New Round Pen...

This weekend, I purchased a round pen. And after having it up for all of 2 days, I don't know why I waited so long to buy the damn thing.

I postponed the purchase because I wanted the right round pen. You know, the right metal material, the right dimensions and height, etc. And the price of my dream round pen ranged from 5K on up. So I delayed the purchase, figuring I'd save the money and buy the round pen I really wanted.

Enter my Craigslist searching cousin, who emailed me about a dealer who was offering a 50ft round pen, complete with gate, for $640. I called the dealer, but that price was for 5ft high panels, made of their "economy" metal. But could they build me panels for a 60ft round pen, all panels 10' long and 6' high, with a 6' entry gate, and 14GA metal? Yes, but it was going to cost me. But nowhere near the 5K estimate I had received months ago. Fine, it's a deal. So Saturday I headed to HWY 16 and Loop 1604 and met the truck.

As soon as I could enlist some labor to help me, I had those panels on the ground and the pen was assembled. Thanks to my 13 year old daughter for helping me lift panels and place them. It took us about 3 hours, but it was all in place over the red sand that had been prepared there by the previous owner.

I quickly threw Woody in the round pen and worked him out. Yes, this was going to be cool! I am eternally grateful to my neighbors who have always let me use their round pen, but this round pen is on my land and easy to get to. It also lets me work one horse in one round pen while another horse could be worked by another horseman in the other round pen. No more lines for the round pen. And my round pen area has some light near it, so I can get use out of it at dusk/night.

Well, Sunday after hospital rounds (I worked an extra weekend to pay for the darn round pen), I worked Vaquero and Lola in the round pen, BECAUSE I COULD! The proximity to my stable makes it so easy to grab a horse to work.

Vaquero and I worked on speed transitions, over and over again. Walk, trot, canter...then back to walk from canter...then canter from walk, then trot...back to walk again. I worked on really controlling his speed enough that I could sustain any gait, including and especially the walk, for as long as I wanted. What a difference from a year ago, when I couldn't get him to walk for even a single step!

Vaquero was well soaked in the humidity after we finished. But I really felt a great connection and some real learning HAS occurred between us. He is such a joy to work in the round pen, but you have to be very subtle in your body language, because if you just THINK about the next gait, he responds. Don't believe me? Come try him some time. I'm serious, he's that freaking sensitive. No whipping the ground with your lunge whip required, and you'd better not fall asleep while working him, or he'll be changing direction before you've even realized that you drifted in front of his driveline by 1 inch. I've heard this from other paso fino owners, so I know it's just part of the breed. But after a year of working with him, I can really appreciate it now.

Lola was next. 5 minutes later, and she was in the round pen. Same drill of frequent speed transitions, with emphasis on the walk. She, like a lot of other horses, hasn't really been taught that it's OK to just walk in the round pen, and so we spent some time letting her do just that: a nice focused walk a few laps around.

I worked her up into a nice sweat and then invited her in to me using my body language. She just stopped and stared, but made no step towards me. So I whipped her up and moved her around again! Later, I re-invited her. Just a stop and stare, with maybe a shift in weight suggesting she MIGHT join up with me. Not good enough, so I sent her moving around the pen again. I did this several more times, finally really moving her butt out, and invited her in again. This time, she dropped her head, licked and chewed, and moved all the way towards the center of the round pen. She had truly joined up with me for the first time since I bought her. It had taken some time, and a lot of work on her part, but it felt like my best connection with her to date. She is cantering easily now, and her transitions are much faster.

I worked with both horses on yielding hind end from the ground, and I plan to do this more, eventually moving their front end and working in a side-pass from the ground for both.

The round pen has made a world of difference. The proximity to my stable will let me work horses more quickly, since I won't have to walk so far to change horses, and the footing in my round pen is ideal. I'll be adding a bit more sand here in the future, but it's very usable as is.

Lola update, and rain...

Rain, rain, and rain. I am looking forward to sunshine and clear skies. But at least the rain has forced me to slow down and do some ground work with Lola.

Working with Lola is reminding me just how well trained my other horses are. Lola is very stiff, and it's going to be back to basics for her, working on flexing her neck and being more willing to back up. She's improving daily, but it needs a lot of repetition. I also worked on backing her up straight from the ground, as she has a tendency to move her hips over to the right when backing up. She's a smart girl, and has been catching on fast, without getting rattled.

I remembered that it took me a few months to get the excellent ground manners and flexion that I have in my other two mounts, Woody and Vaquero. Thank goodness I have this blog to review, and remind myself where I started with those geldings.

Lola is very predictable, in that whatever she can or can't do from the ground is EXACTLY what she can or can't do under saddle. Thus, I feel confident that my time spent doing ground work will really pay off.

The rain is a blessing in more ways than one. If the weather was better, I'd be blasting off on Lola, riding her too much and ignoring her holes. Thank you God, for sending me a slow down cue.

Victoria and Lola...

What a day! I'll try to do the day justice with a good literary description but, truly, you had to be there...

