Relax a little, Booker

Well Mr Booker decided since he found a hole in the hay net he didn't want to give that up and took off when I came into the paddock. Luckily he didn't go far and I was able to catch him fairly easily.

I tacked, fly sprayed, and walked out to the middle pasture. I had some tagalongs but we were able to get through the gates without too much trouble. Made sure the saddle was on straight and mounted up. He stood pretty still for once (didn't want to leave the group at the gate I'm sure). So we walked the pasture to check out the footing and what not. Did some big trot circles at the far end. He wasn't settling in, was pretty "up" about it all, nothing horrible, just not a nice easy trot. I'm pretty sure he was concerned with his buddies. So I was going to work on cantering big straights but I changed my plans since he seemed more likely to ignore me.

So the plan was, walk or trot away from the gate, if he gave me a super easy trot, or if he transitioned down to a walk easily, or a good halt with out turning or wandering, then we turned around and went back towards the gate as his reward. I decided that for me at least, when I ask for a trot or a canter I want something super mellow and easy by default. I figured he's got the speed and I think if we keep light aids (which shouldn't be an issue if we work on getting him back to a snaffle) then he won't get sticky and it should be easy to let him "go" when we need it. I don't think we're going to be winning big dollars in the mounted shooting and it sounds like speed isn't necessarily the way to do that anyways. So consistency on his part and steadiness and all that I think would be more applicable to other stuff like trail riding etc.

He was getting good at the halt, I'd do voice "and whoa", then stiffen my body, then reins. Still had to do a couple tugs on the reins for halt but he was catching on and doing really well just standing there. Trot to walk transitions went pretty well too, I'd just change my body from posting to a more stiff sit and he'd transition down. I did do one canter just to see but it was pretty vertical and big so I didn't do more of that. He transitioned down pretty well though.

When I finally asked for a trot and he just broke into a super easy nice trot, I stopped him and got off. So I think that's the kind of thing I'm going to work on when I ride. That seems pretty simple and I get some variety of gait to get used to his movement. I'll just have to make sure I let him extend from time to time.

So his leg looks super awesome. I didn't clean it but there's barely a spot left of scab or whatever. Probably by Friday if we clean it there'll be nothing under that tiny scab. Then we can start putting some MTG on there and get the hair to grow back.

Back in Town

I haven't been out to the farm in a few weeks now.  Last weekend Jeff and Daniel went without me and I went scrapbooking.  I guess the goats and the cattle went back to their regular homes and the fence needed to come down so Cody, Axel, and Haji needed to leave their summer vacation home and head back to town.  Jeff didn't think I'd approve of putting the horses in the stock trailer (actually that's not a problem, but whatever) so he and his nephew hand walked the three horses back to town.  Just a mile but juggling three horses between the two of them must have been entertaining to see.  The three don't exactly have the same pace.  In fact Haji, the oldest and shortest of them all, walks way faster than everyone else.

But they are back in their regular home and the round bale feeder has been set up.  No word yet on if they put out a round bale and if they got the slow feed net on it (hoping they don't put out the bale without it). I guess the inlaws can't quite figure out why I would put a net over the bale though I've explained how much it saves in waste alone, hopefully they'll take my word for it.

In bad news, it appears I've been dumped by my new farrier.  He cancelled our appointment a couple weeks ago and never called back to reschedule.  I've left him several messages with no response.  The neighbors don't need any work done so I'm on my own.  But it happens that someone I know that used to live in the cities now lives 30 minutes from Canby.  She trims her own horses.  So if I can learn to pull Cody's shoes, she's gonna hopefully come out next time I'm there and trim the boys for me.  Perhaps she can school me a bit and I can do it myself eventually.  And I'm hoping Cody stays sound without shoes.  I still have hoof boots he can wear for riding if he isn't sore in the pasture this year.

Riding Alone

It is evident to me that I'm way too used to riding my slow steady guys and getting on Booker scares me a bit.  He moves so much faster and I'm just not used to it. So I decided I need a lot more saddle time to just get used to him and he used to me.  So my first lunch ride alone  we went down the drive way. He wanted to go left.  So we went left for a few steps then turned around and went right.  Walked for quite a ways.  Had a little trot (seemed crooked), walk some more, trot some more-snuck in a canter I didn't ask for but it was a left lead so I went for it, walk some more.  Was thinking about turning right at the town hall but the wind was pretty bad and I didn't want it up our butts when we turned around to come home so we just turned around and went back.  More trotting - okay super crooked, stirrups must be uneven, little canter, walking - swearing at drivers going by at 60mph thought Booker hardly noticed, more trotting and a final canter up to the driveway we usually start/end our runs at.  Can't remember what lead that last canter was, I asked for right but with the saddle crooked who knows what I got, I was busy concentrating on my position and trying to get him to lift his front and use his back.

Did some bending while mounted in the driveway, took a few tries to get him to stop spinning but he finally got it.  Untacked, inspected the saddle again (wishing I had thought of putting yours back on and pushing it back further - doh).  Did some stretches with treats and back out to the paddock.

