Just an update on how Paisano and Prophecy are coming along with their  ground driving and outings.

Humble Pai

First off Paisano found his walk the other day.  I took him out on the lunge line instead of the drive lines, thinking we needed some side by side time for commuication.  He literally out walked me. I mean I was gettin’ a get-a-long to keep up and a few times he out distanced me on the lunge line so I laid it over his back and let him walk it out.  He seemed to really enjoy the sense of freedom while he walked along. The process to get to this walk has been painful in terms of me having to work my butt off to get him to show some incentive.  The other day when I took him out Sophie was in heat, apparently a number of mares in the area were in heat, as when we passed them Paisano had to act like he was still a stallion, this got him lots of “knock it off’s”  and a few reprimands.  He reared, he kicked out and bucked up, but it got him no where with the only place he could go being forward with enthusiasm.  Once he got that down he began to walk  out.  We came up against a green filly (in heat) being ridden for the first time out on the road.  It was a disaster waiting to happen, so Pai and I stood for 10 or 15 minutes while the guy inched his upset filly down the road a block or two. In the meantime while that’s happening a girl comes racing her (in heat) mare over a hill and nearly knocks the poor filly off the road.  All of this in front of Pai who is beside himself by now.  The girl on the mare could hardly keep the mare off Pai as she road by.

Sigh….

Paisano was good if not overwhelmed, but behaved, and found his walk.  We had tons of compliments on how beautiful he is. People would slow down in their cars to appreciate his animated beauty with big smiles on their faces and nods of approval.  He did put on quite the show.  He truly is a beauty. Now if he can just keep his walk, he just might make a get’r done horse too!

Pro Rodeo

Prophecy has improved as well. He has had two outings since his tantrum.  The first one he threw a bit of tantrum rearing and kicking out at me. Which got him lots of backing up and circling then a long stand still.  Oh and my boot in his butt for good measure. It’s like “Do you really want get into a kicking fight”  Bluff… Bluff…   He wasn’t sure I couldn’t whoop his butt so he declined.  His tantrum was short lived this time and we went a little further down the road than he had gone before.  He walked, for the most part, back at a very nice clip.  It was pretty good so I tried to keep low keyed and get him back home with a few good boys and a treat.

The second trip out Rebecca walked with us and brought Sophie along trailing behind us.  I ground drove Pro and he walked pretty much the entire time up and anxious but mannerly the entire one mile walk.  We had a few dissussions about his manhood appearing here and there.  “Put that away!”   Generally though he heard nothing but how good he was and how proud I was of him.  He even did a few quality stops and stands though sometimes with an occassional head shake. He looked magnificent too. Gaiting off and on. Showing his potential stallionism in the arch of his neck and strength in his stride.  His gait was quick and animated, it was just breathtaking to watch.

This week brought some breakthroughs for both boys.  It was a good week.

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THE SADDLE

The last couple of saddle posts have generated some good questions, so I decided its time for me to produce my Sunday Historathon – 1800′s entry and Arizona Trail Ride research piece on Paisano’s saddle.  I had planned to post it Sunday, however, WordPress thought otherwise.  So it’s up now.  Go ahead and enjoy it.

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Here is one prototype I came up with for Paisano’s saddle, this time on our new Hope tree.  I pieced it together in Adobe Photoshop from several saddles that had elements I liked. Now that I am looking at it I made the saddle a little large on Pai with the stirrup leathers needing to be longer and stirrups needing to be larger, but you get the idea.  There is no skirt or blanket yet. I’m thinking either a black with white trim Navajo double blanket or a red Navajo double blanket. I would have added a skirt but I didn’t have one that would work with this saddle in my photo library. If I continue with this prototype, I’ll go online and search out a skirt that fits.  This saddle has no screws, buckles or rivets. The only nails used will be in the seat, and rigging and skirting.  In the rigging there will be two rows of nails (3 in each row) on both the front and rear rigging straps (each side) as they go up over the fork and rear bars.  The nails will serve dual purpose to secure the rigging and act  as an understated style element.  The conchos are both leather underneath and antique stainless steel on top.  I’m using rawhide for the strings which will tie the skirt, tree and rigging together.  All areas where a buckle or screw or rivet would be used I am lacing the pieces together.  I think this version is in keeping with my 1800′s goals being rich enough in color and flashy enough in character without being gaudy or over powering Paisano’s color.  What do you think?

There may be several of these protoypes before I finally settle on one this winter when building the saddle begins.

