Thunder

Another from the Ledges

She travels fastest who travels alone...

She travels fastest who travels alone...

That would be me, today.  Years ago, before my sister got her horse, Ranger, I rode by myself so much that some people called me "The Lone Rider."  That name vanished, because my sister and I ride together as often as we can.

I was going to ride with her out on the loop this morning, but she had a terrible headache.  Instead, she let Dante play out in the mud.  It was cold--right around freezing--but nothing was frozen, yet.  Since I would be by myself, I decided to go for a ride in the park, instead. 

Cole used to be very good on solo rides.  When I had 2 horses, I had more opportunities to ride him by himself.  The last few years, he has become rather rambunctious, alone.  He just hasn't been doing it enough.  This summer, it seemed I could get him out alone every few weeks, and he just kept getting better and better.  The novelty wore off.

He has gotten so good, I didn't even hesitate to take him out--even though it was a chilly morning.  We all know how spunky horses can get when the air is frosty.

When I am alone, I like to go faster than when I am with other people.  Cole's speed can cause problems for other horses.  (I actually think that is the root of the problem with him acting up when he was alone--he anticipated the speed.)  The times we have gotten out by ourselves, I have spent much of my time installing brakes--so that we could go fast.  I like to speed along, but I like to know that I am in control.  So, the rides were slower and more careful than I would have ridden a few years ago.

Today was the day that I got to test to see if my work paid off.  The park was very quiet.  There wouldn't be many reasons to stop, but if I had to, I felt I could.  Just to make sure, I tried a few times early in the ride.  Yes, I had Cole's brain.

After a little bit of trotting, I asked for a canter.  He was enthusiastic, but came back to a trot on his own after just a few strides.  I brought him to a halt and tried again from a standstill.  I got it and this time, he went a little further. 

We reached a part of the trail that we always walk because it weaves between trees.  I was alone--so we trotted it.  Cole was starting to have fun.

We walked over some rocky ground.  When the trail smoothed out, I trotted a bit--yes, his mood was right.  We stopped, and I asked for a canter from a standstill, again.  He did beautifully, and we went a good distance, this time. 

Around the corner and down a little slope at a walk, a little trotting to the mud, walking through the mud--and then we got to the place that we love to gallop.  It had been so long since I have had to chance to really let him go.  I have to confess, I was a little nervous. 

Once again, we did it from a standstill--and he was just wonderful.  We went very fast, but it was so much fun that I wondered why I was nervous!  Cole sprouted wings!  We didn't go all the way to the end, because I wanted to test the brakes--they worked perfectly.  What a wonderful horse!  I trotted out to the end--letting him go as fast as he liked.  (Cole's fast trot is faster than a lot of horses can canter.)  It was so much fun.

We turned around and trotted back until we found Ellen walking on the trail to meet us.  That was Cole's ultimate reward.  He loves finding Ellen and walking with her.

The Ledges

Today, I did a picture from the Ledges in the Cuyahoga National Park.  They are really pretty, and we go a few times a year.  Usually, we do it on hot days because it is cooler near the rocks.  There is even a few caves and some carvings.  It is very lovely there.

My Pumpkin Pal

Today, I sketched Pumpkin. He is one of the cats that visits when his mom goes on vacation.  The first time he came over, he was just a 3-month-old kitten.  He was the perfect age for us to bond.  He loved his visit, and he has enjoyed his visits ever since.  I think he is just the sweetest, little guy.  Basically, he is just a very nice cat--no complication--just loveable and playful.  His mom says he gets in trouble at home, but he is a good boy at my house.

An Evening Ride with Bella

An Evening Ride with Bella

It was a beautiful afternoon for late December.  I was supposed to ride with Kevin in the afternoon, but when I got to the barn, he and Starry already left without me.  He left a note saying that he would meet me on the way back.  He wanted to go on a longer ride.

I hurried and saddled up Cole Train.  As I took him out of the barn, I could see Shari's bright yellow vehicle stopped at the end of the driveway.  That meant she got out of work early, and I would see her on trail, too.  I waved an acknowledgement, and she drove off.

Cole and I headed down the hill.  He was neighing--he knew Starry was up ahead.  He walked much faster down the hill than he would normally walk.  I had one very excited horse on my hands--he felt like he was just going to burst.

Once we crossed the river, I asked him to trot.  Not 20 seconds later, he launched into a gallop!  I got him to stop in about 10 strides and made him stand for a few moments to calm down.  I knew that he was just anxious to catch up with Starry.  We walked a few steps, and he seemed okay.  From there on, we trotted--really, really fast.  Cole Train was full-out Cole "Steam" Train--it was fun.  I was so proud of him--he didn't break out into the canter--he just trotted faster and faster.

I expected to see Starry near the second river crossing, and as I rounded the last bend, there they were.  He was just standing and waiting for us.  I stopped Cole before we got too close to keep him from turning into a rocket.

As we got nearer, I could see Kevin was talking to a young lady--and giving her carrots to feed to Starry.  Yes, she was another pretty blonde.  I told him there was a trend, but he denied it.

We turned around to head home--just walking, so that we didn't run into Shari too soon.  I wanted her to have a good trot before seeing us.  We found her not too far off from where I estimated she would be.  Bella was doing her own version of the "Steam Train."  She knew that we were up ahead and was just as excited to find us as Cole was to find Starry.

Kevin is always trying to get out of riding with us because he is worried that Starry will misbehave.  (And it has happened.)  He talked us into turning around and going back to the second river crossing so Shari didn't have to cut her ride short.  He would head on home.  It looked like we had enough time before dark, so he didn't have to try too hard to convince us.

