Yeah, it's been a week since I last posted but I've just been too tired and unmotivated. Such is life...
Anyway, we experienced some high winds last week with a bit of a cooling trend to include intermittant raid. Just the kind of weather guarantted to get the horses all buzzed up and occassionally unmanageable. Great.
Anyway, I wasn't able to get a lot of riding in last week due to a chaotic work schedule and life in general but I was able to work Max a bit and remind him that he does have a job he's expected to perform on occassion and that Spring Break doesn't last until Labor Day.
This last Saturday I had to work most of the day so I didn't make it to the stables until about 3:30 in the afternoon. The wind for blowing fairly steady and cool so I decided to take him for a short ride down the wash and then cut accross towards the Orcas Arena, without crossing the river, and back home again.
For the most part, Max was a good boy although I had to urge him on a bit (he gets lazy on occassion). I've also started using spurs again but only on weekend days but VERY carefully- the rub spots are beginning to have hair grow back in so I don't want to mess it up.
While riding behind the Equestrian Center, I heard some loud voices coming from the general direction of a trail thats located accross a small valley (from the trail behind the Equestrian Center, you have a pretty good vantage point and you can see almost the entire Hansen Dam basin). I then noticed three horses with riders galloping after another horse that only had a saddle- looks like someone got dumped.
I thought great, windy day and buzzed up horses- a good recipe for disaster. I quickly spurred Max and got him going down the trail and away from the action- the last thing I want happening is for Max to feed off the action and start getting stupid. He didn't seem to notice and we soon got out of sight and hearing of the that group.
We finally returned to the stable and on the way, I would halt him now then and make him stand for about a minute or so. Max knew he was on the way home and I was purposely working him so he had to do things he didn't necessarily want to do. In the past, Max tended to start getting impatient if you stop him for too long on the trail and especially when your headed back to the stable.
I've been working on breaking Max of his impatience and I think we've had some success. I also made it a point to ride past the gate and then turn around and ride by the gate going in the opposite direction and then further on. The basic idea is that I'm training him that things are not always predictable and that he needs to listen.
Sunday found me out at the stables a lot earlier so I decided to do some arena work and then head down trail on out usual route. Max was very good on the arena work and he was soon giving me a nice forward trot, good leg yields and I was able to get in some good serpentines at both the trot and canter. I use a combination of neck reining and two-handed reining.
As a reward of sorts, we rode down the wash and towards the Orcas Arena. I then decided on a change in itinerary because there seemed to be a lot of people working horses in the arena (when its windy and you have a number horses together, it can sometimes get a bit dicey) so I decided to take a trail that leads over the river. We proceeded on sort of a long loop that eventually lead back accross the river and up the wash.
Anyway, we experienced some high winds last week with a bit of a cooling trend to include intermittant raid. Just the kind of weather guarantted to get the horses all buzzed up and occassionally unmanageable. Great.
Anyway, I wasn't able to get a lot of riding in last week due to a chaotic work schedule and life in general but I was able to work Max a bit and remind him that he does have a job he's expected to perform on occassion and that Spring Break doesn't last until Labor Day.
This last Saturday I had to work most of the day so I didn't make it to the stables until about 3:30 in the afternoon. The wind for blowing fairly steady and cool so I decided to take him for a short ride down the wash and then cut accross towards the Orcas Arena, without crossing the river, and back home again.
For the most part, Max was a good boy although I had to urge him on a bit (he gets lazy on occassion). I've also started using spurs again but only on weekend days but VERY carefully- the rub spots are beginning to have hair grow back in so I don't want to mess it up.
While riding behind the Equestrian Center, I heard some loud voices coming from the general direction of a trail thats located accross a small valley (from the trail behind the Equestrian Center, you have a pretty good vantage point and you can see almost the entire Hansen Dam basin). I then noticed three horses with riders galloping after another horse that only had a saddle- looks like someone got dumped.
I thought great, windy day and buzzed up horses- a good recipe for disaster. I quickly spurred Max and got him going down the trail and away from the action- the last thing I want happening is for Max to feed off the action and start getting stupid. He didn't seem to notice and we soon got out of sight and hearing of the that group.
We finally returned to the stable and on the way, I would halt him now then and make him stand for about a minute or so. Max knew he was on the way home and I was purposely working him so he had to do things he didn't necessarily want to do. In the past, Max tended to start getting impatient if you stop him for too long on the trail and especially when your headed back to the stable.
I've been working on breaking Max of his impatience and I think we've had some success. I also made it a point to ride past the gate and then turn around and ride by the gate going in the opposite direction and then further on. The basic idea is that I'm training him that things are not always predictable and that he needs to listen.
Sunday found me out at the stables a lot earlier so I decided to do some arena work and then head down trail on out usual route. Max was very good on the arena work and he was soon giving me a nice forward trot, good leg yields and I was able to get in some good serpentines at both the trot and canter. I use a combination of neck reining and two-handed reining.
As a reward of sorts, we rode down the wash and towards the Orcas Arena. I then decided on a change in itinerary because there seemed to be a lot of people working horses in the arena (when its windy and you have a number horses together, it can sometimes get a bit dicey) so I decided to take a trail that leads over the river. We proceeded on sort of a long loop that eventually lead back accross the river and up the wash.
What really stuck out this weekend was the high numbers of rental riders and high number of rental riders doing stupid things- like trying to kick up their mounts into a trot and have them take off while, in most cases, the rider barely stays in the saddle. All it takes in one horse getting excited and the result could be a real disaster. Granted, rental string horses don't tend to be very energenic but you never know
Anyway, overall a good weekend.
Anyway, overall a good weekend.
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