Judi Daly's Posts - Barnmice Equestrian Social Community2024-03-28T19:22:19ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDalyhttp://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2188005267?profile=RESIZE_48X48&width=48&height=48&crop=1%3A1http://www.barnmice.com/profiles/blog/feed?user=26znswtt5gps4&xn_auth=noCold Weather Ridingtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-11-24:1773158:BlogPost:7769272015-11-24T19:30:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Cold Weather Riding</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">It seems like just yesterday. Ellen and I would saddle up Ranger and Cruiser on a brisk fall day and head out for the trails. They could be very difficult when the weather cooled off. They wanted to fly down the trail, and we were young and wanted to fly with them. It would be a blast—and then we would turn around to go home. …</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Cold Weather Riding</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">It seems like just yesterday. Ellen and I would saddle up Ranger and Cruiser on a brisk fall day and head out for the trails. They could be very difficult when the weather cooled off. They wanted to fly down the trail, and we were young and wanted to fly with them. It would be a blast—and then we would turn around to go home. </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">All summer, we would trot much of the way home on our trail rides. The horses would get a little fast—Cruiser was constantly challenging Ranger for a race. Ranger would accept the challenge—and we would have to intercede. Cruiser often broke into a canter, and I would have to struggle to bring him back to a trot. On some stretches of the trail, we would canter instead of trotting—making them all the more enthusiastic.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">When the weather got cold and they would get hyper, we had problems. I guess we made the problems all summer long with our fun, fast rides. In the cooler weather, trotting towards home became very difficult; and sometimes even impossible.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">We would trot a few hundred feet, and when they either got out of control, or ideally only felt like they might get out of control, we would bring them back to a walk until they settled down. After a few minutes, we would try again. When it was really cold and they were super wound up, we ended up walking all the way home.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">The big problem with that? It is hard to stay warm on a cold day when all you are doing is walking. It is even harder if you broke a sweat on the way out and then had to walk home. We would often have to lead our horses if we got too cold.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">For years, Ellen and I thought this was normal horse behavior. We figured all horses were that way—until I started riding Mingo. Then, I thought Mingo was the exception—so quiet. In the cold weather, he was a lot of fun to ride because he finally woke up and would go fairly fast.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">We now know that Cruiser and Ranger were exceptionally spirited and Mingo was exceptionally quiet. We had both sides of the spectrum, and most other horses fall in the middle.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Fast forward to the present, and we are living in the world of normal horses. Sure, sometimes Cole can get a little carried away and Dante‘s default trot is very slow, but they are both fairly normal horses. Starry can move out when he wants to, but he never gets very carried away with excitement like Cruiser and Ranger did. In fact, he prefers to just follow whoever he is with and seldom challenges our horses to a race. </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Going out on a ride and a brisk morning with Cole and Dante means they walk down the hill to the river just as slowly as they did all summer long. Once we cross the river, Cole wants Dante to go first. Dante trots too slow for Cole and he has to keep dropping to a walk when he gets too close to Dante. He doesn’t want to pass—he just wants Dante to go faster.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Eventually, I convince Cole to take the lead. He goes at a moderate speed—and we end up waiting for Dante to catch up. When we get to our favorite section to canter, they both wake up and Ellen and I get a glimpse into the world we used to enjoy so much with Ranger and Cruiser.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">If we have any regrets about having normal horses, now, they go away when we turn around to go home. We can trot safely. They go faster on the way home, of course, but they seldom get out of control like Ranger and Cruiser did all the time when the weather was cool. We go fast and steady—and stay warm. If we are walking for a while and want to get warmed up, we trot a bit. The closer we are to home, the trickier it can be, but not anything like our other horses. </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Yes, we miss those days. I talk to Ranger about them as we do our nightly constitutional on the loop. I think he might miss them, too. Cruiser and Ranger together were a force to be reckoned with. But we are all older now, and honestly, this is so much easier. We can ride in cold weather—even snow—and our horses stay sane and we stay warm.</p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"> </p>
<p class="NormalPalatinoLinotype">Still, it is fun to reminisce…I sure do miss my Cruiser.</p>Ranger’s New Girlfriendtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-11-03:1773158:BlogPost:7761012015-11-03T16:12:52.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060524?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060524?profile=original" width="320"></img></a> </p>
<p>Ranger’s New Girlfriend</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ranger is a very temperamental horse. He is in an end stall. Years ago, my horse, Mingo was in the stall next to him. They were great friends. I had Mingo from birth, and Ranger helped raise him. They always got along. If Ranger was out on a ride, Mingo would stick his nose between the bars when Ranger came back. Ranger…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060524?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060524?profile=original" width="320" class="align-full"/></a> </p>
<p>Ranger’s New Girlfriend</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ranger is a very temperamental horse. He is in an end stall. Years ago, my horse, Mingo was in the stall next to him. They were great friends. I had Mingo from birth, and Ranger helped raise him. They always got along. If Ranger was out on a ride, Mingo would stick his nose between the bars when Ranger came back. Ranger would ignore him, of course. They would hang out next to each other, and when it rained, they would both huddle in the corner together.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Mingo went to the great pasture in the sky, Cole moved next to Ranger. Cole was respectful of Ranger, but they were never friends. Cole was only in that stall a short time and then he moved across the aisle and Sam, the Thoroughbred. Ranger hated Sam. He would kick the wall, screech at him if he was close by and constantly make faces at him. We had to be careful when we were cleaning his stall that we did not get in the way of his antics.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Ellen got Dante, we moved him into the stall next to Ranger so we could keep all the horses together. Sam moved off to a different part of the stables and Ranger seemed happier—but poor Dante. We don’t know what happened between them, but Dante just wouldn’t go by Ranger’s wall. He would either stand exactly in the center of the stall or hang out on the other side.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once Cruiser died, we moved Dante into his old stall. The change in Dante’s stall behavior was measurealble. He came out of his shell, learned to play with Starry and seemed like he was so much happier.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We had anoter horse in the stall for a few months, and Ranger didn’t much care for him. He didn’t hate him like he hated Sam, but a lot of his kicking and screeching came back. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The stall has been empty for a while, now, but we knew that wouldn’t last forever. This weekend, a pony moved in. She is only about 3 feet tall. We are very optimistic that this might work out because she is so small that Ranger won’t feel threatened. Also, her feed dish that is right on Ranger’s wall had to be lowered so far that it is funny. I don’t know if we ever had Ranger next to a female, before, so we are hoping that might help, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When she showed up, I was told there was a lot of screeching and kicking from Ranger. She got riled up, too, and they saw her rearing in the stall. It must have been cute. The next day, Kevin said he heard some screeching. By the time I got out, things seemed quiet. I took Ranger out on his walk. When I put him back into the stall, I led him to where she was standing so he could see her. Then she reached up her nose really, really high and barely made it to the bottom of the bars, but it was high enough that he could sniff her nose. He gave a subdued screech and all was fine.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This morning, when Ellen got back from her ride, she rushed to see him. He ignored her—just like he used to ignore Mingo.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I think the difference, this time, won’t be because she is small or a mare, but because she seems to like him. He hasn’t had a horse that genuinely liked him since Mingo. Hopefully, when he acts out, she won’t cower like Dante or become aggressive like Sam. If she will be nice to him, maybe he will just calm down. She sure is cute…</p>Cole Shows what Clicker Training can Dotag:www.barnmice.com,2015-11-02:1773158:BlogPost:7760912015-11-02T16:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050882?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050882?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> Cole Shows what Clicker Training can Do</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple days ago, a friend of ours who is interested in taking clicker training up to the next level, came out to see a Cole performance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie has a Haflinger mare that has done a little clicker training on the ground. Her trainer, until recently, saw no need for clicker training. The mare had some…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050882?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050882?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a>Cole Shows what Clicker Training can Do</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A couple days ago, a friend of ours who is interested in taking clicker training up to the next level, came out to see a Cole performance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie has a Haflinger mare that has done a little clicker training on the ground. Her trainer, until recently, saw no need for clicker training. The mare had some soreness, due to saddle fit. The saddle was corrected, but they thought doing stretches would help her with the soreness. The trainer told Julie to bring out the clicker to help with the stretches. They used targeting to guide her in the way they wanted her to stretch. Now the trainer is interested in getting a clicker, herself!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie felt that though the clicker was helpful with her horse, she is not sure if her mare truly understands it. I will be visiting her at her stable in the future, but in the meantime, I thought it might be helpful for Julie to see what a clicker horse is like.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I put on Cole’s brand new bling-covered halter for his performance. (I will be doing a product review on his halter next month.) Now, it had been a long day for Cole. We took him out for a ride in the morning, and the vet came out in the afternoon to give him shots and float his teeth. I don’t think he was ready to put on a 100 percent performance. Still, he did well.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I brought Cole out in the arena, and he showed Julie how he can stand parked out and bow. I then showed her his silly walk and explained how he got it. I initially taught him to put his head down when I pointed to the ground with a whip. I turned that into putting his head down at a walk when I pointed to the ground. That was for safety. There were many times in the early days that he would get overexcited when I led him. By getting his head down, I got control of him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, for fun, I taught him to match my steps as I walked. Julie wondered how I did that, and I explained that I matched his steps and clicked when we did it. (I did step harder to draw his attention to it.) After a while, when he understood what he was getting clicked for, he started to take the lead and match my steps. Of course, he got clicked for that, too. One day, he volunteered lifting up his feet really high while he was matching my steps—and the silly walk was born. It is his version of the Spanish Walk. (He does it under saddle, too.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I showed her how easy it is too teach a horse to chase a ball—a game that really might engage her horse into the concept of clicking. I was disappointed that Cole wasn’t as spirited in his chasing as he usually is. He just walked after the ball instead of running and bucking.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wanted to show how we can affect the quality of our horses’ gaits by shaping what we want. I asked Cole to trot on a lead rope next to me, requested that he lower his head, and he went into his show trot. (It is a very collected trot with a lot of suspension.) Of course, his show trot is something that didn’t happen overnight. I started it on the lounge line—clicking what was pretty—when he held his head at the right level, when he engaged his hindquarters and when he added suspension. Once he learned what I liked, I got to skip all the steps to get there, and I would just ask him to lower his head. Later, he volunteered it at a trot and got clicked for it. The rest is history.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I thought it would be fun to show her that he can do it when he is free lounging when I stomp my feet, but Cole had other ideas. He just decided to run around, bucking and playing. In the beginning, he showed her how he stops when I tell him whoa, even if I don’t have a lead rope or lounge line to back up my command, but once he really got running, there was no stopping him. He was having more fun than eating a carrot!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I put him back in the stall and brought our Ranger to show her what I was doing to teach him how to stand. He did pretty well, and then he demonstrated his other talent.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When we first started clicking Ranger, he got so excited about the treats, he would try to help himself to them. I refused to give him a treat when he did that. Instead, after I clicked him, I would wait for him to turn his head away from me, first. It took him no time at all to realize that was what he had to do to get a treat. Ranger was glad to show Julie how he turned his head away so he could get a treat.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Many people worry that hand feeding a horse will cause them to be nippy and mug for treats. Ranger showed how hand feeding can actually stop such behavior. It is all in the approach.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie left that evening a total convert. I hope she can convert her trainer, too. Even if her trainer doesn’t want to use clicker in riding, by teaching “whoa,” “stand,” and “head down, “on the ground makes for much safer handling. Not to mention, all 3 of those cues are super helpful in the saddle.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Julie said she would keep us updated.</p>Adjusting My Routinetag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-27:1773158:BlogPost:7758402015-10-27T18:30:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050908?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050908?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320"></img></a> Adjusting My Routine</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The hardest part about this time of the year is the shorter daylight hours. Since I have to go home and take care of my animals after work, I run out of time to ride in the park. In the beginning of the month, I would rush out and take a quick ride with Kevin—just barely getting back before it was too dark to ride the guys home…</p>
