Trail Ride at Canyon Lake with my Daughter...

This is going to be a hard story to write, and I've purposely let myself have a few days to absorb everything that happened before I tried to tell it. But here goes...

Breathe organized a trail ride at Canyon Lake to take place on a Sunday morning. I had convinced (basically mandated) that my daughter V attend with me on her horse Lola. I wanted the father-daughter bonding time, and I also wanted to "push" V into riding the horse that she had me buy her. To this point, her riding has been rare and for short rides.

The day before, V and I went on a trail ride in my neighborhood, where Lola had cantered for a short burst and sent V into a total panic. But after she recovered, she admitted it had been kind of fun. But V had never really cantered before that time, and I've been frustrated at her reluctance to even TRY to canter. Mainly because I know a rider can't expect a horse to NEVER canter, and the longer she puts it off, the bigger her freak out is going to be when the horse DOES canter. V is a very beginner rider, and doesn't always accept instruction well. She's my daughter, so I can say this, but I KNOW she has to be pushed sometimes.

Her attitude was bright on Sunday morning. We joined the riders at the trail head, and tacked up. Lola was being very good and relaxed, and V seemed relaxed as well, but with some of the nervous tension that we all have when riding with new horses. We headed out and all went well for much of the ride. Several times, Lola and V were walking SO slowly, they fell way behind, and I had to circle back and encourage her to trot.

Lola and V (in front), along with Sharon bringing up the rear

Woody, my Azteca mount, was a handful, and very much wanted to be in the front of the herd, which I could NOT allow him to do because I had to keep an eye out for V and Lola. In fact, he was being a huge pain in the rear, and I was regretting riding him in the snaffle I had chosen for the ride, because I was having a hard time rating his speed.

It was a perfect trail ride, and we were well on our way home when we came upon a nice, long, clear stretch of the trail. The front of the herd loped/trotted through the area, and I stayed back with V.



I then had the foolish notion that ended in disaster. Even though I almost NEVER lope when headed back to the trailer, I felt we were far enough away from the end of the trail ride that perhaps a lope wouldn't be out of the question. By this point, V had been trotting aggressively and seemed more comfortable with speed. I grabbed her lead rope with my right hand, kept her on my right, and told her we would go a little faster through this area. I had been ponying she and Lola at several points along the trail in an effort to encourage V to trot with me and keep up, and that had been working well, with me using Woody to keep Lola going.

We started off at a trot, and went into an easy lope. V was getting nervous, but was also smiling, so I thought I had made the correct decision to push her. Then it got ugly.

Woody accelerated, and Lola responded in kind. In a heartbeat, we were in a flat out out run. I hauled back on Woody's reins, but he had the snaffle out of his way and he was off to the races. V was hauling on Lola, but the two horses were in a competition, and they were both hard headed horses that wanted to win at all costs. We were nothing on their backs, and they had forgotten we even existed at that point. It was my worst nightmare; V was on a run away horse.

I realized at this point that the only way to stop Woody or Lola was a one-rein stop. But I had my right hand occupied with the lead rope, and I couldn't perform the maneuver. V had no idea how to do a one rein stop, and so she couldn't rate Lola down.

We were fast approaching the herd, and I hoped Woody and Lola would slow as we approached and allow me to regain control. But it quickly became apparent they intended to run through the herd and continue the race back to the end of the trail.

I started to circle Woody to the left, the only clear spot available, although it was marked by heavy grass and low brush. I figured that circling him to a stop was my only option. He did circle, and started to slow, but we were circling at a canter, and I knew this move was going to be tough for V to handle. I tried to make the circle as gradual as possible, hoping she would be able to ride through it. Lola only circled because I still had hold of the lead rope, but she was circling very wide, and the pressure for me to hold onto the lead rope was intense.

What happened next was told to me, as I was too busy with my task at hand to see it all. Apparently, the saddle started to slip off Lola as we went into that circle, and V started to slide off Lola with the saddle. At some point, she realized the situation was hopeless, and she lept off Lola, landing in the only clear spot of grass around. Lola continued on, and then started to kick at and destroy the saddle as it slipped underneath her body. At that point, I knew V was off, and the burn and pain in my hand told me I was losing flesh on my hand from my grip on that lead rope, and I released Lola and the lead rope. Lola finally ground to a halt, the saddle in pieces underneath her and the lead rope wrapped around her leg.

