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A Chase Through the Snow Amazing Adventure
December 7, 2005 At first I wasn’t sure if the jingle was coming from my phone. But since the sound grew louder when I pulled it from my pocket, I thought it was safe to say I should answer. “Hello.” “Hi, Monica.” It was our neighbor, Heather. And she sounded a little upset. “Where are you? Are you at home?” “No, I’m at the mall.” Gift shopping was always a good reason to spend lunch at the mall. And today was even more special because I was spending some time with my sister, Cheryl, who lives with her husband in Maryland but came for a visit. “Oh,” Heather said. “We have a problem. Sarah’s horse got out of his pen last night and we’ve been out there for hours. He won’t let us catch him and he doesn’t care about grain. We were wondering if you would come rope him.” I chuckled at the thought that I could rope a horse loose in a twelve acre field. My roping skills were tolerable in a round pen but that was the limit. Sarah’s home was on the other side of town from my home, but at the moment it was almost forty miles away. I asked if the horse was currently in danger of getting lost. I recalled the nice four stall barn inside a fenced paddock surrounded by huge open pastures. A generous sized yard separated the house from the barn and paddocks. “No, he’s staying near the other horses in the pen.” Heather gave me Sarah’s phone number and I said I would be there as soon as I could. Cheryl and I rushed through the important errands and headed home. On the way, I called Sarah to see if she had any success corralling the mischief maker. She said she hadn’t. She seemed near tears and I did my best to sound reassuring. “My plan,” I told her. “Is to rush home and change into better clothes for the job. My two sisters have agreed to help and between the four of us, we’ll get him back in.” It only took us a couple minutes to jump into winter pants, multiple socks and warm hats. The previous week had dropped almost a foot of snow on the ground and most of it was still there. The temperatures were in the teens. Before leaving, I ran to the barn for some things I thought we might need. We arrived and set out to make a plan. I had brought 1 ½ inch wide electrical fence tape - scrap pieces that I hoped were long enough. We tied one end to a hitching rail near a small storage building outside the paddock gate, which was wide open. Hay and a grain bucket sat obviously in the middle of the pen. But our elusive gelding was on the other side of the paddock, munching on the tall rough grass. In order to get him through the gate, he would need to come all the way around the fenced area and hopefully not bolt away again. The large yard gave him lots of room to avoid herding efforts and our movements were difficult because of the deep snow. By tying the fencing tape together, we made a length that was about eighty feet long. I positioned Cheryl as a post to hold the tape about three feet off ground, almost parallel to the paddock fence. My youngest sister, Melanie, stood further down the yard to provide another barrier. I had great confidence that she would be able to read his body language and act effectively. “If he comes toward the tape like he might try to push through,” I told Cheryl. “Gently wave it up and down.” Our hope was to funnel the gelding toward the gate. At first I had Sarah walk to the opposite side of the pen and try to calmly urge the gelding toward our trap. But as soon as he saw all the people, he decided that bolting past her was better than going toward the funnel. So I thought I should give it a try. As I approached the gelding, he kept a close eye on me. I had very little steering control, which made me think lack of ground work might be linked to his reluctance to being approached and caught. He bolted past me, throwing a couple hind feet in the air for good measure. But he was going in the right direction. I ran as fast as I could after him, hoping he would keep that momentum toward our broad funnel. Half way there he began to dart back. I knew that if I didn’t rush him back soon, he would keep coming toward me and had tons of room to get past. I raised my lariat in the air in a effort to change his mind about coming toward me. It worked. I must have looked pretty scary because he wheeled around and was between the tape and paddock in a few strides. A few yards from the gate he stepped toward the tape but Cheryl was right there to stop him. He loped through the gate and halted in the rear corner, facing us with wary vigilance. Sarah closed the gate and we all took a deep breath. It took a few minutes longer for me to stop gasping for air. I am so out of shape, I thought. “Thank you so much,” Sarah said. “I don’t know what to do with him. He is a super horse and wonderful to ride. But every time I come out here it’s a 45 minute job just to catch him. I don’t know. Heather said you might be able to help me with this.” “Sure. This is certainly something you can fix. It’s not his fault in any way, he just hasn’t been taught to come to you in response to a cue or even to turn and face you while you approach him. The few times I tried to change his direction out in the field caused him to respond by bolting past. That showed me his ground manners aren’t as good as they could be. Essentially he was pushing me out of the way to get past, even though we were fifteen feet apart.” “Do other people have this problem? It seems that some people would just get rid of the horse if he did things like this.” “Lots of other owners have this problem. Some people don’t have the knowledge to train for catching and other owners simply don’t have the desire to work for it.” “Our pony has the same problem and I know it deters Ashley from wanting to come out and ride. After struggling to catch him, she is mad and tired. The whole process becomes discouraging.” “Absolutely. We didn’t get these horses for frustration. Anything that gets in the way of having a good time with them needs to be addressed and resolved. There is absolutely no reason why these horses can’t learn to listen to your cues to face you anywhere in the pen or even walk toward you when asked.” “Well, what can I be doing now? The winter is here. . .” “Winter is a super time to read instructional articles, watch training videos and do research about horse training. That will help you understand the principles and get an idea of the process before applying the techniques in the spring.” By this time, Cheryl and Melanie had wrapped up the tape and were headed back to the truck to warm up their toes. Sarah and I walked up too and I gave her some links to information sources. On the way home, I felt like someone who had tackled and conquered a challenging course. This is how I felt when after working with Luke all summer to teach him to lay down, the day arrived when he calmly laid down twice. This was how I felt when I finally gained understanding of how to have a horse stay close to an object he was afraid of. Horses offer the thrill of achievement over and over again. But it’s our job to show up for challenge.
