No Riding

July 10, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

Robin and I got up nice and early (for a Saturday), enjoyed our coffee and breakfast, and then got to the barn before 9. We hung out with our barn owner for a little while and watched Whisper and his mom NOT interact with all the new horses they were turned out with. With as interesting as that little guy has been on his own we thought for sure things would get more exciting when he met the others. I guess today was not the day for that. Later in the morning we did see him try to play with Chewie, a big thoroughbred, but Chewie would have none of it and put Whisper in his place. After that he looked very docile.

The morning was nice and cool, and we enjoyed the breeze while we tacked up at the hitching post. Early on I noticed a cut above Bear’s right, front knee. It had a little bit of dried blood underneath it, but it didn’t look too bad as it was on the fleshy part above the joint. However, his knee was a little puffy. It must have happened Thursday evening or early Friday, because it was very crusted over. I decided to leave it for the time being and give it a thorough cleaning after a light ride.

But we didn’t end up riding. When I put Bear through some light groundwork I noticed one stumble on that front leg and a little bit of favoring it at other times. There was absolutely no reason for me to push things, so I just left Robin and Steen on the strip and we went back to the hitching post to get his would cleaned up.

Bear was a pretty good patient. Lately he has been especially sweet and endearing. Like he just can’t get close enough to me. So he was quite good when I started rubbing soapy water over the wound. It certainly irritated it some and he would occasionally pull his leg up on reflex, but he knew I was trying to help him. I also hosed it down with some cold water, and I think that helped the swelling in his knee a little. We finished things up with a little neosporine and then went back to the strip to get a few shots of Robin and Steen.

They were having an OK ride, and the light was not great for photography, so I mostly just let Bear graze. I used his distracted state to get a somewhat decent shot of his wound.

Depending on the swelling in his knee, I probably won’t be able to ride tomorrow. Either way I’ll want to check things out and make sure it is clean.

I did manage to get a little more productivity into our day. Bear really didn’t need to eat more, and I was getting bored, so I decided to walk him down a narrow strip of grass that has corn on one side and fence on the other (with big silos and farm equipment on the other side of the fence). We sometimes take this way to get out to the trails and what we call “the second strip.”

Bear was pretty good with me leading him through this. His head was up and his ears were forward, but he wasn’t extremely comfortable. It was funny to think back on our first rides together when he wasn’t phased by anything. But I just don’t think he was with it enough to notice what was going on.

At least today he was looking to me for direction. And when I asked him to walk in a few circles, stop, and go backwards, he was watching me very closely and responding in good time. All in all we only did this for about 7 or 8 minutes, but I think it was effective.

Oh, and the fly-boots. I think they were good. He was still wearing them and he did not seem at all bothered by them. Also, while we were tacking up he only stamped his rear feet once. That is a huge improvement. So I put them back on before putting him out in the pasture. He only gave us a few goofy steps before returning to his normal gait.

Poor Bear

Brian

July 8, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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I went ahead and made him look like a fool in the hopes that he would be more comfortable. I’ve mentioned before that he hates flies (with a passion), and he is always stamping away with his feet. So much that his hind ankles have been swollen for weeks. It makes me feel bad. Thankfully they aren’t super tender, and he hasn’t showed anything close to lameness while we have been riding. So I got him some fly boots to see if that would solve the problem.

And they look ridiculous. Of course there were some solid ones available from other brands, but these got the best reviews. I had my choice of plaids, including a pink plaid, but I thought a hunter plaid would be the least offensive. It is hard to say whether or not I was right. They do look bad.

After getting them on he was standing very comfortably if not somewhat stiffly. When we started walking he was not too happy. He tried kicking them off and jumping out of them a few times, but then he gave up and let me lead him to the pasture.

He would sometimes move a little awkwardly while playing with the herd, but by the time we were getting ready to leave he more or less looked comfortable in them. I’m hoping these silly boots help with the discomfort he’s been experiencing. Time will tell.