<p> </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050908?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="320" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050908?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320" class="align-left"/></a>Adjusting My Routine</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The hardest part about this time of the year is the shorter daylight hours. Since I have to go home and take care of my animals after work, I run out of time to ride in the park. In the beginning of the month, I would rush out and take a quick ride with Kevin—just barely getting back before it was too dark to ride the guys home on the street. I don’t mind the darkness—it is sharing the road with cars that bothers me.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That leaves me the loop and the arena. It is so hard to ride, inside, when the weather is nice, that I have mainly been on the loop. It is about a quarter mile long and is in the back of the property. When our trail rides first started to get too short, I would tack on a few trips on the loop to lengthen my ride.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In the beginning, Cole was a handful. He felt like I was riding a stick of dynamite, but to tell the truth, he never did anything truly wrong. He did some prancing and walking with his head way up in the air—waiting for a reason to dash back home. That is one of the reasons the loop can be tricky—the barn is in sight.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To counter his mood, I did a lot of walk/whoa transitions. I clicked him when he was good, and that got his attention on me. Once I had his attention, we practiced leg yielding and shoulder-in. I still find shoulder-in difficult if I don‘t have a wall to guide me, but we were doing something lateral.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a few weeks like this, I had a day I couldn’t get on the trail at all. It was just way too cloudy. It was too dark to ride on the street before I even started. I would have to do my whole ride on the loop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The big surprise? He was fine. That day, we were able to add trotting when we are going in the direction away from home for the first time this fall. I’ve had little trouble, since.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One day, it started to pour just as I was going to go ride outside with him. It seemed like hail, it was so loud on the metal roof. I had to ride in the arena for the first time this fall. I honestly can’t remember the last time I was in the arena. Consequently, Cole was very, very excited about it. There was one other horse in the arena, the rain was deafening and Cole wanted to perform.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just leading him around it was a problem. When he wasn’t doing a very enthusiastic silly walk or trying to stop and bow, he was bucking in hand. I really didn’t appreciate that. I tried leading a couple laps and then gave up. It looked like I would have to ride if I wanted to get anywhere.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Remember when I talked about riding a stick of dynamite on the loop? Multiply it by 10 times and that is how wound up he was. Just as on the loop, I tried walk/whoa transitions with clicking good behavior. It didn’t work as well, this time. I stayed on the safe side of the arena; doing circles, and the woman I was riding with stayed out of my way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After about 15 minutes, I decided to try trotting. I warned my riding friend. Cole was still very excited, but I thought if I could trot, it would give him a direction for his energy. Yes, it did. He trotted so big and so bouncy that I nearly flew right off. I think I went 5 strides and I asked him to stop—and clicked for the stop. My riding friend was amazed at what he did. She had never seen his show-stopping show trot before, and this was the show trot on steroids.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I spent the next 10 minutes or so working on trotting short distances on the circle. I eventually was able to do a half circle at a time, but it wasn’t easy. He did have 3 different bucking episodes that I had to manage. The woman I was riding with had seen me get bucked off MerryLegs, both times, and I told her I was just trying to prove to her that I can ride a buck. (Of course, these were nothing like MerryLegs’ bucks.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>By now, the rain was abating and my nerves were shot. My friend finished up her ride, and Cole calmed down a little since he was by himself. We just walked, practiced side passing and turn-on-the haunches (his favorite.) I made it a total of 40 minutes and called it a day.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I haven’t been in the arena, since. I know I will have to, soon, but hopefully I can let Cole run around it, first, so get the excess energy out. It is amazing that he would get so excited about being in there. Hopefully, he will adjust to it in a reasonable time like he did the loop. Otherwise, it will be a very long winter…</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>Fun Fall Ridingtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-20:1773158:BlogPost:7752412015-10-20T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p class="separator"></p>
<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054901?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054901?profile=original" width="720"></img></a> 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. </p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>Saturday, it was rainy all…</p>
</div>
<p class="separator"></p>
<div><p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054901?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054901?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a>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. </p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>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.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>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.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>This is such a boring blog post. Such wonderful rides—it doesn’t give me much to write about.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>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.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<p></p>
<div><p>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.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>Vote for Stormy--cutest cat around.</p>
</div>
<div><p><a href="http://www.kingpet.com/cat/4442343942700172-Stormy">Vote for Stormy</a></p>
</div>A Historic Ridetag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-19:1773158:BlogPost:7752392015-10-19T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M2cyALVjuD4/VgrMY9rk89I/AAAAAAAACRA/9d8OBnjjzzo/s1600/dante%2Btrotting.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M2cyALVjuD4/VgrMY9rk89I/AAAAAAAACRA/9d8OBnjjzzo/s320/dante%2Btrotting.jpg"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>A Historic Ride</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>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…</p>
<p><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M2cyALVjuD4/VgrMY9rk89I/AAAAAAAACRA/9d8OBnjjzzo/s1600/dante%2Btrotting.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-M2cyALVjuD4/VgrMY9rk89I/AAAAAAAACRA/9d8OBnjjzzo/s320/dante%2Btrotting.jpg"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>A Historic Ride</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Just to round things out, she rode back across the ford on the way home, too.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>You Can Teach an Old Horse a New Trick—or at Least Try Totag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-18:1773158:BlogPost:7752382015-10-18T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmKJ7OsV_Kw/Vfwihgugi5I/AAAAAAAACP8/_gFAJk2c1gw/s1600/Range.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmKJ7OsV_Kw/Vfwihgugi5I/AAAAAAAACP8/_gFAJk2c1gw/s320/Range.jpg"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>You Can Teach an Old Horse a New Trick—or at Least Try To</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>One really, really important thing that…</p>
<p><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmKJ7OsV_Kw/Vfwihgugi5I/AAAAAAAACP8/_gFAJk2c1gw/s1600/Range.jpg"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bmKJ7OsV_Kw/Vfwihgugi5I/AAAAAAAACP8/_gFAJk2c1gw/s320/Range.jpg"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>You Can Teach an Old Horse a New Trick—or at Least Try To</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p>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.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>My New Horsetag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-16:1773158:BlogPost:7753172015-10-16T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p class="separator"></p>
<div><p>My New Horse</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>One of the reasons I got MerryLegs is because I missed my Cruiser. I thought a new horse would help me miss Cruise a little less. Well, that didn’t go as planned, but Ellen recognized the situation and gave me Ranger. Well, I should say that she is sharing Ranger, but as far as I’m concerned—when she isn’t there, he is mine. If I can’t have Cruiser, I can have his best friend. (This doesn’t mean I am…</p>
</div>
<p class="separator"></p>
<div><p>My New Horse</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>One of the reasons I got MerryLegs is because I missed my Cruiser. I thought a new horse would help me miss Cruise a little less. Well, that didn’t go as planned, but Ellen recognized the situation and gave me Ranger. Well, I should say that she is sharing Ranger, but as far as I’m concerned—when she isn’t there, he is mine. If I can’t have Cruiser, I can have his best friend. (This doesn’t mean I am sharing the cost of his upkeep—I can’t lose with this situation.)</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>Ellen thinks that the more he gets out and moves, the better it will be for him. In his mid-twenties, he is arthritic and has breathing problems. Still, in his head, he is a young horse with too much energy, but his body just doesn’t want to cooperate. We think that more exercise sessions of short duration is just what he needs.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>I plan to take him on walks around the property in the evenings. He is a great horse to walk, and goes so fast that I will get a terrific aerobic workout—just like when I used to lead Cruiser during his last few years. </p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>He will occasionally spook—more so now that he is older. It is probably due to the cataract in one of his eyes. It takes him a bit to settle down, and sometimes he doesn’t settle down at all. You must remain calm and get him to a safe spot to relax. </p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>Once the weather turns, we will be stuck in the indoor arena. I will still walk him, but that gets a little boring in there. Ellen did tell me I can teach him some tricks. Ranger loves clicker training, so I think he will be a quick study when it comes to tricks. I just have to make sure that none of the tricks are too obnoxious.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>So my new horse is our old horse, and I am fine with that. Ranger and I get along great, and I am glad I get to spend extra time with him.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<p></p>
<div><p>I always wanted a horse like Ranger—now I’ve got one.</p>
</div>Clicker Saves the Daytag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-15:1773158:BlogPost:7751452015-10-15T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Clicker Saves the Day</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em> </em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>I approached a bunch of trainers with my problem, and I told them I was looking for a home for MerryLegs with someone who can train him through the bucking problem. Well, the horse gods were smiling at me, and I found one--and a good one, too. They specialize in training family/trail horses. The nice thing is…</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Clicker Saves the Day</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em> </em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>I approached a bunch of trainers with my problem, and I told them I was looking for a home for MerryLegs with someone who can train him through the bucking problem. Well, the horse gods were smiling at me, and I found one--and a good one, too. They specialize in training family/trail horses. The nice thing is that they don't rush the horses. They spend about a year putting a lot of thorough training on the horses before they try to sell them. It is a big place with several experienced trainers. I was very honest about the problem, and they thought they could help him. I'm sure that his amazing beauty influenced their decision.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em> </em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif">I got several independent references for this trainer, and I also checked thoroughly on line for bad reviews--and didn't find any. The horses in their ads sound too good to be true, but one person knew someone who bought one, and he was, "Exactly as advertised."</font></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif"> </font></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><font face="Palatino Linotype, serif">This seemed like MerryLegs' best chance to become an honest citizen in the horse world.</font></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>I made the arrangements for them to pick him up. The hauler was supposed to arrive at 9:00, Tuesday morning. We were swamped at work—and shorthanded because someone was on vacation, so I couldn’t get away. Poor Ellen was subjected to the sad task.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>I talked Kevin into being there, too. It wasn’t hard to talk him into it—he is always happy to help us out.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>At about 9:20, I get an email from Ellen.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>“Clicker Saves the Day.”</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>That made me smile. Now, I just had to wait for a further update.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Ellen called me a short time later while was walking Ranger on the loop.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>The truck showed up on time. They brought MerryLegs out and led him to the trailer. He wanted no part of loading. I don’t know if he equated the trailer with a very long journey or if he just didn’t like it because it looked different than what he was used to.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>The driver and Kevin tried the traditional techniques with the rope and tapping with the whip, but MerryLegs was adamant that he would not go in the trailer. Ellen was watching, and started to worry that they wouldn’t be able to load him at all. After about 10 minutes, she told them to let her have a try. After all, she had a big bag of carrots in her pocket.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Ellen stood in the trailer and rattled the carrot bag. That got MerryLegs’ attention, and he took a step forward. She clicked him, gave him a carrot and repeated. Before she even knew it, he was halfway into the trailer—then he was all the way in. in less than a minute, Ellen got him loaded.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Once inside, he seemed to relax and feel right at home. Mission accomplished. Clicker really did save the day. I do know that he is going to a traditional trainer, and few of them see the point in clicker training, but maybe the driver will mention the episode to his boss, and that will get him thinking a little about our alternative form of training? Maybe it will plant a seed in his brain of another tool to put in his tool box?</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>So, MerryLegs was on his way to a new life and a trainer that can stick in the saddle when he bucks. (I hope.)</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>This whole thing was such a sad story. It started out so happy, and then things changed so fast. I hope it ends happy for MerryLegs, after all.</em></p>
