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…

A funny thing happened at the barn last night.  I brought Cole into the arena to ride with a big TB.  This was only the second time the TB has been ridden since his operation for a cyst in his sinus.  The vet told the owner she could resume riding at 6 weeks.

A few minutes into the ride, she noticed he was doing a strange step every now and then when they were trotting.  I didn’t see it.  He wasn’t lame, though.  She said he would put his foot down hard, and he jut started…

I had a great weekend with the horses.  On Friday evening and Saturday morning, I managed to get Cole to canter some more in the arena.  That makes three arena rides in a row.  He still doesn’t get too far before he stops on his own, but I’m sure that will come in time.  I will try again, tonight, if I have the arena to myself.  On Saturday, after our schooling session, I rode him down to the river (which was too high) and back.  He was flawless.

Sunday, I skipped the arena…

I had a great weekend with the horses.  On Friday evening and Saturday morning, I managed to get Cole to canter some more in the arena.  That makes three arena rides in a row.  He still doesn’t get too far before he stops on his own, but I’m sure that will come in time.  I will try again, tonight, if I have the arena to myself.  On Saturday, after our schooling session, I rode him down to the river (which was too high) and back.  He was flawless.

Sunday, I skipped the arena…

I have had trouble cantering Cole in the arena, and have only done it sporadically.  Usually when I make the request, he doesn’t trot faster, but bigger, deeper and more powerful.  He gets so locked into the trot, but I can’t get him out.  If I push too hard, I get bucking.  I pretty much had given up because I didn’t want to keep practicing the wrong thing.

I have cantered him quite a bit on the trail, but we haven’t transferred the skill to the arena.

And…

Ready for Spring

Last night, I was riding in the indoor arena.  The weather has been mild enough that I could have gone on the trail, but it was dark.  Until the time changes, I really don’t have enough daylight to ride on the trail after work.  I am glad I have the indoor arena.  It allows me to ride all winter long.  Years ago, when we were at a barn without one, my riding was very sporadic in the winter.  Between bad weather and bad footing, sometimes I couldn’t ride for a…

Hurray!!  I got on trail this weekend!!  Saturday, the river was still too high from the melting snow, so we just did 3 trips on the hill.  I took Cole out with my sister on Ranger.  I did lounge him, beforehand, but that didn’t keep him from acting up in excitement.  Sigh.  He is still a young horse, after all.  He just kept having these little outbursts where he would try to surge forward past Ranger—and he was rushing on the way home.  When I got back, I worked him 10 minutes in the…

My boyfriend was away this weekend, so we had his horse to take care of.  I asked my horse-loving niece.  We haven’t had her out in a couple of months because we haven’t been trail riding regularly.   She was thrilled.  I battled a snow storm to pick her up and then get her to the stables.  By the time we got there, my sister had the stalls cleaned.  She just had to dump a wheelbarrow.  We sent my niece out in the snow storm to push it way, way back to the manure pile.  She had to earn her…

Just haven’t felt much like blogging lately, but of course I’m still riding.  The weekend was great.  With the river down and mild weather, we got all the horses in the park for the first time in over a month.  We kept them quiet, though.  Cole got a very valuable reminder that he is supposed to walk when I want him to walk.  He tried to trot whenever we got to a spot where we usually trot or canter.  I call them “trigger points.”  When he would walk, I would click and treat to reinforce the…

Just haven’t felt much like blogging lately, but of course I’m still riding.  The weekend was great.  With the river down and mild weather, we got all the horses in the park for the first time in over a month.  We kept them quiet, though.  Cole got a very valuable reminder that he is supposed to walk when I want him to walk.  He tried to trot whenever we got to a spot where we usually trot or canter.  I call them “trigger points.”  When he would walk, I would click and treat to reinforce the…

Last night, I was riding Cole in the indoor arena, and I spontaneously decided to try to teach him leg yield at the trot, again.  I was working on it about a month ago, and he seemed to be a little confused.  He used to do leg yield at the walk, but that morphed into a really nice side pass.  Well, when I would ask for leg yield at the trot, he would try stop and try to side pass at the walk.  He was getting frustrated that he wasn’t getting it right (no clicks) so he started going sideways…

Snowy Ride with Cole

I have been working with Cole in the arena with much determination to train him to be an awesome horse.  Well, the other day, I decided I am getting a little off track.  I have been neglectful of his trail training.  The real reason isn’t my goals in the arena.  The real reason is the weather and dark evenings.

 …

I started my session with Cole, last night, with lounging.  I am trying to teach him the verbal command for canter.  Last year, we avoided the canter because of all the bucking, bolting and rearing I was getting.  This year, I just really want to get him to canter.  Well, after all the bucking, bolting and rearing, he settled down enough to get clickable transitions.  I don’t think he is getting the word, quite yet, but we are doing better.  If he is in one of his power trots, he has a hard…

Cole was doing his dance as soon as I got him in the arena.  We practiced it as I led him around, but then it was time to work.  My goal was to further strengthen his corners.  You see, on one end of the arena, there are no walls.  There is the viewing room, the shavings pile, the barn exit and none of it is in a direct line.  We have to make the corners on our own.  I suppose he wasn’t doing them well, all along, but when I started to practice laterals, he tried all kinds of things on those…

I practiced Cole Train’s dance moves on Friday, and he was getting very consistent with higher steps.  I wanted to show my sister when she came out on Saturday.  She was very impressed, and of course he made her laugh.  Sunday, he started doing it when I led him into the indoor arena!  Yes, Cole likes this game.  I did some clicking with him for the dancing, then mounted to ride.  My sister was there, again, and to stay warm, she suggested she walk with us as we warmed up at the walk.  Even…

Cole Train is One Step Closer to Becoming a Circus Pony

Cole and I started out very poorly on our ride, last night.  We entered the indoor arena, and the horse that was being ridden at the time became very spooky.  Cole picked up on it, and he decided to buck and play as I was leading him.  Well, this made our companion’s horse even worse.  The rider became insecure and left to get a…