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I learned something today, something very specific. I had plans made with Tommy and Wanda Graham and Evelyn Mills to ride on the Buffalo from Pruitt downstream to the VanDeven place. But Magic would not load. I called and told them my problem and to go on without me. I would catch them if I could. Magic’s original problem was that he would not load so I could get him home. We took our time (months), we were persistent, and we got past the problem. I have previously built up to the day we would need to travel by practice loading for a few days in advance. I did not prep this time. This morning was fresh, clear skies, cold front and lots of wind. I don’t like dull horses and Magic was not dull this morning. The wind would swing the gate around and Magic thought loading was just not the best thing this morning. Since our Loading Course, I had hauled Magic to Sherrie’s to get shod and he had been reluctant to load to come back home. What I remembered from that instance was that Magic would respond to pressure and load when necessary. What I did not remember was what kind of pressure but I was not thinking about it and so it was not bothering me. So I applied a little pressure this morning. I used the “tap them on the rear with the whip until they move forward, then release the pressure”. (Even though a “whip” is used in this procedure, it is nothing like “whipping a horse”.) It usually works and the horse learns to move forward. Magic reminded me “that don’t work on me”.  I now remember when Magic does not want to go forward, the more I tap, the bigger and more obstinate his eyes become and he actually becomes much less likely to move forward. It just does not work. After about an hour and half, Magic and I were still friends but we were a little further from the trailer that when we started. So I put him up, went and got some cattle panels, and set them up behind the trailer to build a pen that I could make smaller and smaller. Magic looked at this, then looked at me (by myself with no help) and must have smiled at my efforts. I could not figure out how to get him in the pen and then shut the gate (panel). So I put a rope on it so I could pull it shut from the other side of Magic. I pulled the rope up after Magic crossed it. Then Magic decided to back up like he had been doing all morning. And he backed into the rope. And I pulled on it. He moved forward. Bingo! Now I remembered that was the exact pressure he responded to at Sherrie’s. I got another rope, tied about a five foot loop in it and slipped it over his rump so I could pull it from the front and put pressure on his rump. I asked him to move forward, he refused, I pulled the rump rope, he said “whoa, what’s that on my rump?”, and moved forward and we walked to the trailer. When we got near the trailer, he pulled up and back. I pulled the rump rope. He stepped up into the trailer. That is all there is to it.

We were almost two hours late when we got to Pruitt. I saddled and we rode down the trail. The trail was close. If it was not sandy, it was rocky. There were lots of flood deposited logs across the trail. It is very, very different riding a new trail by ourselves with no other riders and horses. Magic is an unusually brave horse. Today alone on the Buffalo River Trail is the first situation that has tested his confidence. This was only his second ride on the Buffalo. It is a national park but the horse trails are challenging. Crossing the water was no problem. There was an unbelievably spooky bent piece of shiny black plastic about the size of a log. Right in the middle of the trail. Lots of wind. The rain and hail last night made the trail slippery in places. Then we came to the notorious rock spook. It is a grey limestone rock big as a small car with smooth holes going in and out set in the trail to block vehicles. It has blocked lots of horses from going down that trail. Magic spotted it, stopped and looked carefully, approached carefully, then walked on past. Then we came to the blind drop off. This is the second river crossing downriver from Pruitt. The trail approaches the crossing on top of a cut bank maybe 15 feet above the river. The trail descends to the river in a steep slot. We could see about ten feet down the trail. It dropped 6 or 8 feet. We could not see anything past that. It was just a blind drop off. I said “Look Magic you can see where the other horses went down.” Magic said “Yes John, it is obvious from the tracks that they SLID down. And from all you know they are all lying down there dead.” I listened to Magic. We turned around and went back to the truck. I am sure Magic, when calm and confident, could negotiate the drop off trail safely. But a nervous mishap can make good horse loose confidence.

We ate lunch at the truck. We rode the upstream trail to the highway. Then we rode back downstream to meet Tommy, Wanda and Evelyn coming back. I made note that there were more spooks going down the trail the second time. I wanted Magic to see the other horses. He had enjoyed it so much the last time and not much good had happened thus far on this trip. We were almost back to the drop off trail when Magic stopped, looking forward. I saw movement and thought well, there they are. But then I realized it was not horses and riders. It was three deer hunters, dressed in camouflage carrying all manner of strange looking archery stuff. They made no noise and were walking directly towards us. Magic stood very, very still and it seemed like he was getting bigger and bigger under me. I jumped off and that seemed to help the situation and I got the hunters to say something. Magic did not explode. After the hunters left we waited an hour for the riders. Magic relaxed for the first time since 7am. We may have napped just a bit. When the riders showed up, Magic was happy to see them. Somehow he knew it was them and not a spook coming on the wind. He arched his neck and pranced a little. Evelyn said “Goodness, what a beautiful horse.” All of a sudden, the day seemed worthwhile.

On the way back, Magic was calm and cool. He carried his head low like a working horse. When the other horses spooked at the rock and the plastic booger, Magic paid no attention, kept his head low and made a point never to even glance at the spooks.  It was all old hat to him. Back at the trailers, Magic was the first to get in his trailer. He started to pull back but I slipped the rump rope on him and he jumped right in.

I rode Magic this morning. We rode in the arena, around the Oak pasture and up on Shirey. Today is the first time I took Magic up via the Hoodoo Trail. We just took the part up to the top. I have decided that the complete Hoodoo Trail around Shirey Mountain is not a good trail for horses. It is too tight, too close to serious drop offs and too many house size rocks for a horse to meet a real spook. And there are serious spooks, buzzards nesting under rocks and rattlesnakes just to mention some that I have met on horseback on the Hoodoo Trail. Magic did great, completely calm and under control on the steep slick rocks and all. In the arena I rode serpentines to work with Magic’s hard side. I am paying close attention to this tendency and quite often he is bent to the left even if we are going straight on a trail. He will bend much better on the 10 meter radius turn than on a bigger radius turn. I think I see a way to improve this situation. We will work on it and see. It was a very nice ride.

