Thunder Thursday!!!

Thunder

Self Portrait of Cole and Me

 Here we are walking up the hill that leads to the river.

Cruiser

Cruiser was a terrific horse and my riding partner for more than 24 years.  We had so much fun together!

West Creek

Bella

Thunder Thursday

View of Downtown Cleveland from West Creek Reservation

View from West Creek Reservation

Princess, my barn cat buddy.

It was a Princess morning--my evil barn cat friend.  This is the 3rd time I tried to sketch her--and the first time I a satisfied with the picture.  Unlike Thunder, she doesn't have the facial markings or much contrast in her fur to rely on.  Everything is more subtle--plus she has an oddly shaped head.

She was terrible the other day.  I thought I heard a cat crying in the tackroom.  I thought it was Tommy, the nice barn cat.  I opened the door to see if he was locked in it.  Princess dashed in after me.  I picked her up and carried her out.  I turned around to close the door and she ran back in.  Well, I didn't want to lock her in, so I picked her up, again, to take her out.  She turned into a wildcat!  Hissing, growling and struggling to get free.  I put her in the aisle and shut the door.  She kept hissing and then lounged out and swiped my legs.  I don't know why I like her.  She made up to me a few minutes later.

West Creek Reservation

Thunder, My Little Valentine

West Creek Reservation

What Just Happened or Pinch Me, I Think I'm Dreaming

What Just Happened or Pinch Me, I Think I'm Dreaming

Ellen and I were riding Cole and Dante in the indoor arena.  Cole was frustrating me.  Since he trots much faster than Dante, as we go around the edge of the arena, I keep catching up with them.  Rather than pass, I wanted to make a circle and let them get further ahead.  That way, I wouldn't be disturbing them.

When I would try to circle, he would protest and drop down to a walk--or even stop!  I became determined to keep him going.

One time, I asked him to circle away at a trot from Dante in the corner.  He went in a very small circle, but I still drove him forward with my seat to keep him going.  He did; one slow, reluctant step after another--but he stayed at a trot.  I clicked and treated him for it.

Ellen saw us and said that it almost looked like Cole was trying to do a Piaffe.  Huh?  The Piaffe is trotting in place, and it is a very advanced dressage move.

Those who have seen Cole in action know that he would have made a first class dressage horse.  He has so much natural ability, that it just oozes out of him.  His trot in the arena is extremely powerful with more suspension than we know what to do with.  If ever there was a horse that was born rear-wheel drive, it was him.  I know for certain that he is physically capable of doing a Piaffe with ease, but neither one of us is anywhere near that in training.

But he is my trail horse, and we only work in the arena when we can't get on the trail.

I rode around a bit, thinking about how to try to do it.  I guess, I just use my seat really strong and allow him to lift himself up.

I trotted him around the corner and then did a gentle zigzag to pull him all together--and asked.  I got 3 trot steps and only moved about a foot forward.  Click and treat!  Ellen didn't see it.

I did it 3 more times.  Cole gave me more distance--but he also gave me more impulsion.  He was doing something, but each time, Ellen didn't see it.

Finally, Ellen was going to watch.  I trotted through the same spot with the same zigzag, and nothing happened.  We then went to the wall--and he transformed.   He went a fair distance, but his gait was different.  From what Ellen described, I think he did a Passage.

I could tell that Cole was experimenting.  That's what he does.  He finds a movement and works on it all his own--I just give him treats when he does something great. 

I didn't know if this was a one-time thing or where he would take it.  I didn't even know what any of it looked like.  I couldn't wait to try again the next day.

I was walking on clouds...

The next day, after warming him up, it was time to try it, again.  I had Paula there, this time, to let me know if he was doing anything amazing--and this time, I had the good treats. 

I asked for a shoulder-in and gave him one of the good treats for it.  Now that he knew I didn't only have carrots in my pocket, it was time to see what he could do.

It took a few minutes because I had to figure out what I did, myself, the day before--but I got something, and Paula said it looked good.

More important; I got it more than once.  One time, it was definitely 3 steps in place, but they were very low.  Most of the time, he was stepping high and moving only a short distance.  Kevin said that he never saw Cole lift his back legs so high.  He kept getting better.

Up where I was, I could feel him shift his weight from one hind leg to another--and I could see his front legs hopping, too.  Also, there is no doubt that he was much lower in the hindquarters and higher in the forequarters because it almost felt like he was sitting down.  Everyone who saw it said it was amazing and beautiful, so we will continue to work on it--whatever it is.

I just hope it doesn't backfire on me.  I could just see us. 

"Cole, cross the river."

"No, I will just trot in place, here.  You like when I do that."