Bear did feel a little bit better knowing that he wasn’t the only ridiculous horse out there. Some of the horses in other pastures have neon fly sheets and things like that. But today Steen was having his own problems with floaty toys. Right, like the kind you find in pools. They have been there for a little while, but apparently he had not noticed them until today. And it freaked him out a little. More than a little. I’ve seen him freaked out, but this was very odd. Robin’s got some interesting things to say about it, and a few goofy pictures of him getting over it, too.

Oh yeah, and we rode. On the strip. Bear and I mostly trotted. Nothing exciting to say about that. But we did spend a little time following the corn. He improved with each passing in that he would stay closer and more parallel to the corn and also more relaxed. And we had a couple of brief, but powerful and fast, lopes coming uphill on the strip. I’m hoping to get to where we can easily move in and out of the lope up and down the whole strip. I think we’re almost there.

Holiday Visitors

Brian

July 6, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Monday we had a gorgeous sunny day with bright blue skies. The temps were warm, but not hot, and I didn’t have to work. Robin and I went out to the barn in the middle of the day to meet a couple friends of ours who rode their bikes out. Steve and Cody have been curious about our horses since we got them, but we haven’t been able to introduce them until now.

Neither one of them have any real horse experience, but they were happy to join in with the grooming. Both our guys are super relaxed, and a good double grooming is one their favorite things.

Out on the strip Robin showed them some of the cool groundwork tricks that Steen knows, and I hopped on Bear and showed them all the gaits (well, not the gallop). Thankfully Bear gave me a wonderfully relaxed lope, so that was nice.

Then our visitors took off and we proceeded to have a regular ride. Bear was excellent for almost the entire ride. The only moment when he was “bad” occurred after we had all walked down the strip and were coming back up to the top. Bear was shifting his body in every way possible to get behind Steen. I wouldn’t let him. He wasn’t unhappy about it, he just seemed confused, like that was the place he was really supposed to be. So I took him out of that situation all together and turned him in a bunch of circles.

It was definitely an odd moment, but other than that, we had a great time. He was leg yielding better than ever, and when I worked on pushing him out to the end of the strip without any company he was not nearly as weavy as he has been recently.

We did not ride very long. I was excited about how well behaved Bear was, and Robin was having some stirrup issues (her new ones should be here any day now). I suggested she hop on Bear and see how he feels. She had never loped him before, so she decided to give it a go.

Bear was not excited when Robin got on. He is used to her riding him only when he has been bad, but today he was good. Nevertheless, he did not want to walk where she asked him to go. So she just pushed him into the lope and he complied. But he ran in the smoothest and smallest circles I’ve ever seen him lope. They got bigger and more relaxed in time, but Robin didn’t push him as it was getting to the hottest part of the day and we were all about done.

In the near future we will have to have some horse trade days. I have not ridden Steen much at all. And I don’t think I’ve ridden his lope for two years now.

Vacation Rides

Brian

July 3, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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We’ve had some hot, hot days here this past week. It has made getting to the barn after work a little difficult. And the guys would have hated us if we made them work hard in that weather. So Thursday morning I took an impromptu mini-vacation from work, and Robin and I went to the barn.

It was cool and hazy and relatively bug free. Well, not bug free, but there weren’t hundreds of bugs around each of us. Despite the better bug conditions, Bear and I were feeling a little disinclined to work. We mostly walked up and down the strip and worked on our steering off leg cues. He was so so for most of it with occasional moments of excellence.

We also spent a bit of time watching Robin and Steen. They were having a great ride, and it was fun to watch Steen easily move in and out of the walk, trot, and lope. Of course they did some standing around, too.

The morning jaunt made the rest of the afternoon at work feel super easy. Unfortunately I couldn’t swing the same thing for the other hot days of the week, so we had some down time.

But now it is a three day weekend, and the temperatures have cooled off considerably. I had an enjoyable morning with coffee and breakfast and the Wimbledon finals. Then we headed out to the barn around noon.

