Trail Horse Adventures

The Benefits of Clicker Training

2011-11-09T08:21:00.000-08:00

I was riding Cole in the arena the other night, and a really nice boarder at our barn brought her horse in to lounge. She has a sweet Paint mare, that I have never seen truly misbehave, but her owner is afraid to ride her. She needs to lounge her a lot before she will ride her, and with her busy work schedule, she usually doesn’t have the time to both lounge and ride. As we all know, fear isn’t logical, and it certainly isn’t in this case.

I thought that demonstration of the usefulness of clicker training might help her. I told her that she would be less worried if she knew that, whatever she was doing, all she had to do was say “whoa,” and her mare would stop. I trotted down the wall, said “whoa,” and Cole instantly stopped. I clicked and treated him. I also explained that I don’t need to treat him every single time at this point. I just click him now and then to keep him sharp.

I then told her how he will stand until I tell him to move off—explaining how convenient this is if you are on trail and a dozen motorcycles come flying down the road. Instead of worrying if Cole will be frightened by them, I ask him to stop and stand until they pass. Since he is hoping for a click, he is more focused on me then the traffic. He has never spooked at something when I do this.

I then told her how he stands perfectly for mounting, listens to me about when to change gaits instead of following the horse ahead of him, and if he starts to get excited, I can just wiggle a rein, his head goes down and he is listening to me, again.

Then, I dismounted and showed her how he will do the same thing when I lead him if I point the whip handle towards the ground. He will keep his head down the whole time the whip is down, as if there is a rope going from the whip to his bit. (I should have shown her how he does it when we trot in hand, too.)

I didn’t think she was convinced, yet, so I got back on and started trotting him. I threw the reins down on his neck, lifted my arms in the air for a few strides and said, “whoa.” Of course he stopped. She gasped, but it turns out that she was amazed that he kept his frame in perfect self carriage with, if anything, more impulsion than when I was holding the reins. I thought about it, and got pretty amazed myself. I had to do it again to see if he would repeat his performance. This time, I trotted longer without the riens before asking him to stop. He did even better.

Still, my friend didn’t seem convinced that clicker training can do awesome things. I then tried one more thing. I told her, “Let’s say you are out on the trail and you drop something.” I then threw my whip to the ground.

Cole immediately stopped, reached down and picked the whip up. I took it out of his mouth, clicked and treated him.

She started laughing uproariously—she was so amazed. I think his trick won her over. Funny thing is, it is just a trick. All those other things are wonderful things that make him a safer horse—consequently making a more confident rider—just what my friend needs. Chances are, if I dropped something on the trail, he would reach down and probably start to graze!

Beautiful Fall Weather for Trail Riding

2011-11-07T09:45:00.000-08:00

What a perfectly pretty November weekend in northeast Ohio. Of course, you could find me out on the trail with my Morabs. I love this weather.

Friday, I took my very last evening trail ride of the year. The time changed this weekend, and I no longer have the daylight to ride on the trail. Anyway, Cruiser made it a good one. He was energetic and silly. What else would I expect from him on a cool evening…? I rode Cole in the arena, and he wasn’t too keen on working. Before the ride, I turned him loose to play. He ran and ran and ran. I think he used most of his energy up, and didn’t have any for the ride. We did get some things accomplished, though. I will try them again, tonight, to see if he remembers them.

Saturday, I rode Cruiser with my sister and her horse Ranger. We went for about an hour and a half. It was quite chilly, and at one point, we got off to lead to warm up our toes. It was warmer when I took Cole out. He was just so perfect, I couldn’t really believe it. We mostly trotted—too and from home. The first few times I asked him to canter, he didn’t get it. Later, I asked him again—and we went right into it so beautifully…

Sunday, I took Cole with Ranger up to the show ring trails—as we do most Sundays. He gave me an A+ ride. (We like to grade our rides, and A+ doesn’t come up that often.) We trotted most of the time, and at one point, my sister asked Ranger to canter. When I asked Cole, he agreed, and once again, we had a beautiful transition. We didn’t get too far, because Ranger came back to a trot before we wanted him to. Cole had to do the same—as I didn’t want him to run past Ranger. Still, it was the first successful canter together. I then took Cruiser out for his 5-mile sprint. We met my boyfriend with Starry at the turnaround point, and we walked back with them.

My sister has a day off, tomorrow, so I took the day off, too. I am running out of vacation, but that’s the point this time of year. We are running out of good weather, too. Tomorrow promises to be another beauty.

A day off to ride

2011-11-03T07:51:00.001-07:00

I took yesterday off from work because they were forecasting perfect weather—and they were right.

Cole and I went on a 2:37 hour ride. He wasn’t quite as good as last time—he went through a balky stage, tossed in some squeals and spins during the ride, and it took a little more work to settle down his trot towards home. We did canter 4 times for short distances, and that was really nice. He didn’t do the mad gallop that I have gotten in the past, but an actual canter. After that, he was no longer balky at the trot. He was good going past the utility workers, but he didn’t like the truck that was painting lines on the road at all. Though he could have been better, he wasn’t bad for only the 4th long ride by himself. I don’t know if I will get any more this year because the weather gets so questionable.

I took Cruiser out on a quick 5-mile. He was great, of course. He got pretty excited on the way home, because he thought he might find Starry like he did last time, so he did some pretty fast gaiting instead of walking. Finally, he passed up some horses and calmed down the rest of the way home.

I took a break for dinner with my boyfriend and then came back to feed the horses. I was exhausted after all that. I need to get into better shape!

Halloween Rides

2011-11-01T09:56:00.001-07:00

I took Cruiser on a quick trail ride before sunset, and we didn’t see a soul—not even the headless horseman. It was a cool and pretty evening. There are still some leaves on the trees, and they were very vibrant in the dimming light of the evening. Next weekend, the time changes, and there will be no more trail rides after work. I sure will miss them.

I then rode Cole in the arena. I had the place all to myself. We worked on a little of this and a little of that. I still can’t get him to canter, but I was able to get him to trot faster—not just bigger. I am hoping that if he figures out the speed up command, I can just keep speeding him up until he will canter. I wish I had been brave enough with this last year to introduce it then. I think he would have been more open minded. I’m getting somewhat frustrated. We are cantering a little bit on the trail, but the transitions are still explosive.

The weather is supposed to be nice tomorrow, and if I can get control of my workload, I will take the day off to take them both on a trail ride. The weekend is looking good, too, for a change.

House Cat Tip of the Month

2011-10-31T13:17:00.000-07:00

House Cat Tip of the Month

I thought of this one when I brought my plants in for the winter. Thunder is fascinated and loves poking around in them. He doesn’t try to eat the plants, too much, but to discourage him from that idea, I put long stalks of grass from outside in them.

Now, he noses around in them, finds his grass and nibbles on that. It keeps him entertained, protects the plants, and best of all, gives him something safer to eat than houseplants.

Of course, I use grass that doesn’t have anything sprayed on it that might hurt him.

(pictures are Stormy, my sister's cat.)

Fun with Horses

2011-10-31T09:00:00.000-07:00

We had a nice, horse weekend. The river wasn’t crossable, but our younger niece came out, and she made it fun for us. I started out riding Cole in the arena. He had a lackluster day. I then let my niece take him down the hill to the river. He was pretty good for her, and she is getting used to his bouncy walk down hills. When we got to the bottom, we let her trot on the flat part a bunch of times. Cole has a normal trail trot, and she was posting is beautifully. (She can’t manage his arena trot, but most people can’t.) I think she had fun with him. He was fine going back up the hill.

Then, we saddled up Cruiser and Ranger. My sister came with us on foot. We did the hill 3 times. At the bottom, we did do some trotting, and Cruiser showed his true colors as he burst past Ranger at a canter. Once he got in the lead, he was happy to trot. Ranger handled it well—but then he is used to it from Cruiser. May Cruiser never grow old…

Sunday, the river was low enough, so my sister and I took Ranger and Cole up to the show ring trails and had a really nice ride. It was a frosty morning—glad we had our thermal underwear on! I then took Cruiser on a quick 5-mile ride. He was in a great mood. We rode across the ford, and the only 2 motorcycles to brave the chilliness had to pass us when we were in the middle of it. He got scared and tried to run off towards home, but I was able to contain him. That certainly got our adrenaline going. It took a while to settle him down.

On the way home, we met my boyfriend on Starry and my sister on foot. We all ambled home, chatting.

Anyone looking to rent a house?

2011-10-31T08:39:00.000-07:00

These are pictures of the house my brother and I bought. We are going to make some revisions to it and then rent it out. Isn't it cute? It isn't as big as it looks in the pictures, though.

I think this is all a great idea, but it is still a scary thing to do. I hope we can find a nice tenant who wants to stay in it for a long time...

Farrier Night

2011-10-28T07:49:00.000-07:00

Last night was farrier night. my sister and I come out to the barn after work. Sometimes, the farrier gets there before us because he does another horse at our stables. When he finishes, he starts Cruise and Ranger. He waits for me to do Cole so I could help with holding him.

When I got there, my sister was talking to him and there were no horses in the crossties. I was surprised and wondered what was going on. My sister said that they started Cole, and he was so bad that they put him in the stall to wait for me to get there. I was disappointed. I have been working hard the last 2 weeks reviewing his training. She said he was kicking and rearing and biting—now, I started to get skeptical. That didn’t sound like my Cole Train.

She was kidding. He was perfect. The only thing he did wrong was nibble the farrier and chew the crossties. When she got there, he was nearly done and only wanted to know if I wanted the shoes back on or not.

Alas, with the impending doom of winter, snow, ice, cold and a frozen river that we won’t cross, we decided to pull Ranger’s and Cole’s shoes. I leave them on Cruiser because he seems to need the support with his healed bowed tendon and carpal tunnel syndrome. Last year when I pulled them, he quickly became lame. He did fine when I put them back on. (The vet said to keep them on, but I thought I would see what happened…)

The ponies get the day off, today. I am going to a local play with my boyfriend. We will be back on Saturday with my youngest niece…

Evening Rides

2011-10-27T11:03:00.001-07:00

There was only a little daylight after work and the river was too high to cross, again. I rode Cruiser up and down the hill three times. He was quite energetic, and even did some gaiting up the hill. (Cruiser has standard gaits, but he also does a stepping pace when he is excited. He can get quite fast. He must have gotten it from his Morgan side, as there are gaited Morgans.) When we got back to the barn, it started to rain, lightly. Perfect timing. It rained the rest of the night.

I worked Cole in the arena. Since I took him on the 2.5 hour trail ride with a lot of trotting just the day before, I planned a quiet ride. I’m glad to say he had just as much energy as a typical day. Still, I didn’t push him too hard. We did some trotting, got our 10 clickable walk/trot transitions, worked on our corners and straight sides at a walk, threw in some trotting and then started something new—walk/whoa transitions using the reins. I might have taught him that last year, but he stops quite well with a verbal command—I have gotten lazy. I realized we needed to get a solid stop with the reins. It didn’t take long—maybe 5 tries and he understood it. I only clicked him for perfect halts. I will review this lesson a lot, since it is a good one for warm ups and walk breaks.

We then had to show off to everyone how he picks up my whip if I drop it. he loves picking things up, so it is a good way to reward him for being such a good boy.

Steady Trotting Home

2011-10-26T09:52:00.001-07:00

Steady Trotting Home

The trails by our barn do not form any sort of loop. Basically, we ride out to our desired distance, turn around and come back. There are a few tiny loops, but they join the main trail, so the horses get that definite feeling that they are headed home.

Most horses will travel faster on the way home than on the way out—that is a given. Horses like to be home where their friends are. This doesn’t happen if we are riding Cruiser and Ranger together. They seem to feel that they are the herd and there is nothing to rush home to. By themselves, though, they step up the pace, too.

A faster gait on the way home if fine, but it must be a steady and controllable gait. It was time to teach Cole this lesson.

We have practiced trotting towards home with Ranger, and Cole seems happy to follow along at the speed of Range. It taught him a lot. Now, it was time to work on doing it alone.

As of writing this, we have gone on 3 long rides as described above. We did do some trotting towards home for short stretches with mixed results. On the third ride, we went further than ever. I didn’t want to do a lot of walking back because it would have taken forever. It was time to work on long stretches of trotting back to the herd.

Shortly after turning around to go towards home, I asked him to trot. He went very, very fast. After about ten seconds with no slowing, regardless of what I did, I decided it was time to start all over. Cole reluctantly stopped when I asked him to. We walked a bit, and then I asked him to trot. This time, he went even faster, and before I knew it, we were cantering—and he didn’t want to stop. I had to do the old “swerve to the left—swerve to the right” a few times to slow him down. Once he got to the trot, I turned him around a tree until he was going away from home, and we walked a little bit. It was clear that I had to come up with a plan.

We were heading back towards home, and I asked him for a trot. A few strides later, before he could gain speed, I said “whoa” and clicked for the stop. We did that a few more times. Each time, he was more cooperative about stopping. I got his attention.

My next step was to allow him to trot, and this time click him for slowing down when I asked him. We did this 4-5 times—I don’t remember how many times—and each time, he improved, but I noticed that he didn’t stop right away to get his treat. He kind of just coasted down to a walk.

The flash bulb went off. I didn’t need clicker, now. What Cole really wanted was to keep trotting. I would use that as my reward. I asked him to trot, and of course, he rushed off, again. I asked him to slow down, and when he did, I eased up on the reins, told him how good he was and let him just continue to trot at that nice speed. If he didn’t slow down, I would stop him and try it, again. (This actually didn’t happen, but it was part of the plan.) He made the connection. I didn’t have any more troubles with him the rest of the way home. When he sped up more than I wanted him, I asked him to slow, he did and then we just went on our merry way.

We did a fair amount of transitions, threw in some walk breaks and smiled all the while. We walked the last half hour except for one section of trail that was fairly close to home. I wanted to test him. We were close enough that Cruiser and Ranger will sometimes give us trouble if we trot there. We trotted 3 separate trots on that trail. The first two were perfect, but the last one, he didn’t respond to my slow down requests. He still stopped, though, when I asked him.

Overall, I think it was an excellent training session. The active training part didn’t take much more than 5 minutes. The rest was easy. Clicker helped, but figuring out that sometimes there are things that are more important than carrots helped, too. Clicker merely explained to him what I wanted.

It was a two and a half hour ride, with nearly an hour and a half of trotting. The weather was perfect and my horse just keeps getting better and better. I sure wish winter wasn’t right around the corner…

4-day weekend of rain...again

2011-10-24T11:39:00.001-07:00

Yes, another rained out long weekend for my sister and me…

Thursday, the river was too high. We rode Cruiser and Ranger up and down the hill 3 times. I worked with Cole in the arena, and we had fun. My sister rode him for a little bit, and it was nice because then I could watch him. He is quite a sight. I then led him down to the river as a reward.

Friday, the river was still way to high to cross. This time, we rode Cruiser and Ranger in the arena, too, so we could get some good exercise. Cruiser is doing so much better this year than last. I am optimistic that we may be able to get back some of what we used to have…Ranger did very well, too. We then rode them down the hill, once. I rode Cole in the arena. A woman who had seen him last week came over to video him to show her daughter. When she left, Cole started to do some amazing things.

His one fault in trotting is that he has been carrying his head too low. I didn’t push the issue, but just gave him time to find himself. Well, he trotted a few steps with his head in the correct position, so I clicked him. Being a good clicker horse, he then repeated it right away. I clicked him about 10 times for it, and then just let him keep trotting. My sister videoed him for me so I could affirm that his gait was still proper. I’m glad to say it was. We practiced it for about 5 minutes, and at the end, he started some new movement that felt like floating. I don’t know what he did, but my sister said it was beautiful. She had already put her camera away. We quit, then, and went down the hill to the river.

Then we waited for the vet to come out to give fall shots. She also did Cole and Ranger’s teeth. Cruiser was fine.

Saturday, the river was still too high. We rode Cruiser and Ranger on the hill. Cole’s arena ride was a little shorter because the arena got too crowded to work. He was trotting with his head up, again, but he also discovered he could go faster that way! We were trotting like we were on the trail—channeling his Dan Patch heritage (famous Standardbred he is related to.) When he slowed up, I clicked him. Since we quit early, I don’t know how it would have developed. We then went down the hill.

Sunday, we were finally able to cross the river and took Cole and Ranger out together for an hour and a half. It was a gorgeous day. Ranger was feeling his oats, and he did lots of silly things. Cole was consistently well-behaved. I took Cruiser out for a 5-mile blast, and we had a terrific time. Finally, a trail-riding day!!!

Evening Rides

2011-10-18T08:44:00.001-07:00

It was a lovely night for riding, yesterday. My boyfriend got in the saddle before I got there—I got caught in traffic. I saddled up Cruiser, and away we went to meet his buddy Starry. Cruiser knew the game, and as usual, I had to keep slowing him down. We met them about 20 minutes later, and I talked my boyfriend into turning around and continuing with us until the next river crossing. it was such a pretty night, that it didn’t take much coaxing. Even his horse didn’t mind turning away from home—but of course, he had his best friend, Cruiser with him.

I rode Cole in the indoor arena. You may recall that I have had some confidence issues with him in there. My confidence, not his. Well, I rode with 4 other horses, and I trotted all around with them. I think I have finally slain the dragon. He was as well-behaved as always. I think we will be able to manage winter with riding in the indoor arena with all the other horses just fine, this year. He was doing his “big trot.” We were riding with big TBs and a QH, and they were quietly plodding about. Then here comes tiny (14.2) Cole Train—boom-boom-boom-boom…trotting like a dressage king. He doesn’t go that fast. When he trots like that, he slows the beat down and steps with great power. He was quite a contrast to the horses we were with.

He was doing so well, that a couple times, when we took a stretch break, I dropped the whip intentionally so he could pick it up for me. He loves that game.

The boys get the day off, today, so I can catch up with things at home. I have a Thursday and Friday off—they are predicting a lot of rain…

Another Long Rainy Weekend

2011-10-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

A long weekend for us, at least this year, means rain.

The weather was great on Thursday. My sister and I planned to go on our favorite ride with Cole and Ranger up to the show ring.10 minutes down the trail, we had to turn around. The electric company was trimming the trees under the wires by the trail. To make matters worse, the trail that we would take to get away from them goes out to the street by a bridge—and there were construction workers repairing it. They were blocking the trail. we turned around and went the other direction on the trail. (Later on, they were using a jackhammer on the bridge—I’m so glad we didn’t try to get through the construction.)

We went on a nice ride, just the same, for about an hour and a half total. We did a lot of trotting and managed a little bit of cantering. The foliage was gorgeous and the temperature was moderate.

When I got back with Cole, I took Cruiser out for an easy ride for about an hour.

Thursday night, it rained pretty hard, and the river that is close by the start of the trail was too high to cross. We rode Cruiser up and down the hill leading to the river 3 times. I then worked Cole in the indoor arena. He did pretty good, and he earned a lot of clicks. I woman that I know was visiting our barn, and she had never seen Cole in action. I told her to watch him trot, and she was stunned. I love seeing people’s reactions to his trot. She is going to have some of her dressage friends come out to see him. It is amazing that the horse I bought for a trail horse has so much natural talent. I tried to canter him with no success. I then took him down to the river to cool off.

Saturday was extremely windy. My sister was hesitant to go out, but I talked her into a short ride with Cruiser. They were fine, and no trees fell. (We have experienced so many tree falls while riding, I have lost count.)

I then took Cole on the same distance ride with the plan of working on our canter transitions. I planned on clicking him for the transition. Well, that didn’t work. He slammed on the breaks so fast to get his treat that we went sliding! We had to stick with “good boys” after that. We had some good ones, and we had some bad ones. The bad ones consisted of big bucks from excitement. We were going on the same trail over and over. I moved down to a different section of trail, and I got a good transition but more speed than I wanted. I rode it out, tried it again and he was more reasonable. My last transition was excellent and the speed was right. I hope he remembers our lessons that we had this day.

Sunday, my sister and I decided to go on our show ring ride that we wanted to do on Thursday. After about a half hour, it started to rain lightly. We figured it wouldn’t last. We rode on to our destination and all the way home in the rain. It rained all day…Cole was in a funny mood, so it wasn’t the best of rides. Every now and then, he gets that way. He bolted/spooked a couple times and tried passing Ranger without permission. He wasn’t as relaxed, either. Still, he went down the big hill the best, ever.

Since it was still raining, Cruiser got the day off. we just led him in the indoor arena for a half hour to help with his insulin. He seemed happy just to follow us around. He likes to walk with me on one side and my sister on the other side, so he can take turns nuzzling us.

I’m riding this evening after work, so I am hoping the river isn’t too high so I can get Cruiser out for a bit. There isn’t enough daylight to ride both on the trail, so I will work Cole in the indoor.

Second big ride

2011-10-12T12:40:00.000-07:00

On Monday afternoon, I saw what the weather forecast looked like, I wasn’t too busy at work, so I decided to take yesterday off. What a great decision. The weather was perfect for trail riding.

My sister works second shift and usually rides in the mornings. I took Cruiser with her and Ranger for a short ride. She was really happy to have the company.

When we got back, she went to work and I saddled up Cole. We were going to go on our second long solo ride. Unlike last week, the river was low, so we crossed at all 4 crossings. I didn’t like the third crossing. There was no good path through the big rocks. Cole was a dream going through them, though. From now on, I will be going on the river ford as I have the last few years with Cruiser.

The big river crossing was great. This is the first time he crossed it by himself. He marched right in and crossed like a champ.

We had a few issues. We went through the busy intersection, and once we reached the trail, he bolted forward. I was able to stop him right away, but then he did it about 30 seconds later. Once again, I stopped him. Shortly after, on the other side of thanks, big river, he bolted up the bank. I didn’t know what to make of it, but I started trotting, and he went really, really fast for the first minute. I then decided he was just responding to excitement. He didn’t do it any after that.

