Where I Ride...

In looking for a map of the trails in the Hansen Dam Basin and vicinity, I came upon a website where someone has taken US Geological Survey maps and modified them a bit. Here's a map of where I do most of my riding:

http://maps.kc6hur.net/pdf/HansenDamShadowhillsLVT.pdf

As you can see, there's quite a few places to ride but you have to be wary of motorcycles, go-carts and ATVs, which are not supposed to be operated there (it's illegal but to some folks, that's just a suggestion and not a mandate- go figure!).

Cabalgata 2007

I found some more pictures of the 2007 Cabalgata. Here's one of Pancho Villa himself:

And another of General Villa at the mueseum at Pancho Villa State Park:

For more pictures, go to:

http://imageevent.com/publicgallery/photography/cabalgatavivavilla2007000

Pancho Villa & You Tube

I came across some interesting videos on YouTube about Pancho Villa entitled Pancho Villa - El mayor de los Dorados:

Interesting pictures from the Mexican Revolution.

Here's another one entitledPancho villa -la persecucion de villa which, judging from the pictures and what little Spanish I know, is celebrating Villa's eluding US forces during the Punitive Expedition:



Even today in Mexico, Villa is considered a hero and by today's standards, he'd be a rock star. Certainly an interesting, if controversial life.

This Last Weekend with Max...

I've been pretty lazy lately...must be the warm weather or something!

Anyway, everything was abuzz at the stable last weekend- two new horses moved in and there was all sorts of work going on as their new stalls were being prepared. The other horses were excited, including Max, but nothing serious. Horses are, next to Cats, the ultimate conservatives and their theme seems to be "we fear change". Hmm, something in that...

Earlier in the week, the weather was pretty up and down and last Tuesday, the wind was blowing something fierce- the stall roofs, which are all made of metal, were rattling and things were flying all about. The horses were buzzed up and especially a new Standardbred Mare that one of my stable companions had just got- she was running around her stall and kicking, bucking, and snorting (but not farting, thank god!).

Well, things settled down and last Saturday, I decided to take Max for an extended trail ride. Since my usual trail buddy has been unable to ride due to a knee injury, I was on my own. I decided to get an early start and first ride up into the hills up to the cattle pens (it's about a two-three mile ride). The ride went uneventfully, even with the paint ballers and I even rode him up a particularly steep dirt road at a full canter. He was pretty good about it and didn't even look once at the ranch down below and try to call out to his equine brethren.

Part of my goal here is to increase Max's focus on me, rather than all the other stuff out there on the trail. Naturally, he'll always be checking out his surroundings (he's a horse, after all) but I'm trying to train him to be more mindful of me, especially if some critical situation does develop.

The trail I follow follows a creekbed past Middle Ranch and then past a paintball "battlefield". The trail segment then winds up at a collection of picnic tables in a cluster of Oak trees. Next, you have a choice of several trails that all lead up to the cow pens (they are literally a set of cow pens located next to a gravel quarry and underneath some high voltage lines- you can literally hear them hum!). I usually go up following a dirt road- it's wide enough to ensure good visibility and firm enough footing to run up. At the top, I usually follow a fire road until I hit one or the other trails leading back down the hill to the picnic benches (either trail ends up in the same place). If I were to follow the fire road, it would take me up further into the mountains and ultimately over the hill until I hit Foothill Boulevard.

Anyway, we completed the loop up to the cow pens and then back down the hill and then headed back to the stable (I really need to post a map here at some point!). But here's where I got creative: Max expected that we would be heading home and naturally he'll try to speed up. I kept him in check and then rode past the entrance to the stables- Max then began to try to edge in the direction of the stable and basically communicate to me "Hey buddy, we're done! Let's go home!" His efforts were rewarded with a nudge in the flank and a "get up there!" More work for Max...

I then continued to ride down the wash and across the river and then completed a loop that took me to the Orcas Park arena. On the way, I ran him out at some sand pits, just for good measure, For some reason, Max had fun running the sandpits and he began to buck (or at least try). I quickly put an end to that and we then continued on our way.

I also ran him around the outside of the arena (there were some others inside doing some sort of exercises so I didn't want to bother them). We finally made our way home with a total time of about 3 1/2 hours on the trail. Naturally Max was rewarded for his efforts and was able to relax for the rest of the day. Overall, a successful trail ride and I succeeded in focusing Max on me and he seemed to have a good time at it (I wasn't ALL work! :-)).