I can't begin to tell you the feeling in my stomach as I saw V on the ground. But I heard her starting to cry, and I knew that was a good sign. An even better one was when I saw her struggle to her feet. I jumped off Woody and handed the reins to another rider, and rushed to V, trying not to reveal the concern in my voice.

She was OK. Obviously she was shaken up, but she had no broken bones and no head injuries. Immediately, the other riders present, all female, told V that "these things happen", "oh, you should hear some of my stories about falling off a horse", "you didn't do anything wrong, it was the saddle", and so on.

I knew V was going to come off a horse sooner or later, and I knew it was going to be sooner, because her balance is bad and she hasn't been pushing herself to be a better rider. But I sure hadn't wanted it to be indirectly because of my actions. But I could NOT have asked for a better environment for V to be in when she did come off Lola. The riders were SO supportive, and not at ALL babying. In fact, after she had gotten most of her tears done with, they MADE her get up on another horse, a tall Tennessee Walker, and had her ride him to end of the trail. By the end, she was smiling and felt all the love and encouragement from the "girl power" that was infused into her.

I tied up the horses, and then left V to change into her bathing suit. Despite her fall, she wanted to "swim with the horses" as all the other riders were preparing to do.

I removed the broken saddle from Lola, tacked her up in my gear, and proceeded to ride the snot out of her back on the trail, and leading AWAY from the other horses. I wanted to kill both she and Woody, but for now, I was going to let her know that she needed to pay attention to signals. As suspected, she tested me a little bit, but she otherwise rode well, and after a few tries, was stopping so hard she jammed my spine. In other words, the situation was a difficult one, and she didn't have the rider to control her in that set of circumstances, and that's how I got us in the pickle that developed.

I changed into my swim trunks, and V and I "swam with our horses" leading them into Canyon Lake until the water was to their backs. V LOVED it. I couldn't get her out of the water. She enjoyed the entire experience, and delighted in cavorting with the other riders and their horses in such a unique treat of lounging in the water with the horses.

We finally got out of the water, and tied up the horses, letting them eat hay and dry slowly with the sun. The rest of the riders set up a picnic. V and I joined in, and were glad we had packed a healthy lunch. The stories went round and round the table, with many riders recounting their disasters and triumphs with various horses. V definitely felt she had experienced her own adventure.




We rested at home, and then V and I headed out on another trail ride that same day, and I taught V the one rein stop. She grinned wildly when she felt how quickly Lola stopped when she just used one rein rather than both. You could tell she enjoyed knowing how to use this "emergency brake".

V and Lola on a trail ride AFTER the fall...she's smiling!

Notice also the loop rein, breast collar, neoprene cinch, tight rear cinch, tie down, and bit with long shanks; I wasn't going to leave my baby defenseless again.

Since this past Sunday, V has shared her story with all her relatives and friends, and the story is getting better and more embellished with each telling. I am sorry V had to fall, but I actually feel the experience has helped her to grow by leaps and bounds, and has improved her horsemanship immensely.

As for Dad, well, you know I learned a lot, too. And I'll be scaling back on cantering on the trail, but I WILL be pushing V in the round pen; and I think she'll handle it just fine.

A Quick Ride on Woody

I haven't had much time to ride this week, but I did squeeze in a ride on Woody, my approximately 17 year old Azteca gelding. For a number of rides, when I ride in the front pasture, I've been circling all my horses in the same direction around two cones, and cueing for the correct lead while doing so. The idea was to be consistent, and see if this would help the horses learn correct lead departures. I hoped to be doing figure 8's at the canter, and eventually see if I could get some flying lead changes.

I put Woody through his paces, and he IMMEDIATELY picked up the correct leads going around both cones, right one way and left the other. Not a single misstep. He knew which direction I was going to ask for, and was ANTICIPATING the lead even before I could ask for it.

