Colt Journal #6 photos

All photos by Robin Balliro

The walk.

Posting the trot.

Dismount, Indian or off side. What a handsome colt!

Gate Work: opening the gate..."I'm not getting my butt up next to that thing!"

"Oh no we're not!"

"Oh yes we are!"

Closing the gate...the ears say it all.

"I'm not liking this, I don't understand what's going on, I think I'll poop."

Checking out the junk pile at the trail course...peanut gallery distractions in the back ground.

Trotting the trail course.

The Colt Journal, Day 6: Driggs Arena

After a week or so off, it was time to get back on Smooch yesterday. Last week was filled with house sitting for my landlords, getting hay for the fall, and besides Smooch got shoes so I wanted to let him have a good week off to get used to them. Believe it or not, I will actually have pictures of this one if Robin will let me post them! Robin was coming over to help with unloading hay off the trailer and I told her to meet me in Driggs to watch me ride Smooch first. I had been there about at least 45 minutes before she showed up and had gotten a bunch of work in. No one was there when I arrived, so I set up poles, barrels, and logs in the arena to work around. I worked on first walking, and then trotting each. I even got a little loping in. I worked on bending and working off the leg, and a little side passing. I got started on a half pass too, which is kind of like side passing except you are moving your momentum forward when you start your side pass. I did a lot of work moving Smooch off and on the rail, mostly at a walk and a little trotting. The whole idea is to get him moving off of my leg.
In case I have lost some of you, I am still riding using the rope halter...no bit yet.
Some weak areas we need to work on: riding the rail (he hasn't quite caught onto riding body into the rail and head into the arena yet, but is improving...he wants to turn his ass away from the rail and turn his head towards it, opposite of what is supposed to be going on), backing up (does it in the ground work, but hasn't quite made the connection while riding yet), and transitioning between walk and lope. He's actually doing very nice at speed control for his experience level (6 rides!).
After Robin arrived, she shot a few pictures in the arena, a few on the trail course, and then we headed home; another successful day.
Stay tuned for pics as soon as I get them!

Trail Ride Update

I got on Google Earth and calculated our route from last Sunday's ride. Google Earth has a really cool tool that you can follow a route by entering points and it keeps track of mileage. For the most part I could follow our route on the satellite image. Turns out that our unplanned detour ended up being a 33.6 mile ride! The actual mileage of the original planned route would have been 16.5. My guesstimate was originally off by only a mile and a half. Had things gone right, we would have been home before dark. Neither of us had been on a ride that long before. When I got into work that morning, first no one could believe I showed up and second, they couldn't believe Robin and I were still dating after that catastrophe. It really wasn't a catastrophe because other than being really, really exhausted, we had a great time! Robin didn't even seem to mind being lost too much. Although both of us had had enough of our moonlit ride by the time we rode into the driveway.
I will say that I'm worried about Rocky. Robin and I did a mounted patrol at the Jackson Fair Rodeo Saturday night and Rocky was really bothered. I think it was his back or shoulders. He seemed to be in a lot of discomfort. I am hoping that another few days to week of rest will help him. The Fair was another story. Let's just keep it short and say that a carnival is a horse's worst nightmare and Robin, Amigo, Rocky and I didn't spend too much time around the dragon roller coaster.
Next up, stay tuned for Colt Journal #6.

Sunday Trail Ride

Bald Eagle, can you see him? Wish I had a better camera for this kind of stuff. He really wasn't far away.

What started out as a great trail ride with a bald eagle posing for us turned into a nightmare.
I should know better. Time was misallocated, trails weren't marked, and mistakes were made.
Robin arrived late for a planned 15 mile ride consisting of a trail I'd never been on. I'm too tired to get into specifics, but that trail was as piece of crap, wasn't marked in amongst a network of dead end hunting trails and forest service roads, was completely impossible to navigate (even though I had three maps), and we got home at five in the morning. We didn't have proper emergency supplies to spend the night when we realized that the trail was getting the better of our navigation skills, so with a bright moon and all, and Robin had really been wanting a moonlit ride, and I at least knew the area and how to get out albeit a much, much longer route than planned, we decided to go for it. I can't say enough for our mounts. I was on Pretty Sara who trucked on even though she was exhausted. Robins horse, Rocky, was in better shape and did great. I'd say we maybe turned a 15 mile ride into 25 or more miles, plus the time we spent either lost, walking the stock, or letting them snatch a rest and a bite of grass.
Lessons learned.
I'll be back soon to master that trail so I don't get into this situation come hunting season!