Yesterday evening, we prepared the truck and trailer for the journey to get Lola, a grade QH mare that is to be Victoria's first horse. We filled a traveling container with water, prepared the cooler for snacks, cleaned and lubed every hinge on the trailer, and gathered the necessary tack. Emma, the ever faithful mutt, was in everything, getting underfoot left and right. Until, where was Emma? We were convinced we were ready and wanted to head in for an early night and some rest, but could not locate Emma. She was nowhere, after being everywhere all evening. We circled the neighborhood, calling her name. We stopped people out for an evening stroll with our worried queries, but to no avail. We gave up well after dark, and retired for the evening convinced she had run off, distracted after deer or other dogs, and we would never see her again. My youngest, Sofia, was nearly inconsolable, crying for her Emma.

The alarm came quickly, sounding at 0600. I had awoken numerous times during the night thinking I was hearing Emma scratching at the door or barking for attention, but it was only wishful dreaming. I awoke Victoria, and after our personal preparations, I told her we would feed the horses together and then hit the road. She opened the tack room in the barn to get the feed, and out bounced Emma! She must have been doing her best to stay underfoot at the previous evening's feeding, and had been shut in the tack room. The tack room was a mess after being subjected to Emma's chewing overnight: feed bags were ripped open, objects were scattered everywhere; but Emma was OK! Victoria and I let out HUGE sighs of relief. Now we could focus on getting Lola without the worry for Emma that had plagued us all night and had threatened to rob our excitement in getting a new horse!

We hit the road, our moods lighter than air and with Emma safely tucked in her kennel after several hugs. We had 263 miles to cover. Let me explain: we were going to Uvalde to take possession of Lola, then drive back to Hondo and head due north through Bandera to Kerrville, where I would round on 6 patients, and then back to Bulverde to end the journey. We were on a mission!

The exchange for Lola went well, and I had Victoria prepare a bill of sale enroute and handle the transfer of money. The family selling Lola was very sweet, and it was a tender moment for them to say goodbye to their mare (known to them as "Liberty").
I exchanged their halter for ours, and asked Lola to load in our trailer. She hopped right in without a hitch, and she was in and loaded just like that! Yes! This trip was going EXACTLY as planned.

We started our trek back to Hondo, with Victoria's new horse in tow. We turned north and admired the beautiful wildflowers. We drove through Bandera, "Cowboy capitol of the World", and Victoria and I marveled at the charm and the number of motorcycles. We were just outside of Bandera on the north side, when I spied a sign that offered trucks an alternate route. Why did we need an alternate route north? We were here to enjoy the country and we were in a F-250 with a stock horse trailer. We weren't driving an 18 wheeler after all.

Has anyone driven HWY 16 between Bandera and Kerrville? It is the curviest, tiniest, most undulating stretch of road I have ever driven on outside of Mexico's mountain passes. Just when you thought it couldn't get tougher to negotiate, it got scarier. We took some turns at 5 MPH. The trailer was going right, then left, up then down, and I could only imagine that if Lola could get trailer-sick, she was there. I was feeling green myself, but my fear and focus driving this rig with my daughter and her new horse was taking all of my attention.

I joked with Victoria, "If we get a flat tire here, we are in BIG trouble". At last, the road straightened and we were through. Kerrville was in sight. We parked in the hospital parking lot and I collapsed in my seat from the strain. We were right on schedule.

While I donned my white coat, Victoria started to prepare her "picnic" in the back of the truck. She would stay with Lola while I did my rounds. But before we gave Lola some water and made sure she had survived the most serpentine road in Texas, Victoria said, "Dad, did you feel the trailer was lop-sided?" The right rear trailer tire was flat, the sidewall exploded but not yet in tatters. The heat from "snake road" must have been too much for the tire, and it had probably blown in the last few miles. No matter. I needed to do rounds and then look forward to a trailer tire change. I tried to put on my best face for Victoria, to show her how to laugh at adversity and tough luck, but inside I was dreading a hot, sticky tire change knowing that not every tire change goes well, and I was going to have to do this with a horse in the trailer.

I did my rounds, all patients mostly stable, but I wasn't overly chatty with the nursing staff. I wanted to get home with Lola and Victoria.

With Victoria's help, I did the tire change in 17 minutes (I like to time myself with tire changes). I had taken every precaution the evening before, and verified the pressure of the spare and I had all the equipment necessary to make things easier. Victoria remarked, "That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be." I hope she learned something, and I hope she doesn't think they all go so well; the right tools and preparation and practice makes hard things look easy. Lola was awesome the entire time, and endured all the noise and grunts from my exertions without an issue. In fact, the entire trip, she didn't paw in the trailer ONCE.

After a lunch on the run, we headed home without any more issues. Lola unloaded calmly from the trailer and we allowed her to take in her surroundings. Victoria introduced her to the boys, my geldings, and they seemed as impressed with her looks as we were when we first met her.

It was an adventure that I hope Victoria will look back on fondly, and it delivered my oldest daughter her first horse, her first business transaction, a trip on new roads, a lesson in adversity, and culminated in a peaceful walk leading her new horse...