This past weekend was youth waterfowl hunting day in Idaho, during which kids under 16 years of age get the rivers, sloughs and marshes to themselves in an attempt to harvest ducks without the pressure and competition of adult hunters. I took the opportunity to do a little pre-season scouting, and offered my friends' kid the chance to shoot a few ducks.
As a little side note, I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures. My camera is still at the Canon repair center, and I still haven't decided if I want to spend the $100 to get it fixed, or $150 on an upgrade for a refurbished camera.
Anyway, Tristan, Heidi and Danny's 12 year old son took me up on my offer. Danny and Heidi both work Sundays, so Tristan and I were on our own. He bought a new 20 gauge pump Remington this summer and was anxious to try it out on live birds. He even shot some clays last week, and I'm told he did pretty well.
He was the model kid and hunter with me all day yesterday. He did what he was told, was respectful of both myself and the wild life, never complained, and was always safe and aware of what was going on around him. He was also very willing to learn about the sport instead of just going along for the ride. I think also that he was surprised to learn that a trip to the duck blind is much more than just a hunt. He learned he had the opportunity to experience all kinds of non game wildlife (which he expressly appreciated) and the ecosystem. We saw many species of waterfowl, pelicans, hawks, snakes, muskrats, and birds of all sorts. He was quick to point out new things and was very curious about them.
I was concerned about the shooting part. I know that Tristan can be a very intense kid, and I hoped he wouldn't get upset if he wasn't "getting it" right away. He is very athletic and his parents have him in EVERYTHING: football, baseball, skiing, horse 4H (Tristan is an excellent rider and horseman in his own right), pig 4H, ranch horse 4H, and who knows what else. He is very competitive and can take failure hard. I was curious to see how he would handle wing shooting, as it can be very hard and frustrating. Especially with a 20 gauge.
By the time we got to the spot and set up the decoys and blind, it was light and we were covered up with birds. I did not want to start at first light with a new hunter, so it worked out well. Of course the first few shots he missed. The hardest part for him was making the transition from a single shot gun (which he passed onto his sister) to a pump. He had a hard time with the pump action, and sometimes had to be reminded to pump and to reload the gun. Heck, I still sometimes forget to reload and find that "click" when I go to squeeze off a shot at a nice green head. He didn't take any of it hard, and understood that a shotgun was a tool just like any other that takes time to learn how to use effectively and efficiently.
Before too long, that first duck was out of the way! And then another. And then another. Another thing I was pressing on him was how important duck identification is. With split limits and closed seasons on some birds, you'd better know what you are shooting at or you could be looking at a hefty fine. The first two ducks I ID'd for him. Then on the third I pulled out my Le Master Method Waterfowl ID book and told him to go at it and tell me what he had shot. He had a fun time learning how to not only ID ducks based on their physical characteristics (bill size and color, feathers, head shape, wing patterns, feet, etc.) but their flight characteristics and calls. Out on Mud Lake, a hunter can see many species of ducks. Duck ID skills are especially useful on such a place.
Tristan also learned about hawks and raptors, and that there are protected birds that are not to be shot. He learned how to sit still, keep his head down, when to shoot, and most important he really had a feel for the effective range of his gun and did not waste out of range shots. A few things he did naturally really surprised me, like knowing how to focus on a single bird instead of flock shooting, and how to shoot at the head.
In all, he shot a limit of 7 birds on his first ever bird hunt, and came away with 5. Out of the two lost, one was wounded and was a lost cause, and the other I simply just couldn't find in the rushes. Out of the 5 he brought home, he had shot a mallard, a pin tail, a gadwall, and two wigeon. It's really an excellent record for a first hunt, and he only spent two boxes of shells doing it. And yes, I was bird dog all day because I had the waders. It was good exercise for me.
I had fun reconnecting with the lake. I always enjoy a boat ride. And I had a good time with Tristan. I was glad he had a good time and was successful. Hopefully he'll want to go back out for more!
Monday, September 29, 2008
The Colt Journal: Rides 22 and 23, Parelli Level 1!
At the last minute, I decided to participate in the last day of Dan's three day Level 1 class at the Parelli clinic taught by Dan and Gretchen Thompson at the Rexburg fairgrounds. Originally I was supposed to have a one hour private lesson in the evening, but I decided to turn that into my Level 1 assessment.
The class went well. Because there were some difficult horses (and people) at the spring Level 1 clinic I was in, that clinic didn't quite advance as much as it should have. This clinic worked out well for me because day three was basically picking up where day three left off last time.
Robin had attended the entire three days with her Kentucky Mountain Horse, Sweetheart. Sweetheart made some incredible breakthroughs and advances during the clinic. I am sorry to Robin for suggesting that she sell the horse. I hope she keeps up her training so we can see what Sweetheart's potential is. It is more than likely that Sweetheart was abused and whipped at some point in her life (not by Robin!), so it is nice to see her start to turn into a normal, well adjusted horse.