We trotted a lot on the way out, and once he settled, he did pretty well. A few times, he stopped on his own, but that was the only problem. We also trotted on the way home when we were far away. At first, he was steady and responsive when I asked him to return to a walk, but the closer we got to home, the faster he went and the less cooperative he was about stopping. Of course, that is what I would expect. I was clicking all of his good downward transitions on the way home. I didn’t click the bad ones.

He wasn’t too concerned about the Brookpark Bridge, this time. I clicked him for that. He was a little worried when he saw the 480 bridge, but he did better than he did with the Brookpark Bridge last week. I clicked for good behavior. We turned around just past the second bridge to go home.

A few times, on the way home, he tried to trot without permission, and I brought him to a halt and started again. To help explain what I wanted, I then clicked a few times for a quiet walk. He then saw the light, and stayed at a walk.

We planned to walk the last half hour home, but 15 minutes into it, we found my boyfriend on his horse, Starry. He wanted to go on a longer ride, so I turned back with Cole and rode away from home for a while. Cole didn’t like that, and he tried to spin to go home, once. We put Starry ahead of him, and then he quietly followed him. I clicked him a few times for that, too.

We made it home. With my backtracking with Starry, the ride turned out to be 2 hours and 45 minutes. It was a little longer than expected. I am giving him this evening off, and I will just ride Cruiser in the rain. Yes, after 10 days of sun, the rain is back. At least we got a break after a rainy, rainy year.

Sunny weekend with lots of trail riding

2011-10-10T07:40:00.000-07:00

Finally! A sunny weekend! I rode on trail, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. It was awesome.

Friday was just a quick trail ride on Cruiser before sunset. I then rode Cole in the arena. I am so glad I am going to start feeding on Friday evenings next month. We are supposed to feed at 8:00, and the feeder fed at 6:45. It is just hay, so I let Cole eat while I cleaned our stalls. When I was done, I took him in the arena. Wow, was he crabby. He kept trying to go to the gate, didn’t pay as good attention as he usually does and just didn’t want to cooperate. This is the first time I have taken him away from his hay for an arena ride. Sure, a horse should learn to behave under such adverse conditions, but I would just prefer not to go through it all. I have been feeding on Mondays and Wednesdays, and it is great that I can control the feeding time. The little bit of money helps, too.

Saturday, my sister and I took Cruise and Ranger on a 5 mile ride with a lot of walking so we could talk. I then took Cole on the same ride alone with a lot of trotting and some cantering. He had trouble getting going into the canter, but when he did, he flew. I’m glad to say I didn’t have any trouble stopping, but he was very excited, after that. it took a bit to calm him down. I need to do more cantering with him.

Sunday, we took Cole and Ranger up to the show ring area, and there we did lots of trotting—more than ever. He was nearly perfect, too. We did the front loop trail, which we haven’t been doing with them, and they were both great. These trails are right by a stable that we used to keep Cruise, Ranger and Mingo. They have been silly up there, ever since. They get excited about going towards that barn, and pout when we leave it. Cole, of course, isn’t doing this—he is the opposite. This works to our advantage. I am trying to teach him to trot quietly towards home. Since Ranger is pouting and trotting slow, and since we have worked hard to teach Cole not to pass other horses without permission, he will trot slowly behind Ranger. I then took Cruise on a 4.5 mile ride. He did great, of course. He always does.

My goal with Cole is to get him as good as Cruiser—and it seems like we are going to make it! Plus, since I am older and wiser, I am teaching Cole things to make him better than Cruiser. (Such as not passing up other horses, not trying to race and better downward transitions.)

Long weekend coming up…

The Big Ride

2011-10-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

The Big Ride

Last month, I was so frustrated with the weather. Only once, near the beginning of the month, I was able to ride Cole with Ellen on Ranger past the big river. From then on, even though we took vacation time, we never had another chance to repeat the ride. I wanted to do it a couple more times with Ranger before I tried it on my own. It just didn’t work out the way I planned.

The first weekend of October came and went without us stepping one hoof on the other side of the river. where is all this rain coming from? That weekend, there was an article in the newspaper stating that we are nearing the record for the rainiest recorded year in Cleveland.

I was getting antsy about going on a long ride with Cole. I decided I would do it with or without Ellen—whichever came first. As soon as I got a chance, I would take a day off of work and go.

The weather took a turn for the better, and on the first Tuesday of the month, I decided the first Wednesday of the month would be perfect. I got the day off from my job. Everything was set. That is, until I found out the river was still very, very high on Tuesday afternoon. Ugh.

I woke up Wednesday morning with a smile on my face. This was going to be the big day, if I could only cross the river. I decided to take Cruiser for a short ride, first. As we neared the river, I couldn’t believe it was still on the high side. In fact, it was higher than any day I have ever crossed with Cole. I carefully crossed with Cruiser with no problems, got some good trotting in and brought him back to the barn.

Next horse, Cole Train. It was cool and sunny; a perfect day to ride. My pockets were loaded with carrots. I was all set for our big adventure.

The first challenge was crossing the river. He didn’t like the looks of it and was very hesitant as we neared it. I asked him to step forward into the water. As soon as he did, I clicked and treated him. That got his attention. He knew the game.

It was well over his knees, which isn’t so bad, butt the current was very strong. I clicked every few steps. About halfway across, he plunged his face into the water and started drinking. This was a first. He has never drunk from the river before, regardless how hot the weather was. We walked to the other side and turned left. This is also a first. We have only gone solo to the right, reserving the other direction for rides with Ranger to the show ring. He seemed a little surprised and hesitant to start with, but soon he was walking along happily.

I decided to cross the next river crossing instead of going on the concrete ford like we usually do with Ellen. (She prefers it to the river.) I have had a little trouble with him, here, in the past, but he stepped right in. I clicked him. It was deeper over here, but the current was very slow, so I wasn’t concerned about it. Neither was he. We made it across without any difficulty.

The next section of trail is a great place to trot, so we moved on out. He was excited and went a bit faster than he typically does with Ranger. Once, he burst into a canter. Yes, Cole was in a good mood.

The next big obstacle with another river crossing. I opted to go on the concrete ford with the cars on this one. I am just not very familiar with that river crossing to try it on a day when the water was deep and muddy. Only single car passed us. I clicked him a lot for walking quietly.

So far, so good. It was only about 5 minutes later that we reached the “big” river crossing. It was very deep and ominous looking. Though we crossed it last time with Ranger, I decided to go on the bridge with the cars. This is a pretty long bridge, and we go alongside the rail that overlooks the river below. I didn’t know how he would do his first time, but he proved, once again, that he is a wonderful horse. It helped that the “horse gods” were looking out for us, and not single car passed us, again! He got lots of clicks.

Once we got to the other side, I breathed a sigh of relief. There were no more roads or rivers to cross until we turned back for home. Now it was just time to ride and have fun. So we did.

We did a lot of trotting, and after about 5 minutes, he settled down to a moderate speed and a nice even rhythm. Finally, I was riding the way I like to. We approached the Brookpark Bridge. It spans the whole valley and is huge. I forgot that it looked scary, but Cole told me right away. One of the legs of the bridge is very close to the trail, and from that spot, we can see the whole underbelly of the bridge. Throw in the noise of the cars going overhead, and it all looked and sounded like a horse eating monster! This was the first time ever that Cole was truly afraid of something while I was riding him. He refused to go under the bridge. Instead, he showed me how good he has gotten at backing up.

I asked him to stop, and when he did, I sighed and had him stand quietly while I talked to him. About 30 seconds later, I asked him to take a step, and he did. I clicked him for it, and I noticed him relax a little as he took the treat from my hand. I asked for a few more steps, which he took readily, and I clicked again. We kept this up until we got to the other side. Since I knew the next bridge is only a half mile away, I decided to turn back and go home instead of overload him emotionally.

I turned, and he said, “No way! That’s a horse-eating monster!” We repeated the whole process until we got to the other side. On the way back, we did short stretches of trotting, and we would stop when he got too excited. Trotting home always gets horses a bit wound up the first few times. I want him to form good habits. So I don’t like him to practice the bad ones. Besides, I want the walk to be his default gait. I spent too many rides convincing him that he should walk quietly when he preferred to trot, to mess it up now. At one point, I gave him a long walk break, and then when I asked him to trot, he was perfect. I think I just gave him a chance to realize he was tired!

Back at the bridge over the big river crossing—we now had to ride on the other side. In one sense, it is easier because we can take the paved bike path that is by the side of the road—keeping us out of traffic. On the other hand, it is a little more complicated because we have to go between the bridge rail on one side and the rail of the pathway on the other. Some horses are bothered by them. Not Cole. The other difficulty is sharing the path with bikes passing right next to us. There, we lucked out, since not a single bike came by. I think he would have been fine, but it is nice to introduce him to something new without anything else to mess things up.

The rest was easy. The river ford was uneventful. A few minutes later, I found Kevin on Starry coming out to meet us, and we went home with them. Cole seemed tired, and didn’t even care that Starry was there. He just walked quietly home. The ride was 2 and a quarter hours of heavenly bliss for me. I am hoping it is the first of many more.

I smiled all day long.

More Rain

2011-10-04T08:44:00.000-07:00

We have had more than 20 inches rain above normal this year, and we are closing in to break a record. What does this mean? We had another rained out weekend. Friday, I rode Cruiser on the hill to the river and Cole in the arena. Saturday, we rode all the horses in the arena, as it was raining. Sunday, we took Cruiser and Ranger on the hill. I rode Cole in the arena, and then we headed to the hill, too. Monday, I rode Cruiser on the hill. I think I may be able to cross the river, tomorrow.

This is simply ridiculous. We are supposed to have a good run of dry weather, for a while. I hope so. I have more vacation scheduled, and I want to get some good rides in.

What we do when we can’t Cross the River

2011-09-30T10:21:00.000-07:00

My sister and I took a 4-day weekend off from work to get some trail riding in. Just like the one we tried a few weeks previous, we couldn’t cross the river the first 3 days. That meant doing the hill leading to the river with Cruiser and Ranger and working Cole in the arena.

Having Ellen watch me and Cole during our rides was very helpful. She gave me all kinds of good advice, and she took video with her smart phone. She was able to show me how I was riding. One of the videos from the first day is on Facebook. With her suggestions, we improved over the weekend. It is amazing how much the way we ride effects the way a horse moves. By adjusting my seat, Cole adjusted the way he moved and improved on his consistency. So though we didn’t get on the trail, at least the time wasn’t wasted.

One of the days, my youngest niece came out to ride. She goes with us on the trail. She rides Ranger, Ellen rides Cruiser and I ride Cole. Just going up and down the hill isn’t the most exciting thing to do. Ellen suggested that I ride Cole in the arena, and if he is doing well, my niece can ride him, too. Then we would take Cruiser and Ranger on the hill. Ellen didn’t mind not riding the hill, since we did plenty of it the two days before.

Cole was doing very nicely in the arena. His big trot was up to full form, he was responsive and very well behaved. He was in the perfect mood for a novice. After about a half hour, I asked my niece if she wanted to ride him, and she dashed into the barn to get her helmet.

I think it had been a couple months since she rode him in the arena last. She climbed aboard and proceeded to walk around the arena. He kept offering to trot—and it was the big trot—not a good trot for a beginner! He was throwing her off the saddle. She figured out it was because she has short legs that rest on his side—where my long legs go beyond his sides. Her normal pressure was probably cuing the trot. Yes, he is that sensitive.

I told her that he will stop if she says, “whoa.” That offered her a new challenge because he stops from a trot very suddenly if you ask him. (Cole is always an over achiever.) That’s basically how their ride went. Walk, go into the big trot, sudden stop and walk again. Yet, she kept her composure and stayed in the saddle. When I asked her if she wanted to ride him down to the river, her face lit up!

We headed down the hill. Ellen and I were at her side, but she was still a little nervous. Ranger goes fairly slowly down the hill. Cole is a speedy downhill traveler, and she was concerned he would try to trot. Since he was doing it for her in the arena, and I used to have trouble with him trotting down the hill, it was a reasonable thing to be concerned about. I had her do a lot of transitions down the hill when he got too fast.

About halfway down the hill, on a level section, Ellen noticed a red-tailed hawk sitting on a log by the side of the trail. We stopped Cole and Ellen went on ahead to shoo the bird away. We figured if we were close and he flew up, Cole would be startled. As Ellen got closer, the hawk just looked at her. There was something wrong with it. Ellen told us to continue down to the river, and she would call the park.

When we got to the bottom of the hill, Cole did try to trot with her a few times. Fortunately, my niece knew just what to do to keep from bouncing off. He walked quietly on the way back up to my sister. She said the park had her call the Lake Erie Nature Center; which specializes in wildlife rehabilitation. They told us we would have to bring the hawk in to them. They didn’t have anyone that could come and get it. Yeah, right. We were going to catch a hawk.

We went back to the barn and called Kevin. We also talked to a woman at the barn who has a big heart for animals—and birds at home. She showed us a large cat carrier that was at the barn. Suddenly, this seemed doable. While we were waiting for Kevin, we took Ranger and Cruiser out for their ride. The hawk was still there.

On our last trip up the hill, here comes Kevin. He was all excited and enthusiastic about catching the hawk. He checked out the situation, headed back to the barn and gathered everyone that was going to help. Ellen went with them, but I stayed with my niece to untack and clean up the horses.

After a while, they came back with the hawk. Apparently, as Kevin was about to throw a blanket on him while our friend was stroking his beak with a stick to distract him, Kevin slipped and fell on top of the hawk—catching himself before he crushed him. The blanket wrapped around him and they were able to get him in the cat carrier. Kevin was going to take him Nature Center, Ellen was going with him and I was going to take my niece home. (That is, after a visit to Taco Bell.)

When I dropped her off, I told her mother we had an exciting day, and told my niece to tell her about it. She replied, “I rode Cole down the hill.” There’s a kid after my own heart. She didn’t mention finding and capturing a large bird of prey. What was important to her was riding Cole on the hill.

(It turns out the hawk had a damaged eye, and since their eyesight is so important to hunting and flying, she was weak from lack of food and dehydrated. If she can heal enough to hunt, she will be released.)

More rain

2011-09-27T08:35:00.001-07:00

It rained again! When I got out to the barn, it did stop in time for me to ride Cruiser down to the river and back a couple times. I’m sure it won’t be crossable until Wednesday—and they predict more rain on Wednesday. This has been such an incredibly rainy year.

I rode Cole in the arena. In spite of it being his 6th straight day of riding, he still had some energy left. I can tell he needs a break, so I think he will be happy to have today off. Me too. Actually, I am doing something very important this evening. I am signing papers on a house I am buying with my brother that we are going to use as a rental property. It is just a tiny one that is close to where we live. It was a foreclosure, so we got a good deal on it. We hope to have renters by spring. There are things we want to do to it, but they are all aesthetic. The house is quite solid, and it has a 2 car garage. It’s in a good neighborhood with good schools. I hope it works out. It is always scary purchasing something that is more than 3 digits—and this is 5 digits!

Back to horses, since that is what this blog is about. With the shortening of the daylight hours, I am going to start going out to the barn right after work instead of going home to eat, first. That way, I will be able to get a quick trail ride on Cruiser before sunset. Cole will just have to wait for the weekends. He is fun to ride in the arena, so I don’t mind.

Yet Another Rainy Weekend

2011-09-26T12:38:00.000-07:00

My sister and I took a 4-day weekend off from work to get some trail riding in. Just like the one we tried a few weeks ago, we couldn’t cross the river the first 3 days. That meant doing the hill leading to the river with Cruiser and Ranger and working Cole in the arena.

It is great to have eyes on the ground to watch me ride—even better when she can take video. Cole was trotting very curled up and behind the bit, a lot. There was a lot of tail swishing going on, too, which is something that seldom happens. I couldn’t figure out what was going on. My sister’s eyes and the video helped. It showed that I was curled. My shoulders were slumped forward. Who knows what caused this. Maybe he did. It may have been me responding to him—causing him to respond to me. A downward spiral.

The next day, I made a conscious effort to uncurl, and guess what—so did he. He moved on the bit with a lighter forehand. I know, because I saw the video.

The following day, we did just as well. After about a half hour, I let my niece ride him. She did very well with him, although he kept trotting. She figured out it was because she has short legs that rest on his side—where my long legs go beyond his sides. Her normal pressure was probably cuing the trot. yes, he is that sensitive. Of course, he had to use that big show trot of his, and that threw her around the saddle. She learned how fast he responds to “whoa,” too.

Since she rode with such composure on a challenging arena ride, I asked her if she wanted to ride down to the river. Of course she did. She was nervous. She usually rides Ranger, and he goes fairly slowly down the hill. Cole is speedy going downhill, and she was concerned he would try to trot. Since he was doing it in the arena, and I used to have trouble with just that, it was a reasonable thing to be concerned about. I had her do a lot of transitions down the hill when he got too fast. When she got to the bottom, he did try to trot with her a few times. He walked quietly on the way back. She was so happy to have ridden him on the trail—even though it was only about 10 minutes of riding.

Yesterday, my sister and I finally made it across the river. We went on our favorite ride to the show ring trails. I then took Cruiser our for 5 miles round trip in the other direction. It was a pretty day, but the mosquitoes were bad. I can’t wait for cooler weather.

A rainy night in Cleveland

2011-09-20T13:32:00.001-07:00

Due to rain, I rode Cruiser in the arena for the first time since spring, and he did much better than I expected. He is 24, now, and in the last few years, he hasn’t been very cooperative in the arena. He doesn’t have the spring or enthusiasm. Also, he seems to be having trouble holding his head at the vertical. I am fairly certain that is caused by the tumor on his thyroid. It is getting pretty big. I know that how a horse holds his head isn’t as important as how he moves his body, but I am not sure if we can ride as connected as we used to if he is uncomfortable with the position of his neck. He is continually trying to find a good spot, and it often deteriorates into him trotting with his head straight up in the air like a Saddlebred. Of course, then I fall in the dip in his back, and it is all downhill from there.

We started out with a lot of walking to get him warmed up—and we started the direction that he doesn’t want to go in. (Another fairly recent development.) once we started to trot, he was all over the place. The surprise—he settled down in a few minutes and lowered his head. I gave him a lot of rein, and he moved fairly well. When he started to putter, I was able to keep him regular with my seat. When we went his better direction, he was even better.

Here is what I learned—all the work with Cole had mad me a better rider! I have to be so very aware of what I am doing with Cole that I was quicker with Cruiser. Also, I am used to Cole’s stronger movement, now. I was able to use that skill to create a stronger movement in Cruiser—and he responded.

I was dreading riding Cruiser in the arena this winter since things went so poorly last year, but I’m not as concerned about it, now. With my new found skills, I may not be able to bring him back to where he was when he was younger, but maybe we can at least have a more consistent and pleasant ride.

I then rode Cole. He was a little goofy about the far end of the arena because of all the noises from the rain, but I persisted in doing my 5 laps at a walk each way. His trot was enthusiastic and pretty spectacular, at times. We worked on corners and circles and transitions. He seems to be grasping backing up pretty good. We were doing 4 steps at a time. after the first step, the cues for the rest were very light. I tried cantering, but we didn’t get it. I guess I need to do it more down trail.

Lovely Weekend

2011-09-19T13:54:00.001-07:00

We had a great weekend for riding. Finally, it is cool and the bugs are leaving us alone. Saturday, my sister and I took Ranger and Cruiser out, first. I followed that up with my best trail ride, ever, with Cole. We went about 5 miles—further than I have ever gone by myself. He was near flawless. The only mistake he made was that big buck on our first canter transition. I could forgive him for that because I think it has been 2 weeks since I cantered on trail. The next 2 trans were fine. We did a lot of trotting, a little cantering and then walked home.

Sunday, we took Ranger and Cole out first, and we had our best ride ever with another horse. We did the show ring trails, and his behavior was flawless. The ride consisted of a lot of trotting—and looking at the beautiful goldenrod-filled field. I think they are at the peak, and they are gorgeous. I then took Cruiser out for 5 miles. We met Starry on the way home, so he was very happy.

What more can I say? I love September trail riding. This weekend is going to be another 4-day weekend. We hope that the weather is better than the last one, and we can get across the river the whole time. if so, we will have so much fun.

Tackling the Arena

2011-09-16T12:05:00.001-07:00

Tackling the Arena

I am riding Cole all over the place on the trail—walking, trotting and cantering, but I still felt nervous in the arena. Now, it didn’t help that I only rode him in there a couple times a week. It was the same old problem—the far end just got me nervous. That didn’t mean I didn’t go over there—I did, but I didn’t enjoy it. It distracted me. It didn’t help that the pasture of our barn and the neighbor’s barn are by the far end. If their horses were in their pastures—who knows what unexpected things would happen? It was actually a big part of my problems, initially. Any sudden noise from that direction sent Cole flying!

In August, I started reading a book that mentioned I should set goals. I put the book down, and thought about it. I always ride with goals on the trail. As we meet each goal, I add a new one. It is a very effective way to train, obviously. It keeps us focused and on track. Now why haven’t’ I been doing this in the arena.

So, right there, I decided to pick a goal. The first thing that came to my mind was trotting laps. I decided I would trot 5 consecutive laps in each direction. I then caught my breath at the thought of it. I would really be pushing to try that right now. I needed to make my goal achievable. I would walk 5 laps each direction—using the full arena.

Isn’t it crazy that I couldn’t do this before? I have been riding for many years, and I have spent plenty of time in the arena with Cruiser and Mingo. I needed to get over my arena anxieties.

The plan was to walk the 5 laps in the first direction. I could stop, but when I started, I had to continue on the path. If I didn’t, I had to start all over again. For a person nervous about riding on the far end, that was quite an incentive to keep going.

