Great Western Trail, Tack and Gear, Western Trails

It’s been a while since I last posted…

Seems I have been so busy with life that I seem to be forgetting to live.

Hehehe. That sounds really good and rolls off the tongue nicely, but it really isn’t the truth. The truth is that I have, in fact, been busy, but not so busy that I couldn’t take the time to hammer out a few posts. I have been lazy and remiss. That is the fact. My mind has simply been on other things.

So, I’ll catch everybody up on what has been going on and what I have planned for the not-too-distant future.

Chief, brand new, not even an hour old.

First off, I’m sure my readers are aware that my mare Lizzy had her colt on September 14. He’s now two months old and growing fast. He’s a handsome fellow and will be a credit to his sire and dam. He was born a sorrel and white tobiano, but has since changed colors drastically, to black and white. He is still showing some sorrel highlights and there is some sorrel still in his mane and tail, but I’m pretty confident he’ll end up black and white. His registered name will be Touch the Clouds, named after a Sioux war chief from the late 1800s, known for his great height (he was about 6’5″ and 260 pounds by one account) and strength. His barn name is Chief. I have the papers in process, but had to call the Missouri Fox Trotter Horse Breeders Association and have them hold off when he started changing colors. His photos and description would have been wrong! I sent in a DNA kit as well, so he’ll be “gold-papered.”

Chief at one month, changing colors

Over the past several months I have been working to earn money to pay for some improvements on my place in Eagar, Arizona. I had actually planned to spend the money on refurbishing my horse trailer and finishing out the camper compartment this year, but after spending some time in Eagar with my parents and spending some time walking over and dreaming about my 20 acre parcel there, I decided my priority should be getting that place to where it can be productive and actually pay for itself.

So, a couple months ago I bought a load of 4-1/2″ pipe, so I could  rebuild some fences, start a pipe fence on one side of the place, and build some corrals and a pole barn. Dad and I got started on it a few weeks ago.

In the process, I came across a tractor in Eagar that had been sitting in a yard for a long time. I made the owner an offer, which she accepted, and I took it home.  Drove it home, actually…well, to my place there in Eagar. So I am now the proud owner of a 1962 John Deere 3010 Diesel tractor and several implements, all in need of some tender loving care to make them work again. I don’t know what it is about old stuff, but I thrill over making broken stuff work again.

My JD 3010 Diesel with post hole digger

The tractor is now running and working, after adding about $2,500 in parts to the initial cost of $1,500 (and $500 for the implements). I’m told I’m still under the value of the tractor, so I’m happy.

Last month I bought a new heavy-duty three-point post hole drill and a couple augers, which ran about $1200. Dad and I punched a bunch of holes with it and set some fence corners and line posts as well as all the upright posts for a pole barn and corrals. I also spent about $1,500 for lumber for the barn and shed roofs. Now I need to save up some money for the metal roofing and siding and some pipe for the pipe corrals and fences.

The corrals will be 16′ wide and 42′ long with a 32′ X 16′ hay barn at the east end and a shed roof covering the south end of the corrals. I like the plan and will likely expand it to add more corrals as the need arises.

Setting posts for corrals

As I increase my little herd, currently three horses and a colt, most of them will be kept on the place in Eagar most of the year. Several close relatives also keep their horses there. I hope to end up with several more horses and a couple mules eventually.

The plan is to split the 20 acres into four 5-acre pastures, with the southernmost being used for barns, corrals, arena, training area, and trailer parking. The other 15 acres will be pasture, which I hope to be able to irrigate from a well. There is a dry irrigation pond at the northwest corner of the place that used to have tail waters from two irrigation ditches running into it. A number of years ago the ditch company put those ditches in pipe and the former owner of my place sold off the irrigation shares, so the pond is dry. My intention is to hire somebody to expand and deepen the pond and level out the banks, so that it actually resembles a pond about an acre or so in extent. I hope to have a well drilled near it and install a windmill on it to fill the pond and maintain a constant flow. I will then irrigate the whole acreage from the pond.

My place, looking northward

My place has a well down at the southwest corner that has been tested at 65 gallons per minute. I’m in the process now of getting it back into working order – new pump and controller, well head, etc. However, 65 GPM is a bit low to effectively irrigate the whole 20 acres. If I can fill that pond from a separate well with a windmill on it, like plan to, I can irrigate directly from the pond at the flow rate I need to maintain the proper pressure and flow rate to the sprinklers.

As I was working all this out in my head (since I don’t actually have the money to do it right now) it occurred to me that my place might make a good place for folks coming to the White Mountains with their horses to stop over. I participate in a number of forums and facebook pages about horses and I have noted that every day there are folks seeking “horse camps” where they can park their living-quarters trailer overnight as they pass through the area, or for several days while they ride local trails. I posted a query to one of those groups to try to gauge the interest and see whether it would be a good idea for me to try to place several short-stay RV spaces on my place for horse-campers. I was surprised by the response. It appears there is plenty of demand for such a place, even in little old Eagar, Arizona! There just aren’t enough places that cater to horse folks.

I also received more than one query in the responses about long-term horse boarding on the place. Maybe I’ve found a way to make the place support itself after all.

So, my plan is to approach the Town of Eagar and find out whether they will allow me a permit to install maybe 10 short-stay RV slots on the place, along with a bathroom and shower, with full hookups and a dump station. If the town allows it, I will start with five spaces and go from there. l’m not sure they will allow it. If not, I’ll just look at boarding horses. We’ll see how it goes.

And now for the grand finale – for this post, at least. I have set the dates (tentatively) for the next leg of my Mexico-to-Canada trek. Dad and I have discussed ways to make our pack trip a bit easier for our better-halves to deal with. We decided that if we cut it up into legs of 7-10 days, rather than a month at a time, we might just be able to finish the ride before we’re both too old to ride.

So, since we had to stop in 2016 at Flagstaff, Arizona, having made a grand total of 555 miles since we started (at least that’s what the GPS said), we plan to start right where we stopped and go to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Yes, we will be crossing the Grand Canyon on this leg…finally! As close as I can figure, the distance to the South Rim is about 108 miles. The distance rim-to-rim is about 22 miles or a bit more, so we’re looking at a grand total of about 130 miles. Toss in two rest days and maybe another day at the Grand Canyon as a fudge-factor, and I think this will be a 10 or 11-day trip.

So, I will be applying for a back-country camp permit for the Grand Canyon for May 1 and 2, 2018. Which means we’ll be departing Flagstaff on April 23, 2018. If we have a mild winter, that time frame should have good grass growing along our route to keep the horses in weight without us having to haul all our feed and should have the water sources along the route full. At the same time, it should get us through the Grand Canyon before the mad summer rush begins.

We will end this third leg of our trip at the North Rim, where we’ll be picked up to return us and our horses home. That should have us home by the weekend of May 5.

A couple of my riding friends have expressed a wish to make the trip with us, so this should be fair warning to them! I’ll get in touch with you shortly, so we can all plan toward it.

Me and Chief

 

Good Stories, Great Western Trail, Western Trails

Remembering one of the best and worst days of my life

This afternoon I was re-watching a few segments of video I took while my dad and I were trekking across the arid lands of southeastern Arizona, as we embarked on our Mexico-to-Canada horse pack trip in 2015. It inevitably brought to mind the adventures we had on the second segment of the trip, from Eagar, Arizona to Flagstaff, Arizona in 2016.

It is a curious thing to me, how different the two trips were. As I prepared for the trip in 2015, it seemed like everything just fell into place. As we packed across southeastern Arizona, it seemed that every near disaster resulted in a simple learning experience for both men and horses. It was as if we had protection and help from above. It was as if some power unseen was smiling upon our efforts, saying, “Let me help you accomplish your goals.” I believe we had help from our Heavenly Father.