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Not a lot to say here, except that it is gorgeous and it was shipped out today.  We expect about 10 -14 days for arrival.  Can you see why I would want for most of the tree to be visible.  It is just a piece of art!  I’m going to have a hard time drilling holes in it for the strings, or screwing anything into it.  Rod did a magnificent job spacing the tacks/nails perfectly and the stitching is beautifully done.  What craftsmanship and well worth all we have been through to achieve. This tree could easily last two life times and I am guessing if a tree is kept in perfect condition it could last many more lifetimes. Obviously Pai’s tree will live in the house and the saddle will be carried in a water proof saddle bag at all times.  I think in  the saddlebags I will keep a saddle poncho as well for any surprise storms.

I am going to name this tree and refer to it by that name. Much like a swordsman names his blade. A name to be carried on throughout its lifetime.

I have waited 16 years for a tree that will fit one of my horses properly.  This tree Rod, Denise and I have been discussing for well over a year and half now.  It started out with me wanting to have a saddle built for Kindlewood well over two years ago.   When she died, I lost hope or sight of having a tree made, but when Pai arrived with his particular needs, the dream was rekindled and now he is only days away from having his own tree upon which I will be build my first saddle.

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All photos for this post compliments :   Wojtek Kwiatkowski

I took Paisano out for a ride today. The plan was to ride him for about 2 miles then come home  to take Pro out for about 1 mile walk later this evening.

Best laid plans… I should know better, I have had horses how long?

The first part of the ride Pai was exceptional, so exceptional that I thought hmmm…?  Karen McClain from Twitter lives right down the road from me, I’m thinking I’ll just ride down to her place and check in on her. That would lengthen our ride to about 3 miles round trip.  About two thirds the way to Karen’s place Pai began to spook at things, obviously calculating his spooks well ahead of time which brought my attention to the game he was beginning to play.  After a short visit with Karen, we headed off and it looked like it was going to be a relaxed ride home.  Yet something told me that if I went back the way we came that Pai would start looking for his spook spots and start playing his game again, thus we went a different route.  Everything look as though we would have a nice quiet ride home, but then I’ve been wrong before. I have to admit I think Pai kind of lost his focus.  I’m use to horses having a much longer focus. Pai reminds me of someone who is sheltered and wants to be careful not to get into iffy situations.  He seems like he wouldn’t have a clue about how get himself out of a nasty situation unscathed.  You know soft.    Kinda of the soft guy on an adventure hero’s journey. I’m certain this is just a developmental stage he is going through, but it flared up today smacking us square in the face when a dalmatian dog ran up to the fence line across the road from us on the way home.  It had to be the most frightening sight Pai had ever seen loosing it all together.  I decided he had had enough so I dismounted to calm him down.  Guess I’m going to get that one mile walk in today without Pro in tow.

You know how to offend a Spanish Mustang owner don’t you?  Call their horses a BLM  Mustang?  Nah, that’s just a good way to get them fired up to teach  you right from wrong.  You can call their horses ponies, cute, plunky, nag, even plug.  But don’t ever call their magnificent Spanish steed and Arab!

I have to say that Pasiano did an unforgivable thing today.  He shamed me something awful.  First off he was mad at me for making him go down this new road, then he was certain he would be eaten by the ghostly dalmatian, and then once I’m afoot an Arabian came charging across the paddock next to us tail flagging, snorting and looking quite grand.  That was it, Pai fell apart, but then he caught himself and thought, “Oh no way!”, he would not be outdone! My Pai would not have any of that!

Oh and in public  too!

We had our share of this…

oh yes we lots of this and tons of deer springy trot and stiff legged pouncey walk…

Oh and when I suggested to Paisano that he might want to act more like a Spanish horse in public, this is what I got.

With this as a threat, if I didn’t like his highly refined Arabian impersonation.

I’ll tell you that Arab had nothing on Pai today, and the neighbors, to my shagrin, just had to come out of their homes to compliment me on my rare colored Arabian.  How low can I hang my head?

All photos compliments :   Wojtek Kwiatkowski

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Well guys it’s almost finished drying and will be shipped off once its varnished.

Here it is before the rawhide was applied. 

Paisano’s Tree

Rod and Denise will send me another picture of it once the varnish is dried just before shipping.  I am in a state of disbelief. After all these years finally a tree that fits my horse.  Paisano will have a saddle that offers him the most comfort and I will have a saddle that fits me fairly well. 

So now we have a tree, so let’s talk style.

