Back on Steen

April 2, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

Wednesday we went out to the barn early in the afternoon in hopes of a repeat of last Friday’s great ride. Bear was sluggish in the beginning, and even not all that excited to leave the bale and follow me. But once we started groundwork he came around. He continues to get better at responding to what I ask. Or maybe I get better at asking it. Either way, we are seeing improvement. Particularly in his relaxation during circle work.

Under saddle things started out good. He was his usual quiet self going through our walking warm-up. It was a pretty, sunny day and we had all the doors open in the arena. During one pass by the big door we heard a horse whinny outside, Bear lifted his head semi-quickly, and then bolted towards the middle of the arena. Thankfully my new saddle held me in place, but this was more than a little disconcerting. It was very un-Bear-like. Sure, he’s jumped off before, but never like that. He is perhaps the most dominant horse in the pasture, there is no way a whinny like that would worry him.

We continued to walk around for a bit, but he then had a few other starts and was just not acting like himself. Robin volunteered to ride him to see if we could determine if he was sore, or just being temperamental. He didn’t want to let her on, but she got up there and bounced around a little and the saddle didn’t seem to bother him. She walked around and then asked him to trot for a while. He did it, but you could tell he was hating it the whole time, and he just wasn’t moving like he was the week before.

After the ride we took the saddle off and thoroughly examined his back, but we couldn’t detect any immediate problems. Then we explored other parts on him and found a very, very sensitive spot on his right side. Right in the ribs where the cinch goes. He’s been sore there before, so we’re going to give him some rest and see if the chiropractor can offer us some more specific work and exercises on this particular problem (rather than the general soreness old Bear gets).

We had not been out very long, so I decided to jump on Steen. He did not seem to mind my new saddle as we walked around the arena and even did a little trotting. I was shocked at how different Steen felt. I really haven’t ridden him since maybe June. He was quite relaxed, but even a relaxed Steen involves a lot of jerky motions that I do not experience on Bear. So that, coupled with a very busy barn that afternoon and the surprises from riding Bear, meant I didn’t feel like riding for very long.

On Friday both Robin and I had the tireds and decided to skip the barn. Instead we went out this morning and had the place to ourselves. We planned on letting Bear rest, so I went out and grabbed Steen as I would use him for my lesson. It was fun to tack him up again. I spent so much time doing that years ago, and today he was extremely calm and relaxed.

Again I used my saddle, and he seemed to like it. We did a lot of the usual things I’ve been doing with Bear and then moved to the trotting. His trotting was very eratic, so in some ways it did feel a little like Bear’s. But Steen can be sensitive about his mouth and I never knew if I was giving him too much pressure or not enough. At times he would settle in, at other times, not so much. All in all I spent 40 minutes and it was good to get used to him again.

After my ride I encouraged Robin to get on and enjoy herself. She had tried out my new saddle before, but she hadn’t used it on Steen. Like me, she was surprised at how different it felt on him than it did on Bear.

Steen was thoroughly warmed up for her, so after a few laps of trotting she asked him for the lope. She probably hadn’t loped on him since the fall, but he did really well. We had the good camera out with us and I snapped a lot of shots. You can see more at her blog.

Good and Bad

Brian

March 28, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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That is how the barn day felt today. Things were probably mostly good, but there was some bad in there, too. Here’s the break down.

Good: The saddle was great. Yesterday Robin and I treated it with oil to supple up the fenders and various other parts and then dumped a bunch of baby powder into it to stop the squeaks. When Robin said that is what you do, I didn’t really believe it. But then every page that came up on the Google search “how to stop a squeaky saddle” said to put baby powder in every crevice. So we did. I think I heard one tiny creak today, that was it.

Bad: At 9 am on a Sunday the barn was crowded. There was a lame horse, lots of noisy conversation, banging, horses getting ready for rides, and various other things happening. It wasn’t a big deal really, but usually early on a weekend we get the place to ourselves. Perhaps we’ve been a bit spoiled.

Good: Bear was super calm today. He stood like a dream for grooming and tacking, and he was responsive during groundwork. A bit slow (I think due to all the noise and distraction), but definitely better than Friday.

Bad: Bear’s stops. Usually he stops on a dime. Today it would take him three to four steps to go from his very slow walk to a stop. I tried to work on this a lot today. I’d ask for the stop firmly, it would take awhile to get it, and then I’d back him up a lot in hopes that it would get him thinking again, in general, and ideally thinking about going backwards would prepare him more for a stop. But I don’t think he stopped nicely once during the whole ride.

Good: Getting back to the trot. When I first asked Bear to trot he was great. His speed was nice and relaxed, and I didn’t have much contact on his mouth. I also felt really good in the saddle.