The trip in 2016 was different. Not that I think the Lord abandoned us, but it is apparent to me, in retrospect, that he had other things for us to learn. From the beginning, even during my preparations, things didn’t go smoothly. In the couple of months before we started, I had to get an axle changed out on my trailer, I blew the engine in my truck and had to have it rebuilt. On the trip down to Arizona, fully loaded with all my gear and horses, I blew two tires on the trailer and had to stop in Blanding, Utah to have them replaced. I learned that on a Sunday, there is only one tire shop open between Spanish Fork, Utah and Flagstaff, Arizona…and I had missed it way back at Green River. A kindly soul in Blanding opened his shop for me and replaced my tires. I was sorry to have disturbed his Sabbath Day.

The day Dad and I started out on the horses from Eagar, Arizona, which is home for Mom and Dad, the wind was blowing directly out of the west at about 50 miles per hour, gusting to well above that. At 7,000 feet elevation, that was a cold and stiff wind into which we faced, as we headed west on US 260 across a treeless high plain for the first ten miles. We made camp shortly after we entered the trees not far from Greer, Arizona. We made 13 miles that day and we were beat at the end of it.

Camp about 13 miles west of Eagar, AZ

When we arose the next morning, it was to an empty camp. Our horses were gone. They had headed for home, which was Eagar for two of them. I was lucky enough to find them stopped at a fence less than half a mile from our camp. That day, Dad and I, following a topographical map, attempted to cross through an area from one trail to another. After trying several routes and being stopped by thick stands of young ponderosa pines, choked with undergrowth, we gave up and backtracked. We ended up following US 260 another three miles or so, until we found a gate in the USFS fence that took us back toward the trail we wanted to locate. By the time we had gotten back where we had hoped to be before noon, it was time to be looking for a campsite. We made a total of about seven miles that day, but deducting for the backtracking we had to do, we effectively gained about 3 miles on our trip.

We were lucky enough to find a nice camp area at Fish Creek, with good grass and plenty of water in a stream close by. We let the horses graze, making sure we had at least one tied at all times. but the next morning the loose horses were gone. After having tried a number of combinations to allow our stock to graze, and having to track them down five different times over two days,  we learned that if any three of those horses got together, they would head back down the trail. During our stay there at Fish Creek, we learned that we had to keep three of our five animals tied at all times, and only allow two to graze freely at a time. We kept up that protocol the rest of the trip.

Camp off of Fish Creek

On the fourth day of the trip, Dad and I made our way from Fish Creek, into the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest, headed toward Show Low, Arizona. We figured to take two days to reach Show Low, where a friend of ours was to meet us and continue with us a couple days. We made a good 17 miles that day, as I recall, and made camp in a nice treed area not far off the road, near a small creek, just at the north end of Gillespie Flat.

Crossing the White Mountains east of Show Low, AZ

That day, Dad and I followed US Forest Service roads, as that was the best way to cross the area. It was one of the most pleasant days of my life. This was the kind of day Dad and I had envisioned all those many years ago, when we first spoke of such a horse pack trip. On this day, the fourth day of the second leg of our big pack trip, we rode side-by-side through the mountains, taking in the beauty of the White Mountains of Arizona, talking of life, aspirations, experiences, religion, faith, and just enjoying each other’s company as father and son, doing something together that we had dreamed of for many years. The riding was easy and our pace was relaxed.  Even the horses seemed to have enjoyed the ride that day. We made camp that evening, two men, father and son, with full hearts, at peace and content with our world.

Ranger, on his last day.

That was the night Ranger, a horse with which I had truly bonded and which had become my favorite trail partner, with which I had hoped to complete my Mexico-to-Canada trip one day, got tangled in his lead rope in the middle of the night and broke his leg before I could free him. He was a horse with which I had expected to spend many pleasant miles over many years in the saddle. That was the night I had to put him down. It was a heart-wrenching experience for me and one I will never forget.

The following morning, Dad and I were able to contact a friend, who came with his trailer and hauled us back to Eagar. After a couple days of grief and consideration, we decided to continue the trip. I had brought Lizzy from Utah with me, but had left her at my pasture in Eagar as a backup horse, in case we had a horse go lame. I continued the trip with Lizzy as my primary horse. She handled the trip well and turned out to be the best trail horse I have ever had, even better than Ranger. The rest of our trip was enjoyable and pleasant, but that last day before I lost Ranger was the highlight of the trip.

Since then, I often think of that day and the power of the emotions  thoughts of the events of that day bring to me, from the joy and fulfillment of riding and conversing with my dad, doing what we enjoy most, to the loss of one of my favorite friends, Ranger. While I miss Ranger as I ride mountain trails on my other horses, I remember the joy and contentment I felt as I rode him alongside my dad, as we made our way through the mountains on that last day of Ranger’s life. It is a good and pleasant memory.

One of the best days of my life.

In Camp on Gillespie Flat
Great Western Trail, Western Horsemanship, Western Trails

A Fun Pack Trip into the “Bob”

A couple weeks ago I got an unexpected text from a friend. It said something like, “Heading up to the Bob Marshall. Want to go?”

I responded, “When?”

He said, “Next week!”

I started cancelling things and moving appointments.

Our group consisted of Derek Habel, our host, his granddaughter, Kami Painter, his good friend, Jeff Palmer, and myself.  Derek’s brother, Allen, joined us at the trailhead. I was the outsider, but a horse pack trip has a way of bringing folks together in a way few other activities can do. By the end of the trip we were all good friends.

Our horses were Missouri Fox Trotters, preferred by us for their smooth fast gait, sure-footedness on uneven terrain, and their even temperament. It’s a beautiful thing to watch a string of Fox Trotters moving along a trial at six or seven miles per hour. It’s even better to be riding one of them.

We started our pack trip at the Loop Trail trailhead on Friday morning. The trailhead can be found by taking Benchmark Road west out of Augusta, Montana (check a map for mileage). Just past the airstrip, you’ll find a large overflow parking area. Plenty of room for even large rigs. There is a corral there, but the outfitters normally have that. There is plenty of room and plenty of grass for primitive camping. Go on to the end of the road and you’ll find a designated camping area that has several horse camps with tie racks, feeders, and room to back in a decent sized stock or LQ trailer.

Our original intent was to make the loop on the Loop Trail, which loops around the famous Chinese Wall, then back to the main trail. We didn’t make it, so I can’t report on the entire trail.

We made it out about twelve miles, before our new pack horse gave out. She was a new acquisition for Derek and she just wasn’t in condition to carry a 200 lb pack. So, we adapted. We made a base camp just off the trail near a creek, just about two miles past the USFS Ranger Cabin.

There was very little grass there at camp, so it was a good thing we had packed in about 100 lbs of pelletized feed for the horses. Water was no problem, for horses or people.

We packed in a pair of bear-resistant panniers, so we were in compliance with the rules for “The Bob.” This is bear country, both black and grizzly, so pay attention to the food storage rules, or you may be very sorry. Besides, not paying attention to the rules can get you a citation from the rangers.

The following morning we decided to leave the pack horses in camp and make an in-and-out ride up to see the Chinese Wall. What a nice ride it was with spectacular views. The wildflowers were out adding a wondrous array of color against the green foliage. Bear grass blooms into large white fuzzy-looking puffballs on a long stem. I’ve been told it blooms only once every four years. This was a bloom year and it was beautiful, adding an accent of white in every meadow along the way.

