Monday Monday

After a sore weekend of WWI reenacting, it was time to get back with Max again and ride. Naturally, Max has had a nice weekend off and he was not really in the mood to work- pretty typical horse there. :-)

Because I was pretty sore in the arms from the weekend, I was not really in the mood to do too much (well, at least it forced me to use my legs like I should rather than my arms! :-)). Anyway, after doing some ground work to focus Max's attention, we proceeded on a leisurely ride down the wash. I made a point of stopping every now and again and simply made Max stand and wait.

We then headed over to some practice rings located close to Orcas Park. As we approached the rings, Max spied a horse-eating trash can and he expressed his reluctance to go further (it was a trash can that had been knocked over on its side). Normally Max doesn't shy away at this sort of thing but it was at an odd angle so who knows? At any rate, Max expressed his desire to depart but I kept spinning him around and made him walk towards the can in ever-closing circles. I didn't rush things but I made it clear to Max that backing away was not an option.

After about five minutes, Max began to relax and then pretty much ignored it. We then proceeded to go into one of the rings and worked on trot/canter transitions. After about 10 minutes, we then headed home. On the way home, Max had his attention focused on a number of dogs wandering in the wash (I really wish people would control their animals) and I had to carefully work to keep Max's attention. We finally put some distance between us and the dogs and then proceeded to head home.

It's interesting how often things turn into training opportunities and last night was a good example of this. Fortunately Max is pretty adpatable and thus receptive to my efforts.

Monday Night Max II

Last night I decided to give Max a good workout so we worked on cantering. Max is a bit slow to fire up but after a little urging, Max got into it and soon we were flying down the track. It's a quarter-mile track and we ran two laps in each direction so as to give equal exercise of both left and right leads.

We also worked on some transitions, especially on the left lead as well as leg yields. Overall, it was a good, brief workout and once Max got going, it went well- usually Max is pretty sluggish starting out and sometimes it's like he's asleep so I have to wake him up first.

Pretty routine stuff...

Halflingers - Not Just A Cute Horse

I was surfing the net the other day and came accross a website about the use of horses in the Austrian Army. Unfortunately, the website is in German and I didn't have the patience to Babelfish my way through but it appears that the Halflinger horse is alive and well and and on active duty. Here in the US, it seems that the only time I've seen them is in show settings. Originally, these ponies were used as sturdy pack animals in the alpine regions of Germany/Switzerland/Austria/Northern Italy. For more information, click HERE.

Who says horses can't climb mountains?


Partners!




Pretty handy for mounted patrol work too.

OK, so they are cute too!

Monday Night Max

Last night I took the lazy approach to Max...I decided simply to saddle up and take a ride around Gabriellano Park at sunset. It was a pretty good ride and I went a different way than I usually do, this time going by way of the path between the Nursery and the Equestrian Center. The weather was fairly cool and the insect life was minimal.

We ran a couple of laps around the arena (someone was using it inside) and then headed towards home. Instead of working around the Equestrian Center, we went accross the wash and then headed back. The whole idea was an unpredicatable route.

On the way back, I also practiced halting Max and standing for a few minutes before moving further and all the way home, we did it at the walk. The idea is to work on Max's trail manners and counter any barnsour behavior.

Overall, it worked out pretty good. Now add a few horses and see if he still does this...hmmmm.

Max & The Killer Bicycle

Last Saturday a friend and I decided to head up the Doc Larsen trail for what should have been a relaxing ride...

Well, it sort of went downhill...first, we wound up leaving at the same time with some other people from the stable so it was a group of 6. Worse, two of the people (they're teenage girls) wanted to go fast so they went on ahead of us which in turn managed to get everyone else's horses buzzed up, including Max. This was wise because the girls have a bad habit of riding too close and it really bugs me.

Next, the invididual who owns a stretch of the trail we had to pass over decided that he was going to do some trail mantainance and this involved a large bulldozer. Great idea- do the trail maintainenance on a Saturday when everyone and their dog is out on the tail. Makes perfect sense...and many horses just love the noise of a clanky, noisy bulldozer. Christ!