Cruiser

My father and his cars

My father loved cars.  His first car was a 1930 Model A Ford when he was 16.  That was the beginning of a passion that would last his whole life.

I grew up in the land of antique cars.  Dad would buy a junk car, and bit by bit, would transform it into something wonderful.  When my mother was in the hospital when my older brother was born, someone told her they saw a Model A (or maybe it was the Model T) going down the street. She was suspicious--and she was right.  While she was busy with more important things, my dad bought a car.

I remember that car.  He restored it, beautifully.  I distinctly remember going for a ride in the rumble seat.  My brother did, too, but he insisted on wearing my cowboy hat.  It blew off his head, and my hat was gone.  I bet I was about 4 years old.

After that, every few years, he bought another car.  Some he sold, including the Model A, but most he kept.  They were all in a state of disrepair, and they were all so lovely when he was done.

My mom indulged him.  He had a stressful job as a big city (Cleveland) policeman.  If he came home, worked on his cars and was happy, we were all happy.

He liked going to car shows, so we all went with him.  We made plenty of friends and had many wonderful days.  The best shows were the Packard shows.  Our local Packard club would arrange them. They would be over 3 days.  We had a couple girl friends right around our ages, and we had so much fun with them.  I remained a member of the club until just a few years ago when it disbanded--everyone was just getting to old to do it.

I loved to watch him work on the cars.  The first one I really paid attention to was a 1962 Nash Metropolitan.  He bought 2 cars and took the best parts from each and made one car.  It was amazing.  I think that was the first one I helped him weld by holding the pieces together for him.  I helped him with every car thereafter.

We moved to the suburbs to the house I am at, now.  It had a 1 car garage and a barn that fit 3 cars.  It wasn't long before Dad built a 4-car garage.  Years later, he knocked the barn down and built a 6-car garage.  The following year, he built an identical one right next to it--tearing out the wall in between them.  Years later, he added another 1-car garage to it.  And finally, not long back, he added another i-car garage next to it.  I have a lot of garage space, and I rent it out for winter storage.

When my mom died, 30 years ago, he was lost for a while.  They had a very happy marriage--the only time they weren't together was when he was at work.  It was the cars that pulled him through.  At first, I used to go with him to a lot of the swap meets and car shows, but eventually he grew independent and did things on his own.  I still went, sometimes.

Everyday, he would tell me what he worked on--he always had a project.  I used to love to talk to him about the cars.

When he died, he left 18 cars behind.  My brother took over and sold them off as fast as he could.  It was horrible.  With each sale, I lost a little more of my dad.  I bought one of them from the estate--the Nash Metropolitan.  Also, years before he died, Dad gave me the 1948 Packard Convertible.  I still have them, but I don't know a thing about how to get them running--and my brother doesn't want to work on any cars that aren't his own.  Sigh...

(He kept the 1967 Camaro convertible--but radically changed it.  It all seemed that he just wanted to erase my dad from the world.  They hadn't talked for years.  I'm sure there is a story there, but I'll never know...)

To this day, 6 years after he died, both my sister and I get very sad when we see antique cars.  We both miss him, so much.

My creek

Wintery

My Icy Creek

Cruiser--the best horse, ever!

Do the Cole Train

Do the Cole Train

Winter time in the indoor arena--well, it can get pretty boring.  I do ride outside whenever I can, but often, all I have is part of the driveway to walk up and down.   Though it is nice to get outside, that can bet a little boring, too.

I recently had a revelation--Cole can learn how to line dance.  He has all the moves.  I just have to teach him to put them together.  I would be in the saddle, and when he knows how to dance, I will have to teach Ellen or Kevin to do it with him; as I guide him.  Knowing Cole, once we get to that level, he will learn how to follow his dancing partner on the ground, but that is a long way off.

He can do side passing in both directions, forward, (of course,) backwards, (kind of,) turn on the haunches where he rotates around one back leg in either direction--up to 360 degrees and stopping.  He can leg yield, (forward and sideways at the same time,) but that isn't very accurate, and I'm not sure if I want to use it because he sometimes gets it confused with side passing.  He can also do a nice shoulder-in, but I don't know how to integrate that into a dance routine.

He also has 2 forms of bowing--and we can't forget his silly walk.

All of these he will do and get a click/treat after it.  What I need to do with to chain the moves so we don't stop after every one of them, and make going from one move to the next seamless.

It has only been a couple weeks, and we only practice about 10 minutes a ride.  Here is how it has been going.

