Trifecta's First Trail Ride of the Year

Trifecta's First Trail Ride of the Year

It was time to get Trifecta out on the trail.  We have gone up and down the hill to the river a number of times, but we weren't crossing because I didn't want to do our initial ride when it was higher or muddy, and there has been so much rain this spring...

It was a warm day, and the river was low.  Ellen was willing to walk across it with us.  Everyone needs someone like Ellen to help out--I don't know what I would do without her, and I will never take her for granted.  Not only is she a wonderful assistant on the ground, but she also reminds me of where I had problems before and how I might make things better.  Sometimes, when I am in the middle of a situation, my brain doesn't think as fast as it should.  Having Ellen is like having another brain.

Anyway, we headed down the hill to the river.  Trifecta was very excited, as always.  He tried rushing down the steeper slopes, and I had to remind him to control his feet by stopping and restarting.  Speaking of control, he remembered his command "control."  When he is doing "control," it actually feels like he is a car in low gear.

We made it to the bottom, and he wanted to go right down to the river.  Ellen reminded me that last year I would pass the ramp up and walk a little away past it so that he doesn't think we will always be crossing.  We used to have fights there when I just wanted to do the hill.  We passed it up, turned around and headed down to the river.  He was so excited!

He took one step in and decided he would rather look around and explore.  Ellen came up next to us, and we all started to cross together.  I did walk, whoa, click, treat a number of times to keep him paying attention to me, not rushing and to reinforce the stop--all problems I had last summer.  It worked, and we made it across easily.  It was one of Trifecta's best crossings ever.  We waited on the trail for Ellen to clip some rose bushes that were overhanging into the river and partially blocking our path.  He stood well at first, but then he glanced behind him and saw the trail going to opposite way I intended to go.  We had problems here, too, in the past because he wanted to go that way instead of our desired way.  He tried to turn around to go there, and Ellen finished her clipping just in time.  He chose to follow her instead.

We had no plan to go further than Cougar Rock.  We named a big boulder by the side of the trail Cougar Rock once we started doing the Virtual Tevis Ride, and the name stuck.  He was doing great--just walking along and looking at things.  As we neared Cougar Rock, 3 riders were coming towards us on their way home.  I pulled Tri to the side to let them pass, and at that moment decided that we would go a little further.  I didn't want them in sight up ahead of us because it might cause Trifecta to rush.

In the past, Trifecta has done better on the way home instead of the way out.  That wasn't the case, this time.  We don't know if it was because of the horses way up ahead, the hiker just a little ahead of us or because he wasn't tired.  (He is in way better shape after being worked steadily all winter and spring than he was last year.)  Anyway, he was walking really fast.  Ellen was struggling to keep up.  A few times he even tried to trot which is very unlike him.  He had one minor spook when a dog that we could barely see by the river started splashing around.  Once he was able to take a look at it, he dismissed it and continued his march down the trail.  

When we reached the fence--which is a fence that separates our trail from the paved bike trail which is right next to the street, I heard a loud motorcycle.  We decided to stop and watch.  It turned out to be 3 motorcycles coming from the front of us--just as a couple more passed us from behind.  That was a lot of motorcycles for a green trail horse to take in, and he handled it beautifully!  One of the riders gave us a thumbs up.

The last big challenge was the river crossing on the way home.  In the past, he has had trouble walking down the river bank--preferring to rush.  Not this time.  He walked right down--just like a gentleman.  I was so proud.  I asked him to step in, and he did.  Then I glanced across the river and saw 2 riders approaching.  Now we had a problem.  We asked them to wait, and they were happy to.  Trifecta saw them and decided he was going to rush across to see them.  The river bottom is very uneven, and I was so worried he would slip and fall.  Slip he did, but he didn't fall.  I asked him to stop, and he did!!!  I clicked, treated and continued.  Ellen was behind us; encouraging us.  I have to admit I was nervous enough to be shaking.  

I think he learned from the slip because he crossed slower and more carefully.  As we stepped out of the water, I asked him to stop, and he refused.  I spun him around to face the water, and asked him again.  This time, he stopped.  Cautiously, I turned him back to the steep river bank and asked him to walk.  My worry now was that he would blast up it towards the other horses.  He kept it to a very, very fast walk.  At the top, I felt him try to swerve to where the other horses were standing, but I was able to successfully block him with my leg and guide him around the bend.  We have been practicing passing up Dante in the arena because he likes to try and swerve his hindquarters at horses.  It was time well spent, that is for sure.

The rest of the trip up the hill was uneventful.  He was going fast, so we had to keep stopping so Ellen could catch her breath. Overall, it was a good ride--not perfect--very a fine starting point.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate so we can get him out a lot in the next month or so.  If so, we should have a fine summer together.

Big Day for Henry

Big Day for Henry

Henry spent his early days in "quarantine."  We didn't let him out to play with any of our other horses.  Young horses need playtime, so when we thought it was safe, we let him out to spend some time with Dante.  They chewed on each other, licked each other and did some nipping, but the didn't do any running and bucking.  I really wanted to see that, because Henry has done very little on his own.

I do remember it took a few weeks for Trifecta, at that age, too, so I wasn't alarmed so much as curious.  I wanted to see how he could move.  Plus, I thought by now he would want to move.

The second time we turned them out together, they started with some licking and chewing, but Dante, the 19-year-old colt, wanted to play.  It was the cutest thing.  He was running around Henry, bucking and doing his amazing Lambert Leaps--twisting, spinning and flying through the air--no response.  He kept trying and trying to get Henry to engage in some playing, but something was holding Henry back.

They were on the far end of the turnout area when we heard a loud bang--I have no idea what it was.  Dante jumped up in the air and started running for the gate, only because he felt like running.  Henry was startled by the noise and Dante's reaction and started to run, too.  Then he did a couple huge bucks.  After that, he was bursting with energy.  Dante was thrilled.  They ran this way and that; around and around.  Dante continued doing his Lambert Leaps and Henry showed us he had some speed, after all.  I was most thrilled when he did some extended trotting--it was gorgeous--and proof of his Morgan heritage.

Finally, they quieted down and started a friendly game of Halter Tug.

The whole thing was a most marvelous and beautiful experience.

Pictures of Henry

 Pictures of Henry

Week Number One with Henry

Week Number One with Henry

My plan for Henry's first month is to just let him get used to things and work on simple stuff.  I want him to settle in and to get to know him.  We have been turning him out to play and leading him around to show him the sights and sounds.  Everything is going well.  We haven't introduced him to the other horses in the family because I thought it might be a good idea to keep him quarantined for a bit.  He seems quite healthy, and this is only as a precaution.

The day we met him, it was obvious that he was head shy, and it became all the more apparent when I tried to take off his halter.  I immediately tried to put it back on, and he wanted nothing to do with it.  I took a lead rope and wrapped it around his neck to keep him in place.  He then allowed me to halter him, but he did fight it a bit.  I haltered and unhaltered him three times, and each time he got better.

I talked to Ellen about it, and she suggested unbuckling the strap that goes over his head and snapping the throat latch closed.  That is how she used to do it with Ranger who didn't care for being haltered.  This way, I wouldn't have to pull it over his ears.

