Stronger and Faster

February 10, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

I rode Laredo in the hackamore again today. I swapped out my mecate, though. I rode him in the one I usually leave on my snaffle set-up. The rope just looks so good with Laredo, I can't resist riding him with it. (Yes, I can be that superficial about tack. :)) We had another great ride today. We had to lead them in across a sheet of ice, and we let them romp in the indoor again. Bear has this hilarious habit of rolling and then leaping up from the roll into this huge kick, landing, and racing off for the other side of the arena. He and Laredo were both really tearing it up for a while. Afterwards, Laredo stayed a bit more keyed up than is usual for him. During groundwork he was unusually sensitive to my body language, often responding with more energy than I expected. So I was being careful to be gentle with him and encourage his efforts. One cool moment was I had him backing aw...

Steen the Energized

Robin

February 7, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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My last few rides on Steen, he has an unbelievable amount of energy. The weather has been blech, and as a result the pasture is a combo swamp/ice rink. Whenever it gets really bad out there, we tend to turn the horses out in the indoor arena for a few minutes after we bring them in so they can roll and move freely before we make them work. Steen loves this routine, and today after I unclipped his lead rope he was more than ready to get some playing in. He rolled, hopped up and started trotting around tossing his head, trying to get Laredo involved. Laredo is still less familiar with the drill, and isn't as sure what's going on sometimes. Steen got him going through, and they had fun rearing at each other and racing around.

Finally, a Trim

Robin

February 4, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Today the farrier was out, and our guys had enough toe to warrant a trim for the first time in over three months. We got to the barn early so we could ride first and get the guys settled... a plan which may have backfired in the long run. I started out on Laredo, and I rode him in the hackamore. Brian and I have been speculating on and off about some of his hang-ups and whether or not they are bit related, and I thought it would be an interesting test. He was good for the ride. My faster rides seem to be helping and he's a lot more willing to move out with me lately. He was soft to the hackamore from the start, which is no surprise because he's soft to a halter. Laredo's most interesting tic is this thing he does with his head. A picture can illustrate much better than I can explain:

A Little Show

Robin

January 27, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Well, 2013 is still a bit slim on the saddle hours. We've had rotten weather and my work-load continues to be rather heavier than is ideal. But, today we went by a show that some of our barn peeps were riding in to watch the competition. I am not very into the show world and I don't think I ever will be, but it is interesting sometimes to see what goes down at these things. I try not to be an overly critical person, but I have to say an hour at a show is about enough to leave me sick to my stomach. The percentage of horses in that ring that were happy and relaxed was infinitesimal. People who looked like they were having fun was almost as rare a sight. At any rate, I will not digress too far. We watched our girl ride in a handful of classes, and I found I am inept at judging these sorts of open shows. Apparently what I consider good horsemanship and what the judges admire do not...

Fun With Spurs

Robin

January 20, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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I've been riding consistently for over 20 years now, and while I do have quite a few experiences under my belt, the thing I love about working with horses is how the learning never stops. You never know when you're going to have a new "first." For instance, today I rode in spurs for the first time. What took me so long, you might ask? Well, a number of things. As a child and young adult, I was entirely anti-spur. I thought spurs were overly harsh. Over time, I've come to learn that a spur is just a tool. Like any other tool, it can be used properly or improperly. When used correctly, a spur can give you a more precise point of contact and thus refine communication. Also, a bit of well applied spur here and there can help to soften and liven up an unresponsive horse. Still, even after changing my mind about spurs, I didn't have occasion to use them myself. For one thing, Stee...

Out in the Sun

Robin

January 20, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Today was sunny and in the 50s! We seized the opportunity to ride outside. It was great to be back on the strip. I rode Steen, and he was full of energy from the start. For the most part, he wasn't misbehaving, but it was one of those days I could have pointed him at the horizon and opened him up and he'd have been in a gallop in a heartbeat. Early in the ride, I worked on simple stuff at the walk and trot, with one short lope thrown in. I can really feel how weak Steen's back and hindquarters are as a result of his injury, so I worked on exercises to help him re-engaged behind. We did short serpentines, and also I would trot him out in a straight line and turn him in a teardrop shape to head back the opposite direction without slowing down. When we get this right, it forces him to bend nicely and scoot his hind legs up beneath him to get through the turn. All of our trots were ...

Zoom

Robin

January 17, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We probably could have ridden outside today as it was warmish and dry, but I was pretty tired and I also felt like another ride indoors on Laredo would be a good to build on the things we worked on last time. We started with a difficult bridling. There was some dried dirt and ickiness behind Laredo's right ear, and he wasn't happy about my efforts to scrub it off before the ride. As a result, he was already in a defensive mood before I even picked up the bridle, so it took several minutes of face petting and baby steps to get him to relax and take the bit. Once I mounted up, though, things felt good. We worked again on a lot of the encouragement focused stuff from last ride. Our first trots were energetic, and just when I was thinking I might ask for a lope, something with a loud motor started up outside and he rocketed into one with only the barest encouragement from me. This w...

Things to Remember

Robin

January 13, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We rode in the indoor arena again today. Steen wasn't quite as energetic as he was last ride, and he was thinking a little more than I would have liked about going to the middle of the arena and standing still. This is habit that surfaces now when we ride indoors. Basically what it amounts to is a very minor pull to the center of the arena whenever we switch from doing one thing to doing another thing. So, for instance, we'd transition from the trot to the walk. He'd dip towards the center, I'd pull him back with the hackamore. We'd walk for a minute and I'd ask for a slight bend. He'd dip towards the center, I'd pull him back with the hackamore. It gets more pronounced the faster we were going, so if we lope a few laps and return to the walk, it's more of a dive to the center than a dip.

Really, the problem is a result of the fact that we don't ride indoors very much, and ...

Back on the Kid

Robin

January 10, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We're definitely having a somewhat lackadaisical start the year in terms of riding. But the weather is never great in January, so we tend to figure we'll get out there when we get out there and not worry too much about how often it is. Today it was time to get Laredo going again. Ever since he had his slight shoulder injury in the fall, we've been riding him only lightly. But we now figure he's had plenty of time to heal, and it's time to get back to his training in earnest. Bear also seems to do the best in the winter if he gets ridden pretty regularly (exercise helps keep him less fat and more limber) so we decided on the way to the barn I'd be the one to ride Laredo. I tacked him up, and he was good, although getting the bridle on was a bit slower than it has been lately. He's still not entirely over his ear issues, though they are nothing compared to what they used to be....

Home to Winter

Robin

January 7, 2013

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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After our weeks in sunny Arizona, getting back to Iowa (where there is snow on the ground and temps have been in the teens) has been a bit of an... adjustment. Between the backlog of work-related tasks and some work we're having done on the house, we had an unusually busy week and didn't manage to make it to the barn until today.

But this morning we headed out first thing and found the guys in the pasture. Steen made a b-line for the gate as soon as he saw me, but I was pleased to see his leg is clean, not swollen and he appears to be in good health all around. I think he was just happy to see me.

We took all three guys inside and turned them out in the indoor arena for a while, where Laredo entertained us by putting a surprising amount of energy and effort into playing with the ball. I had my new smartphone in my pocket, which means we get to start 2013 with som...