Ride 27: Do NOT Try This At Home (Good Pony, Though!)

I set out a little after 1 pm (R- had to take M- to the dentist early and then take him back to the city, stop by Home Depot on the way home to pick up the chain saw–finally repaired) and Rags set out willingly along the south trail west until I wanted him to do more leg yielding.  “Whut?  You want me to whut?”   “Leg yield; you did it yesterday.”  “My legs don’t work that way.”  “They will.  Just do what I’m telling your sides and your neck.”   We got a stiff resistant leg yield to the left and then suddenly “Oh, you mean LEG yield…sure, why didn’t you say so?”  a much easier one.  Then I asked for leg yield to the right.  Got nothing for some distance and then, again, a sudden “Oh.  I DO know how to do this.”  We turned up the “short-cut” trail from Cloud to Center Walk, across Center Walk to the Diagonal…and after a few walk strides, he stopped.  “It’s time to turn back now.”   “No, not yet.  Walk on.”   “No, really, I need to turn back now.”  “If it’s pooping, go ahead…no?  Walk on.”  He walked on, and we turned into the creek area, where I had him stand in some shade for a minute or two for a breather.  It was a bright, clear, sunny day, much warmer than yesterday, with a light south breeze.  Then we went on.

He was more alert than on the outside trails, but not as anxious as the first time we took this trail to the west end.  Birds flew up and around in groups–a white-wing dove into one juniper. Four cardinals into another.  A mockingbirds called, then a wren.  Rags was doing fine.  I had planned to go a little past where we stopped before, through some large junipers, for the shade but decided to let him stop briefly in the first of the dark shadows (very contrasty in the bright sun.)   He settled there, but when he dipped his head at a fly on his leg, I saw something was wrong.  His bridle wasn’t completely on.  I put it on and checked right after to be sure it was on correctly–and it was–but now it wasn’t.  It was held on only by his right ear.  All he had to do was shake his head hard, or rub his head on something to scratch it, and I’d be sitting on an unbridled incompletely trained horse over at the far end, without a way to steer him, and–given my inability to come off quickly and neatly by myself–in a difficult situation.

Rags, not me, is the hero of this tale, because I was able to get him to turn his head a little, reach forward (blessing his rather short neck and rather large ears every split second of that reach) get hold of the bridle, and then, quickly and firmly, stuff his left ear back into place.  At that point he shook his head a little, settling the bridle more to his satisfaction, and the knot that had instantly come into my stomach when I realized the bridle wasn’t all the way on relaxed.  Adrenalin, however, was still fizzing in my blood and I could tell from him that he knew I was “up” about something, so he had also alerted, ears stiff forward, head now up, and someone had a loud radio on at one of the trailers or houses now tucked into the brush across the fence.  So I decided we’d turn around, but couldn’t right there because whichever way we rotated, he’d be poked in the rump by one stiff bush or another.  So we had backing practice, 2 or 3 horse lengths, till we got to a bigger space between woody stuff, then turned around and started back.  As this is his second trip to and from the NW corner he knew it pretty well (he’d left a poop pile near the corner on the first trip, and sure enough, headed home, he wanted to sniff it and be sure it informed him it was his, and thus the way to go.)

I do not know when the bridle slipped over that ear.  Most of the way out (until the creek anyway)  he wasn’t close enough to any trees to have had it caught and pulled over that ear.  Most of the time I had equal contact on both reins and though he’s built low-headed, he wasn’t going that low, low enough to swipe it off on a leg.  After we crossed the dry creek, the trail was narrower and we were close to junipers, but I couldn’t recall his head being on one.  When I got back to R- and told him about it, he said that Rags was wiping his head on R- while I mounted and got settled but he hadn’t noticed whether the ear was out or in, then.  Rags has a short stretch of mane, from the forelock back, that’s black–the rest of his mane is white.   With his usual low head carriage, the black mane flops over the crownpiece of the bridle (which is very dark brown)  and though I cut a short bridle-path, I can’t see the line of the bridle at the base of his left ear while riding, and it’s barely noticeable on the right.  But if R-‘s right, and Rags rubbed his ear out of the bridle while I was getting on, then he behaved well for most of a ride while it was looser than usual.   Or was it when he stopped suddenly that time on the Diagonal trail?  (but I can’t think of anything he did right before that)   At any rate, it had been loose for longer than a few yards.

I had been riding him with the bridle a hole looser in the left cheek piece than before for several rides, because it was so hard to get his ears in at the other setting, and the bit was not too low in his mouth at the looser one.    And before that, I’d settled on “third hole” as the right length for the throatlatch.  Now…rethinking all that.  It’s certainly easier to get a loose bridle off than a snug fit.   From now on I will put the bridle on at its current setting, but then tighten the left cheekpiece one hole, and the throatlatch one hole, and also check *before I start* than both ears are where they should be, in case it was rubbing his head on R- that pulled it off.  He’s shedding, which makes horses itchy and itchy horses do rub on things.  I think I’ll also add a neck strap (something to grab if the bridle goes bye-bye.)  Or, I’ve got a braided rawhide roping rein with trigger snaps on each end, and I leave the halter on under his bridle anyway.  Clip the ends of that (shortish) rein into the halter ring and I’d have *some* steering  in case of bridle failure.   And yes, I’m still working on getting my right leg “better” so I can mount and dismount without any help.

Very pleased with Rags.  Slightly pleased with self for fixing the problem once I noticed it.

On the wildlife side, besides the usual small birds, a Northern Caracara flew west along the Center Walk trail as we rode south toward it.  Rags also indicated “something” interesting to our right before, that riding south alongside the line of the creek (creek in a deep sort of trench) but I couldn’t see or hear what he kept turning his head and wanting to go toward.  There’s a crossing deer use, that I used to be able to scramble down and up, but it’s not a good route for a horse and the far side is thick thorny stuff up a bank as steep though not quite as high.   We did go into the Entrance Meadow and walk around there today, and Rags got a cookie there for ignoring the rising breeze rattling branches.

Tonight another cold front is coming in; by morning it’s supposed to be wet and much colder, and tomorrow (Friday) night the low is going down in the 20s again (there goes the fragrance of wild plum blossoms!!) and Saturday night will also be below freezing.  I’ve already put a horse blanket over the barn aisle gate to slightly moderate the wind through the aisle.  Tomorrow we stuff hay nets again.