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Magic and I went to the Krooked Kreek Cowboy Church cattle sorting practice today. That is a mouthfull but that is the name of what we did today. Cowboy Church has built an arena at the sale barn north of Harrison. Someone brings cattle, actually roping steers, that are put in the arena and you can ride your horse and cut, or sort, cattle. It happens every two weeks weather permitting. They put a fence across the arena with an opening, or gate, in the middle. There were about 20 people and maybe 15 horses in attendance today. There is also a time to run, or ride, barrels and rope steers if you have such an inclination. It is very informal, costs nothing and everybody is nice. It was the first time for Magic and me and we had fun.

Tommy and Wanda were there with Levi and Rio. Paul Roten attends regularly and was there today. I met Paul about 20 years ago on a cattle drive Don Miller had to move his cows the 5 miles from his pasture on Well’s Creek to the home place at Macy Spring. Paul had trained a horse named Wendy for Don and we got to talking about horse training. Paul told me that there was a new trend in the horse world to train horses with gentle methods and more consideration for the horse. I was raising three kids and not active in the horse training world but it was something that interested me and I remembered what he said. Paul has been to many, many clinics and seminars. He seems to pick up something from each clinic, or “performance” as he calls them and he uses what works for him. He is very interested in horse training and the human – equine relationship. He is very willing and eager to share what he has learned. Not everybody wants suggestions but Paul has figured out that I am interested, I want to learn and welcome suggestions. So he talks to me a lot. This is a good situation for me and Magic. I am very lucky.

Magic loaded good with the help of a rump rope. He was excited at the new place with new horses, the stockyards, cattle trucks with jake brakes, etc. He is very good when I am on him but tacking up involved quite a bit of moving around which I am sure Paul noticed. We rode in the arena for quite a while before the working steers arrived. Magic was excited but he does not act up when I am on him. There were lots of kids running their horses and Magic paid attention. When we started working the cattle, Magic was unsure of what was expected of him. “Are you sure you want me to walk into the middle of that herd of horned beasts and start pushing them around?” I think Magic learned from watching the other horses. We made lots of improvement and I was happy with the way he was cutting, moving and heading the cattle.

We had a lot of fun. We learned a lot. We found a very good learning resource in Paul. And Nobody made fun of the only helmet and English saddle that has ever been to a Krooked Kreek Cowboy Church cattle sorting practice.

Magic and I had a short ride today. It is still deer season so we are careful. I do enjoy riding Magic. I trust him a lot. We rode in the Ash pasture, across the dam, in the arena and around the Oak pasture. It was a good ride.

Magic and I went for a short ride today. This is the first weekend of the 3 week deer season with guns. We did not go into the woods or very far from the barn. It was very windy. Magic is a very brave horse but did spook just a little today. Well, considering that Magic so seldom spooks it was noticeable but considering how most horses react to a spook, it is almost not wort mentioning. For my needs, He is a very good horse. We rode a little in the arena and then around the Oak Pasture. We are working on bending by doing serpentines, figure eights and circles at the walk and trot. I think I will mark off the 16 and 20 meter circles with ground paint and try that again. I feel that we are progressing in general but we don’t seem to be making much progress with bending in particular.

Since the last time the farrier was here I have been cleaning Magic’s hooves thoroughly and tapping with a hammer similar to the blows necessary in shoeing. Wanda Graham suggested this when I mentioned Magic’s shoeing problem. I do it every time we ride. It does not seem like much but sometimes repetition like this solves big problems. Magic does not exhibit the bad behavior when I do it but I do it anyway. We need a solution to this problem. I need a sedative that I can give if this does not work. Tomorrow will be 6 weeks since the farrier was here.