The next day, I did just what she suggested.  At first, he didn't want to hold his head still and got worried when the halter approached his face.  I put my right arm under his head and placed my right hand on his nose to stabilize his head.  Instead of trying to halter him with my left hand, I brought the halter under his head and placed the nose band in my right hand that was on his nose, and then slowly brought the nose band around his nose.  It worked!  Whenever he does anything good, I rub his neck right in front of his withers and praise him.  He just loves that.  I didn't take the halter over her head, at first.  We just kept repeating putting it on his nose then rubbing his neck.  I lost count of how many times I did it.

When I finally brought the strap over his head and buckled it, he didn't even  care.  We did that a couple of times and called it a day.  I then walked to the other end of his stall and looked at him.  He studied me and walked over to me so I could pet his face.  He was no longer head shy.  (He is still sensitive with his ears, but we are working on it.)

We practiced it the next day with great success.  The following day, I went to retrieve him from his stall.  He walked up to me, and before I realized what was happening, he stuck his nose in his halter on his own.  

Another project we are working on is picking up his feet.  That is something he didn't do well with when I went to look at him.  I have about a month before our farrier comes out, and I want him to be well behaved for him.  Our farrier, John Warner, is terrific at his job, and the least we can do is have our horses be the best that they can be.

Henry didn't want to lift his feet up, and when he did, he didn't want to hold them up.  I hate struggling with feet, and it was tempting on some days to skip the lesson, but I was determined to work with him on it.  The first couple days felt like I was getting nowhere.  He planted his front feet down like the had taken root to the ground.  When I got one up, he immediately pulled it away.  The back feet weren't that bad.  He just didn't want to keep them up for long.  When finally I was able to pick up a hoof, I held it there, praised him and rubbed his neck in his favorite spot.  By the third day, he picked them up readily, but didn't want to keep them up.  Of course, he got no neck rubs if he pulled his hoof away.  I think he made the connection, because by the fourth day he didn't do that bad at all.  I am so glad I found his magic spot.

Ellen groomed out his mane and tail and gently introduced him to coat conditioner.  The spray bottle didn't bother him that much.  She said that he said he wanted one of his own so he could play with it.,

Some may wonder if I am going to do clicker training with him.  I haven't decided, yet.  Of course, I went through this with Trifecta, too, and capitulated in the end.  He was impossible, and that was the only thing that really helped.  Henry doesn't seem as complicated as Trifecta, and with him just loving the neck rubs, I can still use positive reinforcement--I just don't need the treats.  There are some negatives with clicker training that we discovered.  I may just use it if we come across any big stumbling blocks to get us through.  We'll see.

I have learned so much by using clicker training with the other horses, but the most important thing I learned has been how to use operant conditioning.  Everything we do with horses (and other animals--and even people) is either reinforced or discouraged by the action following the behavior.  I have become very mindful of this.  If it is positive reinforcement, it doesn't have to be a click followed by a treat, but it could be rubbing his neck or verbal praise (once he is conditioned to know that verbal praise is good.)  Negative reinforcement is removing something --usually pressure.  (Timing is very important.)  Positive punishment is obvious--which Henry experienced when he bit me.  Negative punishment is harder to integrate in training, but I have used it.  It is punishing by taking something away.  Sometimes Trifecta can misbehave when I am riding him close to his friends.  I then punish him by taking him away from his friends.  If he is good, I let him stay and that is positive reinforcement.  Even when I didn't rub Henry's neck because he pulled his foot away, he may have felt that was negative punishment if he was expecting that I would do it automatically.

Whatever happens after a behavior reinforces or discourages, and with Henry--just rubbing him in the right spot is such magic.

We are using it on his leading, too.  With my rubbing his neck when he does "whoa," his "whoas" are getting sharper and straighter--and this is just the first week!

Our first week went so well, and I am looking forward to see what the future holds.

 

Henry is Here

Henry is Here

Nearly 2 weeks after purchasing him, Henry arrived.  He had to be gelded and healed, first.  The man I bought him from, Joe, was bringing him on a Friday during rush hour, and there was an accident on the freeway, so he was running late.  To further complicate things, his GPS said that the address to the stables didn't exist.  I had to give him verbal directions.  Unfortunately, he was nearly there and missed an important turn.  I was fielding phone call after phone call trying to guide him back.  

Kevin was waiting with me, of course.  Ellen was at work, but John, her boyfriend, was there taking pictures to chronicle the big event.  I was just sitting on a post at the end of the driveway--waiting.  It seemed to take forever!  I kept leaving messages on Ellen's phone to give her updates.

Finally, I could make out a horse trailer coming down the street.  I started waving so Joe would know where to turn, and I breathed a big sigh of relief.  Henry was here.

I had nearly 2 weeks of questioning my decision.  Was he as nice a looking horse as I remembered?  We didn't get any good photographs when we were there, so there was nothing to reassure me that I made the right decision.  I made the decision rather hastily, too.  Not since I fell in love with Cruiser all those years ago, did I decide to buy a horse in less than 30 seconds.

As he stepped off the trailer, in less than 30 seconds, I was reassured that I did make the right decision.  He is a very well put together, nicely balanced horse.  He still looks very young, but much taller and more mature looking than Trifecta was at that age.  I will be getting out the measuring stick and the weight tape to see where he is starting out.

He was worried about stepping into the barn because there was a puddle right in front of it.  He just stopped, and I let him take a look at it for a couple seconds and then asked him to follow me in--and he did.  He seems like such a sensible young man.

I brought him to his new stall.  He is going to be right next to Starry.  That stall has been empty too long, and I feel that Starry needed a companion.  Starry is such a sociable guy--and also the reason we are calling our new horse Henry instead of Star.

As we let him settle down, I showed Joe our horses.  He thought Starry was huge--and he is.  He commented on Dante's wonderful bones structure--and it is so true.  He is built like a Morgan tank.  He instantly saw Cole's only Arabian feature--his pretty head, and he fell in love with Trifecta--as everyone does.  Trifecta, who hasn't met a person he didn't like, was instantly cuddling with him.  I figured I had to get Joe away from him before he grabbed him and loaded him up on the trailer.

Henry was settled enough to nibble on his hay, so it was time to send Joe on his way back to Pennsylvania.  We stayed much longer to keep an eye on him and pet and talk to him.  When I walked away from his stall to go see Cole, he neighed for me.  The first thing I thought was, "Oh no, not another one."  I go through this with Cole all the time and Trifecta fairly often.  Life at the barn would be so much simpler if my horses didn't like my company.  

Kevin and I left to go to his house for a few hours.  I stopped back to check on him on my way back home, and there was no power!  I had to look at him with my cellphone, which startled him a bit, but I was able to see enough to know he would make it through the night all right.  Oddly, when I got home, I turned out the lights to find I had no power, too.  We did have a storm, but I didn't think it was that much of a storm.  I was very tired, so it gave me a good reason to go right to bed.

The following day, Ellen was able to welcome him to his new home.  He was still nervous, but as the morning progressed, he improved.  Poor guy had a bad bout of diarrhea; probably from the stress and maybe from the different hay.  He cried a lot when we left him, and he was really upset as he watched us ride our other horses down the driveway away from him.  

By the next day, he had normal manure and didn't cry half as much.  We took him for a walk to show him around, and he was very curious about his surroundings but not frightened at all.  When he was turned out, this time he left the gate, looked around and did some trotting.  He really, really liked it when I groomed him.  I think grooming may be a direct way into his heart.

