The Day is Long...

I managed to get out of work early yesterday so naturally I decided to use it to my advantage so it was off to the stables!

I quickly saddled Max up and decided that since there was over two hours of daylight left, I'd head out to the Oaks. Naturally, Max was a bit on the lazy side so it took some encouragement to get him to move at something more than a snail's pace. :-)

After a day of dealing with all manner of BS at work in wonderful Downtown LA, it was a joy to go somewhere peaceful with little or no people. One couldn't have asked for a more beautiful or peaceful scene: just Max and I cantering down the trail.

We managed to make good time and got to the Oaks pretty quickly so I debated what to do next (Max's opinion to head home was duly noted). I decided to head back towards the stables and beyond, all the way over to Gabriellano Park. I figured that this would make for a nice long ride.

We leisurely walked back towards the stables (for the most part) and then picked up the canter just before the entrance to the stables. However, Max was expecting to turn in but I had other ideas and spurred him past the entrance. I think he was definately disappointed!

We moved on down the wash and under the Foothill Avenue/210 bridges and then towards the river. Then, just to be different, we went accross the wash and along the back side of the Equestrian Center and finally arrived at the arena in Gabriellano Park. SInce we'd been cantering and trotting, I didn't see the need to take him into the arena so I decided to head home and I planned on walking him up Orcas Avenue.

However, when I begain to cross the park entrance road to connect with Orcas, I noticed there was a tree blocking movement. At the same time a pretty noisy car (the jerk of a driver didn't bother to slow down) so between all of this, Max shied a bit and wasn't happy. We finally made it across the road but at that point I decided to take the path between the nursery and the Equestian Center instead- it wasn't worth dealing with idiot drivers and getting Max all buzzed up. He's walked up Orcas before with no problems but why hassle it?

Overall, not a bad ride and Max was definately happy to get back home. Naturally he got his bucket to reward his efforts. I'm going to have to see about getting off work early in the future. :-)

To The Ponds...

For Memorial Day, a group of us at the stables decided to take a leisurely ride out to the Ponds and through the eastern part of the Hansen Dam Basin. There were four of us and five horses (one member was ponying an extra horse) and this was an excellent opportunity for Max to ride in a small group and get some training in group riding. This is an area that Max could use some work in.

It was a partly overcast day and relatively cool (except when the sun came out and then it was very hot) and we set out. We practiced switching positions in the group and I deliberately alternated riding Max in the back and the middle of the group.

Max had no problems dealing with the terrain and various objects that some of the other horses thought were scary- he was pretty calm. Naturally, as our course seemed to aim towards home (we were travelling in a very wide, loose circle and we had to take a detour to avoid a quicksand area), Max became more animated and was convinced that he was headed home. Naturally he was also trying to keep up with his equine compadres (an Arab, a Foxtrotter and two mustangs) so he was working extra hard by his standards.

I noticed that Max did better when he was with the Mustangs and the Foxtrotter than with the Arab but still not a deal-breaker. Max also learned to be patient, stay in place even when the other horses started off, et al. Basically, it was a matter of getting Max to pay attention to me and not the horse herd.

We were out about two hours or so and it was a very pleasant ride. If only they all could be so pleasant! :-)

Memorial Day

Well, it's Memorial Day when we honor those who've fallen in defense of the nation. There are those who can say it better than I so all I can offer is a heartfelt thanks. Since one of my interests has always been the First World War and horses, I offer these pictures:

Meuse-Argonne Cemetary

Caisson Platoon, Arlington National Cemetary

Tomb of Unknowns, originally created as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier after WWI.

In Flanders Fields - Redux

Well, I finally had a chance to really play this one through again after re-reading the rules (they're not the best organized) and I have to say that I believe that the play balance is skewed towards the Germans.

The initial gas attack was a complete disaster for the Allies and on the first game turn, almost the entire north side of the Ypres salient was demolished and the Germans were able to make significant gains and completely obliterate the French 45 Algerian and 185 Territorial divisions and severely maul the Belgian 6th Division. In fact, the Germans were able to ford the canal and immediately head west.