Bad: Continuing in the trot. It deteriorated pretty quickly. Robin and Steen were riding in the arena with us, and when they were about done with their ride they just calmly stood in the center of the arena for a bit while Bear and I trotted around them. Bear didn’t like this. He kept veering off the rail in hopes of getting to stand in the middle with Steen. I had to bring him back to the rail and that’s when things started getting a little jerky.

Good: Bear’s half-passes. OK, this wasn’t really good as I didn’t ask for it. But at one point during our trotting Bear was zig zagging every which way to stay off the rail, and when I tried to get him back on it he went into the smoothest and prettiest little half-pass. I wish I could have seen it. I do know it felt good.

Bad: More zig-zagging and head tossing in the trot. I wasn’t sure if he was uncomfortable or if it was the commotion or if he was a little sore or tired from all the riding this week, but Bear was not happy about me asking him to trot more. We kept it up for just a bit longer (thought it was much shorter than Friday’s trot session) and then I cooled him down for a while. He was a little better during that time, but I still felt like he was just ready to be done.

And so that was our ride. Definitely interesting, and overall not bad, but not as good as it could have been. I think I’ll give Bear a few days of rest and then see where he’s at.

Continuing to Trot

Brian

March 26, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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The pasture horses got some nice, dry bales of hay. When I went out to get Bear he was standing with his side up against a bale, and he was covered in hay. I wish I took a picture of it. When he saw me coming he took a half-hearted bite out of the bale and then waited for my approach. Still, he seemed excited to get the halter on and follow me out of the pasture.

Grooming was good and we moved on to some groundwork. From the get go he was fidgety and not paying much attention to me. He started walking in circles and so we just went with circle work. He was moving and bending nicely, but he was not stopping or being very respectful of me. So we upped the pace, and I tried to challenge him with more change ups. Then he got uncomfortable. I had already put the saddle on (normally this isn’t a problem), and it seems the new one might bounce a bit without a rider up there.

So we pulled it off, slowed things down, and went back to yielding the hind and fore-quarters and backing. He calmed right down and started paying a little more attention to me. It could have been better, but I was happy with calm. There is also no doubt that he had an overfull tummy. He pooped when he came in, he pooped at the beginning of ground work, and then he pooped two more times while I was riding him. At least we know his digestive system is working.

Under saddle he was good right from the start. He followed the rail nicely and gave me some really excellent tight turns.

During figure-eights over the PVC pipe he would get both really good (he learns patterns super fast) and really lazy (tripping on the pipe and cutting corners). We perked him up with some trotting. He was quite good with this, even better than Wednesday. At times I would hold a medium amount of contact on his mouth, and he was fine with this. He’d slow down a bit and bring his back up into the trot (I only know this because Robin and Heather were giving commentary from the sidelines). Sometimes I even had him on a rather loose rein.

We kept up the trotting for a little over 15 minutes, with intermittent walking breaks. This is possibly one of the best rides I’ve had on Bear. He stayed on the rail quite willingly, he was very responsive to the neck reining, and he seemed to enjoy the work at the trot. Sure, he got tired, but he was very much connected to me and what I was asking him to do. Kind of surprising given how checked out he was with the groundwork.

After the ride he stood like a dream and was still paying very close attention to me. He only inched into the storage space for chopped hay once, but I backed him up and told him he’d explode if he ate any more just yet. He understood. The goal for the next few weeks is to increase time at the trot and get him controlling his own speed. Should be fun. Oh, and the new saddle was wonderful. Both for me and Bear.

New Saddle!

Brian

March 24, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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I was out of town the last two days for work, and it was a little tiring. After I got home I lounged in the recliner wondering what I should do with my afternoon when the UPS guy came up to the door with a huge box in his arms. My new Bear Trap Rancher saddle. It came fast, as we just ordered it on Saturday.

Pulling it out of the box it looked even better than the pictures online. And those pictures looked pretty cool. We pulled off some of the superfluous nylon bits and propped it on the stairs to admire.

Then we changed and went to the barn. How could we not try it out?

The barn initially looked quiet, but then we saw a few people in the pasture, and another border pulled up right after us to give a lesson, so it was actually hoppin for a Wednesday. We also got two new horses in the feed lot pasture, so all those horses were really running and kicking up their heels.

Bear and Steen were relaxed, though. Bear was a tad fidgity while I groomed him (he was attracted to the chopped hay; yesterday Robin reminded him what it tasted like). The initial fitting of the saddle without a pad looked good. So I finished the tacking up and took him in the arena. Our barn owner’s daughter was getting a lesson, but they didn’t mind us joining them. Bear was good with the traffic, and we just did our mostly normal warm-up stuff (sans groundwork).