It was cloudy and there was no breeze to speak of, yet we found the entire herd lined up behind the wind block. It was really kind of funny. Steen came out first, and then when Bear heard my voice he came sauntering over as well. He looked genuinely happy to see me, and he acted that way all day, too.

We started our day on the strip with some groundwork on the mecate. I forgot to mention it earlier, but on Thursday I noticed Bear often doesn’t like going too close to the corn. I sometimes think he doesn’t see as well out of his right eye as it only seems to bother him on that side. So we started our groundwork with me leading him around the edge of the corn field and brushing right up against the tall stalks. For the most part he didn’t mind.

When I worked on sending him through a small space between me and the corn he was less excited about the exercise. He started by tucking his butt up and quickly scooting through. When I’d ask for a direction change (which he has become quite good at) he would stop and give me the “nuh-uh” look. So of course I would make him go and praise him when he did. Since it didn’t bother him when I led him by the corn we did that for another minute and then tried the sending exercise again. It started fast, but after a few tries he was walking by the corn with his head held low and relaxed. Great progress.

I hopped on and walked him around for just a few minutes, but since our groundwork was progressive and slightly vigorous, I felt OK asking him to lope almost right away. He was excited to jump into it, but neither of us were really relaxed. I was using Robin’s stirrups as I let her borrow my nice, fat ones. I didn’t like these as much as my feet moved too much and I found it difficult to apply small amounts of force to the stirrups. With the fat ones I can easily keep contact and push hard if I need to or just hold them in place. With the skinny and thin stirrups it felt like all or nothing. I’m sure I would improve my feel in time, but we’ve got another set of fat stirrups in the mail, so I should get mine back soon.

Despite the less than ideal relaxation we stuck with the lope anyways. Bear got tired (it was humid), and that allowed both of us to relax a little more. After we got a few nice circles in a row I asked him to walk, and he was thrilled.

Robin was dealing with a semi-riled up Steen, so we let them have the top part of the strip, and we proceeded to walk down to the other end. Bear has been really weavy when I ask him to go away from the barn, and today was no exception. I decided to ask for the trot as sometimes I can actually control his direction a little more easily at that gait. This worked pretty well as he was not excited to move away from the barn so he gave me a really smooth trot.

We would work on some leg yielding at the bottom and then walk back up the strip towards Robin and Steen. Of course this would excite Bear and he would occasionally hop into the trot. I would gently steer him back the other way until I got a forward moving smooth trot, and then we’d try to walk back to the top of the strip. He got the idea eventually, though he would also start veering on the way back up the strip. Mostly he would veer away from certain “scary” patches of purple flowers or veer towards his herd on the other side of the fence. I did my best to keep him straight with my legs. For the most part it worked.

We finished the ride by walking right along side the corn in both directions. He seemed pretty good about it and would only get hung up on one spot. I don’t know what was going on there. But all in all it was a really relaxing day at the barn. I was super tired before we went, but I was glad Robin urged me out the door.

A Duke Day Ride

Brian

June 26, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Every six weeks or so our farrier, Duke, comes to the barn to give the guys a trim. And every six weeks or so we talk about riding since we have to be there anyways, but we’ve never done it. There is just always a lot of commotion or we get sucked into conversations or we just don’t feel like it.

But today we arrived nice and early only to find that a ton of other people had too. So we got our guys and tacked them up for a ride. It was a gorgeous day. Mid 70s, sunny, light east wind. Basically a perfect summer day.

My hopes for this ride were that it would help loosen up Bear’s legs. He is almost always tight, and it can make getting a trim a little difficult. But he is usually a little more loose after a ride. So we walked onto the strip and just moved around for a little bit. He was not happy when I tried to take him down to the far end. I think for the most part it was the bugs. When the wind was in our face things were better.

Hoping some speed would alleviate the problem I moved him into the trot. He was a little stiff and fast at first, but then he settled into a nice, loose rein trot. Perhaps it just took a minute to outrun the flies. When we went back to walking he was paying more attention to me, but the flies were still getting to him. So I asked for the lope and he smoothly brought himself into the gait. It felt really good.