We came to a nice pass with an excellent view of the entire Chinese Wall, where we unsaddled and had lunch. The mileage from camp was 9.6, according to my GPS.

As we glassed the Chinese Wall we were privileged to see a couple nice billy mountain goats.

After a lunch and a good nap, we saddled up and headed back. It’s amazing how the views going back are just as spectacular as coming in.

Just before we arrived back at camp, we noticed smoke in the valley near the river. While we rode on into camp, Allen detoured to check out the source of the smoke. As it turned out, an old rotting log had caught fire by spontaneous combustion – no lightning, no sign of a camp, just caught fire due to the extreme heat and a little rain a couple nights before. We spent the rest of the afternoon putting it out. Luckily, we happened on the scene and only about 800 or so square feet was charred. Could have been much worse.

The next day we took things pretty easy. We needed to move camp, but our lame pack horse was barely moving.  She had some pretty sore feet. Late in the afternoon we decided to move our camp about two miles, back to the ranger cabin, where there was plenty of grass and water.  We put a set of boots on the mare and packed her light. At her own speed and she made the move just fine.

That night the temperatures dropped and I awoke with frost on my sleeping bag and me wishing I had brought my winter bag instead. Even in the middle of July, it can get cold in the Bob.

The following day we made another in-and-out up to White River Pass. My horse had thrown both front shoes by then, so I saddled up Derek’s other pack horse.  The trail was good, although there are a couple places that might make some folks shiver. The view from the pass was phenomenal. In every direction lay another panorama of mountains and valleys. I forgot to turn my GPS on, but I reckon it was about a ten-mile ride up to the saddle. Again, coming back down the trail was a beautiful as going up. We stopped for a few photographs in the spray of a small waterfall.

We got back to camp fairly early in the afternoon, so we decided to head back to the trailer and get home a day or two earlier than expected. I suggested that since my horse had now lost a third shoe (remember the short notice I had to prepare for this trip? It caught up with me) and was tender, I might take him and the lame mare and head on out while they packed up camp, figuring that if I were lucky we might make it back to the truck only slightly behind the rest.

Once the mare got to walking, she loosened up a bit and seemed to be fine. I let my gelding and the mare choose their own speed. What a pleasant ride it was! Just me, all alone with the horses. To me, that’s what it’s all about – my relationship with my horses. I talked to the horses, whistled, and even sang out loud at the top of my voice. There was nobody but my horses to hear, and they seemed to enjoy the ride as much as I did.

All-in-all, we did about 65 miles total, through some of the most beautiful landscape on God’s green earth. What a pleasant trip it was!

The Bob Marshall should be on everybody’s horse bucket list.

 

Western Trails

A Couple Rides in Capitol Reef National Monument, Utah

During the weekend of May 25-27, 2017, Jon Tanner and I headed to Capitol Reef National Monument, southern Utah, to ride with the Utah Missouri Fox Trotter Association (UMFTA) and a few other friends. It’s a ride I have been looking forward to for a while.

Since both Jon and I were taking only one horse each, and since he lives up north and had to pass by my way anyhow, I threw in with him. He picked up me, my horse, and gear on Thursday afternoon about 2:15. We enjoyed a comfortable ride down in his nice rig and arrived at our destination sometime around 7:00 pm or so. We met the rest of our gang on private property that adjoins Capitol Reef, of which the owner is a member of the UMFTA.

On Friday morning, after a fine breakfast, we got saddled up and ready to head out about 10:00 am. That’s when the fun started.

I had brought my new horse, J Golden, figuring this would be an excellent training opportunity. This was officially his sixth and seventh rides, so he was pretty green, but hadn’t given me any trouble so far. Well, he was excited to see all the new horses and people and to be in a new place. As I tried to mount, he began fidgeting around. I reined him in on the left side and turned him a couple times, trying to get his mind on his business and to stand still, so I could mount. I thought I had him in check, so I pulled myself up. As I was swinging my leg over the saddle, however, J moved into me, which caused me to be over-balanced to the off-side. My right leg swung over as I hung on and I inadvertently jabbed him in the side with my spur. Well, J felt that jab, and not knowing what had happened, and with all the excitement, he immediately launched into a full-fledged bucking spree.

Here I was, hanging onto his right side, off-balance, never having gained the stirrup, and I knew I wasn’t going to stick this one out. I might have when I was 30 years younger, but I knew I wasn’t going to make it this time. I just picked out a nice spot on the lush, green grass and dove for it. I belly-flopped right where I was aiming and watched J go romping around the camp until he was caught up by my riding buddies.

Okay. So, no harm done. I was still in one piece with no broken parts. Even my cell phone survived.

Second try was more successful and once we were all gathered around, we headed off toward the monument boundary.

Jon Tanner on Spirit

Friday’s ride was over a trail that took us up on top of the “reef” known as Capitol Reef. It is a ridge of rock that runs roughly north-south over a long stretch of south-central Utah. There are a number of canyons that run through the reef which offer some spectacular riding, but this day we headed up on top to see the expansive views it offers. It was a dry ride, about 6 miles in, to a point of rock which marked the end of our trail. We could go no further, due to the terrain.

We had lunch on that point, after which we headed back to camp. While I forgot to start my GPS at the beginning of the ride, I remembered at the lunch stop and at least tracked it back.  The trip back was 6.4 miles. The entire ride was only about 4 hours. I haven’t yet figured out how to post the trip on the blog, but here is the link:

http://rblr.co/So3p

The view from our lunch stop point was amazing. I’m sure the visibility was in excess of 100 miles.

We spent a nice, relaxed evening back at camp, where our group all pitched in for a nice camp dinner. I took the opportunity to see how J would do with hobbles. I was pleasantly surprised to find that he reacted very little and the experience was pretty much a “yawner.”

J’s firs time in hobbles

That evening Jon and I shared his high-line. I have a high-line kit I bought a couple years ago, but have never used it, so I had Jon teach me what it’s all about. After stretching the high-line tightly between two cottonwood trees, Jon taught me the rule of 7s. The high line is to be 7 feet high, the horses tied 7 feet apart, and the lead to be 17″ long. He showed me how to tie the loops to attach the leads to the high-line as well. Pretty handy. I normally tie to a tree or picket pin, but those methods are sometimes less practical, less safe for the horses, and leave more disturbed ground in the tie area than the high-line. In areas where it is practical (or required) I plan to use the high-line in the future.

J and Spirit on the high-line

In the photo you will notice our leads are a bit longer than 17″. We tightened them up at night. It still allowed enough rope for the horses to lay down if they wished.

Our ride the following day (Saturday) was up Pleasant Creek, which is one of those canyons that pass through the reef. Pleasant Creek runs year-round and truly is a pleasant little creek. We crossed it a number of times, so if you have a horse that doesn’t like water, by the end of the day, he’ll be fine. Apparently, J got a little dehydrated the previous day, so every time he crossed the creek on Saturday he took the opportunity to drink deeply.

I have to apologize for not taking enough photos on the rides. This was J’s first ride with a group, so he was quite a handful. I had to hold him back the entire two days, although he was better the second day. At the end of each day of riding I felt like I had been doing curls all day with weights. I was able to snap a few shots with my iphone, but I didn’t even try with the Gopro.

Below is a small gallery of some of the views we saw, as we passed through Capitol Reef on the Pleasant Creek trail. We stopped near the visitor’s center at our halfway point. We took a look at the petroglyphs there and ate lunch on the banks of the stream. On the way back we found some more petroglyphs on the canyon walls. The few photos I took do not do the trail justice. It was a very beautiful canyon and a very pleasant ride.