My first attempt was in the evening. There were horses turned out in both pastures. I wanted to do it at the beginning of the ride to get it over with. I was very nervous the first few laps, and I had to stop Cole and stand for a moment, but a miracle happened. By the 5th lap, I felt pretty good. I turned him around and did our 5 laps the other direction.

The feeling I had was tremendous. Not only did I succeed with my goal, but all the fear and uneasiness had vanished. I ended up trotting Cole all around the arena.

This marked a change in my arena riding. In just a few rides, I was a totally new person. I left the old one behind. He even spooked a few times on the formerly scary end. That didn’t stop me. I didn’t want to have to redo any of the laps.

I stay focused and try to make the corners perfect. Sometimes I get bored and start trotting the laps and working on transitions. I now ride the whole arena whether there are horses out in the pastures or not without hesitation. In a very short time, I have changed my whole attitude about the arena.

Other goals I have set are riding round circles, good transitions and inter-gait transitions. I have always had these goals, but now I have quantified them. I need 10 good transitions—and I won’t quite my circles until I get at least one of them round.

I have never enjoyed arena riding as much as I have the last month or so. I am still only doing it a couple times a week, so we don’t get that much accomplished, but by the time winter rolls around, I will be ready…

That doesn’t mean I want winter to hurry to Cleveland! I am having too much fun on the trail…

The Big Trot is Back

2011-09-15T08:58:00.001-07:00

I took Cruiser on a quick trail ride before dark, and then it was time to work with Cole in the arena. He was so much more consistent than Monday. We warmed up at a walk, and when he went above the bit, I jiggled the rein until he lowered his head. I clicked the first couple times for it, but after he got the idea, I didn’t click anymore. Once I started trotting, he hardly went above the bit, and when he did, I corrected him easily. We practiced and clicked our trot trans--I think 6 times and then he turned into “featherlite trans” horse. Our circles were rounder. There was a cone in the arena, and I used that as a guide. It made it much easier. I just tried to stay a predetermined distance from it as we went around.

I then started to ask him for “more” trot. I clicked him when I got it and started again. After 4-5 times, “more” trot became “big” trot. I clicked him for it a few times right at the beginning, and then it was back—the “super big” trot that we discovered last week. My sister got one brief video of it before he quit doing it for the weekend, and from what I could tell, it looks spectacular. I was clicking him for it for longer and longer durations. Last night, I seemed to have some control over where he was going. He was able to do it on straight-aways and circles. I didn’t do too much of it, because I didn’t want to sour him on it. It is a lot of exertion for both of us.

That being said, I think I like it better where I get it when I ask for it, and not all the time. This way, I can work on other things without getting exhausted. By working on the circles at a regular trot, then he does better on the circles with the “big” trot, etc.

When I asked for the canter, I got a super-duper big trot. He also tried skipping, and once, he just got his legs all tangled, and we had to stop. No cantering last night. I need to do it more down trail so he learns that canter means canter and not just faster—and no skipping. I wish I had video of that. No one saw it, but my sister saw it a few times. This time seemed even more exaggerated than when she saw it. Clicker training makes horses very creative.

We have been doing “back” the last few arena rides, and I think he is understanding it. We tried it early in his career, but it seemed to cause confusion, so I put it aside until now. I have to make a point in doing it every ride.

I never knew arena riding could be so much fun. It won’t be such a long winter this year…

Long weekend--in the arena

2011-09-14T10:09:00.000-07:00

I’m sure everyone has wondered where I was-vacation! Well, it was just a 4-day weekend. And the river was too high for 3 of the 4 days, so I didn’t do the kind of riding that I wanted too. Still, I wasn’t at work, and that is really what vacation is about for me.

I spent a lot of time in the arena with Cole. Here is what is happening is while working on consistency with his trot, I have lost the “big trot.” He would trot big for a while, and when I asked for a turn or corner, he would come above the bit and we would lose it. I was just trying to keep him from popping up, and when he did, to get him to reach down and round up, again. I figured that an ordinary trot was acceptable as long as he wasn’t above the bit. My plan worked. He is much more consistent through bends and corners, but he is not doing that fantastic trot. What I have been working on is more important, and I suppose the trot will come back when he is ready. Maybe when it does, he will have the skill to keep it. The weather was also hot for a horse growing his winter coat, and he was getting a lot of work, so he wasn’t quite bursting with energy by the end of the vacation.

I finally cantered him in the arena. We did it on 2 days. It wasn’t easy the first few times, because he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. When we did canter, he didn’t get very far—but we did it, that’s what counts.

I just rode Cruiser on the hill to the river on the days we couldn’t cross. Sunday, we went on a nice ride with Starry. They are good buddies.

The Big River

2011-09-06T12:59:00.001-07:00

The Big River

Before Cruiser and Ranger entered their senior years, every Saturday and Sunday, we took them on our favorite long ride. It was fast paced and fun. Usually, we would ride about two and a half hours or so. Sometimes, we would go a little further, too.

Some years ago, we went down to once a weekend. Then we went down to occasionally and I’m not sure of the last time we did that whole ride. The trails over there haven’t been well maintained, so we knew that we couldn’t do all the trotting and cantering that we used to do, anyway. That helped us not miss those fun rides quite as much. We still miss them, though…

Well, the park is in the midst of repairing the trail. Unfortunately, the old guys are even older, now. We are very careful with them. I don’t think that we will be blasting down the trail with them like we used to. No more fast and far rides for them. We can do fast, and we can do far. We just can’t do both.

That leaves Cole Train.

To get to the good trail, we have 2 more unfamiliar river crossings and a busy intersection with a traffic light. I didn’t want to tackle all it on my own for the first time-- not because I didn’t think we could manage it, but I just wanted to do everything in my power to make the first time a success. We have been planning this for awhile, but we have had issues with the weather and the river. I didn’t want to cross the big river unless I could see the bottom. We could avoid the crossing by going on the bridge, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted to cross the river.

Finally the weather cooperated, and we had a clear river on the weekend. We opted to skip one of the river crossings because there was a lot of stones on the bank. The horses just had their feet trimmed a couple days before, and Ranger was very tender. We did cross that river once before, so I didn’t need any help with it. We decided to avoid the stones.

This meant crossing a river ford that Cole had never been on before. Ellen rode, but I decided to lead. This way, it would be easier for me to click him a few times during it.

Ranger decided it would be better is Cole went first. Thanks, Range. Cole went right across, I clicked for good behavior and we made it to the other side. The busy intersection wasn’t busy, so we crossed over to the other side. Once I got into the trees, I mounted back up. Next stop—the big river.

When I say big river, I mean it. It is three times as wide as all our other crossings and a little deeper. There are 2 branches to the Rocky River. This crossing is just beyond where the 2 branches join and turn it into a real river. It is not hard to cross, there is just so much more of it.

Ellen and I had mapped out a good route across it a few years ago to keep us away from the uneven, slippery slate bottom. We were glad to see that it hadn’t changed. Ranger went first. As soon as we get into the water, we have to walk down stream, parallel to the land for about a minute. Then we get to a level section. We cross over to an island in the middle and then proceed to the other side.

Cole thought the bridge upstream looked odd, but other than that, he acted as if it was his first time crossing this year instead of his first time crossing—ever.

On the other side, we found the path leading up to the trail a little overgrown. I guess it was because we haven’t been riding there like we used to. They did repair the top of it where it had eroded badly, so this time, it was better that Cole went first. He would be clueless about the change. We then did a little trotting but mostly walked on account of Ranger’s tender toes. This area was still stony. We didn’t go far when we decided to turn back.

We walked the horses home. It was as uneventful as the way out. The intersection was a little trickier because we had to cross two roads this time and wait with traffic at the light. No big deal for Cole. It all went well.

And that is the lesson of the story. The reason everything went so perfect was due to being prepared. Cole was already confident with traffic, so crossing the busy ford and the intersection was easy for him. He was accustomed to all the smaller river crossings. This one was just more river. Taking him with another horse was even greater insurance of success. I would have been more surprised if things didn’t work as planned.

It rained that night, so the next day we couldn’t cross any rivers. I didn’t mind. It met my goal, and Cole and I have a long future of rides that are fast and far. I just wish my sister could come with me…and Cruiser…and Ranger…

Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-02T10:42:00.000-07:00

I always consider this weekend to be the beginning of riding season. By now, the horses are in shape, we are in shape, the weather starts to cool, and best of all, I always find myself with a lot of vacation time left over. We have 2 long weekends, besides this long weekend, in September, alone.

Tomorrow, my younger neice is coming out to ride. We will take the 3 horses out together. It is the only time we get to take the whole herd out for a trail ride. It's supposed to be really hot. I'm sure we will mostly walk with a little light trotting mixed in.

Sunday, if the river is on the lower side, we want to venture out beyond the big river crossing with Cole and Ranger. We haven't done it, yet. I want the river to be low for th first time. This crossing is not only deeper, but about 3 times the width of the other crossings. The trails on the other side were in bad shape, but they are finally starting to repair them. When they are done, they will be better than they have been in years.

Monday, we will take Ranger and Cole up to the show ring trails and bop about up there. Of course, both days, I will tak Cruise on a ride, too.

Yesterday, the farrier was out. Cole was better than last time. I can tell my farrier likes him. Not only has he not said a negative thing about him, (unusual for any horse) but he compliments his good behaviour and said he really likes his face. Compliments are few and far between from him. We love our farrier. We have used him for 24+ years. But he isn't always the most positive guy around.

I rode Cole in the indoor on Wednesday, and he improved over the last arena ride in there a week ago. I love that I am riding him on the trail so much that we aren't getting in the arena often. Of course, it will change in a few months, but the shadow of winter never keeps me from enjoying Fall. I love Fall in Cleveland.

On the Road to the Canter

2011-08-31T09:09:00.001-07:00

On the Road to the Canter

Cantering Cole has been tough for me, but it’s my own fault. I never taught him to canter on the lounge line before I started riding him—or for that matter—all winter when I was lounging him before I rode him. I have to confess, part of the problem is I don’t like lounging. I see nothing wrong with it, but my time is limited and I prefer riding. Once I started riding him, I only lounged him enough so he’d be safe to ride.

He wasn’t a good lounger, either. When he was feeling his oats, I had bucking bolting and rearing. It was a sorry scene. I don’t know how many times I’d be saying, “Get down, Cole.” Once he settled on the lounge, about 5-10 minutes into his session, he would lose all energy and get as bored as me. That’s when I would ride.

When I start a young horse, I like to canter within the first few weeks of riding. Well, let’s see…What happened there? The trail, that’s what happened. My weekends and days off were spent on the trail. In the beginning, we did mostly walking, and then I started to add trotting. I did work in the arena for short sessions once or twice a week, but he wasn’t doing as well in there as the trail. We had enough trouble staying at a quiet walk, at first. Once I started to trot, just containing his energy in a small part of the arena was tough enough. I wasn’t ready to try a canter.

Winter came, and I had to get serious about my arena work. He went through that spell of bad spooking on the far end of the arena, and he just shook my nerves. I did my share of cantering when he spooked. I wasn’t ready to canter him—I could barely manage his trot for a while.

My nerves settled down, and so did he. That’s when the big trot showed up. It took me some time to figure out how to even ride it. He would bounce me so high that I could felt the top of my feet hit the top of the stirrups.

Finally, I was ready to canter—and he didn’t have a clue what I wanted. I couldn’t bring myself to beat him into it. He’s is such an enthusiastic and willing horse, that I don’t want to do anything to harm that attitude in the least.

Last fall, Ellen and I spent several sessions on the trail using her as a target. I wrote about it and shared it with you. It was very successful. He got the idea, and I was able to canter him up to her where he would stop and get clicked for stopping. Since we couldn’t continue it, due to winter, he didn’t learn the cue well enough to transfer into the arena a few months later when I was ready to canter, there.

We tried it again in the spring with less success than in the fall. I decided to try a different tactic. By now, I was riding with Ranger quite a bit, and we were doing as much trotting as we felt like. My idea was to have Ellen canter Ranger and Cole would be bound to pick it up.

We went to a short, but smooth trail not far from the barn that is just ideal for such an activity. Ranger was happy enough to canter, and Cole was happy enough to trot all the faster. We tried a number of times and finally I got a few strides. We continued on our ride, and on the way home, when we got to that spot, we turned around and did it again. Cole remembered the game, and that time, I got about 15 wonderful, wonderful strides.

We did this for a few more rides, and each time it was easier to get him to canter. We found that he was more willing to canter if we let him go ahead of Ranger, but then he would stop when he got too far ahead.

Finally, it was time for me to try it on my own. One morning, I headed out solo. Ellen was hiking along, but she couldn’t keep up with me once I started to trot. When I got to that spot, I asked him to canter with a vocal, then a leg tap and finally a tap with the whip. It took one light tap and we were off! He went very fast, but after about 5 strides, he moderated and it was wonderful. I brought him to a trot, and I clicked for the downward transition. I wanted him to know it was good to stop cantering. I didn’t bother to click him for the canter transition, because I figured cantering alone was enough reward.

We did some trotting, and then when we got to some more good trail, I requested the canter—and got it! I did about 5 canter/trot transitions that ride until I got to the next river crossing. We crossed and trotted for about 5 minutes before turning to come home.

I met Ellen on the way back, and we walked and I glowed with happiness. I asked her if Cole looked more mature, and she said he did.

Since then, I have cantered on my own at least once or twice a week. I think that brings me up to 4 times. He is eager to canter, and he has been experimenting. He has learned, I hope, that he isn’t supposed to canter without me asking. He has learned that he gets yelled at when he throws in a big buck on his transition. (I’m so glad Mingo prepared me for that move.) He has learned that he can’t throw his head down to buck while cantering and finally, he has learned to slow down a little because it is easier.

I was going to canter him on my last solo ride, but when we got to the place where we have been starting our cantering, he began to prance and dance with excitement. I changed my plans and walked through there (with clicks for walking when he settled down) and then only walked and trotted the rest of the ride.

I am a big stickler in a horse staying at the gait that we are traveling in. If I am walking, I want him to stay walking until otherwise notified. That goes for all gaits. So I will be careful with him to instill this lesson.

(I must confess, I am no longer that way with Cruiser, but was for the first 20 years. Now, if he wants to go faster, I smile because I’m just glad that a high-mileage, older horse still wants to go fast. If he wants to go slower, I figure he knows better than me how he feels. When Cole is his age, I’ll let him choose the speed, too.)

Hopefully he will improve at the canter as quickly as he did at the trot and be able to learn the cue well enough that I can start him cantering in the arena this winter.

Motivation – Why Do you Ride?

2011-08-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

I have started rereading “In Search of Your Image – A Practical Guide to the Mental and Spiritual Aspects of Horsemanship” by Jill Keiser Hassler. I bought the book a number of years ago, and found it too spiritual for me. Times change, and so did I. My life is different, and now the book seems so much more relevant.

In the first chapter, it discusses the motivations of why we are involved with horses. I never gave it much thought, before.

Here are the most common reasons that are listed:

- Love of horses

- Exercise

- Challenge

- Profession

- Recreation

- Companionship and Social Interaction

- Mental Well-being

Upon consideration, I decided that these are the reasons I ride:

Love of Horses. I have loved horses from the time I knew what a horse was. I bet a lot of people would include this on their list, but honestly, I have known a few people who didn’t even seem to like horses, let alone love them. They must have had different motivations for riding.

Exercise. I love the exercise I get around horses. I know that exercise is good for me, and around horses—I don’t even feel like I am exercising at all. It is a big bonus—but not real reason I spend time with horses. I’m just glad my hobby furnishes me a chance to exercise and helps keep me in shape.

Challenge. I like how horses are always challenging me with something new. Whether it is a problem that I need to solve, or just something new that I am trying to learn, the challenges give me something to think about and learn from. I think that is why, even when Cole was intimidating me in the arena last winter, I never gave up. My biggest challenge became overcoming my nerves.

Recreation. Riding is just plain fun. I love to ride.

Mental Well-being. I usually feel better after being around horses. There was a time back when Mingo was very sick that I felt worse with each visit to the barn. I had even considered giving up on horses during that time, because I was feeling so sad about all of it. It was then that I realized how much my mental well-being is tied to my horses. It wasn’t just the sadness involved with Mingo’s illness, but I didn’t get that boost in spirit that revived me for the rest of the day. now that my heart has healed, I feel terrific after a good day at the barn.

So, you see, I have lots of reasons to be involved with horses. What are your reasons?

Thunder's Teeth

2011-08-26T11:23:00.001-07:00

Last week, my sister and I took Maggie and Thunder to the vet. Maggie for shots and Thunder for his wellness check. He doesn't get shots because he is very allergic.

Anyway, we had been seeing a particular vet at the practice. She moved on, so we went to Dr. Shaw. Dr. Shaw has taken care of many of our pets over the years. In fact, at one point during the exam, he paused, sighed, and said, "One thing I will remember for the rest of my life is Indi." Indi was my Siamese for 19.5 years. She was as gentle as she was tough. She never gave up--even after kidney disease and losing 5 teeth. She kept going strong--with my help, of course. I gave her fluids, and catered to her every need.

But, I learned a lesson. For cats that live a long time, their teeth need care, How much happier Indi would have been if her teeth lasted as long as she did?

When I got Thunder, I started brushing his teeth. Because I couldn't do a very good job, at first, I got in the habit of doing them every day. I still do. He is now 5, and has lovely teeth.

When Dr. Shaw looked at his mouth, his first words were,"Nice teeth."

"I brush them every day," I proudly replied.

He looked up with this big smile on his face. "Really..." He then reached for his camera. Thunder quietly lay there while Dr. Shaw focused in on his teeth and took a picture. He downloaded it to his computer desktop and showed it to us blown up on his display board. He is going to use the picture to show people to encourage them to try brushing their cat's teeth, too. Thunder is going to be an inspiration!

He also showed us the other picture he uses--a picture of a dog who had 23 teeth removed. He showed us the dog's mouth and then the removed teeth. What a contrast to Thunder's teeth.

It really isn't that hard to teach a cat to allow his teeth to be brushed. I mean, if I can teach a horse to allow me to ride him, why not a cat to allow his mouth to be handled?

My cat has beautiful teeth. My sister's cat has no teeth. He had them removed due to an autoimmune disease where his body was attacking his teeth. He is now eating dry food and playing all the time. She won't have to do any brushing, but if he had normal teeth, I'm sure she would. We really dote on our cats.

earthquake!!!

2011-08-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

We felt the earthquake here in Cleveland! It lasted a long time, too. Who else felt it?

4-day weekend

2011-08-22T11:06:00.001-07:00

4-day weekend—heaven…

I rode with my older niece, after work on Wednesday. We had a really nice time, but it was bittersweet. She went back to college, and she won’t be able to ride with me again until next summer. Anyway, I wanted to make sure she cantered Ranger at least once before she left. We rode to a spot that he likes to canter, I explained what to do, and it worked like magic. Ranger cantered and my niece smiled. They both did wonderfully, and she discovered what a terrific canter felt like. She has cantered a few times over the years, but never on Ranger. He is wonderful. On the way home, we turned the horses around and cantered there, again. This time, they went a little faster. She was exhilarated.

Thursday, my sister and I took Cole and Ranger up to the show ring area. We did lots of trotting all about. We ever rode in the front field, which we only did once before. Cole was flawless. I took Cruiser out on a ride by himself.

Friday, we took Cole and Ranger on our 5 mile ride. Once again, we had a flawless ride. We did try to convince Cole to canter with Ranger in our favorite spot, and he got a few strides in. Up to this point, that’s the best he’s done with cantering. We have tried it here, before.

Saturday, my younger niece came out to ride with us. We took all 3 horses on the 5-mile ride. Flawless, again. We did a lot of walking and a little trotting. The older horses were on the slow side, so we changed our plans for Sunday.

Sunday, we took Cruiser and Ranger to the Lagoon. It is a short ride, and we only did a little trotting. They enjoyed the easy ride, and my sister and I just talked and enjoyed the light rain.

I then took Cole on a 4.5 mile ride. at the spot that we have been trying to get him to canter, I asked him—and he did!!! We went about 200 feet and stopped. The rest of the ride to the next river crossing with filled with transitions. He seems to know what the word means—in the first lesson. He isn’t consistent with the vocal command, but he will be, soon. I only clicked him for downward transitions. Once we crossed the river, we stayed at a trot, and though he was excited and trotted fast, he didn’t offer a canter. I think he knows he needs to wait for the command. What a sweetheart. We turned around and walked home.

After such a nice riding weekend, it is sure hard to go back to work!

High water

2011-08-16T10:55:00.001-07:00

3.51 inches of rain. That was the official tally for this weekend’s storm. Needless to say, I didn’t cross the river last night. I rode Cruiser 3 times on the hill, and Cole and I worked in the arena. He did much better than he has for the last few weeks. I was getting the big trot more consistently and for longer durations. We lasted 35 minutes, and then a couple other horses came in, so I decided I would take him down the hill rather than deal with all the dust. He was fine on the hill. I know it wasn’t long ago that a trip on the hill meant racing down and racing up. What a difference, now. He walked down like a gentleman and walked back up like a gentleman. I would have done more, but I am losing patience with the mosquitoes.

Successful weekend rides

2011-08-15T13:05:00.001-07:00

I took Cole on 2 rides this weekend with my sister on her horse, Ranger. All I can say is they were dreamlike. Everything he knew how to do, he was perfect. Some new things that we added—like trotting towards home and trotting in new places, he was great. We did try cantering with mixed success. He just doesn’t understand that that is what I want him to do. I figured when he was Ranger cantering, he would understand, but that hasn’t been the case. It’s odd, because when my sister is on foot, and simulates cantering, he understands. Anyway, we did get it a couple times for a very short distance. I’m sure we will work it out—and I hope soon—it was such a lovely, lovely canter. Cruiser has a fair canter, and Mingo’s was tough unless he went fast. Ranger has an awesome canter, and Cole’s seemed more like Ranger’s—for the short distance we traveled. There is a big difference between naturally rear-wheel drive horses and naturally front-wheel drive ones. At last, I got a rear wheel!