Our plan for the time being is to just let him get used to his new home and his new people.  I won't be riding him until he is 3, and since he just turned 2, there certainly isn't any reason to rush.  The long-term plan is to give him to Ellen when the time is right, though what she really wants is for me to give her Cole.  (Yeah, right, like that will ever happen.)  Judging from the look in her eyes, if she can't have Cole, she will be very happy with Little Henry.

Our New Baby

 

Our New Baby

There has been a lot of criticism about the internet and social media, and I am sure much of it is true, but it does have one great benefit--it makes it easy to shop for horses.  Years ago, when Ellen and I first got started with horses, it was so much different.  The first thing we would do is buy a copy of The Trading Times and turn to the horse classifieds.  It involved making phone calls, asking questions and then going out to see the horses without even seeing a photograph--let alone a video.  We only saw ads for horses in our general vicinity, too.  As it turned out, we found out about Ranger and Cruiser through word of mouth.

Now, we have the whole world at our fingertips.  Cole was from Indiana, Dante was from West Virginia and Trifecta came from Pennsylvania.  The internet revolutionized horse shopping, that is for sure.

Ellen and I had been talking about getting another 2-year-old for at least a year.  The plan is that I would own and train him and several years later give him to Ellen.  It was a win-win plan for both of us.  I love to train and she would get a horse trained just the way she likes and be a part of the whole process.

Now, we just needed the horse.

Of course, he would have to be another Morgan.

We prefer the older, traditional style Morgan, and those aren't as easy to find as the modern showy Morgans.  The modern Morgans are lovely horses, too, but we really like the older ones better.  We have been monitoring social media and sales pages for months, now.  Ironically, we found a horse that wasn't likely to be listed on either one because he is Amish.  Fortunately, his neighbor owns the colt's father and helped out by posting an old picture of him on her page to help sell him.  The yearling pictures were intriguing, and she also posted a picture of his full sister at 2 years old, too.  She was a very lovely horse.

What was a really wonderful surprise was that he was just 2 hours away in Pennsylvania!

After discussing it with Ellen, we decided to contact the woman who listed the colt.  She got us some current videos and photos which showed us he was a very lovely horse with a lot of potential.  The colt's father, B. A. M. Double Up Hoosier, is also an outstanding horse.  I asked for a phone number of the owner, and after a long conversation with him, I decided we had to see him.  He told me he just started him in harness and has driven him on the trails on his farm.  The young fellow is smart, kind and doesn't spook at anything.

Ellen, Kevin, John, (Ellen's boyfriend) and I piled up into Kevin's car and drove on out to PA.  GPS said the last 2 miles were on a gravel road, but it was more like a one-lane mud road.  Just where were we going?  We knew his home was on the left side of the road and just as GPS told us to turn, we saw him!  Or at least we hoped it was him.  There was a youngish liver chestnut colt with a star trotting about, and he looked great.

It was him!  We met the owner, and he brought him out to show us.  He looked great and stood quietly.  I had Kevin lead him around.  When he tried to go and look at some yearlings in a pasture, Kevin was able to gently guide him away.  Next, I had Ellen lead him around.  She only hesitated for a second before she took the lead rope and walked him in a circle--something she wouldn't do with Trifecta, the feral one, for weeks.  Next it was my turn.  I was so impressed with his manners.  He was nearly 2, so he was only a few weeks older than Trifecta when I got him, so there was no getting around comparing them.  Trifecta really was feral--a very friendly feral.  This guy didn't have the puny, under-developed look of Tri, either.  He was taller and more substantial with better legs.  (Trifecta's legs improved a lot as he grew--he was just at a very bad stage.)  The owner was confident that he would mature at 15 hands or more--plenty big for me.  Tri passed 15 hands, and I struggle with mounting from the ground--though I am getting better.

I knew he would be a great horse for us in just a couple of minutes.  Ellen said she really liked him, too.  Kevin thought he was beautiful.  John was taking pictures of the dog...

We made a good deal.  I paid asking price, but he will geld and deliver him at no additional cost.  It will probably be a few weeks.

The owner showed us his really cool setup for making his honey.  He produces about 50 barrels a year!  He also grows hay and corn, has 30+Morgans with 11 foals expected this spring, and raises wild boars, cows and deer.  He trains horses and is a farrier, too--a very busy man.  He had to go to pick up a trailer he bought, but he pointed up the driveway to get to the top of the hill where the boars and deer were and told us we were welcome to go walk up and take a look.  

As we walked up the hill, we got to see more Morgans, and they were so pretty.  At the top, there was a large pasture filled with countless wild boars running around, and we are talking the real thing--razor-back hogs--and they looked mean.  The deer were way in the back of their pasture, so we didn't see them well.  The little piglets were cute.  John was taking pictures of the pigs...

It will be a few weeks before we get him.  He has to be gelded and then heal from the gelding, first.  We are all very excited as we embark on this new adventure.  And of course, I will be writing all about it.

The question of what we should call him was a real problem.  His name is Rocky Run Luckystar, and he was called Star.  Star just won't work because Kevin's horse is named Starry.  We can't use Rocky because that is our brother's name, and we didn't really like Lucky.  I gave Ellen the challenge of finding names.  She suggested so many names that just didn't quite suit him.  The next morning, she asked how I liked the name Henry.  It was perfect.  Kevin liked it too, so that is what we plan to call him.  

Look Who is Joining Our Family

Look Who is Joining Our Family

Virtual Tevis Cup

Once again, Ellen and I are riding in the Virtual Tevis Cup.  I lost track of how many times we have done it, but I have plenty of t-shirts from it.  I guess I just need to count the t-shirts.  It is great fun.  We have 100 days to ride 100 miles.  Usually we have no trouble doing it and finish about half way through the competition.  Last year was a challenge, as Cole had that very bad colic when we had around 20 miles to go.  I wasn’t sure if he would survive, let alone finish the competition, but he survived and we did finish it.

Anyone wanting to join us can sign up at the link below.  I started a group called the Cleveland MetroParks Riders, so you can join it–even if you don’t ride here, you can join it.  All proceeds go to maintaining the Tevis trail in California, so it is for a good cause.

https://runsignup.com/Race/CA/Auburn/TevisCup?raceRefCode=4dFVBZec

The Future

This weekend, Ellen and I are going to look at a horse to possibly buy.  He is a 2-year-old Morgan–foundation breeding.  He will be my horse to train, and someday, if Ellen wants him, I will give him to her.  It is a big decision to get another horse–a lot of time and a lot of money, but we are only young once, and we already passed that up.  If I want to train another horse, I want to do it before I get too old to take the risks.  I do so love the training…

This horse really looks like a good one.  Not only is he handsome, but we have been told that he is smart, friendly and barely spooks at anything.  If it works out, I will tell you all about him.

Spring at Last

 Spring at Last!

It has been such a long winter.  When we could get on the trail or just the hill leading to the river, I took my "Ace Number One" trail horse, Cole.  I just worked with Trifecta in the arena.  Of all the horses I have ever had, he is the horse that I enjoy arena riding with the most.  He barely spooks, (unlike Cole, Cruiser and Ranger,) doesn't go too slow, (unlike Mingo and Dante,) doesn't go too fast, (unlike Cruiser and Cole,) and seldom does anything dangerous like bolting, (unlike Cruiser and Cole.)  We do have problems and frustrations, but working them out and succeeding is one of the joys of training.  I have also been able to ride him outside a lot in the last month or so.  Our current barn has a very large outdoor arena with all-weather footing and great drainage.  Mud is minimal in this muddy time of year.  

