Back on the trail

E's 4-H group had a trail ride at the local reservoir last night. I wasn't sure I would be able to join in the fun; Curly was sedated earlier in the afternoon to have his teeth floated and his sheath cleaned. The poor boy had been so drugged he could barely walk himself over to the trailer to leave the vet's office.

But by the time we were ready to take off for the trail he was clear-eyed and full of energy. I ran him in the round pen for a bit to make sure he was attentive to me (which he was) and then A tried him out in the arena to make sure he wasn't hiding any sneaky tricks up his sleeve. He did challenge her a bit when asked to canter but A brought him back around - no bucking her off! (Although he thought about it!)

Curly was full of forward energy when I mounted. I let him take the lead on the trail, but kept him at a walk. He decided that he really didn't like one of the other horses and tried to bite him at one point. And he decided that a dead skunk and a watering trough were potential horse killers. But other than that, all went well for the first half of the ride.

On the second half he began his head shaking. At first I thought it just might be the bugs, but as I noticed that no other horses were moving around so much I decided that he was actually starting to let me know that he was done. I rode for about 15 minutes with him doing this before I decided to dismount and walk him the rest of the way. And he immediately stopped shaking his head. I'm glad I listened to my gut and got off - even though I felt like a wuss for doing so at the time.

We had to walk about 3/4 of a mile to get to the trailers - with a hill or two on the way. I actually enjoyed doing this; Curly wasn't too sure. I think he thought that he'd have it super easy once I got off, but I kept the pace up and forced him to keep going. We didn't slow down the mounted riders one bit. Very good exercise for me!

E felt great after the ride. She had been worried before we started; her last two trail experiences had been hard - and wet. Both she and Monte were happy this time, and she only dismounted once (to go over the water channel - which she later admitted she probably could have ridden him over). I think it was a good break for him to go out on the trail. They have another lesson with Anna today.

On Sunday's lesson, when Anna asked E to take it up to a canter E had to use her whip to get him to respond initially. And boy did he respond! It was the fastest ride E has ever had. She was totally unnerved by it at first but discovered that she can keep her seat even at high speeds. She later said that she could tell that he had even more speed in him. I bet he'd be fantastic on barrels!

G'pa J is healing from his fall. He's still in a wheel chair but can stand for short bits of time now. He says he's feeling stronger every day.

A Kind Spirit

The 4-H club had a special treat tonight - a couple of local horsewomen who are successful in the show ring gave them pointers on showmanship. They spent 2 hours learning what it takes to take a horse to a world-level show, plus the girls got to try out their own skills on a horse who has recently qualified for the world appy breed show.

And poor E, I think every ride night has to include tears. As she was working with one of these fabulously trained horses, the animal reached over and bit her. Hard. She tried to play it down but finally admitted that it did hurt. The horse's owner spent more time with her so that she'd end on a good note, seeing that she could control this animal (naughty though he was!). The owner also helped E with leading Monte. E was so excited that she was able to get him to trot along beside her.

As the girls were loading up I went to say thank you for helping E and for making sure she had a positive experience. I said something about E's "bad karma" with horses lately and the trainer replied, "No, it's not her karma. It's that she's a kind spirit and the horses sense that. And they will take advantage of her."

But can I fault the child for having a kind spirit? That is part of what is so wonderful about her!

Now to find a way to maintain that kindness while still being assertive and tough....

Decision made

Okay, it's been an eventful horse-life around our house lately. And there was more to add to all our drama on Monday evening.

G'pa J has wanted to ride Curly for quite a while now and I must admit to being hesitant to having him out to the barn to do so. My trust level in Curly is not all that great and while I seem to be willing to risk my own neck and my daughter's on him, I haven't wanted to be responsible for anything that might happen to someone else.

I should'a stuck with that gut feeling.

G'pa J came out with us on Monday and had his first ride on Curly. As I anticipated, Curly was a bit frisky and stubborn. He was not too sure about having someone new on his back - especially a 6'7" someone! But they were managing together okay. G'pa J took some time to help teach Curly more about neck reining, but mainly they just walked and trotted around the arena.

