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.

Working cattle on Vaquero, Chapter 2...

I worked cattle for 2 hours with Vaquero for only the second time yesterday, and what an improvement!

Specifically: (1) He rested better. That is to say, he took advantage of "breaks" in the action and didn't stay worked up. This allowed us to work the entire 2 hours. (2) His neck reining improved dramatically. I had to be able to rein him with one hand so I could use the other to "push" cattle. I have usually ridden him with two hands, because I felt I had more control. He was very rough, especially turning to the left with a neck rein for the first hour, and I would often have to bring my other hand up to turn him in the narrow confines of the "alley" that we were using to push up the steers. But by the second hour, he was turning easily, and he was anticipating the action.

Problems: (1) He is still too easily bothered when I put a leg in his side and ask him to sidepass from a standstill. He wants to take this cue to mean "go forward", but when working cattle, sometimes I need him positioned just so, and the sidepass from a standstill is a useful skill. I'm not entirely sure how to improve on this, other than ground work and time. (2) Even though the neck rein is improving, it could be better, and I think this will come with me riding him with one hand more often.

One participant in the roping asked me "Is that a Peruvian Paso?". I just answered "No, he's a paso fino". I caught a lot of the ropers watching me work cattle on this funny moving horse. But I'm sure more than a few could appreciate how I was working cattle at a trot speed, but without a bounce. Vaquero was really "on" while working, and he stayed well-gaited for the entire 2 hours, so my back was feeling fine at the end.

I highly recommend working cattle on a paso fino!

Epic ride...

I think loping Woody hard yesterday left me fired up to ride again today. Only this time, I wanted to ride Vaquero and push him even more.

Vaquero was in a good place from the word go. He gave me his feet as best he can - he has rather stiff rear legs, so he's not as limber as Woody in giving up his rear hooves. He stood rock still for mounting, and he seemed content to ride at my pace.

But James had an idea to ride hard, and he started trotting with Bullseye, his horse, right away. I let Vaquero follow, and we ended up tearing through all 3 equestrian trails in my neighborhood at a fast clip. We absolutely RIPPED through the last one. I imagined there were bandits on our tail; or even better, I was the outlaw escaping a posse. Either way, it was lots of fast trots and faster galloping. I got Vaquero into a flat run, and I'm beginning to find his rhythm at his lope.

It was my most fun ride on Vaquero to date, and I truly enjoyed his paso largo and his gallop. I was whooping and hollering most of the ride, and the smile I wore while riding hard has yet to leave my face...

New feet for Vaquero

Vaquero got his hooves worked on today.  The bottom picture shows his hooves before his trim.  I worked him on a long lead to see if his gait got any smoother, but it's hard to tell without getting in the saddle.  I'll check THAT tomorrow. 

It took Vaquero all of about 2 minutes to work off the long lead line.  He wanted to come in to me, but I shoved him out, and he picked up what I wanted pretty quickly.  That horse is no dummy.  You just have to show him twice, and he's got it.  It also means you have to be very consistent, because he WILL remember what you asked for and how you asked for it. He is the smartest horse I've worked with to date by a wide margin.  If I can keep up with him, there is tremendous potential there for a beautiful partnership.

He is flexing laterally very easily to both sides from the ground.  I think I'll work on his standing still for mounting tomorrow in the round pen.