Still, as much as I enjoy riding him in the indoor and outdoor arenas, I am starting to get excited about trail riding with him again.  We have only been able to cross the river the last few weeks.  I have been taking Cole out with Kevin and Starry.  Ellen is still not ready to cross in her head, but I think it will be soon.  And then it will be time for Trifecta.

We have been reviewing the "Bus Stop Game."  That is where I take him to the end of the driveway, and we watch the cars go by.  Sometimes, we will cross the street, walk to the next house, cross the street and come back home.  The first day I did that, he was horrible when a car came by, and it discouraged me.  Since then, though, he has been better.  We don't get a lot of cars when we ride to the trail, and it isn't that far of a ride on the street, but we get enough to make it important that our horses are traffic safe.

Ellen often does this with Dante, too.  It is a running joke with us about the driver's reactions to Trifecta versus Dante.  With Trifecta'as dazzling blond mane and tail and naturally higher head carriage, we get a lot of people slowing down to look at him and waving.  Dante--none at all.  Of course, any knowledgeable horse person can recognize how beautiful Dante is, but the general public doesn't know any better and they go all ga-ga over Trifecta.

On one of the warmer days that we had, I decided to lead Tri down to the river.  Ellen stayed up at the barn so she could ride Dante without Trifecta distracting him.  (One of my most difficult challenges with the little guy is keeping him away from the other horses--particularly his best friend, Dante.)  

My biggest problem with Trifecta is that he gets just so very excited about going down the trail.  He just loves it so much.  He walks fast, his head is up--looking all around and he is so fascinated about everything.  All of our horses seem to like to go down the trail, but Trifecta takes it to a whole new level.  After a break of many months, I wasn't sure of what to expect from him.  I remember that last spring, he was pretty bad the first few trips.

He marched down the driveway with much enthusiasm, as always.  My goal was to try to make it as calm an experience as I could.  We stopped at the end of the driveway and waited for a few cars to pass to review traffic, but there weren't any.  After a minute of standing we proceeded down the street.  We only made it a couple of driveways when I saw a car approaching from the front.  I decided to stop him in that driveway so we could watch.  As it passed, I heard a car coming from behind, so we just stayed put.  Once that one passed, I asked him to walk, and he jumped up into the air with glee.  We call it "The Lambert Leap."  Dante, the full Lambert Morgan, does it all the time on his transitions when he is excited.  Trifecta is only half Lambert, so it only happens half the time.  

After that one expression of his emotions, he then walked steadily to the trail, so I clicked and treated him.  That is one of the great things about having a clicker trained horse.  Once you get the behavior you want, you can easily show your horse that that is the best behavior.  The hard part is getting the right behavior to start with.  Ellen and I have taught our horses the command to put their head down and walk forward on a lead rope and in the saddle.  (It backfired with Cole when he morphed the command into doing his silly walk, but it still does settle him down.)

Once we got to the trail, I worked on head down, walk and whoa.  We stopped a lot just so Tri could look around.  Without all the leaves off the trees, he could see everything, such as the traffic and people on the other side of the river and all the birds and squirrels.  I clicked him for his stops and for walking like a gentleman.  Sometimes he got a bit too fast, but he did remember our big training success from last year, "control."

For a long time, he had a very hard time just walking down the 2 very steep sections of the hill.  He would rush down, out of control.  Ellen, who was usually walking next to me, had the idea to use hand signals showing slow, careful steps and saying the word, "control."  After he started to understand that, I would ride down the slopes without her and just say the word, and after a while it worked.  He learned to control his feet down the slopes instead of letting gravity take over.  I am pleased to say, he did very well on the slopes with his control command.  To make it easier for him to succeed, I did stop him and re-start 3 times on the first slope and twice on the second to break any momentum he may have been building up.

Once we got to the bottom of the hill, I just let him stand for the longest time to look at things and settle down.  

He has always done better going back up the hill than going down the hill, so I knew the biggest challenges were over when we turned around to go home.  A few times he walked too fast for me to keep up and a couple times he tried a slow trot.  I stopped him a lot to let me catch up, catch my breath and to encourage him to settle down.  The trip up was very uneventful, and for that matter, so was the trip down.  I just took my time and rewarded him with clicks for doing the right thing.  When we got to the street, I let him stand for a while to watch traffic.  There was a truck with a small trailer that had some odd machine on it that caused him to take a couple uneasy steps, but he settled down right away after it, and that is important.  There were no cars on our walk back to the barn, and he went steadily with his head at a normal level--and of course he got some clicks for it.

Whenever we do something new or review something old like this, I do do a lot of clicking and treating, but I fade it off and replace it with verbal praise and neck rubs--with intermittent clicks and clicks when he does super great.  I find clicker training to be the best way to communicate to him when he is doing what I want.  The hard part is often just getting that first correct behavior, and with Trifecta, it is often overruled by his general enthusiasm.

But he is a good horse, and when I can bring that good horse out, he is a real joy to ride.  Trifecta has the potential to become an outstanding trail horse.  Time will tell...

Everything

Everything

It has been a very long, cold and snowy winter.  It started way back in November this year.  The river froze early and stayed that way for months.  When it finally thawed, it washed up a huge pile of ice blocks on our trail that leads to our river crossing; making it impossible to cross.  It took weeks for it to melt.  When it finally did, Kevin and I planned our first trail ride--only to find that the hurricane force winds we had the day before knocked 3 trees down across the trail on the hill leading to the river.  

A few days later, on St Patrick's Day, my sister and I met at the barn for our morning ride.  We decided to ride in the indoor arena since it was very cold.  I had Cole saddled up first, and I brought him into the arena, while Ellen was finishing up saddling Dante in his stall.  I ride English, so I was running down my stirrups when I heard an enormous bang.  My first instinct was to grab Cole's reins.  He is a great horse that doesn't need to be held while I mess around with the saddle, but this was too much for even him.

He handled it well--just pranced in a circle around me and stopped and listened.  It was so loud that the walls shook.  Ellen rushed into the arena and asked me what the noise was.  I told her I didn't know, but it was still going on.  The first big was followed by a series of smaller bangs that faded off after probably 30 seconds.

We were both perplexed.  Ellen went outside and looked around but saw nothing.  We decided to ride--hoping that whatever it was wouldn't repeat itself.  I wondered if it was an airplane exploding since we are right in the flight path and very close to the airport, but in just a few minutes we could hear the planes going overhead.  Than we thought it could have been an earthquake since the barn was shaking, but would an earthquake make such a loud noise?

I asked her what Dante did, and she said, "Nothing."  While it was going on, I didn't think to look and see how the other horses in the stalls alongside the perimeter of arena were doing.  Cole settled down so quickly, himself, that I wondered it this had happened before.

We had a nice ride.  When it was over, Ellen got a text from her boyfriend saying that it was a meteorite.  Later reports said that it was a 7 ton asteroid that crashed into our atmosphere at 45 mph and broke into pieces.  It unleashed the energy of 250 tons of TNT.  We weren't far at all from its path, so we got the full force of the sound.  I wish we could have seen it, too.  They say it was a once in a lifetime event, so no, the horses never experienced it before.  Maybe they handled it so well because, like us, they just didn't understand it.  Or maybe they are just good horses.