Sunday was our weekly lesson and we learned more dressage moves, especially counterbalancing and doing various circles while spiraling in and out. It's not was easy as it looks and I have a lot of work to do in this area but things look promising- the trick is balance and maintaining even tension on both sides of the bit (that's GENTLE tension). You're basically using your legs to move the horse and leaving the head out of the equation- you firmly keep the head pointed forward but your working off of the horse's legs and hindquarters. The key is to NOT try to lead the horse by the head- it doesn't work and it unbalances the horse.

Overall, a good workout for the both of us. More later...

Back from Columbus - Part 2

OK, it's been three weeks or so since we returned from Columbus, New Mexico and you're probably wondering what else happened (or not...but if you're reading this, I figure that you might be interested! :-)).

Anyway, we successfully completed the "Raid Day" ceremonies which were put on by the Columbus Historical Society on March 9 and made arrangements for the State cermonies that were scheduled for March 10 at the Park (entitled "Camp Furlong Day").

While I had been a bit concerned about a horse rental, things began to work out better than I had ever expected. Early Friday morning while we were eating breakfast, one of the museum volunteers had asked our group if anyone planned on riding in the parade scheduled for March 10. I indicated that I was planning on renting a horse (a trail ride operator was going to bring four horses down from Silver City for rent). The lady then asked me if I'd be willing to ride her Tennessee Walker gelding named "Pablo". The lady further explained that he's a good horse and that he doesn't get out a lot but he's good around other horses and in parades. She also mentioned that Pablo was a rescue horse and when she first got him, he was grossly underweight and "all skin and bones".

I was a bit nervious but without hesitation, I agreed. So early Friday morning, the lady drove me out to her place which was located about three or four miles north on the Columbus-Deming Road (now New Mexico State Highway 11). We tacked up Pablo after a short period of having to chase him around the pen- "Oh boy", I thought..."This is going to be a FUN day!"

After tacking up Pablo, I got on him- he was probably somewhere in the 14.2 - 14.3 hands range and definately smaller than Max. However, he was well-muscled so I didn't feel so bad (I'm, 6'1" and weight about 230 pounds). After assuring myself that Pablo wasn't going to buck me off and that he understood simple commands like "whoa!", we departed for town.

The morning had started cold but as I rode back into town, it began to warm up quite considerably. After getting back to the Park, I hung around to await developments. I didn't have to wait too long before one of the Park maintenance guys calls out to me "the riders are going to meet the riders from Mexico down at the border!" I spurred Pablo on and soon we were going at a nice "Walker" pace down the road towards Palomas. The only thing I had to watch out for was all the discarded bottles, cans, and other trash that motorist have tossed out of their cars (isn't it just grand?).

I have to say, I had never experienced a Tenessee Walker before but Pablo made me a believer! Although he was relatively unschooled, he did have it together enough to give a nice pacing walk, a very "floaty" trot, and an incredible canter. Jeeze, if I was able to work with this horse for a few months, there's no telling what this guy could do. We only had a couple of episodes where Pablo tested me- he definately wasn't used to being worked and I seriously doubt if he'd been asked to canter in a long time.

I managed to meet up with the Mexicans about a mile north of the border and I rode alongside their "Pancho Villa" (I remembered him from last year and had witnessed him give a long, empassioned and drunken speech in Spanish the night before at a party we'd gone to in Palomas). We rode towards Columbus shouting "Viva Villa" and waiving at everyone. It definately felt a bit strange since I was portraying an American enlisted soldier...(the whole thing was sort of billed as a "reconciliation" and improving relations sort of a thing but there's definately some hard feelings that still remain).

By the time we hit town, things were in full swing and the weather was definately cooperating (a relief, compared to last year!). The procession made a circuit around the town and we then headed on into the Park.

During this whole time, Pablo was the perfect gentlemen (although I declined an invitation to take a position between the two riders carrying the US and Mexican flags- why tempt fate?) although it was evident that a Tennessee Walker walks a lot faster than a lot of other horses- I had to hold him back which necessitated the use of a combination of breath control and gentle half-halts. Fortunately, that was enough for Pablo and things were kept in check- thank god for that dressage training!

Pablo and I On Duty - Pablo wasn't too happy about having to work and was giving the evil eye...

The riders all gathered on the West side of Cootes Hill where there were a couple of corrals with water and alfalfa for the horses. After watering and feeding Pablo, I rode him around and basically did the "meet and greet" thing. The one unfortuante thing was that the saddle and tack were completely wrong- earlier, Pablo's Mom had tried to contact another gentlemen by the name of RL Curtin who has a shed full of 1904 McClellan saddles and tack (we'd met him last year) to see if she could borrow one but was unable to make contact. Oh well! At least I had a horse!!

I pretty much spent the day riding and resting Pablo and I was actually able to school him pretty well- he wasn't bad but definately needed some polishing (plus schooling on halting when verbally directed to do so). It was a very pleasant surprise because it could have been the direct opposite- the horse from hell who won't do anything.