First off the horn cap is not as large as I had originally planned on.  Rod and I talked for quite awhile about how I ride and what functions this saddle would have.  Yes it will be an exhibition saddle representing the 1800′s period style Hope saddles. But it will also be my daily riding saddle and see many, many miles in all different types of terrain. Each Hope’s tree style was dictated by the locale in which it was made and used.  A Texas Hope from a very early age may have a very large horn cap, if its a Mexican saddle that horn could be very large in deed. If the saddle tree maker was from New Mexico or California the horn style would begin to vary.  I told Rod to build me the horn that would best suit my style of riding while maintaining Hope credibility.  So with that we see some variance between the horn style of my tree and those trees we will be viewing below.  Also the angle of the cantel was dictated by Paisano’s length of body and my thigh size. which made it sit upright a bit steeper to accommodate my thigh than what you may see on one of these other saddles that accommodate a longer bodied horse and possibly narrower legged rider.  It took some Rod Nikkels magic to get a 15 inch seat on Paisano’s bar length.  We also see a more accentuated curve to the bottom sides of the bars which accommodate Pai’s very flat wide and well sprung ribs.  Being cut away that much will also make for more comfort for my thighs as well as provide for more contact with Paisano.  Which brings us to the saddle style itself.

Original Model

Here you see my original model for Pai’s saddle.  It has changed a bit since then.  I’m going with less leather is better. I have no idea what color the rawhide dried out to be so that will be a deciding factor in leather color.  That and I have decided that I love Paisano’s blueish black coat in russet so we’ll see.

Saddle #1

Saddle #2

So here we see two saddles that give us two different rigging options.  Before I actually build Paisano’s saddle I will buy some latigo and basically tie the rigging ring to the saddle reminiscent of the saddle #1 .  In other words run the latigo around each side the of the pommel/gullet and tie off at the ring. Repeating on offside. I can adjust to Paisano’s needs and get a good feel for where his rigging will go before I  cut expensive high grade leather for the final build. When I get around to building the saddle I want to do the variation that’s on the saddle #2.   Basically running the strap around the pommel to attach both ends  to the rings and have and additional latigo go up over the front the pommel to attach on both sides between the smaller straps. 
As for back strap or “jockey” that goes over the back of the bars behind the cantel I plan on using a basic latigo strap initially and tie it off to the ring to complete the prototype rigging.  I will maintain this theme into the finished saddle as I have no plans on build jockeys that cover the rear bars. Instead I will cover the latigo rear rigging strap with saddlebags as seen above.  This helps to cut down weight and work while making the saddle highly functional for those “long-rides” I plan to be taking  Pai on. I.E. the Arizona 800 mile trail ride.

Drawing

Saddle #3

Now for the stirrup leathers. Yep that’s it folks straps with the old time buckles will be what I use for now. Later on I plan to use the stirrup leather style minus all the tooling that you saw above on Saddle #2.  One piece leathers cut to allow for fenders and old style buckles. Of course the stirrups leathers will attach at the slots you see in the bars of Paisano’s saddle instead of running over the entirety of each bar.  I will cover the seat with a simple 1/2 seat over a steel retainer.  As for the skirting I will have to let Paisano decide how that will go.  It will be a rounded skirt but it’s size shape will be dictated by Paisano. If I go with a skirting like  saddle #3 I may choose to use ring guards which are perfectly correct for the period I am shooting for.  However since the rings will hang lower as on saddle #3  as opposed to what you may see in some of the saddles above, I may build my skirt to come down low enough to come between the ring and horse. Pai has so little room to work with in this area, that I will have to let him dictate how the skirt and rigging come together. 

I figure about one hundred more dollars and Pai’s saddle will be serviceable.  I will get a good feel for how the tree will ride and how Pai responds to it. Probably my winter project will be putting the final saddle together at an estimated additional cost of five to six hundred dollars.  There will be long tie strings, the fenders to make, the seat to make, the permanent rigging, stirrups, conchos and medallions to add, plus having the saddle bags made.  I will having a breast collar and headstall and reins/romal made to match as well.

More updates will come when the tree gets here.

Next spring this boy will be decked out!!

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So I take Paisano out today for his turn at driving.  He had his nose stuck in the halter before I could get it untangled.  It didn’t take much time getting him use to my style of driving so off we went clippity clopping down the road.  It took some work though to get him motivated, which once he had the notion of what I wanted he trekked right along at a good clip.  He would take advantage though of me fiddling with my reins or adjusting my position slowing down to his usual moping pace.  What I thought was going to be a training session in get a get-a-long, turned into a lesson in get-a-stop.

He walked through nearly every stop I asked of him and spent most of his time backing up and standing.  I’d goose him out into a good fast walk which he got right away and did very well with, but when it came to stop he was like “Huh?”.  So we played walk three steps stop and stand, walk ten step stop and stand, back back back, walk ,stop, back, stand, until he finally paid some attention to me.  Guess we need to put a stop on that boy.  He was very good, just all about everything else around him and not about me.

