of having a stomach ulcer by our military veterinarian. However, we decided to hold off on having his stomach scoped until Charlie was ready to go.
Bob has had mild lameness for several months now. We removed his shoes which has improved his condition but he is still slightly lame when turning on his front legs. Previous x-rays did not reveal any clear signs of navicular so we decided to get an MRI done to see if we could determine the cause of his condition.
The veterinarian accomplished the stomach scopes by inserting a tiny camera into the horse's nostril and threading it down the throat into the stomach. We could watch the live image on a TV monitor as the camera made it's way to the stomach. In Charlie's case there was still a little food in his stomach despite his having fasted for 20 hours. The vet pumped water into his stomach via another tube inserted into his stomach and then drained the material out. The camera was reinserted and the vet thoroughly explored the inside of Charlie's stomach. Fortunately, no sign of ulcers were detected. The same procedure was performed on Cochise with the same results. Neither horse had stomach ulcers which was a huge relief. I remarked to the doctor that this experience in combination with Charlie's colic surgery has given me too much familiarity with Charlie's insides. I have to admit, though, that the gastroscope process was fascinating.
Bob had his MRI done over a period of several hours. The images were sent off to a specialist for analysis but we will not have the results until next week. We are hoping he has a hoof cyst or some other easily corrected problem. However, we can't help but notice how much better his feet are and how much less lame he is since we removed his shoes. He has small hooves for being a 1,300 pound horse and he may just be destined to be shoeless. Hopefully the MRI analysis will give us a better idea of how to correct his lameness.
Charlie was recommended for a stomach scope by the veterinarian who performed his colic surgery at the end of August. The surgeon had a concern that the colic may have been caused by stomach ulcers. However, since he had lost so much weight during the surgery and recovery that we didn't want to put him through a fasting cycle until his weight was up and he was healthy.
Cochise, who had gone off his feed during the trip to San Angelo, Texas in October, was also suspected of having a stomach ulcer by our military veterinarian. However, we decided to hold off on having his stomach scoped until Charlie was ready to go.
Bob has had mild lameness for several months now. We removed his shoes which has improved his condition but he is still slightly lame when turning on his front legs. Previous x-rays did not reveal any clear signs of navicular so we decided to get an MRI done to see if we could determine the cause of his condition.
The veterinarian accomplished the stomach scopes by inserting a tiny camera into the horse's nostril and threading it down the throat into the stomach. We could watch the live image on a TV monitor as the camera made it's way to the stomach. In Charlie's case there was still a little food in his stomach despite his having fasted for 20 hours. The vet pumped water into his stomach via another tube inserted into his stomach and then drained the material out. The camera was reinserted and the vet thoroughly explored the inside of Charlie's stomach. Fortunately, no sign of ulcers were detected. The same procedure was performed on Cochise with the same results. Neither horse had stomach ulcers which was a huge relief. I remarked to the doctor that this experience in combination with Charlie's colic surgery has given me too much familiarity with Charlie's insides. I have to admit, though, that the gastroscope process was fascinating.
Bob had his MRI done over a period of several hours. The images were sent off to a specialist for analysis but we will not have the results until next week. We are hoping he has a hoof cyst or some other easily corrected problem. However, we can't help but notice how much better his feet are and how much less lame he is since we removed his shoes. He has small hooves for being a 1,300 pound horse and he may just be destined to be shoeless. Hopefully the MRI analysis will give us a better idea of how to correct his lameness.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Empire Ranch
Last Saturday we performed at the annual open house held at Empire Ranch near Sonoita, Arizona. It is an old and historic ranch that is the process of being restored. The open house is held each year to help raise funds for the restoration. The open house is attended by several thousand people and features an interesting collection of western performances and displays.
Of course, B Troop is a major attraction at the event. We are provided a large performance area and three time slots in which to demonstrate cavalry riding. This year we had only a few available riders so we decided to demonstrate individual tactics. I set up a course that allowed for the use of both saber and pistol and included a series of jumps. It was a good opportunity to practice the type of riding employed at the National Cavalry Competition. Unfortunately, although thousands of photos were taken at the event, I have not been able to gain access to any to illustrate this post.
With only four riders available to perform, we brought only four horses to ride. One of them, of course, was the Wonder Horse. Our first performance was the saber demonstration in which we engaged a number of targets while negotiating a series of jumps. I spent about 10 minutes warming up the Wonder Horse in the hopes that he would perform without misbehaving. We managed to get through the whole course twice before he became so agitated that I feared to take him through again. I was, also, at this point, getting fatigued. I then put Apache away and took Regent through the course. Regent is also an excitable horse but not nearly as erratic as Apache. Regent, without any warm up, performed nearly perfectly.
For our next performance we demonstrated field jumping. I did not participate in this event as we had to take turns manning the course and narrating the performance. The other riders did well and had a good time with their chosen mounts in negotiating the jumps.
Our last performance was mounted pistol. I chose Monte for this event and he performed very well even though I hadn't ridden him in a very long time. It was very fun taking Monte through the course as he is not at all a challenge to ride. Ten minutes on the Wonder Horse and you are ready to take the rest of the week off but 20 minutes on Monte and you barely break a sweat.