I rode Magic this morning. We rode around the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. Magic was at his best. Plenty of energy. I have not ridden him in several days and he was fresh. Excellent weather. Often I had to slow him down from a trot. If I have to choose between too much energy and not enough, I’ll take too much every time. He has always been manageable to keep at a walk on a loose rein even when headed back to the barn so I do not anticipate a problem. We had a very nice ride.

Last night I was reading posts from last spring when I was gathering shoeing dates and results for the chart I made. Magic had a hard time when he first got here. He got quicked, had an abscess, stone bruises, lost shoes and on and on. In one post I said I thought he was “depressed”.  At one time I might have considered that statement anthropomorphic. Now I consider it true. He was not enjoying his life and did not enjoy being ridden. Things are different now and I think he is enjoying himself. In my experience, developing a horse takes time. I read success stories where it happens quick. That leads me to unreasonable expectations like “If I had that big chestnut at New Vocations, l could do everything!” I have gotten better results from patience than I have from changing horses. Magic just went on his first group trail ride on the Buffalo. I think he enjoyed it and it lifted his spirits. I hope we can keep this viewpoint. Time will tell if we are too optimistic.

This morning Magic and I rode through the Divide pasture, up the deer hunters’ road and up the old wagon road that goes to the high bench on Pinnacle Mountain. We usually stop at the little bench at the switchback but Magic wanted to keep on going. I turned him around before we got to the part that usually stops ATVs. Nice cool morning, lots of energy. When we went in the gate to the Divide pasture there was a deer about 30 yards away. It got scared and started running fast. It thought the most desirable escape route was to run down the fence to a gap that was easier to jump than the fence. I’ve seen this doe before and I think she has diminished capacity of some kind. She lets you get too close, chooses an escape route that is closer to you than she was originally, and ends up in a frantic run. Generally not a good close encounter for a energetic horse on a cool morning. Magic saw everything that was happening. It bothered him not at all! He has the confidence of a Christian with four aces on a new age church casino outing. We had a very enjoyable ride.

I rode Magic this morning. It’s been a long time. I have been on a bird hunting trip to Montana. Magic is a good horse. Even though he has not been ridden in a long time, I noticed improvement. Maybe he had a good time on the last trail ride. A specific improvement I noticed was that he left the barn willingly at a good walk and going directly where I directed him. Green horses often check with each stride to see if you might want to go back to the barn. They veer to the left, then the right and then back to the left again requiring to be checked and urged forward constantly for the first few hundred yards. We rode up to the little bench just below the Pitkin Limestone outcrop on Pinnacle Mountain, maybe a mile out and a mile back. Magic rode forward the whole way. It was a joy. We cantered through the Ash pasture on the way back.

I have been thinking about the trail ride Magic and I took with Peggy and April and Tommy and Wanda. Magic did good on his first trail ride. There were two things that I keep thinking about. Sometimes Magic followed too close and he pushed Peggy with his nose when she held him when I moved the trailer. I overlook these little rude misbehaviors when I am alone but it bothers me when it happens around other people. After thinking about it I realize that I have a problem. I allow him to push me and I just accept it but when he pushed Peggy, I found that unacceptable. He would not have pushed Peggy if I did not allow him to push me. (He was nervous but that is no excuse.) One of the reasons gentle training appeals to me is because I have undesirable results when I am strict and utilize negative discipline. A heavy hand does not work for me. I am not saying it is never effective but it is not effective for me. My relationship with the animal is diminished if I use a heavy hand. So I pick my battles carefully. I have overlooked nose pushing after a ride, moving around when I tighten the girth and moving around when I mount. Some horses stand quietly while I groom and tack up. Magic is not one of them. I have talked with Paul Roten about teaching me some of the methods he uses training horses. Paul might help me overcome this problem. A solution to this problem might give me some insight to limitations I have as a rider.

Magic and I took our first Buffalo River trail ride today. At daylight the weather was iffy, high chance of rain. But it was not raining, so we got ready. No problems loading and we actually left on time. I met Peggy and April on the way to Pruitt. We parked, unloaded and I tacked up. Magic was nervous. Probably the last time Magic went for a ride with other horses was at a race track, probably not a calming experience. The nice thing about Magic is that even if he gets nervous, he does not go to pieces. I mounted and we walked down the road a little way. Tommy and Wanda showed up about this time and we started down the trail. Tommy was on Levi, Wanda rode Rio, April was on Savannah and, of course, Peggy was on Red. About 10 minutes down the trail, we jumped a big bull elk. He was big with huge antlers about 100 yards from us. None of the horses were bothered. The elk stood in the open a look at us until Peggy got her camera out. Then he was gone. We rode about 5 miles upriver crossing the river three times. Magic was not sure what was going to happen and how he should act. He was completely controllable and did what was asked of him. He was much more inclined to jog trot than usual but he would transition to a walk and calm down when asked. We ate lunch on a gravel bar across from the bluff near Brown Cemetery. Magic was nervous when I tied him up but soon calmed down and rested. He could see all the other horses were resting and it obviously was a good idea. The return trip was uneventful, exactly what I wanted. Magic has an energetic walk with a good stride and it is a lot of fun to ride him on the return leg of a trail ride. Our first trail ride was a good experience. Now he knows what to expect and how he is expected to act. I hope he learns to enjoy trail rides. At one time I would have considered that statement unreasonable. (Why or how could a horse enjoy being ridden?) It is good to learn from your horse. I think Tut did enjoy the outings, seeing the other horses and the whole experience.