The Pleasant Creek ride was about 13.4 miles and took us about 6 hours. I regard it as an intermediate ride. While there was nothing particularly difficult, there are a couple places where the trail is a little tricky for a beginner, although with a little coaching even beginners could handle it easily. It was not particularly challenging for the horses.

Here is the Ramblr link: http://rblr.co/So3t

The trailheads for the two trails we rode may be accessed from Highway 24 off of Notom Road. Go south from Highway 24 about 6 miles to a dirt-track road. Park wherever it looks like a good spot there off the road. Head southwest to locate Pleasant Creek, then follow the creek westward. You will eventually find the trail leading into the Monument. The trail up on top we took on Friday is a little harder to find. From Notom Road you will take a wash northwesterly until you see a knoll with a rocky rim around it near the top. Some folks call this formation a “Mexican Hat” or a “Chinaman”. It’s the only one in the area near the wash. Take a look at the links I posted and look at the maps with the satellite layer on. Keep in mind that our starting/ending point was private property, so look for another access from Notom Road.

A nice ride for a couple days. I’d like to take the Pleasant Creek ride again sometime. Maybe once I get J a little farther along in his training, so I can spend less time controlling him and more time looking around.

 

Tack and Gear, Training

Another Step Forward with J Golden…

I’ve had my new horse, J, out a couple times over the past week, for both pleasure and training.

Last week, my wife and I took Lizzy and J out to Santaquin, Utah for a short ride. Due to inclement weather, the ride turned out shorter than expected, but it was still a nice ride. Both Lizzy and J performed to expectations and the ride put some more miles on J, which is what he really needs right now.

The area we went to is also frequented by shooters for a target range. There were several families out enjoying their firearms when we arrived, so J and Lizzy got a little exposure to the sounds of gunfire while we saddled up. Shortly after we arrived, though, the wind came up and it rained for a short spell, driving all the shooters back to the shelter of their homes. Once the rain let up, Linda and I headed up the trail.

During that ride, J showed me that he has that smooth running walk the Tennessee Walker is known for, but I had a hard time keeping him in it on the rough terrain we were riding in. We were going either up or down all the time, which is not optimum for working on gaits. What he needed was some mileage on a long straight, level trail, where we could fine-tune his gait and teach him what we were looking for.

So, this morning I had some time.  I headed out to do a little work with J.

Today’s training goal was to transition J from the D-ring snaffle bit to a bosal hackamore. I like to do most of my horse training in a bosal, because I feel like I am able to teach them to be more sensitive to bridle and rein cues without working on their mouth. Once I get a horse to the point at which I am comfortable with their neck reining and responsiveness to bridle cues with the bosal, I transition them to a curb bit. I may ride the horse in a bosal for a year before going to the solid bit.

A couple days ago, I tied my 5/8″ rawhide braided bosal over a wooden form, to set its shape. This morning I tied my new 5/8″ horse hair mecate to it and adjusted it to my liking. When I put it on J’s head this morning, he couldn’t quite figure it out for a few minutes, but adjusted to it quickly.

I spent about twenty minutes riding J around the pasture, getting him accustomed to the bosal and teaching him basic signals, which he quickly interpolated from his earlier training in the snaffle bit. I worked on flexing his neck both directions, pressure-release method, to teach him how to relieve the pressure on his nose by giving to the pressure. He already stops to my verbal and seat cue, so the ever important “whoa” command was a piece of cake.

We had to work on his directional signals a bit, though. After a few figure-eights with a few sharp bumps on the nose, he began to understand that he needed to lead with his head, rather than turning while looking off in the other direction. I feel this is more effectively taught with a bosal than with a snaffle bit, since the snaffle tries to pull through the mouth when plow-reined. The bosal is used to bump the horse on the nose, teaching him to look away from the pressure and toward the direction of intended travel. Very quickly the horse begins to respond to light pressure on the nose, rather than waiting for the bump.

On J, I decided to try something I have read about, but hadn’t yet tried. I bought a 5/8″ 6-strand horse hair (mane hair) 24′ mecate to use with my rawhide bosal (Click here to link to similar mecates on Amazon.com). I have read the prickly feel of the horse hair mecate is more effective than a smooth rope for training the horse to neck rein. As the trainer plow reins with one side, he lays the opposite rein against the horse’s neck. It feels the prickly mecate on its neck and more easily associates that touch with the turn in the other direction.  The transition from the bosal/mecate to a bit and smooth leather reins is then a simple matter.

Once the horse handles with light cues on the reins under all conditions, and I no longer need to “bump” the bosal, I feel like the horse is ready to transition to the curb bit. Again, I do not train for shows and am not a reining expert. I ride trails and do pack trips. I train for all-around good, reliable trail horses.

After a few minutes of getting-acquainted-with-the-bosal time, I decided J was ready for a ride outside our arena and pasture. I was looking forward to getting him outside and onto some long, straight roads to see what we could do with his gait.

I was pleased to find that J was easy to handle riding away from his herd and our home base. He did so with no argument and kept his mind on what was ahead of him. He decided that he preferred to step-out in his natural gait, which I have been told is a “stepping-pace,” so I let him have his head. The stepping-pace is not an unpleasant gait, however, with more speed it evolves into a full pace, which is very uncomfortable for a rider. I have been hoping I might be able to work with him and find that smooth running walk in him the Tennessee Walker is famous for. Regardless, the reason I bought him was to get a horse whose walk could keep up with Lizzy’s on the trail. J definitely has that box checked.

As we got onto a long paved road with little traffic, I used the reins and spurs to be able to get J coaxed into a good running walk. It was a little slow, but it was definitely a running walk. When he wanted to go faster, he slipped into the pace, so I kept his head in, flexed at the poll, to check his speed. When I did this he slowed and got back into the running walk. I let him hold that for a bit, then slowed to a flat walk for a while. We kept speeding up and slowing down without allowing him to get into his pace. Before long, he was speeding up his running walk. I found that a light touch with the spurs, while keeping him flexed at the poll, collected him just enough to produce a good running walk with good comfortable speed. I was feeling pretty good about things.

We rode around some low hills for a while, working on things like crossing logs and looking for witches and spooks. I also worked on J’s canter. He simply does not know how to do it with weight on his back. I finally got him to canter up a hill, but he didn’t like it. He prefers to gait. I’m ok with that, since I will be using him for trail riding and pack trips, however, I have always felt a well-rounded horse should perform well at a canter.  We’ll continue to work on that.

After a little over an hour, we headed back toward home. I was quite pleased when J settled into a nice running walk and, since we were headed toward home, even picked up his speed a bit. I was able to keep him dialed-in to his running walk, rather than slipping into his pace, by light cues on the reins and a touch or two with the spurs. I estimate we were moving along very smoothly at about 8-10 mph.

That will match up very well with Lizzy’s Fox Trot.

Back at the pasture, J had a very nice light sweat on him. We finished up with a good brushing and hoof cleaning, before I turned him back out with his pasture buddies. After a good roll in the dust, he was off with his friends.

I like this fellow more every time I ride him.

P.S.

I felt Lizzy’s baby move today! Looking forward to a beautiful spotted Fox Trotter foal sometime about late September.

 

 

Tack and Gear

Some Upgrades to My Pickup

This spring I have been working on some upgrades for my horse hauling pickup. I recently added two accessories that I’ve been wanting for a while: An exhaust brake and a combination tool box and auxiliary fuel tank.