The whole thing was quite a cool event.

Over the years, Ellen and I have experienced so many crazy things.  There have been countless trees that have fallen close to us--one right next to us.  We have both experience car crashes by the trail, too.  People have brought strange things on the trails.  Canoes and kayaks in the river really confuse the horses.  We've been attacked by geese.  All sorts of things.  Well now, we can say that we have experienced everything.  

Trifecta and Dante Out in the Snow

 

All horses doing well.  We hate the weather--snow storms and extreme cold--but we still trudge out to the barn to take care of them and ride then inside on most days.  Hurry up spring

November Ride

November Ride

Each season presents different sorts of challenges on our rides.  Last month, the problem was with acorns.  It seems it was a bumper year for them, and it was dangerous to go out on a windy day.  I, alone, got hit 3 times this year; once in the hand, once on the leg and once on my head.  The helmet was very helpful... There was one time when I was waiting downs the trail for Ellen to catch up, and it was literally raining acorns everywhere.  (That was the time I got hit in the hand.)  There were several times when each of our horses jumped unexpectedly for no apparent reason, and then immediately calmed right down.  We blamed it on them getting hit with acorns.

In November, our challenge is the leaf blowers.  The park seems to be obsessed with blowing the leaves off the street and the paved bike paths.  These are not your everyday leaf blowers.  These are riding mowers with leaf blower attachments.  They are very loud and annoying.  Most of the time, the horses don't care, but now and then they are blowing in a spot that complicates our ride.  One day, we were on a hill looking down towards the street.  We didn't want to go down it until blower passed us because we needed to cross the street and we didn't want the horses to get worried about it.  The park worker decided that he wouldn't just travel down the street, but he would pick a section and go back and forth like a lawn mower.  We were trapped on the hill for a while because we had no idea where he was going next.

The other morning, Ellen and I were on a ride with Dante and Cole.  Instead of crossing the river, we went across on the river ford.  When we got back on the trail, here came a leaf blower; also across the ford.  We were glad we were up ahead of him this time and not trapped in any way.  We rode to the end of our trail, turned around and headed back home.  The blower caught up with us and passed us.  Through the trees, we could just see the blower--and of course we could hear it.  The horses were fine, and we were happy we dodged that bullet.

As we continued down the trail, we saw another leaf blower coming across the ford.  Such luck--two in a row.  We had a great view of it because we were, once again, on a hill looking down at the street.  The blower crossed the ford to our side--and then decided to go back and forth on the grass to make sure that not one leaf was left.  Ellen normally leads across the ford because she is more comfortable with leading.  I was riding.  We had to cross the street between the leaf blower and the ford.  I knew that Cole wasn't bothered at all by the noise and the activity.  Dante has had so much leaf blower exposure, I felt he would be fine, too.  The question was--how would Ellen feel.

Anyone who has been reading my writings over the years knows that Ellen has a lot of anxieties. She tends to take little problems and blow them all out of proportion.  It is called "reality distortion."  She has a hard time evaluating the situation because her brain gets in the way with all the "what ifs."  A river that is up to our horses' knees appears belly deep to her.  It takes a lot of courage for her to tackle things that the rest of us don't worry about.  She really is the bravest person I know.

I didn't know what she was going to do.  She was in the lead, and much to my amazement, she just marched right across the street and walked Dante to the ford.  

Before I could step on the road, and car suddenly appeared coming around the corner.  There was no way I could cross and catch up with Dante.  We couldn't figure out where the car came from.  The driver did see the situation, and he stopped and let me cross the street.  I gave him a big smile and waved a thank you, and he drove off.  We were still on the street when a police car came around the corner with his lights on.  I just started to mumble, "No siren, no siren."  There was no siren--at least for about 30 seconds.  Evidently, he stopped the driver that just passed us.  We think that he appeared so suddenly when we were crossing because he was speeding.  

Finally, we got across the ford, and I had a chance to talk to Ellen about her bravery.  I asked her how she did it.  She said that she didn't listen to the "what ifs."  Instead, she looked at Dante, and he seemed calm.  She knew he would be all right and so she just marched along with him.  Ellen used her keen powers of observation--and interpreted the world as it really was--not distorted.  I was so proud of her--she was terrific.

December's big challenge is typically the weather--as well as January and February.  At least there won't be any leaf blowers.

How We Worked Out Our Hill Problems

How We Worked Out Our Hill Problems

If you have been reading about Trifecta's trail adventures from the beginning, you will know that he has had problems controlling his speed going downhill for a long time.  I don't think this is an uncommon problem with young horses at all.  That is, unless they lived in the mountains of West Virginia like Dante.  Cruiser and Cole had no control over their feet going down hills, and I was able to teach them how to do it in just one session by going up and down the hill over and over until they slowed down.  I did it with Cruiser in the saddle, and I did it with Cole on foot.  After just one session, I only had to fine tune their training.  

That didn't work with Trifecta.  He would rush down the hill, we would turn around and do it again once or twice and he would seem fine.  The next time--he would be back to rushing again.  Sometimes he would do well for one or two times--and then he would revert again.  This went on over so many rides.  He just didn't seem to be able to consistently control his hindquarters.

It helped if I stopped him when he got too fast so he could get himself together before proceeding.  Sometimes I had to stop him multiple times to make it down a short slope.

In the early days, he had trouble going uphill, too.  He would put his head way up into the air and with great no coordination, rush up.  Ellen solved this problem for me.  Most people with clicker trained horses teach their horse to lower his head on command by pointing down.  It is one of the easiest things to do.  I also taught Trifecta to lower his head when I was in the saddle by jiggling the rein.  Ellen recognized that Trifecta's problem was that he wasn't using his head correctly.  While we were going up a steep slope, she walked beside him, bent over and pointed to the ground to encourage him to lower his head--it worked like magic.  The very first time, he discovered it was easier to walk up the hill if his head was lowered and he used it like a fulcrum.  That became his verbal command.  "Fulcrum."  I never had any more problems going up hills after that.  We just "fulcrum" up.

The down hill problems persisted.  I am so glad that Ellen has spent a lot of time walking with us on our rides because she figured out how to explain to Trifecta how to go down hills.  We started to realize how much he was paying attention to the way that she was moving.  Ellen showed him what we wanted.  We decided on the command, "control," because he needed to get control of his body.  We have 2 short, steep slopes we have to go down to get to the first river crossing.  Ellen tried shifting her weight back, deliberately placing her feet and making hand motions to simulate his front feet.  My job was to lightly squeeze alternating reins as he stepped down.  I didn't think that that would help him--I was doing that to teach him a cue from the saddle.  

As we would go down the slopes, she would say "control" and use her body language.  He would watch her--and then he started to match her steps.  I couldn't believe it when it seemed to work.  This wasn't the instant cure like "fulcrum," but it was helping.  It didn't take long before he started to watch her hands whenever we needed controlled walking--such as going down the steep river bank--another thing I had been struggling with.

Lately, she has intentionally left me alone to go down the slopes.  I say "control" and give him his rein cues, and it has been nothing short of amazing to me.  When he is really good, I will give him a click/treat to let him know, but I don't do it all the time, and he doesn't seem to care.  I think this is another instance of us showing him how to do something easier--and he likes it better.