I didn't see what started the bucking, but I turned away for a few moments and when I looked back Curly was trying his best to rid himself of his rider. G'pa J did what I probably would have done - grabbed the horn to hang on! (A better response is to grab his reins and turn him into a tight circle or stop him. Hard to remember when all you can think about is that hard dirt looming before you!) After bucking down a good 25' of the arena, G'pa J finally came out of the saddle, landing hard on his side. Curly bolted out of the arena (a section of fence was down) - I had to send E out to catch him and then work him hard in the round pen (since none of us were willing/able to get into the saddle to ride him).

Long story short, G'pa J broke his pelvis in 3 places and will not be moving around much for the next 6 weeks. And Curly is now officially for sale.

E and I talked about our feelings of fear when we ride Curly and how he is learning that he can successfully rid himself of unwanted riders by bucking. Neither of us is a strong enough rider to handle what he may potentially dish out. So he needs a new home. With a more experienced rider.

I'm going to miss the big guy.

Pasture pests

Curly and Monte are spending quite a bit of time out in their little pasture these days - Curly almost full time and Monte most nights. The back edge of the field is bordered by a river...very beautiful to look at but also the source of many mosquitoes. And poor Curly seems to be the meal of choice for those little bloodsuckers! I have to be pretty religious about spraying him these days; I missed a few days a week ago and found him covered in mosquito bites. Sure hope the West Nile shot he got this spring keeps him protected.

Monte, strangely enough, does not seem to be bothered by the mosquitoes. And flies appear to leave him alone for the most part as well.

Yesterday evening, as I was standing at the pasture fence watching the boys graze, five large wild turkeys decided to cross through the field. Neither horse even looked up from their eating even though these big birds were within 10 feet of them. I think this is a clear sign that Monte is fully settled in at the barn now.

Tears

E ended her 4-H ride last night sobbing in the tack room of our horse trailer. Monte spooked as a few too many riders (in his mind) came up on him, and although she stayed on, she didn't get him to stop immediately. (She'll have to practice quick stops in the near future.) We already knew this was an issue for him, but I think her tears stemmed from frustration, some fear and some feelings that had been building throughout the night.

Not being a perfect rider on the perfect horse, mistakes were made by both E and Monte. These were pointed out to her frequently and after a while, she felt like she was under a microscope, with every move being analyzed. And she didn't feel that all the riders in the arena were receiving such scrutiny.

Made my heart break to see her so upset.

Nervous Nellie

It's been a month since I've been on the back of a horse so E and I took a quick trip out to the barn today so I could ride. As we progressed in the tacking-up process, I became more and more nervous about climbing on - which kind of surprised me. But I made myself go ahead anyway. It helped my confidence a little that he performed well in the round pen prior to saddling up.

Once we started, I kept Curly to a walk, which he then frequently tried to turn into a stop. He was not minding my (admittedly often imprecise) cues and made me work at steering him. But I persevered and ended up where I wanted the majority of the time. I could see that I need to work on being more consistent. I found it hard to keep all the things I needed to do in my head. Riding is hard!

I was happy that he didn't try to catch up to Monte or try to break into a trot when E and her horse passed by at a faster speed. Of course, I should have known he'd stick to his walk; it's not exactly like he enjoys going fast or doing arena work in general.

Curly was sweaty when we finished but I think the heat of the day had more to do with that rather than the intensity of our riding session. :-)

At the end of the short ride (25 minutes), I was still nervous but I had shown myself that I could do it....and that I wouldn't necessarily fall off. Overall, a success.

Bath time

A clean Monte, sporting his new fly mask

Today was bath day for our boys. Curly has not had a hose-down for at least a year now and Monte, being white, looked like he hadn't had a bath for over a year! The initial rinse water was muddy brown when we started but with a little soap and elbow grease, both horses were shiny and clean in no time.

And as is usually the case, we were almost as wet as the horses by the time we were done.