horseweblog.com

Magic and I went on a cattle drive today. Well, it was short, we went about a half a mile, but it was a cattle drive! James Brady, who rents my pasture, rode up on his four wheeler while I was waiting for Magic to finish eating. He told me this is the morning we are moving the cows. I told him if he would wait until I saddled up, I would help. He really did need some help. His girls, Callie and Cammie, were stationed at the turnoffs along the road where the cows could take a wrong turn. He was going to open the gate and toll the cows down the road. His cows do not toll very good. I thought it would be helpful if Magic and I brought up the rear. I bit off more than I should have but Magic is a good horse and I trust him not to loose his cool. He has never been on a cattle drive. He has never been on a gravel road. He has never met a car on a gravel road. He was familiar with the cows which was helpful when the new calf decided the best place to be was under Magic’s belly. Topsie and York came with us and, surprisingly, they were helpful. The cows are pretty tame and do not move off very good. I kept on wanting Magic to reach out and bit one so they would show some respect! York and Topsie would move the cows on in these situations and refrained from the temptation to continue the chase once they started moving away. I know Magic was proud of himself walking down the new strange road behind the cows. But he thought I must have lost my mind when they left the road and I asked him to follow and head them off. There is not much level ground in this country and there’s lots of rocks. Along the road, the rocks that are too big (like soccer ball size) are pushed off the lower side. So I’m asking Magic to step off the road down about 3 feet onto what looks like a pile of jagged soccer balls. He did it but I expect that is when he started thinking that what I say might ought to be taken with a pinch of salt. But Cammie was behind me and just stepped past Magic and pushed the cows back up on the road. A spooky, ill tempered horse would have been a problem in that situation but Magic just slowed down. He did get nervous. We did OK. The cows got where they needed to be. We met the cars on the way home. Just as we got to the driveway, a big four-wheeler came around the curve. I’d jumped off and gestured for the four-wheeler to stop. The driver, a bearded dude in a hard hat (like me), did stop. I was in the driveway by then. That’s when we all noticed there was a great big dog curled up in the front basked on the four-wheeler. About that time York smelled the dog’s tail, then bit it. York is a nice dog but that was just too much temptation. The guy figured out that this situation was going to get bad fast unless he got going, which he did. It must have been a really nice big dog not to have piled out of the basket and whip those rude local dogs. I was happy not to have to choose between holding Magic or breaking up a dog fight. We got back to the barn with no injury to body or mind. It was not too hot but I was sweating a lot. Must have been an exciting ride. It was fun.

Magic and I rode out through the Ash Pasture, up to the spring, down the deer hunter’s road, across Pinnacle Mountain Road, through the Divide pasture and back to the barn. He was forward moving and track-able. It was a good ride. There was a wind when we rode this morning. It got up to 107 this afternoon.

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.