Back to Trifecta's ability to follow hand signals; we had one other extraordinary incident.  A few weeks ago, we had some much needed rain, river bank was muddy.  If we ride the horses way on the left side of the trail, the mud isn't so bad.  There is a lot of mud if you ride down the center of the trail.  If we go way to the right--it is horrible.  That morning, Trifecta saw all the mud and decided he would try going on the right side since it didn't look as muddy as it actually is.  When I realized what he was going to try to do, I stopped him and tried to guide him to the far left--but we would have to cross the muddy center.  I called to Ellen.  She came over, talked to Tri to get his attention, walked to the far left, stooped over and with both hands pointed exactly where she wanted to go.  Wouldn't you know that he immediately marched across the bad mud to the spot she pointed where the mud wasn't as bad and then marched down to the river.  I was simply shocked.  This wasn't something we trained for--he just deduced what we wanted him to do.

Sometimes we just need to think outside the box when we train horses.  With Trifecta, it is a common occurrence.  

A Most Wonderful Ride

A Most Wonderful Ride

I rode Trifecta out with Kevin and Starry--something we have only done a couple times before.  Ellen planned to join us on foot, but we decided the river would be way too cold for her to cross.  She said she would drive down to the park and meet us on the other side of the river.  Just in case there might be a problem, she would wear her old shoes so she could cross and help us out.

There was one thing that Kevin and I were a little worried about.  With the last rain, a large log was washed up on the shore right where we cross.  When I rode Trifecta down the hill the day before, he saw it and got very worried about it.  I didn't take him down the river bank to see it, since I didn't plan to cross, but I allowed him to stare at it for a couple of minutes.  He doesn't get worried about many things, so I took his concerns seriously.  Kevin was a bit worried how Starry would do, too.  His vision doesn't seem as good as it used to be, and sometimes he thinks the most normal things are a threat.  That is why I was really glad Ellen would be on the other side of the river.

Leading down the street, mounting and riding down the hill went so awesome that I thought someone switched my horse with a much older, more experienced one.  Trifecta led the way down, which always makes Starry a happy horse, because he just doesn't like to be a leader. 

When I made the turn to go down the river bank, Trifecta immediately saw the log and his head went way up in the air.  Before he could act out, Ellen started calling him on the other side of the river.  He was so happy that she was there that he hurried down the river bank to the edge of the water--then he noticed the log again.  His head went up, and his eyes got big.  I told him to go walk up to it and take a look.  He was torn between curiosity and caution, but he got close enough that if he really stretched his neck he could touch it.  I told him to try, so he did.  When he touched it and realized it was just a piece of wood, he immediately, and I mean immediately, decided it wasn't worth one more moment of his time.  Instead, he turned and looked across the river.  By now, Starry was also by the river and was unconcerned by the log.  Trifecta focused on Ellen and decided crossing would be the most fun thing to do.

He did get a click for stepping into the water.  He then crossed like a gentleman, walked up the river bank and turned to the right.  Now, this is really big because on the last few rides, he has been fighting me about wanting to go to the left--refusing to follow Ellen or the other horses.  I clicked him for it and gave him his treat.  When I restarted him, he tried to spin to the left.  

I have been experimenting up at the barn with how to thwart this behavior.  Even up there, he had been getting stubborn, trying to explore areas where I didn't want him--and then things would spiral out of control.  All the big trainers suggested keeping him moving to control his feet to deter him from wanting to go the places I didn't want him to go.  That did work when he would enter the indoor arena when I wanted to ride past the door, but it didn't seem to help anywhere else.  On the trail, our disagreements involved him wanting to go on little trails that lead to the river or out to the street.  His worst spot--and the spot where the whole habit began was at Willow Bend.  I went through a couple weeks of extreme frustration.  

With a lot of thought and observations, I decided he either enjoyed the conflict or felt that it was what I wanted.  I decided to try something new--I would stop.  It seems counter intuitive to stop him--because stopping can also be misinterpreted as a reward--but keeping him moving just kept things getting worse and worse.  I just had to make sure I stopped him when we were facing the direction that I wanted to go.

The first time I tried this at the barn, he was trying to go down the driveway that goes behind the barn instead of staying on the track.  I forced him into a turn and stopped him so he was facing the track.  We stood for about a minute, I asked him to walk and he did--right back on the track.  This didn't solve all my problems; we still had a lot of work to do, but now at least I had something that had a chance of working.  We practiced it a lot up at the barn.

So when we went up the river bank, stopped for a click/treat and he tried to go to the left--I circled him around to face the right, stopped him for a few moments and asked him to walk where I wanted him to--and he did!!!  The plan worked even out on the trail.  

We headed out on our ride.  Trifecta was leading with Ellen walking alongside us.  He was really behaving well.  When we got to those little trails that were giving us problems, I could feel him bending to go down them.  I just bent him the other way--a thing I was working on with him in the arena for the last few weeks for just this reason, (shoulder-in) and it worked.

The next big test was Willow Bend.  There I had to turn him to the right and go down a short slope at the same time.  Ellen walked with us on the left side to discourage him from wanting to go straight instead of turning.  I felt him bend--and down we went!  This is the first time I have been able to get him down the slope without even a little resistance--and usually a lot of resistance.  He got a click for that, too.

I told Ellen that I thought I would trot a little.  Since Kevin was planning to just walk, she said she would fade off and walk with Kevin.  Trifecta marched on down the trail, but he didn't seem too keen on trotting.  I had him walk a ways so we could get around a bend and no longer see Ellen and Starry.  I then asked him to trot, which he reluctantly did.  I kept him going until I could feel him moving in a more forward manner and clicked him.  When I asked him to trot again, he went more willingly and much faster.  After a while, we stopped and just walked.  

The park had been working on the pedestrian bridge earlier, but it seemed like they were done so I was going to ride until we reached the next river crossing--our usual turning spot.  We were nearly there when I started hearing pounding and electric saws.  That really disturbed the little guy, so we just stood to allow him to listen for a few minutes.  As I started to turn him to go back towards home, he tried to zoom forward.  I made him stop and stand and then tried again.  This time, he was a little better, but still wanted to rush.  I don't know if it was because of the construction noise or because he wanted to get back to his buddies--who were now approaching.  We managed to work through everything, catch up with them and then headed on home.

He was walking much faster, so we practiced stopping and waiting for Starry to catch up a lot.  It is a good lesson to learn; patience.  At the river crossing, we left Ellen, who I am certain was happy that she didn't have to cross the ice cold water.

I decided to try letting Starry go first up the hill.  Immediately, Trifecta wanted to walk up to him and start playing.  This became the biggest challenge of the ride.  I just wouldn't let Tri get close enough to Starry to harass him.  After a few minutes, Trifecta settle down and followed behind Starry at a safe distance.  About halfway up the hill, we practiced stopping and waiting for Starry to get further ahead--the reverse of stopping and waiting for him to catch up.  It is funny how the exact same exercise is emotionally completely different depending on where you do it.  We were about 2 thirds up the hill when Kevin was able to stop Starry and Trifecta peacefully passed him--the final test--and he passed.

Overall, I was very pleased with the ride.  Of course, it wasn't perfect, but I saw improvements and we both had fun.  I can't wait to do it again.

Fairy Floss Update

 Fairy Floss Update

I have had Fairy Floss for more than a year now, and she went from a special needs cat that I wanted to help in tribute to my previous cat, Thunder, to being my best little pal.

