Friday, May 25, 2012
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Starry and My Niece
Starry and My Niece
My boyfriend, Kevin, was helping my brother pick up my older niece from college. That left me with Starry and no one to help with my barn chores. My younger niece enthusiastically agreed to come out and take Starry on a ride and do the watering when we were done.
Suddenly, Kevin became nervous. I shouldn’t have told him we were going to canter. My niece hasn’t had a whole lot of experience cantering, and looks like she won’t for a while. We aren’t cantering Cruiser in groups, anymore, and when she comes out to ride with Ellen and me, we take Cruiser. So, this was our big opportunity.
Kevin thought maybe she should ride Ranger instead of Starry. I assured him she would be fine on Starry. He still worried. Maybe it was because he was spending the day with her father. He insisted that Starry be in the lead on the canter so the ride would be slower. I agreed to it. He kept stressing that we had to be careful.
Well, we intended to follow Kevin’s instructions. We really tried, but it didn’t work. When we wanted to canter, Starry wasn’t sure what my niece wanted. She was having trouble sitting his boingy trot in order to ask him to canter. There was only one thing I could do—I had to take the lead. Since Cole likes to go fast, he would lure Starry into the canter
The first time we tried, I kept looking back to see them trotting. When we stopped, she told me she did get a couple strides of the canter. We tried it again. I kept looking back to see them still trotting. When she caught up with us at the end of the trail where we planned to turn around to go home, she said she got a few more strides that time. we walked home a ways, and then I suggested turning back around and trying one more time. Cole liked the idea and he went really fast. Towards the end, I brought him to a trot and looked back. Starry was trotting, too. I was disappointed. We were losing our one big opportunity. When my niece caught up with me, she had a big smile on her face. They had cantered the whole way right before I glanced back. We had success. She had a great canter experience.
My boyfriend, Kevin, was helping my brother pick up my older niece from college. That left me with Starry and no one to help with my barn chores. My younger niece enthusiastically agreed to come out and take Starry on a ride and do the watering when we were done.
Suddenly, Kevin became nervous. I shouldn’t have told him we were going to canter. My niece hasn’t had a whole lot of experience cantering, and looks like she won’t for a while. We aren’t cantering Cruiser in groups, anymore, and when she comes out to ride with Ellen and me, we take Cruiser. So, this was our big opportunity.
Kevin thought maybe she should ride Ranger instead of Starry. I assured him she would be fine on Starry. He still worried. Maybe it was because he was spending the day with her father. He insisted that Starry be in the lead on the canter so the ride would be slower. I agreed to it. He kept stressing that we had to be careful.
Well, we intended to follow Kevin’s instructions. We really tried, but it didn’t work. When we wanted to canter, Starry wasn’t sure what my niece wanted. She was having trouble sitting his boingy trot in order to ask him to canter. There was only one thing I could do—I had to take the lead. Since Cole likes to go fast, he would lure Starry into the canter
The first time we tried, I kept looking back to see them trotting. When we stopped, she told me she did get a couple strides of the canter. We tried it again. I kept looking back to see them still trotting. When she caught up with us at the end of the trail where we planned to turn around to go home, she said she got a few more strides that time. we walked home a ways, and then I suggested turning back around and trying one more time. Cole liked the idea and he went really fast. Towards the end, I brought him to a trot and looked back. Starry was trotting, too. I was disappointed. We were losing our one big opportunity. When my niece caught up with me, she had a big smile on her face. They had cantered the whole way right before I glanced back. We had success. She had a great canter experience.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Update on Evening Rides
Update on Evening Rides
Remember Cole Train—the horse who became a handful on evening rides? Well, things have improved immensely. All I had to do was just keep riding him on the trail in the evening. Our schedule has us out three nights a week. Each ride, he gets better. He has improved so much that I keep forgetting he used to be a problem.
One thing that happened that I didn’t expect—we have a companion on most rides. Kevin has been riding with us. We have found that our two horses get along beautifully. Cole Train slows down when he is with Starry, and Starry speeds up when he is with Cole. Kevin has learned how much more fun it is to go faster. He has even discovered cantering. Sure, he used to canter before, but now, he can go faster if he follows Cole. He is having great fun.
Consequently, I don’t ride Cole by myself often, anymore, but every now and then, Kevin can’t make it out, and we are on our own. Last night was one of those evenings.
When I ride alone, I do more training. My goal for the evening was the right lead. Cole’s automatic response when asked to canter on a straightaway is to use his left lead. Knowing that, I have been cueing his left lead with my right leg and saying the word “canter.” He is getting quite good at it. The other day, Ellen was riding him and inadvertently tapped him with her right leg—and he started to canter.
In an arena, to cue a particular lead, you bend him around a corner. There are corners on a trail, too. There is one very sharp right bend where I ride that is perfect for the job. I used to use it with Mingo to teach him the command for right lead. A couple days ago, when I was riding with Ellen, we did ask for a canter there, and he took the right lead. I wanted to see if it was a fluke or not.