Even with the mandatory halt rules for the turn following the deployment of gas, the Germans were able to keep the Allies off-balance and keep grinding up Allied units. Game Turn 2 saw the Germans exiting one complete infantry division of some four infantry regiments and three artillery batteries (10 points per unit) and drive to the outskirts of Ypres itself. I finally called the game with the Germans possesing over 150 victory points (70 or more is a decisive German victoy).So what went wrong? The gas rules are very powerful and if you get the wind blowing in the right direction, there's little the Allies can do.

At the heart of the game is that each unit has a morale level that is driven down by casualties and in order for a unit to pass its morale check, it has to roll equal or lower to its respective division index. Normally this would use two dice but when you use gas for the first time, it's four dice and unless you roll all "ones", you're going to fail.

Worse, if you roll even, it inflicts another hit to the morale index. The Alies are pretty much screwed.However, I also have to point out some interesting features in the game system. Combat starts with artillery barrages and unlike other games which simply have the player add the artillery to the infantry combat factor, the artillery fires to gain a result that will adversely modify the defender's defensive fire. The defender then fires back with the defending unit/units and adds the artillery factor from one battery. The roll on the defensive fire is modified by the result of the initial artillery barrage. The result of defensive fire is a factor that modifies the melee combat.

So in the end, it's all about suppressing the enemy's defensive fire and when the melee combat comes, you still need to be sure to have enough infantry units to get a high-odds attack. I tried attacks with one infantry regiment and a lot of artillery support and the combat result was poor- in short, to succeed you need a superiority of artillery to suppress the defenders defensive fire AND a superiority of infantry for the melee attack. This gives everything a semi-tactical feel and it's interesting.

Another factor to keep in mind is that units that move cannot attack in the same phase so you really have to carefully consider your deployments capabilities.But still, with the initial gas attack and the benefit of historical hindsight, the German has a very good chance of winning because he's not going to attack agressively and try to break the Allied line.Overall, it's a good game with some interesting ideas but I fail to see how the Allied player has a chance, barring poor die-rolling by the German player.

An interesting historical exercise but as a game, I'm not sure given the lop-sided play balance.

An Obstacle...

Today a friend and I decided to head up the Doc Larsen Trail. Everything was going fine until we got about a third up the trail and came accross a small tree that had fallen at an angle, blocking the trail. Unfortuantely, the opening was way too small to go under and no way around- the trail is a single-track on the side of a hill with a 20-foot dropoff on one side and a slope on the other.

We didn't have any saws or cutting tools except for a very rudimetary saw on my Leatherman Multi-tool so while I held the horses, my partner tried to cut it away. The tree was firmly wedged in some other vegetation so he couldn't just shove it aside (and the fact that the wood was green didn't help). At first I had to back up to give his horse room and that was a bit scarry backing up on a trail. Fortuantely, Max handled that well. I then dismounted while my partner tool the Multi-tool and attempted to cut the tree.

I was a bit nervious holding two horses on a narrow trail but they both decided to graze so they were content (touching noses and all). After about 15 minutes my partner called it quits- the limb was too thick and we didn't want to run the risk of more people coming along and getting stacked up (not fun on a narrow trail with nowhere to go).

As my partner edged towards me to give me back my Leatherman, Max so some reason got scared and began to back up- great, I thought, all I need is the horse to back up and then lose his footing (the trail behind him takes a sharp downward turn). I managed to get him to halt and then calmed him down (Thank god!).

I then had to turn Max around so we could walk them back down the trail to a relatively flat spot so we could re-mount. That was interesting. Most experts recommend always turning a horse on a narrow trail towards the outside edge so they can see the dropoff. To do this, I first had to pass in front very carefully and one I'd done that, cue Max to turn. Max handled the rest- he scrunched his rear and hind legs and then made a pivot. Max is not dumb and he definately ddidn't want to go over the side!

Afterwards, we rode down the trail the way we'd came and then decided to take a right turn on the fire road and head towards the sheep pens. We then took a long loop home. It wasn't quite what I'd planned on doing but sometimes that happens. In any event, it was another "lesson" in trail riding that I think we did allright with.

