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Wet saddle blankets and mountaintops

4K views 24 replies 19 participants last post by  jamesqf 
#1 ·
I have started my new cowboy job this week. I'm living in a camp on a Forest Service grazing allotment and working for a cattlemans association. My job is to keep the cattle off the roads and away from riparian areas (streams rivers and ponds) and campgrounds. I am allowed to have up to 6 head of horses. Luckily, I have been able to get 5 head of outside horses to train to supplement my wages.

The reason I have posted this in the training section is that I have come to realize that 90 percent of the problems people are having with thier horses are due to a lack of riding and not necessarily a lack of training. For instance, I am riding a little bay mare for a young woman and the horse though that water was going to melt her hooves right off but in less than a week she looks for water and wades right in and sticks her face in up to her eyeballs. I did not round pen her nor did I form any kind of bond with her. I didn't get off and lunge her or whisper to her. I got her good and tired before I ever ask her to step across water and I set it up so she couldn't refuse. I then ask her to cross several times during the 5 hours I was riding her. Toward the end she was not high-headed, pushy or terribly buddy sour not to mention crossing any stream or bog like a champ.
 
#7 ·
I only come to town once a week and I have no phone or internet service at my camp. So my horse forum posts will be few and far between.
 
#4 ·
I know exactly what you mean. I am sending a training horse home tomorrow who was sent to me (as his 3rd trainer in 3 years) because he spooks and acts up on the trails. But the owner tends to send him for training, and then let him sit when he gets back home and rides him very very rarely. When being worked a few times a week he's a saint but when you give him a week or two off he gets an "I don't wanna work attitude" there's just some horse/owners who aren't a good match.
 
#5 ·
Yes very tired! I like to wait until the sweat is running down thier legs and dripping off thier nose.
 
#6 ·
Huge congrats kevinshorses, sounds like an amazing job!

Also, fantastic post! I couldn't agree with you more - someone recently made a topic about "were horses better back then?" and I think that's a huge part of it - it's not that everyone was a great trainer, it was that back in the day, a horse was the quickest mode of transportation for a rural kid so when you ride a horse for half the day, every day, they dummy up eventually!

I just recently posted a video of me going up AND down a staircase on Zierra. The point being I am far from a great horse trainer, and I don't have to "teach" her to do things anymore. She's been riding trails with me for so long she simply eyes it up and figures out how to do it best. She learned long ago that it's a lot easier doing it on her own then fighting with me over it!

It's unbelieveable to me how many people I've ridden with that will GET OFF their horse because a duck is crossing the road and "Star is afraid of ducks."
 
#8 ·
Sounds like a fun job. I wish I could do it for a week or so to give it a try!
 
#9 ·
I was wondering where you've been. That sounds like a nice job, hot and miserable I'm sure, but relaxing and also, tiring.... but a dream job.

I know what you mean about riding time. I keep thinking back to when I was a teen and the old black horse I lost last year and my Pistol. I never longed them, I just rode them, for hours and being a teenager, I didn't think before acting. We crossed ravines, creeks, ponds, road across sand and did it all... just riding time. No fear.

Now that I'm old, I'm slower to do things and truthfully, just learned to lunge a horse about 4 years ago....

I hope you really enjoy this job, be safe.
 
#10 ·
Hey Kevin, interested in taking my Arab for a week? I could run a marathon on that horse and not get him tired enough to get anywheres.

Just kidding, I'm sure we'll sort it out in time (hopefully)..

Congrats on the job, but I'm going to miss your to-the-point advice around here haha
 
#13 ·
Hey Kevin, interested in taking my Arab for a week? I could run a marathon on that horse and not get him tired enough to get anywheres.
Yep. Same with mine. Even today I took her for a solid 5 miles, probably more, and when we got home she was eager to be cantering despite the sweat pouring down her. I'm hoping if I keep at it every day she might mellow out...hopefully.
 
#11 ·
Congratulations, Kevin! You are living the dreams of many of our members. I agree completely in your assessment of problems so many people have with their horses - especially if they are stalled.

(I was wondering where you went too!)
 
#12 ·
If you were only closer, what you are doing would be perfect for my little mare.

Sounds like a wonderful job. Can not wait for more updates.
Was this just an opportunity you could not pass up? Does your family come up and visit? Seems so lonely!
 
#15 ·
Congrats Kevin. Glad to hear things are going well for you and that you are enjoying it. You are completely correct that most horses don't get enough work. My grandad used to tell me how he got all his horses broke really well and really quickly. He said "Well, we would get up about 4am and ride 15 miles to the cow pasture. Then spend all day working cattle and just about dark, ride the 15 miles back home just to get up the next day and do it again." I have missed your posts and am looking forward to hearing from you about your continuing adventures. :D
 
#16 ·
I saw a movie a few years ago about a cowboy up in the mountains. Something really unexpected happened. Be careful.
p.s. do you find your fellow cowboys attractive?

Sorry, I'm kidding, I just can't believe nobody made a Brokeback joke yet.
Great post. I agree that many problems cannot be fixed in a round pen, but by hours on the trail.
 
#18 ·
I have started my new cowboy job this week. I'm living in a camp on a Forest Service grazing allotment and working for a cattlemans association. My job is to keep the cattle off the roads and away from riparian areas (streams rivers and ponds) and campgrounds. I am allowed to have up to 6 head of horses. Luckily, I have been able to get 5 head of outside horses to train to supplement my wages.

The reason I have posted this in the training section is that I have come to realize that 90 percent of the problems people are having with thier horses are due to a lack of riding and not necessarily a lack of training. For instance, I am riding a little bay mare for a young woman and the horse though that water was going to melt her hooves right off but in less than a week she looks for water and wades right in and sticks her face in up to her eyeballs. I did not round pen her nor did I form any kind of bond with her. I didn't get off and lunge her or whisper to her. I got her good and tired before I ever ask her to step across water and I set it up so she couldn't refuse. I then ask her to cross several times during the 5 hours I was riding her. Toward the end she was not high-headed, pushy or terribly buddy sour not to mention crossing any stream or bog like a champ.
Great post Kevin, and very true! I remember attending a John Lyons seminar where he did a bit of a spoof of two horses talking to eachother. One horse was an older horse telling the youngster that back in the "old" days, they were ridden all day, not just an hour. Saddles stayed on all day, they had to stand tied sometimes for hours while the cowboy fixed a fence. Actually were ridden in the RAIN! Saddle blankets got very wet from riding.

He went on a bit more but you get the drift. That's why he said most ranch horses had few issues. They learned to conserve their energy for work not shenanagins!
 
#19 ·
Sounds like a job well done :D I had to go through that with my one Curly mare...I rode her through three or four foot snow drifts and she would be covered in snow by the time I got back. Riding like that made her into the horse she is today.
 
#20 ·
I am guilty as charged! My horse needs more riding. And like 84, as you get older....... After summer school is out I am heading to the mountains for a few days to get mine back into the routine (it's a little quicker than the arena). Those wet blankets make such a difference. My little mare is a sweetheart, but give her some time off.
 
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