By about 3 PM, we'd had enough (I'd been at this since about 8 AM) so I took Pablo home by the scenic route. On the way home, I purposely rode all around the area where the major events of the raid had taken place. Probably the first time anyone in uniform had ridden through town in at least 60 years or so (maybe).

Personally, I believe that there's no better way to get a "feel" for the country, wherever you go, than by riding around it on horseback. Cars are just too fast and hiking is too slow plus you simply don't get the visual perspective. What was also nice was that because I wasn't renting a horse, I could ride around on my own (usually rental string operators aren't too keen on you going out on your own- liability and all that!) and really take my time. For me, this was probably the best part about being in Columbus although by 3 PM, the temperature was in the high 80s and the sun was beating down pretty fierce (welcome to New Mexico! Why do you think they call it a desert?).

I got back to the lady's place, untacked Pablo and gave him his reward- a handful of grain, a flake of alfalfa, and a nice big tub of water. The lady's husband then drove me back to the Park.

I rejoined my compadres and we pretty much hung out until sunset where we retired to the Pancho Villa Lounge for food and liquid refreshment (not too much liquid refreshment since we had to leave early the next day).

We finally left Columbus early Sunday morning (March 11) at about 8 AM after quickly packing up our camp. One of the last sights we saw on our way out of town was the cemetary where some of the raid victims were buried.

A side view of Pablo and I- Unfortunately, the saddle and tack were all wrong...

We finally arrived back in the LA area arount 9 PM that night. What an adventure!

I'll post some more stuff soon!

Be At One With The Herd...

I just couldn't resist on this one- the herd lined up for this picture the moment they saw the sheep dog!

Dealing With the Fearful Horse (or I want to go home!)

Recently, as a favor to one of my trail riding buddies who's been laid up due to a knee injury, I've been turning out his horse while I'm riding Max after work.

My buddy's horse is an 8-year old Thoroughbred Mare who originally was a race horse (I'll just refer to her as "The Mare"). Thoroughbreds have a reputation for being high-strung and this one is no exception. Worse, being a mare, she's a bit moody and you never know how she'll act- definately not my choice for a horse but as they say, "horses for courses"!

Anyway, she gets a bit high-strung and downright crazy when she hasn't been turned out so my buddy asked that I turn her out since he can't make up to the stables. For a couple of weeks I've been turning her out with no drama. The drill is: I'll tack up Max and leave him tied up while I go get The Mare and put her in the main arena. The main arena is pretty big and it allows a lot of room for a horse to run around.

Getting The Mare back in her stall has always been a tad difficult because besides what I've mentioned above, The Mare is also afraid of low-ceilings and the insides of trailers. Our theory is that she was forced into the starting gate one too many times in a somewhat brutal manner and this has given her phobia to low-lying ceilings and the like.

Everything was fine until I went to put her back in her stall. Usually, I lead her to the entrance to her stall and let her walk in on her own. You can't rush the process or force her- you have to talk softly to her. Usually, this is sufficient...

Unfortuantely, not last night...when I urged The Mare into her stall, she took a couple of steps, immediate froze up and then backed out at warp speed. It was like a freight train and I almost got run over. She then proceeded to run around the stable and barn like a maniac until she found a patch of grass to graze on.

15 minutes later, I'd managed to corner The Mare and get a lead rope around her neck. Once again I tried to get her into the stall and once again, she backed out in a panic and it took another 15 minutes to catch her. The third time, she refused to move at all. I'd walk her up the her stall but once there, there was no moving her forward. I tried everything I could think of (and keep from getting injured from a flying hoof) with no success. Talk about frustration- it was a real trial trying to keep my patience.

There was simply something there that The Mare was afraid of and no amount of urging, bribes, gentle tapping from a driving whip, etc. could get her budge.

I finally had to call my buddy to let him know and we ultimately wound up leaving The Mare in the arena and my buddy's daughter will try to deal with her during the day.

Personally, I would have gotten rid of The Mare long ago. She has many undesreable characteristics and I know some people love the speed aspect but to me, it's simply no fun having to deal with a high strung horse who won't even listen to simple commands (whoaa means nothing to her- completely unacceptable).

Of course while this was all going on, the other horses were getting buzzed up and excited. At this this point, Max decided to act up by trying to back up uncontrolably (he was tied up and I was going to move him into his stall). I managed to command him to halt and keep him under control- thank god for all the training I've done! The SOB was definately taking advantage of the situation.

In the end, all this took over an hour and I didn't get home until after 10 PM and pretty much ate a snadwhich and went to bed. What a royal pain in the ass!