After our ride yesterday Robin and I were talking about our loping experience. In the smaller indoor arena, she told me how when she relaxed and took her weight off her stirrups and put it onto the saddle through the tight turns, Steen would go through them with better lateral flexion and more relaxation. When I thought about that, it sounded like what I was trying to do yesterday to get Bear to bend nicely in the outdoor arena, but I didn’t know at the time that is what I was trying to do. So today when we loped through our turns I was conscious to be as light in the stirrups as possible and just use my upper legs to keep my butt centered over the saddle.

It totally worked. Occasionally one of us would lose a bit of balance and I’d lean into a stirrup, then Bear would lean as a result of that. But instead of bearing down and getting through the turn, I would go back to sitting deep and relaxed and not push with my legs. Bear would automatically correct himself. We were loping such great circles that Robin was just sitting on Steen watching us go. Even one of the other boarders came by to put her horse back and she did a double take when she saw it was me on Bear. So I guess we looked pretty good.

And that was about it for the ride. When we took the guys inside they were thrilled to stand around for a few minutes and be doted upon. I took Bear through some stretches with all four of his legs and just like I suspected, they were much looser than before the ride. By the time it was his turn for a trim he was very relaxed and well behaved for Duke. Sometimes due to Bear’s tight hindquarters Duke can’t bring his feet all the way up to the farrier’s block, but today there was no problem with that. So maybe we’ll have to force ourselves into riding on Duke Day more often.

Sweaty Backs

Brian

June 25, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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That was the goal for this morning’s ride. Well, more the goal for Robin and Steen, Bear and I were fine getting whatever sweat pattern we happened to get. But Robin wanted to push Steen a bit and see how the new saddle really fit him.

The trick was the morning was really cool, and we couldn’t wait for the afternoon as there was a storm rolling in. So we decided to head out to the barn early, and Robin and Steen were going to ride in the indoor arena as it tends to be a bit warmer and the enclosed environment makes it easier for Steen to focus.

As the arena is a little small for two fast moving horses, Bear and I opted to ride in the outdoor arena. I think the enclosed space and lack of Steen also made it easier for Bear to pay attention to me. His turns and stops were really good. And when we started trotting in figure eights to keep warming up he was on a very loose rein and was quite responsive to my legs.

When we started loping he was definitely into it. We went in a large circles to the left for awhile, and then tried it to the right. They were probably the best circles to the right we’ve ever had. And I have a new theory about this. My right hip is outrageously tight, but I’ve been working hard on loosening it up with some single leg deadlifts and other exercises, and it has really been responding nicely. As a result, my hips and legs were more comfortable going to the right. It wasn’t as good as going to the left, but it was pretty nice.

Of course once we stopped that little loping session Bear was keyed up and ready to keep running. I guess those quiet rides at the end of the week and the cool temps in the morning had him back to feeling like a youngun. But I really didn’t want to give him his way.

So we trotted. We did lots of tight circles moving out to big circles and vice-versa. We did figure eights. And we did a lot of transitions and backing. It worked a little, but I think the real truth is Bear is in pretty great shape right now, so he could probably trot fast for many, many hours.

Once he calmed down at the walk I decided to have another go at the lope. He was immediately excited and lept right into it. We were back to going left, and there was one part of the arena that he kept cutting off and making the turn sharper than it needed to be. So I just thought about that section and tried to keep my body relaxed through it and push him in a way that would allow him to nicely bend through the turn. I’m not quite good enough with loping to use my legs while we’re doing it, so I was really just thinking my way through this and hoping it translated through my body. I think it did, because we had some great turns through the “bad” spot.

We worked on this for quite a few minutes, and Bear got the point where he was dropping the lope. I’d smooch to him and he would pick it back up, but he was definitely getting tired. Serves him right, too. Maybe next time he’ll think a bit more before getting all goey.

