Cold Weather Riding

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. …

Ranger’s New Girlfriend

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…

Cole Shows what Clicker Training can Do

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.

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…

Adjusting My Routine

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…

A Historic Ride

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

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

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

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

One really, really important thing that…

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.

The Decision

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.

The big day came. It was 3 weeks after the…

What’s Next

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…

Ouch

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.

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…

Rides Two and Three

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. 

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…

Because a person doesn’t turn 50 everyday…

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.

I saddled and bridled the little guy and…

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. 

At first, both horses didn’t want to go away from home, but with a little kick,…

Paradise Returns

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. …

Trouble in Paradise

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…

Great Success!

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. …