The Colt Journal, Day 5: Grassy Plains

Confidence building. That's what it is all about. So that's where I picked up on Saturday. The plan was to take a nice stroll behind the house in the grass fields. Open rolling hills provide a good avenue for working a green horse. There are no roads or trails, so it makes him use his young noodle. There are no trees or obstacles or scary things, so you can concentrate on building that "go button". You can stay on top of the hills so the horse always knows where he's at if he needs to, or you can work him down into the gullies to get him thinking. You gain momentum as the horse gains confidence in leaving the heard back at the house and he learns that a big field is a big, blank canvas.
Things started rough when Smooch decided to have a bucking fit while I was warming him up. I was circling him next to the trailer when he went to bucking. I didn't use what I was taught. Instead I lost his lead rope and he ran over to the neighbors. So I went and collected him, had a nice little chat with the Hills, and then gave it another shot...this time in the corral. Second time went better. I guess he got whatever was on his mind out of his system. Just in case, I grabbed the helmet, got on, and headed out back. He actually wasn't hesitant at all about his first solo ride. A quarter mile away he wanted to break into a trot. It tells me he is maybe lacking a little self confidence, but in any case provided a good avenue to work on some speed control. We didn't go far. Maybe stayed out 45 minutes or so. I even got him into a little canter just to see what that would be like. It's good to know he won't be a lazy horse. With confidence up, and speed control in the works, I decided it was time for some road work on the way back. So we circled back to the highway and rode in the ditch back home. Only one truck came by, and it was loaded with hay. Smooch didn't pay it any attention so I kept going to the neighbors. A few more cars and trucks went by without incident. He was more concerned with the real estate signs and other things in his direct path than the traffic. Normally I would want to work up to traffic with a strong, experienced horse leading the way, but this colt is handling things so well that I decided to push it a bit. We crossed the highway, which he didn't like too much, and headed back home down the other side of the road.
I think maybe this week is more arena work. Time to work on him better understanding body language and cues.

Full moon over the Tetons

Wish I had a better camera for this.

The Colt Journal, Day 4: Driggs Fairground

Arrived at the Driggs arena with Sara and Smooch to find that a barrel racing club has the arena booked on Thursday evenings. So I decided to stay and use the rest of the fairgrounds. It actually worked out pretty well. So I sacked out Smooch while I tested Sara's new cinch. After about half an hour on Sara, I saddled Smooch and headed over to the trail course. Smooch is still a little unsure of himself, so I eased into the obstacles letting him investigate and sniff them out at his own pace. We had a little difficulty with the bridge. He's gone over them before, but not while I was riding him. So I got off and led him over. Got back on and it took a few minutes before I was able to ride him over. It was after this point that he decided he was going to refuse to cooperate. Not that he was afraid of the bridge or that he thought he couldn't go over it, he just flat out refused. He even tried to take off on me and reared a few times. He is still small enough that it is hard for him to rear 200 pounds on his back. So I disengaged his hind end and he quickly figured out that I was in charge. After that he went over all of the obstacles with no arguments, including the bridge. He had calmed down a lot but was still a little apprehensive. Every time we would turn back towards the truck he would break into a trot. An easy way to work on speed control was that every time he would break into trot, I would point him at an obstacle and that would slow him down. Before too long I had the basics of speed control down. He has a nice little trot. So we rode around the fairgrounds, and into the warm up arena with all of the barrel racing folks. Chatted a while with some of the parents while I alternated making Smooch stand still and walk around the arena. Then I headed over to the trail course one more time before unsaddling and loading them up for the trip home.
If I can make every ride this summer as productive as this one, I will be well on my way to having a broke colt by this fall.
I think Saturday will be a ride through the fields from my house.

The Colt Journal - why am I doing this?

And did I mention that the reason I am breaking this colt myself is that I don't have the $800 to have a trainer do it? That and the challenge is there and the gauntlet has been thrown!

