Tocktober

Int the world of cat blogs, this is Tocktober--the month when the cats show off their tocks.  My sister's cat, Stormy has the cutest tocks, that I had to show them off!

Princess - Feline Tyrant at Our Barn

Doesn't she look innocent and sweet?  Don't you want to give her a great big hug?  Well, you better ask permission, first.

Princess loves attention.  If I call her, she will typically appear within a minute for her pets.  Sometimes, she is up in the rafters of the indoor arena; hunting for barn swallows, and she will work her way back to me.  She will gallop across the hayloft, down the ladder and into my arms.  Even if I don't call her, she often tracks me down when she hears my voice.

Why does she like me so much?  I think because everyone else is afraid to touch her.  She is a ticking time bomb--ready to explode if you touch the wrong spot. No one has escaped the wrath of Princess.

Like a fool, I keep calling her and she keeps galloping to me for pets--until she has had enough!

Storm in the Dirt

When my sister emailed me to tell me that her cat, Stormy, was playing in the dirt, I never pictured this!  Look at those paws!  Thunder would be horrified.  Cats are not supposed to get their paws dirty! (According to Thunder.)

Vacation and Short Days

Vacation and Short Days

Ellen and I are in the middle of a great riding month—sort of.  We had a 4-day weekend for riding—with 2 more scheduled.  The weather has been mostly wonderful and the changing trees are gorgeous.  That’s the great part.  The sad part of October is the days are getting short, and so are my trail rides.  I am rushing home, gulping down a quick meal, taking the dog for a short walk, patting the cat on his head and running out to the barn for a very rushed ride.  (My cat is not happy about this arrangement.)  Still, it is better than riding in the indoor arena.  I have months of that ahead of me; no reason to start prematurely.

Last night, was the first time that I couldn’t make it to my usual short-ride turnaround spot.  Kevin left before me and I met him right before he was going to cross the river to go home.  He turned Starry around and rode with my 10 minutes before we had to go back home.  I don’t mind riding in the dark.  I just don’t want to ride on the road in the dark. 

When we got back, we walked around the loop in the back of the property for 3 laps.  I was glad to have company, because when I tried that a few days ago after my ride when I was by myself, Cole was a bit fidgety.  With Starry there, he did fine.  It won’t be long, and that will be all we will do until the weather gets crummy.

And that is why I like to take vacation time in October!  Our rides have been so wonderful—and uneventful—that there isn’t much to say about them.  Dante and Cole have just been dream horses.  We invite Starry along, sometimes, just so we can have someone who will misbehave.

They are staining the stall walls in our barn.  Ellen was out there the day they started.  The guy was brushing the bars to clean them.  Dante was very curious, wondering what he was doing.  Cole was attacking the brush.  Ranger was hiding in the corner of his stall.  We have 3 very different horses…

I get to review an item from Two Horse Tack!  Hurray!  Ellen and I just love our bling bridles.  I’m getting him a bling halter to match his bridle.  I think he will look so handsome in it. 

Last night when I was at the barn, Princess, the evil cat who loves me, came to talk to me.  She had a burr on the tip of her tail.  There was no way I was going to allow that, so with a little struggle I got it out—without a single scratch.  (I was rather proud of myself.)  She did seem happy about it and show me by not whipping her tail around quite as much.

Speaking of cats, Maggie the Cat needed an operation to remove a cyst in her ear.  Ellen and I said we would pay for whatever is left of the bill that other donations don’t cover.  We are lucky to have a vet tech at our barn who gets discounted vet care for the barn cats—not to mention how great it is to have someone with so much cat knowledge.  Sadly, her horse died a few weeks ago.  She is looking for another one, not only so we can have her feline expertise, but because she is a super nice person.

Maggie is doing well, but she has to wear the cone of shame until she gets her stitches out.  She isn’t happy about that, at all. 

Just waiting for the next long weekend…

Fun Fall Riding

Ellen and I are continuing to enjoy the fall riding season.  Last Friday, I took Cole out for a quick ride before dark.  It was very, very windy and cold.  That meant Cole was fast and fun.  We avoided getting hit by any falling branches, though we did hear a few ominous cracks. 