After a full day of clinic, I had to load Smooch up and drive half an hour to where Gretchen was teaching her workshop (they were bumped out of the Rexburg facilities on Saturday by a roping competition) for the assessment. When I got there, Smooch was a little tired and wasn't his usual calm, unshakable self. He was a little bit tuned out, which made for a not so smooth assessment, not to mention that it was at a strange place at night. Overall the assessment went well. We needed help from Gretchen working through a few things (some of them basic things that I had forgotten from the first clinic), but for the most part I was really proud of Smooch. And of course it's always fun catching up with Gretchen. She is such a fun, outgoing person with an interesting outlook on life.
Now I get my red Savvy string (Savvy string colors are kind of like belt colors in Karate) and I get to play in Level 2! Lookout, Level 3, here I come!.
The class went well. Because there were some difficult horses (and people) at the spring Level 1 clinic I was in, that clinic didn't quite advance as much as it should have. This clinic worked out well for me because day three was basically picking up where day three left off last time.
Robin had attended the entire three days with her Kentucky Mountain Horse, Sweetheart. Sweetheart made some incredible breakthroughs and advances during the clinic. I am sorry to Robin for suggesting that she sell the horse. I hope she keeps up her training so we can see what Sweetheart's potential is. It is more than likely that Sweetheart was abused and whipped at some point in her life (not by Robin!), so it is nice to see her start to turn into a normal, well adjusted horse.
After a full day of clinic, I had to load Smooch up and drive half an hour to where Gretchen was teaching her workshop (they were bumped out of the Rexburg facilities on Saturday by a roping competition) for the assessment. When I got there, Smooch was a little tired and wasn't his usual calm, unshakable self. He was a little bit tuned out, which made for a not so smooth assessment, not to mention that it was at a strange place at night. Overall the assessment went well. We needed help from Gretchen working through a few things (some of them basic things that I had forgotten from the first clinic), but for the most part I was really proud of Smooch. And of course it's always fun catching up with Gretchen. She is such a fun, outgoing person with an interesting outlook on life.
Now I get my red Savvy string (Savvy string colors are kind of like belt colors in Karate) and I get to play in Level 2! Lookout, Level 3, here I come!.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Ride 21: in back of Robin's house, in search of a mule
I guess we'll call this ride 21. It wasn't a long ride, but it was a ride and it was somewhat eventful. Woke up Saturday morning and Robin's horses had chased Sarah the mule out of the pasture. She was nowhere in sight, but our guess was that she was with the neighbors horses back at their corral because the electric fence was down in a spot.
So I caught Smooch, saddled him up, and it started raining. Put on the slicker and headed out to look for a mule. To get to their corral, the neighbor horses have to take a trail through the woods for a few hundred yards or so. So I headed down the trail. It's kind of cool back there. There is a stream crossing, and we even saw some mule deer.
Sure enough, there was Sara hanging out with a bunch of warm bloods and appendix QH's (some really big guys). Bonnie the neighbor had seen me ride up and walked out to see me. She said she noticed Sara half an hour ago, and that the big buckskin was trying to play with her. The others didn't mind her at all. So it didn't confound me that she didn't want to go back to where she was being bullied. I tried to herd her back, but she's too quick. Failing that, I caught her, haltered her, and drug her back.
Then I had to fix the electric fence she knocked down. Dang mule!
So I caught Smooch, saddled him up, and it started raining. Put on the slicker and headed out to look for a mule. To get to their corral, the neighbor horses have to take a trail through the woods for a few hundred yards or so. So I headed down the trail. It's kind of cool back there. There is a stream crossing, and we even saw some mule deer.
Sure enough, there was Sara hanging out with a bunch of warm bloods and appendix QH's (some really big guys). Bonnie the neighbor had seen me ride up and walked out to see me. She said she noticed Sara half an hour ago, and that the big buckskin was trying to play with her. The others didn't mind her at all. So it didn't confound me that she didn't want to go back to where she was being bullied. I tried to herd her back, but she's too quick. Failing that, I caught her, haltered her, and drug her back.
Then I had to fix the electric fence she knocked down. Dang mule!
Ride 20: Wilson arena
It is Wednesday. It is Wilson arena day. And yes, it's back to ground school. People probably don't back up and work on ground school as much as they ought to. I attribute this to the fact that most people don't really know what ground school is. A lot of people think that ground work ends with "longing" the horse to wear it down so they aren't afraid to get on it. In fact, this has a negative effect. In reality, pretty much anything you do in the saddle is built directly from ground school. Ground work is the basis for the communication that forms a partnership between horse and rider. It is one of the things I am learning from all of the natural horsemanship people out there. Whenever these people encounter a "problem horse", they always begin on the ground. These techniques work, but they take time, schooling, mentorship, and patience. You can't tell someone, or explain to them how or why natural horsemanship works. Well, you can try, but for some reason no one listens until they experience or see the results for themselves. That's kind of how it was for me. When I first got Amigo, I would stand out there and longe him round and round before I got on. What I was accomplishing, I will never know, but that's what other people were doing. Then, I joined the mounted patrol and began learning a different way to train a horse. Then I went to Gretchen's clinic. Talk about a whole 'nother world. Between the two I am light years from where I was even half a year ago.