As a refresher, my truck is a 2005 Dodge Ram 3500 dual-rear-wheel pickup with the 5.9L Cummins Diesel and the 6 speed manual transmission. It is approaching 300,000 miles, although the engine has about 12,000 miles, after I blew it about a year ago. Every time something needs to be replaced, I upgrade. I currently sport a one-piece 5″ aluminum drive shaft, manual free-spin hubs, an AEM cold-air intake, a Bully Dog Power Pup chip, a Buckstop Baja front bumper with PIAA driving and fog lights, a late-model steering linkage upgrade, a Carli track bar, Dynatrac ball joints, and a few other gadgets. I love my truck and, barring any disaster, I expect it will be the last truck I ever buy. It will pull anything I want to hook up to it and do so safely.

Over the past two years I have spent nearly $2,200 on brake work on my truck. Some of that was due to my own stupidity in driving around with my parking brake on. That Cummins Diesel, backed by the 6 speed manual transmission will drive right through that parking brake like it isn’t even there, and that’s just what I have done on several occasions. The last time was when I went to pick up my new horse, J. I got distracted with the new horse in the trailer and drove nearly 30 miles at freeway speeds before noticing the parking brake was on.

When I picked my truck up from my mechanic, he advised me to check the brakes on my trailer, because the rear rotors on the truck had been overheated and required turning. I informed him that my trailer brakes were new, as I had recently replaced both axles and hubs in the trailer. I told him I figured the overheating was from me having to drag the brakes coming down long grades while hauling a full load in my horse trailer. I said I had just purchased an exhaust brake and hoped that would mitigate my brake issues…at least those that weren’t due to my own stupidity.

After quite a bit of research and reading information from users on certain forums, I settled on the BD Exhaust Brake from Diesel Power Products.  It has the reputation for reliability, durability, and effectiveness. While there are several good competitors to the BD, people who use the exhaust brakes commercially seem to find the BD more reliable and more effective at all RPM ranges.

For those who may not know what an exhaust brake is, it is a mechanism that closes off the exhaust flow aft of the turbo on a diesel engine, causing back-pressure in the engine, which causes the engine to work against its own compression, thus slowing the truck like a brake. It is similar in function to the engine brakes the big rigs have, but those are actually built into the engine, rather than operating on the exhaust system.

I purchased my exhaust brake online through Diesel Power Products, because their prices were comparable to all other vendors of the BD and I have had good dealings with DPP in the past with other products. However, I must admit that this time their service was less than satisfactory.  I ordered the kit as well as an electric rocker switch for the shifter column. I was charged immediately, which was as expected, until, after a week, I still had not received a shipment confirmation. I called the company and asked about it, whereupon I was informed that the exhaust brake had been backordered. I asked whether it was their practice to charge the customer for a backorder before it was shipped, to which they responded that the orders are placed when the payment is made. Most reputable companies will notify the customer if an item is backordered and allow the customer to choose whether to wait or cancel, and most will not charge the customer before shipment. I was disappointed, but the backorder date was only another week, so I let it go.

The second disappointment was when I received the exhaust brake kit. It was in an oversized cardboard box, packed only with paper packing to secure the contents. The heavy cast iron exhaust brake had apparently been dropped and a fitting was broken off the actuation cylinder. Additionally the compressor filter was not in the package. I contacted DPP and advised them of the problem. It took them a couple days to decide what to do, upon which I asked them to just send me the fitting and I would do the repair, rather than require me to return the whole thing. They agreed and sent the necessary parts. I had the proper tools and easily did the repair.

While I was doing the installation, I found another part missing. It was an anti-rattle pad that mounts to the back of the compressor mounting bracket. I called to ask to have one sent out. It has yet to arrive.

Lastly, the installation instructions are written for all years from 2004-2007, although the unit is for only 2004.5-2005 trucks (at least according to the ordering information). The instructions clearly state that there are installation and operation differences among those years of truck, but are quite unclear when it comes to what instructions apply to which years. After a call to DPP Tech line and some head scratching, I figured things out and got everything installed correctly.

Now, I must state here that I’m not sure whether BD packages the kits for shipment or DPP, and I’m sure DPP doesn’t write the installation manual, but either way, for a $1,320 purchase, I expected better.

Now for the good part.

After installing my BD Exhaust Brake and testing it out with a load, I am very pleased. I have to admit that at first I didn’t know quite what to expect and was a little disappointed in the amount of braking force the brake exerts. I guess I was expecting something like the “Jake Brakes” on the big rigs. However, once my expectations were properly recalibrated and I learned how to use it, I was very pleased.

I found that if I went barreling down a long 6% grade in 6th gear at 75 miles per hour, the exhaust brake wasn’t going to do much to hold my speed or slow my rig down. However, if I reduced speed to a much more reasonable 60 mph and shifted down to 5th gear, my exhaust brake would hold speed steady without my touching the brakes. That was with an all-steel four-horse gooseneck trailer with all my tack and two horses coming down Price Canyon on Route 6 in Utah. I will also say that it seems the braking force has increased somewhat with a little use. I can only attribute that to the possibility of carbon build-up causing a better seal with the butterfly valve.

. One fellow on a forum wrote that his brake life span went from 25,000 miles to over 80,000 after installation of his exhaust brake. I expect my exhaust brake will pay for itself within five years.

The second accessory I just bought and installed was an RDS combination tool box and auxiliary fuel tank from Northern Tool and Equipment. I sometimes head out into the back country with my rig, to find the out-of-the-way places to set up my camp for trail rides. On some of those trips I have had to head in for a fuel stop to top-off my stock 35 gallon tank to make sure I had enough fuel to get in and back out without running low on fuel. Also, a couple times per year, I head for Arizona to visit my folks and I like to take my horses along. An auxiliary fuel tank would ensure I always had enough fuel for my trips, without having to stop at fuel stations with exorbitantly high fuel prices out in the back country or while traveling long distances.

I selected a 90 gallon auxiliary fuel tank with the filler enclosed under the lockable tool box lid. The tool box isn’t more than about 6″ deep, but it holds what I need it to. The 90 gallons gives me a total of 125 gallons. At about 12 miles per gallon, that calculates to a range of about 1,500 miles. That should do it.

I installed my tank as a simple gravity feed auxiliary, which is legal in all 50 states (as far as I know) for diesel fuel. I installed a ball valve as a shutoff, but will soon install an electric valve with a rocker switch in the cab, so that I don’t have to stop and open the valve and stop and close it again. Installation was not a big deal and can be accomplished by anyone with reasonable skills and a few tools in a couple hours.

So far, so good on the fuel tank. No leaks and it fills my stock tank from the aux tank in a reasonable amount of time. When my fuel gauge reads about 1/4 tank, I simply reach into the bed and open the ball valve. When the gauge reads nearly full, I just stop, reach into the bed, and close the ball valve (you can see why I want the electric valve). I’m pleased and itching for a long trip.

Yesterday I sent my old, rusty running board guards to a shop to be stripped and coated with Rhino Liner bed lining.

Next up:  A heavy-duty rear bumper and a 16,000 pound winch to fill the space in my front bumper.

Training

Patience and Training

I’m glad horses are of a forgiving nature. Almost like a dog, a horse seems to forgive and forget the occasional lapse we humans tend to have when things don’t go just so.

I had one of those episodes not too long ago. I was out with a bunch of friends for a trail ride down in the San Rafael Swell area in Utah. Because trail rides are such good experience for a green horse, I took my new boy J Golden along. My plan was to pony him along for part of the ride, then switch saddles and ride him while ponying my seasoned mare, Lizzy.