</div>Dear MerryLegs,tag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-14:1773158:BlogPost:7753162015-10-14T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Dear MerryLegs,</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Wasn’t the beginning just like a fairy tale? We met and it seem like “love at first sight,” to me. I don’t know if that is how you felt, too, because you never did say. There were a lot of things you didn’t tell me. If only you were a better communicator; I think we may have worked things out. Yet, you were always one of so few…</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Dear MerryLegs,</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Wasn’t the beginning just like a fairy tale? We met and it seem like “love at first sight,” to me. I don’t know if that is how you felt, too, because you never did say. There were a lot of things you didn’t tell me. If only you were a better communicator; I think we may have worked things out. Yet, you were always one of so few words. When I would ask you questions, you would just stare at me with your big, brown eyes and mumble something that sounded like, “Harruruuru.”</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>In the beginning, we had some disagreements. I would want to go one way, and you would want to either go the other or not go at all. How is that for building the foundation of a good relationship? We did work through those early problems, though, and we were both happy with the status quo.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Then, I started to ask for a little more out of the relationship. At first, you went along with it, and then things got really sour, and you hurt me, MerryLegs, you hurt me a lot.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>It is hard to recover from something like that. I lost my trust in you. Trust, once lost, is hard to regain. Ironically, you seemed to trust me more. We tried to get outside help with our relationship, and wasn’t that a disaster? You didn’t want someone to help bring us back together, and you stated it in no uncertain terms. That was when I realized our relationship was over. All trust was gone.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>We stayed together a little while longer, but I could see that it would never work. I confess, I was afraid of you hurting me, again. My dreams of spending my upcoming retirement with you just dissolved into thin air. There was going to be no riding off into the sunset for us. </em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Breaking up is never easy, but it is often the best thing for everyone involved. Not all relationships will work. That’s just how life is. We take our chances and hope for the best. This time, it didn’t work. That doesn’t mean it won’t work for you in the future. You just need to find the right person.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>So as you travel down this road of life, I hope that you will remember the good times we spent together and the things that I taught you. You taught me a few things, too. I will remember you fondly, and I hope for all the best for you in your future.</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Best wishes, MerryLegs,</em></p>
</div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"></div>
<div class="NormalPalatinoLinotype"><p><em>Judi </em></p>
</div>MerryLegs Looking for a Hometag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-13:1773158:BlogPost:7752372015-10-13T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<div><p>MerryLegs Looking for a Home</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>I have decided that MerryLegs will not work for me. Even if I can find a trainer who can work out the bucking problem, I don’t think I can ever have the confidence to ride him, comfortably. I got hurt too bad—and I still haven’t entirely healed. I’ve had confidence issues in the past, so this isn’t anything new—but this one is too big for me.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I would love to return him to his previous owner--though it…</p>
</div>
<div><p>MerryLegs Looking for a Home</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>I have decided that MerryLegs will not work for me. Even if I can find a trainer who can work out the bucking problem, I don’t think I can ever have the confidence to ride him, comfortably. I got hurt too bad—and I still haven’t entirely healed. I’ve had confidence issues in the past, so this isn’t anything new—but this one is too big for me.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I would love to return him to his previous owner--though it would be expensive--I think it would be the best. He would be the happiest there--and no one would be taking the chance of riding him and getting hurt. The trainer that I hired to help me said that he was very dangerous, and returning him would probably be the best thing. Our barn manager, who has trained many horses in the past, said she would never get on a horse like him, either. Our barn owner, who in his younger days was a prominent breeder and trainer of top-level reining horses didn't even think he wasn't even halter-broken when I got him--let alone ridden. I don't agree with that, but something about him is amiss. There were some things, that I won't go into here, that were very disturbing about him. He won't be an easy project for anyone who gets him--and a life of a pasture potato just might be the best for him.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Unfortunately, the previous owner really wants him trained so he can live a productive life--but she cannot afford that at this time. She thinks euthanizing might be the best choice if he doesn't go to a trainer. Regardless, she won't take him until the weather is cooler, so I will use that time to find a different situation for him.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>I need someone who can stay on if he decides to do some crow hopping. He bucked me off twice and a trainer off once, so I am fairly certain that he will do it again—but his rider has to stay on. MerryLegs isn’t a fighter. I don’t think he will buck for the rest of his life—that doesn’t seem to be his nature. He did it only once on the lounge line and only once on a lead rope. He never tried it again in either of those circumstances—not even a hint of it. Still, my heart races at the thought of being in the saddle with him.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>He is actually a quiet, low key horse. He is doing very well with his ground work and really seems to like to be with people—I think that is a Morgan trait. He is only 6 years old, healthy and sound.</p>
</div>
<div><p></p>
</div>
<div><p>Anyone who thinks they can manage him and is willing to help him get past this stage of his training—or is willing to work with a trainer that can handle a horse like him, please contact me. In the end, he will be a great horse for someone—just not for me.</p>
</div>The Decisiontag:www.barnmice.com,2015-10-12:1773158:BlogPost:7753142015-10-12T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>I have left everyone hanging. A lot has happened with the MerryLegs saga, and I posted it on my Blogger Blog, but not here. I will get you all up to date.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The Decision</p>
<p></p>
<p>There was no way I could get back on MerryLegs’—the fear was too much, so I realized I had to get help. There is a very good trainer who works at the stables next to us. I contacted her, explained my situation and she agreed to help.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The big day came. It was 3 weeks after the…</p>
<p>I have left everyone hanging. A lot has happened with the MerryLegs saga, and I posted it on my Blogger Blog, but not here. I will get you all up to date.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The Decision</p>
<p></p>
<p>There was no way I could get back on MerryLegs’—the fear was too much, so I realized I had to get help. There is a very good trainer who works at the stables next to us. I contacted her, explained my situation and she agreed to help.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The big day came. It was 3 weeks after the “incident.” I walked MerryLegs over to their barn, and we took him to the round pen. Kevin came with me. Ellen couldn’t bear to watch. The trainer started by getting to know Merrylegs with a little ground work—stop, go, move over. She then announced she would try riding him.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I helped her up and got out of the way. She walked him around in small circles in each direction and all went well—for about 2 minutes. He simply exploded. She was off him on the third buck—and in that moment, I made a decision. It was over between us. Regardless what happened, I could never trust him, again.</p>
<p></p>
<p>As she dusted herself off, she said, “Wow, I didn’t see that one coming. Very explosive.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>Just like when I rode him, the bucks were sudden, multiple and very, very fast. There was simply no warning—which is really strange. Horses usually will give you some sort of warning. When it happened to me, I thought I might have missed the warning, but I didn’t see one when I was watching, either.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The trainer wasn’t hurt beyond some bruises, fortunately. She didn’t want to continue training him in the future, of course, because she trains horses for a living—she couldn’t get hurt. She told me that probably something in his previous training was affecting his behavior—and it was not likely anything that I did. She didn’t think it was saddle fit, since he had hardly been ridden enough to get a sore back. There might be some other physical problem, but it was unlikely at his age. She said she started a lot of young horses in her life, and she never encountered anything like this, before. Maybe a person experienced with problem horses would be best for him.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I saw Ellen wandering our direction, and I met her with the bad news. She agreed with me that he just wasn’t worth the risk for us to try to fix. She hated the thought of me riding him, and she would never ride him, either.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I have contacted the previous owner and offered to give him back—I would pay for shipping, too. I am still waiting for a decision from her. In the meantime, we are just going to do ground work.</p>
<p></p>
<p>If a trainer can fix him—and probably he can be fixed—he just needs to know that bucking is futile—I just don’t think I can ever ride him. After all, he was supposed to be a trail horse. Bad enough if he has a tantrum and bucks me off—even worse if it is 5 miles from home.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Also, I would be afraid to ever push him to hard. What if he decides he doesn’t want to go forward—do I kick him and risk him going airborne? If that is in my head, how can I effectively train him to be obedient? Clicker training can’t solve everything. It certainly can’t take the fear out of my brain.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I confess that my decision is based on my fear. It is no secret that I am not a bold, fearless rider—I never have been. I have had problems with fear before, and it’s no fun. This time, I have something real and solid to be afraid of.</p>
<p></p>
<p>He had 2 bucking fits in the past. Once was on the lounge line—and I just held him in place until he stopped. The second was on the lead line when I got frustrated and tapped him too hard to go forward. I did the same thing—held him in place until he stopped. He never tried it again. I think that may be how he would react with a rider that didn’t fall off—but it just can’t be me.</p>
<p></p>
<p>It was so much like a fairy tale, and now it is over. I just hope I can find a “happily ever after” for this.</p>What's Nexttag:www.barnmice.com,2015-07-02:1773158:BlogPost:7700362015-07-02T16:14:33.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>What’s Next</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What a terribly emotional time this has been. The disappointment has been weighing on me, heavily. Not a few tears have been shed, and none of them caused by my physical pain. I was even doubting Mrs. Shoes. (Foolish, foolish me.) It didn’t help, that Kevin, always a cynic, was painting me a picture of a woman who just wanted to get rid of a horse—that she was hiding the fact that he had a bucking problem—just because she wanted to get rid of him. Though I…</p>
<p>What’s Next</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What a terribly emotional time this has been. The disappointment has been weighing on me, heavily. Not a few tears have been shed, and none of them caused by my physical pain. I was even doubting Mrs. Shoes. (Foolish, foolish me.) It didn’t help, that Kevin, always a cynic, was painting me a picture of a woman who just wanted to get rid of a horse—that she was hiding the fact that he had a bucking problem—just because she wanted to get rid of him. Though I kept defending Mrs. Shoes, it did cross my mind that I may have been gullible. But surely, if she was trying to trick me, the least she could have done was sent me better pictures of him. He really, really does look so much better than the pictures—I trusted her with that, and I trust her with everything else. She gave me a horse that has great potential, and I just have to find the key to unlock it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He bucked once for the trainer when she initially asked him to trot, and he did the same for me. Chances are, if I had been able to stay in the saddle, that would have been the end of it. I would have used less leg pressure and all would have gone well. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The day after the “incident” I didn’t even want to look at MerryLegs. I did take him out and work with him, but there was no joy involved. I could have been working with a stranger’s horse, for all I felt. He actually did really well that day. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The following day, I heard from the trainer, and that lifted my spirits. I went out to the barn in the evening, and this time, when I first looked at MerryLegs, my heart smiled. All hope isn’t lost. Nobody tricked me into accepting a lemon at all. He is just a “Special” horse that is going to be a bigger challenge than I expected. We had an even better training session, that night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After a lot of thought (and it seems that’s what training is all about—a lot of thought,) I am forming the basis of a plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Since MerryLegs bucked with both his trainer and me on the trot request, I have to get teach him to trot reliably from a voice command. I am sure he used to know how to do it, but he seemed to forget so much when he crossed the border. I have been working on it the last few lounging lessons. I ask him to trot twice from my voice, and if he doesn’t respond by the third request, I wave the whip. Sometimes, he still didn’t, so I waved harder. By the end of the second session—he was getting it. He was trotting to my voice only. That meant—it was click time. I am hoping to get him so good at it that when I ask him to trot in the saddle with a verbal command, he will understand. After a bunch of successful clicking transitions, I may not be so nervous about asking him to trot. Clicker training is a funny thing—it seems to increase the rider’s abilities, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The two times he got upset about the stirrup hitting his side while lounging, it was a surprise to him. My saddle’s stirrups are notorious for slipping free. It is evident he doesn’t like surprises. Mrs. Shoes said she lounged him with a western saddle that flapped on his side, but he would expect that, so it wouldn’t bother him. If I run the stirrups down intentionally, they don’t bother him. I will let them work their way down from now on. He can get used to surprises on the lounge line.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Long ago, when I got Cruiser as a 2-year-old, he was the most distracted horse. I could get nowhere with him. Someone suggested the TTeam book. I bought it, did the massage routine, took Cruiser into the indoor arena, and for the first time, ever, he looked at me—he knew I was there. After that, things went pretty smoothly. That isn’t MerryLegs problem, but since I had such a good experience with the massage, I don’t think it will hurt one bit to try some of it on MerryLegs. I got the book out and was reviewing it. The full massage routine will indicate if he has any pain, and I really don’t think this is pain, but I will give it a try. I think what he will benefit the most from is the TTouch in the girth and behind the girth area. Maybe he gets tight and sensitive there. I could try it before and after work, and see what happens. It may help him to accept pressure.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Another part of my plan might sound silly, but why not try it. I got out my old surcingle—something I haven’t used since I taught Mingo to ground drive when he was recuperating from one of his operations. I thought if I should hold it around his belly in different spots, maybe he could get used to the feeling of being trapped by pressure. Quiet reactions would get a click, of course. I have been pressing my hand and arm in the leg pressure area, and it hardly bothers him, now. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>You see, one thing that Mrs. Shoes told me was that he doesn’t like when the farrier would trap his front legs between his knees when he was trimmed. I made a point to work on this so that my farrier won’t have a problem. At first, MerryLegs would lean backwards and pull away. I just did it for short periods of time and clicked him for it. He seems fine with it, now. We’ll see how he does with the farrier.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What if MerryLegs is like this with everything? What if he is adverse to the feeling of being trapped? This seems like a safe way to possibly get him used to it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once I can ride him and get a trot transition without leg pressure, he will still have to get used to it. Let’s say he should spook and I reflexively hold on with my legs—that would scare him even more. Also, if he is used to light contact with my legs, if I should use heavier contact—he wouldn’t get as surprised as sudden pressure—like he does when the stirrups slip down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m sure I will have more ideas, but this is where I’m starting. I sure hope it works.</p>Ouchtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-30:1773158:BlogPost:7697542015-06-30T15:26:51.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Ouch</p>