I then tried a few figure 8's, but slowing to a trot between circles, and again he was consistent. That was enough for me for the day, and I eased him out to do some trail riding.

I was riding him in a German martingale, to re-train him to keep himself in a bit more collected state. I don't think I had to get in his mouth more than a half a dozen times. I used my body to do all speed transitions and stops. It was amazing. He was a bit dull in the first 10 minutes, but the less I touched him with the reins, the softer and more responsive he became. It was like he was judging me as rider, trying to decide how "on" he needed/could be, and responded appropriately. In other words, as I've described him many times, he adjusts to his rider.

He only has a few faults: his trot is rough and requires a vigorous post, he raises his head more than I'd like when he's excited, and he can get energetic when he's headed home. I can't fault him for his trot; that's just how God made him. I can control his energy headed home. And the German martingale has done well to remind him to keep his head collected with use about every third ride.

But short of that, I'm always amazed when I ride him. This was even more obvious after riding the young filly over the weekend. It's such a contrast between a horse who knows everything and one who is just learning everything.

Thank you Woodrow, for such a great ride!

A Noteworthy Ride on a Young Horse...

I had occasion to go to South Texas and the ranch this past weekend. Unfortunately, I was already hauling a tractor, so I wasn't able to take any of my horses, and didn't anticipate getting any riding time. But as luck would have it, I did ride!

I went to James's ranch in Ramirez, TX. The soil there is sandy and fertile. It's good for growing grass and watermelon. He and my cousin had taken their horses to the vet to have Coggins' tests pulled, and James had managed to convince my cousin they should ride later that day. I drove over from the JAG Ranch in Benavides, TX with the friend who had accompanied me from San Antonio.

James was going to ride "Sugar", his older, grade QH mare. She's a solid mount, and usually offers no foolishness. My cousin was going to ride his red roan grade QH, aka "The Red Roan or Nacho". That horse has one heck of a smooth trot. The plan was to pony my cousin's filly, a grade QH/mustang cross about 3 years old, named "Mustang Sally". No one really wanted to mount the filly, as she hadn't been worked in about a year, and her training even up to that point hadn't been exactly solid. She'd been ridden, but when pastured a year ago, there were still a lot of issues left to be worked out.

I offered to handle the filly on the ground a bit. I made her lower her head, yield hindquarters, longe a bit, did some desensitization with the lead rope on different parts of her body, touched her all over, and generally just worked her until she licked and chewed and I felt had her attention. Now I knew I didn't have her RAPT attention, but I had more than when she was caught in the pasture 30 minutes prior. Maybe it was pride, because my cousin had been giving me grief about my blog that he teased me was self-serving. Maybe it was foolishness. But I announced that I would ride the filly.

I got a few stares. I think someone even called me crazy. But I tacked her up anyway. I wasn't going to be using a bit I would prefer to use in a young horse like her, but it was a bit with which I was familiar. I snugged up the cinch and rear strap well, lest she start bucking and throw the saddle. I half-mounted her several times, partly because I wanted her to stand still for mounting, partly because I wanted her to get used to the weight in the stirrup, and partly because she's damn near mutton-withered and I needed a good jump to mount her properly!

Finally, I was on her back. She wasn't quivering underneath me, but I could definitely feel tension. I worked on flexing her laterally from the saddle. She did very well. My cousin told me later that this was something the charro that had trained her some had worked on extensively. nice to see some of the lessons had stuck.

We headed out, James on Sugar, my cousin Frankie on Nacho, and me on Sally. Sally followed willingly, a little too willingly. It was obvious she was following them not because I wanted her to, but because SHE wanted to. This was obvious when I tried to stop her, and she resisted the bit and wanted to follow after the other two horses. I asked James and Frankie to stop for a moment, and then worked on stopping her. I knew she was stopping because the herd was stopped, but I wanted to at least cue her some to stop in case I needed a better stop down the trail. She had absolutely NO back up, I mean NONE. Pressure and cues to back up were just met with a lock down - no movement in any direction, a total "freeze". Frankie then told me that she had never learned to back up with the charro either. Hmm, this was going to be weird. I tend to really use the back up to settle a horse. That option was gone.