I had 2 great solo rides on Cruiser this weekend. We got in just in time, yesterday morning. We were only inside a few minutes when the deluge hit, and only ended this morning. I am going riding tonight, but I won’t be able to cross the river. I will work the hill with Cruiser and spend my time with Cole in the arena.

Some good news—looks like deerfly season is winding down. They didn’t have to wear their bonnets yesterday, and I only saw a couple that were easy to kill. All we have to worry about, now, is the mosquitoes, which is bad enough. I don’t ever remember a worse year for mosquitoes.

Evening Rides

2011-08-12T12:01:00.001-07:00

I took my older niece out riding last night. I was on Cruiser and she rode my sister’s horse, Ranger. All went well for most of the ride. She is really mastering posting. On the ride home, we just walked, so I suggested she practiced her hands. She needs to keep them steady with even contact. She is such a conscientious student—she practiced all the way home until she fell off.

When we were crossing the river, which was very low and slippery, Ranger slid a bit in the back and started to fall. A better rider may have been able to stay on—but at least she didn’t throw him off balance and cause him to fall, too. I didn’t see it until she was sitting in the water and Ranger was walking towards us. I got off, but not in time to reach Range’s reins. He walked right by Cruiser, up the river bank and happily for us—turned the opposite direction of home when he got to the top. By now, my niece was up and walking towards us. (Unhurt but soaked.) I sent her ahead while Cruiser and I blocked the path towards home. Ranger was munching a patch of grass that he has probably had an eye on for years. My niece took the carrot that was in her pocket and slowly approached, stretched out her arm and Ranger traded his freedom for a piece of carrot.

I rode Cole in the outdoor arena—first time in a couple weeks or more. It finally dried out enough. Well, the stables next to us had 6 horses turned out, and they were running all around because of the bugs. There was someone riding there and someone cutting grass. We didn’t get much accomplished. A few times, the mower hit something and that spooked Cole. He did try to run once when the other horses ran and he didn’t pay much attention to me. Overall, he did better than I thought he would with the distractions, but it still wasn’t as much fun as it usually because of them. That’s just how things go…

Good Wednesday Evening Rides

2011-08-09T12:29:00.001-07:00

Yesterday evening, I found my boyfriend at the barn. I never know when he is going to ride with me. Sometimes, he rides in the morning and still comes out to help me in the evening. This time, he saved his riding so he could ride with me.

I decided to take Cole with him. We did this a few weeks ago with good success. This time, I was going to be braver and trot more. It helped that the trail has been repaired—allowing us to trot a lot more than before.

Now, my boyfriend has limited control with of his horse. He can tell him which way to go and at what gait, but he has very little control of the speed of his gait. Starry goes at whatever speed he likes.

I asked my boyfriend to try to go a little slower, but I was wasting my breath. I’m not sure if he didn’t try, couldn’t succeed or never heard me. Each time he asked Starry to trot, he went at a pretty brisk speed—much faster than when we trot with Ranger, but still slower than when we trot alone. I’m glad to say, though I worried Cole would get excited and try to race, he never passed Starry. We probably trotted a mile, all told, and Cole was perfect. Even when Starry started to canter, Cole just trotted faster. I was very pleased.

Cole did try to trot a few times on the way home when we were supposed to be walking, so I can’t say he was perfect, but he was close enough to me.

I then took Cruiser out alone for a longer ride. I had a nice time on him, too.

Been Doing lots of Riding

2011-08-08T11:41:00.001-07:00

I have been remiss in blogging, but that’s not because I haven’t been riding. I’m doing that as much as ever. My nieces have been riding with us, and that makes it all the more fun. Unfortunately, I only have a few more weeks before the older one goes back to Cornell. I sure will miss her company.

I have been asking more of Cole, so that means we have been encountering more difficulties. I could have kept it easy and just taken him on short walk-only rides, but I want to trot, canter and go further. Friday evening, when I took him on a trail ride by himself, he was very annoyed with the bugs. That really does affect our rides. He wants to either go fast or go home. When I ride him alone, his speed of trotting is incredible, and lately, I have lost his good downward transitions. He has been getting excited, and since I have asked him to canter a few times on the trail, he has been offering it on his own, again.

When I ride with another horse, he pretty much will match the speed of the other horse. Well, yesterday, he decided to try and pass up Ranger. The first time, Ranger snarled at him. the second time, I spun him to get him to stop and we headed back towards Ranger so I could put him behind him where he belongs—well, Ranger marched toward him with an ugly face, and Cole just backed away from Ranger in fear. I had him take a wide berth around Ranger, and then we trotted one more time. Cole was perfectly behaved. Where I try to train with positive and negative reinforcement, Ranger is training with positive punishment. I hate to admit it, but I think that Ranger’s method may be working.

Our arena work has been up and down, and it is probably because I am only working in there once or twice a week. That’s okay—that’s what winter is for…

Cruise is doing well, and I am riding him 5 days a week on the trail. each spring, I ask for one more summer. Looks like he is living up to my request. He is energetic and enthusiastic. Last year, he didn’t want to canter. This year, he is cantering quite a bit. Last year, he needed to pause and rest on the hills. This year, he goes straight up. Of course, he is happy to trot forever.

Cole's First Show

2011-08-01T12:43:00.000-07:00

He went to his first show, yesterday. Don’t get excited. We just rode to the show grounds and stood on the outskirts for about 10 minutes. Rnager kept inching forward--he wanted to wander around amongst the activity. He loves doing that. There were horses going past us or warming up in the field nearby, the loud speaker was blaring and horses were calling. Cole behaved well at the show, but as we rode away, I told Ellen I expected an expression of emotion any moment. About a minute later, he jumped and squealed. At least he didn’t let me down.

He was in a funny mood the whole ride. I think it was the bugs. A number of times, he tried to spin and go home. Twice, he nearly collided into the jaws of death--Ranger's gaping jaws. I think Ranger taught him manners better than I could ever teach him. We did do some new things, and he was great for them. All the trotting went well, too. It was just when we were walking and getting swarmed by mosquitoes that he misbehaved.

With all the rain we have been getting, including right now, I don't know if we will be getting any break from the bugs anytime soon. I really don't much like summer, and I am so much looking forward to fall.

Scary River

2011-07-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

We had another pretty big flood this month. When the water went down enough to cross, we found a large log partially blocking the river bank on the far side, a faster current and funny ripples that weren’t there before. Either the slate bottom got torn up or some big rocks were moved in. It was hard to tell because the water was still muddy.

Kevin tried to go on a ride on his own, and Starry refused to cross. A few days later, he wanted to ride with me to help get Starry to the other side. I took Cruiser and I am glad to say that Cruiser wasn’t worried about the changes at all. The only problem we had with him was he wanted to drink and drink. We just wanted to get Starry across before he thought too much about what we were doing. Eventually, Cruiser decided to cooperate and we made it!

On the way home, Cruiser stepped on what I correctly guessed was a large, flat piece of shale about 6 inches high. He put his hoof on it, started to shift his weight to step up, paused, did it again, paused, and when I asked him to move to the side of the rock, he happily took his hoof off and put it next to the shale. It is so nice to have a horse that thinks before acting.

The next morning, Ellen tried to cross Ranger, and he refused. It looked too funny to him. They worked out a compromise—once he got all 4 hooves in the water, she turned him around and they gave up on the river.

Well, that put me in a tough spot. The following evening, my niece was supposed to ride with me, and she rides Ranger. I talked it over with Ellen, and we decided that I would ride Ranger across and then we would switch horses on the other side. We knew that Cruiser would cross, and that should help Ranger.

I’m glad to say that the water was lower, and now we could see all the large hunks of shale that were washed down; causing the funny ripples. The water was still traveling faster that it used to. I told my niece to start down the river bank to the water. Ranger refused to go first. Cruiser thought Ranger had the right idea—and who was that on his back, anyway, and why did he have to listen to her?

Poor Ranger had to take the lead. I clicked him halfway down the bank and gave him a carrot. That put him in a much better mood. I clicked him when he stepped into the water, too. He stopped and I gave him another carrot. He was nervous. Cruiser wasn’t in the lead like he was supposed to be. I asked Ranger to walk, and he started wading through the water. I clicked and clicked and clicked, but he was so uptight that he didn’t stop! When we got to the other side, I he finally stopped for a click. I hopped off and gave him the handful of carrots he should have gotten if he had stopped while I was clicking. Cruiser finally made it over, and we switched horses and enjoyed the rest of our ride.

The only other difficulty we had was on the way home. I forgot to tell my niece to be careful about the log on the river bank that initially scared Range. I was in the lead and heard a noise. It was Ranger scurrying down the river bank and into the water to get away from the log. No harm done, and it was a good experience for my niece to ride a nervous horse for a few seconds. He calmed down and was fine the rest of the way home.

Soon, Ranger will cross the water as reliable as he used to be. By then, the log will be gone and Kevin will have cleaned the rocks out of the water.

Rain and heat

2011-07-22T13:11:00.000-07:00

I am listening to the thunder, and I checked the radar--my weekend plans have just turned soggy. There will be no crossing the river tonight, and I don't think we will be crossing tomorrow, either. If it isn't raining this evening, I will be riding up and down the hill. Same with tomorrow morning. Alas, this is why I don't like July. It seems it is either unbearably hot and/or the T-storms raise the river.

The outdoor arena will be too wet. The indoor arena isn't watered this time of year, so it will be very hot and dusty.

Hopefully, Sunday will work out.

I'm sure we will find fun things to do, though, but I love those trail rides...

I think my niece is falling in love.

2011-07-21T08:23:00.000-07:00

I think my niece is falling in love. Last night, she came out for her ride. Since the river was too high to cross, we rode Ranger and Cruiser on the hill. We worked on trotting on the bottom, flat section so she could practice posting. Since she learned most of her riding on Mingo, she never needed to post. He was as smooth as a Cadillac. She loved Mingo, and she still talks about how she misses him. They were 2 peas in a pod. I have never seen a person and a horse fit together so well as my older niece and little Ming.

After our ride, I got her started on watering the 38 horses. With the intense heat, they have been drinking so much. I rode Cole in the indoor arena since the outdoor was still muddy and there was a horse turned out in it. We didn’t do much that was exerting due to the heat and dust. We did walking, bends, leg yielding and sidepassing. Then I through in some walk/trot transitions, some trotting/bending and I was clicking anything that was good. Once he started to do his “show trot” consistently, I decided it was time to work on leg yields at a trot. I only did this once before back in April, so it was like starting from scratch. After about 5 minutes, maybe less, I was getting about a step and a half, and that made me pretty happy. I think he knew what I wanted and was just trying to coordinate it. I was nearly out of carrots for clicking, so I called my niece in so she could ride him a little.

At first, Cole only wanted to follow me, but gradually, he started to listen to her, instead. She is a very gentle rider, and some of the horses take advantage of it, but Cole only did that once—when he wanted to go look in one of the barns and she didn’t want him to. I had to help her get him unstuck. Once she got comfortable, I asked her if she wanted to try a trot. Since she isn’t real consistent with posting, I knew it might be a problem, but if he did his slow, ordinary trot, she should be able to sit it.

I explained that with Cole, unlike our other horses, you squeeze and hold your legs until he starts to trot—and then you release. The other horses will trot with a tap of the heels. I thought the squeeze and hold would be a better approach with him, so that’s how I trained him.

In the past, when I have allowed other people to ride Cole, he has been very difficult to get to trot. Maybe because I had been working him for the previous half hour and he was very responsive to me, he was for her, too. He went right into the trot—and after a few steps—went into his show trot! He collected himself, rounded up and turned on the impulsion. My poor niece! She didn’t know how to sit that! His show trot isn’t fast, but it has so much impulsion that he will throw you right out of the saddle. It takes a person with a strong sitting trot (me) to sit it.

To rescue her, and reward him, I clicked him and treated. He has never offered his show trot with anyone else besides me. She trotted him twice and then I was out of carrots.

I sent her back to watering, and I walked him outside. I wanted to put him in his stall, but my boyfriend had Cruiser in it so he could clean Cruise’s stall. I put him in the crossties, unsaddled him and suddenly—there was my niece. I gave him to her and she led him around the arena.

When his stall was ready, she brought him back and we went to hay the horses. When we were done, I had her sponge off Cole while I cleaned up. What I saw was her relaxing and enjoying herself in a way that she hadn’t been with Ranger this summer or with Starry the year before. I joked with her and said it was because he was black like Mingo. She just smiled and said, “I like Cole.” She may be falling in love…

Monsoon

2011-07-20T10:17:00.000-07:00

We got about 4 inches of rain at my house on Monday in 2 storms. The first storm was just over our suburb, and we ended up with 3 huge limbs down that will need a chainsaw to clean up. That was plenty rain for my garden. I didn't need the second storm that flooded northeast Ohio, overnight. It was bad--setting a record for single day rainfall.

Our boarding stables was severely flooded, and of course, the river flooded, too. My boyfriend hiked the trails to see the damage, and the hill that the park just repaired--is wrecked. I am taking my niece out to ride, tonight, but I am sure we still won't be able to cross the river. Just as well, as it is going up into the 90s--and the humidty is terrible.

At least I won't have to water my garden for a while...I picked my first green beans yesterday.

Working on a Dream Trot

2011-07-19T12:29:00.001-07:00

I have been trotting Cole Train a lot on our solo rides, and he is doing much better. Sometimes he gets a bit excited and goes really, really fast, but he is no longer breaking into a canter.

It was time to work on trotting with other horses. Ellen and I did have a few training rides last fall before the big freeze shut us down, so we had a starting point.

On the day we wanted to introduce dual trotting, it rained and the river was too high to cross. That only gave us the hill to work on. At the bottom of the hill, before we cross the river, there is a nice flat, albeit, short section of trail. I had spent some time trotting Cole on it by himself, and he understood stopping at the end.

Ellen had the brilliant idea of teaching him to heel to Ranger—just like I taught him to heel to me. We decided that we would not allow Cole to go beyond Ellen’s leg. We first tried it at a walk—clicking when he arrived to the spot and stayed there for a few moments. (Ranger was clicked and treated, too.) Then we increased the length. After 4-5 tries, we tried it at a trot. It worked like magic. We practiced it many times for about 10 minutes, and gradually increased the length of trotting.

The next day, we were able to cross the river and work where we had more trail. The only time we had trouble was when Ranger would slow down, and Cole didn’t adjust his speed and passed him up. No one would get clicked, and I would turn Cole right around and do it again. Ellen figured out that she needed to keep Ranger at a steady speed for us to be successful, and it worked. We did some parts of the trail twice for practice.

We went through a lot of carrot pieces, but we had such fantastic success. My greatest challenge with Cruiser for all these years, is to keep him behind another horse when we trot or canter. He loves to be in the lead. Of course, so does Ranger. Ranger even made a game of slowing down so Cruiser would start to pass—and then he would speed up himself to race. Eventually, Ranger learned that when Cruiser passed, we would be stopping, soon, and turned that into a game, too. Now if we trotted with Cruise in the front and Ranger following, often Ranger was worse than Cruiser. It’s tough when both horses want to lead.

The next time we were able to ride together, we had our youngest niece on Ranger. Ellen rode Cruiser. Of course, I was on Cole. We tried to trot a couple times, but Ranger stopped when Cole got close to him; anticipating a click.

Then following day, Ellen and I took them up to our very favorite trails by the show ring. We had another fruitful ride. The following weekend, we took them up there, and we had a new development. Cole didn’t trot up to Ranger’s side, but seemed content to follow about 10 feet behind. This was fine with us. It actually made it easier. I adjusted what I was doing. When he would get to the right distance behind Ranger, I would simply slow him down with the reins. When he responded, I immediately released. I actually think this might be what I was teaching him when I was working on heeling to Ranger, because when he got to the desired position, I slowed him down with the reins, released and then he got clicked for staying there. We did a lot of trotting on that ride and even trotted a fair distance towards home.

It seemed that in a short while, he became easier to trot with Ranger than Cruiser is. I’m looking forward to the time when I will be doing this lesson at a canter.

Night Ride with Starry

2011-07-19T08:32:00.000-07:00

Cole Train has been doing very well with his morning weekend rides, but each time I take him out in the evenings, he gives me a challenging ride. I haven’t done it that much, and that may be part of the problem. Our other horses have always seemed more hyper in the evenings. It is possible that he just needs to get used to it. I decided to try to get him out at least once a week until I run out of daylight to ride both horses on the trail after work.

Yesterday evening, I took Cruiser for a quick ride in the rain. It was a really hot day, so the light rain felt good. When I got back, Kevin was there. I saddled Cole up for an indoor arena ride, and then it stopped raining. I quickly changed my mind, grabbed the bug spray and invited Kevin and Starry to go along with us.

Since the bugs have been driving Starry crazy, Kevin hasn’t been riding with me in the evenings. Starry does better earlier in the day. This would be Starry’s first evening ride since some time in May, and the first time Cole has ever gone on a ride with another horse in the evening. Also, I planned to try some trotting—the first time with any horse other than Ranger.

I told Kevin that if the deerflies get really bad, we could turn around early. Well they did get bad, but Kevin didn’t give up.

We did some trotting. Even though Kevin couldn’t slow Starry down to the speed we have been practicing with Ranger, Cole didn’t pass him or try to canter. He just trotted along until I would click because he was being so good that I couldn’t resist clicking.

So, what did Kevin learn? That when I click, we stop so I could give Cole a treat. I would tell Kevin we were clicking, and he just kept going. Fortunately, when he stopped, Cole politely trotted up to Starry.

What did Cole learn? If Starry starts to prance, trot off, canter off or throw a temper tantrum because the bugs are bothering him, that he is to keep doing whatever he is doing and not pay any attention to the big buckskin’s antics. We had a lot of chances to practice this lesson. Each time, Cole was perfect, and each time I clicked him for it—to encourage more perfect behavior in the future. One thing I like about clicker is that it is so much more effective than just saying “good boy.” Even the time when Starry blasted past us at his fast trot to get away from the bugs, Cole just walked quietly. In other words, Cole did better than Cruiser would have in the same circumstances. I was elated.

We walked on the way home with Cole in the lead and Starry following. The lead horse seems to get the brunt of the deerflies, and though Cole doesn’t like them, he is more tolerant than Starry. Starry calmed down, and we had a nice trip home.

What did I learn? That I have a very special horse. Cole was good when Starry acted up. When Kevin would start to trot before I was ready, Cole didn’t trot until I told him to. In fact, Cole always waits for me to tell him to trot instead of following what the other horses do. I have a horse that pays attention to me instead of his riding companions.

I’m not sure how this happened. It could be because I have zero tolerance to unrequested gait changes—but that never made a difference with Cruiser. Maybe it is because when I ride in the indoor arena, which could be very hectic, I made him stand whenever doors were opened, horses were led through, people pushed wheelbarrows by or whatever. Maybe he learned stillness among chaos. Maybe it is because we practice transitions so much or maybe it is all of it put together. Regardless, I love it. Considering that Cole is a young and very spirited horse, it is wonderful.

Thank you Kevin and Starry for a wonderful ride.

Hot, but great, trail rides

2011-07-18T11:37:00.001-07:00

We had some great trail rides this weekend. I got out to the barn a little late on Friday since I had to water my brother’s garden. (they were on vacation..) I took Cruiser for a quick trail ride, and just turned Cole out to play. He ran and ran long enough to be nearly dripping in sweat, so I then took him for a walk to the river.

Saturday, my sister and I took Cruiser and Ranger out for a very pleasant ride. I rode Cole by himself. We did a bunch of trotting to the second river, and met my sister on the way back. I decided to attempt a canter, again. I haven’t had any luck in the arena. Last fall, I was able to canter him when we played “target my sister.” I decided to approach it that way, again. it took a number of attempts to get the canter, but when I got it, it was glorious. Last fall, he was fast, unbalanced and all over the place. Since I had only been riding him a short time at that point, that wasn’t a surprise. This time, he was even, balanced and went at a reasonable speed. We tried it a number of times—sometimes getting it, sometimes not. Finally, my sister said we should do it just one more time. She walked up the trail and waited for us. We never got better than a trot. When we reached her, she moved over to the side and started jogging with us. She then simulated the canter—and we were off! I left her and kept going. I was going to stop after a short distance, but decided not to since it was so nice. We went about a thousand feet. I asked for a trot, got it, clicked and we were done for the day.

Sunday is the day we take Ranger and Cole up to the show ring trails. Last week, we worked on trotting alongside. That was our plan this week, but Cole decided he didn’t need to get up to Ranger. He was happy to follow 10 feet behind. We did a lot of trotting and clicking. We only stopped for things like rough trails and sharp corners. We even did a little trotting towards home. I led him down the big hill, and he did his silly circus walk for me. we then went further down the trail a short ways and crossed a new river. He went across great, but he was hesitant to step back in to go home. I’m not sure what startled him, there, but once Ranger was out of sight, he got brave and stepped in.

I rode him down the short, steep hill, again, and he did his circus walk, again. He is so silly, but at least I can control his speed. It was a terrific ride.

I then took Cruiser out for 5 miles and met Starry on the way home.

Tonight, there is a chance for storms, so I’m not sure what will transpire.

Law of Unintended Consequences

2011-07-15T13:11:00.001-07:00

A few weeks ago, I decided my dog, Maggie, aka Dumb Dog, needed grooming. She is actually my dad’s dog, but he doesn’t do any of the hard work or training with her. I gave her a bath, and then every other day or so, I groomed her.