The crowd seemed to enjoy the performances and the few of us who were able to support the event had a good time despite the length of the day (13 hours) and the physical challenge of making it all happen. It is a shame we don't have more opportunities to do this kind of riding more often as it is much more enjoyable than parades and ceremonies.
Of course, B Troop is a major attraction at the event. We are provided a large performance area and three time slots in which to demonstrate cavalry riding. This year we had only a few available riders so we decided to demonstrate individual tactics. I set up a course that allowed for the use of both saber and pistol and included a series of jumps. It was a good opportunity to practice the type of riding employed at the National Cavalry Competition. Unfortunately, although thousands of photos were taken at the event, I have not been able to gain access to any to illustrate this post.
With only four riders available to perform, we brought only four horses to ride. One of them, of course, was the Wonder Horse. Our first performance was the saber demonstration in which we engaged a number of targets while negotiating a series of jumps. I spent about 10 minutes warming up the Wonder Horse in the hopes that he would perform without misbehaving. We managed to get through the whole course twice before he became so agitated that I feared to take him through again. I was, also, at this point, getting fatigued. I then put Apache away and took Regent through the course. Regent is also an excitable horse but not nearly as erratic as Apache. Regent, without any warm up, performed nearly perfectly.
For our next performance we demonstrated field jumping. I did not participate in this event as we had to take turns manning the course and narrating the performance. The other riders did well and had a good time with their chosen mounts in negotiating the jumps.
Our last performance was mounted pistol. I chose Monte for this event and he performed very well even though I hadn't ridden him in a very long time. It was very fun taking Monte through the course as he is not at all a challenge to ride. Ten minutes on the Wonder Horse and you are ready to take the rest of the week off but 20 minutes on Monte and you barely break a sweat.
The crowd seemed to enjoy the performances and the few of us who were able to support the event had a good time despite the length of the day (13 hours) and the physical challenge of making it all happen. It is a shame we don't have more opportunities to do this kind of riding more often as it is much more enjoyable than parades and ceremonies.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Helldorado Weekend
Photos by Ty Holland
Each year during Helldorado weekend, B Troop makes the 25-mile journey from Fort Huachuca to Tombstone. Twenty five miles was the standard cavalry march back in the day so it is a literal "rite of passage" for the men and woman to make this annual trip. Of course, the horses and riders need to be conditioned for the ride beforehand. It is not a good idea to try and make the trip without the proper conditioning as you can really hurt your horse and yourself.
The troopers usually depart the fort about sunrise and make the first 15-mile trip through the desert to the San Pedro river, where they stop for lunch beneath the Charleston bridge. My job is to set up the lunch camp and to bring along a couple of spare horses in case we need to swap any out. We almost always have to replace a couple horses at the river even though they are pretty well conditioned. I have the military veterinarian meet us at the river to give all the horses a thorough check during the lunch break so as not to take any chances.
This year we had to remove three horses from the line as a precaution although none were seriously injured. Two had sore backs and one appeared slightly lame on a rear leg. One of our troopers had also come down with the flu during the ride and had to discontinue his participation. I swapped out the horses and gave the sick trooper a ride back to the fort. The remaining troopers and ladies mounted up and finished the remaining ten miles to Tombstone by following the Charleston road.
I returned the injured horses to the stables and put them up for the night and then headed back to Tombstone to set up the evening camp. We usually stay at the Lucky Hills Ranch just outside Tombstone. They have a few rustic cabins and a corral to keep the horses in. I set up the evening meal and had the vet check the horses again. All the horses were fine this time. After everyone had eaten and the horses had been bedded down, I headed back to the fort to prepare for the following day. I begged off going back to Tombstone to enjoy the traditional promenading on Allen Street as I was well spent.
The next morning I was back at the fort at 0530 to prep the spare horses to return to Tombstone. Two of the three injured horses from the previous day were fine after a night of rest in their pens, so I loaded them up so that the troopers would have their preferred mounts for the Helldorado parade later that morning. I met Debbie at the ranch at 0700 to set up breakfast and get things moving for the day. The troopers were moving slow after a night of carousing in town so I had to wake them up a little--gently--in the military fashion. Debbie had made a fantastic breakfast of egg casserole and tortillas with salsa and everyone dug in. After a hearty breakfast, everyone starting moving in the right direction and they got their horses and gear prepped in plenty of time to make the parade.
The parade was well attended and our troopers and ladies looked great. They won the Curly Bill Brocius award but we're not really sure what that means. Perhaps some of the troopers had committed a crime the previous evening. After the parade we tore down our camp, loaded the horses into the trailer, and headed back to the fort. At the fort we unloaded the horses and equipment and finally called it a day about 1500.
Helldorado weekend is a back breaker of an event. The logistics of supporting a moving cavalry column of even a few troopers requires a huge amount of work. I spent 12 hours on my feet the first day and 10 the second--most of it on steep, rocky terrain. I had more people on the ground providing support then I had people in the saddle and it was still a staggering work load. I'm glad so many people enjoyed seeing the cavalry in Tombstone but I'm also glad I only have to do this once per year.
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