I did a lot of circling while the herd moving forward. That way, she would get used to turning away from the others, but then immediately get to turn back, a source of security for her. But each circle was bigger, and her turn AWAY from the herd a little longer.

We rode to a back pasture, where James had the idea we would work the cow herd back through some corrals to another pasture. Ordinarily, with three horses, I'd say that should be a reasonable task. But I knew I was going to be virtually worthless with Sally. As we walked, she wandered like a drunken sailor stumbling home, and I was constantly tweaking her to get her to walk straight. She also had a habit of wanting to walk next to the other horses, in such close proximity that she was TOUCHING and rubbed up on the other horse. Again, Frankie told me that this was one of her habits. Well, not with me! That felt absolutely dangerous to be letting her do that, so I started to anticipate her movement, and tipped her head away as soon as she started with this behavior. She still wanted to sneak her rear end over to touch the horses, however, so I had to put some leg pressure on her to get her hind end over. I was pretty nervous applying leg pressure to her - I didn't know if she'd blow up! But I came to realize that her problem is not one of "blowing up" but rather the "freeze". She is virtually dead to anything but extreme cues. When she feels pressured, she just stops dead in her tracks and won't move.

So on we rode to find the cow herd. James then informed me that Sally had never really seen cows, been in the same pasture with cows, and certainly never worked cows. Hoo boy, this was going to be interesting. Sugar had seen cows plenty. The roan had been a roping and sorting cow horse. But Sally was green.

We spotted the herd, and started to slowly move in. But necessarily, this meant that we had to split up some. As the other horses got further away, Sally's anxiety level increased. I could feel it. At one point, the other horses were out of sight, and Sally and I approached one particular cow that was reluctant to move. She started to freak out. She whinnied as loud as she could for the other horses. Her head was straight up in the air. She wanted to know where the other horses were and was calling for them to join her. The roan answered back from the brush just as loudly, only adding to Sally's anxiety and pretty much convincing her that she was indeed about to die.

Well, at this point, it was obvious that what little connection I had with Sally was gone. I was NOT in control and she was going to do whatever the herd dictated. I tried to move her forward, turn her, anything, but she was locked down and "frozen". "This is when the buck is going to happen," I thought. What to do?

I dismounted, and started to longe Sally. I had left a lead rope and halter attached in case I needed to do this, so I was prepared. It took some effort, but I got her unfrozen and started her moving in circles around me. About the same time, Frankie rode over with the red roan. He didn't say anything, but I suspect he was nervous with the red roan calling out so forcefully to the filly. I doubt my longeing had much effect, but the filly did settle down. But I think that was a result of her being close to the roan again, more than my efforts to get her to connect with me.

We rode on, but I was content to just keep Sally moving along the general direction of the cow herd, and with the roan close by. She obviously didn't have the confidence or number of rides needed to do much more than just walk a bit.

We caught up to James, who had abandoned his efforts at moving the cow herd. There was no way he was going to be able to do that solo and without riders on the wings of the herd, and Sally and the roan had proven they were not going to do much to help this ride.

We settled in and rode on together for a few more miles. Sally did start walking straighter, and gained some confidence. I rode her ahead of the others at a trot at times. She kept looking back, but I kept her moving and anticipated the "freeze" better. I was trying to build up her confidence. I think it worked some.

The same number of riders that left, came back, and that's the mark of a good ride any day. The horses got a work out, and I got my adrenalin fix for the day, for sure.

At the end of the ride, Frankie complimented me on the size of my "guts" (another term was used) for even attempting to ride Sally.

Sally has a long way to go, but like a lot of young horses, she has promise. Whether she'll reach her potential remains to be seen. But it was great to be riding, chasing after cows, down a long trail, with friends, as the sun faded and set, in the glory of South Texas.

A Nighttime Trailride...