Dan and Gretchen's Parelli clinic is coming up soon. I don't have the money or time to take a full clinic course, so I am going for a one hour lesson with Grethcen on next Saturday. My goal is to send in a video for my Level 1 assessment this fall, but first I need to hone and polish some things. To find out where I'm at, I brought a copy of the Level 1 assessment sheet with me and went through it step by step.
I was surprised to find that we are still lacking on a basic communication level. Smooch still thinks he can be in control in some certain situations. Either that or he is confused and I haven't communicated what I am expecting of him well enough. Probably a little of both. We went through most of the "games" fine until we came to the driving game, backing up. Then things broke down for a while. What I like about Smooch is that even during a melt down, he is very thoughtful, as in he is thinking about what is going on instead of reacting. To a point. Most any horse will become an out of control crazed maniac when he is scared and not sure of what is being asked of him. Even when Smooch gets to this point, if you can figure out what is wrong and give him a way to succeed, he is right back down to his normal self within seconds. He doesn't dwell. I think maybe that most horses are actually like this to varying degrees. It's the stupid people factor that makes things volatile. Having such a good, solid minded horse makes it easier to get through things and continue on, even if I mess up. I didn't fully get through backing him up to the polished level I wanted, but I got him through enough to continue on. And guess what, he was fine afterwards. We will work on the polish with Gretchen, that's what she is there for.
I went through Liberty (horse is unhaltered) and Online (horse is haltered with rope halter and lead line). All of this work is on the ground. I decided to stop short of saddling him and just opted to do a little bareback work before quitting for the evening. One of the things Gretchen taught us was how to side pass a horse. INTO you. From the ground. So guess what, I can sit on a pipe fence and side pass my horse right into me so I can hop on. One of these days when I figure out how to download video from my video camera onto the computer, I'll have someone take a video and I'll post it. In fact, maybe I'll put my level one assessment on Youtube and post the link here. Would you like that?
So bareback is not as scary as people make out. If the horse is broke enough to ride in a saddle, it should be broke enough to ride bareback. With some caution, of course. Smooch is at that point and I really enjoy riding bare back. I didn't ride long. Just long enough to do some basic direct and indirect turns, and then I rode him up to the gate and stood him there. I know he has mental problems with gates, so I've decided to back up and master step by step until he is 100 percent bomb proof. So for now it's just making him sack out next to the gate. Once he can do that every time solid, I'll work on opening the gate and progress from there. The key is to avoid anticipation on his part.
The next thing I worked on was leading. For some reason, Smooch doesn't lead well. Never has since the day I got him. He has a tendency to sit back with pressure to the rope halter. He'll walk with you, slowly, but forget about trotting. This is one of the main things I'll be having Gretchen help me with. I am coming up with my own ideas on how to handle this (and I think they are working), but I'd like to hear the expert's advice.
The thing about my training sessions, is that I never consider them over until the horse is home and turned loose in the corral. So loading and unloading are definitely part of my training curriculum. Every time I load a horse, I am training it. I have Smooch where I can send him from about ten feet away, into the trailer. I also have him where I can get in the trailer and call him in, and I can pull him out backwards by his tail (not cruel like it sounds). BTW, I don't tie my horses in the trailer. The very afternoon I was loading Smooch for this work out, some people came by the house to pick up a piece of equipment that Robins ex-husband had sold them. I was hitching up the trailer as they pulled up, and the trailer was blocking the equipment they were after. So after opening the trailer gate and opening the partitions, I pulled the truck forward, put it in park, and ran out to get Smooch (I was in a hurry, it gets dark so early now). When I got to the trailer with him, I discovered that the partitions had locked shut when I had moved the truck. Not even thinking, I left Smooch at the back of the trailer, climbed in, opened both partitions back up, and looked out to see Smooch standing there looking at me. Well, I thought, why should I get out of the trailer to send him in, only to have to get back in to shut the partition? So I just called him in. And just as natural, he came in, parked himself in his spot, I shut the partition and got out of the trailer. Maybe I was just lucky. When I jumped out of the trailer, the woman gave me a start because I had forgotten about the people standing there getting their equipment. The woman was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe I had just left my horse untied and then called him right up into the trailer. Then I told her he was only two and didn't wait around for the response before I got in the truck and headed off. The point is, that I enjoy taking his training to that level. Not every one does, that's just part of things. Hopefully I'll be lucky if I can accomplish a fraction of the things I see some of the natural horsemanship people doing. I have been watching RFD a lot. It's the rural cable channel (I especially love the tractor auctions). Robin has it and I can't get enough. The other day I saw a preview for a training video or show or something, I don't remember. I was half paying attention when I saw a guy sitting in the driver seat of his truck with his horse on a long line, and he sent it right into the trailer. Right there from the driver seat. Yeah, that's next!