Naturally we come up on this and several of the horses start getting upset. Max was OK but the other horse's actions were upsetting him and there was no way to get around the problem. There's a reason I hate group rides...

To further compound the problems, the bulldozing stirred up every insect in the neighborhood so we were getting bombarded by gnats and flies- more than I've ever encountered on this trail before.

We finally worked around all of these issues and then proceeded to head up the Doc Larsen Trail itself. By this time, Max was pretty energized and he wanted to closely follow the other horses (we were last in line). He even bucked a couple of times, which required some strong corrections. Great...

We finally made it to the bathtub and rested up. My friend and I separated and rode on to the fire roads. Things seemed to be going well until we encountered a mountain biker. The biker was cool and stopped so Max could snif him. Max is usually fine around bikes but not today and it caught me off-guard. Max shied, and managed to back up to the point where his hid legs were handing off the road, which in turn made him more upset. I managed to quickly crank his reins to the left to put him back on the road and in the process lost my balance and fell off of Max. The last thing I remembered was thinking "I hope my left foot doesn't get caught in the stirrup iron".

I managed to kick my legs free and wound up landing on my left arm (fortunately the ground was soft with no rocks) but still managed to hold on to the reins. I managed to pull Max onto the road while sitting down and managed to get up and get a better hold on Max. He was snorting and agitated but I managed to calm him down.

After checking eveything, I managed to get back on Max and we proceeded. Naturally, as we headed on the trail leading back to the barn, Max really started get agitated and acting barnsour. We managed to make it back with no further incident but this was definately not fun.

Looks like it's time to train more and take further measures to address Max's herd behavior. Also, I should never assume, the whole bike incident took me by surprise because I assumed that Max wouldn't have any issues. Bad move.

When I got home, I poured myself a stiff drink and took it easy.

The next day, we did out usual lesson and Max was a complete prince- it just goes to show that horse behavior can greatly vary. Max is usually good when he's by himself or with another horse. But in a larger group, things can get a bit dicey. I'll have to work on this some more.

1918: Storm in the West (Command No. 16) - Take 2

Well, played a scenario having the Germans make their main thrust against the British with most of the spearhead aimed at Amiens and then to Abbeville by sea. It worked out great until I rolled rainy weather which turned the area into a giant marsh and slowed down the Stosstruppen units movement, thus preventing them from rolling into the Channel Ports unopposed. The line definately got bent a bit and a good part of the British Army was mauled.

Unfortuantely for the Germans, they were unable to grab enough objective hexes to win by Turn 9, so they were forced onto the defensive. The Allies were slow to launch counterattacks but eventually the front was ruptured between Verdun and the Swiss border with a stream of French and American units driving east to Strassbourg and north into Luxembourg/Belgium.

It was pretty much a disaster for the Germans, more than what historically occurred.

In Flander's Fields

Here's another interesting WWI game: In Flander's Fields. Designed by Kerry Anderson and originally published by Moments in History/Ciritical Hit in 1999, this game recreates the First Battle of Ypres in 1915 which saw the first use of poison gas (by the Germans) in WWI.

I originally posted these comments in Consimworld.talk but I thought I'd put them up here:

This game has excellent solitare playability and an innovative combat system. My only beef is that it is a bit complex. but given the scale of the game, everything seems to balance out and the combat procedure worked out allright. Definately a good simulation of the shock of using poison gas for the first time and like the historic battle, the Germans are faced with the problem of exploiting a success that they did not quite expect or were prepared to deal with.

Once the Germans crack the Allied front line positions, things get relatively mobile and their artillery is able to blow away anything that gets in the way. Of course, this is only my experience. I recently replayed the game and it still works pretty well. As the Germans, I even managed to secure a breakthrough off of the west edge of the map (chewed up the Belgians, French, and Canadians pretty bad)- I don't think I'll be able to repeat that again but it's still a fun game. Definately worth the money, IMHO.