<p>My 4th ride on MerryLegs went superb. We practiced our walk/whoa transitions, did some straight lines and he seemed to understand when I wanted to turn. Things were looking good.</p>
<p>On Saturday, I rode at a walk for about 15 minutes. I decided to ask for a trot. I tried the ride before, but he didn’t do it, and I didn’t push it. This time, I was more determined. I said the word, squeezed my legs, got nothing and continued to squeeze. Next thing I knew, I was flying through…</p>
<p>Ouch</p>
<p>My 4th ride on MerryLegs went superb. We practiced our walk/whoa transitions, did some straight lines and he seemed to understand when I wanted to turn. Things were looking good.</p>
<p>On Saturday, I rode at a walk for about 15 minutes. I decided to ask for a trot. I tried the ride before, but he didn’t do it, and I didn’t push it. This time, I was more determined. I said the word, squeezed my legs, got nothing and continued to squeeze. Next thing I knew, I was flying through the air. He had turned into a bucking bronco.</p>
<p>I was bruised and battered—and blind. Ellen found my glasses for me, and I wanted to get back on. When I lifted my foot to the stirrup, he started to buck, again. Now, I knew I had a problem. I led him around to get him to settle down. When he seemed quiet, I took him to the mounting block. I pulled at the stirrup, flopped my body over his back—and did all the stuff you would do to accustom horse to being ridden. I eased on his back and had him stand. So far, so good. I dismounted and did it all again. Kevin was by my side. I asked him to walk, but immediately, it didn’t feel right. I tried to stop him, but he refused. before I knew it, I was flying through the air, again.</p>
<p>I was more bruised and battered—and done. No more riding MerryLegs that day, or for a while.</p>
<p>It seemed to me, that the first bucking incident was related directly to the leg pressure. My guess is the second incident was caused by him being upset about the first one.</p>
<p>To say I was discouraged, despondent, depressed and just plain down is an understatement. Did I make a really big mistake? Is this why he was a free horse. I dind’t think Mrs. Shoes and MerryLeg’s trainer was lying to me. What was I going to do?</p>
<p>I immediately decided that I wouldn’t consider riding again for at least a month. I needed to do more groundwork and come up with a plan—and heal. I din’t break anything, but I am extremely sore in the posterior area. My tailbone was unscathed, but the muscles around it are very bad. There is no way I could manage any challenging riding in this state. I’m lucky I can even ride Cole.</p>
<p>Then next day, we had a very productive lounging session. I had him saddled and bridled. When we stopped, I tried pressing my hand firmly on his side where my leg would go, and he cringed and started to back up. Ah hah! I then tried light pressure, and he stood still. I clicked/treated. I kept repeating—adding pressure—until I had it as heavy as before. He was good. The clicking really helps with desensitization. I then did the same on the other side.</p>
<p>I am not going to give up, but I must concede I may not succeed.</p>
<p>I then emailed his trainer to see if she had this problem and what she did to overcome it.</p>
<p>She did, but only the first time she asked him to trot. He never did it again, but she also learned to ask mainly with her voice and her seat. So, that confirmed my theory that it was the leg pressure that set him off. The good news is that this wasn’t a chronic problem that she struggled with—this gives me hope.</p>
<p>I will get him to be terrific with his trot transitions from voice command, desensitize him to pressure in any way I can think of and hopefully, I will be able to go beyond it. I must confess, asking him to trot is a rather terrifying idea, but I will have to do it, eventually. He is such a good horse, in many ways. I really hope I can work this out.</p>Rides Two and Threetag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-25:1773158:BlogPost:7694582015-06-25T18:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Rides Two and Three</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Totally uneventful. I didn’t have my number one assistant, Ellen, but Kevin did a fine job as number two assistant. He held MerryLegs for mounting and stood with us as we practiced standing quietly and walked by our side. He stayed with us the majority of ride #2, but I only had him help a little on ride #3. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We haven’t done much except practice “walk” and “whoa.” He only tried backing up a couple of times. We got stuck at a standstill…</p>
<p>Rides Two and Three</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Totally uneventful. I didn’t have my number one assistant, Ellen, but Kevin did a fine job as number two assistant. He held MerryLegs for mounting and stood with us as we practiced standing quietly and walked by our side. He stayed with us the majority of ride #2, but I only had him help a little on ride #3. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>We haven’t done much except practice “walk” and “whoa.” He only tried backing up a couple of times. We got stuck at a standstill a few times, but we were able to work it through. He can’t seem to break out of a small circle, but at least he is circling in both directions.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m glad to say that he is relaxed and hasn’t once spooked or done anything sudden. It doesn’t seem to be his nature. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Wow, what a boring post.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On to other things. He is getting used to bug spray. Well, it is fake bugspray. I filled up an old bottle of bugspray with water. It only smells a little bit. In the beginning, he acted like I was spraying him with battery acid. I spray him when he is loose in his stall, and with patience and the help of my clicker, he will stand perfectly still for spraying.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He is terrific with saddling and bridling.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>His leading has improved dramatically. The only difficulty I still have is coming out of his stall and going out of the barn door—but last night, he only gave me minimal resistance.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When I got him, Mrs. Shoes warned me that he doesn’t like when a farrier picks up his foot and holds it trapped in his legs. That was a challenge I sought to overcome—and I think has decided that it is now no big deal. I gradually got him used to it—with the help of my handy clicker. In the beginning, I could do it only for seconds. After a few weeks, I could clean his foot with his leg trapped, but if I went much longer, he would sway backwards. Now, I can hold it as long as I want, and he just stands. He no longer has any issues.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have now started to do it in the crossties, since that is how our farrier likes to do the horses. Last night, he was perfect.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our only big problem—he has learned to self bathe. He decided dumping his water bucket is great fun—turning his stall into a swamp. He was seen actually grabbing it from the bottom and flipping it over. He also liked lifting it by the lip. I switched to a different bucket, and he seems better. I also got a bucket holder, so if he starts up again, I will put that up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If it would only stop raining—I want to get him across the river. Ellen and I call this the “New Horse Curse.” This happened to us the summer we got Cole and the summer we got Dante. It is very frustrating.</p>Because a person doesn’t turn 50 everyday…tag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-22:1773158:BlogPost:7693622015-06-22T19:44:13.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054516?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054516?profile=original" width="720"></img></a> Because a person doesn’t turn 50 everyday…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wanted to do something special on my special day. I didn’t tell anybody, just in case I changed my mind. The conditions had to be right. It needed to be quiet at the barn, MerryLegs had to be in the right frame of mind and my gut had to say it was right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I saddled and bridled the little guy and…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054516?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203054516?profile=original" width="720" class="align-full"/></a>Because a person doesn’t turn 50 everyday…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I wanted to do something special on my special day. I didn’t tell anybody, just in case I changed my mind. The conditions had to be right. It needed to be quiet at the barn, MerryLegs had to be in the right frame of mind and my gut had to say it was right.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I saddled and bridled the little guy and took him into the indoor arena. I led him about and did some lounging. He seemed quiet and was mostly attentive. I took a deep breath, handed the rope to Ellen, my assistant in all these adventures, and told her, “It’s time.” She didn’t understand, at first, but then it dawned on her. I went back into the barn to put my boots on and grab my helmet.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Part of our last few sessions was spent tugging at the stirrup, bouncing by his side and flopping over the saddle. I clicked him for quiet behavior. A few times, he did lean backwards when I was leaning over the saddle, but the rest of it he took in stride. I led MerryLegs to the mounting block and gave Ellen the leadrope. I would have reins.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I really didn’t know what to expect from him. He was ridden at the trainer’s back in the fall of 2012, but that was the last time. I also knew that they just did walking and trotting in the round pen, for the most part. Since he has been acting like everything I have asked him was a new experience –at least in the beginning, I decided to treat him like this was his first time. I trained Cruiser, Mingo and Cole for saddle, so this wasn’t a new experience for me, but that doesn’t mean it wasn’t exciting. In fact, riding a horse for the first time is one of the most exciting things I have ever done in my life.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I swung my leg over the saddle and tucked my foot in the stirrup. I felt MerryLegs start to step backwards. (What a surprise—that is always what he does when I try something new.) I didn’t like where things might be going, so I told Ellen to give him treats. That changed his mind. He stood still and ate. I touched him all around and gently swung my legs on his sides. When I clicked, Ellen treated. He seemed more and more relaxed with me on his back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I squeezed my legs to ask him to go forward—he didn’t remember what that meant. He started to back up. I told Ellen to back away from his head and try to lure him forward. I continued to squeeze. When he took a forward step, I released and clicked. Ellen treated. We did this for a few minutes. I think he started to understand, but I’m not sure—he may have just been following Ellen.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We tried a little with Ellen walking next to him instead of in front of him, and that was a bit of struggle. By now, all he wanted was to get treats, and he was crowding Ellen instead of walking straight. At least he was going forwards.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, I decided we had had enough and dismounted. I don’t think I was in the saddle for more than 10 minutes. Honestly, I am surprised on how little he seemed to remember of his training, but that has been the pattern from the beginning. He felt like he had never been ridden in his life. My other horses felt more experienced and confidant than him. Hopefully, it will come back to him, and he will progress quickly—I want to get him on the trail!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We then took him for a walk down the hill to the river. His behavior was just perfect. The river was too high for me to lead him across. That will have to wait for another day. It wasn’t too high for Ellen and I to ride across, though, so we went back, got Cole and Dante and went on a terrific birthday ride.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The rest of my birthday went just as nicely as the start, and I will always look back on the day I turned 50 with fondness.</p>Cole Flies and MerryLegs Bouncestag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-18:1773158:BlogPost:7691822015-06-18T17:27:29.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Last night, Kevin and I were finally able to cross the river in at least a week. Both horses seemed excited to be doing something other than going up and down the hill. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far before we were blocked by a tree across the trail. Dejectedly, we rode back. When we were nearly about to cross the river to go home, Kevin suggested turning around and doing it again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>At first, both horses didn’t want to go away from home, but with a little kick,…</p>
<p>Last night, Kevin and I were finally able to cross the river in at least a week. Both horses seemed excited to be doing something other than going up and down the hill. Unfortunately, we didn’t get very far before we were blocked by a tree across the trail. Dejectedly, we rode back. When we were nearly about to cross the river to go home, Kevin suggested turning around and doing it again. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>At first, both horses didn’t want to go away from home, but with a little kick, Cole too the lead at a very vigorous trot. Soon, we were cantering. I made him come back down to a trot. The whole way to the fallen tree, Cole wanted to go as fast as I would let him. Eventually, we put Starry back in the lead to settle the horses down. It was as if he knew that the sooner we would get to the fallen tree, the sooner we would turn around to go home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I saddled up MerryLegs and led him from the barn. The only time he stalled out was right outside the barn where the grass was and when I wanted to pass up the arena door to go to the loop. I was able to signal him forward with the whip. We did the loop once and walked down the driveway. I then took him inside and lounged him. This is only the second time I lounged him with the saddle. The first time, he was very reluctant to trot—and I attributed it to the heat. Once again, I had trouble getting him to trot with the saddle. Praise and clicks didnnt’ make any improvement. When he did trot, it was unenergetic. Finally, he must have gotten disgusted with yet another request for a trot and he swerved towards me. I waved him away with the whip, and he decided to bolt out of the circle. I hung on, and he stopped. He then started bucking—a whole bunch of little bucks in place where his feet went up no more than a few inches. He didn’t kick out or twist around—just boing, boing, boing. Kevin, who was watering the adjoining barn, heard some commotion and came over to see what was going on. By then, MerryLegs was standing still. I started explaining, and MerryLegs personally demonstrated it with more bucks in place.</p>
<p> </p>
<p></p>
<p>I think he was testing the saddle. It may have started when one of the stirrups (English saddle) worked its way loose and was flopping on his side. Once he stopped bucking, I led him a little and he calmed down. I then started to lounge him, and he was perfect at the walk and trot. He even moved with the exuberance at the trot that he shows when he doesn’t have a saddle on him. Maybe he just needed to do a little bucking. I’ll see how he does next time, and that will give me an idea if he learned anything from his silliness.</p>Paradise Returnstag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-16:1773158:BlogPost:7691502015-06-16T19:45:19.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Paradise Returns</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mrs. Shoes replied to my email. As I expected, MerryLegs was never a barn sour horse at his Canadian home. She described how she gentled him by touching him all over with the whip and the rope. This was excellent news. Since I planned to do it, too, it would just be a review of something he already knew. Evidently, everything I was experiencing was a new behavior, my theory was probably correct—and the good news—it isn’t very ingrained in his head. …</p>