The Colt Journal, Day 3

July 13, 2008



Sunday was Smooch's first trail ride under saddle. I decided to ask a fellow mounted patrol rider, Jayme, who also lives on this side of the Tetons to ride with me. He has a mule that could be the spitting image of Sara, only larger. She is experienced, level headed and calm. Perfect riding companion and lead for Smooch. Robin (my new girlfriend and favorite mounted patrol partner) decided to come along also after her trail ride dates for the day bailed.


I picked Jayme and "Big Momma" up at their house and we all met at the Pole Canyon trail head. Smooch was saddled and ready to go without complaint or incident. Pre flight checks passed. I made sure my colt was "leaving with me" (natural horse people will understand that one) and off we headed down the trail, straight up hill. Right into about half a dozen stream crossings in a row and a few mountain bikers. No problem. Oh and did I mention that Jayme's Australian Shepard, "Woof", came along for the ride? Dogs? No problem. A few minutes up the trail and a group of eight motorcycles came by. No problem. A couple of nice step up ledges? No problem. The only problems I seemed to be encountering were that 1) the rocks were hurting Smooch's feet and 2) he didn't seem to have the confidence to head off down the trail and seemed to be lolly gagging. I think 2 was more related to 1 than anything.


Reached the summit and what a view of the valley! Picture by Robin.

It was quite a ways up, and as you can imagine Smooch was exhausted. I didn't even think he would make it to the top. But little guy has a lot of heart. We had a nice little break.

Here's the two mule guys resting hard. Picture by Robin.

Unfortunately, I forgot my camera and the others forgot to take any horse pictures. So you are left to your imagination.

Smooch tied well during the break. He didn't get himself all wrapped up like Amigo does. Jayme has this thing where he walks his horses down hill to save wear on them. I'm not against that, but I was more interested in the training and getting Smooch used to navigating terrain with a rider on him. It took a few minutes and we almost knocked Robin off the side of the mountain, but Smooch soon got the hang of things and we were headed off down hill. He navigated the ledges going down as well as he had going up. He was tired, and he still hasn't figured out that turning around means going back home to food and shelter, so it was more lolly gagging on the way back. That's fine. Better that than racing ahead out of control.

Back at the trailers Smooch was acting fidgetty which is out of character. Jayme and I were checking him for Cholic but everything seemed to be ok. I hypothesized it was his feet and a quick check and sure enough he was off a bit. Probably just some stone bruising and hopefully he'll be better for his next ride this week. I think by next week I'll have Wendel put shoes on to avoid any potential problems in the future. Although Smooch has good feet, they are young and tender and I don't need any lameness issues.

So all in all a great ride. We encountered dogs, water, rocks, ledges, snow, mud, motorcycles, bicyles, hikers, horses; and all without any problems except the stone bruises. There are many old "broke" horses that have more problems than this little two year old colt. Look out, he's gonna be a good one. Let's see if I'm still saying that when he's a three year old! Only time will tell. In the mean time, stay tuned for ride no. 4.

The Colt Journal, Day 2

July 11, 2008

Smooch had a long break in the month of June. I was busy with visitors and mounted patrol. So he just got to be a colt. I had ponied him on a couple of rides and he seemed to just fall right in. The exception being on the ride I took him on during Katherine's visit when we rode through the fields in the back yard. Smooch decided he was on his own and just about dismounted me from Amigo. Fine. He got to follow us around and he ran, pranced, and generally had a great old time. Too bad there were no pictures. He really is a handsome colt.

I had done some ground work with him since the clinic. Not much, but he definitely remembered and on Thursday I had him saddled and sacked out for a bit.

The great thing about Smooch is his confidence and willingness to accept things. He has so far never complained about much. He is like an old hat at the saddle. He doesn't mind cars, dogs, tractors, etc. But, I figured that on our first ride by ourselves, I'd better take him to a controlled environment so we went to the Driggs arena. I put him through the entire ground school, saddled him up, hopped on and rode for about 45 minutes to an hour. Still frustrating with no reins. Very difficult getting him to go where I wanted, so I cheated and looped the lead rope around his neck and made a reins. Much better.

