Settling In

Delgado: After nearly two months I have seen a great change in how Delgado feels at his new home and with his new human. Del seldom bolts or jumps as I lead him around the ranch. However, last night he did go a little right-brained (he lost focus and became jumpy) as we walked past the round pen where Larry was cracking a buggy whip to make his new horse run around. For a few seconds Del was not listening to me as I led him past. I realized at that point Del has made great progress since he first came to the ranch. I am convinced it is, in part, due to the ground work we are doing. Yesterday, we practiced the Parelli, 7 Games.
Here is a youtube video of a girl doing them at liberty which is more advanced that we are doing. I am working on line (lead rope).  I also shadowed Del for the first time today. I read about this practice and thought he might enjoy it and I would learn more about him. I stayed at zone 3, at his side, moving only when he moved in the area. He was at liberty. I followed him for about ten minutes. I rather enjoyed it. Not sure what he thought about it.

Glory: Glory and Cupido share a large pasture.Cupido, also a Paso Fino,  is the horse on the right (below) and he is in love with Glory. Just past the fence, Del shares a pasture with an old mare of twenty plus years and six goats. We felt since Delgado thinks Glory is his mare, it might not be good to put the three of them together.

Yesterday, I worked on the ground with Glory as well. I admit I have put more time into Del at the start as he was so challenging and Glory is submissive which has made her easier to manage. I found she is a very quick learner! Where Del will loose interest quickly and zone out on me, Glory doesn't. I also saddled her up and borrowed a bridle (see more about the bridle below) and rode her in the arena. We practiced maintaining gaits (speed), circles, figure eights, stopping, backing up, etc. She did well but did play with the bit some.

Catching up:  I want to record that I put Tiena's bride (with a bit) on Glory and we took a nice ride with Millie and Cupido.  Glory seemed to mostly forget about the bit as we went out on the trail. I believe that it will help me collect her (at this point she moves along with her head down like a quarter horse). This puts her weight too much on her forehand (front of her body) and is not such a great position for gaiting.

I have also ordered and received a hackemore to try on Del today. I am sure it must be partly my doing, but out on the trail with other horses, he pulls so much my hands get tired. That is my body's weakest part and I am hoping this will help. I plan to take care and have a soft rein today and see if this will make it easier to slow him down. I would rather not put a bit in Del's mouth if I don't need to. He doesn't have the collection problem that Glory does and frankly, I have always been amazed at how well he goes in the hackemore / lunging bridle Jenn trained him in.

Starvation Mountain Ride

On Wednesday, Daniel and I rode Glory and Delgado up to the top of Starvation Mountain.

Peggy and Delgado in his new saddle on top of Starvation Mountain.

I have done this trail twice before on Telma. There is challenging part and we found it more overgrown than before, sometimes with  vegetation 2 - 3 feet tall. This made it even more difficult.  I was first up and decided to get off and lead Del. It was very difficult keeping him on the trail  as I climbed along beside him. With more training, I might have felt I could lead in front of Del, but I didn't have enough confidence that he would stay behind me and feared he might knock me down in the process.  That part of the trail (no photos as I was way too busy just trying to keep us safe) is narrow, rocky and steep. On one side of the trail it drops off rather quickly and there are large boulders, trees and bushes. Add the overgrowth and it was hard to tell just where the trail really was. As I write this, I a remember thinking that I would not take this route again unless we were to go up and do some serious maintenance on it. Daniel followed leading Glory. Her calm nature and the fact they were following must have helped, as Daniel led her up with less difficulty. What I learned about Delgado is that he does trust me. I am so glad I have been doing the ground work with Del "on line". Meaning, we have been working while I am on the ground, with a lead rope, doing things like backing him up, making him stand, moving him sideways, forward, etc. I know he was scared a few times, but he did as I asked and we made it through the difficult part in good shape. I praised him big time when we were up on a flat area standing, while we all caught our breath. I believe I have never challenged myself, or a horse, in such a manner. If it hadn't been for the fact that I had ridden up twice before, I probably would not have even attempted this route. The rest of the ride was not nearly as difficult!

Daniel and Glory on the top of Starvation Mountain.

At the top of Starvation Mountain, Daniel and I rested the horses while taking in the incredible views. Then, we proceeded to go down a different way. Daniel led and I followed on Del. I forgot to mention that we had taken his dogs with us. About half way down the other side of the mountain, we were in tall Deer Brush and we heard a rattle snake. Later, RD told me "If you hear them rattling, that means they are too close!" We moved along quickly and Daniel called the dogs. We were happy to leave that snake behind!

At one point we stopped and traded horses. Its fun to ride Glory and watch how beautiful Del looks moving. We finally made it down to an asphalt road. I made a movie of Delgado (its too big a file at this point to offer here) and when RD watched it with me he thought I had the camera settings wrong. He said Del was moving too fast. Funny, that was real time! He his legs do move that fast.

The rest of the ride was uneventful. I was extremely proud of both Glory and Delgado. What great horses they are!

Paso Ride with Daniel and Larry

Monday, Daniel called to invite me for a ride. I love to ride with Daniel. He likes to largo meaning we can go fast sometimes. I had a date earlier to visit with my friend Mary, who is also my coach. I met her at school and she loaned me some Natural Horsemanship materials. We talked about strategies for my work with Del and my mounting issues. At the heart of this philosophy is Language, Love and Leadership in equal amounts. When I went out to ride, I followed her advice and worked with Del in the round pen after I saddled him up. I also followed Mary's advice about my body language when I sent him out to circle. I believe I noticed a positive difference in his behavior. If he decided to come in before I asked him to, I petted him and sent him back out. Then, I tried mounting him from the block. He did fine. When Daniel was ready to ride he offered to try mounting Del from the ground and was successful. Then, it was my turn and he stood for me without much trouble. It is amazing how we take things for granted. I feel Del and I have been making real progress. However, I know we have only begun.