<p>Paradise Returns</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Mrs. Shoes replied to my email. As I expected, MerryLegs was never a barn sour horse at his Canadian home. She described how she gentled him by touching him all over with the whip and the rope. This was excellent news. Since I planned to do it, too, it would just be a review of something he already knew. Evidently, everything I was experiencing was a new behavior, my theory was probably correct—and the good news—it isn’t very ingrained in his head. Hopefully, it will not be that hard to change.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was full steam ahead with my plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After doing some lounging in the indoor arena, I asked MerryLegs to stand. No problem, there. Next step—reviewing whip touches to prove to him that I had no plan of hurting or scaring him. That went very smoothly. He never flinched.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I then wanted to teach him to go forward to a hock tap. I remembered that it took a long time for Cole to figure it out at first, so I was prepared. I tapped and tapped and tapped and tapped. It was getting really boring. He finally took a step. Click/treat/ repeat. It took forever each time I tried. I started to cheat, even though I knew it was wrong. I gently pulled the lead rope and caused him to take a step. It worked. It started to do it that way. I would tap, and when that didn’t work, I would pull the rope. He didn’t seem to get the hock part at all, but he was getting the lead rope, and that was a good thing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>By now, I was totally bored, and he probably was, too. I went on to the next step, even though I didn’t really have the first step. I tapped his rump. To my pleasure, he didn’t step backwards but forwards. I had just read an article about clicker training that explained that when you ask a new thing with a different cue, a horse will often experiment with something similar to what he was just doing—most likely figuring it was working before, why not try it? Since that is what I wanted, anyway, I was thrilled. We practiced that a lot, of course. Since it was working, neither one of us were bored.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I then headed outside. He wasn’t too bad going out the arena door, but he did stall out. I used my new technique, and it worked! He wasn’t going backwards. I headed for the loop in the back of the property. We did have some issues a few times where the old behavior returned, but when he was backing, I kept tapping. When he went forwards, I stopped. I think he was experimenting to see what would work. I thought we would get to the loop, but he saw a pair of deer in that direction, and that totally put him off. I wasn’t prepared for a fight—I never am. I turned back to the barn, passed it up—and he marched right past and down the driveway—the place where I struggled so much the day before. Wow! I gave him a handful of treats at the street and brought him home.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day, I did the same. This time, Ellen was with me. The only time I had a really big problem where he protested about going forward was where the neighbor took down part of her fence to repair it; exposing some delicious-looking grass. He said he wanted to explore the grass. (Ellen said Ranger wanted to do exactly the same thing.) The rest of the time, when he stopped on his own, he readily went forward with a whip tap. We walked multiple trips on the loop and down the driveway to the street.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The following day, I had very few problems, whatsoever. This time, we only did one lap on the loop and then headed down the driveway to the trail and headed down the hill. The problems were minimal and he was simply perfect on the trail.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I think my theory was correct, and when I took the time to show him what I wanted, I was able to communicate with him rather than confuse him. Once I took the confusion out of the way, he didn’t mind going outside. Even if he stalled out, I was able to start him back up, but he was stalling out less and less. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This was a very important lesson for me, and I think it will help me through all of his training. Apparently, when MerryLegs is confused, he shuts down. If I find him shutting down, it is a sign that he doesn’t understand. Cole is so different. If I confuse him, he starts guessing—usually ending up going sideways in various versions of sidepassing. He makes it very obvious. If I ask him for one thing and end up with a sidepass, it is evident he doesn’t understand. MerryLegs isn’t a guesser—he is like a little child who just wants to take his toys and go home. I need to keep him from getting to that point, but if he does end up there, I need to bring him back by explaining clearer.</p>Trouble in Paradisetag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-15:1773158:BlogPost:7691432015-06-15T18:14:29.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Trouble in Paradise</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have been having some trouble with MerryLegs. It all started when he didn’t want to walk out to the loop. I don’t know what caused him to feel that way, but I couldn’t get him budged without a struggle. That was the beginning. It began to spread. Soon, he didn’t want to walk away from the barn, down the driveway, down the street and eventually, he didn’t want to go out the barn door. At one point, he didn’t want to go in the barn, either. Ellen…</p>
<p>Trouble in Paradise</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have been having some trouble with MerryLegs. It all started when he didn’t want to walk out to the loop. I don’t know what caused him to feel that way, but I couldn’t get him budged without a struggle. That was the beginning. It began to spread. Soon, he didn’t want to walk away from the barn, down the driveway, down the street and eventually, he didn’t want to go out the barn door. At one point, he didn’t want to go in the barn, either. Ellen had him stuck in the barn aisle—he didn’t want to go in his stall. I also had trouble getting him out of his stall. Stall is the word. He stalled out, everywhere. I could get him to walk to the outdoor arena one day, but the next day would be trouble. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>This went on for more than a week, and I must confess, the frustration was skyrocketing. I was wondering if I made a big mistake getting MerryLegs. Mrs. Shoes trusted me to train him well, and I was making a big mess out of him. Once I got him into the indoor arena, he was lounging and leading like a champ. I could lead him outside if someone waved their arms behind him with very little effort—for a few steps—sometimes more. If I tapped his rump with the whip or waved the lead rope, he went backwards. Once he stopped, he refused to go forwards. If I stood in front of him at the end of the lead rope, eventually, he would walk right up to me—unless he got too far from the barn. Then, that didn’t work, either. I needed a way to get him to lead without any help from my assistants. I felt rotten.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once I got him to the trail, he was perfect. He walked beside me down to the river, into the river and back home with ease.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Sometimes, he seemed barn sour. Sometimes he seemed ornery. Sometimes he seemed like he just didn’t care about anything at all. I spent time talking to Kevin and Ellen about it. We kept brainstorming. Finally, something Ellen said made an impression on my mind. She said, “He is acting like he doesn’t want to load a trailer.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>That evening, I just sat and thought about the problem. There was something that stuck in my mind. When I talked to the shipper who received him at his Toronto layover, I asked him what MerryLegs looked like; as I hadn’t seen him, yet. He said he is doing well, and he is a nice-looking horse. He then paused and said, "Striking, actually, I think you will be pleased." Then he added, “in that respect.” Could it have just been a phrase he threw in because he didn’t know MerryLegs, either, or did it mean something. Originally, I took it as the former then, but now I took it as a clue.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What would he know about MerryLegs’ personality—probably nothing except what he learned in the short time it took to lead him from the trailer into the barn. When we did that upon his arrival in Ohio, MerryLegs was afraid to step through the barn door. Actually, that was no surprise to me, since Cole did the same thing when he first arrived. I immediately opened to door as wide as it would go, and MerryLegs stepped in.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What if this happened in Toronto, and they couldn’t do that? What if he refused to step in? Would they have waited until he got a good look inside and relaxed from the long trip—or would they want him to go in promptly. What if they took a whip and tapped him on the rump. He may have stepped backwards because he wasn’t ready to go forward. They may have stopped tapping—do this a few times—and what would a smart horse like MerryLegs figure out? If you go backwards when someone stops tapping a whip, they will stop tapping. (The tapping is a very common way to convince a horse to load a trailer—light, constant tapping—not causing any pain.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A few days later, when it was time to load him back in the trailer—he may not have wanted to go up that ramp—look what happened the last time. He may have had a repeat lesson in whip tapping—and it may have reinforced that backing could cause it to stop. After all, these are haulers; not trainers. They may not realize how important timing is. Another point—most horses are trained to respond by going forward when tapped with the whip, but what if he didn’t know that was what it meant?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The final conclusion to my theory was that he is not barn sour, per se. He may have stalled out a few times for whatever reasons, and in trying to get him moving, I asked him to go backwards (in his mind) and then kept trying to get him to go forwards—sending him into confusion. The confusion caused him to not want to go outside and encounter it, again. We were in a downward spiral of misbehavior.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>What I needed to know to confirm my hypothesis was if this was a new behavior or not—time to send an email to his old owner, Mrs. Shoes. If it was an old behavior, how did Mrs. Shoes solve the problem? If it was a new one, if MerryLegs didn’t know ahead of time what the whip meant, it was likely I was correct. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I sent out an email and started formulating my next plan. Ellen suggested desensitizing him to the whip to improve his relationship with it. That made sense. I’m not the type of trainer that wants my horse to be afraid of a whip. It is merely an extension of my arm. I train a lot with a whip because of that. If he is being fearful of the whip, I needed to fix it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Next, I remembered the program of groundwork I did with Cole over the winter. Cole and I both had fun with it. This would help improve our communication. I looked it up in the book that I used for Cole, and refreshed my memory.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first step was to teach him to go forward to a light, constant tapping with a whip on his hock. I forgot that I taught that to Cole, oddly. I use it all the time when he gets stuck in a series of bows, and I want him to step forward. How could I forget it? This can be an alternate cue to teach him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The second step was teaching him to go forward to a constant rump tap. This is where we were going wrong. He thinks he should go backwards, and I want him to go forwards. Everything that he did right would be reinforced with a click and treat. Once he mastered the new cues, we would go outside and test it in the real world.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I just needed to hear what Mrs. Shoes had to say…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To be continued…</p>Great Successtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-08:1773158:BlogPost:7687692015-06-08T17:00:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050546?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-left" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050546?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320"></img></a></p>
<p>Great Success!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Friday evening found me struggling with MerryLegs. He didn’t want to go out of the barn, he didn’t want to walk on the street, he didn’t want to walk back to the loop, he didn’t want to go around the first corner of the loop, he didn’t want to go into the indoor arena… He wore me out. He would either plant his feet or go backwards. …</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050546?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="320" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050546?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p>Great Success!</p>
<p></p>
<p>Friday evening found me struggling with MerryLegs. He didn’t want to go out of the barn, he didn’t want to walk on the street, he didn’t want to walk back to the loop, he didn’t want to go around the first corner of the loop, he didn’t want to go into the indoor arena… He wore me out. He would either plant his feet or go backwards. Eventually, he relented about the loop. The first lap was tough, but the other 4 laps were easy. (Each lap is a quarter mile.) </p>
<p></p>
<p>I then went back to the street. He did better, but he only made it to the next house—but h got there 3 times. Still, we had positive moments that we could click for. I simply couldn’t get him back into the arena door to get him to his stall, so I had Kevin lead Starry ahead of us. He willingly followed Starry, but when I tried it alone, he refused, again. We brought Starry back out, and practiced it a number of times—clicking for each success, and then he finally was able to do it on his own.</p>
<p></p>
<p> The next day, I had my sister to help. I took him out the barn door that leads outside instead of the arena, and that went well, as always. Next step—leading to the loop. He went through his whole refusal routine for Ellen to see. Then, she stood behind him and gently waved her arms. That worked way better than tapping with the whip. He went forward and got clicked. That’s how we managed him whenever he got sticky, and we no longer had any serious problem. He walked 5 laps on the loop. I don’t know how much was my training from the night before and how much was Ellen’s influence. Whatever, I’ll take it.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We then headed for the street. Ellen was able to gently urge him whenever he paused, and we made it to the trail. He stopped suddenly when he heard a saw. We knew without looking that it must be our friend from down the street, Dave, sawing the tree that was partially blocking the trail. As soon as he saw us, he stopped, of course. MerryLegs then happily entered the trail. </p>
<p></p>
<p>He was perfect leading down the hill, but then that is something he seems to enjoy. I do believe I have a horse that is going to love trail riding. He walked down the muddy river bank, stepped through the debris pile and walked towards the water. He then stepped to the water and stuck his nose in it. Click time. While he stood there, one hoof went into the water—click. Soon, another one followed. Click. More clicks. I led him parallel to the shore, and his feet stepped into the water. Of course he got clicks for this. Three times I led him along and all of his feet stepped in. The water was only a few inches deep on the edge, and he was stepping on a dirt, shale mix, so it didn’t feel scary, but that doesn’t matter. This was all wonderful. It was time to go home.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Next day, it was time to repeat the process. We started out by trying to lead him out the barn door that goes into the arena. We took him out of his stall and had him stand. Whenever he took a step forward, he got clicked. It only took a couple of minutes, and we were out. We went directly outside and to the loop. After a couple of uneventful laps, we headed for the street. He walked his best, yet, but he did jump when a large, loud truck went by. He seems to be fine with the typical car, but the odd vehicles are a little tougher. </p>
<p></p>
<p>For the first time, ever, he stepped right to the trail without hesitation. There was Dave, again, trying to figure out how to get rid of a bigger log on the trail. We marched down the hill, right to the river. After some nose wiggles in the water, I walked him parallel to the shore, again, and he got his feet wet. He seemed so mellow by this. I stopped, looked at the water and contemplated. If I get my feet wet, will MerryLegs make it worthwhile? I had my tennis shoes on—not my riding boots, but I still had to ride Cole, and I didn’t have any dry socks or jeans. It was plenty warm.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I took a deep breath and told Ellen, “I’m going in.”</p>
