I have plans tomorrow to take Magic on his first trail ride on the Buffalo. The plan is to meet at the north end of the bridge at Pruitt at 9:30 and ride upriver. I have moved the mares into the Oak pasture. It is a big pasture and they have not moved very far from the gate in two days. It is a new pasture for them. Magic and I rode to the gate this morning and said Hi. We also rode around the Sycamore and Ash pastures. We loaded in the trailer twice. The weather is decidedly like fall. Magic was fresh but controllable.
Monday, September 12 2011
I rode Magic to the arena, around the Oak pasture and up on Shirey Mountain. When we do the oval exercise, Magic has a tendency to bend in the wrong direction. It is most notable on the first leg of the exercise. I do not have a specific plan or technique to correct this but we will keep on riding. Very nice weather and a very nice ride.
Sunday, September 11 2011
Mara rode Laddie again today. She sits on the pony and I lead. My round pen is grass which is not best for most things but excellent (soft) for what we are doing now. Mara fell off the last weekend she was here and her parents, and grandparents also, are very concerned for her safety. We have a good pony and a good situation but we need to keep safety foremost in our minds. The round pen protects us from a lot of potential problems. My thinking is that the best way to develop Mara’s riding skills at this time is time on the horses back. We don’t have to worry about her hands until she has good balance and a good seat. Her desire to ride is essential and I might overdo it if she was here all the time. So we keep it short, like 15 minutes. When Mara is a little bigger we can start on groundwork. Lots to look forward to. I know I am having a lot of fun and I think Mara is too.
Saturday, September 10 2011
Mara was here today. We went to the barn, fed the horses and rode Laddie. Once we got the horses fed, Mara wanted in the tack room. I did not know why she wanted in but I opened the door. She went straight to the grooming basket and got her brush.
She knows the routine. We groomed Laddie and trimmed his rear feet. Then we saddled and Mara got on. I have wanted to know what to do to improve her seat and balance. After today I think her seat and balance improve the more she rides. Last time she fell off. We were all concerned and she paid attention the whole time and did not loose her seat. Well all of us except Mara, I don’t think it bothered
her one little bit. Mara was sporting a new riding helmet. I was surprised at how well it was designed to fit and protect various sizes of small heads. Available at WalMart. The pink matched her shoes perfectly.
Friday, September 9 2011
Magic and I rode up towards Pinnacle Mountain again today. The trails, actually deer hunter roads, go a long way back in there. There are some steep climbs on the trails that, I think, are a good way to condition a horse. We went further than yesterday. We climbed up to the switchback on the trail up to the bench above the Pitkin Limestone on Pinnacle. Magic does very good. A nice fast walk. He just puts one foot in front of the other. I like to stop a look around but Magic fidgets and wants to move on even after a climb. I think the best way to get him to stop and relax is by going with other horses and have a rest stop. Most people I ride with keep moving and go a long way and only stop for lunch. They tie their horses and walk off to the view or whatever to eat lunch. I was amazed that none of the horses ever cause problems while tied up. Then I figured it out. They are very tired and willing to stand still and rest. I think some of the horses, like Tut, really enjoy the trail rides, seeing other horses, and having an adventure. I just do not want to over-do it and make it a pain for the horses. It is not unusual to start at 9 and end at 4 with an hour off for lunch. It is usually around 14 miles. The time is not a problem but I would like to rest the horses more often perhaps staying out just as long but only traveling 7 miles. Anyway, today was Magic’s steepest, rockiest and longest climb. No noticeable movement of the saddle going up or down but it was not much of a test. He did good. It was an enjoyable ride. It would be a good idea to take a GPS and measure the distance, time, and rise/fall of some of these rides that I can use for conditioning.
Thursday, September 8 2011
Nice weather. I just got back from a road trip to a family wedding in Jacksonville FL. I rode Magic this morning. It has been some time since we rode much due to the hot weather. The cows are back. They were not invited but they came anyway. The owner wanted them to go down the road past my place but they remembered the road to my place and just swarmed up it and he could not get them to leave. They really like the grass up here. So we did not ride in the arena. We went up towards Pinnacle Mountain. The deer hunters planted some oats in the springfield and I wanted to see it. We went up the lower road a little ways past the spring and came back on the upper road. The deer hunters have corn feeders to attract the deer. (That was once called baiting and considered very unsportsmanlike. The hunters buy lots of corn and the merchants like that. They are going to kill them anyway so I see the feeding as an advantage to the does and little bucks that don’t get killed.) The hunters also have motion activated cameras that get a picture when something comes to the feeder. This year they have lots of pictures of a bear that steals the corn. (The hunters really don’t mind. They want to kill the bear too.) So Magic and I kept a keen eye for a little black bear. Magic is so calm about wildlife that I am curious about what he will do if we do see a bear. We did jump a deer. A faun hidden in a down cedar jumped up about 75 feet ahead of us in a field. Magic’s only reaction was to perk up his ears. He never even broke his stride. I enjoyed the ride. Magic is a very nice horse. He has a nice fast, eager walk. We are ready to go ride the Buffalo River trails. I will arrange a small group and a short ride for his first trip.