The saddle felt good to me. Roomy and comfy. But what really surprised me was how easy Bear was moving. He seemed to be walking faster and more steadily. And when we were doing tight turns he was bending like no other. Even to the right! His bad side. It was so amazing I spent quite a few minutes just doing tight right turns, and he never once heaved himself over or shuffled to the side or anything that he often does.

So it is possible that the other saddle pinched or did something to make him comfortable. It is certainly a little too early to tell for sure. But really, he has never turned right like that. It is quite shocking.

Robin took this with the little camera, so the quality isn’t quite as good as the others.

After a little while I gave Robin a chance to try it out, and she agreed with my assessment: Bear was ultra relaxed. She trotted on Bear again, and I had never seen his trot look so even and smooth. He was reaching better with his hind legs, and he wasn’t flinging himself up as high as he used to. So I jumped back on and did a bit more walking and then we tried some trotting, too. I hadn’t been trotting at all because of how uncomfortably stiff I’ve felt in the saddle. It has been a mixture of the bad-fall nerves and a really tight right hip (mine, and I kinda thought Bear’s too). It might also have been due to a poorly fitting saddle. Anyways, today we trotted for a few minutes. It was decent. We’ve got some work to do. I think my stirrups were too long, and Bear was really not excited when I got back on him for the second time. So we’ll need to work through those things. But all in all, everything is good.

Except the weather. The next few days are supposed to bring cold temps and some wintry mix. The midwest in march. Nice. So after Bear’s hard work yesterday, and a little today, I thought we should give him a big snack. The bails are getting low, too.

With food in the picture, Bear got pushy again. So I moved him around while Robin laid it all out. While he and Steen ate we swapped the thin, rawhide stirrups for my old, nice and fat stirrups. And we took some pictures.

Bear was not happy when I tried to get him to pose with me for the camera.

Hopefully next time we can work more on working the kinks out of Bear’s trot (and my seat) and the creaks out of the leather saddle. Both might take a few rides.

Shots and Saddles

Brian

March 19, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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On Friday I had another good lesson on Bear. It was a beautiful and relaxing afternoon at the barn. When I brought Bear in, though, he was probably the dirtiest I’d ever seen him. So grooming took some time. He was good for it. I think the groundwork we’ve been doing has made him more trusting of me as a leader.

We also started this session off with groundwork. It was by far the best yet. We did a lot of circle work, and it was the most relaxed he has ever been on the line. We then combined lots of our usual tricks to make the exercises more demanding, and he responded really well to this.

Under saddle he was very relaxed. Robin finished her ride before we even started (Steen was not as dirty) and she was watering the arena while we did groundwork. Bear remained so relaxed we decided she should just keep watering. We went through all our normal patterns. The tight right turns are still tough, but he was working through them nicely. In the end I thought about trotting some (we’ve really got to get back to working at the trot), but I didn’t feel super comfortable. Like Bear, I’ve got a really tight hip, and I often feel stiff and unstable in the saddle. Friday it was a little more noticeable because Bear felt wider. Again. Last Friday he felt trimmer, but this Friday I had to readjust his off-billet he was so big. That wideness doesn’t make my hip feel great.

Big Bear hanging out in the muck.

So we ended the day with some more groundwork in the arena sans rope and halter. He was good going in circles both directions. He didn’t really want to come to me, but after one longer running session he was pretty excited to come in for pets. We ended it on that high note.

Saturday was vet day. We arrived to lots of commotion and teeth drilling. Our horses only needed shots as they had their teeth done in November. Oh, and we needed a poop sample. They’ll get tested this spring to see what kind of parasites (if any) they’ve got, and then we’ll worm accordingly. Hopefully it will be cheaper and mean less medicine for them. Bear is a super pooper, so I got his sample just moments after we came into the barn. Steen on the other hand, we’ll, he’s a little shy.

While waiting for our turn (and Steen’s poop) we spent a lot of time grooming and washing the mud off their legs. Bear was great the whole time. Oh yeah, he even came up to me from the bale! He never does that. So yesterday’s work must have been good for him. Then today he stood wonderfully. He didn’t react at all to the shots or all the other squeely and nervous horses. Steen was good, too, but Robin really had to work for that stool sample.