And Now It's Blowing

Well, today wasn't so hot but was it blowing! Now the Santa Ana winds seemed to have moved in something fierce. When I got out to the stables at about 6:30 tonight, the wind was blowing strong and there were large dust clouds about- it looked like something out of the Depression Era dustbowl. It was definately not riding weather so I turned Max out in the arena and later walked him around a bit.

Just for the heck of it, I walked Max past the hay storage area which has several large tarps that were blowing in the wind. Max pretty much ignored it until an especially strong gust of wind came and he definately was ready to run. Lucky he first looked at me, trying to decide what he was going to do. I actually managed to calm him down and then we walked away.

Of course, if he'd wanted to run there would have been nothing I could have done to stop him but he decided that if I wasn't bothered by it, he wouldn't be. Or maybe I was lucky! Max earned his bucket that night.

Monday Monday

I normally hate Mondays and this last Monday was no exception and in fact, even worse, with all the idiots to deal with at work. So I did what I normally do in these situations- go ride Max!

Even though the Monday was pretty hot, by the time I got out to the stables at 6:30, it was cooling down and actually quite pleasant (except for the bugs). For such a hot day, Max was full of energy and it didn't take too much effort before we were sailing down the track at gallop. Better yet, I took him into the wash and ran him there with no issues.

Of course, I have to mention that last week the farrier trimmed Max's hooves and put on new shoes. We'd been working with corrective shoeing and this time, the farrier tried a new set of horseshoes for the front that provides greater support. I think that's made a big difference in Max's trotting and cantering and I've had less of a problem getting Max energized- he moves a lot easier now.

I have to admit, running Max is a great way to relieve stree and it was definately what the doctor ordered. When I got home, I was actually relaxed although a bit sore.

It's Been Awhile...and It's Hot!

Well, it appears that summer is coming with a vengeance- it was over 100 this last weekend and it pretty much took away any desire to anything too extensive with Max. However, Saturday was very interesting and Max definately performed beyond expectations. Basically, I decided to do a quick ride around Hansen Dam Lake and call it quits on account of the heat- it was beating down pretty fierce even at 10 am.

I rode over to Gabriellano Park and ran into a friend of mine rehearsing his mounted group- basically a drill team of sorts specializing in replicating Napoleonic era cavalry (mostly, he also does some stuff from later eras). Personally, the Napoleonic period really doesn't interest me but the idea of working Max as a cavalry horse does so I've always maintained some interest. I'd worked with them before some fours years back but really didn't pursue it too much because Max was having issues and I wasn't really interested in working with a drill team (not to mention Max's trailering problems at the time).

Anyway, my friend needed an additional horse & rider to make for an even 10 so he asked me join in. So I did and I have to say, Max was extremely cooperative and pretty much fell into the routine. I was a bit nervious because I didn't know what his reaction would be, working close to other horses and in some cases, sandwiched between two horses in formation. Max pretty much got into it although he back out a couple of times when the line became compressed as we practiced left and right wheels. He also kept pace with the other horses in line and didn't try to move out beyond the line, even when there was another rank moving in front of him and everyone was at the trot.

Charging in line at the canter also went well although I could tell that Max was focusing on trying to keep up with the other horses (which he couldn't do too well since many of the other horses are much more fast- Arabs, Lusitanos and the like).

I might have to do some more work with Max in this sort of thing just to get him trained used to cavalry manuevers. I also have to say that all the work I've been doing on side passes, leg-yields, and overall leg-use have really paid off. Also, my seat seems to be steady and my hands were relatively quiet. I was able to view everything on video afterwards since they had someone shooting footage.

We did this for about 1 1/2 hours and then retired to my friend's house to rest up- it was just too hot to really do much more. While we didn't do a lot of riding, what we did was pretty decent and I was pleased with Max.

California State Parks - Saved From Closure

Well, it looks like Max and I will still be able to go on holiday in August to Montana De Oro State Park- the Governor somehow managed to "find" the money to keep the parks open and to avoid closing some 48 state parks. Here's more on this:

http://travel.latimes.com/daily-deal-blog/?p=1885

http://www.savestateparks.org/

Another assinine idea put to rest. Unfortunately, no doubt the fee will be sharpley increased- no surprise there and there's still the fuel cost to consider. But hey, at least the park is open!