He was a good boy, nice and calm.  Need a few more rides like that and I think I'll start feeling pretty good.  His canter wasn't horrible, he doesn't like to downshift so that takes some nagging but it's never an "OMGWE'RE GONNA DIE!" type of thing.  Just a few extra reminders to finally get down to a walk.  I think the more transitions I did the more he got it.

OH and verdict on the crookedness, holy cats the saddle was crooked, I must not have looked at it after I cinched it up or something.  Whoops.

We're working on finding a saddle that fits him so we've spent a lot of time putting saddles on and off and whatnot.  Nothing perfect yet but

Booker's Mounted Shooting Lesson

The other week we went out after work and had a mounted shooting lesson with Booker.  Our first one!  So Booker didn't have too much issue with the gun firing.  N rode Booker behind another horse while the instructor fired the gun.  The first couple times the gun went off I don't think Booker even noticed.  I sure did, you'll see in the video that I jumped and shook the camera several times.  Note to self - bring a tripod.  So we practiced riding while someone else shot and we practiced dry firing off Booker's back.  When it came to be time to try and actually fire off his back, the sun had gone down and it was starting to get dark.  The instructor fired a few more rounds and was going to hand off the gun but now that it was dark Booker could see the muzzle flare and decided that was not too great.  So we stuck to the instructor firing for the night.  He did settle down easily and it wasn't that big of a spook but better safe than sorry.  So now our plan is to get some .22 blanks and practice shooting around him in the pasture or possibly the arena depending on how loud it is.  Then we'll probably have more lessons and actually shoot from his back.

Horses at their vacation home

As usual I'm behind in my updates.  Last time I was out at the farm I went out to check on the boys.  If I didn't know better I'd say Haji was still gaining weight.  Must be some really decent grass out there.  The good news is that the boys were hanging together once again so that made me happy to see.

Work with Booker

We've been taking a few weeks off from running and riding since it's been so hot.  We've done a little work in the arena in the mean time and have been just trying to get to the bottom of all of Booker's ins and outs.  Seems perhaps his saddle doesn't fit him quite right or at the very least doesn't fit me so when I ride him it's quite unbalanced.  We've also figured out that we really want to get him going and  (more importantly) stopping in a regular snaffle over the winter.  That coupled with his still slightly sore front end and small arena will make for some work getting him in shape.  But we'll keep chugging away, he's going to be a great horse.  Thinking also a chiropractor visit might be beneficial as well.

His wound is healing up nicely.  Still doing a couple cleanings a week just to make sure we keep things on track.  We've done a little work desensitizing him and have some more ideas for stuff to do with him on that.  And N and I attended a shoot on Labor day and spoke with some mounted shooters about getting started in the sport.  This week we actually have a lesson scheduled where we'll bring Booker and see how he does with the gunfire.  We'll also do some shooting practice, riding practice, and shooting and riding practice.  We'll borrow one of their horses as well.  It'll be interesting to see how Booker does not only with the gunfire but just with going to a different arena.  Hoping we can convince him that he's not a game horse any more and he can just be calm until told otherwise.

Stay tuned!

Haji joins the vacation

Saturday we went out to see the horses and take Daniel and cousin Chloe for a little ride around the driveway.  One thing is for sure, brother-in-law's pasture is too huge!  Took me forever to find Cody and then when I did find him he was across the creek.  Rather than walking all the way back to the dry spot I jumped on bareback and convinced him to take me through the creek back to the gate. It was slow going but he went in with out much fight.  The kids didn't ride long, it was hot and we had to be at a birthday party so it was just a few loops.  Plus Cody was soooooo slow.  He's clearly embracing this retirement thing.

So there was a little change of plans for the weekend.  Originally we were going to bring Cody and Axel back to town so that  they'd all be in one place when the farrier came on Thursday.  But the farrier doesn't have any other work in the area so he wanted to push it another week.  I think with all the dry weather their hooves aren't growing too fast so it should be fine.  Haji has been doing really well gaining weight and Cody and Axel have gotten some huge grass bellies from the pasture they are on, so I decided maybe Haji could use some company.  We'll keep a close eye on his weight but I thought he could use some more grazing and some companionship.  I decided it would take just as much if not more time to trailer him than it would to walk him the mile down the road.  So Haji and I went for a little walk to meet up with Cody and Axel.  Of the three horses, Haji, the oldest, walks the fastest, so it was a quick trip.  And as usual, Haji is a saint of a horse.

I'm thinking maybe Haji liked being on his own.  He wasn't too sure about Cody and Axel when they came running to see him. I hope they settle in quick when they figure out they know each other.  When I was there Haji hadn't seen the goats yet so I didn't get to see that interaction.  He did see the cows but didn't get too close yet.  There was a lot of running around with tail flagged like a proper Arabian.  He looked pretty impressive, boy can still move!

So the farrier will just come out a week late and go to where the horses are.  Hopefully we can figure something out as far as fetching them quickly so he doesn't have to go all over the place to find them in the pasture.  I'm hoping for some rain to help the grass grow in town so when we put them back in a few weeks they'll have a bit more grass and we can put off round bales for a while longer.