When I got to the corner, I made sure his body was bent for it, tapped with the left heel (which I am sure he had no idea what that meant) and said the word. He was off like a rocket—on the right lead. To make sure, I pushed his long, fluffy mane to the side and saw his right leg was leading. It wasn’t a fluke. If I set him up for the right lead, he will take it. I am glad to report it is very much like the left lead. When I started riding Cruiser, years ago, there was a huge difference in the way the leads felt. His left lead was very coordinated and his right lead felt funny. I never had to visually check which lead he was on—it was so obvious. Cole Train is just a more balanced and coordinated horse than Cruiser was when he was young.
Cole is also much faster than Cruiser. I have been working on slowing him down with only minimal success. I guess some of it is the Kevin Syndrome. I find I like to go fast, too.
I stopped Cole right before we were going to go through some rocks. We walked over the rocks, and then he reminded me that we usually pick up the speed right there. I made him walk for a bit and clicked him for it. I decided since his memory is getting too good, that we should probably trot and not canter this section. He really wanted to canter, but I made him stay at a trot—so he did a very fast trot. (Don’t forget, this little guy is related to Dan Patch—one of the most famous Standardbreds of all time.)
When we got to the river, I turned around to head home. I really was disappointed that I didn’t get to canter there, so after a few minutes of walking, I turned Cole back around so we could. He did a lovely transition from a walk, and we cantered to the river.
We had some trouble stopping. Yes, Cole Train likes this cantering game. We walked towards home for a few minutes, like before, turned around and—instead of cantering--we trotted to the river. I don’t want the little guy to think that we will always canter there.
I could have gone back and forth there for the next hour and had a lot of fun while teaching him that he has to go the gait that I wanted and not the gait he wanted, but I had to get back to the barn. Cruiser was waiting. I took him on a quiet, relaxed ride to the same spot. Could it be that 20 years ago, I was teaching the same thing to Cruiser in the same spot? Where does the time go?
Remember Cole Train—the horse who became a handful on evening rides? Well, things have improved immensely. All I had to do was just keep riding him on the trail in the evening. Our schedule has us out three nights a week. Each ride, he gets better. He has improved so much that I keep forgetting he used to be a problem.
One thing that happened that I didn’t expect—we have a companion on most rides. Kevin has been riding with us. We have found that our two horses get along beautifully. Cole Train slows down when he is with Starry, and Starry speeds up when he is with Cole. Kevin has learned how much more fun it is to go faster. He has even discovered cantering. Sure, he used to canter before, but now, he can go faster if he follows Cole. He is having great fun.
Consequently, I don’t ride Cole by myself often, anymore, but every now and then, Kevin can’t make it out, and we are on our own. Last night was one of those evenings.
When I ride alone, I do more training. My goal for the evening was the right lead. Cole’s automatic response when asked to canter on a straightaway is to use his left lead. Knowing that, I have been cueing his left lead with my right leg and saying the word “canter.” He is getting quite good at it. The other day, Ellen was riding him and inadvertently tapped him with her right leg—and he started to canter.
In an arena, to cue a particular lead, you bend him around a corner. There are corners on a trail, too. There is one very sharp right bend where I ride that is perfect for the job. I used to use it with Mingo to teach him the command for right lead. A couple days ago, when I was riding with Ellen, we did ask for a canter there, and he took the right lead. I wanted to see if it was a fluke or not.
When I got to the corner, I made sure his body was bent for it, tapped with the left heel (which I am sure he had no idea what that meant) and said the word. He was off like a rocket—on the right lead. To make sure, I pushed his long, fluffy mane to the side and saw his right leg was leading. It wasn’t a fluke. If I set him up for the right lead, he will take it. I am glad to report it is very much like the left lead. When I started riding Cruiser, years ago, there was a huge difference in the way the leads felt. His left lead was very coordinated and his right lead felt funny. I never had to visually check which lead he was on—it was so obvious. Cole Train is just a more balanced and coordinated horse than Cruiser was when he was young.
Cole is also much faster than Cruiser. I have been working on slowing him down with only minimal success. I guess some of it is the Kevin Syndrome. I find I like to go fast, too.
I stopped Cole right before we were going to go through some rocks. We walked over the rocks, and then he reminded me that we usually pick up the speed right there. I made him walk for a bit and clicked him for it. I decided since his memory is getting too good, that we should probably trot and not canter this section. He really wanted to canter, but I made him stay at a trot—so he did a very fast trot. (Don’t forget, this little guy is related to Dan Patch—one of the most famous Standardbreds of all time.)
When we got to the river, I turned around to head home. I really was disappointed that I didn’t get to canter there, so after a few minutes of walking, I turned Cole back around so we could. He did a lovely transition from a walk, and we cantered to the river.