Once we left him and got to a spot where we like to trot, we did.  Bella, as always, was in the lead.  Cole was quite hyper about his favorite mare being with him and tried to burst past her.  I asked Shari to stop.  I reminded her that this happened last time when we were over there after a long time of not riding together  She remembered, and said we had a plan to fix it--but neither of us remembered what it was.  We continued at a walk and chatted.  Then, the plan popped into my head.  We had to "Do the Dante."

All summer, I worked with Cole to teach him to trot quietly behind Dante when he really wanted to go much faster.  All Shari had to do, in theory, was to slow Bella down.  She did--and it worked like a dream.  Cole remembered how to "Do the Dante," and we trotted without incident to the second river crossing.  Success!

We turned around and headed towards home.  They were good, so we decided to try the trot, again.  Cole did even better--and then Bella jumped at something.  We came to a screeching halt and decided that maybe we should just play it safe and walk home.

Bella had other ideas.  She wanted to trot and was jigging this way and that.  Shari decided it was time for a clicker lesson.  She asked for a couple steps of a walk--and when she got it, she clicked and gave Bella a treat.  She repeated this a number of times--adding a few more steps each time before she clicked.  In just a few minutes, Bella was walking quietly with her head low for a National Show Horse.  Clicker worked again.

That is one of the reasons I like clicker training.  It is a way for us to gently show our horses what we want them to do--rather than fight with them.  Bella wanted to trot there--because that is what we usually do, and Shari just had to show her what we really wanted.

The rest of the way home was uneventful, and we made it just before the sun went down.  It was a great ride for everyone--and a real treat at the end of December, here in northeast Ohio.

Thunder

A Christmas Ride

The weather was just above freezing, Christmas morning, so we were able to take Cole and Starry out for a fun, but uneventful, Christmas ride.  We did a lot of trotting, and once again, I snuck in some cantering, too.  Both horses were so very well behaved--it was such a pleasurable ride.

It was too cold to take off the dorky helmet cover, though.  You would not believe how much warmer my helmet is with it--I don't care how dorky I look.  My helmet is the kind that has vents in it to keep me cool in the summer--it just doesn't work well in the winter.

Anyway, at least I match Cole.

Brandywine Falls

Fall and Arbez

Out in West Creek Reservation

Out in West Creek Reservation

Maggie

We Rode Down to the River

We couldn't cross the river, today, because it was too high, but it was still just nice to get out and enjoy the beautiful snow.  There was just enough to be pretty--but not too much to be a problem.

Smokin' Cole Train

I decided to start sketching this winter--and have been doing a sketch a day all month.  So far, I have been doing easy things--cats and landscapes.  This is my first attempt of a horse in many years.  And, it is the first time I ever did a horse in charcoal.  It was fun--I'll have to do some more horse pictures.

Sandy in Her Winter Wear

The Canal

Here is a sketch of the Canal where my boyfriend and I were walking, last night.  It was a cold walk, but there was 3/4 of a moon--and it was very clear. The strangest thing happened.  We could make out something, up ahead, just off the side of the trail, but we weren't sure what it was. Neither of us said anything about it, but as we got closer, we experienced the same surreal feelings.

We thought it was a horse, standing by the trail!  As we got closer, I could see it was a mule by the ears.  For a moment, I didn't know what to think--there was a mule standing alone by the towpath.  A few more steps revealed that they put a life-size realistic metal mule there--because mules used to pull the boats on the canal.  That was the weirdest feeling when we thought it was alive.

Book Review: "Poor Miss Finch" by Wilkie Collins

I returned to the author of the wonderful books "The Moonstone" and "The Woman in White."  I knew that this book couldn't have been as good as the first 2 because there was a reason Collins was famous for those books--they were awesome.  I had reasonable expectations for this one.

I am glad to say that I was pleased.  What happens when a blind woman has her sight returned?  Well, it doesn't go as well as you would think.  I don't want to give anything away, but lets just say that seeing her fiance for the first time didn't go over very well.

The book was very entertaining--with twists and turns.  It is told in first person by the girl's assistant.  She gives all sorts of commentary to the action--and I think that is half of the fun.

If I see another book of his, I won't hesitate to try it.

The Return of Bella

The Return of Bella

I haven't been able to ride with Shari and Bella much in the last year.  Between Shari's work schedule and Bella's bout with laminitis, it has been hard to get together.  The laminitis is under control, now, and Bella is doing very well with her new low sugar diet. 

Shari called and told me she is quitting her second job--which means she will be able to ride with us more often.  Hurray!!  We have so much fun when we ride together.  Bella loves her boys, Cole, Dante and Starry--and they love her.  They may love her a little too much.  Starry doesn't like anyone between them.  He forgets all about his "bromance" with Dante--he will follow Bella anywhere.

Cole likes to be close to Bella, but he knows that she is unpredictable.  He prefers a little distance--just in case.  Dante doesn't seem to care.  He thinks she goes too fast.

Well, Cole and Bella got to see each other this weekend--the first time in a few months.  We didn't know how Bella would be.  Unfortunately, the river was too high to cross.  Shari and I decided that we would just ride up and down the hill together. 

I was just bringing Cole out of the barn when I saw Bella trotting down the street--all excited.  When she realized that she was coming to our barn, she knew she was going to ride with at least one of her buddies.  Cole seemed happy to see her, and we headed for the trail.

As we walked along the street, a jogger came up behind us on the other side of the street.  I warned Shari.  She thought Bella saw him, but if she did, she thought he was a jogging monster.  She jumped and danced in the street.  Yes, Bella was feeling good.

Bella led as we walked down the trail to the river.  On the bottom part of the trail, it is flat and smooth, so we trotted.  Bella was excited and fairly fast, but she listened.  When we turned to go home, she became more energetic.  Instead of walking quietly up the hill, like Cole, she tried trotting up the hill.  We didn't get too far before we turned her around to demoralize her.  If she is going to hurry up the hill, she has to go back down.  (Of course, we were going to go back down, anyways--but she doesn't know that.)

