Conditioning

I've been thinking about what happened on Lola, and all her stumbling, and I've come to the conclusion that the poor girl probably does have a little something going on in the right hind, but I also think she is not well conditioned, and breaks down a bit more when she is tired. And right now, it's too easy for her to get tired.

I have consulted with a vet, before embarking on this problem. Lola is not obviously lame. I notice her right hind moving funny, but someone who didn't live with her and see her every day, wouldn't notice it. My vet didn't nor did my trainer. But I know it's there. But until it's more obvious, there isn't much to do about it. But I can work on her conditioning.

Yesterday, James and I embarked on a more scheduled pattern of riding, to build up the horses. We jogged (read trotted) Lola and Woody for 2 miles, splitting the time posting on either shoulder so as not to hammer one shoulder more than the other. We worked on gentle collection; I kept Woody VERY collected since he's in better shape, and James rode Lola lightly collected since she isn't in great shape. There were very few stumbles, and both horses performed well.

We then went to the round pen and worked on cantering in the correct lead. My round pen is big enough for riding, and we kept the horses on the rail to keep the circle as big as possible and avoid tight circles that could unduly stress joints. Lola was doing better at taking the correct lead, although still a little reluctant to take the right lead. James did a good job of riding her in the correct position to facilitate a proper lead departure.

We cantered in each direction for 4 circles, then rested the horses. We did this for 3 sets, or a total of 12 cantering circles in each direction. Lola was wet, but not soaked or lathered at the end of this activity. Woody was warm and a touch wet, but he looked to be in better shape than Lola.

I hope to continue this program and advance it as the horses respond. FYI: Lola's manners are much better since the frequent riding has begun. In fact, all the horses' manners are improved. Amazing what giving them a job will do to sweeten their disposition.

A fall on Lola...

Had a very eventful weekend, to include a lesson. But I'll skip to what happened this afternoon. I went to a friend's place to ride, in a very good arena. I've been riding Lola frequently, building up her conditioning. On Saturday, my instructor commented on what a good horse Lola is and how she appeared to be sound. But she did stumble a few times while being worked. Breathe was there and saw it happen. In fact, Lola stumbles all the time. She is a "stumbling horse". I've been concerned she has some source of lameness, but nothing has been obvious,to me or the vet or the farrier.

Today, I was riding her in the arena, and working on her right lead. She seems to be left lead dominant, so I wanted to build up her right. We were cantering, hit a slightly deeper sand area, she stumbled and went down on her head. I leaped off when it was apparent she was going down. I suffered a minor scrape, and Lola bounced back up quickly. She was dripping blood from her mouth from a tear in her lip. I checked her mouth well, but there did not appearto be any interior mouth damage. She alsomwas not limping in any discernable way.

Lola is a "stumbling horse". She stumbles at the walk just leaving the barn, she generally does better when warmed up, but the stumbles never leave her completely. She does not work off her back end, is heavy footed, and even heavy to lift her feet for picking. She is a lovely horse, nice buckskin color, 14.3 HH, 14 years old, loads well, doesn't rear or buck, and is probably for sale. I'm sure there is some reasonable explanation for why she stumbles, but I'm darned if I'll spend much money to figure it out. I'm sorry, but I can see 1-2k being spent to vet this problem, and she will just probably never be the athletic horse I want her to be. And all I can think about is what if itnhad been my daughter on her at the canter, with my knowledge that Lola stumbles often.

Lesson this Saturday...

This Saturday, I'm taking a lesson with my horse mentor, Marty Wernle. Marty is an older gentleman that I worked with about 3 years ago.

You see, I had ridden horses in my youth, but had no formal instruction at that time. I just bumped along and generally did well when I was paired with an experienced horse, but did terribly with my own mount, a very INexperienced horse. I have described my adventures with Marty in a previous post.

Needless to say, I am VERY excited to be going back with the man that helped me so much to improve my riding skills. I use MANY of the things he taught me every day in my riding. I have no idea why I waited so long to call him him and continue my education. I can only say that I was anxious to get out there and start DOING. But 5 horses and 3 years later, I think I need to go back to school.

Specifically, I have certain things I want him to teach me, and I want him to teach me how to teach my horse. I want to be able to do some basic spins, and rollbacks. I'm not sure all my horses will be able to pull this off, but I want to try.

