Cole’s First Solo Evening Ride of the Year

To give you a little background, Cole hasn’t been a very good trail horse in the evenings.  His biggest fault is trying to trot towards home instead of walking.  A few attempts is no big deal, but it would be constant with him.  Actually, this has been his main problem from the first time I took him on a walk down there.  He had long ago improved his morning rides, but the evenings just got him excited.  For some reason, all of our…

Happy Buzzards Day! Yes, this is buzzard country, and the buzzards have once again made it to Hinckley on March 15. Hinckley isn’t too far from me. I actually saw a buzzard a couple days ago in Cleveland. They are big, ugly vultures that are all over northeast Ohio in the summer. My rides yesterday went well. It was very unseasonably warm—like summer. The river was too high for Cruiser to cross. A big horse could have done it, but my horses certainly aren’t big. I rode the hill three times…

Well, last night was my after work trail ride of the year.  I rode both horses on the trail over the weekend with my sister, and they were excellent, so I wasn’t expecting much in the way of problems.  They would be by themselves, though.  The river was too high to cross, so I could only ride the hill back and forth to it—about a half mile round trip.

I had time for one and a half trail rides.  Cruiser was the first horse.  He was supposed to be the easy one.  At nearly 25…

What Daylight Savings Means to Me

This weekend is Daylight Savings. What does that mean? (Other than losing an hour of sleep?) It means it is the official opening of trail riding for me. Sure, I can get out a little on the weekends, but now I will be able to go on a trail ride after work. It usually coincides with a dramatic improvement of the weather, too.

My plans are to ride my Cruiser on the trail for every ride between now and November. No more schooling in the arena for…

A Clicker Convert?

I was riding Cole Train in the arena, when one of the boarders that I haven’t seen for a while showed up.  She has been working different hours than she used to and was coming out to the barn when I wasn’t there.  Consequently, she hadn’t seen Cole’s new dance steps.  I showed them to her—how he can do them in the saddle or on the ground, and she just laughed and laughed.  He is even learning to cross his leg over when I cross my leg over—and of course he…