At the bottom, we asked them to trot, again.  This time, about halfway to the end, Bella decided cantering was a better idea.  While Shari regained command, I told Cole to slow down--so as not to add to the problem.  To my delight, he did.  When Bella started trotting, again, I asked Cole to speed up--and he trotted in a quick but gentlemanly fashion to catch up.  I was so proud of him. 

After that, we just kept going partway up the hill, turning and going to the bottom.  Bella continued to try trotting on the way up, but each time, she did it less. 

It may sound like a boring ride, but it wasn't.  Shari and I had a lot of catching up to do, and the time went very quickly.

Finally, we decided we would head home if Bella was good on the way up.  She was.  She only did a few steps of trotting and came right back to the walk when Shari asked her.

We are hoping to do a lot of riding together in the future.  It depends on the weather and the footing of the trail, of course.  Ice is our enemy.  But time goes fast, even in the winter.  I think that we are going to have a lot of fun next spring.

Prince

Prince, my wonderful house guest.

The Shed

In my yard, there is a really old shed.  The people who built my house--and the 2 houses by it--were brothers--and builders.  They used donkeys to help with the building.  They kept the donkeys for years--and I met someone that grew up back then.  He took the bus to school--and it went down our street--past our house.  He said they called my house "Donkey Hill" because they could see the donkeys from the street.  This is the old shed the donkeys lived in.  It is very old, and half of it has collapsed.  I don't know how much longer it will last.  We call this area of the yard "The North Forty."

Thunder

My Home

Today's installment is the view from the top of my hill.  This is the corner of my big garage with my house tucked in down the hill.  The hill goes down further to the street.  Behind my garage is a steep shale cliff that has my creek below. 

Thunder

Thunder in Charcoal

Starry has a Meltdown

Starry has a Meltdown

Late in the afternoon, the other day, I was out riding the loop in the back of of the barn property.  At the beginning of the ride, both horses seemed a little nervous. Cole even did a little hop spook for no reason that I could see and then returned to his normal self, so it was no big deal.

After a few laps, Starry suddenly freaked out--big time--about something.  His head was up; he was snorting and frozen in place. Kevin wisely got off, but he couldn't get Starry to take a single step without him panicking and trying to get away.  They just kept circling and circling. After a few long minutes of this, Cole started to get upset, too. I got off. Cole relaxed, so I brought him over to Starry to see if he could calm Starry down, and it didn't work.  I could see Kevin was getting scared. He was worrying that Starry would knock him down, and he was letting the reins get longer and longer--losing what little control he had of him. (Ironically, it is when you are worried you might get knocked over that you are most like to be knocked over.)

Starry was still trying to take off whenever Kevin tried to get him to move.  He was simply terrified. They just weren't getting anywhere. By now, Kevin was holding the very end of his reins.  I was close enough that I grabbed Starry's reins by his mouth. Now I had both horses.

I told Kevin to take Cole, and I would take Starr.  Fortunately--and unfortunately--I have had way too much experience in situations like this.  Cole did bounce a few times with Kevin, but soon, he was doing tricks, instead. Once Kevin got Cole doing his silly walk, I knew they would be fine.  They did the silly walk almost all the way back to the barn.

Starry did circle a few times with me, but somehow, I got him to take one straight step.  It probably helped that by now, Cole was silly walking home. I stopped Starry, gave him a carrot and asked for another straight step and asked him to stop, again.  Even though he was hard to stop and it took more than one step, at least he wasn't in a total panic. I kept repeating this, and eventually he started to settle down, and we got back to our barn safely.  

Kevin quit for the day.  I took Cole back to ride some more--and that is when I saw the coyote.  It was just a little one. Cole saw him first, but he wasn't afraid. He is a very bold horse.  We watched him trotting around. Starry might have caught a glimpse of it--or even just smelled it.  Some horses can be very troubled by them--like Ranger. I'm just glad it all worked out.

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Princess

This is my first attempt at Princess--the mean cat at the barn that just loves me.  The picture does make her look a little mean.  She got so mad at me, yesterday, when I wouldn't sit with her that she kept swatting my leg when I would walk by.  

She comes when I call her, all the time.  Well, yesterday I was riding in the back of the property and as I was coming back, she and Tommy were hanging out by the outdoor arena.  As I rode towards them, I called Princess, and she trotted over to us.  She is hesitant to come close to Cole, because he has chased her before.  As I passed her, I called her and Tommy, and she and Tommy both trotted after us to our barn.  It was really cute.

That's how she is.  She can be so endearing and then turns into a tyrant.

The Big Arena Problem

The Big Arena Problem

Ellen has been having some trouble with Dante in the arena.  Not dangerous trouble--but annoying trouble. 

It started showing up last spring before she started trail riding, again.  Dante was stalling out.  If he was walking, he would stop.  If he was trotting, he would slow down to a walk.  Then, she had trouble getting him going, again.  Talk about frustrating!

Well, in the last few weeks, he took it to a whole new level.  I rode with them in the indoor arena one morning last week, and it seemed like she was fighting with him the whole time.  They couldn't even trot a full lap around the arena.  Now, Dante is always worse if Cole is with him--he likes to stall out whenever Cole comes close to him.  I tried my best to stay away from them, but Dante still kept stalling.

My sister was really blue about it.  We walked Ranger after this horrible ride and did some brainstorming.

I had ridden Dante a few weeks ago, and I didn't have a trace of stalling out.  Now, it could have been the novelty of having someone different ride him at a different time of day and with a different saddle.  Sometimes when you change things up--horses' behavior's will change, too. 