With all the focus on riding Lola into better condition, and keeping Woody (my Azteca) ridden and tuned up, my paso fino Vaquero has been languishing back at the barn. But last ride out I used my new Myler snaffle bit with the mecate rein set-up, and he rode reasonably well. He was high strung and over anxious, but I was impressed how much better he rode in the snaffle versus the Myler bit with shanks I usually use with him. With the snaffle, he was much more calm and less prone to over-react when I asked for simple movements.

I got home late, but I talked James into riding a few trails with me and Vaquero. He mounted Frosty. I reasoned that it was a full moon and already up, so we would have that to light the way home.

Frosty and James

Right away, I had to deal with some extra energy from Vaquero as I tried to position him to allow me to open a gate. He's never been good at relaxing by a gate. But with some patience, we succeeded. And then we were off. I was hoping to ride hard and fast, but James had reservations with Frosty, his 2 year old colt, because Frosty's stop is not very good. As it was getting dark fast, I agreed to ride slow, and set a goal to use this ride to keep Vaquero as calm as possible.

It was a great success. Vaquero gave me his flat walk, and responded well when I cued him to relax. The snaffle bit is NOT a fluke. This is the second good ride in a row with this set-up. What I think is that Vaquero has a lot of brio (read try) and engaging his mouth just gets him more fired up than he needs to be. He's already ready to do anything I ask, so to ask harder just gets him OVER excited.

In fact, I doubt he needs a bit at all. I think he would ride just fine bit-less. The snaffle gives ME the security I want, and it's easier to ride him because it's like the power steering is OFF and he's not so touchy.

James even commented after the ride, "I think that's your trail horse". And the truth is, he is a great trail horse when he is able to relax. Maybe I've found the key with this bit.

By the way, riding with the full moon was awesome. I was very proud of both horses for not spooking at all the shadows and deer that kept popping up on the trail like ghosts. I think I was more spooked than they were several times...

Trail Ride with Breathe....

Breathe and Smokey

Woody and me

I had an awesome trail ride with Breathe today. I hauled over to Canyon Lake and we had a nice 7 mile trail ride along the shoreline, on the Old Hancock Trail. It was hot, but enjoyable, and capped off with a swim with the horses. I can't show you pics of that because I was scantily clad in my black boxers, but it was the best end to a trail ride I've ever had. The horses genuinely seemed to enjoy getting in the water and cooling off. At one point, I rode Woody bareback while he swam underneath me. It was quite a feeling. Neither the people nor the horses were anxious to get out of the water.

Breathe's stable owner joined us at one end of the trail head. She breeds for Aztecas, and she looked at Woody and agrees that he is probably Azteca.

Definitely going to be heading out to Canyon Lake again soon.

A ride on Frosty...

Frosty is my friend James's horse. He's a grade quarter horse mix. His sire was a mustang, and his dam a grade QH. He's all of 2 years old. James has done a lot of work with him since he was a foal, and he brought him to the ranch this Spring with the express goal of breaking him. Well, it went just great, and James has been riding him rather regularly. I have stayed off Frosty's back...mostly because I don't want to interfere with the bond James has with Frosty, but also because I was a little nervous about getting on such a young horse!

Lately, James has been really struggling with getting Frosty to make a circle. I mean ANY kind of circle at the trot or canter. Frosty goes all over the place, and will swing wide and James can't turn him. He'll have his head bent around and Frosty will still be going straight through the turn, until he runs into a fence. There's been a lot of swearing going on when this happens.

Well, I've just about bit my tongue off to keep from saying much while I watch these episodes. But I've been studying how James rides more intently lately, to try to spot the problem.

Today, my nephew and I rode with James and Frosty in the front pasture. The usual spectacle began to unfold, followed by frustration on James's part.

I got brave, and asked James if I could ride Frosty. I had been wanting to anyway, and here was my chance to see what I could do. Now the pressure was on to see if I knew a damn thing about anything.