I don’t think anyone ever tried to groom her, before. She immediately started snapping at my hand. I held her collar and when she held her head still, I clicked and treated her. The first day, I got piles of hair out of her. When she was good she good she got clicked. When she was bad, I ignored her and didn’t stop grooming.

Each time, she got better, and now, a couple weeks later, she sits beside me and lets me groom all I want and just waits for her periodic clicks. She seems to like it.

Now, here is the unintended consequence. We have had her since October, and whenever she would sit on my lap, she would constantly mouth my hand. Nothing I did would get her to stop, so I eventually just threw her on the floor whenever she did it—which was nearly always. She was fine with everyone else. Shortly after a started teaching her to lie still during grooming, she started to lie still on my lap. I would then pet her and tell her she was good—no clicks. It has taken me this long to make the connection. I taught her to lie still and good things will happen. She is treating me completely different than she used to. If this keeps up, I may start to like her, someday.

Thunder doesn’t like the new Maggie, and typically he will start to cry from the other room in a few minutes. Then I have to leave Maggie and see what he wants. He is quite the tyrant.

Cat Party!

2011-07-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a big day for us. It was Thunder’s 4th anniversary. Thunder is my feline buddy, and he means the world to me. So, it was time to throw a cat party! I’m glad to say the weather was cool, and that makes a big difference with a long-haired cat. He isn’t too playful on hot days.

First ingredient to a cat party? A tired dog. I took Maggie out for a long walk. She wasn’t invited to the party. Unfortunately, no one who was invited: my sister, my sister’s cat, the squirrels, birds and chipmunks—none of them showed up. We still had great fun.

At 7:30, the fun began. To start with, I followed Thunder all around while he purred and told me how much he loved me. I got the catnip out and then, we played a little explore, then throw, then feather, then throw, then chase, then follow, then tent, then throw, then da bird, then throw and then it was time to rest a little. If I left the room, he would either start running around or call me. The dog ventured in every now and then to be promptly chased out by Thunder. It was his party.

he decided it was time to rest around dusk. During our rest, he sat looking out the dining room picture window and watched the lightning bugs. I watched them with him, drank a cup of tea and called up my sister to give her an update. Alas, I thought the party was over, but shortly after I hung up the phone, Thunder wanted to play chase, then throw, then run, then peekaboo, then follow, then throw…Finally, at 10:00, he said he needed to rest. At 10:45, when I tried to collect him for bed, he decided it was time to seriously play dog hunt. Poor Maggie. He vigorously chased her out of the room 3 times before she gave up.

After he had his evening snack and visited the litter box, he said he was ready for bed. I think he purred for 20 minutes straight before he finally fell asleep. He was so happy, and so was I. It was a great party.

A training ride and a fun ride

2011-07-14T06:26:00.001-07:00

I decided to bite the bullet and take Cole on the trail yesterday evening. He has been doing so well on the weekend mornings, but every time I try an evening, he is horrible. Well, he was horrible, again. Let’s see… He tried to trot down the hill, tried to spin and run home, once, the first time I asked him to trot, he tried to run, and when I stopped him, he bucked in place, his trotting was very fast and quite out of control at times and he was in a hurry to get home. That is a typical evening ride. At least this time, I didn’t turn back early. I stuck it out and went on the minimum ride—to the next river crossing. I think I merely need to ride in the evenings on trail more often to get him through this. Now that he has shoes, I will try to do it at least once a week.

I was nearly back, and I found my sister with her dog! I forgot she was working day shift. (Most of the time, she works afternoon shift.) She walked back with us, and Cole couldn’t take his eye off Stubby. He didn’t like when Stubby was in the lead. He felt he should be in the lead. Stubby hates following. Cole wanted to crowd him off the trail. Cole acts funny around cats and dogs. He wants to chase them. I certainly don’t let him. I think when he lived in his paddock, he learned to chase them out.

I then took Cruiser on a fast and fun ride. The weather was cool, so we trotted much of the way home, so we had no trouble getting back before dark. He was in one of his great Cruiser moods, and I had so much fun. Just no one tell him he is 24, and maybe he will never act like an old horse.

Trail Riding Weekend

2011-07-12T13:29:00.001-07:00

Been too busy to blog! So, here is what has been going on. Saturday, my younger niece came out to ride. she rides Ranger, my sister rides Cruiser and I ride Cole. We went farther with Cole than we ever have, before—all the way until the trail ends if we go south. The last quarter mile is the worst because we are out in the open and the road runs parallel. On the way back, a garbage truck was going down the street; stopping at each house. Ranger got very nervous, and we were able to teach my niece how to handle a slowly moving monster approaching and passing. I’m glad to say that Cole and Cruise were fine. We stopped the horses and let them watch the truck approach. When it came alongside us, I showed my niece, with Cole as an example, how to keep Ranger facing it until is was no longer a threat. She did it, and Ranger relaxed and we continued the ride.
Sunday, my sister and I took Ranger and Cole up to the show ring trails. Our goal was to practice trotting together. Just like last weekend, Ranger was supposed to lead and Cole was not allowed to pass. I clicked him when he stayed parallel to my sister’s leg. Each time, we increased the distance. They did great, and it is funny how much slower Cole goes when Ranger sets the pace versus when we are alone.
I led him down the huge hill, but on the short hill, I rode down for the first time since the time last year when he tried to trot down it and didn’t want to stop at the street. He did very well. I clicked him for slow and careful walking a number of times. He knows what I want—that is definite. He just needs to control his body. He just gets too much momentum.
Yesterday, I didn’t have that much time, so I rode him in the indoor arena. He didn’t like the heat, so it was a lackluster performance, but I still enjoyed it.
I took Cruiser on a quick ride on Sunday and Monday and he was a joy, as always.

Cole's First Pair of Shoes

2011-07-08T06:44:00.001-07:00

Well, it was time. Time for the first pair of shoes. I rode him a lot this last 8 weeks, and his feet were fairly worn—and I plan to increase his riding. In anticipation, not only did I decide to have shoes put on him, I increased his grain. Hard to believe the fat horse I got a year ago needed his grain increased. He looks so much better than before—he lost over 100 pounds according to the weight tape.

Anyway, back to his feet. I spent a lot of time tapping his hooves with the hoof pick and then even tapped him a few times with a hammer. He was always perfect for the tapping. Of course, it helped that I was clicking him. I also spent time stretching his front legs forward and holding them, too.

My farrier agreed, when he saw Cole’s feet, that shoes were necessary. I can trust my farrier to be truthful about this. There have been times when he told us we didn’t need shoes, too. Some farriers want to shoe every horse. My farrier isn’t that way.

He trimmed the front feet and then went to trim the back. Oops! All the time I spent working on the front hooves—not one minute did I review his back hoof lessons. He pulled away several times, and my farrier held on and made faces. Reminder for next time—review the back hooves before the next visit.

Now, for the big moment. Time to put the shoes on the front. On the first hoof, during the procedure, he tried to pull away and got his hind feet way under him. This could be bad, cuz when Cruiser does this, it means he wants to rear up to pull away. My farrier just kept going, and Cole had to stand that way until it was time to put his foot down. On the second hoof, he was fine. At no time did he misbehave during any pounding of the hammer.

I was disappointed. I really expected him to be better. To my surprise, my farrier was very pleased. It was a matter of expectations. I wanted perfection, but my farrier, who has shod many horses with their first pair of shoes, knew how bad a horse can be the first time. He was tickled—particularly when he pointed out how awful Cole was the first time he trimmed his feet a year ago. The best news—he will just get better. We went through several years of Cruiser rearing during shoeing, after all.

Now I can ride all I like without worrying about wearing his hooves to nothing.

One Fine Weekend

2011-07-05T12:42:00.001-07:00

I had a lovely long weekend for riding. Due to the holiday, and since we ride in a very suburban park, we didn’t venture far from home, but we still had fun. Friday evening, I took both Cole and Cruiser on a short trail ride. Cole was awful. I just don’t know why we have so much more trouble in the evenings than the mornings. Well, I will keep trying.

Saturday, my sister and I took Cruiser and Ranger on an hour ride, and they were delightful. I took Cole on the same ride by myself. We did a lot of trotting. Only once did he build up some extra steam and I had trouble stopping him. as a bonus, we trotted on a trail we only trotted once last fall. On this trail, he was great. Last fall, we was absolutely awful when I tried trotting here. It is a slight incline and has lots of sharp bends. I was really pleased with that. We walked all the way home, and I didn’t have to correct him a single time. When we got back, I rode a little while in the arena to show off his pretty trot to one of the boarders at the neighboring barn. It appears that the people over there are starting to talk about him.

We had a big storm Saturday night, so we weren’t able to cross the river. My sister and I had planned to work on trotting Cole with Ranger. You see, we have struggled for years with Cruiser and Ranger wanting to race each other at the trot. We didn’t want to go through this with Cole. There is a stretch of trail before the river that is about 200 feet long. We decided to just go back and forth on this trail to teach the lesson.

My sister suggested we teach Cole to heel to Ranger like he heels for me. I would ask him to trot to my sister’s leg and stay there. We did it a few times at a walk, and it seemed like he understood. When we tried it at a trot, after a few times, he seemed very happy to trot in that spot in hopes of getting a click. I don’t know how many times we went back and forth, but it was a lot. Sometimes we clicked part way, and sometimes we went to the end.

Monday, we were able to cross the river and practice it on a longer trail. I didn’t expect it to go so well. It was wonderful. Only one time did Cole pass up Range, and that is when Ranger slowed down. After that, my sister made sure that Ranger stayed a steady speed. We did the good sections of the trail 2 times with a lot of clicks. At the end of the last trotting section, I felt Cole change. I called to my sister to look—he was going into his pretty trot! Next time we ride together, I bet it will be even better. He actually went slower when I worked him with Ranger because Ranger went slower than Cole typically does on trail. It was so much nicer. I have a feeling that Cole will figure out that a moderate speed is more comfortable than trotting to the max. They were still moving out at a good speed, just not a racing speed.

Another happy surprise—the hill work I did with him last week seems to have had an effect. On one hill that we went on that is short and steep, I led him and he walked slow and careful whenever I told him to put his head down. Also, on one of the steep riverbanks that I ride down and he always goes too fast, on his own, he put his head down and walked slow and careful down to the water. He got a click for that!

I really like Cole, but that doesn’t take away from my love for Cruiser. On each of the days I took him on the solo ride, he was a dream horse. We just trot and canter away with smiles on both of our faces. Cole has big shoes to fill when the sad day comes and Cruiser moves on the greener pastures…

Thunder and his Gloxinia

2011-07-05T11:25:00.001-07:00

Bits of Trouble with Cole

2011-06-30T07:07:00.001-07:00

Bits of Trouble with Cole

As I do more and more with Cole, I am finding more and more challenges. He isn’t as good in the evenings as he is in the morning. One of the reasons, I think, is that the bugs are worse. Another reason—no Ellen—either on foot or horseback. Riding through bugs and going alone are two things he needs to learn.

The bugs are making him flip his head around, and when they get really bad, he tries to spin to run home. That is, unless we are already going home. Then he tries to trot away from them. If you think about it, this is a normal response to insects—run for shelter!

I am just persistent in keeping him going the direction I want him to go and at the speed that I ask him. We will probably work this out by the time the cold weather arrives. Of course, I use bug spray, and he wears a bonnet to protect him from the deer flies.

Lately, he has shown reluctance to go down the first river bank and then to cross the river. The other night, I decided to tackle the problem with the clicker.

I asked him to go down the river bank, and he halted. I used my legs to get him going. At his first reluctant step, I clicked him. He stopped for his treat, and then we did it again. I think it took 5 clicks to get to the bottom.

Now, as far as crossing the river, the problem started one day when he put his head down at the edge of the water to give it a sniff, and he found a leaf laying there. He tried to grab the leaf, I wouldn’t let him, and then he didn’t want to cross. He just wanted to look for something to munch on. At least I think that’s what is going on. He doesn’t act frightened. He just wants to play with his nose by the water.

He walked to the water, put his nose in and started playing. I used my legs to ask him to go. He thought sideways would be the best direction, but I kept him pointed forward and squeezed harder. When he took a forward step instead of a sideways step, I clicked and treated.

I asked for another forward, and I got more sideways. (Why did I teach him to sidepass?) Finally, I got another forward and clicked him. This is how it went for the first five steps forward. At the halfway point, he walked normal, and I clicked him for that, too. I think that not having Ellen on the other side made him more reluctant to cross.

I took him on a short ride. When we got back to the river, I crossed back towards home. I decided to try to recross it. Now, my gut said that Cole would possibly be worse. I know that when I am bringing Cruiser home, if I turn around to cross back over, which I will do if I find someone struggling to cross their horse, he is very, very reluctant. He just wants to go home. He will do it, but he doesn’t set the best example. I could have more of a fight the second time than the first time.

Still, I have read that it is important to reinforce heavily when clicker training. I decided to try it, again.

This time, when I turned him to the river bank, he readily walked down! Wow, was I surprised. After a few steps, I clicked and treated, and did it several times before he reached the bottom. At the water’s edge, he did stop, but when I asked him to go forward, he gave me much less trouble. I would say it took less than half the time to get him completely in the water. I reinforced him the whole way across, and when he got to the other side, I gave him a jackpot—all the carrot pieces I had left. We then turned around and crossed back towards home.

When I got to the other side, I dismounted as a reward—I didn’t have anymore carrots, and wanted to do something nice. I then led him up the hill and back home.

It had to have been the clicking to cross the first time that made him so much better the second time. I will continue the clicking—fading it off as he gets better—and I expect he will.

Cole and a Few Obstacles

2011-06-30T07:06:00.001-07:00

Cole and a Few Obstacles

As Cole started to improve on the trail, I felt it was time to give him a few challenges. One obstacle I wanted to get out of the way was the river ford. The fords are part of the street that the cars drive over to get across the river. They aren’t bridges, because the water will run over them when the river gets high.

We like to ride on the fords when the river is on the higher side, when we can. Of course, the first crossing we have, by the barn, has no ford, and makes our lives miserable in the rainy and icy weather.

Though Ranger and Cruiser are happy to cross the fords, (they seem to prefer it,) I had a long history of problems with Mingo. Early in his life, he got stuck on one while they were repairing it, and he had to step down off of it. We had to force him off, and he got hurt—not badly hurt—but enough that he was frightened. When the construction was done, he got stuck on it and had to be blindfolded to get him off.

I was able to get him crossing, again, a few months later—only to have him refuse a few years after that. It took a long time, but eventually, he started to cross it again. That lasted a few years, and then he wouldn’t…you get the idea. The last summer I rode him, with the help of my clicker, I got him crossing again. At least I know if the rainbow bridge is really a ford, he will be able to cross.

Anyway, I wanted Cole to be like Ranger and Cruiser—not Mingo. This had to be a good experience for him. We rode out to the ford, and instead of turning back there, like we did all spring, I decided to cross. Since we had been trotting, we left Ellen, who was out hiking with us, in the dust. I was on my own. I didn’t want to wait around for her assistance. Cole and I went solo.

To make things more positive, I dismounted to lead him. I had a pocketful of carrot pieces and away we went. I was lucky that not a single car passed us the whole time. Every few steps, I clicked and treated to get him in a go forward state of mind.

One of the most crucial parts of crossing the ford, according to Mingo, is when you go from the blacktop road to the concrete ford. The change in the color of the pavement was what scared him the most. As Cole stepped over that line, he got clicked.

Cruiser never cared for the edge of the ford. It isn’t solid, but “serrated” so the water can flow over it. He spent years, looking at it crookedly. When Cole got to that section, I just kept clicking and treating so that it wouldn’t bother him. He did eye it funny, but once I clicked him for walking forward, he forgot about how weird it looked.

I clicked him for going over the line where the concrete become blacktop on the other side, and we were across.

I mounted up and away I went.

The trail we were now on was one he had been on a number of times last fall, but this was the first time for us this year. I kept him at a walk, and he showed me everything that looked different from last year. Which meant he looked intently at each fallen tree. Horses’ memories are amazing.

Where the trail came out to the street, a big tree had fallen across. The park sawed the branches away, at the edge of the trail, leaving the rest pointing towards the trail at eye level. Cole didn’t like the look of that, at all. He stopped, put his head up and started blowing. This is the first time this has ever happened to us while I was riding him. I let him stand and look. He started to step back. I squeezed my legs, and he stopped. I tried again, and he stepped forward.

Since I still had plenty of carrots left, I clicked him. He stopped, and I gave him a treat and asked for another step. This time, he was more willing. I clicked immediately, and we repeated. We did this until we got past the tree. On the other side, I turned him around to go back, and he ignored the tree altogether—of course, it helped that we were now heading towards home.

Who then should appear, but Ellen. I told her what we did, and I wanted to show her. I turned Cole back around to pass the tree, but I had nothing to show Ellen. He walked by the tree like he had been walking by it every day of his whole life. What a good boy.

Clicker was very handy that day.

We rode home at a walk, and he didn’t try a trot step a single time. It was a great ride.

Hills, Again

2011-06-29T11:40:00.000-07:00

Will my trouble with hills ever go away? I am glad to say that Cole and I conquered the first hill leading down to the river—both up and down. If only that was the only hill on the trail.

Not far from the barn, there are 2 short and very steep hills. Last fall, I did try riding down them, and, of course, he went too fast and out of control. My last attempt ended with us nearly trotting right out into the road at the bottom of the hill. Well, that was the last time I tried it. Now, I lead him down those hills. Good thing he is short and easy to mount.

There is another hill that is a more serious problem, and that is the one that leads up to the show ring. It is very, very steep, long and has a sheer drop on one side with deep ruts down the center. I definitely lead down this one.

Ellen and I recently started riding up to the show ring, again. We love that ride, and plan to do it every week, weather permitting. The first time we went there with Cole a few weeks ago, he was horrible when I tried to lead him down. He kept going too fast, cutting me off and his legs were all over the place. We ended up putting Ranger in the lead, had him walk slowly and that helped control Cole.

I really think this isn’t a behavior problem, but an inability to control his short legs on the steep slope.

I needed to teach him to slow down. What better way than to use clicker? On his next trip down the hill, I asked him to put his head down and walk slowly down the hill. (His command to put his head down is me pointing to the ground.) When he took a couple slow steps, I clicked and treated. Of course, he stops for the treat, and then we get to start again. That alone helps him control his momentum—making it easier for him to take more slow steps.

We continued this for about 5 rounds of clicks when he decided he would improve on it. He shortened his steps and lifted his feet higher. I clicked. He kept “improving” his way of going down the hill. I ended up laughing at him. I turned my horse into a circus horse—he arched his neck, lifted his hoof very high and set it right in front of the other one. It was so cute. I just kept clicking away.

Simply asking him to put his head down made him do this as long as the hill was very steep. At the bottom, where the slope was more reasonable, he picked up the speed, again, and tried to cut me off. Overall, it was an improvement, though.

The next day, I decided to try it on one of the shorter hills that is close to the barn. I rode him to the top of the hill, got off and started to lead him down.

He remembered what I taught him the day before, but since this hill isn’t as steep, he didn’t have as much reason to take his time. At first, he would only take a step or two, get too fast and cut me off. That is when I would just turn him around and walk up the hill.

With practice, (and dandelion leaves instead of carrot pieces,) he improved and only had trouble at the very bottom where it isn’t as steep, and he would get excited because he was going towards home. This is where he tried to run into the street last year. I did a “whoa” and clicked him for stopping there.

Overall, we did 4 full trips up and down the hill with I don’t know how many partial trips. Believe me, I didn’t have much fun in the summer heat. I would have preferred one of our regular rides. My feeling was a little time spent practicing the hill would pay off in the long run. I don’t know if that is true, yet, so stay tuned…

Cole rolling and running

2011-06-28T07:14:00.000-07:00

Not the greatest quality, just like the last ones. The girl took it from her phone when she was hand grazing her horse, but it gives you an idea of how he runs!

Back from a long weekend.

2011-06-27T12:49:00.001-07:00

Busy, busy, busy…

I had a long weekend, which means lots of work before I leave and lots of work when I get back to work. I haven’t been able to blog much, but I have been riding plenty.

My sister and I were off on Friday, so we took Cruiser and Ranger to some of the further away trails. Wow, the floods in the spring took quite a toll on them. Consequently, we did more walking than trotting. When we got back, we were shocked to find we were gone for 2.5 hours. The ride didn’t seem that long at all. I took Cole out alone for a quick ride, and it started to rain. That made him sensible, and we had a terrific ride with a lot of trotting. We got back soaked but happy.

Saturday was the first time this year with our youngest niece, who is nearly 16. We went on an hour ride. She was on Ranger, my sister on Cruiser and I rode Cole. We had another smiling teenager riding my boyfriend’s horse, Starry. We kept it at a walk and had a fine time. Then, it was off to Taco Bell…

Sunday, we took Cole and Ranger up to the show ring area. We went on the front loop—something new for Cole, and did some trotting. Our results were mixed, but it was a beginning. We then headed out on the back trails for a short way—tried trotting and failed completely. That was enough for us.

On the way home, he had a few issues, but we worked through them. he improved going down the steep hill. I will write about that later.

I then took Cruiser on a fast and fun ride. Starry had left about 15 minutes before, so Cruiser was intent on catching up. When we did, we continued on for a while and had a nice time. I don’t get to ride with my boyfriend that often. He is retired and tends to ride when I am at work.

It was hard to come back to work today…

Cole Videos

2011-06-27T06:27:00.000-07:00

I have some videos of Cole. They were taken from my teenage friend’s phone while she was grazing her horse. It wasn’t a planned thing, so the quality isn’t too good. One of them is a side pass and there is one of us trotting.

Been doing lots of riding...