Ellen was all stressed and anxious about it.  Was she doing something wrong?  Was Dante ruined?  Does this mean she won't have any good arena rides with him this winter?  Is it going to be a long winter of frustration?

We needed a plan.

First, we decided that I would ride him the following evening.  She would ride him the next day with me on Cole.

I carried a whip on the ride--something we haven't been doing in the arena.  Basically, the only time I use a whip these days is to keep bugs off Cole's neck and belly and to discourage him from eating branches on the trail. 

The plan was that I would ask him to go forward nicely with my legs and seat.  If that didn't work, I would boot him with my legs--and if that didn't work--I would give him a firm; but not painful--pop with the whip.  If he stalled when I was already going forward--I would jump straight to the whip to discourage him from doing that.  Clarity and consistency--that is what it was going to be all about.

I started the ride at a walk; asking for walk/stop/walk transitions.  They were sticky--so I did what we planned.  I think I only had to resort to the whip 3 times.  After that, I still had to give him a solid boot a few more times.  Then, I started to get decent transitions.  I didn't click him and give him a treat--I just rubbed his neck.  We did a lot of them.

When we moved on to the trot, he really did pretty good.  I only had to use the whip a couple times before he realized that it was better just to keep going.  I trotted all about the arena.  Towards the end of the ride, I practiced transitions and clicked him for the good ones.  This was not the same horse that Ellen rode the day before.

The following morning, I told her all about it.  To help her out, I let her ride the first 20 minutes without Cole in the arena as a distraction.  She did exactly as I did, and her troubles just vanished.  Once I brought Cole in, Dante continued to behave like the well-trained horse he is.  Ellen was able to reward him for good behavior, again.  Finally, she was getting it consistently.  The next day, we did the same thing with the same results.

We decided the whole problem was--as it usually is with horses--operator's error.  Ellen was too slow to correct and not consistent with her corrections.  Dante was confused and did what he did the best--nothing.  When Dante would stall out, Ellen's brain would flash all kinds of things--he was being bad.  He will always be bad.  Is he sick?  Maybe he is hurt, and on and on and on.  She would then miss her opportunity to correct Dante and poor Dante probably thought that he was doing what she wanted him to do.

I didn't have those thoughts in my head.  When I ride, I have very little inner dialogue.  I just ride.  Actually, I think that is one of the reasons I like riding.  It clears my head and puts me in the moment.  It is just me, my horse and what we are doing together.  Ellen is very different than me, and it worked against her.

Once we set the rules, he changed his whole attitude.  He just needed to understand what we wanted.  After all, Dante loves to trot--there was no reason for him to want to stop trotting.

Ellen was so happy!!!!

I asked her what her final sum up of the whole experience was.  I was hoping to get something thoughtful and insightful from her.

Instead, she sighed and said, "It's going to be a long winter of boring arena rides.  I had a problem to work on for a while, but now that's gone."

So much for thoughtful and insightful!  But, it is great that the problem vanished in only 2 rides.

My Creek

So far, I have been able to keep up with my goal of a sketch a day.  This is my favorite view in my yard.  The creek comes through the back of my property.  I hope it looks like water.  It was not done from life, of course, because there is no snow--anyways, I would freeze my fingers trying to draw outside right now.  The park is just beyond to the right.  

First Attempt at Charcoal

My garage

Thunder

Thunder personally helped me with this one--he sat on it when I was drawing it.

My First Attempt at Sketching in Years

My first attempt had to be Thunder, of course.  Hopefully, it will be the first of many as I try to bring my artistic skills up to speed.  They have been long neglected--for many years.

Book Review: "Little Bird of Heaven" by Joyce Carol Oates

Here is another book that Sarah would like.

A little girl's father is arrested for the murder of the woman he was having an affair with.  There isn't enough evidence and he is released, but it breaks up the family and ruins the life of everyone involved.  It changes the life of the girl as she grows up in unexpected ways.

A very enjoyable book--and I cheered at the ending!  I thought it would go one way--but it ended up going the way it would have if it was me.

Book Review: "Expensive People" by Joyce Carol Oates

The first sentence in this book is:

"I was a child murderer."  How can you go wrong with a book that starts like that--particularly one written by Joyce Carol Oates.

It is a confessional book about a man who killed someone when he was a child.  It is everything that lead up to the murder.  It is hard to imagine that the writer wasn't the actual killer--that's how good she wrote this book.

It gets a little slow in the middle, but toward the end--the murder--it becomes riveting.  I can't wait to tell Sarah about it.

Birthday for Ranger Around the Corner

The big day is coming up--January 1--official birthday of all horses.  Cole's birthday is April 27, and that is the day I celebrate it, but we don't know when Ranger was born.  We don't even know the year, let alone the date.  So, Ranger's birthday is January 1.  It works out really well since Ellen got him in January.

We don't know how old he was, then, but he was a fully mature horse.  No vets could look into his mouth to see his teeth. without tranquilizing him, so we didn't even have a vet guess.  We guessed he was around 5 years old.

Since Ellen will have had him 24 years this January--that makes Ranger--old.

I asked her if we should add a year to make him 29, or if we could keep him 28.  Twenty-nine sounds so old.  She said that she will add the year to make him 29.

He is doing well for a big, old horse.  After the mild colic scare a few months ago; where we adjusted his diet, he looks like he is putting on some weight.  We are still taking him on his walks, every day.  She would be riding him if he didn't have his breathing issues--he certainly has a lot of energy on his walks!  It is just that when he starts trotting, he has trouble with his lungs.  We do trot him in hand for short distances.   Ranger just loves that!

And, I am glad to say, Ranger is as cantankerous and also as lovable, as ever.

The Little Osippee

Kevin and I were traveling in Maine, years ago.  We found a place that rented canoes.  We thought we would give it a try.  The river was called The Little Ossipee.  Well, when the man who rented the canoes took us to the river, we were shocked--there was nothing little about this river!  We had never canoed on such a river, before.