In the very beginning, I wasn't getting any side passing at all--which was strange, because we had been practicing it this winter.  I kept getting leg yields, instead.  I decided to work with what I had.  My first project was to train sideways right with sideways left.  To do it, I had to put a couple steps of straight in between.  We have done some of this in the past, and he started doing it very well, right away--but it was leg yielding, not side passing. 

I added a spin, (turn on the haunches,) after the second sideways and then clicked him.  He was getting it.

As I hinted above, his backing up has always been less than stellar.  He is very reluctant to take that first step.  The rest of the steps are effortless; with only a shift of my weight as a cue.  If we wanted to dance, he had to be quicker with that first step.

I had to think about what was going on.  If he was only bad on the first step and not the subsequent steps; all I needed to work on was the first step.  I got the good treats out--no boring carrots for this.  Cole always learns the fastest when he really likes the treats.

I asked for the first step in the standard way--ask for forward, but not allow him to go forward with the reins.  Patience.  Finally I got it, clicked and treated.  We did it over and over.  After about 20 times, he wasn't as sticky.  A few more times--and he was stepping back when I had very light rein contact, and I shifted my weight.  Bingo!!! Cole is a genius.  I just needed to explain it to him.

The next ride, he started offering to back up when I didn't want him to.  I had to make my cues clear enough so he knew what I wanted.  If he offered backing up, I immediately told him I wanted forward.  He was able to sort it out.  He is a genius.  After that, when we practiced our dancing, I started rewarding him for more steps than one.  Sometimes, I asked him to step 5 steps back and then do a few forward steps before a click.

After years of struggling with backing up, I was able to fix it in a few lessons.  I just needed to use my most important tool; my brain.

About this time, he replaced the leg yielding with proper side passing.  I knew he would.  A real surprise happened a few lessons later when he, on his own, decided that he no longer needed to put some forward steps between the right and left steps.  It took a little coordination on his part, but he was able to sort it out.  Such a smart pony!  Of course, he got treats and praise for it.

One other maneuver we have been practicing that we started doing last year is spin 180 degrees one way, take a couple steps forward and spin 180 degrees the other way. 

This is where we are at now. 

I have discovered when training horses, that often when you work on one thing, there are other positive things that happen that you never planned.  Well, it happened again, and it really took me by surprise.  The one who is learning something new is me.  The last time we practiced, I noticed that I was timing the commands at the moment that his foot was ready to change directions.  For the first time, I really know where his back legs just by feeling his motion.  I know that we are supposed to know that, but I never could quite learn it--and now I am.  Talk about a tremendous bonus!  If I never get any further than this with our dancing, we have both made real strides.

Dante

Here is a picture of my sister's horse, Dante.  Why do I keep picking such hard horse pictures?  

Dante is a funny horse.  With Cole, you get what you see.  If I turn him out to play, he is very energetic--runs and runs--with lots of bucking and calling out like a stallion.  (He was a stallion when I bought him at the age of 4, which is late for a horse.  I had him gelded before he was shipped to me.)  When you ride him, he is all energy and loves to go fast.  If he is excited, he throws in big, scary bucks.  When I let him really run, he is like a race horse.

Dante, on the other hand, doesn't have the speed that Cole has, by a long shot, but he will gallop and do the most amazing and creative bucks, leaps, twists--like you wouldn't believe.  He is so fun to watch.  He is a horse that enjoys playing.

Yet, when you ride him, he becomes slow and careful.  If he does buck on a canter transition, my sister says it is straight, simple and not very high.  When she lets Dante really run--well, if we are in the lead, Cole can trot faster than Dante will gallop.   Granted, Cole can also trot extremely fast--which is near as exciting as his gallop.

Ellen was just complaining this morning that he wouldn't use his energy when she rode him in the arena this morning...

Stormy

Today's installment--well I went back to cats.  This is my sister's cat, Stormy, again.  She liked the last one I did of him, but complained that I used a photo without his tongue showing.  (Which I did on purpose.)  Then she sent me some new photos with his tongue out--since that is what he normally does.  He has no teeth to hold it in.  When he showed up at her doorstep as a kitten, he had an autoimmune thing going on where his body was attacking his teeth.  The vet recommended removing them all.  There were only 9 left, at the time she had them removed--and he has been a very happy cat, ever since.  He just can't seem to keep his tongue in his mouth.  

The Ledges in the Cuyahoga National Park

Princess

Princess, the Queen of Mean.  Do you think I made her look mean enough?

My Icy Creek

My Creek

This morning, I drew a picture from my photos from yesterday.  Once again, this is from the prettiest part of my yard--this time showing the path leading up the hill to my house.  It was another snow challenge.  Of course, the creek was all ice.  Today is supposed to go up to 20 degrees!  A regular heat wave.