Saturday, it was rainy all day—except for a few hours in the morning—and that’s when Ellen and I zipped out onto the trail.  We kept the ride a little short because we didn’t want to get caught in the rain, but we still had fun.  It still wasn’t raining when we got back, so we took Ranger out for a walk on the hill to the river.  He was very hyper.  Leading Ranger is always great exercise.

Sunday was perfect.  We took Cole and Dante up to the show ring trails—doing our favorite back trail and also the front loop.  On the way back, we met Kevin and Starry after they just got up the very steep hill leading to these trails.  Poor Starry, he went up that huge hill, just to turn around and go back down.  All horses were as good as the weather.

This is such a boring blog post.  Such wonderful rides—it doesn’t give me much to write about.

My weekday rides with Kevin and Starry have been very short because it gets dark so fast.  We rush around do get home at a safe time.  I don’t mind riding in the dark, but we have that little bit by the street that I worry the cars won’t see us well enough.  At least we are still able to get out.  Soon, I will be stuck riding the loop in the dark, and once the weather gets crummy, I will begin to ride in the arena, again.  It has been so long…  It is hard to motivate myself to work in there.  We do have a lot of vacation planned in the upcoming weeks, so that will help with the transition.

The other night, after our ride, Kevin had heard that the International Space Station would be passing over us.  It was a perfectly clear night, so we were out there, waiting.  There are so many airplanes, we were worried we wouldn’t be able to know the difference, but we did.  At the precise time, we could see it going across the sky.  We waved, but I don’t think they saw us.

Vote for Stormy--cutest cat around.

Vote for Stormy

Vote for Stormy--the cutest cat around

Please vote for Stormy for cutest pet.  I have been posting adorable pictures of my nephew for years because I think he is so irresistible.  Now, lets show the world how true it is.  Click on this link to give him a vote.

www.kingpet.com/cat/4442343942700172-Stormy  

A Historic Ride

A Historic Ride

On our second September long weekend, Ellen and I took Dante up to the showring trails. That isn’t historic at all, but we did have a few “firsts.”

As is typical on our vacations in the fall, we tend to run into park maintenance. Sometimes they are fixing our trail, sometimes trimming trees and then there is road maintenance.

This time, the road maintenance was not a problem for us in the least. We rode past it the day before. It was far enough from the trail that the horses didn’t care. The good news was they closed the 2 fords, so there was no traffic between them.

The following day, we decided to ride across the ford. The only risk would be a truck from the construction passing us, but since we hadn’t seen one, yet, we figured we could do it.

This would be the first time Ellen ever rode Dante across the ford. I ride Cole all the time, but Ellen still gets nervous in traffic, so she leads.

Since the road was all ours, Dante was perfect. I didn’t realize it until Ellen told me, but this was literally the very first time Ellen had ever ridden Dante on the street in any way except to cross the road. It was a big step for her.

We rode up to the show ring. At the end of the pine forest, we can either go left to a very pretty trail or right to the show ring, itself. We haven’t gone to the show ring proper all year. The trail loops around the show ring and it is almost all sunny—not something you want to do in the hot summer.

As we neared the intersection, a horse went by at a walk going down the trail we wanted to go, and we didn’t really want to follow her. She was bareback, and it looked like she was out for a quiet stroll. We wanted to trot. Rather than catching up with her and having to pass, we just decided to go the other way towards the show ring. It wasn’t historic, but it was the first time this year.

When we got back to the pine forest, we found Kevin on Starry. We then all continued down the trail that we originally wanted to go on. We got to do all our trotting, and we were happy.

On the way home, Ellen decided to ride down the big hill—for the first time. It is a really long and steep hill. Dante has always been good on it, but she preferred to lead—just to be safe. Cole hasn’t always been good on this or any hill, but I have been riding him down it, and he has proven to be a good boy. Dante did, too. He was so good that Ellen rode him down the next day without hesitation.

Since she was already in the saddle, she didn’t lead through the lagoon, either. That is the part of the trail that is closest to the street for about a half mile. Last year, she was riding through it, but this year she wasn’t comfortable with it. I encouraged her to just keep leading through it until it felt right. Well, this day couldn’t be any righter. Dante was perfect.

