APPALLED

Saturday May 17 2014

If you've read Chapter 23 of Soul Deep in Horses, you might have gotten the impression that my horse Stormy, The Most Beautiful Horse On The Planet, is a bit lazy (in an ever so charming kind of way), and you'll understand his reasoning behind it.

And so it was that he was absolutely appalled when I used him to help mark trail for the Owyhee Trail Challenges with the other Old Man, Krusty. From Stormy's point of view, you see, I took him out of retirement once again.

Look at his face!

Besides the indignation he feels at being un-retired, Stormy has always hated being cinched up, no matter how gently or slowly I do it. He pins his ears and will try to bite, if I'm not careful. I can only think it brings back memories of being a racehorse, and having that stretchy cinch cranked as tight as it will go, to hold that postage-stamp-of-a-racing-saddle on his back.

Pinned ears! Mad face!

I couldn't help myself; I took a video as I saddled Stormy up. You can see by the expression on his face how appalled he is that he's being saddled; and when I cinch him up, you'll see him pin his ears at me - even though it's not tight.

He wears his rather offended face until I mount up, but once we got going and out on the trail, he forgot that life was so bad - particularly when he found excellent grass to munch on along the trail.

The Two Old Men spent a couple of days marking trail up the canyon, and Stormy decided that it wasn't such a bad unretirement job, after all.

The video:


(or link)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xZRbEDho5k8&feature=youtu.be

You can get Soul Deep in horses here!

Winter Walkabout

Sunday December 9 2012

Through my open window, the soft sound of swishing snowflakes woke me in the night - our first real Owyhee snowfall of the winter! Half asleep, half giddy, I could not wait for daylight to come, to step out into a white winter blanket. The snort of a horse drifted on the still night. Ahh - what better sounds than snow falling at night and the comforting snort of the neighbor's horses?

A louder snort - WAIT - WHAT THE !?!? That's RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW!!! Not right!!! 

And where there was one, there would be more - horses escaped from their paddock!

Amazing how quickly one can wake when there's Horse Trouble in the dark. I sprang out of bed, threw on clothes and coat, grabbed hat and gloves, and carefully stepped outside so as not to startle anyone. A black horse snorted again at me, and walked by me. I thought it was Smoky. There were indeed other forms out there, dark ones and and gray ones floating ghost-like above the white ground blanket - they were not supposed to be out here - how/where/when did they escape?? I could see a lot of dark prints in the snow - they'd been out here a while.

I hoofed it quickly to the barn and grabbed a bucket of oats. I made a quick loop by the green gate (closed, no sign of hoof prints) and around back to the white (non) electric fence over the road - no sign of hoof prints. I could not possibly see how the horses got out. 

I came back around to where the loose horses were scattered - Finneas made a beeline toward me and the feed tub in my hands - and I lured them all into Judy's (empty) pasture. Seven horses - half the herd! - and not the usual suspects (Jose and Mac). In fact, in this half-herd, I was looking at baby Luna and no mama Perry! No sign or sound of the other half of the herd. 

With opening and closing other gates and calling the strays, I led them into the small back pen, and reunited them with the rest of the herd, who was waiting along a fence in the big back pen. Then the whinnying started, the 'Hey there you are!' 'Where did you guys go?' and 'Mama! Oh now I realize I missed you! I'm so hungry!' calls.

Later in the morning, the neighbor emailed to say that the escaped horses had been over there - helped themselves to the hay there. Another neighbor later said she'd driven in before dawn and saw hoof prints on the road, and thought somebody was out riding awful early.

I spent half the day checking the fences (none down) and gates (none left open), looking for tracks, (couldn't tell where the snow tracks came from - they must have escaped before the snow started?) trying to figure out how/why only half the herd escaped, each scenario less likely than the next. A horse opened a gate with his teeth and closed it behind him and 6 other horses? 7 horses jumped a fence? 7 horses stepped under or stepped over a (not hot) electric fence, without leaving hoof prints, without a one getting tangled, including Rhett who wouldn't get near a white tape fence if there was a mountain of grain on the other side of it? One of us humans sleep-walked and let half the herd out? Magic?