Also, I want him to confirm that some of the things I THINK I do well, I am indeed doing properly. For example, I think I'm good at teaching a horse to yield hindquarters, depart on the correct lead, stop, back up, side-pass, and cross over in the front reasonably well. But I want to be able to REALLy have a horse corss over on their front end, REALLY do a good rollback, and at least do a decent spin.

And I want to hear some of his stories. He has a way of teaching where he gets his point across, and you learn something about the history of the horse in the process.

I can't wait to ride with him again...

Just one of those special days...

I love these days...the days when everything you've been working on falls together...when you and the horse feel like one organism...when the trot is held with a steady rhythm that allows you to post ever so gently, your bottom gently hitting the saddle for just a moment before it's back up again...a trot so steady and consistent it's easy to switch shoulders during posting...when the canter comes easily and with just the slightest shift of energy...departing on the correct lead....when the horse stays collected with just the slightest pinky rein pressure of bit contact in the mouth...when the stop is sure and fast...when the back up gives you 3, 4, and 5 steps backwards without resistance...when all the gates are opened as if the horse knew exactly where you needed to be to get that stubborn latch while mounted...when there is no rush to get back to the barn...I love when Woody and I are connected and united in our riding...these are the days you live for as a horseman.

Weekend rides.

A great weekend in Bulverde. Ideal temperatures, mild days with high around 70.

Good ride on Woody this weekend. He's doing well, but seems to be riding better with spurs. He side-passes to open gates better with spurs to remind him to move. He is still lacking in motivation to give a great stop and back up, but improving. Continuing to ride nicely collected.

Rode Lola on Sunday night. She is doing well. Attitude improving from the frequent riding. She gave me that great fast walk I like so much. She is starting to show better conditioning, sustaining the canter for longer stretches without slowing to the trot and having to be reminded to canter. Taking both leads reasonably well, but still smoother on the left lead. Great stop and backing up like a champ. Still needs reminding to stay collected. No spurs for this girl, as she would react too much. But she needs work side-passing to the left. To the right is not a problem. I'll probably try to reinforce that with some ground work, but making her open and close a gate gives a lot of reinforcement too; nothing like a gate bumping her right side at the same time my leg is bumping her to remind her to move over to the left!

I'm never sure if the horse is the one that's more comfortable side-passing one way, or if it's me. I too am more comfortable side-passing to the right to open/close gates, and I may cue better in that direction, or may have given my horses more practice going that way inadvertently.

Ah well. Nobody's perfect.

Too long...

It's been a good while since I've posted, but as Spring approaches, it's time to fire up the blog and the horses.

I gave the horses the winter off, for the most part. They have been ridden occasionally, but only maybe once a month. They got fat and woolly. Several days ago, they received their spring injections and vaccinations, and I started to get them back in shape.

Rations were cut back. They all need to drop their winter weight. Woody has been ridden about 3 times in the last 7-10 days. He was also round penned. He didn't take long to sharpen up. Already, he is stopping well, cantering on both leads easily, and riding in a collected manner. I want to focus on round penning some more, because he is my most reluctant horse to "join up" in the round pen. And I think he and the others ride better when they are more "joined up'. But he is still "the bomb" and I have serious plans to enter an ACTHA event with Woody this year.

I've been riding Lola, the grade QH mare 14 years old, as well. She has about 4 rides on her in the last several days. For the first few rides, she rode without a hitch. Quickly thereafter, she began to stumble and displayed reluctance to take the right lead. She took the left lead, but was nowhere near smooth. However, for the last few rides, she has begun to smooth out and displayed the smooth trot that she has always possessed. I am working on riding her in a more collected fashion, and working to strengthen up her neck and flexion. Her stop is excellent. And she is backing up much better than last year. As a reminder, this is my second year with Lola. Hopefully, she will remain sound. I'd like to enter some cow working events with her this year.

Vaquero, my fire breathing paso fino, has been ridden once. He did well, but is clearly out of shape. Since I do not have any plans to enter any events with him this year, it's going to be hard to find time to work him properly. I still enjoy him, but I cannot see entering him in any endurance events or ACTHA events due to his excitability. He is a great trail riding horse, but one cannot open gates easily from his back. He is so touchy to even the slightest touch, that cueing him gently can be a real challenge. He may be relegated to ground work and desensitization. Also, since I am the only one willing to ride him, he'll be my mount if guests are riding Woody and Lola. It seems no one can get past his fast moving feet long enough to realize the smoothness of the rider on his back. And frankly, he is not for a beginner. You have to watch your feet and legs so as not to cue him inadvertently.

That's it for now. Updates and pics to follow.

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.