Just to round things out, she rode back across the ford on the way home, too.

It was a historic ride because Ellen and Dante did some things for the first time and others for the first time this year—and Dante proved to her that her confidence in him wasn’t misplaced. He was just stellar.

Stormy

My sister has a great catnip bush growing by her house. Thunder likes her catnip better than the stuff I grow. Her cat, Stormy, likes to hide in it.

Ranger on Standing and Dante with His Invisible Stall Guard

Ranger on Standing and Dante with His Invisible Stall Guard

I think Ranger is understanding that he needs to stand quietly until asked to go forward, but he still has a long way to go.  He has definitely improved when Ellen takes him outside and runs down the stirrups.  One day, I asked him to stand so I could pet my cat friend, Princess.  He was a perfect gentleman.  A little while later, I tried it—and he realized what I was doing.  He decided to pet her, (chase) too.  Well, that didn’t work.  A few days later, he did stand for me while I petted her.

He does quite well if I am at his side, but when I am in front of him, he wants to walk towards me.  Also, he thinks he is supposed to move when I move—which makes sense.  He is slowly getting better.  I think he will have it in only a few weeks. 

Invisible stall guard is working well.  one day, I was cleaning Dante’s stall when he was in it.  Ranger, who is in the stall directly across the aisle, had his door open.  Dante kept stretching his neck over to engage Ranger in play.  I was worried he would knock down the wheelbarrow, so I stepped out to close Ranger’s door.  As soon as I was out of the stall, Dante knocked down his wheelbarrow.  The way it tipped over, Dante could have walked out of his door, but he just stood there.  Not only did invisible stall guard work, but it demonstrated why it is such a useful skill to teach.

Since I insist that his hooves stay on his stall mat—and he thinks he should stand one half step out of the stall, we still have a lot to practice.  On his last session, he only tried to step forward a couple times, and he even let me stand on the other side of the aisle and he stayed on his mat.

I only work with them on their new projects just a few minutes at a time, but that is how we train horses in their daily routines—and we can either ask for improvements or accept the status quo.  It really depends on what you want.  Ranger isn’t that fidgety with Ellen when she needs him to stand—it is definitely tolerable—but this makes things just a little easier for her.  We could make sure that Dante always has his real stall guard up—but this is just a handy safety feature to have.  Anyways—the big thing is—I am having fun.

Starry is still a little difficult when cleaning his feet.  Maybe this winter…

You Can Teach an Old Horse a New Trick—or at Least Try To

You Can Teach an Old Horse a New Trick—or at Least Try To

Ellen has had Ranger about 20 years, and they have done all sorts of things together. She has done a good job training him to be a reliable and fun horse to ride. Somehow, she did forget an important lesson, and I didn’t even realize it.

One really, really important thing that a trail horse needs to know is to stand still upon request. This includes both in the saddle and on the ground. I never realized that Ellen didn’t take the time to teach Ranger to stand when she is leading him. That explains why he dances around so much when she tries to run down his stirrups when she takes him outside. I thought that he was misbehaving, when actually, he was doing what he was used to doing. He didn’t know he was supposed to stand still for tack adjustments.

Well, now that he is my evening project, I have a goal. I am going to teach Ranger to stand still on command. He doesn’t have to park out like Cole—or bow. He just needs to be still.

I have been working with him for about a week, and he is starting to get it. Things always go quicker with clicker. After our evening walkabout, we stop in the driveway and stand. I click him when he is still. When he moves, I ask him to stop and start all over. The first day, he was very fidgety. Each time after that, he got better.

I noticed that if he is standing balanced, he will maintain his position longer—more clicks and treats. So, even though he isn’t parked out, the squarer his stance, the better he does. It is about setting him up for success. He loves the treats and the attention. I have started to walk from one side of him to the next while he is standing, and it is working.

He is far, far from perfect. About the maximum time he has lasted has been 30 seconds, but he has a lifetime of fidgeting to forget. I’m sure Ellen will be eternally grateful when he will stop and stand still for her until she asks him to go forward, again.