The horses spent the rest of the day passed out in a sand pile and sleeping on their feet. 

Their Big Night Out  was exhausting.

My Protector

Saturday November 24 2012

Over the years (21!!!), and in many different living situations - growing up on a farm, the racetrack, packhorse herd (of about 10), dude ranch herd (of about 150 horses), smaller paddock (with 4 other horses), smaller paddock (with 1 other horse), and Owyhee herd (couple hundred acres with 10 other horses) - Stormy has earned and learned his place in his herds: Lower Horse on the Totem Pole. It's how he's learned best to cope and survive.

Despite being Lower Horse, especially here in Owyhee, he's never had to fight for his hay. The rest of the herd sees him as Harmless and Not a Fighter, and they'll let him horn in to eat, even while they're chasing each other around, because they believe he's no threat to them or their food. (If only they measured how much he eats!) They'll shove him around… but he always wanders right back in to eat after the dust settles.

Stormy does tentatively rule over just a few horses in the herd - Smokey the 3-year-old, Luna the baby, and the newcomer Bodie. (Stormy's standing with Perry - Luna's mom - is… a draw. He tries to push her around, threatening her with his teeth, but she pins her ears and shows her teeth or threatens to kick him and stands her ground. Stormy THINKS he's her boss, but… he's not, not really.)

As the boss (currently) of Bodie, Stormy is particularly fierce - especially when I'm around. It has everything to do with me being Stormy's Human. When I'm hanging out with and hugging on Stormy, he gets very jealous. He doesn't want anybody else getting His attention. He doesn't dare chase Jose, or any of his other Superiors away when I'm around, but if Bodie's nearby, he becomes very aggressive. Pins his ears and bares his teeth and charges after Bodie, mouth open, sometimes even daring to actually bite Bodie in the butt. (Of course I encourage him, saying, "Get him Stormy!" which boosts his ego.)

Knowing Stormy, his rank over Bodie may not last for long; but for now, Stormy's exceedingly ferocious when he wants to be. The tables may turn one day, and he might slide down another notch in the hierarchy, but for now, Stormy is Bodie's Big Boss and My Protector.

♥♥♥

look at those ears!

Dirt: It Does a Body Good

Saturday October 13 2012

All it takes is one

 - then the whole herd has to add their two cents worth.

 

Dust Dance

Tuesday October 2 2012

As soon as he sees me set foot outside in the late evening, Rhett gives a plaintive whinny and heads for the house, where he'll get his evening grain meal. Mac and Jose follow also, because they get fed. The rest follow to because they are forever hopeful.

Terror in Owyhee

Monday March 19 2012

Dark beasts in the night. Lumbering monsters in the day. Eerie bawling and squalling. Crashing. Moaning. Sinister smells.

Terrifying Creatures wander Owyhee at will, taking what they wish. No laws can control them, no fence can contain them.

And so it was that our horse herd was terrified by dangerous cows today. (Not that our horses don't see cows nearly every day of every winter, on one side of the canyon or the other.)

I'd driven the ATV up the canyon to fetch the herd. As often happens, the horses had drifted far up the canyon overnight. They usually come back in the morning on their own - but I discovered an invisible line drawn in the sand that they were afraid to cross: the Terrifying Cow barrier. Two cows and a calf (just a baby!) were in our canyon on our side of fence, between the horse herd and home, and no way were the horses crossing that line. They were trapped.

Where the sight of me on an ATV holding a bucket of grain and calling for them usually entices them to come, this time they had eyes only for the Terrifying Cows, who had started moving away from me and further up-canyon - toward the horse herd.

Tizzies ensued.