Magic and I rode trails on the Buffalo National River today. There were 14 horses and riders. We rode up-river from Pruitt. The plan was to ride out at 9am and that is when I got there. I need to get up at 4:30 to make it to Pruitt by 8:30. It is only a 45 minute drive but there’s lots to do. Luckily there were several people later that I was. Magic loads good when I use a rump rope. He gets a little nervous when we first get there and is bad to push me with his nose. He does not do it otherwise. (I need to pay attention and confirm that.) We rode up to Blue Hole just below the Erbie campground and ate lunch on a gravel bar. It is about a 12 to 15 mile round trip, about 5 hours riding time. On some sections we were able to take different routes on the way back. There was about a mile of gravel road and the rest was back country trails. Some sections were on abandoned old wagon roads and others were just paths. There are a lot of rocks and boulders and some places it is slick bedrock. Magic and Nancy’s horse Rambler jumped one boulder filled stream bed. We crossed the river 8 or 10 times. River crossings are sometimes belly deep. At river crossings there is usually a drop of 4 to 10 feet to get down to the river bed. It might be sand or mud and there are always rocks and roots to negotiate. Several of these drops are slides going down. Once Magic and I were sliding down the bank and there was a traffic jam at the bottom. We stopped just before running into the horse ahead of us. I think the horses enjoy trail rides. They get to see other horses. It’s fun.

We rode with Ted Spears, Nancy Deisch, Evelyn Mills, Wanda and Tommy Graham, Nadine Houghton and 3 friends,  Don Penquite, Mr Howard, Sheri Ricketts and Andrew Hendirix.

 

Magic and I rode through the Ash pasture, Oak pasture, the arena and up on Shirey Mountain. He has lots of energy. It is fun to ride him. We did a little work in the arena but he was a little too fresh to get down to work.

Magic and I rode up the deer hunter’s road and up to the switchback on the trail up to Pinnacle Mountain. I am very happy with Magic. I learn from riding him because he is capable mentally and physically to do things that put me in a position to learn. He has recently shown a little more tendency to be concerned with odd things we see on our rides. He does not actually spook but just stops a looks at the object. It is hard to keep your seat in a real spook because the horse immediately lowers it’s center of gravity (spreads his feet) leaving me up in the air. And then they often move laterally very quickly. Magic has only done that once but a calf jumped up real close and actually ran towards us. That was last spring. Today he showed some concern about a trough that the hunters feed the deer in. He has walked by it previously but I did not force the situation. I have respect for a horse’s or dog’s ability to recognize things that we are unaware of. Bears often feed at the hunter’s deer feeders. So if he shows concern in a situation like that, I’m going to pay attention. We did not see a bear today but we had a very nice ride. I feel we are making progress. I’m getting better feeling with my hands. We’re getting the leg aids and lateral movements coordinated. Magic is showing a lot more “go” and often wants to break into a trot. That is good. It is not good if a horse shows reluctance. I want Magic to enjoy our rides.

I rode Magic around the Ash pasture, across the dam, in the arena, through the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. We rode serpentines in the arena and I think we are making improvements. Magic seems to pay more attention to me and is less inclined to resist my aids. The differences are slight but they are in the right direction. Now we can stop up on Shirey and Magic grazes the young oats.

I rode a very nice horse this morning, Magical Minister. We have had lots of company and family for the last week. It has been 10 days since I last rode him. It was a very nice ride. We rode in the Ash pasture, the arena, the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. I think we are making progress with bending by doing serpentines with about 8 meter radius. It was very windy. I had some firewood logs recently cut and stored in the pasture. There was a branch with leaves sticking up about 6 feet. So there was something strange, out of place and it was moving in the wind. Magic stopped and looked at it. This is the most spook I have seen in him. We just waited a moment and looked at it. Then we walked past it and turned around and came back by it again. He quit paying attention to it the second time we went past. Magic is not spooky but I think the last experience we had on the trail, in the wind, by ourselves might have increased his attention to spooks. And he spooked forward just a little when we were in the windy woods today and York came up behind us quickly. I think it is important in training to plan for success and avoid problems as much as possible. In the past I thought if a problem came up the best thing to do was to confront it and solve it immediately. I don’t know specifically what changed my attitude. I am older and I don’t bounce when I hit the ground like I did in the 60’s. As a general rule, I ride greener horses now. And I’ve gravitated towards hot blooded horses. I’ve probable explained it. Anyway, I had a nice ride this morning. I’m lucky to have a good horse like Magic. We cantered a little on the trail where leads do not matter.

Rode Magic today. We rode in the arena and up on Shirey Mountain. We went up via the Hoodoo Trail. It was a nice ride.