The man said he would pick us up down stream in about an hour and a half.  He described the place he would be waiting for us.  We happily left on our trip.  It was a pretty river.  The wind was at our backs, so with the current, we barely needed to paddle.

At the correct time, we started looking for the man--but we couldn't find anything he described.  We started to get worried.  Before we knew it, we reached a dam--this wasn't right!  Panic!

We turned the canoe around and headed back upstream.  Remember when I told you the wind was behind our backs?  Well, now we were paddling upstream--into the wind--paddling frantically.  We finally found our friend waving from the bank of the river.

Remember when I said we had the wind at our back?  That was the problem.  The current was fast that day and the wind gave us a big push, too.  We passed our meeting place a half hour early--when we weren't even looking for it.  We were so happy to get out of that canoe!  Now, we laugh about it, but we were very worried at the time.

Dreams of Horses

When I was a little girl, I loved to draw horses--dreaming that some day, I would have my own.  My mom just kept saying, "Save your money."  I found an old sketchbook.

I didn't get my first horse until I was 21.  That's a lot of dreaming.

Cole in the Arena - Part 2

Cole in the Arena - Part 2

Did I really write about how well Cole was on his last arena ride?

Yesterday, I rode a whole different horse, though he looked just like Cole.  He lived up to his registered name, Smokin' Cole Train, that is for sure.

I could feel that his mood was very different after about--20 seconds in the saddle.  He felt like he was a horse twice his size and ready to explode.  Cole was a stick of dynamite.

I have been here, before, with Cole.  To be on the safe side, I decided to start with something simple.  We would just walk 5 laps each way around the arena.  At the scary corner, his head was way up in the air.  He wanted to run.  I jiggled the rein to tell him to drop his head, and he did; for which he got praise and neck rubs.

When it was time to trot, I figured I would just go short distances each time until he calmed down--and I would go in circles for more control.  Upon request, he sprung into the trot.  This is when he really was Smokin' Cole Train.  I can't explain very well how it felt, but if it was physically possible for a horse's back legs to be going twice as fast as his front legs, I swear that's what was happening.  Yes, short distances were enough for me.  I felt like I wouldn't last much past that.

We practiced our walk/trot transitions on a circle, and I started to notice he was settling down.  I wanted to ride at least a half hour, but I was ready to quit after 15 minutes.  He still felt explosive, but at least his back legs were matching his front legs.

We took a walk break, to kill some time to get me to a half hour.  We wandered over to the scary corner--mistake.  He jumped and tried to take off running.  Since we have been practicing this maneuver, lately, I was able to quickly spin him into a small circle on the very first stride.  Sigh.  We went back to the safe end of the arena.

Since he was doing better at a trot, I decided to integrate some shoulder-ins along the wall.  I like them when he is hyper, because his neck is already bent.  If he should try to shoot off, I already have him in position to spin him.

I didn't have to.  He was happy to cooperate-and we were getting closer to the wall this time.  By now, we were nearing the half hour mark, and instead of hopping off, I knew I could do the last 10 minutes safely.  We continued more trotting in circles and shoulder-ins, and then we settled down with doing his lateral tricks that he loves so much.

Nobody else was there to use the arena, so I unsaddled him in there and set him free.  He did a quick roll and took off running!  I grabbed a whip to encourage him to continue to run.  On the first wave of the whip, he reared straight up into the air and kicked up off the ground with his hind legs--such elevation.  He would have put many Lipizzaner's to shame!

He did a lot of running and bucking--around and around and around.  It is then that I decided that he wasn't being such a bad horse on the ride,  Actually, he was being very good.  If he felt he had to do all this running after the ride, and he still did his best to listen and cooperate with me for 40 minutes--well that makes a very good horse to me.

I rode him again this morning--and he was back to his old self, again.  He just needed to run.

Back in the Arena with Cole

Back in the Arena with Cole

The weather isn't cooperating.  I think this was the worse November, ever.  We have had so much rain, some snow and most days are way colder than normal for this time of year.  I have done some trail riding, but not as much as I would normally do in November.  The river has been too high much of the time.

The rain has kept me in the indoor arena a few times--and now the driveway is icy.  It isn't safe to take the horses out on it.  Now, I am really forced to ride in the arena.

The arena really isn't that bad.  I shouldn't complain.  I have kept my horses at barns that didn't have one--and that was even worse.  It is just that I love riding on the trail so much more.  The arena is more like work.

I have ridden Cole in the arena only a few times this year.  The last time, everything felt like it was starting to come together.  I think practicing on Dante really helped me.  The better I do, the better Cole does.  His trot is becoming more consistent and more powerful--and more amazing.  It is hard to sit, but the stronger I get, the longer we can go before I fall apart.

His circles are doing better whenever I can keep both my seat bones where they belong.  If my outside one loses contact, he leans into his circle--and then it is too late.  I have to start all over and do it right.  Cole makes me a better rider.

He loves to do shoulder-ins, but we are having trouble with him drifting off the wall.  That gives me a reason to practice more, so he is happy with that.  I'm not going to try leg yielding until we fix the shoulder-in.

He is misbehaving in his bad corner, again, but I have kept him from bolting.  He gets startled easily in that corner and then wants to gallop to the arena exit.  We have been having trouble with this from the very beginning of his training.  He tried 4 times the last ride, but I was able to spin him around on the first stride each time.  I don't think he is that frightened--he just wants to play.  With a few more weeks of riding in the arena, he will stop doing it.  I just have to catch him every time.

Of course, we always save time for doing tricks.  There is silly walk, turn-on-the-haunches, side pass and backing--and all combinations of them.  I think I should teach him to do line dancing.  He likes them all except backing.  We are going to practice it more this year with clicker to see if he can get a little sharper with it.