When I went to load him into the trailer to head out to the meeting place, J didn’t want to get in. I worked with him for a while, but had no luck.  He set his feet and wouldn’t budge. I tried various techniques I have seen used with success, including the pressure-release method and the make-’em-back-up-fast-then-walk-forward technique, then I tried the loooooong lead rope looped through the tie loop, then passed back outside, so I could be behind “encouraging” him method. I even tried longeing him. No joy.

Anyway, a neighbor saw me working with him and asked if I needed a hand. Fact was, I was getting behind and was late on my departure to meet up with my traveling partner. I accepted the help gratefully. The neighbor brought his trusty longeing whip as a training tool.  My previous experience with J indicated that with me in front of him coaxing and with another person behind just casually swinging a rope and clapping, he would walk right in. That’s what happened when I bought him.

However, this time it wasn’t so. He simply did not want to get into that trailer and had set his mind against it. It took some pretty good pulling and several pretty good whacks on the rump with the whip to convince him it was safer in the trailer than outside. He got in and away we went. I was pretty pleased, actually, because my experience also said that just a couple more times and he would be calmly walking into the trailer like the rest of my horses.

We went on the trip and spent a good evening with friends in camp that night. When morning came and it was time to load up for the trail ride, I again had a tough time getting J into the trailer. With the help of a couple friends and a couple good whacks with the end of a lead rope, we got him into the trailer.

The ride was nice. For the first half of the day I rode Lizzy, then at lunchtime I swapped my saddle to J’s back. I was very pleased with how he handled. He was a bit difficult at first, wanting only to follow Lizzy, not lead her, but after a mile or so he settled down and the rest of the ride was pleasant. We worked on his reining and other commands as we went along. I think we both enjoyed the ride.

After about 12 miles or so, the trail ended at my truck and trailer. The plan was for me to load my horses and a couple others and shuttle drivers back to their trucks and trailers, so they could come back and pick up their horses and companions.

So, here we are, tired horses, tired riders, looking forward to a relaxed evening around the camp. All I had to do was load my horses. Wouldn’t you know that again, J wouldn’t get in the trailer. Being tired and with everyone waiting on me, I lost patience with J and I started trying to use more force to get him into the trailer. I tried using some of the same techinques that hadn’t worked before, and even those that had worked before, but my patience was gone. Poor old J was scared of me and scared of the trailer. I am sure he sensed my impatience and anger and that increased his excitement and fear.

In both horses and men, when emotion increases thought processes decrease. Both J and myself were perfect verification of that.

Luckily, there were a couple of my riding friends there, who are also much better trainers than I, who asked if they might give things a try. Seeing as I was not getting anywhere with J, I handed his lead rope to them. After a few minutes of unsuccessful effort, it was decided that I should go ahead and take what I had and shuttle the drivers, so we could get things rolling. We would try again with J when I got back.

On the way over to the trucks, I apologized to those with me for my lapse of patience, as well as for the delay. In all honesty, I had no idea I was going to have so much trouble with J loading into the trailer or I would not have brought him. I thanked them for their patience and help and I truly appreciated it.

After dropping off the drivers, I returned to camp with a couple others and dropped them and the horses there, then headed back to pick up J and help return others to camp. Surprisingly, one of the returning drivers waved me down and told me he already had J loaded in his trailer and all the horses had been picked up.

So, I returned to camp disappointed in myself. I lost patience with my horse. As a trainer, that is something that should not happen. I placed myself and my horse in a position that was not conducive to training – both of us tired and impatient, with a bunch of tired riders waiting for us to get something done and without the option of just not doing it that day – and then I lost patience when things didn’t go well. I let factors outside the task at hand influence my judgment and technique. I made matters worse, rather than better. In the end, it was a good day of training for me. Not so good for the horse.

I was also disappointed that I was not there to see how the other trainer was able to coax J into the trailer. Whatever he did is something I need to learn. I know those two friends, father and son, are far better trainers than I and I wish I had been there to learn from them.

Still, I did learn. Or, maybe I re-learned, that impatience is anathema to training and that putting myself and my horse in a poor training circumstance led to a poor training experience for us both.

A wise man once said, “When you make a mistake, all is not lost. You can always be used as a good example of a bad example.”

Ultimately, J is now loading and unloading in my trailer reliably, although he still hesitates. Each time he gets better about it. I have taken the time to work with him under much more favorable conditions for training. Since that day, I have been able to coax him into the trailer with a slack lead rope, using only the pressure of his knowing what I want him to do and the hope of a reward of a handful of sweet feed in the feed bin once he gets in.

The Apostle Paul once said that faith, hope, and charity are the virtues that make us the persons we should be. I think maybe in training horses the three great virtues might be firmness, consistency, and patience…but the greatest of these is patience.

Thankfully, J seems to have forgiven me. He’s a very friendly and level-headed horse. There isn’t a mean bone in him. I think he’ll be the kind of horse, eventually, that I can trust to take care of my grandkids.

 

Training, Western Horsemanship

Another Good Training Session with J Golden

I had some time and some decent weather again today, so out to the horses I went.

My goal for today was to trim up J Golden’s hooves again, break him to the D-ring snaffle bit, and to see if I could actually ride him around the arena without getting bucked off. I figured that might be a bit too much to ask for our third training session…over the period of about a month, but why make goals if you’re not going to set them high? A wise man once said, to shoot for the stars and miss is far better than to shoot for the gutter and hit it!

As usual, my first task was to catch J out of the pasture. It was apparent we were going to have another “go-round” in the pasture when I entered. All except for Lizzy, who has had enough of running around. She came right up to me, so I haltered her, gave her a treat, and took her out of the pasture.

I tied Lizzy to the grill guard of the front bumper of my truck – it’s an excellent tie rail. I brushed her down, revealing some of her beautiful summer chestnut brown under her lighter sorrel winter coat. I trimmed up her hooves as well, in anticipation of a possible ride this weekend. Then I left her standing and went back for J.

This time I let J, Jimbo, and the other horse in the pasture into the small arena through a gate in their pasture. Once in the small area, which is about 100′ X 75′, or thereabouts, I had them right where I wanted them. Although it’s quite a bit larger than a normal round pen, it works for what I need. I started the trio trotting and cantering around the arena and kept them going until they let me walk up to them. Every time they turned their tail to me, I made them run. Eventually, they will learn that if they stand still when I come up to them, they don’t have to run. Later, I will teach them to come to me.

After catching J, I haltered him and gave him his treat. I let the other two go back to the pasture. I took J out to the truck and tied him next to Lizzy, brushed him down, then trimmed his front hooves. I just don’t have the energy I used to , so after trimming Lizzy hooves and J’s front hooves, I was done. I’ll get J’s rears later. I am pleased that J’s hooves are looking better. After years of minimal or no care, they had splayed quite a bit and are quite flat and large in diameter. I am slowly trimming them back to good shape. A few more months and they’ll be right.

After resting a bit, I saddled J up. He stood well, although he’s still a little bit cinchy. Again, I saddled him with a lot of banging and swinging straps and stirrups, to get him used to having things slapping around him. He handled it well.

I walked J out into the arena, where he initially became agitated, as before, but quickly settled down and relaxed. I then started refreshing his memory of our last training session, by using the halter to turn his head to the right and left by the pressure-give method. I led him forward and asked him to back. We went through all the halter training steps we did during our last training session as a review.

I decided that J’s head was right and ready the next step: bridle and bit training. When I break and train my horses, I like to break a horse to the bit, using an O-ring or D-ring snaffle. with a 1/4″ or 3/8″ egg-butt or straight hinged bit (no shanks). I will use this bit on a horse trainee until it learns basic commands, such as go, stop, turn left, turn right, and stop. Once the horse reliably performs those commands, I generally switch to a bosal hackamore for the bulk of its training. That way I can teach a horse to become more responsive to bridle and rein pressures without the risk of making a hard mouth. Once I feel like the horse is completely submissive and obedient to the bridle pressures in the hackamore, I transition them to a solid curb bit.