Having accomplished everything I set out to, I quit when another rider with a fresh horse showed up.

Quite a boring ride, really. But the little bugger did well.

The Colt Journal, Day 1

June 1, 2008

Today was Smooch's first ride. We (Smooch and I) had attended a Parelli clinic all weekend taught by Gretchen Thompson. Gretchen is a first class person and an outstanding horse woman. Along with her husband, Dan, and family of I think 6 children, the Thompsons spend summers in Montana, Winters in Georgia, and travel around teaching Parelli clinics full time. I don't know how they do it. Honestly.

Anyway, I had intended to only attend the beginning level 1, partnership class on Friday because Saturday and Sunday were the advanced class and would involve riding. By the end of Friday, Gretchen was so impressed with Smooch that she had convinced me to come back for the advanced class and was confident that she would have me riding by the end of the clinic.

Friday was all ground work. We learned the 7 Parelli games, which are the foundation for all future training. Smooch had a lesson in "who is the boss", as I found out that he is a confident and controlling type personality. Gretchen had to take him for a while and somewhere along the way of Smooch rearing and pitching fits (at one point he reared up, threw himself on the ground, and pitched a classic temper tantrum just like a two year old child, honest to God), a carrot stick (an orange fiberglass stick with a rope attached to the end) found his left eye and gave him a pretty sore eye the rest of the weekend. Didn't seem to phase him.

Saturday was more ground work, and to the disappointment of several of us, we never got in the saddle because there were so many problem horses that hadn't attended the previous day's beginner course. We did have an excellent lesson in saddle fit, and at the end of the day Gretchen took the time to help me figure out which saddle to use. As it turns out, the new Costagno I got for Amigo works just fine and is a perfect colt breaking saddle. Gretchen also helped me do a little pre check to make sure Smooch was ready. All lights green and we got a go for Sunday.

So Sunday saw a lot more ground work and more work with problem horses. A few of us were fuming by now. Finally on Sunday afternoon we saddled, went through our pre flight, and were off and riding. Parelli is unique in that the process is very thought out and controlled. The process of saddling and preparing the horses to ride lasted longer than the ride itself. But it was worth it. In level 1, there is no bridle, there is no bit. Everything is done with a rope halter and a lead rope. When ride, you use the lead rope to steer. There are no reins. You just have a 12 foot lead rope attached to the halter, and if you need it on the other side of the horse, you just flip it over his head. Very difficult to master, but I recon one you do you are at a big advantage.

The ride went well. Smooch is not a bucker. It's one advantage of breaking a colt when he is young and too small to physically buck you...he never learns that he can. We wandered around the arena, him getting used to 200 pounds on his back, me fumbling with flip flopping a lead rope back and forth trying to get him to go where I wanted. Very frustrating. But at the end of the day I was rewarded when it occurred to me that I had ridden my colt, myself, for the first time.

The Colt Journal

It dawned on me that although I haven't been keeping up with this blog, I should at least try to keep a journal of Smooch's progress as I break him this summer. So I will make an entry for each ride I put on him, of which I plan to do 30 of, or at least average 30 hours by the end of the summer. Maybe more or less depending on how he progresses. It would be nice to take him hunting this fall if he is ready.

I already have three rides on him. Following will be post ride entries to catch up. I will try to stay current on a daily basis in the future.

Two days in Yellowstone

My Friend Katherine was visiting last week from Sacramento. We spent two days in Yellowstone and had some dissapointments and some real surprises. Katherine got a bunch of pictures with her new camera and she even let me snap a few. Mostly we saw elk and bison but missed out on moose and bears. We saw an eagle with eaglets and we saw two wolves chasing down a cow elk. If I get a chance I will post a few of the pictures I got to take.
Almost as exciting as the wolves were the bear and twin cubs we saw on a horse back ride in Grand Teton Park at a few yards distance. I'm glad we weren't on foot. I thought they were cinnamon black bears but our ride leader swears they were grizzlies. Hmmm...I'm still not so sure.
Anyway, Katherine is gone and I'm back to work. The folks arrive this week for some visit time during the 4th, and I will be busy working the parade for mounted patrol.
Sorry this is so short and abbreviated, but there's so much to do lately...