If winter keeps going like it has been, I will have plenty of time for practicing.

Winter is Here--Walking Maggie

The Rally

Back when I was in college, I used to draw cars at car shows and sell the pictures.  I actually made quite a bit of money doing that.  Once I got a real job, I quit doing it.  Actually, I quit because I had a horse--and suddenly I had better things to do!

Anyway, this is a picture of my old 1976 Rally Sport Camaro.  You can see the two-tone paint job.  It was black on the top and silver on the bottom.  It was a really cool looking car--though old and rusty.  I edited out the rust when I drew the picture.

Indi

Today, I thought I would include a painting that I did a long time ago.  The date is 1986.  Where does time go?  Anyway, I always thought it was one of my best animal paintings.  Siamese cats are tough to do.  This is Indi, my mother's cat, at the time.  My mom died a few years later, but Indi lived on a long time after that.  She was 19 and a half (when they get that old, the half year is very important) when she died in my arms one night.  At that time, she had had kidney disease for years.  She was the toughest, most intrepid cats ever born.  Nothing stopped her until her body just had enough.  If a cat can be a role model, Indi is mine.  (When she was young, she was quite the stunt cat--so we named her Indiana Jones.)

Years later, my vet had an open house, and he told me, "There is one cat I will never forget, and that is Indi." 

She was also a very gentle cat--which isn't the case with a lot of Siamese.  They can be quite high strung.

The second picture includes Thunder--as always wondering what I was doing.

Cole Loses His Composure

Cole Loses His Composure

The other afternoon, we were out riding Starry and Cole on a short trail ride before sunset.  It was our first really nice day, weather wise, in several weeks.  There was no rain, snow or wind, and it was even moderately warm.

On the way out, we were passed by 2 people riding gaited pintos.  It was evident they were from the fairgrounds, because fairground people who ride as far as our trails are always in a hurry.  We stopped our horses and let them pass.

We had a really nice ride out to the second river crossing--trotting most of the way.  We turned around and started trotting back.  After a couple of minutes, I yelled up to Kevin to stop, because Cole was getting a little feisty.  Starry immediately halted, and we walked towards the next corner with Starry in the lead.

Up ahead, we could see around the corner because there are no leaves on the trees--and here comes the spotted, gaited horses, and they were coming fast.  Through the trees, between the spots and the funny way gaited horses move, Cole thought he saw monsters!  He spun 180 degrees--as only a little horse can--and took off running!

We don't see many gaited horses, and trotting horses sometimes get confused when they see gaited horses' legs going all directions.  I remember when had a similar reaction from Cruiser the first time he saw a one.  This wasn't Cole's first time, but they frightened him, nonetheless. 

I was able to catch him in a few strides and stop him by turning 180 degrees the other direction.  I asked him to stop and watch the monsters approach.  Poor Cole, his head was up, he was trembling and I could feel that any deviation towards the left or right would have him spinning and running, again.  I just kept him facing the monsters, and he stood frozen in place.

Kevin knew I had a problem going on; even though he couldn't see us and asked the people to slow down.  As they got closer to me, I asked them to stop.  By now, I was sitting on a stick of dynamite with the fuse already lit.

They didn't stop--only slowed down a little bit, but they just kept gaiting.  I can't say what happened next--I was too busy trying to contain the situation to bother remembering.  I know it involved Cole rushing backwards a few times, at least one more spin, Cole trying to step sideways into the trees and a mad dash forward just as they got passed us.

They didn't try to stop their horses and said not one word of apology.  If I was the kind of person who cussed, I can't imagine what words would have come out of my mouth.  Good thing Kevin didn't see what happened!  He and Starry stood completely still--facing the opposite way--so they wouldn't interfere or add to the chaos behind them.

Cole was still very, very upset about what happened.  He just wanted to run home.  I asked Kevin to  stand with us until Cole settled down.  After a few minutes, I felt Cole relax, and we went home with no other problems.  You could imagine what most of our conversation was about.

Adventures in Cotton

I got cotton!  I posted the pictures of my plants blooming this summer.  They got pods, but I didn't know if I would have enough time for them to get cotton.

When it got cold, I brought the plants in.  Then they died.  A few days later, the pods started to open.  I got about 20 balls.  Each one has some seeds in them, so I will have plenty to try again, next year.  Who would have ever thought I could grow cotton so far north?

A Horse of a Different Color: Riding Dante in the Arena

A Horse of a Different Color: Riding Dante in the Arena

I decided to give Cole a well-needed day off.  I can't remember the last time I did.  Some of the days that I rode him were just around the loop in the back of the property--easy rides that were only about a half hour, so I haven't been abusing him.  Still, I think it is good for a horse just to get a break from riding now and then.

It was my day to feed the horses at the barn.  Two or three evenings a week, I hay and water them, (between 25-30 horses,) to help defray the costs of having a horse.  I also clean our three stalls and take Ranger on his walk.  Instead of just doing chores; I wanted to have some fun.  I decided it would be a good day to start riding Dante, my sister's horse, in the arena.

I rode Dante in the arena about once a week last couple winters.  When the weather gets better, and I started riding Cole out in the park, I quit.  I guess that means I haven't ridden him in there since sometime in March.  Ellen has done a few arena rides, lately, when it was raining.  I did a couple with Cole, too.  She has done well with Dante--Cole was a little tough, but he always is when I haven't ridden him in there for months.

And that was one of the reasons I wanted to ride Dante.  As I have mentioned before, Cole has an incredibly gorgeous, powerful arena trot.  (I'm so glad he seldom uses it on the trail.)  He bounces me all over.  It is hard to sit--even harder to post--and can be quite intimidating until I get used to it.  Plus, he makes me very sore!  I have to build up to his trot.  Not to mention, he still likes jump and run if he is in the scary corner when he hears any little noise. I'm glad to say, he isn't near as bad as he was when he was young, but he does still do it.