Dan and Gretchen's Parelli clinic is coming up soon. I don't have the money or time to take a full clinic course, so I am going for a one hour lesson with Grethcen on next Saturday. My goal is to send in a video for my Level 1 assessment this fall, but first I need to hone and polish some things. To find out where I'm at, I brought a copy of the Level 1 assessment sheet with me and went through it step by step.
I was surprised to find that we are still lacking on a basic communication level. Smooch still thinks he can be in control in some certain situations. Either that or he is confused and I haven't communicated what I am expecting of him well enough. Probably a little of both. We went through most of the "games" fine until we came to the driving game, backing up. Then things broke down for a while. What I like about Smooch is that even during a melt down, he is very thoughtful, as in he is thinking about what is going on instead of reacting. To a point. Most any horse will become an out of control crazed maniac when he is scared and not sure of what is being asked of him. Even when Smooch gets to this point, if you can figure out what is wrong and give him a way to succeed, he is right back down to his normal self within seconds. He doesn't dwell. I think maybe that most horses are actually like this to varying degrees. It's the stupid people factor that makes things volatile. Having such a good, solid minded horse makes it easier to get through things and continue on, even if I mess up. I didn't fully get through backing him up to the polished level I wanted, but I got him through enough to continue on. And guess what, he was fine afterwards. We will work on the polish with Gretchen, that's what she is there for.
I went through Liberty (horse is unhaltered) and Online (horse is haltered with rope halter and lead line). All of this work is on the ground. I decided to stop short of saddling him and just opted to do a little bareback work before quitting for the evening. One of the things Gretchen taught us was how to side pass a horse. INTO you. From the ground. So guess what, I can sit on a pipe fence and side pass my horse right into me so I can hop on. One of these days when I figure out how to download video from my video camera onto the computer, I'll have someone take a video and I'll post it. In fact, maybe I'll put my level one assessment on Youtube and post the link here. Would you like that?
So bareback is not as scary as people make out. If the horse is broke enough to ride in a saddle, it should be broke enough to ride bareback. With some caution, of course. Smooch is at that point and I really enjoy riding bare back. I didn't ride long. Just long enough to do some basic direct and indirect turns, and then I rode him up to the gate and stood him there. I know he has mental problems with gates, so I've decided to back up and master step by step until he is 100 percent bomb proof. So for now it's just making him sack out next to the gate. Once he can do that every time solid, I'll work on opening the gate and progress from there. The key is to avoid anticipation on his part.
The next thing I worked on was leading. For some reason, Smooch doesn't lead well. Never has since the day I got him. He has a tendency to sit back with pressure to the rope halter. He'll walk with you, slowly, but forget about trotting. This is one of the main things I'll be having Gretchen help me with. I am coming up with my own ideas on how to handle this (and I think they are working), but I'd like to hear the expert's advice.
The thing about my training sessions, is that I never consider them over until the horse is home and turned loose in the corral. So loading and unloading are definitely part of my training curriculum. Every time I load a horse, I am training it. I have Smooch where I can send him from about ten feet away, into the trailer. I also have him where I can get in the trailer and call him in, and I can pull him out backwards by his tail (not cruel like it sounds). BTW, I don't tie my horses in the trailer. The very afternoon I was loading Smooch for this work out, some people came by the house to pick up a piece of equipment that Robins ex-husband had sold them. I was hitching up the trailer as they pulled up, and the trailer was blocking the equipment they were after. So after opening the trailer gate and opening the partitions, I pulled the truck forward, put it in park, and ran out to get Smooch (I was in a hurry, it gets dark so early now). When I got to the trailer with him, I discovered that the partitions had locked shut when I had moved the truck. Not even thinking, I left Smooch at the back of the trailer, climbed in, opened both partitions back up, and looked out to see Smooch standing there looking at me. Well, I thought, why should I get out of the trailer to send him in, only to have to get back in to shut the partition? So I just called him in. And just as natural, he came in, parked himself in his spot, I shut the partition and got out of the trailer. Maybe I was just lucky. When I jumped out of the trailer, the woman gave me a start because I had forgotten about the people standing there getting their equipment. The woman was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe I had just left my horse untied and then called him right up into the trailer. Then I told her he was only two and didn't wait around for the response before I got in the truck and headed off. The point is, that I enjoy taking his training to that level. Not every one does, that's just part of things. Hopefully I'll be lucky if I can accomplish a fraction of the things I see some of the natural horsemanship people doing. I have been watching RFD a lot. It's the rural cable channel (I especially love the tractor auctions). Robin has it and I can't get enough. The other day I saw a preview for a training video or show or something, I don't remember. I was half paying attention when I saw a guy sitting in the driver seat of his truck with his horse on a long line, and he sent it right into the trailer. Right there from the driver seat. Yeah, that's next!
Ride 19: Gros Ventre Wildernes, Wyoming
Hunting day!
I like the way he carries his head.
Sara in tow.
I like the way he carries his head.
Sara in tow.