I presented the bridle to J, just as I have instructed in the video I did several years ago, which you may view here. I held the headstall in my right hand with my forearm and elbow on top of his neck. This allows the trainer a little bit of control and entices the horse to submit. I captured his nose between the cheek pieces with the bit hanging below his chin. I took the bit in my left hand and guided the bit between his lips while raising the bit to his teeth by lifting the bridle with my right hand. I tickled his tongue with my left thumb, to entice him to open his mouth and, when he did, I lifted the bit into his mouth by lifting my right wrist (the one on top of his head). He took the bit very easily and I quickly had his ears tucked into the headstall.

After a few exercises similar to our halter training steps, I felt like J understood what the pressure on the bit meant. He didn’t like it much and moved the bit around in his mouth with his tongue for a few minutes, but soon realized that if he gave to the pressure he was much more comfortable. From the ground, I taught him to turn, lead, stop, and back to bit pressure in just a few minutes.

It was time to see if we could reach the highest goal of our training session. As J had taken all previous stages of today’s session like a champ and with no resistance, I felt pretty confident we could continue.

I snugged up the reins with my left hand and took a handful of mane, put my left foot into the stirrup, grabbed the horn with my right hand, and put some weight in the stirrup. J immediately moved away and got worried. I hung with him and when he stopped, I got off and petted him. After a couple more similar episodes, J realized that if he stood still things were better. After stepping up into the stirrup several times from both sides, and leaning over the saddle, without actually mounting, I felt confident he would allow me to mount. I mounted the first time from the off-side, just because I happened to be on that side when I decided to swing my leg over. I dismounted on the on-side and petted and scratched him.

It was time. I pulled myself into the saddle and just sat there. After several calm minutes, J voluntarily took a step. I started turning him to one side, then the other, taking a step or two each time. Eventually, he decided he wanted to be down at the other end of the arena, near his buddies, so I let him walk that direction. As he began to speed up, I gave pressure on the reins and he slowed. Once down by his buddies, however, I had a hard time getting him to go again.

Eventually, J responded to repeated nudges in the ribs with my heels and jumped forward. The nudges stopped. We tried it again and every time he went forward the nudges stopped. Within a few minutes were were walking and gaiting around the arena. J responded very well, surprisingly well, to leg and rein pressures from the beginning. We rode around the arena practicing our turns, stopping, backing, and going for about a half hour, before I decided that was enough for the day.

I was very pleased with J Golden today. I learned something about J as well. He is not a Fox Trotter. His gait is that of a Tennessee Walker. Oh well. The important part is that his walk will, indeed, keep up with Lizzy.

That’s all I need.

Tack and Gear, Training, Western Horsemanship

A little more progress with J Golden

For the first time in quite a while, I had a day off today with good weather at the same time. So, after sleeping-in to an appropriate hour, and having a relaxed breakfast while watching the news, I headed out to work a little with my new bronc.

As you will recall, I bought J last month. He’s a grade Missouri Fox Trotter…at least he looks like one…somewhere between 4 and 10 years old, and he is not yet saddle broke. I bought him from a fellow who bought him at auction, so we really don’t know a lot about him. I see him gait around the pasture, so I know he has a natural Fox Trot as well as a more lateral running walk, so it’s likely he has a bit of Walker in him as well.

With all the snow we’ve had this winter, I have only had one other opportunity to do any amount of work with him and it was mostly just to see what he already knows and give me a starting point. It is pretty evident J has had folks work on his hooves and mess around him a bit. He’s friendly and surprisingly trusting, in light of the history I know about him. He has obviously had a lot of longeing, as anytime I give him any room with a lead rope he wants to trot around me in a circle no matter what I’m trying to do with him.

I’m not a big proponent of longeing. There are legitimate purposes for it and, if done properly and for the right reasons, it is useful. However, in my experience, many people longe their horses because they are afraid of them. Some people do it because they just enjoy doing it, others do it to exercise the horse. Very few actually do it as a planned and purposeful part of a horse’s basic training. Consequently, few people actually accomplish any useful thing with it, with regard to helping the horse and the rider come together down the road. Good ground training, in my mind, is essential for a saddle horse, but most of its training will come under the saddle.

So, today I decided to try to make a little progress with J and see how far we could get.

First off, I would have to catch him. I keep my horses in a pasture about a half-acre in size. I haven’t been able to mess with them much over the winter, so they have been a little silly lately about me catching them. I have had fun running them around, watching them buck and fart and play, all the while teaching them that if they don’t come up to me they will run. They think it’s fun at first, but after awhile they begin to get winded and it’s not so much fun. Normally the first one to stop and come to me is my good mare, Lizzy, who is now about 5 months in-foal. Yesterday she finally let me walk up to her and put the halter on her. I brushed her with a curry comb for a while, gave her a treat, then released her.

When I went into the pasture today, there was no running. The first one to come right up to me was J, so he got a treat. He wouldn’t let me halter him at first, so I went on to Lizzy, who stood calmly while I haltered her. She got a treat. Then I brushed her and released her. Next I went on to my mustang,  Jimbo, who wouldn’t be left out of getting a treat. He doesn’t like being caught, but he loves the treats. I started currying him, which he really likes, then slipped the rope over his neck. Once that was done, he started looking for a halter to stick his nose into, so he could get a treat. I brushed him a bit, then released him.

Next, I moved to J, who, by this time was ready for another treat. I curried him for a few minutes, then slipped the rope over his neck. He then let me slip the halter on him. Then he got a treat. My horses learn pretty quickly that putting a halter on in the pasture is a good thing.

J leads quite well, so it is evident he has had some halter training. I took him to the tie rack and tied him off. I have been very pleased that J has shown no pulling-back issues, even when he’s startled. I lifted all his hooves for cleaning and inspection. He’s still a little ticklish about his rear hooves, but offers no real problems. As part of his training, I will lift and clean all his hooves every time I saddle and unsaddle him. It won’t be long before he won’t offer any resistance at all and accepts it calmly. That will be appreciated by my farrier.

Next, I took him into the small arena. As soon as we entered the arena, he became agitated and wanted to trot around me in circles. Like I’ve said, apparently he has been longed a lot and thinks that’s what he’s supposed to do. My lead rope is about 10 feet long, which doesn’t give him much room for longeing. I let him go around a few times one direction, then turned him to go the other. When I let my arms down to my sides, he turned to come to me. I worked with him for several minutes to teach him to stand calmly while I worked around him holding the lead rope. I’m having to help him unlearn what he has been taught before. I want him to stand calmly when I am holding his lead rope. I don’t want him trying to longe every time we head into the arena for training.

Once I got him standing calmly, I started desensitizing him to the lead rope swinging around him. I would swing the tail of it up onto his rump, around his back legs, and up under his stomach, until he learned that when he stands still I stop swinging the rope.

I’m finding J to be a willing and submissive student and he learns quickly. Within a half hour we were ready to begin lessons for the day. My goal for the day was to be able to mount and sit on J’s back. While I expected some reaction from J, since I did a little testing with him before I bought him, I figured he wouldn’t be too much of a challenge to break to the saddle, due to all the handling he had before I bought him.

I saddled him up. He’s been saddled before, so there were no surprises there, even though he gets tensed up and doesn’t like to be cinched. I was a bit brusque and noisy as I saddled him, flopping things around and bumping him here and there, to desensitize him to the saddle and saddling process. He took it well and we had no problems, other than him tensing up. I saddled him with a rear cinch and breast strap. Eventually I’ll start using a crupper and progress to a fully-rigged pack saddle.