Dante, on the other hand, is smooth and quiet--and never does anything sudden in the arena.  He is the perfect horse to prepare myself for Cole.

There is another reason I like to ride Dante--I get to use my favorite saddle.  I have never found a saddle that fitted me better, but it is just too big for little Cole.  The only time I get to use it is when I ride Dante.  I mounted up and the first thing I did was sigh.  Yes, it is the perfect saddle for me.

It is actually a WWII Japanese military saddle I found at an estate sale.  I didn't know what it was when I bought it.  I sat on it when I brought it home and decided it was worth getting repaired.  It has been my favorite saddle ever since.

I used to use it on Mingo.  He loved it, too.  If I tried to use a different saddle, he would become very uncooperative.  When he died, it became Cruiser's official saddle.  I really wish it fit Cole, but it does give me incentive to ride Dante.

We started out trying to walk along the edge of the arena.  He was like riding a snake--swerving this way and that.  Immediately, I realized that, once again, I got into a lot of bad habits riding on the trail all summer.

I firmed up my seat and focused my energy into straightening him out.  It worked.  I brought him to the arena wall and made him walk straight.  It sounds like such an easy thing, but it really isn't.

After a warm up, I asked for a trot.  Ahhh, so smooth, so lovely--we just slowly glided along.  After a few minutes, I realized that Dante, amazingly, was picking up exactly where we left off last spring when I quit riding him.  No horse does that!  I spend weeks reviewing our old lessons with Cole before we start to move on.  Dante is truly a special horse.  And then he decided to stop.  He might be good, but he isn't perfect.  Like with most horses, there is always something to work on--and right now, Dante thinks that whenever he is doing well, he should stop.

We worked on nearly perfect circles--perfect for him.  My body, used to just trotting down the trail, didn't want to cooperate with me.  I was losing my connection on the saddle, my legs weren't going to the right positions and I was having trouble finding the rhythm of the sitting trot.  Another thing for me to focus on.  We practiced until it started to become automatic.

And this is one of the big reasons I like to ride in the arena with Dante.  With his slower, smoother movement, I can work out all my own personal problems on him--instead of Cole.  It is hard to work on my body when I am flying around on Cole.  If I can get control of me, first, I have better control of Cole--and I am more confident, too.

I only rode about a half hour, but it was a very satisfying ride.  A few more like that, I will be ready for Cole Train.

Book Review: "A Pair of Blue Eyes" by Thomas Hardy - 1873

Another recommendation from my niece.  She likes Hardy, but I have found him depressing.  She told me this wasn't too sad--and she is right.  It is a love story.  It had some very suspenseful scenes, and I just love the ending. 

Elfride falls in and out of love very easily.  I don't know why these men even like her.  I found her shallow and not very smart.  Supposedly, she is based on Hardy's first wife, and the story is somewhat autobiographical. 

Book Review: "The Cleveland Connection" by Les Roberts

If you like Cleveland, and you like detective stories, this book is for you.  The story is entertaining--made all the more fun because it takes place right here.  Roberts lives in Cleveland Heights, so he knows us well.  Milan Jacovich is back, looking for love and answers.  Our favorite Sovenian detective is looking for  an old Serbian man that goes missing.  It takes him to the West Side Market, all sorts of local restaurants--including Johnny's where I used to go on business lunches, because it was close--and had such good sausage sandwiches.  He even ventures into Parma a few times.

Aside from being entertained, Roberts shows us--that though he isn't a native, he loves this area as if he is.

My Lame Attempt at Poetry

Riding Cole on the Trail

My feet are cold,
Slow down.
There are some deer.
I hope they don't run and startle my Cole.
It looks like rain.
Slow down.
Just go through the mud; it won't hurt you. My hands are cold.
Slow down.
The river looks pretty.
I think I am having a problem.
Whoa! Whoa!
Just walk.
Look at those pretty ducks.
Trot.
Steady, steady, easy.
Good boy.  That was beautiful.

Dante Challenges

Our ride on Saturday didn't go very well.  Kevin, Ellen and I rode down to the river.  It was extremely cold and windy for this time of year, and Ellen was filled with much trepidation about the ride.  Cold weather sometimes brings the worst out in horses, and this was our coldest day in a long time.

At the bottom of the hill, Starry had one of his unreasonable fits about not walking in front of Dante--he wouldn't even follow Cole.  Dante was behind Starry--afraid to pass him--and Starry wouldn't budge.  We worked through that, but not without Dante trying to high-tail it back home.

After that, I started to cross the river.  It wasn't too bad, but when Ellen saw it, she decided it was too high to cross.  I didn't want to turn Cole around and go back because I didn't want him to learn that was in the realm of possibility.  We continued to the other side.  Ellen thought she would try, but when she got to the edge of the water, she changed her mind.  She decided to go home and work Dante in the arena.

Kevin crossed Starry, and we went on a short, cold ride.

The next day, the river was lower, so Ellen thought she could cross it.   Starry was banned from the ride because of his bad behavior.  We rode down to the river, and Cole and I crossed to the other side.  Ellen rode Dante to the river's edge, he stopped and refused to take a step forward.  I found a sunny spot and had Cole stand and wait.

Ellen got Dante to put his front feet in, and she clicked and treated him.  So far, so good.  She asked for another step--and nothing.  They were stuck for a while, until Dante did one of his slow motion spins to get out of the water.  She kept him spinning and they ended up at the water's edge, again.

This happened a few times.  Finally, she got all 4 feet in, and he stalled out.  She asked for step forward.  He put his left foot in, and then took his left foot out.  He took his right foot in and his right foot out.  He then did the "hokey pokey," and turned himself around.