Since I am not a Wyoming resident, I bought Robin a cow elk tag so we could do some hunting. Not really knowing the terrain or what we were doing, we loaded up Rocky, Smooch and Sara the mule and headed out early Saturday morning. Although we didn't get an elk, let alone see one, we had a great time! As usual, Robin was a good sport, although I would have liked to stay out later in the evening than she wanted for a better chance at seeing game. As it were, we were all tired enough when we got back to the trailer in the afternoon. I didn't want to push Smooch anyway. I could tell on the ride back that he was ready to go home.
All things considered, Smooch did great. Although he's been ponied around, he has never lead before. I was a little concerned there might be a wreck, but he was more than comfortable with his buddy Sara following behind. The trouble you can get into is when the lead rope gets caught under the lead horse's tail or tangled in his legs. I've done a lot of rope training and sacking out with Smooch, so when that time came, he was calm and collected.
I don't know how many miles we rode, but we rode a good ways into the wilderness. We saw two mule deer and four dead cows. That's about it. The country up there is beautiful and we took a nap in a meadow while the horses grazed and built back some energy for the ride home.
Back at the trail head we ran into a guy that had shot a 5x5 bull with a bow. He told us the elk were holed up in the timber on the ridges. They come out into the meadows later in the evening. I guess I'll know better next time.
Things I worked on while on the trail:
leading (getting Smooch used to leading a pack animal)
stream and ditch crossings (he has a tendency to want to jump them if he can)
speed control
confidence
working off of my legs
sacking out (they were tied for about an hour or so while we hunted by foot at one point)
probably a lot of other stuff I can't think about right now
I also discovered some weaknesses....it's back to ground school.
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
Ride 18: Taggart Lake, Grand Teton NP
Robin wanted to take the girls on a ride, so Sunday was lady's choice. Robin chose the Taggart Lake trail. It wasn't going to be a long ride, so I took Smooch. Robin prepared lunches,we loaded four horses into Robin's three horse trailer (thank goodness for small horses) and headed out. The parking lot was packed with cars. I felt odd being the only horse trailer there. I think by this time of year, most trail riders are headed more into the back country and off the beaten path to avoid the tourists. I don't mind really though. It's good training for the horses to be around crowds and you get your picture taken a lot.
Robin was on kid tending detail, so Smooch and I got to lead out. This is such good confidence building for him. For me too. I'm feeling pretty confident with him at this point, so I went sans bridle. I even did the one rein thing for the entire ride. Let me say that Pat Parelli knows what he's talking about. When you have a horse and rider that are comfortable and can ride one reined, you have this rock solid base that gives you the confidence in each other and the relationship necessary to have a fun, safe ride. Which is exactly what we had. There was one scary bridge crossing (high narrow bridge across rushing water) where I had to lead Rose and Sugar across, but to her credit, on the way back she did it by herself.
The trail is well used and well marked, and in just a little while we made it to Taggart Lake. Rose wanted to turn around and go back (Grace is much more into horses and trail riding), but Robin and I wanted to to the 1.4 miles to the next lake. She was making a fit and squawking like one of the birds nearby, so I started squawking like the bird too. I was surprised that my squawking really bothered Smooch. It probably bothered him as much as Rose's squawking bothered me. Anyway, despite Rose's squawking, the trail was nice, the scenery was beautiful, and I was having a good time. We saw a covey of Ruffed Grouse (are Grouse in coveys?) and a view of the Tetons that was new to me.
When we finally made it to the next lake, we tied up the horses, broke out the lunches and cameras, and had a great time. It was at this point that Rose actually realized she was indeed having a good time and everything was right with the world.
Smooch took a nap
When we finally made it to the next lake, we tied up the horses, broke out the lunches and cameras, and had a great time. It was at this point that Rose actually realized she was indeed having a good time and everything was right with the world.
Smooch took a nap
While the rest of us ate lunch
and acted goofy.
(our version of "Blue Steel" look from the movie "Zoolander")
(our "serious" look like in the old timey pictures...Robin had a hard time with this one)
Aren't they adorable?
Grace got this one of me when I wasn't expecting it. I think it turned out great.
My attempt at taking a picture backwards off a horse (with a broken LCD display)
Robin is much better at it than I am
Robin is much better at it than I am
So these trail rides are great confidence builders for a young horse. When I step back and look, I can see that Smooch is on his way to developing a nice base for future work and I know that I am happy with the way things are going. Despite my limited experience.
Happy trails. Don't suck down too much trail dust and we'll see you at the next installment.