As you may recall, I adopted her from the Cleveland Animal Protective League because nobody wanted her.  She has skin allergies that were hard to control.  She was at the APL for 6 months, except for a short time she was out for adoption and was returned because of her allergies.

I was able to manage them fairly well through last fall and winter, but they flared up in the spring, so we were back to the vet.  We did some experimentation with bathing, worming and medicines before the vet figured out where most of the problem was stemming from.  A blood test showed that she was allergic to a number of things but most allergic to yeast--and she was getting yeast infections in her ears.  Now, I treat her ears once a month and flush them out twice a week.  She is still itchier than the average cat, but she is so much better and doesn't need any other sort of treatment.  The hair is growing back on her belly!

Then there was the incident with her torn ligaments in June.  Most of the problem was caused by her getting tangled up in my legs, but some of it might have stemmed from all the steroids she had been on to treat her allergies.  Steroids can cause ligaments to weaken--which I am positive contributed to Cruiser's torn suspensory after we treated him for a few months with steroids for that awful cough he had.  Anyway, the operation was a success.  I did everything the vet said, and she healed quickly, but she still had a little limp.  The vet felt she may never have full extension of the leg after the operation.

Once she was cleared to have regular activity, I set up a physical therapy box for her.  It is a long, low box with three poles to step over in it.  So, she has to step over the side of the box, step over each pole and step out of the box.  If that wasn't enough, I put a small box outside each end of the physical therapy box for her to step up onto each time.

You may wonder how I got Fairy Floss to participate in her physical therapy sessions--with clicker training, of course.  She was a clicker cat before that accident ever happened.  I had her jumping over jumps and through a hoop, climbing up boxes and spinning.  It took no time at all to teach her a physical therapy routine.  She just loves it.  She would go through it 12 to 15 times a session.  

Wouldn't you know it--my instincts were right.  She no longer limps; even at a trot.  

The silver lining to the dark cloud of the accident was that the x-rays showed that Fairy Floss has severe arthritis in her hips.  I am now treating that, too.  She can run faster than ever!

She has become extremely attached to me and follows me all over the house, sleeps with me at night and loves to cuddle.  The only way I could have a better cat was to get Thunder back--she is that great.  She lost her home because her previous owners got a baby and she became depressed and quit using her litter box--a terrible thing to happen to a cat.  I am so happy I was able to give her a happy ending to her sad story--and she did the same for me.

I am so glad to adopted special needs cat.  

A Blog-Free Ride

A Blog-Free Ride

If you are looking for some exciting reading here, you can just give up on it.  There is nothing to write here, and I am so happy about it.

We decided to take Trifecta on a ride in the "other" direction.  Yes, when he crossed the river, we planned to go to the left instead of the right.  Going to the right is a much easier ride.  It is also prettier and has better places to trot.  Another advantage is that you can go further without having to cross the river a second time.  For all these reasons, we ride to the right more often then we ride to the left with all the horses.

I have only ridden Trifecta to the left once and that was about a month ago.  It wasn't the greatest ride.  He did well until we were going down the hill that leads to the second river crossing.  We were partially down when someone came galloping up the hill at top speed towards us.  I didn't know how Trifecta would handle that, but he managed to do it with much composure.  The rider struggled to stop before reaching us, but she did stop in time.  She warned us that there was a man on a horse that was going to be coming up right after her, so we were braced for it.  A minute later, we could see him down by the river.  We yelled down to him to not run his horse, and he struggled to keep him at a walk in vain.  Finally, he jumped off his horse and led him up the hill.  We thanked the rider for his consideration, and we proceeded down to the river.

I have no problems running up hills, but I will only do it when I know I will be able to stop my horse.  Also, I make sure my horses understand that we will only run up a hill when it is my idea.  They must know how to walk up a hill before I will ever let them run up it.  Some horses just love to do it too much--and there might be someone with a green horse coming down the hill...

That morning, Ellen and I were a little shaken up after that experience.  When we got down to the river, we discovered the bank was very muddy and the weeds were very high on both sides, making the river bank very narrow.  I asked Trifecta to go down it, and he was hesitant about the mud.  When he got to the bottom, he skirted along the narrow edge of the bank--doing everything in his power to avoid stepping into the river.  I wasn't going to make a big fuss about it--as I didn't plan to cross that day, anyway, but Boy did I struggle trying to get him to turn around to go back up.  After that, we just went back home.

Now, for our second trip on this trail.  Ellen was joining me on foot once again.  As we were leading down the driveway, Simon, our lovely barn cat friend, jumped out of the bushes to greet us.  He then wanted to follow us down the driveway, so Ellen picked him up to bring him back to the barn.  I decided to just go on without her and let her catch up with me.  

I led Trifecta down the driveway and down the street with no incident.  I mounted Trifecta from the ground, asked him to go forward and away we went.  As we got to the first slope, I looked back and saw that Ellen had caught up with us, but she was staying back so I could do everything on my own.  He was perfect all the way down the hill until we got to the river bank.  It was very muddy from some recent rain, and he decided he would go around the mud by going to the right.  Now, I know from experience that it is extremely muddy in the direction he wanted to go.  The best way to go is all the way to the left side of the bank.  I was struggling with him.  Ellen saw and called to him and clearly pointed to where we wanted him to go.  Not for the first time, Trifecta followed her hand directions and corrected his course.  I have never known a horse to be so in tune to his people.

He was a little slow to step into the water, but he has been lately.  When he did go in the water, he walked right across without any fussing this time.  He got clicks and treats for doing so well.

Trifecta was very excited when we turned to the left after crossing the river and marched down the trail; looking everywhere.  After a short distance, we have to cross the street.  There was no traffic, so we went straight across.  On the other side of the street, there is a short but very steep hill to go up.  He marched up the hill in perfect form.  At the top, we stopped so he and Ellen could catch their breath.  We walked across the top and headed down the other side.  This is where we had the problem with the running horse.  This time, the trail was clear so we rode right down to the river.  I didn't plan to cross it, but I wanted to see if he would step in it this time.  The path was still very narrow, and the bank was muddy, but he went straight down, paused at the water and stepped right in!  Hurray!  He got a click and a treat.  I asked him to take a few more steps, which he did willingly and he was clicked again.  I slowly and carefully turned him around in the water, and we walked up the muddy bank and headed up the hill.

Partially up the hill there is another trail that just goes out to the street that we like to take just to get a little longer ride.  Trifecta had never been on it, before, so we gave it a try.  We weren't that far along when a group of about 10 runners came flying down the trail towards us.  We asked them to stop and walk past, and they did--warning us that there were a lot more coming.  No sooner did they say that when we saw another group--and then another.  Trifecta was perfect for all the runners.

We got to the end of the trail, turned around and headed back towards home.  Our next big challenge was riding down the short, steep slope that leads to the road crossing.  He has struggled from day one with going down steep slopes, but recently he has learned how to control his feet.  This would be a huge test for him.  He was amazingly perfect.  We crossed the street and went to our first river crossing.  There he went right down the river bank and crossed like a dream.  We rode home with no incidents.  Trifecta was nearly perfect on a challenging ride.  All the pieces are starting to fall into place...

I am still smiling...

More Group Rides

More Group Rides

Our next opportunity to take Trifecta with another horse came about a week later.  This time, we chose to take him with Cole.  Ellen loves spending time with Cole, so she was all for the idea.