We had some trouble stopping. Yes, Cole Train likes this cantering game. We walked towards home for a few minutes, like before, turned around and—instead of cantering--we trotted to the river. I don’t want the little guy to think that we will always canter there.
I could have gone back and forth there for the next hour and had a lot of fun while teaching him that he has to go the gait that I wanted and not the gait he wanted, but I had to get back to the barn. Cruiser was waiting. I took him on a quiet, relaxed ride to the same spot. Could it be that 20 years ago, I was teaching the same thing to Cruiser in the same spot? Where does the time go?
Friday, May 18, 2012
Buying a Horse
Just for fun, I would like to share a link for a short story by William Dean Howells, one of my favorite writers. Well, I have a lot of them, but he is one. http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/23030 It is for the story “Buying a Horse” and it was written at a time when people bought horses to use for transportation. I really enjoyed reading it, so I thought some of you might, too. It even has a Morgan in it!
Monday, May 14, 2012
What a wonderful weekend to ride! The temperatures were wonderful, the sun was shining and the mosquitoes haven’t started yet. I took Cole on a short ride with my sister and boyfriend on Friday evening. The horses were great. I then took Cruiser on a short, fast ride, and we had fun.
Saturday, my younger niece came out to ride. She rode Ranger, my sister rode Cole and I rode Cruiser. We went on a nice and totally uneventful ride. That’s how we like them. We did a fair amount of trotting. Cruiser set the speed, which was fairly slow, so my sister and niece had it easy. We then brought her to Burger King for lunch to fuel her up so she could earn her keep. We took her to my house where she helped rorotill my garden, put up the electric fence and set up the hoses.
Sunday, my sister and I took Cole and Ranger out for a longer ride to the Brookpark Bridge. We did a lot of trotting and a bit of cantering. Ranger is supposed to lead during the canter. This is Ranger’s rule. Cole hasn’t figured out how to canter quite yet. He does more of a hand gallop. Once we get close to Ranger, and I ask him to slow down, no matter how gently I do it, he goes back to a trot. We will get is all figured out. He just needs practice. I then took Cruiser on a walking ride with my sister on foot to keep us company. He loves walking with her. I’m sure he likes her more than he likes me.
I got some of my garden planted, and then it was time to go hiking with my boyfriend. We went on the Canal to see the bald eagle nest. We saw both parents and the baby. Then we went a bit further up the trail to see the bridge that the anarchists tried to blow up a couple weeks ago. We are glad they were foiled.
I was exhausted after all this and could barely keep my eyes open long enough go through Thunder’s nightime bedtime rituals. Play with feather, eat, play throw, eat, play follow, drink, cuddle, sleep…
Friday, May 11, 2012
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Ranger and Clicker – Coat Conditioner
Ranger and Clicker – Coat Conditioner
Ellen decided it was time to try another clicker project with Ranger. Every Sunday, she puts him in the crossties, cleans his feet and then sprays coat conditioner on his coat. Ranger thinks she is actually spraying battery acid or some other caustic substance. He dances all about. This has been going on for years. He isn’t any better for bug spray, which we will be using very regularly, shortly.
She decided to see what clicker could do to solve the problem. It isn’t so much that she minded him dancing, but she didn’t like him getting upset.
First, she held the bottle towards his neck. His head went up and he moved away. She didn’t move, but waited until he stood still. At that point, I clicked and treated. She then moved to another spot and did it again.
She pretended to spray his whole body. Soon, he wasn’t moving at all. She added a small squirt, and he didn’t even flinch. We clicked and treated as she sprayed his whole body. He started to relax—and shine.
This all took less than 5 minutes in one session. She was able to show him that it wasn’t battery acid, it didn’t hurt at all and he could get some treats out of the deal. We will practice more in the days to come to see if he can change his attitude about being squirted with stuff and form a new habit.
Clicker is sure amazing.
Ellen decided it was time to try another clicker project with Ranger. Every Sunday, she puts him in the crossties, cleans his feet and then sprays coat conditioner on his coat. Ranger thinks she is actually spraying battery acid or some other caustic substance. He dances all about. This has been going on for years. He isn’t any better for bug spray, which we will be using very regularly, shortly.
She decided to see what clicker could do to solve the problem. It isn’t so much that she minded him dancing, but she didn’t like him getting upset.
First, she held the bottle towards his neck. His head went up and he moved away. She didn’t move, but waited until he stood still. At that point, I clicked and treated. She then moved to another spot and did it again.
She pretended to spray his whole body. Soon, he wasn’t moving at all. She added a small squirt, and he didn’t even flinch. We clicked and treated as she sprayed his whole body. He started to relax—and shine.
This all took less than 5 minutes in one session. She was able to show him that it wasn’t battery acid, it didn’t hurt at all and he could get some treats out of the deal. We will practice more in the days to come to see if he can change his attitude about being squirted with stuff and form a new habit.
Clicker is sure amazing.
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