Daniel is tightening Tiena's girth at the top of the hill overlooking the Ramona Grasslands.

Larry came with us to the lake. He rode Telma but the saddle was too small, so Daniel had him ride Tiena.

 
As you can see, Larry has long legs and he rides his stirrups long as well. He just bought a beautiful Thoroughbred that is in training. He will be learning to ride trail soon.

We rode to the lake on the Ramona Grasslands, one of my favorite rides.  There was a herd of cattle near the lake and Del was very interested in them. They are a little hard to see here but the camera is set on wide angle. I was trying to pose us for a photo but Del just didn't want to stand still, or put his back to them.

At last, Delgado stood long enough for Daniel to take our photograph.

Daniel and Telma

On the way home from the lake when we were riding through the chaparral, my rein came untied. Del was pulling a lot on this ride. In other words, he wanted to go faster than everyone else. He likes the lead and when he has to follow I must work at keeping a space between the horse ahead. When the rein came loose we were on a steep hill and negotiating through Laurel Sumac that had burned in the fires a few years ago. What is left is a combination of new growth and burnt branches that are quite hard.

This is not the exact place. No photos, I was too busy.

As I tried to stop Del with one rein, he thought I was trying to turn him. We went crashing off the trail into the chaparrel.  I tried to get him to follow Daniel and Telma who were in the lead until we could reach flat ground. It must have been quite a sight. Larry called it a rodeo! Jumping and rearing, we broke branches but finally made it to safe ground without any harm. I dismounted, retied the rein, mounted (he stood perfectly still) and we continued the rest of the ride. I was so glad Del was not hurt! Needless to say, I have decided to permanently fix the reins.  Coincidentally, one of the articles Mary wanted me to read is on giving your horse more responsibility on the trail (in other words, a loose rein where the horse in not micro-managed at every step).  That means I need to practice more Natural Horsemanship techniques.

Back from Georgia

Returned from Georgia on Saturday evening and couldn't wait to see the herd on Sunday. Del is now in a new pasture and besides an older mare he shares it with 5 goats. It is a little hard to see but the Billy Goat  on the left. You can click to enlarge the image to see him and the mare in the background.

The goats can move in between the pastures. Del was relocated to this pasture while I was away and Daniel called me at one point to tell me Del was playing with the goats and having a good time. I was so happy to hear that.

As I walked to the edge of the parking area I called his name. Del threw up his head. With carrot in hand, I walked down to the gate and he came to me. The carrot probably had something to do with it, but I honestly think he missed me. I was helping Alysa, my daughter, move from Colorado to Georgia the last couple of weeks.

Before I left for Georgia, Del was having trouble standing still while I mounted him. He took off and threw me as I began to get on him. RD was out at the ranch with me and saw it happen. After some first aid, RD held Del's head as I mounted. Prior that that, Rose had taught me a friendly way to mount. There are so many approaches to correcting this type of problem, but I now know that the friendly way (calm and petting, approach and retreat) only works if Del allows me to mount him.Of course, I thought about this problem endlessly while I was away. I realized that he had never stood still when I mounted him and it had been getting worse.  When I arrived at the ranch on Sunday, I had planned to only work on the ground with Del. However,  he seemed calm as we played games and worked in the round pen so, I decided to try mounting. Since Jenn, his previous owner, had mounted him from a block, I deciced to retreat back to what he was accustomed to. That was successful. I sat on him for a while just there on a loose rein. I mounted from the block once more with success.  This, I considered, was a good step. We rode in the arena and Del was cooperative. Then we headed up that steep hill. The one he gave me a problem with the first time I rode him alone. This was my second ride alone. I would have gone a different way but that means crossing Highland Valley and I felt we would be safer on this trail since we were alone. For a horse which so much "go" it is striking to have him stop and refuse to move forward. At about half way up he stopped and would not talk a step. I used my leg and seat, then slapped his rear with my hand. I used all the correct verbal language, so I knew he was challenging me. I decided to play his game but if you know me, I don't sit still very well. I wished I had a book on with me!  After several minutes, probably not long enough, I tried again. He still wouldn't budge. At that point I regressed to what I had done the last time. The closest bush I could reach provided a feeble, little, green branch. I whacked him on the rear. It was just enough to get him going. Needless to say, I need to work on being the leader. This was a total sign of disrespect. He stopped two other times. After about a mile he quit testing me and we had a great ride. Since we had not been out for exercise recently, I tried to make it a fun and easy ride.

Sunday was a two horse day. Millie and Karen came out to ride with me on Glory. She did very well. We rode to the reservoir. I can ride in the lead or Glory will happily follow the horse ahead. She can be ridden on a loose rein. We do need to work on her walk. She weaves a little like a drunk driver. Joe later told me horses naturally do not walk in a straight line but must lean to do this. With more momentum, Glory moves forward nicely. She has a wonderful little ambling gait called the corto. It is a four-beat gait that can be quick but very smooth. Glory's corto is fun. Jenn calls it her daisy clipper. On the way to the reservoir, there is a nice dirt road that we went faster on. That is the largo. Glory has a nice largo gait as well. At the reservoir, I led her close to the water. She likes to eat, so I lured her to grass at the bank and she happily munched right near the edge of the water. Next time I will try to get her feet in it.

Glory is so different than Del. She is calm and easy going but willing. She gets along well with other horses in close proximity. Its interesting having two horses that are so different.

I was so preoccupied, I forgot my camera! Next time there will be photos.