Cole hasn't spent much time with Trifecta, so Tri was very curious about him.  Once again, I had to continually remind Trifecta to not crowd Cole.  It wasn't so bad at a walk, but when we tried to trot together, Trifecta kept trying to rush up behind Cole.  We practiced it in short spurts, and he did start to improve.  Finally, we tried trotting with Trifecta in the lead.  That worked so much better.  We did see some people we knew but only stopped for a minute to say, "Hello," and then headed on our way.  Ellen stopped and talked to them for a few minutes and left us to go on our own.  Trifecta didn't mind leaving Cole at all.  All was going well when we suddenly heard hoof beats rapidly approaching--Cole was catching up; and he was catching up fast.  I stopped and turned Tri to watch, and Ellen stopped Cole at a safe distance.  I was glad Trifecta handled it with such maturity.

We walked all the way home with no incident except for Trifecta trying to rush up the river bank to catch up with Cole, again.  This time wasn't as bad, but it did show us that Trifecta was bothered when the fellow horses went out of sight.

The next week, we tried a ride with Dante.  Dante added a complication--he walks too slow for Trifecta.  Tri was also more determined to crowd him than he was with Cole--since they are best buddies.  Trotting was trickier for the same reason.  Don't get me wrong--there were some wonderful moments, but we had to work for them.  

The most difficult thing he did on that ride was when we crossed the river to go home.  Because of his rushing, we had him go first.  He didn't want to go down the bank.  Once we did, he went right into the water and started crossing fine.  About halfway across, he changed his trajectory to go downstream.  I had a tough time straightening him out, and when I finally got him to the other side, he tried to circle and go back into the water.  I made him stand while Ellen crossed, and we followed them up the bank.

I was totally confused by the behavior, and then it dawned on my in a frightening way--I think he wanted to explore the large hornet's nest that is hanging off a tree branch in the center of the river--about horse height!  Not a good idea!

On the next ride, we went back to Cole.  Trifecta was better with Cole this time than he was the first time, but we still had our frustrations.  When we crossed the river on the way out, Trifecta wanted to go to the left on the trail, and we wanted to go to the right.  That involved a lot of small circles and frustration.  He was also worse about going around the corner at Willow Bend.  That has been an issue all along, but instead of getting better, it has been getting worse.  I have a plan for that for the next ride.

Once again, he didn't want to go down the river bank to go home.  Instead, he wanted to go down the trail in the direction we didn't want him to go when we crossed the river on the way out--more small circles and more frustration.  There were a couple friends on their horses on the other side of the river waiting for us to cross.  Once I got him in the water, he did fine until we were halfway across again.  I wouldn't let him drift downstream to visit the hornet's nest, so he decided he was just going to stop in the water and wait for me to change my mind.  Nothing would get him going.  Ellen then yelled over to our friends to say something.  When he heard their voices, he got curious and decided to go over to see them.  

The problems I have with him are so odd.  He barely spooks and when he does, the spooks are small.  I certainly understand his fascination with other horses--no is a very friendly fellow.  I know those things will work out in time.  Our biggest disagreements are about which direction we should go, and he is very adamant about it.  Even being able to follow another horse doesn't seem to help.  My gut feeling is that he is curious and wants to explore new areas.  At Willow Bend, there is a short trail that leads out to the street--which he really, really wants to go down instead of the bridle path.  I know that one day I will laugh at all this, but right now, it frustrates me.

We have continued to work in the arena, and he is doing better and better all the time--except when he wants to go one way, and I want to go in another...I am sure it is all connected...

First Group Ride

First Group Ride

Other than one ride on the hill where Ellen rode Dante with Trifecta and me, she has been accompanying us on foot.  He has been doing so well, that we decided it was time for Mission Chestnut.  We were going to take the chestnuts on a real trail ride together for the first time.

We chose a weekday morning when the park would be the quietest.  Well, we always are riding on weekday mornings, but this time, Cole would have to wait until later for his ride.  We led the horses to the mounting block at the trail head and saw an old friend, Chris, on her horse, Gus, coming towards us.  She said there were vehicle tracks on the hill and voices at the bottom, so she didn't feel comfortable riding by herself and was going back to her barn.  I invited her to join us.  If they were doing trail maintenance, it would be a short ride, but if not--it was too pretty of a morning to not go on a trail ride.

We mounted and headed on down the hill.  Trifecta was transfixed with Gus, and he kept trying to get close to him.  I, in turn, kept asking him with my leg to move away from Gus.  We got to practice this move many times over the ride, and he got more and more sensitive to my leg--what a wonderful lesson.  He learned to not crowd other horses and to respond to lighter leg pressure.  I am sure it will transfer to other situations.

We didn't get far down the hill at all when we saw the park's Cushman tooling up the trail.  We told Chris to not worry--they would stop as soon as they saw us--and they did.  The park maintenance people are always very considerate to horseback riders.  I can't say enough about them.  They completely stopped their vehicle, and the horses, including little Trifecta, marched right by.  Now we knew that the trail ride was on because they were just driving through to inspect the trails.  

When we got down to the river, Gus stepped in to take a drink.  Trifecta did the same, but he decided he wasn't thirsty and got tired of waiting for Gus, so he crossed.  That is great because lately he has been oddly sticky at the river.  He wants to wander upstream and downstream instead of going across.  The other horses followed, and away we went.

I warned Chris that she just might end up in a blog--hoping that it would be a good one.  Gus took the lead.  Though he is a gaited horse, he walks at a normal speed.  Trifecta followed, and Dante took up the rear.  Trifecta wanted to be with Gus, but then he would change his mind and refuse to go forward because he wanted to follow Dante.  I just couldn't get him to go--so I brought him behind Dante--then he wanted to be with Gus again.  This happened a few times--the worst time was at the Willow Bend spot where we have struggled with for quite a few rides.  He refused to go down the rocky slope until he saw Dante head down--then he marched right after him--then past him--then past Gus.  He was going to be the leader.  

The Cushman showed up again--since they were inspecting this trail, too.  Of course, they stopped the vehicle to let us go by.  Trifecta barely even glanced at them.  Ellen stopped and told them about a different river crossing where the weeds were very tall and encroaching the trail--making it very narrow.  They said they would take a look at it.  There are a lot of disadvantages to riding in a very suburban park that is close to traffic and filled with a lot of park users--but there are advantages, too.  The trails are maintained and the park staff is very responsive to clearing trees that are blocking the trails and such.

Trifecta marched in the lead until we got to the next river crossing.  He wanted to go play in the water--which we have been doing the last few rides, though we haven't crossed, yet.  We had a little fight to get him to turn around.  At that point, Gus took the lead again, and we headed home.  By this time, Trifecta was happy to follow Gus at an acceptable distance, and we didn't have any trouble until we got back to the river.  Gus and Dante got across and up the bank before Trifecta even got in the water because he was fussing around at the bank.  He crossed the river faster than he has been because the other horses were no longer in sight.  The next thing he did--which Ellen and I both expected--was try to run up the bank to find the other horses--typical baby horse.  I held him back, and he didn't go any faster than a trot--and was walking by the time he got to the top.  There he found the other horses and settled right down.

The rest of the way home was uneventful--just the way I like it.

It was a very successful first group ride, and I am sure they will only get better after this.  

Thanks for the pictures, Chris!