2011-06-21T13:54:00.001-07:00

I’ve been getting a lot of riding, and mostly on the trail. Sunday, we took Cole and Ranger up to the show ring trails for the first time this year. Ranger was so excited to be up there! We boarded there many years ago, and he didn’t forget. He actually went slower on the way home. Cole didn’t understand. They both behaved. We kept the ride at a relaxing walk.

I did a fair amount of trotting on our solo ride on Saturday. He still hasn’t settled down with it, but I am getting used to the speed. Friday, I rode him in the arena, and yesterday I took him on a short trail ride. The bugs were really irritating him, and he tried to run away from them, once. We nipped that in the bud, and he didn’t try it again.

Of course, I have been riding Cruiser on each day, too. For the first time this year, I took him to the Lagoon trail. It goes along the street, and can be noisy with traffic. I quit going that way last year since he was spooking at motorcycles so much. He has improved considerably this year, so I thought I would try that trail. As it turned out, there were no motorcycles because it looked like rain. There were also less bugs, so it was a very enjoyable ride. He was excited, but behaved like a champ.

Terrific Trail Rides!

2011-06-14T11:41:00.001-07:00

Oh, I had such a fun time riding yesterday evening.

First, I took Cole Train out for a 3 mile trail ride. we went by ourselves. He wasn’t perfect, but this is, by far, the best evening trail ride we ever had. He was reluctant to cross the river, and once across, he didn’t want to continue down the trail. I think he was looking for my sister, who is usually on foot when I ride him on the weekends. Once we got gong, he did fine. We trotted where we could, and although he was very fast, he didn’t canter. Once we got to the next river crossing, we turned and walked home. The bugs were annoying him, and they made him antsy a few times. Overall, it was a very successful ride for him.

Cruiser didn’t want to be outdone. He was fantastic! The cool weather turned him into a 4-year-old, and we flew down the trail—including plenty of trotting towards home. The ride was exhilarating, to say the least. We went about 5 miles. I love riding Cruiser, and I hope that someday, I could ride Cole with such abandon, too.

Great Weekend!!!

2011-06-13T11:35:00.001-07:00

What a wonderful weekend for riding. It started on Friday where I had a good, but short ride on Cruiser. During it, he cantered 48 strides before he stopped. I see a pattern, here. 16-32-48…

I attempted to ride Cole on the trail Friday evening, and he wasn’t good at all. He kept trying to trot, tried to spin towards home once and just wouldn’t relax. Sigh. We turned back early and headed home. The good news? He got quieter the closer we got to home, and ended up walking up the last hill without a single attempt to trot. Well, I did lead him, not ride him. By that point, I had had enough.

Saturday, I rode Cruiser with my sister on a great ride. They have finally settled down. We trotted a lot…I then took Cole out on another ride. He was a different horse. Since he was quieter, we did do some trotting. He only tried to canter twice. He really loves to trot…he walked home.

Sunday, we had a repeat ride with Cruiser and Ranger. Yes... consistency. I decided to go a bit further with Cole. In order to do that, I had to cross the concrete ford that the cars use because I didn’t want to cross the river in that spot. It was pretty deep and murky, and there are huge rocks scattered through it. Without being able to see them, I didn’t want to ride through it.

The ford isn’t really a big deal, but I used to have so much trouble with it with Mingo. In the end, he was crossing, again, but it was an on and off again thing. I wanted everything to go well with Cole. I was alone, so I dismounted to lead him. I clicked him all the way across, and I was lucky that no cars came by. He looked at the serrated edge with some worry, but we made it across beautifully. On the other side, I had to ride him up a short but steep and rutted hill. We haven’t been there since last year when the hill didn’t have any ruts. He did well. On top of the hill, he pointed out to me everything that was different from last year. Mostly it was fallen trees. When we reached the end of the trail, there was a particularly scary-looking fallen tree that he didn’t want to pass. His head was up, he was blowing and trying to back up. I asked for one step forward. He gave it to me, and I clicked. I kept doing that, and soon we went right by. I turned around, passed it again and then repeated it. He was no longer worried and walked by like a champ. Clicker did it’s magic.

He behaved all the way home—including crossing the ford. Things are starting to fall into place…

If you can't stand the heat--go riding

2011-06-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Hot rides last night!

I took Cruiser on trail. Due to the bugs, I tried a new thing on our ride. We trotted and cantered until we got to the next river crossing. Instead of crossing, I turned back there and trotted back towards home. You see, the bugs are so bad through there that when we use that section of the trail for cool out, we are swarmed. I passed up home and headed the other way for the cool down, and I was right. There were less bugs—and we got to go on a trail that we haven’t been all year.

We quit going there last summer because it is closer to the road, and for some reason, last summer he was spooking at motorcycles like crazy. It took the fun out of going that way—which is less scenic, anyway. When he started to spook so much, I began to stop him whenever I heard a loud motorcycle coming toward us. I think my strategy worked, because he is spooking so much less at them this year. I may start going the other way on a regular basis.

This was the second ride that I did a lot of cantering. Instead of stopping at 16 strides, he was going to 32—in spite of the 90 degree weather. I was so glad he was so happy to canter last night.

I rode Cole in the outdoor arena. It is huge, and I am working on riding him the full perimeter. My concern is bolting and spooking on the far end. It is funny—the braver I get, the smaller the arena appears. I can walk him counter clockwise all around and do a little bit of trotting. We are having trouble clockwise—my weaker side, regardless what we are doing. On our first lap around, when we were at the far corner facing the gate, he tried to bolt to it. I was able to stop him on the first stride and made him stand. Then we walked to it. After that, I mostly worked him on that arena side and corner. He didn’t try any more shenanigans. It didn’t seem to bother him that the horses were turned out next door by that corner or that the kids where riding ATVs on the other end.

We only did a little trotting cuz of the heat. The mosquitoes and gnats were awful, since we were walking. He had another lesson on keeping moving even when bugs are annoying him.

I was pleased with our progress…I just wish it was cooler…

Ranger in the River

2011-06-08T10:13:00.000-07:00

Here is my sister on her horse, Ranger, crossing the river. Isn't he a beautiful horse? We don't know what he is, as he was an auction rescue. She has had him for 16 years, now. We think he is about 20. Cruiser and Ranger are best friends and trail pal--just like my sister and me!

Cruiser Misbehaving

2011-06-08T10:10:00.000-07:00

My sister sent me this picture. I think her boyfriend took it. I'm not sure what was going on, but it is evident something must have startled Cruiser while he was going up the river bank. I don't remember it.

Cruiser is easily startled, but not nearly as bad as he was years ago. I remember being happy after a ride back in the early days where he only had 3 bad spooks. We had a lot of white-knuckle rides. These days, I only worry that he will hurt himself (reinjure his bowed tendon) doing something sudden. I learned long ago that I wouldn't fall off, and I could stop him pretty quick. I no longer let anyone other than my sister ride him. I just don't want to spend months and months healing his tendon, again.

I have had him for over 21 years, and he really is a terrific horse. He never gets tired and has so much enthusiasm. He is a happy horse on the trail and a joy to ride--unless he spooks--but I can forgive him for it.

Maggie is a Sprollie

2011-06-08T09:12:00.000-07:00

I figured out what our dog is. She is a Sprollie--a Border Collie/Spaniel mix. Whether she was intentional or an accident, we will never know. Judging from the area she was found in, anything is possible. It was a very poor area that is somewhat close to one of those trendy areas (Ohio City) of Cleveland. They certainly are cute puppies. Since she isn't trustworthy off leash, she could have run away and got lost. The vet thinks she is only a year old or so, so they found her when she wasn't even full grown.

Since we got her in October, she has grown a beautiful coat. It is so long and soft with pantaloons and a pom-pom looking short tail. The vet felt her tail was natural and not docked. She is 32 pounds--a very good size.

Other than the fact she likes to wander out to the street and look for garbage and chase deer out of the county when she sees one, she's a pretty good dog. (We keep her on a leash.) She listens to Thunder the Wonder Cat when he reprimands her, which is a lot.

Successful Monday Rides

2011-06-07T07:05:00.001-07:00

Had the best ride on Cruiser of the year! We went out on trail for more than an hour with lots of trotting. He was calm enough that we did some cantering. He only goes about 15 strides and then drops back to a trot (arthritis), but he is more than happy to do it! For the first time this year, we were also able to trot towards home—which was great since the mosquitoes were brutal. He would still get a little fast, and then I would make him walk for a bit until the mosquitoes caught up, again. He had lots of energy left when we got home, and I think he’d of done another hour. I guess that warm weather, 4 consecutive days of trail riding and being a few weeks away from turning 24 meant that he finally settled down to acting like a normal horse.

I rode Cole in the outdoor arena, and I am very happy to report that the “big trot” is back. He was more consistent, and when he lost it, I was able to get him back with very little trouble. I think I figured out the problem—the saddle was a little too far forward (maybe a half inch) and that may have been inhibiting his shoulder movement. I should have known better, (I have a section on it in my book with a lovely diagram) and I’m not sure why I had been saddling him that way, but for the last few weeks, I haven’t been able to get the girth as tight, either, which I didn’t understand because he hasn’t gained any weight. It can’t be coincidence. I got a reminder from reading one of the blogs I follow, and the light bulb went off in my head. I was thinking it was a saddle problem, but he wasn’t showing any signs of soreness. He just didn’t want to stride out with his shoulders inhibited.

When I was done riding him, I turned him loose to roll, and he had a really good run. My teenage friend videoed it, and she is going to give me a DVD with it. She is so sweet.

I went to water this morning before work, and I saw I forgot to turn on the electric fence. The next thing I saw was the baby deer in my bean patch. It dashed out, and I plugged in the fence when I was done. I saw no damage since the beans haven’t sprouted, yet. My cukes are sprouting, already.

Great Weekend for riding and dogs

2011-06-06T08:25:00.000-07:00

Finally, we had a great weekend for riding. I took Cruiser out Friday night by ourselves. Saturday and Sunday morning, I rode him with my sister on her horse. Each time was about 5 miles. It was so great to just get out and ride.

I got Cole on the trail Saturday and Sunday for about 3 miles each day. We did some trotting and though he kept trying to canter, he would come back to a trot when I asked. We just flew down the trail. That horse can trot-fast. My sister said that when he starts out, his hindquarters sink down and then he takes off. I know he will slow down, because he did last fall after a dozen rides or so with trotting. It is a little scary to fly down the trail like that, but I know me well enough to know that given time, I will revel in it. I love a fast trot, and I don’t allow Cruiser to do it like we used to protect his tendon.

The best news of all—on the way home, after all the trotting, he was quiet and only half heartedly tried to trot when I wanted him to walk. I guess he needs to get it out of his system, and then he is fine.

Next weekend, I am going to increase the distance of our ride on Saturday and on Sunday, if everything feels right, we are going to go out with Ranger to different and more challenging trails.

Maggie, aka Dumb Dog, made her debut at the animal shelters fundraising car show. My dad had a car in the show. I brought her up there, where she met my sister’s dog for the first time. They acted like they knew each other their whole lives and were bored of each other. (We were concerned because my sister’s dog can be aggressive with other dogs.) I didn’t know how she would be with all the activity, but she was very well behaved and relaxed.

I got a little more done in the garden. I planted the lima and green beans and got the electric fence working before the deer discovered the wire wasn't hot. My first batch of zukes are sprouting!!!

Gardening

2011-06-03T07:37:00.001-07:00

There is more to me than just horses. I am an avid gardener, and wow, has this been a frustrating spring. There has been so much rain, that I never got my veggie garden tilled. I finally gave up, and started to do it by hand last weekend. I have been working very hard, but haven’t gotten much accomplished. I got my tomatoes, peppers, eggplants, cukes and zukes in. I hope to get the beans in this weekend.

The flower gardens are a mess because it was so wet that I couldn’t get much work done in them. At least they are very green. I mostly have perennials and weeds. I want to put some nasturtiums, the annual of the year, in, but haven’t had a chance because of the veggie garden. Ugh…

It hasn’t rained in a week, now, the longest we have gone all year. I even had to water a little last night. I am sure we will end up in a drought, soon.

All the better for me riding!

Cole and the River

2011-06-02T13:25:00.001-07:00

Having a river crossing just a quarter mile down the trail means you need a horse that is willing to cross water—and one that does it safely.

I have been very conscientious with Cole’s river training. I make sure that he is most likely to succeed and give him a lot of praise. With all the rain that we have had this year, there were days that I could cross Cruiser, but I wouldn’t risk it with Cole. I bad slip or fall could be a real problem. Whenever Cruiser falls in the river, it takes about a week to persuade him to cross again. I don’t need that with Cole.

I gradually increased the depth of what I was willing to cross, and though sometimes he hesitated, he still entered the water. The only complaint I have is sometimes he rushed.

This river crossing is over an uneven slate bottom, and it is easy to slip or trip. I prefer a horse to cross slowly and pay attention to where his feet are going.

Finally, I decided it was time to cross knee high and muddy water. Earlier in the day, Cruiser and Ranger crossed with ease. I was going to see how Cole did. This is the first time we were attempting completely muddy water where he wouldn’t be able to see the bottom. The current was rather brisk, too. I was doing this without the help of another horse that would lead the way.
We approached the water, and after about a minute, he stepped in. Once again, he rushed across. Halfway to the other side, his hind legs slipped! My heart was racing, but he caught his balance and walked slowly the rest of the way. We made it!

On the way home, a miracle happened. He walked slowly and carefully across to the other side. The other miracle—that’s how he has crossed every time since then.

Some lessons I can’t teach him. Some lessons he just has to learn on his own.

The Hill Revisited

2011-06-02T13:12:00.001-07:00

Anyone who has been following the “Adventures of Cole” knows that I have struggled with the hill at the beginning of the trail leading down to the river. Cole wanted to trot it regardless of the direction we are traveling.
Last month, he really improved with going downhill. Now, he seldom trots more that a few steps occasionally on the steepest part.

We still needed to tackle uphill, which was more difficult because that is the direction of home.
Since we had so much rain this month, I only got Cole across the river 4 or 5 times. That meant that I had plenty of time to work him on the hill. To start with, I continued to work with him in the arena or walk him up and down the driveway for a few minutes before putting him in his stall after coming up the hill.

Early in the month, I worked him in the arena, first, and then Ellen and I would take him on the hill—me riding and Ellen walking. Each time, he did a little better. A few times I did it by myself in the evening. At furst, he he was ready to burst on the way home those evenings, so I rode down and led up. by the end of the month, I could ride up, too.

The last couple weekends, I was sick of riding in the arena and I just needed a break. This is when he was being strange in there, so I think he needed a break, too. I decided to do multiple trips with him on the hill. Back last fall, when I was first trying to get him to settle down on the hill, I was leading him multiple trips. The result was that each successive trip, he got worse instead of better! I’m glad to say that this time he got better on each trip down. The first few times I just did 2 trips and towards the end of the month I was doing 3 trips each ride. sometimes Ellen rode Ranger and sometimes Kevin rode Starry. A few rides were with Ellen on foot.

I don’t really need Ellen’s help. I could try it by myself, but she likes joining us. She does the same if I am riding Cruiser. It is great having a companion like Ellen, and the horses think so too. they really like her, and I spend a lot of time keeping them from trying to nibble her.

The results from all my hill work? Last weekend, I took Cole down trail. I met Ellen on the other side of the river, and she walked while I rode. It was the best ride of the year, and for the first time this spring, he did pretty good trotting. When we got back to Ellen’s car, she went home and left me to finish the trip by myself. I had been leading him up the hill after a trail ride because that’s when he was typically the worst. This time, I rode up—and he was perfect!!!! Not a single trot step!!!!!

Now, that put a smile on my face.

Cole Train

2011-06-01T09:15:00.001-07:00

Long weekend

2011-05-24T13:41:00.001-07:00

I had a long weekend with a lot of riding. Thursday, the river was too high to cross, but we crossed Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. My sister and I took Ranger and Cruiser out for more than an hour each day. We did a fair amount of trotting, too.

Cole was a different problem. Wednesday and Thursday, I rode him in the arena. He has decided he doesn’t want to go forward unless it is his own idea. Ugh…I had to be tough with him,,, and I don’t like being tough.

I took him down trail Friday-Sunday, and each day, he offered me challenges. I hope he is just going through a stage. His worst offense was trying to spin to go home. We even had a few bad spooks, but they were legitimate. Once was a very loud trailer made a noise. He went airborne on that one. We had an awful time with some geese, too. They were having a battle right at our river crossing. After a while, he wasn’t afraid of them, but I had to wait until they were out of the way before I crossed.

Due to the odd behavior, I checked his back, and there doesn’t seem to be any soreness from the saddle, and it seems to be fitting him fine.

I rode him last night in the arena after the horrendous thunderstorm that we had. (Rain, wind and incredible hail) I am so glad I didn’t like the look at the sky and didn’t take Cruiser on the trail. Back to Cole, he did better than he did in the arena the last few times. He only stalled out a couple times and I had very little trouble with his transitions. He was a little pokey and unenthusiastic in his trot much of the time. Towards the end of the ride, he was doing pretty well.

He has today off, after 6 days of riding.

I got to spend a lot of time with my sister and boyfriend with the extra time off of work. Now that I am back, it feels like I never left…

Clicking for Leg Yield

2011-05-17T11:22:00.000-07:00

Another rainy night. I rode Cruiser on the hill three times and Cole in the indoor arena.
   I decided it was time to try the leg yield at a trot. I started back on the circle at a trot. When I asked him for a leg yield, he stopped and walked a leg yield. I clicked him for it, because at least he made an attempt. After doing this a number of times, I gave up and walked around; pondering how to approach this problem. I figured I would just quit and do some simple trotting. When I asked him to trot, he lifted his legs way high in the air, bounced around and didn’t go very far. I didn’t know what he was doing. My teenage friend was riding with me, and I asked her what happened. She said he lifted his legs up high, but only took short steps forward. He did take one step where he crossed his front leg over the other front leg.
   The light bulb went off in my head. It then occurred to me that he figured out what I wanted, but didn’t quite know how to coordinate it. He was trying to do it on his own to get his click and carrot. I tried a trotting leg yield again, and this time, he did it—one step at a trot! We practiced our one step over and over, and I clicked and treated him for it each time—for I know if it is one step now, it will be two steps soon.
   This is what I love about clicker training. It gives Cole a reason to try to figure out what I want—and he really showed me this time!
   I started to work the other direction, but I ran out of carrots. I’ll have to work on that, next time.

Just another rainy weekend...

2011-05-16T07:32:00.001-07:00

Oh, so much rain…

The river was too high to cross on Saturday, so my sister and I rode Cruiser 3 trips on the hill. I rode Cole in the arena, and he was rather unenthusiastic. I took him down the hill to the river, and he did great.

Sunday, guess what? The river was even higher. So high that I probably can’t cross it today, either. To mix things up, my sister and I took Cole with Ranger. I haven’t ridden Cole with Ranger since last fall. Also, for the first time, I rode him up and down the hill three times. I have led him that many times—not ridden. He did great—only rushing down the hill a little bit. I rode him in the arena when we got back for about 20 minutes so we could do some trotting. His trot was more energized and he is moving straighter on the long sides of the arena.

I then took Cruiser on the hill 3 times with my boyfriend on Starry. Cruise seemed bored. We kept it at a walk because my boyfriend’s back was hurting.

It rained nearly all day. I didn’t get anything done in the yard all weekend, my boyfriend and I couldn’t hike (went to movies and saw “Bridesmaids” and laughed until we cried,) and I was subjected to basketball last night. I read while he watched the game.

The contractors are supposed to pour cement for our new driveway, but it may be raining too much.

I know I will miss the rain in August when my garden is withering in the drought that I’m sure we will have…

Farrier Night

2011-05-13T12:34:00.001-07:00

The farrier came out last night to shoe Cruise, Range and trim Cole. Cruiser tried to nip at him several times and was very fidgety. Cole—well he was close to perfect. My farrier was very impressed with how good he has become—and this with me not working on his feet at all since the last trim. I haven’t even had him in the crossties since then. Afterwards, he commented how good he looks since he has lost weight and muscled up. Believe me, it is hard to get a compliment from our farrier. He is usually filled with gloom and doom.

It rained earlier in the day, so we took Cruiser on his physical therapy walk down to see the river, and it was raging. I doubt if it had even crested, either. We got more rain today, and they are predicting it all weekend. I do believe we won’t be crossing the river, again. This has been the most unbelievable spring. I hope this means we will have a gorgeous fall to balance it all out. I shouldn’t complain after hearing so much about the Mississippi flooding. Hopefully, it won’t be raining when we are out there so we could ride up and down the hill.

New Challenges

2011-05-13T10:39:00.001-07:00

Sorry I haven’t blogged for a while. We got busy at work, and that must take priority!

Anyway, we had another high-river weekend. My sister and I just rode Cruise and Ranger up and down the hill multiple times. I rode Cole in the indoor arena and did hill work with him. He is getting better and better on the hill if I ride in the arena first.

So I got brave. On Monday, (after I took Cruiser for a trail ride,) I took him on a trail ride by myself. Once we crossed the river, he was all bouncy and prancy. I didn’t get very far and decided it was time to go home so I would have time to ride him at the barn. I stopped him and had him stand quietly, then got off and led him to the river. It took a little bit before I got him focused with his head down and lined up right with my thigh. Once I get him there and click him a few times for it, he sticks like a magnet. I mounted to cross the river, and dismounted to lead up the hill. He was only rushing at the bottom—then I magnetted him to my leg, and we were fine. I rode him for a half hour in the indoor arena when I got back, and he was awesome. I think he was excited about the trail, and brought that feeling to the arena.

