A Ride in the Trees

April 7, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

Wednesday was windy and a little cool. While tacking we noticed the stall horses were out in the big pasture, so access to the treed lot was clear of both equine obstacles and mud. We hadn't ridden out there since last fall some time, and Brian and I both wanted to work on slow stuff, so we headed over after we finished tacking and grooming. Earlier this week Brian and I watched one of Buck Brannaman's colt-starting DVDs. While his videos aren't the most slickly edited pieces of media ever created, it does hold true that every time I read something or watch something by Buck, it gives me some insights. I came to the ride on Wednesday realizing it was going to be hard to get Steen to walk a perfect circle with me riding him if I had never achieved one from the ground. So we started out with more than our usual groundwork. I had Steen walk on the end of the mecate, and every time he ...

Strange Sunday

Robin

April 6, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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On Sunday the horses got their feet trimmed, which was good because Steen has a bit of a tendency to over-reach and kick himself on the inside of his right front foot when his feet get a bit long. He does this mostly at the lope, but we've been working on the lope a lot lately, so he's been kicking himself more than usual. When he's due for a trim I often lope less because of this problem. After the trim we headed out to wander around the fields a bit. The ride was going great. It was quite warm, and everyone was mellow. We went up and down the second strip, over to the three hills, and back down to the grassy area I'd loped the day before with such excellent results. So this is what I was envisioning would happen when I asked Steen to lope a circle:

Thinking in Circles

Robin

April 1, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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After our excellent ride in the indoor arena, today we had another beautiful day that just begged us to head out and about. We decided to start with some work on the strip and then do some meandering over on the second strip and the three hills. Somehow yesterday Brian and I started discussing circles, and how important it is to be able to steer your horse in an even circle, preferably using only your legs. This is the sort of thing that sounds so basic and yet is so hard. That, coupled with some discussion on doubling we encountered in Martin Black's book, Cow-Horse Confidence, had me thinking about walking circles when I started the ride today. I started out just trying to get Steen to walk a nice, even circle on the strip. At first, he was keen on veering towards Brian and Bear, and lost his bend in an effort to move closer to them. I gave him a little touch on the rein, ...

Indoor Hackamore Ride

Robin

March 31, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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We had a storm last night, so things were mushy out a the barn. We decided to ride indoors today. I've been meaning to use my hackamore again, and thought the quieter indoor space would be a good opportunity to do that. Steen always seems a tad confused when I put it on him (once or twice he's even tried to take the bosal in his mouth) but today he didn't show the slightest annoyance about it, unlike previous rides where he's tossed his head a few times. I think all the work I did softening and shaping it has made it a lot more comfortable.

I find it so difficult to describe the ways Steen feels different in the hackamore, but today most of the issues we've had in the past didn't appear. He didn't stiffen up on me over the course of the ride, and he didn't seem to have the same difficulty understanding pulls to the side.

I spent the whole ride trying to be gentle...

Two More Great Rides

Robin

March 29, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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On Tuesday we rode on the strip and on Wednesday we did a little turn around the second strip and the three hills. Both rides were fantastic. The weather has been phenomenal, and Steen has been relaxed and willing. On Tuesday I worked more on switching between the lope and the walk. After a few one-rein stops, we had a really nice ride. Steen was trying quite hard to do things right. He's also getting pretty funny about stopping from the lope. He's starting to put real effort into it, but he's just not that good at it. I can never be sure how hard he's going to slam on the brakes. I'm sure we've had some moments that would have been laughable to anyone watching. Thankfully, no one was. On Wednesday Steen was just a complete doll. We walked out to the second strip, did some work on figure-eights at the trot, cruised through the three hills, and trotted back down the second strip....

Riding a Wade

Robin

March 27, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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I've been wanting to try out Brian's saddle for a while, and lately Steen's saddle has been riding lower on his shoulders and leaving dry spots again. I'm increasingly convinced the fit is just not ideal. Brian's saddle has a fairly narrow, high gullet that I have suspected would be a good fit for Steen. However, when Brian is with me he tends to use his saddle, so I've not gotten around to borrowing it. Brian works long days on Mondays, so I logged a couple morning hours at work and then headed out to the barn. I brought Steen in and spent a while knocking more hair off of him, then heaved Brian's saddle up onto his back. It did fit him well, but I have to say it seems like too serious a saddle for him. He's such a flighty, goofy, dorkball, and this saddle is working ranch quality. Nevertheless, I cinched it up and adjourned to the indoor arena (it was chilly and windy outside). ...

Out Enjoying the Weather

Robin

March 25, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Looking out the window, you would never guess it's only March. All last week our yard was carpeted in crocuses. The grass is up and growing like mad. This whole week was sunny and in the 60's. Today we continued what we hope becomes our new Sunday tradition, which is to leave the barn behind. We did just a few minutes of warming up on the strip, then headed out. We did the same route as last time, except we threw in some trotting here and there. Historically, Steen's behavior deteriorates on the trail the faster I let him go, so I was pleased that after our first trot he was completely content to stop and stand while Brian got off and adjusted a sock. After that, we walked back along the second strip. Steen was walking at a good pace, but he was by no means charging around like he used to. We then ran the gauntlet that is the double track lane past the shed with the cats and ...

Cloudy Day, Long Ride

Robin

March 24, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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Last week I redesigned this blog again. I liked the old design for a long time and then it slowly started to annoy me, so we've got a totally fresh approach now. We didn't ride Thursday or Friday, so we were keen to get out there today. My goal for the ride was to continue to work a lot on transitions between the walk and the lope, and fight the prance wherever it appeared. It was an overcast day, and we brought along the SLR since we haven't had any good photos for a while. Unfortunately, light conditions were tricky and the results were a bit hit or miss.

Steen was quiet starting out. Sometimes it still shocks me how much he has changed. New people meeting him actually think he's a ...

Steen So Soft

Robin

March 22, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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It was back to "work" today after our leisurely trail ride on Sunday followed by two much-needed days off for all of us. I was curious to see how Steen was feeling after his little break, and right when I first got on I thought we were in for a sub-par day. Starting out, Steen's Bear magnet was at work pretty noticeably, but I worked on bending and slow stuff, like short-serpentines and whirlygigs. It didn't take long before the magnet effect was gone.

My plan was to continue on what I worked on last week, namely to switch frequently and randomly between all three gaits in a way that never let Steen start to anticipate what I was going to ask for next. This was actually challenging for me, because I'm used to setting up little patterns and scenarios while I ride. It's sort of hard to keep from doing the same thing the same way twice.

I do think it was worth the e...

Catching Up

Robin

March 20, 2012

Novels for Horse-Lovers

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

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I've fallen a bit behind on my blog. Fortunately I have been getting plenty of riding in, I just haven't done a good job posting about my rides.

To sum up: Last week I continued to work quite a lot on loping. We went through a couple of days where the loping work had the undesirable effect of causing the reappearance of the dreaded prance. I was optimistic at first, and tried to combat it with subtle methods, but after one pretty bad ride I gave up and returned to one-rein stopping Steen every time he up-shifted without my permission. It took one really long, hard ride during which I worked on asking for the lope and the walk intermittently, and correcting him the moment he shifted into his jog/prance unasked. I went through a phase of trying to be excessively gentle and sweet about the one-rein stop, but that didn't get through to him at all. He actuall...