The really big news of the day is I ordered a new saddle. As I mentioned above, I’m often uncomfortable on Bear. I’ve thought for a few months that my saddle was too small for me. I’m not a big guy, but I am quite tall, and I don’t think my long legs ever fit well in the saddle I’ve been riding. So after much reading on line (for perhaps the dozenth time), watching old videos of me riding different horses in different saddles, and trying out some larger saddles (16 and 17 inch) at our local tack shop, we finally ordered one:

It’s a Bear Trap Rancher by American Saddlery. That’s right, Bear Trap. But that isn’t why I bought it, though it is kind of why I initially wanted it. I settled on this one for the stellar reviews, good price, elegantly simple design, and secure pommel, seat, and cantle. It should be in next week, and I can’t wait.

Lessons and an Anniversary

Brian

March 14, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Friday we continued our little tradition of going out to the barn and having Robin give me a lesson. This time things were a bit crowded, though. Ruby, a 13 year old girl who’s been at the barn quite a few years, was also getting a lesson from another border. Ruby is definitely a better rider than me, but still, I was a tad nervous to have all the extra stuff happening around us.

Before the other lesson started Bear and I were able to get in and do some groundwork. We’re getting better and better. When he lags or gets sluggish now I’ve got a lot more things to demand of him. And on Friday I really had to get on his case to back out of my space. At one point I hit him a little bit (and I mean little, cuz he’s a huge horse) and he backed up like I’d never seen.

Then he didn’t want to come back to me. So we did more backs and circles and he was really paying attention to the whole time. After a very short while he was doing everything I asked, including coming to me.

When I hopped on we had the arena to ourselves and just did some big loops and a few small patterns to warm up. Then Ruby and Ginger (her horse) came in. Since things were a little busier Robin didn’t really tell me to do a whole lot of specific things. So I just paid attention to where everyone was at and fit in the exercises that Bear and I know.

If you look closely you can see that Bear is actually a little bit trimmer than he was a few weeks ago.

It all worked out really well. I was nervous at times, as Ruby and Ginger were doing a lot of loping and even a little jumping (I should also say we don’t have a very large arena). At one point Ginger hit the jump pretty hard and Bear jumped a bit. In retrospect it was pretty funny, but at the time, not so much. In reality Bear was really good the whole time and he was doing an excellent job paying attention to me.

Ruby and Ginger, just barely clearing that rail

Today is Robin and my 2nd year anniversary. So I took the afternoon off work (easy, as it’s spring break) and we went to the barn. Robin had a good bareback ride on Steen while Bear and I continued to work on groundwork. He really responded to some quick disengages followed by some big backs. It was fun. For me.

But all the work is really helping me be more in charge and authoritative. All important things as Bear is kind of in charge a lot. After today’s ride we watched him cleverly move the head mare away from a prime eating spot. So the more he can pay attention to me, the better. Today we continued to test that out as Gay and Doc joined us in the arena. I’d never been in our arena with three riders before.

It was a little crowded, but all in all it worked out just fine. Good practice for both Bear and I. Well, mostly for me.

I’m always sure to give him lots of “Good Boy’s”

No Pics This Time

Brian

March 7, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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But the guys look the same. And I’m pretty sure I was wearing the same outfit I’ve been wearing to the barn for a month (it has been washed in that time).

On a relatively mild Sunday afternoon we were thrilled to have the barn to ourselves. We brought both Steen and Bear inside. Robin stripped off Steen’s blanket and shortly thereafter hopped on for a bareback ride. I took my sweet time grooming Bear (though he was actually cleaner than the blanketed Steen). Then we joined the others in the arena to do a little groundwork.

Bear and I have been doing groundwork off and on since we became partners back in August of last year. We never really did it super consistently, and often we had Robin giving us a hand, so it was never a solid part of the work we did together. But in these last three weeks we have made a nice little breakthrough. Bear understands all the moves I’m asking of him, and he seems to enjoy thinking through them and doing the right thing.

We had one moment when I was asking for him to disengage his forequarters and he just kind of kept walking around in bad circles. He was yielding, but not in the way I wanted. Finally we got a few passable disengages, and then we switched to the other side. On this side he figured it out. And I could see him thinking really hard, “oh, this is how it was supposed to work.”

The problem with the first try was that it was on Bear’s bad side. I was asking him to turn right. He is super stiff somewhere in his body and it prevents him from being able to comfortably turn right at a certain angle. And it is an odd angle. He can actually turn right very sharply with no problems (Robin says it is because he can pivot on that huge haunch of his). But if it is a little less sharp, then it hurts him. Bigger circles, no problem.

The same thing was happening when we were doing some circling exercises under saddle. Excellent to the left, OK to the right for awhile and then, bang, awful. Mostly due to his discomfort. So I’m trying to let him move in a way that is natural for him, but I’m also trying to make it look like I’m asking him to do it. It is tricky, and sometimes I succeed and sometimes I don’t. Just more to work on.