I asked them to position themselves in the usual spot where we sit mounted while a rider works the cones. I wanted all the same distractions that Frosty usually deals with. Frosty and I argued a little bit about standing still for mounting, and then I was up in the stirrups. We did some walking, and I was careful to use direct reining with the snaffle in which he was being ridden. I worked my way around the cone, gradually building up energy to the trot. My circles with him were pretty darn good, better than anything James had done with him up to that point, in my opinion. James yelled, "He's OK at the trot. It's at the canter that he falls apart!" Well, I thought that was baloney, because I'd seen how poorly he circles at the trot too, but I kicked him up to the canter. Now Frosty is VERY left lead dominant, and cannot sustain the right lead for very long at all, and I was doing a clockwise circle asking for the right lead; but he did get into the canter and the circle was just as good. I stopped Frosty, and handed the reins to James.

What had I done differently than James to get these results?

When I watched James ride Frosty, I noticed a lot of outside rein pressure during turns. That means Frosty had a pull on the inside AND outside rein. That's not a very clear signal, especially to a young horse. That's going to get a lot of sloppy turns and build confusion and a lack of confidence in this young horse. When I rode him, I was careful to use only INSIDE rein pressure and keep the outside rein quiet and out of his way. I also did a lot of slight pressure and RELEASE as soon as he tipped his nose for me. It didn't take long before he knew that the fastest way to get the release was to give to the bit and tip his nose. Already, he was feeling more confident and sure of himself.

Frosty tends to turn wide. Well, his motor was running but his body wasn't positioned properly. He needed a little help to know how to turn with a rider mounted. So when his turn got a little wide, I used my inside leg to re-direct his hindquarters over so we could then use that motor to complete the turn.

So the combination of more clear reining signals and using my legs to move his hindquarters over kept us turning a pretty circle around the cone. I also tried to focus on keeping my shoulders level. A few times I dipped my inside shoulder, and he cut the circle short. That was MY fault, not his. Shoulders level, and we were fine again.

We circled several times at a fast trot and short bursts of controlled canter. (Remember, he can't sustain a right lead canter yet). It was getting late, and I had to get my nephew inside, so I rode away from James and left him trying to canter circles in the dark.

Later, at supper, James stated some observations he had made that evening. He stated that as a rider, he is unbalanced. That is to say, he has an easier time riding when his right leg is the inside leg, than when his left leg is the inside leg and he has to apply pressure to Frosty. And, he had underestimated how much Frosty needs leg pressure to move his hindquarters over and make a better circle. Remember, this horse is only on about his 30th ride. He's still figuring out this riding stuff. He NEEDS guidance to make a good circle. Also, he admitted that he may be using more outside rein pressure than he should. That is to say, he needs to focus on his reining cues to make things more clear to Frosty.

Honestly, James never circled all that well on his other horse, Bullseye, either. I think what we've really discovered are holes in James's riding abilities.

Now James has taught Frosty a lot of great things, and way they round pen together is amazing. He also loads well, and has a solid foundation in MANY aspects. But eventually, the best ground trained horse has to be mounted, and if the rider's skills are not up to snuff, the great ground horse will not show up when ridden.

I really like these moments: when you finally realize something is amiss, you identify the problem, and start a course of action to correct course. I think James had one of those moments today, and I think Frosty will soon be riding better.

What's that saying? Oh yeah...there are no problem horses, only problem riders.

Family and Horses...

Will and Lola, me and Woody

My niece and nephew are in town and staying with me for the week, and I have my kids for the next week as well, so this evening was the start of some fun at my place.

My nephew is trying to be a cowboy, and my mother helped him today by buying him some jeans, a hat, and some boots. I was more than willing to comply by getting him on a horse. But first, he watered the horses and helped muck stalls, a little. I outfitted him on Lola and we did some riding, with me ponying Lola on Woody. After a few pointers and several safe laps, and within the confines of the front pasture, I turned him loose. We walked, and he did a really good job with Lola. He just might be a natural. No fear and he was not upset when he had to bring her around to keep her from walking to the gate that she thinks is the way out of work.

I parked my nephew and Lola in a corner of the pasture and worked Woody. Just nice circles around the cones. He picked up both leads well, and only needed correction from counter-cantering one time. He worked up a nice sweat, and it was about 15 steady minutes of canter/trot. His stop and back up were much sharper. This is my second ride in a row with him without an intervening beginner on his back, and he's already sharpening up.

Hopefully, there will be a lot more riding this week...