I'm going to dig this one up again and give it a play.

Monday Night Max

Last night I decided to work Max and practice some of the things I have been learning from my trainer. As usual, Max was a bit sluggish at first ("Huh? You want me to do WHAT? Work?") but with a bit of urging, Max began to fire up. For a little variety, I decided to start Max on the track and then moved to the trails leading up and down the wash. I used a combination of trotting and cantering, keeping Max on the move. I then returned to the track, working on trot/canter transitions.

Finally, as it became dark, we went into the arena and worked some more on walk/trot/canter transitions. By this time, Max was pretty energenic and was completely responsive to my cues. I also practiced riding without stirrups and even did some exercises with the reins where I'd ride at a canter and alternate leaning far back and far forward, while maintaining balance and not putting any pressure on Max's mouth. Sort of high-speed stretching exercises. The whole idea is to also maintain the horse's canter while changing body position. Overall, it was pretty successful but it's a bit more difficult to do while cantering to the left.

I concluded by neck reining, making various tight turns and spins by using my legs and keeping almost no tension on the reins. The other thing I worked on is transferring my weight to the calves rather than the stirrups. This ensures a more secure seat and provides some relief for the horse's back. The downside is that this requires a bit of building up the calve muscles more- kind of an extended totting without stirrups. It's tough but worth it in the end.

The Weekend

In contrast with last weekend, this one was relatively light for Max and I. On Saturday, a friend and I rode out around Hansen Dam Lake. The only incident was while we were proceeding down the trail, we came upon two riders coming our way. As customary, we stopped to let them by (the other two weren't really paying attention to what was going on). For some reason, one of the oncoming horses became spooked (it was a wide trail with good visibility) and proceeded to rear up and back into the horse behind it, which in turn got the other horse upset.

Max stared at this unfolding drama for about 30 seconds and then decided "I'm out of here" and spun around and began to move away. I quickly spun him around again and then walked him back down the trail for about 20 feet and turned around (it was a bare spot that would have enough room to keep out of the way of the spooking horses and give me room to manuever if I had to).

We eventually would up at the usual public arena and we ran our horses a bit. Max got a bit too fresh and tried to buck but I put a quick end to that. He also was happy to run and he really began to dig the forend into the ground. It's a wierd feeling but his body attitude totally changes when he's excited. I then ran him around for a few laps to settle his mind and soon he was a bit more responsive.

Max and his trail buddy quickly recovered but it definately woke him up and he was a lot more energenic about walking down the trail after that. Overall, it was pretty relaxing except for the one piece of drama and even that wasn't much to worry about.

Sunday was our usual lesson and we worked on the usual things, mostly focusing on hands/reinwork and legs. I didn't put a lot of saddle time but I think we spend it profitably in training. The training is good for Max and I because it's really help make me a better rider and it's made a better horse out of Max.

1918: Storm in the West (Command No. 16)

Lately I've been getting interested in WWI so I pulled out another game this last weekend: 1918: Storm in the West. This was originally published in Command No. 16 in 1992 and it's one of Ted Racier's earlier designs. You can definately see the similarities between this one and "When Eagles Fight", which came out later. This is a medium complexity game and the victory conditions are based on each side driving down the enemie's morale to zero before the enemy does it to them. Each side starts with an equal number of morale points and morale points are gained and lost by the occupation of various cities and forts. Paris with three hexes of five points each is an especially inviting target.

Like Ludendorff in 1918, the Geman player is faced with many strategic choices and not enought troops to adequately do them all. It is strongly recommended that the German focus his efforts on one sector rather than spreading them around like Ludendorff did historically. The basic choices are: in the North against the British in an effort to drive to the Channel ports and isolate the BEF or in the South against the French, aimed at Paris (there really isn't an alternative in the South due to the lack of city hexes with enough morale points to make it worthwhile).