Like flocking birds (check out these spectacular links here and here!), the herd flitted this way and fluttered that way, one horse Perry (the mare who is oddly attracted to other animals) moving toward the Creatures out of curiosity, pulling the herd along, then Smokey dashing away in fright, pulling the herd that way, Perry circling and approaching the cows again, pulling the herd with her, Rhett spinning around and bolting in terror, swaying the herd his way - a ballet dance, back and forth, swirl, up and back, whirl, forward and back, twirl.

(Rhett's dislike of cows has been clearly documented.)

The three cows' (two cows and one calf!) inevitable path along the fence, to join up with mooing cows on the other side of the fence, drove the mighty, 11-strong horse herd to the far corner of the canyon, into a tight whirring ball of nerves. Should they bolt and run from the treacherous cows? Should they dare slip past them, towards freedom and home? Should they totally run away from the vicious cows, toward me across the river and toward safety? (Of course they didn't choose this option.)

The cows continued their march along the fence on past the tightly woven horse herd that they completely ignored, past a wired-shut gate where they can normally squeeze through. Former Rushcreek Ranch Cowhorse Mac split off from the herd (he's also sometimes afraid of cows - see Rhett's story link above) and bravely chased the baby cow, showing him who was really the boss, before dashing back to join the safety of the rolling Horse Ball. The horses swirled tightly around to face the danger of the retreating cow butts. The cows came to a wash, where they turned and went straight through the fence to join the other cows on the hill. (Imagined )Peril to the horses was over, but the fact that the cows had just apparated (check your Harry Potter dictionary) through a fence unharmed really agitated the horse herd. They whirled and ran, spun and froze, twirled and dashed back, froze, bolted again, danced like a flock of starlings in the sky.

I could not get their attention; I could not get them to come home. They remained glued to that spot close together for hours.

I never did get to ride today.

Owyhee Dirtbags

Wednesday August 24 2011

This is one gang that truly loves to wallow in dirt and mud. Naturally, the whitest horse likes to find the thickest mud hole.

When a human puts up a sprinkler on a plot of dirt on a hot day and makes you a custom mud patch, how can any rational equine resist a shower then a good roll in the mud?






Some of the horses accidentally get sprinkled on and it's enough to make them want to roll. Jose has already shown he loves sprinklers, and he loves to get good and wet.

The herd stands around taking turns, watching each other roll (unless they just can't wait their turn and have to crowd in there), scoring each other for style and dirtiness.






Jose obviously won for Best Shower-er.
[slide show here]


They all had a go at the rolling,




but Mac hands down won the Dirtiest Horse Award.








They are Owyhee Dirtbags and proud of it!



No, Rushcreek Mac has not turned into an Appaloosa!

Gettin' the WHOA On

Wednesday August 3 2011

Ever been on a horse that likes to go and go, who doesn't want to slow down, who pulls and pulls because you pull and pull to try to slow him down?

I've come to realize that among some endurance riders, the WHOA is highly underrated. A lot of horses learn to GO before they learn how to WHOA. Sometimes it's just easier to let the horse go fast than to take the time to teach him (or keep reinforcing, if the horse is not a fast learner) the WHOA before you let him GO. The riders hang on the horse's mouth, which makes him harder-mouthed, and less likely to respond by slowing down when you pull.

(Don't get your feathers all fluffed up, I'm by no means saying I don't do this myself. Sometimes it is just easier to let a horse go. But I'm always trying to work on something when I ride, like trying to teach the horse I ride not to pull, and I'm always trying to learn a better way to do this, because I am NOT good at ring or dressage work! I've also learned that, especially in an endurance ride, I can't get a horse to respond to my requests 100% of the time. Sometimes I have to pick my battles and when we're going to have them - give them a little time to ignore me or go fast and pull for a while before I can ask them to start responding to my leg or reins. Sometimes I only ask for a little response at a time before I can start expecting them to pay attention to me longer.)