We ended our very good ride and then turned Bear and Steen out into the arena. Both Robin and I rode really easily, and their pasture is a mud bog right now, so we were hoping they would kick up their heels a bit. Robin started by encouraging Bear into some free longing. He was great at it. Steen just hung out by me the whole time. He was not interested in playing.

We figured that was fine and then I had a turn doing some free longing with Bear. He has certainly done this before, but who knows when the last time was. It helped me that Robin got him started today. Then I just worked to keep it light and easy, asking him to move around me in a circle, then stop, then come to me. When he didn’t want to come I just urged him right back into the circle.

Then he started coming to me. It was very gratifying. After the second time we did some leading drills. He just followed right along. This felt like a big deal to me because Bear is very much a ‘do his own thing’ kind of horse. But today he was thrilled to follow me around.

So all in all it was an excellent Sunday afternoon at the barn. Probably far better than a ride Friday would have been with me being tired and the boys spending the whole day standing around in the cold rain. Now we just need to make sure we can keep our momentum up a little bit.

A Walking Lesson

Brian

February 12, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We’re trying to have Friday be the day that Robin gives me a lesson. So today was the second lesson (last Friday I took advantage of good snow to go skiing and we had the lesson on Sunday).

When I went to get Bear out of the pasture he was not eating. This might be a first. He had his butt up the bale. Robin thinks he might have been holding his spot so no other horses could get in there.

But he was willing to be haltered and brought inside. And he stood wonderfully. The ground work went really well, too. Leading, backing, and flexing were all better than they were last week. Bear seems to really be enjoying going to work again.

Bear, flexing like he means it.

The lesson was going to focus on more intricate stuff at the walk, so I climbed on bareback.

Bear looking sturdy, before any potential discomfort set in.

This worked for a while, but neither Bear nor I were very comfortable. Since I haven’t been riding a lot lately I was not as relaxed as I could have been. And Bear was moving around very quick and energetically (at first I was excited about his fast walking!). It is possible my sharp butt bones dig into his back and make him a little uncomfortable. We’ll have to keep testing this theory out, though.

With a saddle on we both felt more comfortable. Robin put us through some tight circle work (which calmed us both down), and then had us work on making the walk very slow and controlled and switching to fast, high energy walking. This was very hard for us. In the beginning I kind of wanted to stop because it was going so bad. She told me to be consistent and persevere. And she was right; I got more consistent and Bear got a lot better at responding. He is a rather smart horse and really has no trouble picking up on things like this. So I need to keep that in mind.

After our lesson Bear and I hung out and did some more grooming while Robin rode Steen. He was great for her. But I wasn’t. Not only could I give her no pointers, I couldn’t even take a single picture. So all we’ve got from today are shots of Bear and I. I’ll have to work on that next time.

Super Bowl Sunday!

Brian

February 7, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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And no one was at the barn. It was perfect. We were hoping this would be the case because we planned on Robin giving me a little lesson.

But first we let the guys run around the arena.

After that, Bear stood like a dream for grooming and tacking. He’s been getting a little fidgety lately, mostly because his favorite snack is right next to where we tie him. But today he was thrilled to stand. No doubt the warm temps (around 30) had something to do with it.

Robin had us start with some simple groundwork. Bear can be a little lazy, so we worked on leading while I varied my pace. It was pretty good.

In the saddle he was super calm. We followed the rail, crossed some PVC pipe, did figure eights, lots of stop and go, and then when Bear started to get tired we worked on keeping the pace up. I thought he would resist more but he was actually very good at it.

So the lesson was a success. We’ll definitely have some more. It really helps when I don’t have to be the one deciding exactly what to do. Then I can just focus on me directing Bear. We’re going to try to keep this up once a week or so. Hopefully I’ll see some nice progress.

A Boo Boo

Brian

February 1, 2011

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Sometime over the weekend Bear got a good sized scratch (or a small cut, if you prefer) on the back of his left hind leg. We checked it out on Sunday, and he was a very good patient.

Today we drove out to make sure the bandage was still there and that nothing had gotten any worse. We found him on the leeward side of a bale, right next to a huge hole in the hay where his head could fit nicely. He was excited for the halter (I’m sure the sideways snow had a something to do with that) and showed no problems walking on the icy sections in the pasture.

In the barn he stood nicely while we brushed him off and made sure the bandage was still intact. It was.

And that was pretty much it. He could have probably used a little bit of groundwork, but we didn’t want to get any sand in the bandage or stress his leg in anyway. So back to the bale we brought him.