Wednesday, August 31 2011
Magic and I had a short ride this morning. I have plowed the top of Shirey Mountain and planted oats up there. It looks a lot different and Magic takes a bite of the dirt each time he goes up there. We did a little riding in the arena. He was a little more supple than the other day. Then we went up on Shirey. Beautiful view and a wonderful ride. Magic and I are developing a lot of trust.
Friday, August 26 2011
It was nice outside this morning. It has been hot for a long time. I rode Magic for the first time in a long time. We rode just a little bit in the arena and then up on Shirey Mountain. Magic has plenty of energy and willingness to move forward. I have plowed the field on Shirey and Magic was very interested in the exposed soft dirt. This was possibly his first exposure to a plowed field. He reached down and took a bite. Yes, he took a bite of the dirt! It was an enjoyable ride.
Carole and Mara arrived at our house about 7 pm. After a while Mara took me outside and we went to the barn. She was excited to see the chickens and dogs. And the horses and ponies. She wanted to go see them all in each pasture. Little More wanted to get in her pocket. He just seems to love little girls. I think he would be very careful if just he and Mara were together. But the extreme difference in size prevents me from just watching. We fed the geldings and ponies. We got Laddie out after they finished eating. Mara likes to get her brush and groom brush the horses. I put the saddle on Laddie and Mara wanted to get on. I led them around and Mara was practicing her cluckin’ and smoochin’. She smiled big while she was riding. Laddie is very nice, no quick moves or anything like that. Then all at once Mara fell off. I think she just stopped riding. It did not hurt her but landing on her back gave her a good scare. Again, Laddie is worth his weight in gold. Mara’s little face was close to the next step but that foot never moved! There is no physical damage. I don’t think there is any emotional damage but we will have to wait until tomorrow to see for sure. Hopefully Mara will be wise and learn from her experience. Always keep riding, especially when you’re on a horse.
Wednesday, August 24 2011
Lots of excitement today. The Lawrence girls, Sophie and Maggie, came to visit the ponies. Sophie is 11 and Maggie is 8. They ride over fences at home in New York and both are very good riders. This time I worked with Maggie and Laddie and Sophie and her mother, Pam, worked with Scottie. We went in the round pen but Maggie wanted to get away from the others so I put the lunge line on Laddie and we worked in front of the barn. I noticed that Maggie was having to kick Laddie sometimes to get him to go. She was mostly riding Laddie and the lunge line was just a precaution. I took the opportunity to get a switch for Maggie and explain that when Laddie did not respond to her legs, to tap him with the switch, so he would learn to respect her leg. Maggie listened real nice like I was telling her important stuff. As I watched her ride, I realized she not only knew what I was talking about, she was very skilled in this discipline. Maggie would be talking to me about a pony she rode at home, Laddie would slow down, she would use her legs, no response, WHAP!, and Maggie’s tale would go on without the slightest interruption. Laddie was a much more responsive pony after Maggie’s ride.
Sophie was not having the same luck with Scottie. Maggie and I looked over where they were just in time to see Scottie put on an excellent bucking exhibition. I do not know what the problem was. Scottie may have been protesting that 11 year olds are too big for a pony his size or he may have protested at having a rider that expected and required response from a pony. What would have shown what was going on would be for the girls to swap ponies. Sophie suggested something like that but Maggie said “No way, I’m riding Laddie”.
Sophie and Maggie ride every day at home. They love it. It was lots of fun to have good riders ride the ponies. It was lots of fun to be around girls that love horses that much.
Sunday, August 14 2011
Mara and I finally got to the barn without any “adult supervision”. She has picked up a lot of what we do. After we fed the horses, she got her brush and was ready to brush something. She brushed the stall doors, my blue jeans and the ponies. We saddled Scottie and took him to the round pen. Today it seemed that she has gotten the idea to keep her seat in the center of the saddle. I do not expect that she has that control but she does have the idea. She had no problem today keeping her seat in the center of the saddle and she kept her balance. Scottie took off quickly once that took Mara by surprise. It did not scare her, she just realized that the horse moves quickly sometimes. We lunged in both directions at a walk. I got her off and suggested that she lead Scottie. It worked when I took the end of the lead and led Mara and Scottie came along also. We’re working on it. Mara rode again and then we took the saddle off. It was a good ride and a good time at the barn. Scottie was very good.