The Germans are especially under the gun because have only 9 games turns to accomplish their goal. On Game Turn 9, there is a victory check and if they messed up bad enough, they automatically lose. Otherwise, the game continues but all the Strosstruppen Corps lose their abilities and the counters are replaced. Then the Germans are on the defensive as the Allies (the Americans in particular) build up strength.

The game mechanics are pretty standard and rules are included for the effects of Strosstruppen by way of infiltration rules which allow units to work their way through enemy Zones of Control. The Allies do not get this ability until mid-way through the game and they have to be employed in conjunction with tank units. Also, the CRT is VERY bloody and as the game progresses, the replacement rates begin to dwindle for both sides and like history, it's a battle to see who collapses first from exahustion. There's also enough "chrome" to keep it interesting with "Big Bertha" guns and the Bruchmuller artillery group to give German attacks a big boost.

In my game, I decided to have the Germans make a drive on Paris and due to some bad unit placement and lucky die-rolls, the Germans were able to advance into one hex of Paris during the infiltration movement phase and the Allies were unable to bring in reinforcements to the other two Paris hexes in time. Unlike history, the Allies collapsed in May 1918 and the Americans were little more than speed bumps.

Overall, this is a pretty tense well designed game and the play balance is excellent. There's also a 1919 scenario that was published in a later copy of Command but I forget which one (I have the counters but not the rules). This one should definately be re-published.

Going Solo

I had Monday off and the weather was perfect so I decided to take Max out on the trail. Today, I decided to go up into the mountains and in particular, the Doc Larsen Trail. Since Max's stone bruise, I have avoided riding in the mountains because of the rocky footing in places so it's been over a month since we've been there. Also, I wanted to build up Max's stamina so this was the logical candidate.

The only difference today was, contrary to my usual policy, I decided to go alone. Pretty daring for me but I figure "what the hell?". Max seemed to be acting allright and the weather was beautiful, sunny cool and crisp with a slight cooling breeze. We proceeded up the trail with no incident and for Max, it was like being in a horsey Seven-11 with all the fresh green grass in the canyons. It's interesting to note that in the more exposed areas, the grass is beginning to turn brown in places.

The grade uphill was fairly tough so I had to rest Max periodically to let him catch his breath- we'll have to work on building up his stamina. We then took a long break at the bathtub, allowing Max to cool down and take his fill of water.

There are two trails leading up away from the bathtub towards the fire roads. Usually I select the right trail which is a fairly straight shot to the fire road. However, I decided to take the trail to the left which is shorter. Out of curiosity, I decided to take the left trail. It was relatively short but pretty steep and eventually leads to one of a network of fire roads. The view from the trail is excellent and one can see out West towards a set of ridges where Lopez Canyon landfill is located. Absolutely first rate!

Once I hit the fire road, I decided to take a left and go downhill towards, basically making a loop back towards my starting place. Unfortunately, after about a half mile or so, there was a locked gate so the easy way was definately out. I then headed Max back up the road, passing where the trail let out, and going much higher until I met up with another fire road. Some of these roads are pretty narrow and you can see where rocks have rolled down the cliffs- I was on the constant look-out for rockslides and the like.

After about another half mile of uphill riding, we hit the main fire road where we took a rest. Riding on more, we finally passed the trail leading towards Oak Springs (which I'd rode to earlier on Blue). The trail is pretty hidden and easy to miss- the last time I was here it was completely foggy and misty with visibility limited to about 50 feet or so.

Eventually we made it to "Five Points", an area where four trails/fire roads meet up (why it's called five points when only four roads/trails come together escapes me). We then turned down the trail leading down towards the bathtub (this was the "right" trail mentioned earlier).

We basically retraced our steps going home and naturally Max was a lot more energenic since he knew we were heading home. We arrived back at the stables with no incident and overall, the ride was about 3 1/2 hours and Max definately got a good workout.

We'll need to do this some more.