Yesterday, I took Cruiser for a trot-filled trail ride, and then he gaited most of the way home. He was quite wound up. Will he ever settle down? I thought the warmer weather would help quiet him down, but he just wanted to go, go, go…

I decided to forgo another trail ride with Cole and tackle something more serious—the outdoor arena. We only rode there twice and only for about 5 minutes each time. The first time, he was explosive. The second time was this weekend after we did the hill work, and he was tired enough to walk small circles. It is huge with deep sand. I have used it for turnout, and he goes nuts—running and screaming until he is tired. Then he will push and rear at the unsubstantial gate until I bring him out. He will prance and carry on for a few minutes outside the arena, too. I really don’t understand what happens to him in there. If I turn him out the next day, after a big run, he is fine, but won’t do anything other than roll and stand by the gate—wanting to come in. I tried to ride him in there last fall, but I couldn’t even lead safely, so you see, it is a big deal to tackle the outdoor arena.

My teenage friend joined me, and she always gives me confidence. The horse she leases is a huge Thoroughbred that contracted EPM 20 years ago. She doesn’t always move steady, but she acts steady, and she gives me confidence. The girl is also very thoughtful and considerate.

We decided to just stay on the side of the arena by the gate. That way, he would be less likely to charge to the gate as he does when he plays. We walked and trotted our better direction, and he did fine. When I tried to trot the more difficult direction—he took off running and bucking to the gate. I’m glad I wasn’t too far from it. I stopped him and spun him in tiny circles. That was the only time he tried it. I hope that means he learned.

I rode him for 45 minutes. We did a lot of transitions—and I clicked him over and over when he went into his fantastic trot. (You really have to see the trot to believe it.) He was having trouble adjusting to the deeper sand—particularly since it wasn’t smooth. As his trot got better and better, a few times, I swear he was on the verge of a passage. He is simply an over achiever and wants to earn his carrots.

When I was done riding, I lead him around the arena. When we got to the far end, there was a herd of deer that distracted him. Maybe that’s why he tried to take off running when we were at the furthest corner from the gate. Honestly, I couldn’t tell if it was a spook or play. Maybe it was a playful spook. Anyway, I held on tight, and thought he might pull me off my feet—but I won. He then glued himself to my leg and I led him back—clicking, of course.

Tonight if farrier night—so no more riding until the weekend.

Wednesday Night Ride

2011-05-05T11:07:00.001-07:00

One more evening ride going up and down the hill to the river. This time, at least I had my boyfriend with me on his horse. I like the company. Cruiser and Starry are good friends, too.

I rode Cole in the arena, first. I am working on maintaining the pretty trot. I started with counting strides. I found out that he lasts strong about 9 strides. I then anticipated the 10th stride—mostly by not doing anything to disrupt him. When he got to 10 strides, I clicked, and then I built up from there. We were doing about 25 strides on a circle in the end. Mostly, I would click him before he lost it. We then tried going straight and then bending and then going straight again. That is tougher for us because we are changing our balance. I noticed improvement with that, too. There is so much to work on! We also practiced leg yielding at a walk and side passing. When I asked for a leg yield at a trot, he immediately went to a walk, since that is what he though he was supposed to do.

We wound up our ride by riding down the hill. He did fine until we got to the bottom, and he saw the pair of Canadian geese. He wanted to just stare at them. At the very moment I asked him to walk, one of them stretched out his wings and startled Cole. He jumped and spun to run up the hill. I kept him spinning until we were back where we started, and then he was fine—as if it never happened. We walked to the end of the trail, and when I turned him around, I dismounted and led him up the hill. Each time, he gets better. At the barn, we walked up and down the driveway a few times before putting him back in his stall.

Cole learns to side pass

2011-05-03T07:17:00.000-07:00

Cole is going to make one awesome cow pony. I know, he was going to make an awesome dressage horse, but yesterday, when I was practicing leg yield at a walk, I gave him leg pressure when he was at a stand still, and he did a very perfect side pass to the right. We practiced it, and he did it over and over. That caught me by surprise. He didn’t do it to the left, but we haven’t been as advanced going to the left all along. That has been our challenging direction.

After a half hour arena ride, we went down the hill. Remember how much trouble I have been having? Well, he was perfect on the way down. He started to get prancy on the way up, so I decided that I would lead so my nervousness wouldn’t transfer to him. I think I may have discovered something when he tries to rush off—at least it worked last night. When he pranced or tried to trot, I dropped the reins by his mouth, held the other end and stopped. He didn’t go far—he stopped on his own before he even got to the end of the reins. He didn’t want to leave me. I didn’t click him for it, but went back to his head and restarted. Instead of getting all wound up, he ended up going up the hill pretty good. I did stop him like this about 5 times—whenever he got too fast.

The river was too high to cross, and I rode Cruiser on the hill 3 times—doing a fair amount of trotting on the flat parts. He seemed to have fun.

House Cat Tip of the Month

2011-05-02T10:07:00.001-07:00

House Cat Tip of the Month

Thunder was an adult cat when I bought him, and he does have one bad habit that he brought with him from his old life. He likes to attack my hand if he is in a playful mood. If he is in a snuggly mood, he loves when I rub his belly, but he likes to play more than snuggle. He will grab a hold of my and kick it. He doesn’t scratch me with his kicks, but he pushes my hand into his front paws and causes his claws to dig into my skin that way.

I read somewhere that this is how cats kill rabbits, so since all play mimics life skills, when he does this to my hand, he is playing “Kill the Rabbit.”

My hand doesn’t appreciate the game, but I did find a way to take care of his urge to practice his rabbit attack technique. After all, you never know when a rabbit will get into the house, and he will have to defend us.

I gently roll a tennis ball into his belly. He grabs it and kicks it until he pushes it away, and then I roll it right back. Tennis balls have enough grip to them that he can hold them. Smooth balls don’t work so well.

We have tennis balls placed strategically around the house, and surprisingly the dog leaves them alone. Maybe she figures it is better that he uses the tennis ball to practice “Kill the Rabbit” instead of her.

Trotting Cole on Trail

2011-05-02T10:06:00.000-07:00

Trotting Cole on Trail

Cole has been obnoxious on the hill, so I thought that maybe if I trotted him once we crossed the river, it would help him settle down. It seemed to help last fall. I didn’t know what to expect when I asked him to trot. After being stuck at the barn all winter, Cruiser and Ranger were very excitable when we trotted. I spent a number of rides, alone on the trail with Cruiser, practicing transitions whenever he got too fast. Ranger adjusted to spring faster than Cruiser—as long as Ellen rode him by herself. The few times we actually got across the river to ride together, our trotting wasn’t very successful. If we trotted them on the level parts of the hill leading up to the very high river, they did very well. Then again, Cruise and Range are like this every spring.

On Cole’s third trail ride of the year, I rode him down the hill and crossed the river to meet Ellen on the other side. He did very well that morning. He wasn’t much different than he was last fall, and that made me very hopeful.

Once we got to a decent section of trail that wasn’t washed out with big stones everywhere, I thought I would give trotting a try. Ellen suggested that she walk up the trail, and that I ask him to trot up to her. This is how we introduced the trot last fall. When he would reach Ellen, I would ask him to stop, and click when he did.

On my first attempt, he didn’t trot; he galloped and came to a sliding stop when we reached Ellen. So much for that idea. I did click him because he stopped when I asked him to.

I decided to try just trotting alone. I asked him to trot and he went very, very fast. I decided to see if he could stop. I said “whoa” and he immediately stopped. I clicked him for it, of course.

I asked for a trot, again, and this time he started cantering after a few steps. I slowed him to a trot and asked him to stop, but this time, he wasn’t so cooperative. He finally did stop, and I clicked him.

I decided to try one more time, and though he stayed at a very fast trot, he didn’t want to stop at all. I had to do the old “swerve to the left—swerve to the right” maneuver. It worked. He was wound up for the rest of the ride and awful on the hill home. Sigh.

Unfortunately, the weather kept us from crossing the river for more than 2 weeks to try it again. We just kept working in the arena.

When the time came for us to try the park, again, I decided to just walk the first day. He flew down the river bank and only stopped when we reached the water’s edge. He walked fast and was very excited. We met Kevin on Starry on the trail and rode with them on the way home. It didn’t make any difference. Cole walked fast, he continuously tried to trot and got so far ahead of Starry that we had to keep stopping to wait for them. When it came time to cross the river to get home, he did a Shamu—he jumped into the water and tried to trot across. I do think that my beloved Mingo was next to us, and he whispered in Cole’s ear to do that. Mingo would do a Shamu at least once each spring.

We did have some trouble going home on the hill, but there was a big improvement over the last real trail ride we went on, so that made me happy.

I was starting to get discouraged that Cole wasn’t near as good as he was last fall when we were riding in the park. It seemed like I was starting all over, again. Then I remembered what I proved to Kevin, just the day before.

We were both out at the barn at the same time, so I suggested that he ride Starry with Cruiser and me. He didn’t want to, because the last time we tried before all the rain, the two of them misbehaved. When we tried to trot, Starry wanted to canter and wouldn’t listen to Kevin. Cruiser wanted to do his racing trot, which he is no longer allowed to do due to his bowed tendon—and then he didn’t want to stop. We finally gave up, and walked the rest of the ride. Cruiser walked very fast, and Starry had trouble keeping up and wanted to take off to get back to Cruiser. I had to stop Cruiser and wait to keep Starry from bolting.

I convinced Kevin to give it a try, explaining that Cruiser is always hyper like this in the spring, and the best way to get them to behave together is to ride together. I said that it is a “process” and they will get better and better the more we do it. If we don’t trot as much as we want to this time, we will probably be able to do more next time. We used to be able to ride them together all the time, and we would be able to do that, again, but we had to work with the horses to get there.

I am glad to say that there was a big improvement over the first time we rode Cruiser and Starry together this year. We did a fair amount of trotting—though Starry did canter the first time and buck the second. (Which gives a new meaning to the word Starbucks.) By the time we got to the next river crossing where we planned to turn around, Starry was being great. Cruiser threw in a little cantering, though, but it didn’t bother Star at all, and I got Cruiser down to a trot rather easily.

We had so much fun and success, that we did that last section of the trail a second time so we could trot some more.

I realized that there was no reason to expect Cole to be any different. Every year, I have to get Cruiser to settle down in the spring. Every year, we have to ride some rough rides when we add trotting and cantering until the horses become business like in their behavior instead of just wanting to play with the other horses. It isn’t easy, and it is often frustrating, but we get through it.

Why wouldn’t Cole be the same way? Maybe he will be like this every spring. In fact, probably he will be like this every spring. I just have to get through it. The only reason this spring has been so difficult with all the horses is because the weather has been so bad and the trail riding so limited.

The following day, I decided to try it again. This was a very rare occurrence this year—the first time I could take Cole on 2 consecutive trail rides. Once again, Ellen was on foot with us.

He was perfect going down the hill, and he walked down the river bank and crossed calmly and willingly—meeting Ellen on the other side. He walked quietly down the trail. I knew it would be a good day to try trotting. I had Ellen go just a few feet ahead of us so we could trot to her and stop to test his mood. He trotted slowly and quietly stopped. We did this a few more times with Ellen going further away each time with complete success.

I decided to try it on my own. He went very fast, and after about 10 seconds, I decided to test the brakes. He stopped instantly. I did it again, and went further this time. He kept building in speed. I forgot how fast Cole could trot. (Don’t forget, he is a distant relative of Dan Patch, one of the greatest pacers of all time.) I asked him to stop after a fair distance, and he did. We walked until he settled down, and I asked for a trot, again. Away we sped down the trail. This time, he was reluctant to stop, so I kept the rest of the ride at a walk.

He was a bit tired, so he walked quietly most of the way home. When he started getting bouncy, Ellen pointed to the ground, and said, “Head down.” He would drop his head and I clicked. After a doing this about 10 times, he settled back down. We crossed the river without the Shamu leap, and he was only bad in one section of the hill on the way home.

So, just as I reminded Kevin, they get hyper in the spring, and getting them to calm down is a “process.” Each day, our horses should get better, if only because trail riding is no longer a novelty to them. If they don’t get better, we have to review what we are doing and make adjustments. I think that Cole, just like the rest of them, just needs time out on the trail. Now if only the weather will cooperate!

Hill Woes

2011-05-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

Hill Woes

I have had more troubles with Cole on the hill leading to the river than anywhere else in the whole park. Before the weather turned sour in December, I spent time leading him up and down the hill, over and over, hoping for improvement, and I did achieve some. Once the weather got snowy and the hill got icy, I discontinued the hill training and concentrated with our arena work.

Now that it is spring, our old problem has reared its ugly head. The few times I have crossed the river, he was fine there, but he was awful on the hill.

It’s not just going towards home; it is going away from home, too, which is downhill. He just wants to trot—regardless of direction. He is doing a better downhill. I think the problem with that stemmed from lack of strength. It takes a lot of control to fight gravity and stay at a walk. He is stronger, now. If he gets too fast, I ask him to stop and stand. When we restart, he has more control over his legs. There have been times we have made it down the hill with nary a trot step.

Uphill is different because it is on the way home. After 3 disastrous trips up the hill because he was so excited, I knew I had to come up with a plan. We went through a rainy spell where I couldn’t cross the river, so I was riding Cole in the arena. One weekend when I finished, I took the saddle and bridle off and led him down with the halter. There was a huge improvement. He definitely led better with the halter.

Another thing I added to his training program was not taking him to his stall when we got back to the barn. I would either lead or ride him on the driveway or the arena for 5-10 minutes. I didn’t want to give him a reason to rush home.

The next weekend was rainy, too. I advanced him to the next level and rode the hill with the halter on over his bridle. This way, I could lead him back with the halter. I didn’t need it. I was able to ride him up without trouble.

The following weekend, it rained, too. I felt confident enough with him to leave the halter and lead rope at the barn. I didn’t need it. He was fine, and I was feeling pretty good at this point.

I decided it was time to try it in the evening. Up until now, I had only done it on my morning rides. There wasn’t enough daylight, previously to ride Cruiser first, work Cole in the arena and take him down the hill.

I don’t know how other horses are, but our horses are always more hyper in the evenings than in the mornings. Even quiet Mingo was more energetic in the evenings. I expected Cole to not behave as well as he did in the mornings.

I made it down the hill with him only rushing a little at the very bottom. I turned around to go back and his attitude changed. As soon as we started up the slope, he began to prance and dance. I made him stop and stand, but when I asked for forward movement, he resumed. I made it only about a minute when I decided I would be better off leading. I was getting nervous and I could feel myself holding the reins too tight. I was only contributing to the problem.

Unfortunately, I was overconfident this time and didn’t have the halter. I had to lead him up with the bridle. Though he was far from perfect, he was nowhere near as bad as he was on those first 3 rides up before I started our program. I clicked him whenever he lined his head up with my leg, and after a bit, he was doing it fairly often for the clicks.

When we got back, we walked up and down the driveway for 5 minutes.

So, it is evident I need to work with him on this the same way I did on the morning rides. If the river ever goes down and I have enough daylight, I will include it with a regular trail ride. On all of these rides, he didn’t have any horse companionship. I believe if he did, he would have been much better.

Someday, I will laugh at all this. It was almost a year ago that he was afraid step on pavement, and we couldn’t cross the street to get to the trail…

Life's little challenges.

2011-04-28T08:44:00.000-07:00

I had a bad start to the morning. First off, the winds were down right scary last night, and they kept waking me up. I expected a tree to fall on the house, they were so bad. Amazingly, as far as I could tell, no trees fell.

Next, I started out for work, and my car wouldn’t start. After thoroughly checking the battery’s connection and charge, I had to call a tow truck. I ended up an hour and a half late for work. Fortunately, I was able to use my dad’s car. I think it is the starter. I’m still waiting to hear—I’m sure it will be expensive. Thunder, my cat, was thrilled. At last, he was able to keep me home longer to cuddle. He purred and purred and purred.

My rides last night were good. The river was too high to cross, but we missed the bad rain yesterday, and the forecast looks good. It think we will be crossing on the weekend. I rode Cruiser on the hill 3 times. I rode Cole in the indoor arena. I have truly slayed the dragon—I spent most of my ride doing full laps at the walk and trot, and I wasn’t afraid a single time. He didn’t spook, either. Hurray! I think that stage is over with. Our issues now are more complicated. He loses his balance when we go from corners to straight and back to corners. I’m sure most of it is me. If he had a normal trot, I could just sit still—but with the big trot, I have to try to stay still and still coordinate my aids for the changes. I have a long way to go…

I rode him down the hill to the river after the ride, and he was very hyper. He only trotted once, but he walked very, very fast. I have found that our horses are always more hyper in the evenings, and Cole is no exception. He has been doing well when I ride him down in the mornings after our arena ride. I shouldn’t have bee surprised when he was a firecracker when I turned to go up. I ended up leading him, and he still was a problem—trying to trot, but not as much as in the past when I have had to lead him up. It will just take us time.

Smokin' Cole Train Turns Five

2011-04-27T13:18:00.000-07:00

Yes, today is my little horse's birthday. We are going to celebrate by going for a ride--in the arena, I'm sure. I saw the radar, and there is more rain on it's way. I doubt if I could cross the river, anyway. Hopefully I can get a quick ride on Cruiser on the hill going to the river before the rain hits.

Will it ever end? I'm sure I will be complaining about not getting enough rain in August as my garden withers away.

Hard to believe I have only crossed the river with Cole once this month. That's even with 2 long weekends. I have crossed more with Cruiser because I will cross him when it is higher, and sometimes there isn't enough time to take both on trail after work.

May has got to be better...

More Rain

2011-04-26T10:52:00.000-07:00

The rain just won’t quit! I got out to the barn yesterday evening for my rides, and was relegated to the arena, again. I started out with Cole. It was great—I was the only person riding the whole time. My riding space was limited because the roof was leaking so bad there were numerous slick spots. He remained calm with the rain thundering on the metal roof. I don't think I have ever ridden in there when it was so loud. After 45 minutes, the rain eased up, and I took him outside and rode on the driveway. It was a mess—good day to work on puddles.

Then, a miracle happened. The rain stopped altogether. I still had a little daylight left, so I threw Cole in his stall and saddled up Cruiser. We rode down to the river. It was high and rising. We did 2 quick trips until it started looking dark. We finished our ride on the driveway, too.

I was talking to a boarder at the stables next door, and she said she talked to someone who knew me that was looking for a horse to lease. It turned out to be the woman who I leased a horse from 24 years ago. She got me started. Her horse must have died. (Not the same one—that mare died only a few months after I stopped leasing.) We keep popping in and out of each other’s lives. There is a horse at our barn that she may be interested in, so I will be getting in touch with her. It’s been a while, so we will have a lot of catching up to do.

Oh, and more rain is on its way. This is our rainiest April on record, and it’s not over, yet.

Strange Ride

2011-04-25T12:31:00.000-07:00

All we had this weekend was rain! 3 days off, and I never crossed the river. My sister and I just rode Cruiser and Ranger on the hill--over and over. 2 of the 3 days, we just got in before the rain started, again, and those days, Cole didn't go on the hill at all.

Friday was a surreal day. It was dentist day at our boarding stables, and nearly everyone was out. We use our vet as a dentist, so we weren't involved with it. Cole was in fine form, having blown some steam off first, as you can see in the picture. Anyway, as we worked, people started to gather and just watch us. They were all milling around. Some people brought their horses in the arena, and just stood there, watching...Many of them never saw me ride him before, as they typically don't come out in the mornings.

Cole started getting compliments right and left. Remember his awesome trot? Seems like the more people watching, the better it gets. Finally, John came out to watch. Though I usually see him in the mornings, I have never ridden Cole with him. I like to ride Cruiser first, and John leaves by the time I ride Cole. Besides, John rides too fast on that huge Saddlebred, and he makes me nervous.

Anyway, John used to be a professional trainer in the saddle seat world and is still a horse show judge. When I saw him watching, I was curious to see his reaction to Cole's trot. After all, he has been around the horse world more than most of us, though he rides and trains very differently than me.

His response, "Wow, you have a $50,000.00 horse. Dressage people would pay a fortune for him." I guess that meant he liked him.

Don't worry--I'm not going to sell him. My boyfriend put a for sale sign on his stall a few times, but we keep taking it off.

Cole is going to be my next awesome trail horse, regardless of how pretty his trot is. We just need it to stop raining so I can start training him on the trail, again. He has only been across the river three times this year.

After our ride, people just gathered around us, petting him and talking to me. Cole is now a celebrity at our stables. I thought they were going to ask for his autograph. They just seemed to want to be around him. I know it had nothing to do with me. It was really, really weird.

Cruise

2011-04-19T09:29:00.000-07:00

I write a lot about Cole, since he is my project horse, but Cruiser is the love of my life. I have had him for 21 years, and we are terrific partners. I know him inside and out, and I think he knows me, just as well. I hope someday, it will be like that with Cole.

My sister sent me this picture of us, today. I think she must have taken it last fall.

Cruise is a Morab like Cole, but he is a 50/50 cross where Cole is 75/25. Cruiser acts and moves like a 100% Arabian. He has boundless energy--even though he is nearly 24. Last night, I took him on trail, and he was wild! It is funny how Cole can scare me when he gets a little wild, and I am thrilled when Cruiser is as hyper as can be. He wanted to run, but I told him we had to wait for that. He was squealing and dancing. When he trotted, he went fast, and when he walked, he gaited. Yes, Cruiser is gaited. He does a stepping pace, and it gets faster each year.

I rode Cole in the arena, and we improved our leg yielding, worked on bending and practiced transitions. I was able to influence his trot tempo by changing my tempo, and I was surprised how easy it was. When he rushed, I slowed and steadied him down--and then he would go into the pretty trot!

Long Weekend

2011-04-18T13:16:00.000-07:00

I had a 3-day weekend. The vet was scheduled to come out Friday afternoon to give round one of spring shots. My sister had to work, but since she works afternoons, she spent the morning with me.