The Colt Journal: ride 17, Wilson Arena
Last Wednesday was arena day again. I spent the evening working on and refining bending, leg yields and side passing. I also worked a little on transitions and one rein stopping (I was working with halter and one rope rein, sans bridle again). And again, as is custom, I made him open and close the gate to finish things off. For whatever reason, Smooch is still intolerant of the gate. He dances around and avoids it. He's not afraid of it, and he knows his cues, so I think it is still a little of that intolerant youth in him. I found the best way to get him over it is a process: walk him up to the gate, make him stand still. Once he is satisfactorily standing still, give him cues to put him in position where I can open the gate. If he refuses, I take him to the rail to reinforce leg cues and side passing. And then back to the gate, make him stand still, and then cue him into the gate. I do this process, approach and retreat, as many times as it takes for the whole process to come together in his little mind. Once the gate is open, the entire process is repeated to close the gate, until at last the gate is closed and he is standing still beside it. What I am trying to avoid is getting too rushed so that he anticipates opening and closing the gate and then walking off right away. His rider may need some time at the gate to work a latch, adjust something or hold it for other riders, so I want to make sure the colt understands that we are finished with the gate when I say we are finished with the gate. All too often you see horses that think they know the drill and take off on their own accord with the rider still holding the gate in one hand. At best you have a run-away gate. At worst there is a train wreck with horses running into gates and riders falling off, or whatever stock you are trying to contain in the gate escapes and then you end up spending time to round them up. I am also trying to avoid a battle at the gate, which is why if he's starting a battle with me, I'll back off and reinforce in a safer situation until his mind is back where it needs to be to continue with the task. Believe me, my leg was plenty bruised by the end of this exercise. It makes me stop to think that I'm not completely competent to be doing this, but in the end we had the gate opened and closed, and Smooch was standing by it patiently awaiting his next cues.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Shiloh The Dog
Shiloh Of Indian Creek - Dec. 1994 to Oct. 2008
He lived to be almost 14. He had epilepsy, arthritis and was deaf, but was otherwise healthy and enjoyed life right up to the end. The last few years he had become increasingly less mobile until this summer he could hardly stand by himself.
He was my dog until he went to live in retirement with my parents nearly six years ago. He never lived up to my dreams of becoming a field trial champion, but that's ok. He was the best hunting partner and companion a guy could hope for. He was always ready to go. He retrieved countless upland birds and waterfowl for me. He loved the swamp, he loved the woods, he loved the ocean, and he loved the desert.
For years he has kept my father company while he worked out of his home. He had been a faithful and eager companion for my mother on her walks until he could not go any more. He was the talk of the neighborhood kids. Everyone loved Shiloh and he would play fetch countless hours on end.
I know it was a hard decision for my parents to make, but they felt he was living too painful of a life. Shiloh was put to sleep on Saturday.
We will all miss him.
There are a lot of photos of Shiloh somewhere. Unfortunately I can't find the disks that hold the digital files. This is a scan of a photo copy of a photo from when he was around two or three years old.
This was taken by my father last winter.
As far as I know these photos from last week were the last ever taken of him.
He was as great dog!
The Colt Journal, ride 16: Poker Flats, Grand Teton NP
Labor day was a good day to get out by myself for that first solo trail ride with Smooch. I am blessed because I am near such good colt starting trails. Poker Flats is perfect because it is close by, it is flat, it has both meadows and forest, the footing is good, it has bridges, stream crossings, bog crossings, log crossing, and plenty of wildlife.
The weather was perfect. It was between 40 and 50 degrees depending on if the sun was out, and slightly windy. It had rained in the morning and it started raining during the ride about ten minutes before I got back to the truck, so I got to finally try out my rain slicker (worked great). It was also the first snow fall of the season in the mountains.
So then we headed back to find the elk herd. They weren't very hard to find. As I got close, I could hear them bugling. The large herd I saw on the way out was in the same place, so I just rode through them snapping photos at leisure. There were hundreds of them.
Then I spotted one of the big bulls. This guy is a nice 6x6.
He let me get pretty close before he got up. Sorry about the focus, it was hard riding through a herd of elk one handed while snapping photos on a colt that's never seen them before.
There was another bull that was a non-typical that I never found the second time. I did find this other nice bull that was from the Lake Creek group that had joined up with this group sometime while I was gone.
I crossed Lake Creek again and tried one of those between the ears shots. It didn't quite turn out like I had hoped.
On the other side of the creek I ran into yet another group. This gal had a radio collar.
We made the loop back to the truck and it started to rain. Smooch wasn't concerned at all about the slicker. It is one of those yellow cowboy slickers that are over sized to cover not only your legs when you are in the saddle, but the entire saddle as well. I was a little worried he might spook or be worried about it, but he was fine. So we finished off the ride in the rain, never even seeing a hiker or another rider the entire time.
It was a good day.
The weather was perfect. It was between 40 and 50 degrees depending on if the sun was out, and slightly windy. It had rained in the morning and it started raining during the ride about ten minutes before I got back to the truck, so I got to finally try out my rain slicker (worked great). It was also the first snow fall of the season in the mountains.
I had decided to bridle Smooch for this ride. It was an arbitrary decision as most decisions feel at this point in my experience. Mostly it was because I wanted the security and control of the bit in case I got into a situation.
We started out a bit rough. He had to get used to the bit once again and I worked some drills in the parking lot. Then we started down the trail and headed across a meadow where I saw what looked like a set of wolf tracks. Dang, left the camera in the truck. I also noticed that I left my Leather Man in the truck too.