Then, back into the arena we went. Again, we had to work a little bit to remind him that we weren’t there to longe. Once that was done, I began to flop things on him, such as the end of my lead rope again, teaching that things flopping on him don’t hurt and aren’t dangerous. I just kept flopping the tail of the lead up on his back and rump and up under his belly until he stopped reacting, then I stopped. It didn’t take long before he was standing calmly while I flopped the lead rope all over him.

Next, I worked on teaching him to give to the halter, by putting side pressure on his nose with the lead and pulling his head around to the left side. I would put a little pressure, and when he gave a little, so did I.  Within a few minutes I had him responding to light pressure on the lead rope to turn his head around to the side. We did this on both sides.

Then I would snug up the lead on the left side and place my left hand, with a grip on the lead rope, up on his neck, just ahead of the saddle, as if I were about to mount. I would have him turn his head toward me submissively, then I would put weight on the saddle with my right hand, gripping the saddle horn or opposite pommel swell, and pulling my weight off the ground, my body weight against his side. The first few times we did this J reacted, spinning around and hopping a bit. I hung on, moving with him until he stopped moving, then I released. Within a few minutes I was able to hang on the side of the saddle while he stood calmly. We did that on both sides.

The next step was to actually put a foot in the stirrup and put weight on it. This step is a little tricky, especially without an assistant, since the trainer is in an unbalanced position with one foot in the stirrup, holding the lead rope with the left hand and the saddle horn with the right, so you don’t want to rush this. Make sure you do enough of the previous step to be fairly sure the horse isn’t going to explode while you have one foot in the stirrup. I would have preferred to have had an assistant hold the horse’s head and lead him around for me while I hung on the side, but I didn’t have one available. An assistant in this phase can help things progress a little quicker.

I asked J for his head, bringing his nose around to the left. I repeatedly asked for his nose until he did so willingly and softly. If he pulled or resisted, I continued to ask until he gave his nose to me. Then I placed my left foot in the stirrup, my left hand with the lead rope snugged-up on his neck, grabbed a handful of mane, then, grabbing the saddle horn with my right hand, lifted myself up into the stirrup, leaning across the saddle. At this precarious point, I started patting him on the right side with my right hand, keeping a snug lead rope with my left. As he agitated and moved, I hung on, pulling his head around, until he stopped, then slid from the saddle. I did this on both sides, until J calmly let me rise in the stirrup, pat and rub all around on the off-side, flop the stirrup, mess with the rear cinch, and generally do all manner of irritating things. I spoke softly and soothingly all the while, as I did this.

The next phase was to teach him that this was a normal and not a worrisome thing. I walked him around the arena and at irregular intervals would suddenly stop him and quickly put my foot in the stirrup and rise up, pat him a little on the off side, move stuff around, then drop to the ground. Once he would allow this without reaction, I decided we were ready to attempt the goal of the training.

Before getting to the punch-line however, I’ll talk a little about our training to lead. I like my horses to walk beside me with their nose even with my shoulder and arm. I try to train all my horses this way, because it irritates me to have to haul on the lead rope to keep an enthusiastic youngster horse in check. As I walked J around the arena, I noticed J had a tendency to want to get out ahead of me, especially while walking toward his home pasture, where is buddies were munching grass. I remedied this by turning abruptly away from him and walking the opposite direction. As I led him, each time his head got past my shoulder, I would abruptly turn and walk the other way. He soon learned that we didn’t turn if he kept his head behind my shoulder. The time we spent leading around the pasture between mounting exercises was quite valuable today. By the time we were done, he was staying right where I want him. This training is important to me, as it keeps horses from stepping on little feet when kids are leading them.

Now, for the grand finale of the training session. Actually, it was quite anticlimactic. When I felt like J was ready, I asked for his head. When he gave it softly, I grabbed the lead and a handful of mane in my left hand, put my left foot in the stirrup, grabbed the horn with my right hand. I then lofted myself into the stirrup and swung my right leg over onto the other side. I was sitting in the saddle. J tensed-up just a bit, then relaxed. It felt really good. I immediately dismounted, sliding to the ground while J stood calmly. We did that several more times, including dismounting on the off-side (right side). I repeated the earlier exercise of walking around the arena, then stopping abruptly and mounting and dismounting. By the time we finished, J was non-reactive to my mounting antics. Mission accomplished!

I was pleased and excited at the progress we made today. I decided not to push him any further. That was enough for me. I’ll let him rest and assimilate all that we did today and we’ll try it again tomorrow, if the weather holds, or Monday.

My goal for the next session will be breaking J to the ring snaffle bit, teaching him basic commands and how to respond to bit pressure. We’ll also work a little more on mounting and dismounting. I’m looking forward to it.

 

Great Western Trail

After a lot of thinking…

I took a trip home last week to visit my parents. I haven’t been down to their place in Arizona for a while. Dad got bucked off his horse several weeks ago and got a little beat up, so I figured I’d better get on down there and check on him. He’s convalescing well and I’m sure he’ll be back to himself in not too long.

Anyway, during my drive home I decided to take the “scenic” route and take a look at some of the country Dad and I would have traveled through, if we had been able to finish last year’s pack trip. Those of you who follow my blog will remember that we had to cut our trip short last year, due to the drought. There wasn’t a drop of water between Flagstaff and the Utah border last summer and there were wildfires all around. It was a bad year for a long-distance horse pack trip.

After we ended last year’s trip, Dad told me it was unlikely he’d be able to continue with me. Dad’s nearly 83 now, so I knew it was coming. Still, the desire to complete the full distance, from the US/Mexico border to the Canadian border, is still with me. I brought up the idea last fall of making the legs of the trip shorter, so that I don’t have to take so much time off work all at once. I wondered if Dad thought he might go on some of the shorter legs, if we kept them down to a week or two. He seemed to like that idea as well as I do. So, that’s what I think I’ll be planning to cover the rest of the distance…another 2,500 miles. It will take several more years.

However, during my drive home, after a lot of thinking about it, I decided not to continue the trip this year. I will push the next leg, from Flagstaff to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, off until next spring. There is just too much going on this year. My main horse, Lizzy, is in foal, due about September. I’ll need to start taking it easy on her before long. My new horse, J, isn’t even broke to ride yet. Since Dad got rid of his bucker and sold the mule, Honey, I’ll need another horse to bring us up to snuff. That all adds up to a rush job to get ready for this year. I have all the gear, and even the food stuffs, but the horses aren’t ready.

Things have been picking up at work this spring, as well. I could use the extra income to help pay back money I borrowed from savings for the trip. Additionally, I still need to finish the pony saddle I’m making for one of my grandkids. I have several other saddlery projects I need to get done after that. In fact, I have a number of other projects I need to get done.

Not only that, but my second daughter will be having twins this fall, right about the time my extended family will be having our family reunion in Arizona. Some time this year, my wife and I hope to be able to take a trip to celebrate our 35th wedding anniversary (which happens to be March 20).

I think, for this year at least, wisdom dictates that I try to get some of these other things taken care of before I head back out on my Mexico-to-Canada pack trip. The extra preparation time can’t hurt either. By the time next April rolls around, I should have my horses all squared away and in shape, Lizzy’s foal should be weaned, and Dad and I should have ourselves in better shape. I may even have myself a new saddle – one of my own making.

So, after a lot of thinking…that’s the plan going forward.

For horse and mule packing, camping, and trail riding in the western United States

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