<p></p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050678?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="320" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050678?profile=RESIZE_480x480" width="320" class="align-left"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>MerryLegs followed me right into the water. Jackpot!!! He got a handful of carrots. He didn’t seem one bit bothered by the water. He tried to paw, but I told him not to. (Pawing is a precursor to rolling.) I asked him to step around the water, and that didn’t bother him, either. He was walking on the smooth slate surface. He stuck his head in the water down up to his eyeballs and blew bubbles.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I led him out—and then we went back in. JACKPOT!!! We did it again.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Suddenly, all the struggling I had done the last few days melted away. We led him back home, and he even went in the indoor arena door without a problem. I really think I may have the makings of a terrific trail horse.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I do believe he would have followed me across, but since Ellen had her good boots on, I decided that could wait. Our plan is to lead him down to the river on the next possible day with Ellen riding Ranger. We will cross and join them on their ride. We can only go on the weekends together, and it will have to be a warm day with low water. I can’t wait.</p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p></p>Improvements?tag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-05:1773158:BlogPost:7687322015-06-05T15:05:44.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060634?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060634?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a> Improvements?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I decided to try taking MerryLegs down to the river in the evening all by myself. No Ellen to give us moral support. I had no problem getting him to the street. As we were walking down the road, a couple cars went flying by. It bothered him, and he jumped a little. When I got to the head of the trail, he said he couldn’t enter the dark…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060634?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203060634?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a>Improvements?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I decided to try taking MerryLegs down to the river in the evening all by myself. No Ellen to give us moral support. I had no problem getting him to the street. As we were walking down the road, a couple cars went flying by. It bothered him, and he jumped a little. When I got to the head of the trail, he said he couldn’t enter the dark tunnel—made worse by a fallen tree from the storm last weekend. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>While I was trying to talk him into it, I noticed another car heading our way. I recognized it, and knew it would slow down. In fact, I thought it might even stop—and it did. It was my friend, Candy, who used to lease a horse at our stables and ended up getting a job where I work. Well, she got a different job and leases a different horse at a different stables, so she hasn’t seen MerryLegs, yet. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>The first horse she ever owned was a Palomino Morab, so of course she really thought MerryLegs was beautiful. As we talked at the side of the street, a few more cars passed. One time, he gave a pretty big spook, but I think that is because I wasn’t paying attention to him when the car passed. He calmed right down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Candy left, and I went back to the head of the trail. He said there was no way he was going down there, now, because he was done for the day—and it looked scary because it was dark. More cars passed, but they didn’t bother him. Finally, he walked through the trail entrance and we marched down the trail. He was as good as could be.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>At the bottom, I decided to try him on the river bank. The water below was muddy and there was a debris pile blocking the trail that looked funny. I didn’t plan to get him to the river’s edge, but he said he wasn’t even going to take one step down.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We went through a discussion with me trying to displace his weight and urge him forward. I got a step and clicked for it. It didn’t take much longer to get a second and third step, but then I started to slip in the mud. I had a picture of me face down in the mud, and realized we had gone far enough. I turned him around and headed towards home about 20 feet—then turned again to the river bank. I readily got a couple steps down, so I decided to go on home. He was a perfect gentleman and the way back up the hill.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I took Cole out for a fun, fast ride. Fast, because he was in a “mood.” He is fun to ride when the weather is cool.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When I got back, I decided to work with MerryLegs some more. He refused to come out of his stall. Sigh. I don’t know what that was about. When I did get him out, he refused to walk towards the barn exit that leads to the indoor arena. We struggled with that for about 5 minutes, and then I just gave up. I turned him around and took him ooout the other door that leads directly outside. We went the direction that he was so bad the day before, and he was perfect. I gave him lots of praise and some clicks, too. I put him in the outdoor arena to play while I did chores.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>A while later, I brought him out and we went to the indoor arena—and he wouldn’t go in the door. Not again! It was light outside and dark inside. I think that was the problem. It took me several minutes to get him to cross the threshold, and then he was fine. We had a lovely lounging session—focusing and reinforcing on “whoa,” and since his “whoa” was good to begin with on the lounge line, this only made it better.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, it was a day with mixed results. We will work through the trouble spots, and I’m sure he will come through in the end like a shining “Golden Orb.”</p>The Honeymoon is Overtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-03:1773158:BlogPost:7687052015-06-03T17:36:41.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>The Honeymoon is Over</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I knew that MerryLegs and I would have our “moments” as we got to know each other, but I was surprised about what the first moment would be. I took him out of the barn to go for a walk on the driveway—heading for the back of the property. After just a few steps, he decided he wasn’t going.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He has had some other incidents of refusing, and I was able to get him started back up by shifting his weight. That wasn’t working, this time. I…</p>
<p>The Honeymoon is Over</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I knew that MerryLegs and I would have our “moments” as we got to know each other, but I was surprised about what the first moment would be. I took him out of the barn to go for a walk on the driveway—heading for the back of the property. After just a few steps, he decided he wasn’t going.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He has had some other incidents of refusing, and I was able to get him started back up by shifting his weight. That wasn’t working, this time. I did have my long dressage whip with me, and tapping him with it didn’t help, either. In fact, he started backing up. I decided that if he wanted to back up, I would keep him going back to make it an unpleasant experience. So, there we were—1 step forward—10 steps back. Sometimes it was even more than 10 steps. This kept going on and on. I added circles, too. When he would take a few steps forward, I praised and clicked him. Surely, he would like clicks better than backing up?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Some of the new boarders saw us, and they asked how he was doing. Duh…did he look like he was doing well? I just replied “Not right now.”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It took 10 minutes to go 50 feet from the barn. I got a few steps, clicked and treated. I let him stand for a few moments. I remembered how Ellen linked head down to walking forward with Dante. I asked him for head down by lowering my hand in front of his nose. It is something we have worked on, but not in large amounts. At least that was something I could reward him for to reverse the spiral of misbehavior we were involved in. Head down, click, treat and repeat. After a few times, I asked for head down and step forward. I worked once, but not the second time I asked. I tried it again, and this time, it worked. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Somehow, I found myself in front of him—facing him. I took a step backwards—and he took a step forward—click/treat. I tried this early on in our session, and he only backed up more. Most horses will back up if you face them and urge them forward. It is a good idea to spend the time to teach a horse to approach you when you ask him to while you are facing him. I think someone may have done this already with him (Mrs. Shoes?) He has done this with me in when he is loose very readily.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Anyway, the spiral was broken and a good spiral was forming. We made it another 50 feet this way with ease. When we got to the outdoor arena, I put him in there and breathed a sigh of relief. It was time for a timeout.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I don’t know what brought this on, but I suspect he didn’t want to leave his buddies in the barn. It didn’t help that Ranger was calling to him. Still, when I turned him to go away from the barn in the other direction—towards the street—he proudly passed the barn and tried trotting down the driveway. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>After I cleaned a few stalls, I went back to get him. Instead of bringing him back to the barn, we passed it up, again and walked down the driveway. He was very enthusiastic. We didn’t get far when a couple of cars decided to leave. I brought him over to the side to watch the cars, and he was fine. We then went further down the driveway—and 2 more cars left. There was no longer any reason to play bus stop, so I brought him back to the indoor arena and had a lounging session. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>He was super for lounging. I have started to click for a pretty, balanced trot—and in just few minutes I could see that he was trying to do just that so he could get clicked. He began stepping further underneath him. I made sure he was not looking away from me when I clicked, too. Anything you click for, you are more likely to get it in the future. So if you click for trotting well, but he is looking away—he will think that is just what you want him to do—trot pretty and look away. You have to be careful, but at the same time, you end up teaching him that looking away doesn’t pay. By getting more specific about you want as you progress, you end up getting just what you want.</p>We Went Down to the River...tag:www.barnmice.com,2015-06-02:1773158:BlogPost:7683982015-06-02T18:39:43.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>On Saturday morning, I decided it was time to take a hike down the hill to the river with MerryLegs. He was very, very excited. As he walked down the hill, he looked left, right, left, right. There was so much to see! Actually, all there was to see was a lot of trees, but MerryLegs thought it was exciting.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050631?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050631?profile=original" width="320"></img></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He did so well that when I got to the…</p>
<p>On Saturday morning, I decided it was time to take a hike down the hill to the river with MerryLegs. He was very, very excited. As he walked down the hill, he looked left, right, left, right. There was so much to see! Actually, all there was to see was a lot of trees, but MerryLegs thought it was exciting.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050631?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050631?profile=original" width="320" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>He did so well that when I got to the bottom of the hill, I decided to see what he would do when we approached the water. I had no intention of stepping into the water, and I didn’t expect him to, either. Still, I was curious to see his reaction.</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050732?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050732?profile=original" width="320" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>MerryLegs went right down the bank and stopped a few feet from the edge of the water. He didn’t seem frightened, but he wasn’t close enough to touch it. I started walking him back and forth, and he gradually got closer. Finally, he was close enough to take a good look at it. I put my hand in front of him and asked him for a head down. He did, and I clicked/treated. I repeated it a few more times, getting lower with each attempt. Next thing I knew, he had his nose in the water and was wiggling his upper lip back and forth. He definitely got a click for that. He had to lift his head up to get the treat. Then he did it 2 more times. We would have stayed longer, but a huge flock of horse-killing insects started to swarm us, and they were agitating him. We decided to end on a good note and went back home.</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203067193?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203067193?profile=original" width="320" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>The following day, we got about 3 inches of rain, so we didn’t go back down the hill. The water was over the bank and part of the trail was submerged. I bet it was up about 8 feet or so. It will be a while before it is low enough for MerryLegs to go dip his nose, again. Even if the water is crossable, I only like to work on water training when it is low and very unimposing. This was a great starting point.</p>Bella learns the hilltag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-29:1773158:BlogPost:7683702015-05-29T19:57:46.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>I planned to meet my new friend, Shari, to go for a trail ride. We rode together about a month ago, and our horses did so well together, we wanted to try it again. She keeps her horse a short distance down the street.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She has a chestnut National Show Horse named Bella, and she is simply beautiful, but she can be a handful. We rode down the hill and got a good look at the river—it was too high to cross on a pony, and she didn’t mind just riding on the hill. I told her how…</p>
<p>I planned to meet my new friend, Shari, to go for a trail ride. We rode together about a month ago, and our horses did so well together, we wanted to try it again. She keeps her horse a short distance down the street.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She has a chestnut National Show Horse named Bella, and she is simply beautiful, but she can be a handful. We rode down the hill and got a good look at the river—it was too high to cross on a pony, and she didn’t mind just riding on the hill. I told her how I liked to trot back and forth on the bottom, and we tried that, but Bella had trouble with the concept turning around and walking back. We did it over and over, and there was only a slight improvement in her behavior.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We decided to try riding up the hill—and now Bella really started to fight Shari. We didn’t get too far, and I suggested we turn around and go back down. Shari liked that idea. We walked back down without a problem.</p>
<p></p>
<p>We turned around and headed back up. Once again, Bella was fighting. About halfway up, we saw some people with a white dog. Shari recognized the dog as one that had chased Bella. She shouted out to them that her horse was bad with dogs, and sure enough—Bella had her head way up in the air and couldn’t take her eyes off it. They turned around and headed up the hill. We followed up. Soon they were out of sight, and that was a good thing.</p>
<p></p>
<p>At the very top of the hill, we turned around to go back down. Ellen calls this the “demoralization process.” Bella walked down the hill like a lady. At the bottom, we started back up, and there was a huge improvement. She mostly walked and pulled less. At the top, I asked Shari if she wanted to do it one more time, and she enthusiastically said, “Yes.”</p>
<p></p>
<p>This time, Bella was nearly perfect down and back up again. I think when she realized that she may not go home when she goes up, she no longer had a reason to prance. She was completely demoralized.</p>
<p></p>
<p>All along, Cole was amazing. Fractious horses tend scare him. Not once did he throw up his head, cringe or even side step away from her. This was good training for him, too.</p>
<p></p>
<p>During the ride, I explained to Shari how clicker training works and how it would help her with this problem. Basically, when Bella walked quietly, Shari could click her to reward her for the right behavior. I think I may have converted her.</p>
<p></p>