Then there was a puddle in the trail and the rodeo began. I couldn't let him walk around the puddle like he wanted. Then I might never get him through puddles or anything that looks remotely like a puddle. It took a few minutes, but I got him straight and he walked through the puddle. And then more puddles (it had rained that morning). Puddles everywhere and each was becoming more of a battle until he just blew up and tried to throw me. He was completely broke down and wouldn't even move forward. I'm fairly sure at this point that he knew what I wanted, he knew what the cues meant, but he was just being a little rebel. So I moved him into a meadow away from trees or anything dangerous and proceeded to work through our drills again, starting with making him stand still (which he didn't want to do) and then bending him in both directions, working on leg cues, rein cues, etc. until he was working for me again. Then I took him back to that puddle and made him walk through it, and he never refused another puddle the rest of the day.
When we got to the canal, instead of crossing it like I usually do, I turned east down a trail that followed the canal for some distance. That's when Smooch started getting spooky. He had his head held high in the air. Then I saw an elk. I made sure Smooch saw it too and continued. We walked right up to it and there turned out to be a small nursery group of cows and calves. Once he saw what they were, he was fine. So we walked by them, and then turned around and walked back. I made him stand there watching them for about 5 minutes. They just sat there and ate grass. Both Smooch and the elk that is. Dang, the camera was in the truck. One of the cows even looked like she was in estrus already. These park elk are very much used to horses. I believe there are some outfitters that guide tourists on horse back here and they must work this heard every day in the summer. I was probably stopped about 15 feet from one of the cows. Continuing down the trial, it came down off the canal and headed east. It wasn't long before we came upon Lake Creek, crossed it, and found a larger herd of elk. There were a bunch of cows and a pretty decent looking bull along with some rag horns. Dang, camera still in the truck...so I went back for it.
On the way back to the truck, I took what I was hoping was a detour and came upon another, much larger herd of elk. This time there were several nice bulls (dang, still no camera). Again, I rode right through them. Some didn't even get up from laying down when I rode 20 feet from them. Smooch seemed to find all this interesting. He was a little apprehensive, which is understandable. After all, I haven't even introduced him to cattle yet.
We finally made it back to the truck where I picked up my camera and Leather Man.
The first stop on our way back was to take pictures of the wolf? tracks. It could be a large dog, I'm not completely sure, but it's unlikely because dogs are not allowed on these trails as far as I am aware. My Nalgene bottle is for reference. It is about 3.25 inches in diameter.
So then we headed back to find the elk herd. They weren't very hard to find. As I got close, I could hear them bugling. The large herd I saw on the way out was in the same place, so I just rode through them snapping photos at leisure. There were hundreds of them.
Then I spotted one of the big bulls. This guy is a nice 6x6.
He let me get pretty close before he got up. Sorry about the focus, it was hard riding through a herd of elk one handed while snapping photos on a colt that's never seen them before.
There was another bull that was a non-typical that I never found the second time. I did find this other nice bull that was from the Lake Creek group that had joined up with this group sometime while I was gone.
I crossed Lake Creek again and tried one of those between the ears shots. It didn't quite turn out like I had hoped.
On the other side of the creek I ran into yet another group. This gal had a radio collar.
We made the loop back to the truck and it started to rain. Smooch wasn't concerned at all about the slicker. It is one of those yellow cowboy slickers that are over sized to cover not only your legs when you are in the saddle, but the entire saddle as well. I was a little worried he might spook or be worried about it, but he was fine. So we finished off the ride in the rain, never even seeing a hiker or another rider the entire time.
It was a good day.
The Colt Journal, ride 15: Wilson Arena
Last Wednesday found me once more at Wilson Arena. Time to really get down to business. The goal was to work on checking and bending the colt, with a rope halter and one rein Parelli style. Since I have not graduated level one from Parelli yet, I am only supposed to be riding one rein. I figured I had better get on it if I am to take a level 1 assessment this fall, because you have to trot around the arena with one rein. It's a pain, but it drills in the basics of equitation. It's sink or swim. The rein is basically your 12 foot lead rope tied to the halter. If you want indirect or direct reining in the other direction from which side of the horse's head the rein is on, you have to flip the rope over his head. The basic idea is that an inexperienced rider will overuse the second rein. If you can learn to ride with one rein, you are communicating with the horse more effectively.
It was hard work because from the beginning Smooch tried to take control. He knew that he was on one rein and he knew that I really didn't know what I was doing. Not to mention that he is only green broke to begin with. If one or the other of us knew what they were doing, things might be easier. So in that situation what came natural for him was to try to escape the rein, which is easy for him to do with an inexperienced rider because all he has to do is turn and walk in the direction on which side the rein is on. And as most horses, his off side, or his right side, is worse than his left side. Horse's brains are wired differently than say for example a person's brain. Each side of the horse has to be trained independently. So if you teach a horse to bend laterally left, you must also teach it to bend laterally right. If you show a horse an object (such as a flag) to desensitize it on his left side, you must also do so on his right side. So Smooch is much worse clockwise around the arena than counter clockwise. As you ride the horse clockwise around the arena, you want his nose tipped inside (to the right) so you can see half his eye ball. This lifts his inside shoulder and with inside leg pressure causes him to step his body towards the rail while bending his rib cage around your right foot and circling to the right. Doing all this and teaching the colt to tip his nose in, or bend, with one rein doesn't come easy.