We ended our ride when Robin and Steen came out the the hitching post. Both the guys were very calm and relaxed. Steen definitely won the sweating contest. The indoor heat and the fact that Robin did a whole lot more loping than I did had Steen dripping from his face. Steen’s prize was a shower.

Standing Around

Brian

June 25, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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I guess it was a long week for me, because I was tired again this afternoon. But it was a beautiful day, and I couldn’t not go to the barn. Bear was in good spirits and just generally happy to be hanging out with me. We actually did a lot of standing while we watched Robin and Steen continue to test out the new saddle. For the most part they looked good. Steen was giving Robin some really relaxed lopes, but Steen wasn’t always great as he also just wanted to come stand near us. Understandable I suppose.

We alternated standing with some work on our steering and our stops again. He was pretty good with both, and it was just really relaxing to be outside. I think it was good for both of us to have another day where we didn’t have to get all antsy about running faster.

After the ride we stopped at an old bar called the Hilltop Tavern for burgers and Budweisers. It was a great way to cap off the week. We had never been to the bar before, and that is kind of surprising as it is right on the way home. So we drive by it everyday. Perhaps it will become a regular thing for us.

Just Walking Around

Brian

June 24, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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It was a cool afternoon, and while Robin was really excited to try her new saddle, I was a little tired. So after we saddled up and went to the strip, I just kind of walked Bear around. We started by going up and down most of the strip. He didn’t like this in the beginning. He’d weave around and want to turn back, but he quickly realized that I would not give in to his desires.

Since mid-March Bear and I have really been working on faster gaits. In fact, I think this was the first ride in three months that I did not trot or lope. It felt kind of nice. Especially since he has been so goey lately.

So aside from just walking up and down the strip we also took some time to work on our stops and turning off leg pressure. He was pretty good with the former, and so so with the latter. Towards the end of the ride he started getting better with the turns, but I think he was just paying more attention to me at that point. I have not figured out a great way to get him to focus on me when there is a running Steen/bugs/a storm coming/etc. This is definitely something I’ll have to work on.

In my quest to keep things switched up with Bear, I’ll have to remember the option to just walk around. I think it is a nice break for both of us.

Bear Thinks He’s a Four Year Old

Brian

June 20, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Today we went out to the barn in the afternoon. My plan was to start loping Bear early (particularly if it seemed like he felt good) and the lope and lope and lope. And then maybe lope some more.

We started with some really light groundwork, then did a little warming up under saddle with some focused turning off of leg cues (which went OK, I think the bugs and heat were partially to blame). Right when that was starting to become tiresome, I moved him into the lope.

It was nice for a few strides, but as I moved our oval out bigger and bigger it became increasingly erratic. He’d dig in super hard on the slight rises and I’d feel his body start to flatten out, then he’d cut into the turns and come out in whatever trajectory felt best for him. If things got a little rough or difficult he’d drop into his choppy trot for a moment, and then we’d go back into the crazy lope.

All he wanted to do was go, and not pay attention to me. And for a little while I went with it. But then I got a little uncomfortable. Robin was off to the side doing groundwork and hanging out with Steen, so she could see things weren’t going well. She suggested I ask for one circle at the lope, then have him flex three times, then walk one circle. Repeat.

So that is what we did over the next hour. It turned out to be a great idea. It did not work in any kind of magical way, and sometimes it would take minutes for me to get three nice flexes out of Bear, but it gave both of us something to concentrate on and I could see improvement happening. I would add in some trotting or longer loping sessions when he was a little more relaxed. I’d like to say we ended on a wonderful note, but we really just ended with him doing better than he started. Quite a bit better, but not great.

When I hopped off he was thrilled. He was soaked all over and had foamy sweat on his cheeks and the sides of his neck. I pulled his saddle off and passed it to Robin and Steen. Then I exchanged Bear’s bridle for a rope halter and we moved back to some groundwork.