We started out with a trail ride on Cruiser and Ranger. We tried to trot, once, and they were very fast. We decided to walk the rest of the way. They behaved beautifully at a walk and we had a nice time. I think we were out about an hour.

Then, it was Cole’s turn. My sister drove down to the trail on the other side of the river and waited for us. We had no trouble going down the hill and crossing the river. In fact, he did very well, so I thought it would be a good time to try and trot. I had the same problem with him as we had with Cruiser and Ranger. I tried 4 times for very short distances. Twice, he broke into a canter, once he went into a fast trot and didn’t want to stop and once he went into a fast trot and I got him to stop readily after about 10 steps. There is no doubt he was excited to move out on the trail. Hopefully he will be better next time.

My sister left to go to work, and I rode him across the river and up the hill by myself. Once again, he was anxious to get home, and kept trying to trot—though he was better than the last time I crossed the river with him. When I got back to the barn, we rode about 10 minutes in the indoor arena.

Saturday morning was sunny but windy. We took Cruiser and Ranger out for an identical ride with more trotting. They did much better. I had Cole saddled and ready to go when it started to pour. Alas, I was stuck in the indoor arena. We had a good ride, but it was notable that he did his trail trot instead of his big trot. It only took one day on trail to convert him! The arena started to get crowded, so I decided to ride him down the hill. The rain was light when we left. Of course, that changed once I got to the bottom. I turned to come back. Overall, he was perfect. Not once did I have to correct him.

Sunday—it was the inevitable high river. My sister and I took Ranger and Cruiser up and down the hill 3 times—trotting on the bottom where it is flat. They were great in spite of the high wind.

I started Cole in the arena, where he was strangely calm, even though the windows and doors were making all kinds of noises from the wind. After 50 minutes, I decided to give him a break and just lead him down the hill. That way, if a tree fell, at least I wouldn’t fall, too. As it was, only a small branch fell, and Cole didn’t even notice. When we were almost back to the barn, he did a little bit of trotting. I made him stop and stand for a minute before continuing. Once we got back, I led him up and down the driveway for 10 minutes.

I’m hoping that next weekend will have better weather so I can really get him out on the trail. I am getting a little frustrated. At least Cruiser is improving. He is doing quite well when I ride him by myself in the evenings. He just needs to relax when trotting with other horses.

(Oh, Cole was the best of all our horses for his exam and shots. He stood like a perfect gentleman.)

A Brave Move

2011-04-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

I had a lovely ride with Cruiser in the park. We went a little further which meant another river crossing. This one, the water is very still, and it was surprisingly deep. We had trouble seeing the rocks on the bottom, and he stumbled once. I think I may start crossing on the concrete ford until the water level drops a little more. I would like to plot a course across to avoid the big rocks.

He was very excited. We did a lot of trotting on the way out, and he gaited most of the way home. He has a lot of energy for a horse that is nearly 24. We were out for an hour.

I started out riding Cole in the indoor arena. My young friend asked me if I would ride on the driveway with her. Her horse needs more confidence. I actually led Cole, and he only acted up once. When she left, he didn’t care, and we did it again. Since he seemed to be in a good frame of mind, I decided to get brave. For the first time ever, I attempted the large outdoor arena. It is at least 3 times the size of the indoor and there are lots of distractions. Add to that the fact that he is used to running and playing in it, I was hesitant to try it before.

I led him in circles by the gate. He was paying attention, so I mounted and rode circles. He seemed a little distracted, but we managed it. Finally, I took a deep breath and asked for a trot. After a couple steps, he took off running—throwing a little buck in. Since I was close to the gate, he didn’t get very fast. I put him into a very tight circle. He doesn’t like that, so he stopped.

I don’t know where all this bravery is coming, but even though I was still shaking, I asked him to trot, again. I clicked him for the transition, so then he stopped for his treat. I asked him again, and after 5-6 steps, I said “whoa” and he instantly stopped and I clicked him.

I may have done more, but someone brought a horse out at the stables next door, and that got all his attention. Since we had already been working an hour, I quit for the day on a good note.

It is so nice to have my old, bold self come back after a winter of insecurity. Maybe it is riding Cruiser out on the trails when he is fit to burst from excitement that is making me my old brave self. Anyway, I felt good.

Tomorrow is spring shots round one. I’m taking the day off work and we will do some riding first. The weather is even supposed to be tolerable. It should be a fine day at the barn.

A Quiet Day for a Ride (Excerpt from the Book "Trail Adventures and Advice"

2011-04-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Recently, I was riding my sister’s horse, Ranger, and my boyfriend, Kevin, was riding my horse, Cruiser, in the park. It was a sunny morning, and it had not rained in a couple days. We were both unfamiliar with riding our mounts—neither of us was on our own horse—but just the same; we had a very successful ride.

Suddenly, there was a “crack” and the horses froze. Then there was a “crack, crack.” The horses spun and started to run. We were able to stop them before we got very far by spinning them to face the noise. They were very nervous and jumpy. Kevin suggested dismounting because it sounded like a tree cracking. We didn’t know if it would continue to crack or even fall. The biggest risk for falling trees is a day or two after a severe storm. The storm will weaken the trees, but they will not fall for a right away.

I agreed with Kevin, because I didn’t feel like falling off a spooking horse. I warned him to really hold tight to the reins. A scared horse can jerk free fairly easy if the rider isn’t prepared for it. That is the biggest risk with leading your horse through a difficult situation and should always be taken in consideration before you decide to dismount. We started to lead them down the trail. It was just seconds later that we started hearing the cracks again. We stopped and watched in disbelief as a large tree fell across the trail about fifty feet ahead. We would have been very close to the spot if we had not heard the warning cracks. Our horses jumped, but did not panic badly.

Surprisingly, this was the third time in three years that these two horses witnessed a tree falling close by. It just proves that continued exposure to a crisis situation will desensitize horses to the fear. I think we’ve had enough of this exposure. If this keeps up—trees falling wherever we go—no one will want to ride with us. What it really proves to me is that someone is watching over us, keeping us safe. For in all threes instances, no one was harmed, and all we ended up with was a racing heart and a good story.

Good Wednesday

2011-04-12T11:27:00.001-07:00

I made it across the river with Cruiser! We went by ourselves and trotted wherever the trail warranted. He behaved and finally seems to have gotten over the worst of his springtime hyperness. Okay, he did insist on gaiting most of the way home, but he was doing that a lot last summer. He does a stepping pace that is much faster than a walk, but slower than his trot. It sure felt great just to go out and trot. it was our most vigorous ride of the year, though it was no more than an hour. It just felt great.

I rode Cole in the indoor arena, and though we had a few little snafus, overall I was very pleased. I was having trouble coordinating the leg yield in my hard direction, but I was getting it right last night. We practiced walk/trot trans with the clicker, and then when I stayed at the trot, it was fantastic. I guess that is the way to warm him up for it. We did lots of circles, of course and even worked on the scary end. It is no longer scary. My new problem is when I ride the long wall back towards the gate. Though he never got out of control, we had trouble with the turn. That will just take practice.

I have a long weekend coming up, and I am hoping to get him on trail 3 days in a row. At that point, if I feel confident with taking him out on my own, I may start riding him on the trail in the evening, too. I should have enough time to do it next week. Then, it will be goodbye arena for a while.

Rain, rain, go away.

2011-04-11T08:51:00.001-07:00

I’m tired of high rivers. I rode Friday, Saturday and Sunday—up and down the hill to the river. We probably could have crossed with Cruiser and Ranger, yesterday, but my sister was a little nervous about doing it, and I certainly won’t push the issue. We did do some trotting at the bottom of the hill a number of times to get the guys used to trotting together, again. the problem isn’t her horse, it is Cruiser. He likes to race Ranger. Since it was so hot, we got them to settle down with the trotting. Hopefully they will remember next weekend when we ride together, hopefully, on the main trail.

Cole stayed in the arena with one trip down the hill on Saturday and Sunday. The hill has always been our stumbling block, and I am glad to say that yesterday he was nearly perfect. Our problem—he wants to trot. Downhill, I think it is a momentum issue. Uphill, I think it is an “I want to get home issue.” I have been clicking him for lowering his head and walking—just like I have trained him in the arena. It is so cute when he so purposely points his nose downward and waits for that click. Saturday, he was dancing on the street, so when we got back to the barn, I led him around the property and didn’t go right back to the stall. I decided to make that the routine for a while. Sunday, he was fine on the street and only took one trot step on the drive.

He did pretty good on his arena rides. He is doing quite well leg yielding on his good direction. I am having trouble coordinating the difficult direction. My body just won’t listen to me, and he is getting confused. It is very frustrating for me. We will work on it more, tonight.

It rained more, so I think I will just be riding Cruiser on the hill, again. Well, at least we are on the trail, sort of.

Into the great unknown

2011-04-08T10:22:00.000-07:00

I have had some uneventful trail rides. Monday, it was raining too hard to take Cruiser out. I just led him in the arena. Wednesday, it stopped raining, but the river was too high. We just went up and down the hill 3 times with Starry. It rained all night, so that will probably be the case tonight and tomorrow.

I worked Cole in the arena. I have started to teach him to leg yield. I never had a horse I could teach leg yielding. Cruiser is a straight line horse. He wants to get from A to B in the most efficient way possible. He just didn’t get lateral moves at all. Eventually, I gave up.

I did try it with Mingo the last summer I rode him. It seemed like he was understanding it a little with the help of the clicker, but one day, he quit cooperating with me, and we struggled with everything from then on. Looking back, I know now that that is when he started feeling sick.

Cole, well he seemed to get it right away—as long as I cued him precisely. Now, I really don’t know what I am doing—just using what I have read in books. I never had a lesson—never could afford it. I have always had one too many horse to afford any sort of luxury. I never rode a proper lateral movement in my life—making it all doubly hard.

It seems that timing is everything. When I figured out that I needed to cue him at precisely at the right moment—that moment when I would ask a horse to move over on the trail and actually get a smooth and seamless response. I knew how to do this, but I just needed to take it one step further. With the help of clicker, when I got it right, so did he—and he got clicked. If I think about it too much, my timing is off. It reminds me of when I used to play foosball in high school. I was really quite good, but I couldn’t say what I was doing. I had to duplicate the feeling of the last successful angle shot. If I thought too hard about it, I failed. I just keep trying to duplicate the feeling of success.

We worked on it for 2 consecutive rides. We are now taking one lateral step in each direction at a walk. I can tell he is trying very hard to understand what I want. When we are learning it, he doesn’t notice anything else going on. He is completely focused on me. I think that is the clicker training. He has something to gain by learning.

The other night, one of the boarders came up to tell me that Cole is the most beautiful moving horse she has ever seen, and then she told me something I never thought about, but I believe is true. She said that Cole seems to enjoy working with me. I modestly told her that it was the clicker, not me. I suppose I should get some credit, though. I am the one who chose to go the clicker route.

Spring Again

2011-04-07T13:56:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from "Trail Adventures and Advice"
(Written quite a few years ago. Some things never change...)

Spring Again

We are back to riding our horses regularly on the trail, and our horses have been a handful. They are so excited to get out and stretch their legs on the trail. We are now working on transforming them into what we refer to as “summer horses.” We have to do this transformation every year. You would think that horses that have been ridden hundreds of miles on the trail each year wouldn’t get so excited when they first get out again in the spring. Mingo has been doing his grunt and buck routine, Cruiser has been tossing his head and squealing before he dashes forward (we call this his death squeal) and Ranger has started his prancing/jogging when he is supposed to walk.

Cruiser and Ranger have a tendency to get very competitive together, and that is our biggest problem. We are fine when we are walking, but when we pick up the pace, it gets tricky. They both want to be lead horse. Until they settle down at a trot, we don’t even consider cantering. Unfortunately, both of them can trot at lightning speed. One time, a woman with a big Thoroughbred joined us on a ride. We asked her if we could do some trotting, and she agreed. We were speeding along in our usual manner, and I glanced back to see her cantering. After we stopped, I apologized that we went so fast that she had to canter to keep up. Her response was, “What do you mean canter, I was galloping!”

Our solution to settling down our silly spring horses involves doing a few things. Since Ranger is just a little faster than Cruiser, I find that it helps to trot Cruiser directly behind Ranger and use Ranger’s body as an obstacle to keep Cruiser from passing. As long as Cruiser doesn’t pass, Ranger will keep at a reasonable speed. It isn’t the easiest thing for me to do, but when I get it right, we can trot fairly quietly. Another thing we will try is to only trot or canter short distances. We call it practicing our transitions. The idea is to stop before they get hyper and start to race. The secret is in the timing, and sometimes the horses are a couple steps ahead of us and it turns into a race—just what we want to avoid. We then bring them to a walk and start all over.

Another thing that sometimes helps is a technique we discovered a couple years ago, which we call “putting them into position.” I will take the lead with Cruiser, and my sister will ride Ranger next to me with his head lined up to my leg. This sort of tricks Cruiser into thinking he is in the lead position, which he prefers. Ranger feels in charge because he is in the “driving position” and is pushing Cruiser to go forward. They seem to settle down when we ride them like this as long as I don’t allow Cruiser to go as fast as Ranger is pushing him to go.

When nothing else works, we try our last resort—separating. If they can’t behave together, we make them go by themselves. This is the worst punishment we can think of because these two horses are the best of friends. We had to do this the other day when Ranger was being just awful. My sister turned him around to go home and made him trot for a few miles. Cruiser and I continued on with Mingo at a trot. We reached our destination, and turned around to go home. We intercepted Ranger coming back towards us. My sister said he was so upset that he never stopped screaming to Cruiser. We continued on home together and had few problems after that. They were both a little tired because of all the trotting and were happy to be together again. Maybe they were even afraid that we would separate them again.

The oddest thing is if we ride Mingo and Cruiser together or Mingo and Ranger together, we aren’t having any problems at all. Mingo seems to quiet the other horses down. He is not a very competitive horse, and often will hang back a hundred feet or so behind and be very happy. We call him our anchor. If he is in a faster mood, we let him take the lead and the other horses don’t care that much. It must be a case of herd dynamics that we don’t understand. Like I mentioned earlier, his spring problem is the grunt and buck. The best thing we can do is get him out on the trail and get him tired. We sure don’t mind an excuse to ride on the trail more often!

Eventually, our trusty steeds become consistently quiet, but I often wonder if it is because of all our training, or if it is simply because summer rolls in and the temperatures get warmer!

Tunnel Fun

2011-04-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

This is my sister's cat, my nephew, in his new favorite toy--the tunnel!

Weekend Rides

2011-04-04T11:02:00.001-07:00

I didn’t get as much riding as I would have liked this weekend. Friday evening, I got to the barn a bit earlier than normal, and took Cruiser on an hour ride. He was still wound up as could be. We did intermittent trotting. As soon as he got too extended (which happened a lot), I made him walk. Extended trots are bad for bad tendons. In the old days, I would just let him trot it out, but now, I try to control his speed. Fast trotting is fine—no more mega-trot.

I had enough daylight to take Cole on a short ride. This was our second ride across the river, and only the second evening ride, ever. I shouldn’t have been surprised when he kept trying to rush on the way home, but I was disappointed. I ended up leading and circling and stopping and standing. It took a long time to get home.

Saturday, my sister and I took Cruise and Ranger on a short ride together—all at a walk, and they were great. We didn’t try trotting because we hated to break the spell. Next weekend. We were short on time because our very best friend was bringing her daughter out to visit and ride Ranger, so I rode Cole for a bit in the arena and then rode him down to the river. Unlike the day before, he was great both away from home and on the way back. What a relief.

Sunday, I had to go somewhere with my dad, so I didn’t get to ride with Ellen. She had to work, anyway. I took Cruiser on a short trail ride and we trotted a lot. He was much, much better. He only got hard to manage a few times.

I didn’t have the time for Cole because I got out so late, so I turned him out to play and took him on a walk to the river and back. Once again, he was fine. I don’t know what happened to him Friday evening, but I hope it doesn’t happen, again.

Rain today, so I don’t expect much in the way of trail riding. I’ll be in the arena.

Cole's First River Crossing of the Year

2011-03-31T10:07:00.000-07:00

Snow again--had to ride in the arena.

2011-03-31T08:14:00.001-07:00

My trail ride with Cruiser last night was derailed by snow. He has shoes, so we had to stay inside. Once again, he was very spooky. He spooked more in 10 minutes in the arena than the last 2 weeks on trail.

A nice young lady at the barn, who has fallen in love with Cole, brought her video camera out. She taped 6 minutes of us. It was during our warm up, so it wasn’t an ideal time, but I knew she wanted to ride and didn’t want to make her wait. He did get a little silly a few times, but we worked through it. I got to see it on the camera, and I just can’t get over how pretty he trots. She is going to give it to me on a DVD. It was so sweet of her.

He did have a couple big spooks last night. One of them, I swore I heard a horse trotting outside where there shouldn’t of been one. I yelled out to Mingo, by dear departed horse, to stop teasing Cole. He didn’t spook after that.

My assistant was a no show—he was watching the Cavs game, of course. I had to feed alone. We are down to 36 horses. That’s a lot of watering.

Riding Night

2011-03-29T10:56:00.000-07:00

I rode Cruiser in the park with my boyfriend on his horse—that means I didn’t get to trot as much as I wanted to. Right now, both horses just want to race, and we don’t need that. We tried it a few times, but didn’t get too far. Starry decided he had to canter to keep up with Cruiser, so we just walked. Other than that, they were fine. It was very cold out, and we both dismounted after we crossed the river and led them the rest of the way home. I was still cold when I got back, so I cleaned 2 stalls before riding Cole.

Cole was a bit goofy at the beginning of the ride, and then once he settled down, another person started to ride with us. Consequently, we didn’t do a whole lot of challenging work. Good news—the teen I rode with, a very nice young lady—told me she will video Cole for me and put it on a DVD. She loves the way he trots and I think she is purposely riding when I do so she could watch. I hope they follow through with it. I know he is doing better than the video my sister took last month because she said he is. I’m also able to ride it better. I really have to engage by upper thighs and concentrate on following the movement so I don’t get left behind. Just recently, I have been able to coordinate it with bearing down with my abdominal muscles—which made a huge difference with Cruiser, so I think that it is helping Cole, too. It just gives me more stability in the saddle.

I think next week, I will have enough time to take both of them on the trail—then I can leave the arena behind for a while…

Smokin' Cole Train

2011-03-28T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here is a picture of me on Cole the first day we made it across the river this year. Ignore my dorky helmet cover. I look dumb, but it is so warm. I am looking forward to the day that I can take it off and put it away until next winter.

I didn't get him across this weekend. It was so chilly that I rode in the arena and then took him for a walk down the hill to the river. He did well. Lately, it feels like everything is just coming together for us, and it is a very satisfying feeling. Training a horse is a lot of work, but it sure is worth it when things start going well.

River Crossing Terror

2011-03-24T07:40:00.001-07:00

River Crossing Terror

Years ago, before Cruiser bowed his tendon and the vet convinced me to keep front shoes on him for support, I used to pull his shoes for the winter. (In fact, I tried that this year, but ended up putting them back on after 8 weeks because he seemed off on his tendon.) Anyway, usually there would be about a month or so in the spring that I would be riding without shoes. For many years, he had no problem with it, but a few years before the tendon incident, something strange started to happen.

When he crossed the very first river crossing on our rides—the only one that there is no way of avoiding, if he didn’t have shoes in the spring, (it didn’t matter in the fall if I pulled his shoes early,) he would cross really weird. It is hard to explain what was going on. It was as if his legs were going every which way. He would go too fast—maybe he was trying to gait? I don’t know what it was. We called it his “crab walk.” That first crossing has a slippery slate bottom, so that might have contributed to it. The first year, we thought it was just excitement—and then we put his shoes on—it instantly disappeared.

Then it happened again the next spring, and the next spring. The crossings could be terrifying. I would try to stop him so he could pull himself together. That helped, sometimes. One time, when the river was very low, he fell. We parted, and he scrambled up and went to the side that leads towards home. He was so scared from the incident, that it took me a week to get him to cross the river, again.

Since he has had shoes on in the spring the last 3 springs, we haven’t had any trouble crossing the river. I was thinking about that when we crossed for the first time this year. All went well, he stepped carefully through the water to the other side—in spite of being very excited to be going on a real trail ride. In fact, that was the only time that he walked slow on the entire ride.

The following day, we went on another trail ride. I was in the lead, and my sister was following with Ranger. Cruiser readily stepped in the water. I was about halfway across, and he started to crab walk. All kinds of things rushed through my head. First of all, I didn’t want him to fall. It was a cold morning and not a good day to get soaked. Second, I was upset that the crab walk came back even with shoes. Will this happen every time I cross now? I couldn’t get him to stop, so I just tried to guide him straight to the river bank. I didn’t know where Ranger was, but I didn’t want to take my attention from Cruiser. I could hear geese honking in the background, but I couldn’t hear Ranger splashing through the water.

We got to the other side, and I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I looked back, and Ranger hadn’t even started across. Ellen yelled over to me, “I didn’t know geese could hover like that.” I had no idea what she was talking about.

She crossed with Ranger and was shocked when I asked her about the geese. She said that as we started to cross, a pair of Canadian geese were flying down the river. When they reached us, they didn’t go around us, they hovered in the air until we got out of their way. Poor Cruiser—no wonder he was rushing across the river!

I did see the geese land in the water when we were reached land. I was concentrating so hard on getting across the river safely, I didn’t realize the honking geese were right next to us!

Ranger, on the other side, was terrified and acting up for my sister, even though he wasn’t in the flight path. I am glad that Cruiser went in the water, first, since he handled the crisis better. The slate bottom is too slippery and uneven for a horse to be bouncing about.

I was very happy, because this meant the return of the crab walk was a one time thing! Hurray! We wouldn’t have any more scary crossings—unless the geese come back to terrorize us.