To start things off with, I kind of did a serpentine pattern so that I could practice flipping the rope from side to side, while at the same time worked on bending his head and tipping his nose from side to side.
Then I moved to the rail. After many rounds of circling the arena in both directions, I think I finally had the idea of how to effectively use the rein. Then I trotted him and it was like starting over. Once I thought I had him fairly solid at the trot, I gave him a break and then started with the side pass. All of this bending and tipping the nose, checking, and lifting the shoulders eventually translates to side passing and spinning the horse on his haunches, which starts to become the basis for many things down the road such as reining or just simple tasks such as opening a ranch gate. So side passing is nothing more than tipping the horses head to one direction, lifting the shoulder and passing the horse in the other direction, just like circling, except at this point you are asking the horse to cross over both his back and front feet while moving sideways. Remember we started this exercise by asking him to lift his shoulder and moving his front end to the outside. Now he is going the same thing except we are taking the circle away. It takes a few minutes for the horse to understand what is going on. He will try all kinds of things to get out of the pressure, so it's important that when he does get it right, his reward is a break. He will try going forwards. He will try going backwards. He will try going the opposite direction from which you want. He may even try bucking or rearing. But eventually he will take that first step, crossing one foot in front of the other in the direction you want him to go and that's when he gets his break. Then you ask for two steps. And then a break. And then three steps. By the time it was dark I had him side passing the entire length of the arena both ways. That is with the rail in front of us as a guide. All of this, once again, with one rein.
I'll have to admit that I was almost thrown at one point. Whether it was my fault and I deserved it, or this is typical of a confident and dominant horse I'm not too sure. Smooch has reared on me before when he was confused, and I'm sure he'll do so again. At least I know what circumstances it happens under and hopefully I'm learning how to avoid such situations, but I think it may be a little of both.
Next up, Smooch's first solo trail ride. And some nice wildlife pictures.
It was hard work because from the beginning Smooch tried to take control. He knew that he was on one rein and he knew that I really didn't know what I was doing. Not to mention that he is only green broke to begin with. If one or the other of us knew what they were doing, things might be easier. So in that situation what came natural for him was to try to escape the rein, which is easy for him to do with an inexperienced rider because all he has to do is turn and walk in the direction on which side the rein is on. And as most horses, his off side, or his right side, is worse than his left side. Horse's brains are wired differently than say for example a person's brain. Each side of the horse has to be trained independently. So if you teach a horse to bend laterally left, you must also teach it to bend laterally right. If you show a horse an object (such as a flag) to desensitize it on his left side, you must also do so on his right side. So Smooch is much worse clockwise around the arena than counter clockwise. As you ride the horse clockwise around the arena, you want his nose tipped inside (to the right) so you can see half his eye ball. This lifts his inside shoulder and with inside leg pressure causes him to step his body towards the rail while bending his rib cage around your right foot and circling to the right. Doing all this and teaching the colt to tip his nose in, or bend, with one rein doesn't come easy.
To start things off with, I kind of did a serpentine pattern so that I could practice flipping the rope from side to side, while at the same time worked on bending his head and tipping his nose from side to side.
Then I moved to the rail. After many rounds of circling the arena in both directions, I think I finally had the idea of how to effectively use the rein. Then I trotted him and it was like starting over. Once I thought I had him fairly solid at the trot, I gave him a break and then started with the side pass. All of this bending and tipping the nose, checking, and lifting the shoulders eventually translates to side passing and spinning the horse on his haunches, which starts to become the basis for many things down the road such as reining or just simple tasks such as opening a ranch gate. So side passing is nothing more than tipping the horses head to one direction, lifting the shoulder and passing the horse in the other direction, just like circling, except at this point you are asking the horse to cross over both his back and front feet while moving sideways. Remember we started this exercise by asking him to lift his shoulder and moving his front end to the outside. Now he is going the same thing except we are taking the circle away. It takes a few minutes for the horse to understand what is going on. He will try all kinds of things to get out of the pressure, so it's important that when he does get it right, his reward is a break. He will try going forwards. He will try going backwards. He will try going the opposite direction from which you want. He may even try bucking or rearing. But eventually he will take that first step, crossing one foot in front of the other in the direction you want him to go and that's when he gets his break. Then you ask for two steps. And then a break. And then three steps. By the time it was dark I had him side passing the entire length of the arena both ways. That is with the rail in front of us as a guide. All of this, once again, with one rein.
I'll have to admit that I was almost thrown at one point. Whether it was my fault and I deserved it, or this is typical of a confident and dominant horse I'm not too sure. Smooch has reared on me before when he was confused, and I'm sure he'll do so again. At least I know what circumstances it happens under and hopefully I'm learning how to avoid such situations, but I think it may be a little of both.
Next up, Smooch's first solo trail ride. And some nice wildlife pictures.
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