Category: Magic

Magic and I rode around the Divide pasture and up the deer hunters road to the spring. We returned by the low road going through the springfield and the pond. We rode down Pinnacle Mountain Road in the narrow lane by the Sycamore pasture where the mares are. Magic noticed that we were going by some horses, probably recognized the mares, but was very interested turning his head to view them straight on and nickering occasionally. I mention this not because it was a problem but that this situation evoked the biggest “reaction” Magic has shown riding new trails and new territory for the past few rides. It was hot, but not as hot as the past few days. Another enjoyable ride.

Very hot this morning. Magic and I rode to the Divide pasture. We left the Divide pasture and went up the deer hunter’s road. At the deer hunter’s gate I directed Magic into the woods to go around the gate. It soon became obvious that it was too thick with broken limbs and trees from the ice storm. As we backed up to turn Magic’s feed and legs got tangled up in some limbs. This can be a bad situation. I jumped off to reassure Magic because horses often panic when they get tangled up. Magic’s level headed nature is a blessing for trail riding. He just calmed down, I moved some branches, we backed out and went through the gate. This was not a long ride but all of this country was new to Magic. He has “the confidence of a Christian with 4 aces.” We made a little circle and came in the back of the Ash pasture. It was a very nice ride.

Today I rode Magic and moved the cows from the Ash pasture to the Oak pasture. We moved them along the fence and then along the lake so we had 180 degrees taken care of. The cows cooperated. It was good for Magic because we were successful. It was good, and fun, for me because we were successful. One little calf gave me a scare but Magic was cool. The calf, the one that was born just the other day, was behind the herd. He did not know to move away from the horse and kept getting right in front of us. I figured he would follow the cows anyway so I just passed him and let him tag along. York was following us and the calf probably tried to make friends. York has a loud booming bark and he probably ran at the calf and barked. I figured all this out the moment I heard the bark. There was no time for me to prepare but I grabbed for mane anyway. The calf balled and all the cows turned around. Then the calf comes running right by us almost under Magic. The calf ran towards Magic! My prediction would be that Magic would bolt and jump the cows leaving me behind. He never broke his stride. He just kept on working cows. I was thankful, petted his neck and told him what a good horse he is.

Rode Magic into the Ash pasture to check a cow that was off by herself. The cow, in fact, did have a new calf as might be expected from a cow that was off by herself. Magic and I rode by about 10 feet away so not to disturb mother and calf. We went across the dam into the Oak pasture and rode in the arena. Maybe I am more aware of the bending and the lack of it. We are working on it. Then we rode around the Oak pasture going to the gate to Shirey Mountain. In the far corner of the pasture we jumped a bobcat. He must have been crouched waiting on something. We did not see him until he bolted. He was about 15 feet away. It startled both me and Magic. Magic reacted so little that he did not even change his pace. Wildcats do not scare Magic! When we were on the trail up to the top of Shirey, we jumped a deer. The first thing we noticed was the deer coming out of the brush and crossing the road about 75 feet ahead. This startled Magic more than the bobcat. (It still was what I would call a very mild spook.) I have a theory about what and how a horse is spooked. Something jumps up. The first thing the horse, or human, or whatever, must do is determine if “it’s coming at ya'” or moving away. If it is running away, that is good. If it is coming at ya’, the natural reaction is to flee, run! My dogs have caused me to get dumped more than anything else. In the past the grass would grow tall around the arena. When the dogs would come in to check on us, the horse would spook, often dumping me. I did not understand, it was our dogs! It puzzled me when I was riding and jumped a deer 10 feet away, the horse did not spook as bad, even in tall grass. I learned to watch the dogs carefully when riding the arena and realized that the horse became aware that something was in the grass and it was coming towards us. Bingo! Big spook. John’s on the ground. The only time Magic spooked seriously was when a calf felt cornered in a nook in the log pile and bolted towards us so it could escape. I hit the ground. Magic felt sorry for me but he was in the clear about 20 feet away watching the calf run off. This theory is about horses that are not bad to spook. All bets are off with a spooky horse. Newt threw me hard and quick and I never figured out what spooked him. Anyway, I rode Magic, the brave horse, up on Shirey, around the Shirey trail and back to the barn. It was a good ride.