I did not have any great plans, I just wanted to get his feet moving and help him cool down. He had no desire to go anywhere at first, but it only took a teeny bit of firmness on my part to get the desired response out of him. I did make the mistake of trying to add a couple new things to our repertoire. I tried getting him to jog after me and to circle drive off the stick (not together). He’d never done these things, and we were both really hot and sweaty and I know my patience was not where it should have been for teaching. To Bear’s credit, he really tried to go where I was asking him to, but he just didn’t understand what I wanted. And I couldn’t help him understand it any better. So we just went back to some easy leading until he was cooled off, and then I let him graze until Robin and Steen finished their ride.

We finished the day with a shower and an apple. The guys were very appreciative of both.

End of the Week Rides

Brian

June 18, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

The Tipped Z Ranch books feature fictional stories but real horsemanship.

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Lately I have been getting some long rides in, but this Tuesday Bear and I had a fun, short ride, and I kind of liked the idea of having a few of those just to mix things up.

On Thursday we more or less repeated Tuesday’s ride, but we were back out on the strip, and Robin was riding bareback on Steen. Bear was very relaxed and responsive. We started the day with some really light groundwork and then, sensing that he was rather warmed up, I asked him to start loping almost immediately. He obliged and gave me the best lope we’ve ever had. Both of us were balanced and collected. He was also bending nicely through the circle.

We kept it up for a little while and then moved into the other direction. Upon cuing him for the lope he dropped his shoulder a bit and then threw his head around and almost lept into the lope, but didn’t. It was a little rough to ride through, and for the first time since I’ve had my new saddle, I grabbed for the horn to steady myself. It worked nicely, and Bear calmed down a bit. His ankles are still tight and swollen from all the bugs, and he was really being so sweet that I knew he wasn’t trying to get out of anything. We did a little more to the left and then called it an evening.

On Friday I was more or less expecting the same kind of ride. But I had a very different horse. It was cool and dry and Bear was ready to go. Out on the strip he was paying attention to me, but he was also walking fast and then later trotting super fast. A few times he snuck in a few strides at the lope when I wasn’t asking for it.

I really didn’t want to let him do what he wanted to do. This might not have been a bad thing, but it isn’t a habit I want to get into. And Bear picks up patterns so quickly, I don’t want him always thinking we lope after 5 minutes.

So we trotted. And trotted. Long straightaways mixed in with lots of turns. It was rough and fast and I was not enjoying myself a ton. I tried to relax through it, and we did this for close to 15 minutes, but then I got sick of it. So I hopped off and adjusted the mecate so we could do some groundwork.

We did a few simple circles and disengages and then I made him run. He doesn’t love to do it on the line, so it was nice that it was still my idea. He moved really nicely in both directions. Perhaps not quite as relaxed to the right in the beginning, but after a circle or two he would relax into it. We were just about to finish up with the loping on the line when Bear dug into the turn a little too tightly and slipped on the partially wet grass. He went down pretty hard on his right side and it yanked the rope out of my hand. He hopped up and looked rather confused about what happened, then he trotted off of the strip and over to the gate that leads to the hitching post.

I felt bad that he fell, and then I felt worse when he stepped on the trailing mecate a few times. My intention was just to make him think and pay attention to me, he certainly didn’t need anything uncomfortable to happen to him. But that is life sometimes. I slowly trailed after him and met him at the gate. He stood quietly and lowered his head when I arrived so I could give him lots of reassuring pets.

I quietly led him back to the strip and then we did a little more groundwork. No more loping, just some easy trotting with lots of disengages. He was very quiet and attentive, so I hopped back on for a few minutes and just walked around. He was so good I decided to see if his trot was a little more relaxed. It probably was, but not by much. We were back to trotting in tight figure eights and various turns, but he wasn’t super relaxed anymore. He felt good. So at least the fall didn’t bother him too much.

The most disappointing thing about the ride was that I broke our little barn camera. I pulled it out of my pocket to snap a few shots of Robin and Steen doing groundwork, but the lens would not come out, and it was accompanied by an awful clicking noise. Then it finally came out, only to get stuck like that. So we will be without photos for a little while.