<p>Back at the barn, it was time to see how MerryLegs does with traffic.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I walked him down the driveway, and he was scared of the garbage cans, so I urged him to touch them, and he was fine after that. Then we stood there and watched cars. After a few cars, I walked him back to the barn, turned him around and down the driveway, again. We did that once more for good measure. I think he saw at least 10 cars and never flinched. I did ask him to lower his head when they approached to get him to focus on me, and that may have helped. I rewarded a head lowering with a click, of course. MerryLegs passed his traffic test with flying colors. </p>
<p></p>
<p></p>
<p>Our other big event was hoof practice. I got him to lift each front foot 10 times in a row—and he was really good towards the end of it. I only needed to lightly touch his leg. When I worked on this on the weekend, I struggled a lot to get multiple lifts. He seemed to believe that only once was necessary—which it usually is, but not if you want to practice. I like that I can see such quick improvements. </p>A Rainy Evening with the Horsestag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-28:1773158:BlogPost:7683592015-05-28T19:40:16.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050569?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050569?profile=original" width="254"></img></a> Kevin and I were going to go for a ride. I saddled up and went outside to wait for him. Before he even got out, it started to drizzle, and he wimped out on me. Cole and I left by ourselves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned before, Cole hates rain as much as Kevin. It was a light rain and a warm evening, so it didn’t bother me at all. Each time I have ridden Cole in the…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050569?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050569?profile=original" width="254" class="align-full"/></a>Kevin and I were going to go for a ride. I saddled up and went outside to wait for him. Before he even got out, it started to drizzle, and he wimped out on me. Cole and I left by ourselves.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>As I’ve mentioned before, Cole hates rain as much as Kevin. It was a light rain and a warm evening, so it didn’t bother me at all. Each time I have ridden Cole in the rain, I have noticed that he goes much faster than dry days. I think he wants to get the ride over with. That is no problem for me! We flew down the hill. When we got to the bottom, I was going to trot to the river bank—stopping right before a log we can either step over or jump. Well, he didn’t want to stop, so we jumped the log and he dashed off at a canter—past the riverbank and came to a sliding stop where the trail ends a short distance later. Silly guy—he thought he could get out of going for a ride.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I turned him around, and he reluctantly walked down the river bank. Once we got across, we had a very, very fast ride. When we reached our favorite spot to canter, he was trotting so fast that he simply couldn’t make the transition. Instead, we kept trotting faster and faster. I don’t think I have ever trotted this fast. We slowed down when we got to rough trail, and made it to the next river crossing in no time at all. The rain wasn’t bad, so we crossed and rode about 10 minutes longer before turning home. He really, really wanted to go fast, now. It did start raining a little harder, so I agreed with him, but when he started to get a little out of control, I made him walk the rest of the way.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once we got back, it really started to pour. Our barn has a metal roof, so the sound is deafening. I had planned to work on traffic with MerryLegs, but that was out of the question. Instead, I led him into the indoor arena. We walked around. He wasn’t very good. I think it was all the noise from the rain. He kept getting worried and would stop. Graddually, he improved.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin came in to watch. I decided to test his lounging skills. I had my 15 foot lead rope and dressage whip. When I asked him to go out on the circle, he promptly told me what he thought of lounging. He said he would face me and not go on the circle. When I would step to the side, he would pivot so he would still face me. After about a minute or so, I realized we weren’t getting anywhere.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I decided to try the opposite side to see if it was any better. He wasn’t as coordinated this way, and I was able to get into driving position and he took a step. I clicked/treated. I tried again, and got it a little quicker that time. Once he realized what was going on, it took less time each time. Kevin wanted me to just have him go out into circles, but I explained I wanted to train him to go away from me, first. In just a few minutes, he was doing excellent. It was only about 10 clicks. Soon, it seemed like he wanted to show me he could do it—and then he started to trot around me. Kevin wanted me to see how many laps he would go, but I wanted to click him for just going on the circle. When I clicked, he would stop and walk up to me for his treat—and then I would send him back out.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once on the circle, I could see he was trained to lounge well. He paid close attention to me and responded to all my body language and the dressage whip. I don’t think he liked being lounged before—hence his reluctance to want to do it in the beginning. I plan to make him love it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I went back to the original direction, and this time, it only took a little bit before he was walking away from me with just a tug on the halter and then trotting on the circle. I didn’t work him long or hard, though. My plan was just to review the process and have a good experience—and we did.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I’m glad to say that his trot looked balanced and lovely. In the future, I will click him for impulsion, roundness and self-carriage. This worked wonders with Cole, so I am curious how it will go with MerryLegs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We ended the day with practicing walk/whoa/walk with the clicker. This is a great way to instill vocal commands and teach him to focus on me. I had to quit when I ran out of carrot slivers.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was a great evening in spite of the rain.</p>Clicker and MerryLegstag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-27:1773158:BlogPost:7684172015-05-27T18:12:56.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050740?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-center" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050740?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750"></img></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs was only here for 2 days when we introduced him to clicker training. I had a pocket full of carrot slivers and a ball to use as a target. His indoctrination was the standard procedure—except none of us had a clicker with us. Ellen and I both switched our horses to a tongue click, long ago. I didn’t want to wait until I remembered to bring a…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050740?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050740?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-center"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs was only here for 2 days when we introduced him to clicker training. I had a pocket full of carrot slivers and a ball to use as a target. His indoctrination was the standard procedure—except none of us had a clicker with us. Ellen and I both switched our horses to a tongue click, long ago. I didn’t want to wait until I remembered to bring a clicker, so a tongue click had to do. (My timing with it is better, anyway.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So, I clicked and treated over and over. He learned that a click means a treat is coming. I showed him the ball. He touched it with his nose—click/treat. That’s all it took. Every time I showed him the ball, he touched it. We did center, left, right and low. He wasn’t quite good enough to do the ground, but I knew I was pushing it on that one. That usually takes a few sessions. Still, he got the initial targeting faster than any horse I have ever trained. (This boy likes his treats!)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next day, I wanted to try leading MerryLegs with Ranger on the loop again. This time, there was no motorbikes, but there were a lot of pesky insects. MerryLegs was very excited and wanted to pass Ranger, but that gets Ranger angry, so my job was to encourage him to just follow. I had to stop him a few times and we did circle a couple times, too, but we had no serious problems. He was bothered by the horse trailers, tires, barrel, etc… He would just stop and stare—or side step by.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Because of the bugs, we decided one lap was enough. We headed to the front of the property. We had to pass a very large horse trailer, and he really didn’t like it. Ellen suggested letting him touch it and click him for it. She has taught Dante to do that, and not only has it helped him get used to new things, but he likes the game.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I led MerryLegs up to the trailer. He didn’t want to get close, but I did. Being a curious guy, he tentatively stretched his neck and touched it with his nose. Click/treat. He touched it again. Click/treat. And again. Ellen was ready to bring Ranger in, when we noticed the blue plastic tarp draped over a tractor. MerryLegs looked at it sideways—time for touching. I brought him as close as I could get him—he stretched out—touch—click—treat. He did it a few times. As I led him back to the barn, it seemed to me that he was more relaxed.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ellen and I went out on our trail ride with Dante and Cole. When we got back, I said I wanted to take him on the loop again. This time, I would do it on my own. We were going to touch things.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He did stall out, once, when he realized that he was by himself. There was a horse laying in the outdoor arena, and maybe he thought that was a good idea. Once I got his feet dislodged, I praised him and we headed for the scary trailer tucked in the far corner of the loop.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When we got to it, he said he still didn’t like the look of it, but I told him not to be afraid. I walked up to it and he willingly followed. I held my hand to it to show him it was safe. He reached out, touched the trailer—click/treat—one more dragon conquered. Next stop—the big blue barrel on the corner. He didn’t like it before, but now it seemed like he knew the game. I had no trouble getting him to touch it. A short distance away was a big truck. He touched that. Next to it was another trailer. He was a little reluctant with that one, but soon, he touched it too. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>By now, I can tell he thinks it is a fun game. We headed back to the barn, but we had to stop on the way to touch a pile of tires. He had no problem when we reached the tractor loading manure into a truck. We were very close, and he stood still to watch it. Ranger would have been all bent out of shape with that one. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once we got into the indoor arena, we touched both mounting blocks. I led him to the far end to look out the scary door. He was able to see the miniature horse in the neighbor’s pasture. That puzzled him. Unfortunately, that was something we couldn’t touch. He wanted to touch Princess, the tyrannical cat, but I thought we might be pushing our luck. Dante plays touch with her with some success, but he isn’t as new to the game. Princess can be very unpredictable, and I didn’t want a scratched nose to interfere with our positive reinforcement.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It was nearly time for the horses to eat lunch, so I brought him back to the barn. It was a successful session. This is a useful game, and I’m glad that Ellen reminded me of it. I managed to do several things. First and foremost, I feel I was able to prove to him that I was a good, reliable leader. Since he was still insecure in his new surroundings, I showed him that the things he was worried about were safe and that he can trust my decisions. He visibly calmed down outside after this. Second, I taught him a game we can play whenever we encounter something new. Rather than avoid it, we could explore is and get rewarded with a click. And lastly, I reinforced the whole concept of clicker training—something that is still very new for him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He is now on his way to being a clicker horse.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>Hello MerryLegstag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-26:1773158:BlogPost:7680002015-05-26T19:16:26.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050773?profile=original" target="_self"><img class="align-full" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050773?profile=original" width="320"></img></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Hello MerryLegs</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs showed up in Cleveland last Thursday after a long journey from Manitoba, Canada. Not surprisingly, he was a little keyed up the first few days. I planned to just give him time to settle in and for me to get to know him. Friday evening, I took him for a walk to the round pen. He had to pass the outdoor arena where 2…</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050773?profile=original" target="_self"><img src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203050773?profile=original" width="320" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p></p>
<p>Hello MerryLegs</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs showed up in Cleveland last Thursday after a long journey from Manitoba, Canada. Not surprisingly, he was a little keyed up the first few days. I planned to just give him time to settle in and for me to get to know him. Friday evening, I took him for a walk to the round pen. He had to pass the outdoor arena where 2 thoroughbreds were out playing. When they ran to see him, that startled him and he jumped about. Seems like it just went through all of this with Dante a few weeks ago…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When he settled down, I carefully led him to the round pen so he could roll and kick up his heels. Once inside and free, he just stood there and looked at me. Then he started snuffing around, but he didn’t roll. I was dying to see what he looked like when he moved, so I went inside and gently encouraged him to trot around. It turns out, he has a lovely, Morgan trot. What else can I expect from a Morgan. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If I wasn’t pushing him, he wasn’t moving. I let him go back to exploring. He finally did roll, but cautiously. He seems to be a bit like my cat, Thunder. He rolled once, looked all around and laid back down to roll, again. Maybe he was upset that it wasn’t muddy. I’ve been told that he loves to be dirty.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When I was inside the round pen, he wanted to be right with me. He would lip both of my hands, back and forth. I felt no teeth, so let him do it—it seemed like he needed to. When the tractor drove by, he didn’t care. When the driver of the tractor went past on his bicycle, he didn’t care, either. Then the driver came back in the big noisy truck—no problem. They weren’t close to the round pen, but close enough to startle a horse. He was very interested in the thoroughbreds. I decided to wait and bring him in after they left. He hurried back to the barn. I brushed him and cleaned his feet and then gave him his evening hay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The next morning, Saturday, it was quiet, so I turned him loose in the outdoor arena to play. He still didn’t run around unless urged by me. In the larger area, he stretched his legs out to trot—in an even more Morgan style. His tail was often up—Arab style. Did I get another Morab? Ellen took some pictures. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I brought him in and led him around the indoor arena. He said there were a lot of scary things, but he would either stop and stare or shy away. There was no explosiveness or trying to run away from the things that bothered him. It was hard to make it all the way around, though without him stopping to look around. It seemed like all 30 of the horses at our stables wanted to call out to him—and he had to answer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ellen and I went out on our ride. (It was a great one.) When we got back, she decided to lead Ranger on the loop. I would bring MerryLegs along. MerryLegs was very excited about it, but I was able to keep him behind Ranger. All was going well, until we were just beginning our second lap. The kids 2 doors down started up their motorbikes. Ranger flipped out, and Ellen patiently worked their way back to the barn. MerryLegs got upset because Ranger was upset—and he was prancing and acting out. So much for Ranger being a good example. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>When we got back, I walked him around the indoor arena. After a few minutes, he was walking steady along the wall. I was so pleased. Indoor arenas can be such scary places—and ours has 3 doorways to the different barns, 2 doorways to the outside and a lot of windows. There is so much going on that it can take a while for a horse to relax. It was good to see some relaxation on only his second session. I am starting to see that he has a very good mind.</p>He Arrivestag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-22:1773158:BlogPost:7683062015-05-22T18:40:56.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>He Arrives</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We thought he would be here on Tuesday, but that was changed to Wednesday because a Canadian holiday messed up their schedule. Then, they called me and said it have to be Thursday. There was another horse that they were shipping whose papers to get across the border expired, and they had to be renewed. So, when Thursday arrived, I was expecting a phone call saying it would be Friday. Well, I got the phone call, but this time they said he would be there between…</p>