Okay, this wasn't working.  She tried again.  Once more, all 4 feet were in.  Dante decided to play in the water.  He kept sticking his face in the ice cold water and shaking his head around.  Ellen was so puzzled about his behavior.  He didn't act like he was afraid to cross--but he wouldn't cross.  He didn't fight--he just refused.  He tried another slow spin, but Ellen used all of her strength to keep his incredibly strong neck from bending the way she didn't want it to go.

I told her to try and walk down stream a little to cross in a different spot.  I have found that that sometimes helps.  This had taken about 15 minutes, so far-it seemed like an hour.  I was getting bored and cold.  Ellen certainly didn't want to give up.  What did she have to lose.

And then an idea popped into her head.  The last big rain storm changed the river a bit.  The current looked funny.  There were ripples were she wanted to cross him that weren't there, before.  Could that be why he was putting his head in the water to test it so much?  She rode him downstream about 10 feet where there weren't any ripples.  Within less than a minute, he was marching across the river.  She didn't want him to lose his momentum, so she didn't stop him to give him a treat.  Instead, she scratched his neck and praised him.  Once she triumphantly got to the other side, she gave him a handful of carrots.

So, we think that between the new ripples and the fact that he didn't have to cross the day before, convinced Dante that he didn't have to try to cross.  He, wisely, (in his mind,) decided it was safer for both of them to stay where they were at.

We had a great ride, after that.  On the way home, he crossed the river without hesitation.

I am so proud of Ellen's fine display of horsemanship.  She never lost her temper, she stayed determined and she used the most important tool we have to solve the problem--her brain.

Book Review: "Pronto" by Elmore Leonard

Gotta love Elmore Leonard.  He consistently wrote good crime novels with interesting characters and a well-paced plot.  This one involves a bookie that gets set up--and ends up on a hit list.  Who should come to help him, but Raylan Givens.  Yes, all you "Justified" fans, the very same one.  He existed before the TV series.  I loved him in the series, and I love him in the novels.   

The Log

The Log

We had a big storm the other day.  There wasn't that much rain, but the wind was really, really bad.  Even so, we were still surprised at the number of branches on the trail--and 3 trees blocking it.  All of the trees were small enough to step over, though not easily by a horses as short as Cole.

Ellen and I went out for a ride.  We were able to negotiate all the trees and branches.  On our way back, we saw Kevin heading out for his ride.  We told him what we encountered, and reassured him that he could get through.  After all, Starry is the largest of our horses; by far.

And he did.  He only took Starry on a short ride--to the next river crossing--and turned around to go home.  When he reached the log that Starry had willingly stepped over just a little time ago, he headed for the left end of it.  The rest of the log was too high to step over.  As he neared it, Starry saw a branch he could grab and eat.  That broke their momentum--and then Starry decided it was impossible to cross the log.  It didn't matter that he crossed it going the other direction.  It didn't matter that he was going towards home.  He didn't act frightened--he just felt he couldn't do it.

Kevin asked and asked to no avail.  Finally, he got off--thinking Starry would follow him.  That didn't work, either.  He looked for a way to get around the log, but the shrubbery was too thick and the footing too swampy.  He had to turn around and go away from home.

The whole time, he kept looking for a good way to get out to the street, but he didn't find any until he reached the river crossing.  He then rode out to the street to the paved bike path.  He had no choice but to ride along it to get home.  Wherever he could, he rode on the grass.  One bike passed him.  Once, Starry tried to trot on the paved path when Kevin tried to get him over to the grass.  Other than that, it was uneventful.

Finally, he reached a spot where he could cut back to the trail on the other side of the log.

The next day, Cole and I went with them on a ride.  I was willing to turn at the log, but Kevin thought Starry would follow Cole over it.  We had no trouble stepping over it on the way out, and we had a terrific ride.

On the way home, Kevin wanted to try, first.  He had stopped by earlier in the day and cut the branch that originally distracted Starry.  He was hoping with that gone; the problem would be gone, too.

It didn't work.  Starry still refused to step over the log.  After a number of attempts, I brought Cole up to it to lure Starry across.  The very thing I feared happened.  Since Cole saw Starry refuse, he did, too.  I dismounted, and Cole was happy to follow me over it.

Starry would still not cooperate.  Kevin dismounted to lead him--but Starry wouldn't follow him across, either.  Kevin asked me to come back with him so we could go home on the bike path.  Poor, little Cole. He had to step over the log that was way too tall for him--but not too tall for the hulking behemoth, Starry, once again.

He did, and we were on our way.  We couldn't trot because Kevin needed a mounting block.  There is one at the river crossing.  He mounted, and we cut over to the paved bike path.

I was nervous about it because Cole's horse shoes were worn smooth.  That meant he could slip very easily.  Years ago, when I first started riding Cruiser on the trail, he spooked, ran onto the bike trail and slipped.  He regained his balance, but I tumbled to the ground.  With that in my mind, we tentatively followed Starry on the bike path.  My other concern was motorcycles.  The bike path is very close to the street.

It all went well.  There was one loud vehicle that I stopped Cole for as it passed.  Two bikes passed us, too, but we saw them before they could startle the horses.

The next day, Kevin didn't join Ellen and me.  He went the other way on the trail.  When we reached the log, Cole went over, first.  Dante decided he wasn't going over it.  He touched it, rubbed his face on it, looked for the branch that he tried to eat on the last ride and looked pretty.  Ellen turned him away and tried again.  This time, he stepped right over it.  We continued on our merry way.

When we got back to the log on the way home, there was Starry and Kevin waiting for us on the other side.  He wasn't even going to try.  Dante marched right over; followed by Cole.  The 3 of us had a lovely ride home.