Just going fast can be fun, but if the horse is too young to be going too fast too soon, or if he's coming back from an injury, or if he's the kind of horse that isn't smart enough to slow down on his own when he needs a breather, it can be very destructive. Some horses are hardwired to go fast till they drop. Some horses just have no brakes. It can be especially detrimental to you and your horse if a whoa is needed quickly but there are no brakes.

Sometimes, when your horse is out of control, or when he has no brakes, or when fighting with him isn't getting him to slow down and it's wearing both of you out, it's time to stop what you're doing, and go back to basics.

That's what Steph did with Batman.

Batman likes to go FAST. It's what he's always known. It's fun, but he's one who doesn't know when to slow down and he doesn't know WHOA very well; he knows how to pull and keep going fast.

Steph had Connie get on him a couple of times; Connie is great at getting a horse to slow down, put his head down, and start responding to leg rather than hands pulling on his mouth.


Afterwards, Steph continued this method by using the bitting rig in the round pen. Batman is not one of those fast learners. In fact, we say he's a bit... dumb... (but he's very sweet, and he wants to do good)... but that just means you have to reinforce things a lot, even when he learns something into a habit, or he'll forget it.

The first time Steph put the Pessoa bitting rig on him and asked him to move around the round pen, Batman pulled and pulled and pulled with his head up and braced against the bit. "He kept going - 'ow! ow! ow! ow!' and when he would drop his head and get relief, he'd go 'Ahhhh...' - and then he'd put his head back up in the air, 'ow! ow! ow!'" Batman didn't really completely figure it out that first day.

But the second day was easier. He resisted and pulled less, he dropped his head more; it took him less time to remember that if he dropped his head the pulling stopped.


Steph's been working with him in the round pen with the bitting rig every time before she rides him; and then she rides him in draw reins - and it's showing.


Even Connie noticed this weekend that the muscling in Batman's neck is starting to change - it's building up on top for the more curved neck position; and, flying home to our camp on the road to City of Rocks at a 14 mph trot on Sunday, Batman was moving along relaxed, at this speed, with horses in front of him, and with Steph exerting no pulling contact on the reins at all (and no draw reins).

This method may not be liked by everybody, nor will it work with every horse - you have to find what works right for your horse; it also depends on what kind of learner your horse is.

This bitting rig works on Batman, and he the kind of horse that you'll have to keep reminding and reinforcing a habit even after he learns it; and he'll probably, at times in an endurance ride, forget what he's learned. But he's getting it.

He's gettin' his WHOA on.

The Nanny

Friday October 22 2010

Wait a minute here, I thought since Connie was gone I was on vacation!


That was clearly the thought going through Finneas' head, as Judy booted and saddled him up for a ride.


Connie is gone for a week, so she asked Judy to ride Finny once or twice, to keep him tuned up for the Hallowed Weenies endurance ride in 10 days.

Finneas tried his usual stunts - walking off when being mounted, tossing his head around and trying to take off down the trail, throwing a minor showy tantrum while being asked to open the gate... but none of them worked.

Dang, she has my number! Dang, I'm not in control!


Indeed, Judy is a tough cookie and doesn't put up with any nonsense, and Finny was moving down the trail behaving himself before he knew which way was southwest toward the Owyhees.

Suz and Dudley went along too, a good workout on the Three Cheese Wash trail - 1 1/2 miles up a sand wash, 2 miles down a sand wash, 1 mile up a sand wash. It's not for the faint of heart nor the unconditioned.


Finneas and Judy got on just fine, and were both having fun as they blazed along in front through the sand, with Suz and Dudley keeping up (and Dudley didn't try to buck!) behind.


Finneas was pretty proud of himself at the end of the ride, since he'd led the whole way and since he opened and closed the gates, and since his Nanny turned out to be a good substitute for Connie (although the Nanny didn't let Finny smooch her on the lips after the ride).

Yawn

Tuesday May 4 2010

Throw your body and heart and soul into something, and it just feels so good.

Horses just know how to yawn, don't they?














(OK, so did this post make you yawn?)