<p>He Arrives</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We thought he would be here on Tuesday, but that was changed to Wednesday because a Canadian holiday messed up their schedule. Then, they called me and said it have to be Thursday. There was another horse that they were shipping whose papers to get across the border expired, and they had to be renewed. So, when Thursday arrived, I was expecting a phone call saying it would be Friday. Well, I got the phone call, but this time they said he would be there between 7:00 and 9:00 that evening. It was happening!</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I waited at home for the next update. At 7:45, I got the call that they were about an hour away. I called Kevin, and he rushed out to the barn right away—he was so excited. I left a message for Ellen. She was working until 9:00, so it looked like she might be lucky. I really wanted her to see him when he arrived, too. I had told the shipper to call again when they got off the highway.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I drove out. When I passed the highway exit, I timed how long it would be to get to the barn from there—8 minutes. I was surprised to see John, Ellen’s boyfriend, was there. He is a terrific photographer, and all the photos you see are from him.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>To kill time, I cleaned the stalls and brushed Ranger. They were eating their evening hay. Cole did take a break from it to show John how he can bow. John took a bunch of pictures of him. There were some other boarders there, and we let them know what was happening. The excitement was building for all of us—but mostly for me. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They called! Kevin and I slowly wandered down the driveway to flag them down when they arrived. I expected them in 8 minutes. I didn’t know if Ellen would get there in time. Eight minutes passed—still no truck. Suddenly, Kevin blurts out, “I think that is it—I can hear it.” (How did he hear the truck before me? Why doesn’t he hear me when I talk?) Sure enough, I saw headlights, and now I could hear a diesel engine, too.</p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203051038?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203051038?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>They saw us waving, and stopped in front of the barn. The driver told me that it looks like I got a Roy Rogers horse, Trigger. My heart was beating so fast. Remember, I hadn’t seen him before. All I saw was some pictures. They opened the side door, and started to move things around to get to him. I walked to the side of the truck and peered in. I could only see a little of him—some of his neck and his shoulder, but I told everyone I thought he was beautiful. I noticed there was now quite a crowd, now, waiting for him. Even Marty, the owner of the stables was out there. </p>
<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069231?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069231?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p> </p>
<p>They dropped the ramp, put sides up on it and then they rolled out the red carpet. Well, maybe it was brown, but it was dark—I like to think it was red. They led him to the ramp, and he saw the carpet, planted his feet and bowed way back like Cole Train. They let him reconnoiter and then asked him to proceed. He carefully stepped down the ramp and stepped on the driveway. As he strolled down the red carpet and through the crowd at the end of the driveway, I couldn’t help but think that he was getting a movie star welcome. Maybe he is Trigger?</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069597?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069597?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>He had arrived at his new home, but he didn’t know where he was at. So much had happened to him in the last week that he didn’t know what to think.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>And then I saw Ellen! She made it in time! I was thrilled that she was there to share the moment, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The assistant led him down the long driveway. His head was way up in the air, he was walking fast and was looking all over the place. </p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069762?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203069762?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>(The assistant commented that when they got off the highway, he couldn’t believe he was delivering a horse to such a Metropolis. They passed stores, restaurants, a shopping center, movie theater, hospital and even a college on the way. And then he turned down our street, saw the horse sign for the bridle path and passed up a bunch of stables and then it made sense.)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When we got to our barn, I remembered we had a very difficult time leading Cole through the door when I got him. That time, he was going from a bright, sunny day into a dark barn This time, MerryLegs was going from a dark night into a bright barn. Sure enough, MerryLegs said he didn’t want anything to do with it. I pushed the door open further, and then he said he could do it. We brought him to the stall, turned him loose and I went to take care of the details. I had to sign for him, get his paperwork and the leftover hay.</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074354?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074354?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>When I got back to the barn, so many people were clustered around his stall that I could barely see him. And there was Kevin, in the middle of the stall, giving him carrot after carrot. I could see he was nervous about the new surroundings. He visited with Ranger—who couldn’t keep his eyes off of him. He looked at the mule, and didn’t seem very impressed with her. We gave him hay to munch, and as he settled down, he started to eat it. Kevin, Ellen and I were petting him and talking to him. Whenever we stopped, he would look up from the hay and wonder what happened. When we petted him again, he would go back to the hay.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Then, I remembered—I have to call Mrs. Shoes! She is the most wonderful woman who gave me MerryLegs. I knew she was waiting for the call to know he made it safely and to find out my reaction when I saw what a beautiful horse he is, because, wow, he really is. Not a single one of the pictures that she sent me prepared me for what I saw coming out of that trailer. It was a combination of bad photography (because horses really are hard to take good pictures of) and a very thick Canadian winter coat. It wouldn’t be hard to convince me that all the pictures I saw were taken of a different horse, and she did this just to surprise me. And surprised I was. MerryLegs is one drop-dead gorgeous horse.</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074614?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074614?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>I ran to the car to get her phone number and placed the call to about a million miles away in Canada. I must have sounded like a nut—going on about how beautiful he is—she was telling the truth to me—with no exaggerating—no mother’s vision that her baby is perfect—he really is just that beautiful. Finally, I told her I had to go because I wanted to go back and be with him, again. By now, Ellen had told Kevin that he probably had enough carrots. But that didn’t mean that we couldn’t still pet him and talk to him.</p>
<p> <a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074939?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="750" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2203074939?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="750" class="align-full"/></a></p>
<p>Kevin wanted to know if she had any other horses she wanted to give away. Ellen was quiet and in awe. I was in dream land. Ranger just kept looking at him. Starry was jealous that Kevin was ignoring him—even kicking his stall to get attention. It didn’t work. Kevin laughed at Starry and kept petting MerryLegs. Cole and Dante were finishing their evening hay. I was still walking on clouds.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Finally, it was getting late, and we knew we had to leave. When I got home, I called Ellen to talk about how pretty he is and then called Kevin. Kevin just kept going on about how he was “Blown away.” I then had to settle down and get some sleep because I needed to go to work in the morning. I tried reading, but I kept having to reread the pages because my mind would wander. Still, it was enough to get me relaxed, and I was able to sleep. </p>
<p></p>He's on his waytag:www.barnmice.com,2015-05-21:1773158:BlogPost:7681002015-05-21T19:04:00.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>And so, I wait.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs is on his way, and the shipper is going to call me when he crosses the state line. I have marshalled all the forces, and they are all waiting for the call. This is one exciting event.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yesterday, Kevin put a note on the bulletin board for everyone to say “hello” to MerryLegs. Of course, there was no MerryLegs, but Kevin put an old toy horse in the stall, instead. He tricked everyone—they loved it, but probably not as much as they…</p>
<p>And so, I wait.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>MerryLegs is on his way, and the shipper is going to call me when he crosses the state line. I have marshalled all the forces, and they are all waiting for the call. This is one exciting event.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Yesterday, Kevin put a note on the bulletin board for everyone to say “hello” to MerryLegs. Of course, there was no MerryLegs, but Kevin put an old toy horse in the stall, instead. He tricked everyone—they loved it, but probably not as much as they will love the real MerryLegs.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We hope he likes his new home and his new horse friends—especially Ranger, his stall mate. Ranger has been practicing making faces at the empty stall for the last few weeks in preparation. I will give him a few days to relax and get used to us and his new home—and then I will ease him into training. We will indoctrinate him into clicker this weekend—since there are treats involved, I think he will take to it well. It sounds like he likes to eat nearly anything. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It now seems like it is really happening. Until now, it seemed abstract—like a dream. We have been talking and planning for so long.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I have feeling that he will be another great horse in our little herd of great horses. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Of course, I will share it all, here.</p>Trail Riding – Expect the Unexpectedtag:www.barnmice.com,2015-04-27:1773158:BlogPost:7670902015-04-27T18:03:48.000ZJudi Dalyhttp://www.barnmice.com/profile/JudiDaly
<p>Trail Riding – Expect the Unexpected</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our trails are fairly close to the street in places and fairly close to the river in others. There is one spot that it is close to both. It is so close the river that each year, the trail is washed out—leaving large rocks. It usually takes months for the park to repair it, so Kevin created a trail that is right to the side of it where the river washed up a lot of sand. It has small trees on the river side—that can hit your kneecaps if…</p>
<p>Trail Riding – Expect the Unexpected</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Our trails are fairly close to the street in places and fairly close to the river in others. There is one spot that it is close to both. It is so close the river that each year, the trail is washed out—leaving large rocks. It usually takes months for the park to repair it, so Kevin created a trail that is right to the side of it where the river washed up a lot of sand. It has small trees on the river side—that can hit your kneecaps if you aren’t careful. The other side goes literally straight up about 10 feet. At the top, there is an all-purpose paved trail, a guard rail and the street. It is at the beginning of a very sharp bend in the road.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is a tricky spot—since the horses can see what is on the paved trail and hear the traffic very clearly—and then there are the kneecap trees. Just the same, we will often trot it just because it is soft. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Kevin and I were out for a ride in the evening. I was on Cole Train, and Kevin was on Starry, of course. I was in the lead when we reached this section of the trail. We were traveling at qa walk, and Cole had just passed the worst of the knee-cap trees. A car came traveling very fast approaching the bend. It reminded me of the time that Ellen was riding Ranger by herself in this spot. The roads were slippery and a car slid into the guardrail. Ranger had one doozy of a spook. Fortunately, Ellen managed to stay on. I often think of that incident when I am riding in this section of the trail and hear a fast car.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The driver of the car hit the brakes and they screeched. I shortened my reins and braced myself. They were going way too fast. Just ahead, the car crashed into the guardrail. Cole started backing up very quickly. He couldn’t turn because the trail was too narrow—and I was holding him too straight to tempt him to try. I think he took about 10 steps. At that point, Starry decided he should spook since Cole was afraid of something. (Is that horse for real?)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Cole stopped and just stared. He head was as high as Cruiser’s used to be when he was alarmed—and stuck there—a regular occurrence for Cruiser, but something Cole does rarely. Kevin said we needed to get to the car to see if anyone needed help. I asked Cole to go forward, and he went backwards some more. When he stopped, I asked him to put his head down, first, by jiggling my rein. (That is something I trained him for.) He dropped his head, and I told him, “Good boy,” and asked him to go forward. He took a step, I clicked and gave him a bunch of carrots—then asked him to trot. He was hesitant, but he trotted. About that time, I saw 4 young people get out of the car and they looked all right. Even if there was someone that wasn’t, I would bet that at least one, if not all, had cell phones.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>We went back to a walk, because I didn’t see any reason to ride to the rescue, anymore, and there were some stones I didn’t want to trot over. We walked over to the accident. Not only did they hit the guardrail, but they plowed right through it and continued down the all-purpose trail for about 20 feet before they stopped. The car was totaled, but the fact that they didn’t roll down to our trail, get hurt or even flip the car over was amazing. We were able to give a little bit of help. The driver was already on the phone, and wasn’t sure of their location. We told them and went on our way. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I was simply so grateful that we weren’t further up the trail where our horses (even Starry) may have panicked terribly and caused us to get into an accident, too.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>On the way home, there were 4 police cars, and we were able to give the horses a lesson on blue flashing lights. It is always good to expose them to odd things when you come across them to prepare you for what might happen in the future. Not only should we expect the unexpected—but prepare for it when we can.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>There was a large piece of plastic from the car laying on the trail. Cole insisted on sniffing it, and he wanted to pick it up.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>One of the rangers saw us as we rode by, and he said, “If more people rode horses, maybe there would be less of this,” and he pointed to the accident. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>I replied, “Maybe, but we don’t have airbags.”</p>