Rode Magic to and around the Divide pasture. It was a short ride but a completely new one for Magic. We left the barn in a different direction and had to open a gate before we were in the Divide pasture. We jumped four buck deer at the pond. They were some distance away, not underfoot, and Magic looked at them but didn’t even slow down. Magic made that ride like he had made it many times before, not like it was the first time. He has a lot of confidence. I did not notice the stumbling so much today. It was a good ride.

I rode Magic today. It was very hot. We rode the arena exercises and up on Shirey. The limitations we have in the arena are mostly mine not Magic’s. We are having good rides just not great progress. Magic is a joy to ride on the trail. He seems to trust me, does not spook and hopefully enjoys the ride. On this ride and the last one, he has tripped or stumbled on his front feet. It is not something that I have ever noticed before. Maybe his feet are too long. I need to check how long since the last shoeing. Four and a half weeks since June 7 shoeing so that should not be it. It is hot and that makes a horse less active. I just do not know.

I rode Magic today. The first thing we did was go out and look at the cows. We tried to bunch 4 together and move them. We had a fence holding one side but the cows did not bunch. They would just move off in 4 different directions. We did not make a good drive but Magic is interested. Then we rode to the arena and did the exercises. Magic’s bending is improving little by little. Maybe it is just not getting worse. We cantered but only on the left lead. The flies were bothersome today. We rode around the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. Magic is very good on the trails.

Rode Magic today. His tracking on the right rein is improved. That is, he is bending more in the right direction though the problem still exists. My treatment when I feel the problem is to immediately ride a small circle in the direction he should be bending. I notice it most on the long leg of the oval exercise. We rode the needlepoint, oval and circle exercises. We trotted the canter set-up poles but the cross poles must not be challenging because Magic and Newt both just trot the whole thing. I pushed him into a canter. He took the left lead as he always does. We cantered two rounds of the arena and two rounds of the circle. At first I just had to push him faster and faster until he cantered. His response to the cue to canter is improving. We rode up to the top of Shirey Mountain, half around the top and down the middle. Magic is very calm on the trail. He does not look for spooks. In fact, he ignores some that I notice. I mowed the trails on Shirey a few days ago. The deer flies are a bother now. I think Magic is ready for his first trail ride on the Buffalo.

Rode Magic to and from the arena, we did all the exercises and rode around the Oak pasture. Magic is a very trustworthy horse. It is a rare occasion when he spooks. He did good at the exercises. I have noticed a tendency not to bend when we are on the right rein on the oval exercise. He does seem to be able to bend (to the right) when we do a tight circle. So it is not that he cannot bend to the right. It is just that he bends the wrong way when we are on a large track on the right rein. We trotted the poles and Magic, just like Newt, did the whole thing at a trot. He did not take up the canter as expected when we went over the cross rails. We only did it once. When we have finished our normal work on the circle, I try to get Magic to do the circle with completely slack reins, i.e., bridleless, on the buckle. It works a little but I have to give aids with the reins occasionally. We rode the trail around the Oak pasture with about 200 yards at the trot. It was a very nice ride.

Rode Magic out to the arena and rode the exercises. We are making little improvements. When we ride the oval exercise on the right rein, he seems to bend the wrong way. He seems to be looking to the left. I rode the three poles two strides another pole. Magic did good but I was not in tune with such a big trot. I may shorten the stirrups a notch. We rode the trail around the Oak pasture and across the dam into the Ash pasture. We tried to push the cows from the Ash trees to the barn gate. They would just split up and we could not keep them together. I need to catch them on the fence so we just have to cover 180 degrees not the full 360. I think he is interested in cows. It was a good ride.