An Amazing Adventure - traveling to Utah and Montana, May 2005
We met up with the rest of the group of riders and guides and caravanned down some dirt roads to a remote camp site. Range teepees and a chuck wagon made us feel like we had stepped back in time. Just the impression I was hoping for! After a light lunch, we saddled up and headed out for our first ride. Ron introduced Melanie to Brumby, a wonderful trail horse for her to ride. Melanie vastly enjoyed him and judging by the freedom of movement that Brumby gave her, I think he bonded with her too. Our Navajo guides led us along trails below rocks that rose so high up I had to lean back in the saddle to see the top. We rode along ridges of sand dunes and areas that made me glad I was riding Luke. In tough places, I knew my best choice was to lower the reins and let Luke choose his way. The more difficult the path to cut, the happier Luke is. Every once in a while, I would look around for Melanie. She was usually finding her own path or tailing one of the more adventuresome guides. Brumby traveled along like a true veteran. Our group was big enough to provide plenty of company, but small enough to get to know everyone. Most of the people where already very good friends. Six of them had traveled from Pennsylvania for this trip.
When we weren't on the trail, we spent time playing games or testing each others roping abilities on the plastic steer head on a bale of hay. We also trained our horses and mules, working on speed control and willingness or headshyness. Every evening, we were blessed with the most wonderful chuck wagon cooking you could imagine! Breakfast, lunch and dinner refused to disappoint us. After dark, we sat to enjoy poems and Navajo singing. The rhythmic songs reverberated against the rocks making city life seem even further away. Another impression I was hoping for. One late afternoon, Ron hitched the mule team to a surrey and we loaded up for a short ride to a native Indian home, or hogan. The dome like structure was constructed of logs covered with hardened earth. Inside, we were privileged to watch Susie, 90 year old Navajo woman card and spin wool before weaving it into a pattern on her loom. Though we could only communicate to her through her son, I was so affected by her grace and freedom of movement. Once in while she would like up from her work and smile. As touched as I felt simply watching her, nothing came close to what happened next. Susie's son held up a piece of brightly colored wool yarn and told us how it was used to tie up a woman's hair in a bun. "Monica has pretty long hair. Susie can do your hair like hers." "Alright," I said. Someone put down a sheep's hide in front of Susie's stool for me to sit on and I quickly unfastened my braid. Susie first brushed my hair with the stiff end of a bundle of buffalo grass tied together and used a long piece of yarn to wind around a bun. I got to experience a piece of culture and history that will always be with me. For four amazing days, we explored rock formations, studied ancient art on the walls and learned about the survival of the Navajos. As we rode along, I tried to take mental pictures of the vast landscape, hoping I would never forget. On May 30th, Melanie and I helped break camp and prepare to head out onto the road again. We spent two days of easy driving north to Ennis, Montana. Here, we would conduct a weekend clinic. Participation was full for Saturday and Sunday, but to get these moving, Luke and I did a Friday evening demonstration to show how basic training exercises can build into advanced performance like spins, collected and soft stops, leads and even spook control when he jumped away from a divot in the dirt that startled him.
The mules and riders worked hard for two days, striving for softness on the bit, better speed control and understanding communication. It never ceases to amaze me how simple concepts can change perspective and open new possibilities for the rider. No matter how many times I've witnessed it my heart gets another thrill when I see a rider look up from concentration and say something like, "This is so much easier!" or "Is it supposed to be this much fun?!" June 9th. Melanie, Luke and I arrived back to our home street at about 8:30 pm. We were so amazed at what we could experience, but incredibly glad to be safely home. During every part of the journey, the Lord watched over us. He opened our eyes to prevent vehicle problems and gave us courage for the difficult moments. Our cross-country voyage is complete and only the Lord knows what future challenge is ahead. A special thanks to Ron-D-View Outfitting and staff for hosting an wonderful trail ride. To learn more about Ron, visit www.RonDViewOutfitting.com And to Wade and Susan Miller for organizing the weekend clinic in Ennis, Montana. Your hard work is much appreciated!
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