Now if I made gentle contact on the reins he would stop instantly so its not like he was pushing his way through a stop.  But to stop in unison with me without the aid of the reins he was all like “would you just cue me with the rein so I know what you want?”   My answer was “well if you were paying attention to me back her behind you instead of lolly-gagging up there you’d know I wanted to stop”.  In the end he was getting it and put a good effort into it.

A man in a pretty blue Ram truck (I love Ram trucks ) stopped us along the road who had heard of Spanish Mustangs but had never seen one. “Wow, my first bonafide Spanish  mustang!!”,  he exclaimed.  He had an Apache reservation mustang and a 1/2 mustang (I’m assuming was a foal of the reservation mare) at home. We talked for quite awhile while the guy ogled over Pai’s color.  Paisano was perfect of course, stood there like a gem.  When the guy left we came on home  at a very nice clip with  Pai getting his usual snacks from the pellet bag and a few minutes running free before I put him away which included tons of hugs and kisses.

I know what work is cut out for me and Paisano now.  Stops and back ups and quiet feet are foremost in my foundation work.  Paisano is nearly perfect now with his feet. They are extremely quiet which really pleases me.  What we need now are a few more of these get-a-long and get-a-stop lessons under our belts and we’ll be ready for some trails.

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The other day I was thinking about Paisano and how he drags along on the lead or when being ridden. He is just relaxed and happy to mosey. Well I am happy that he is happy but I don’t like to mosey. I’m a get’r done gal. I see a far off ridge, I want to be on that ridge and back again before the sun goes down. Ain’t happen’n with Pai. Not right now at least. I like the fact that he is so laid back because he is going to make a fine mount for Heather to ride or her baby some day. But I still would like him to kick it into gear when I hit the saddle or want to take him along for a power walk. His tree will be here in about 20 days or so and I’ll be all about figuring out how to strap it on him for a few test rides before I go about actually putting leather on it. Both Paisano and I need to get in shape and fast, as we have projects to accomplish coming up soon.

I kept going over in my mind how I wanted to go about getting some ambition into Paisano’s get-a-long when I remembered he knew how to ground drive. Now its much easier to get impulsion from behind a horse than from in front or beside one. So I thought “you know I’m going to teach Pai my style of driving and take him out on the drive lines for a power walk.”  I’ll power walk and he’ll trot until he figures out how to stretch his stride out and quicken it up a bit. In other words get himself a get-a-long.

So today comes along, first chance this week to work horses and I find myself in the yard with Pro decked out with drive lines. Ummm… Pro doesn’t know how to drive… hmmm?  So I shrugged my shoulders looked at Pai and said in a matter-of-fact tone “you are tomorrow”, tipping my hat in his direction. I had decided to teach Pro from the ground up in the manner that I teach ground driving.  He needed some attention and so at the last minute I grabbed him instead of Pai.

I figured that I would not be getting any real driving time in on Pro because he had to learn about the lines on both sides of the body how to go how to stop and how to turn. That’s a couple lessons at least the way I like teaching it. Thank goodness for whoa and stand on the lounge line and that I use the same cues for driving that I use for lunging because Pro knew them and basically did everything without a whole lot of direction from me. A couple times he put his head down getting a foot over the line giving me an opportunity to make things get bungled up so Pro could see how not so smart it is to get his legs tangled up in the lines. He had it down in two tries. “Don’t get legs over line, cool I got it!” This meant that we had time to go for a walk. Originally I had planned on walking him the entire way but I stopped, rethinking things, and ran the offside rein around his neck and let it hang off the near side while I lead him with the near side rein. Who knows what will happen out there…

…out there Pro was walking so fast (YAY!!!) that he was getting pretty far ahead of me so I let the offside rein slip down around his haunches and low and behold we were ground driving. HA HA What else did I expect?  I like to let him lead me around the yard sometimes to explore, doing this by running the lunge line along the side of his neck then up over his back and down round the offside hip keeping it from getting into his feet if he puts his head down to sniff stuff while I follow along.  He figured we were out exploring but with me directing where we went.  (New rule – HEAD UP).  The horse trainer in me was seeping back into my veins and the finesse of the reins became more in line with what I remember. We were far from dancing though. My knee is still keeping me from being very fluid but it is better and we really did get it on down the road!

We came up to a couple of horses where Pro lost this brains, not sure if he was an insecure baby or wanna be herd stallion but he began screaming and doing the idiot dance.  It seemed that he didn’t know whether he wanted to run home or drop his buddy to impress the girls which got him absolutes as to why “that” doesn’t happen.  “Practice some self control Pro!”  Once he would stand for a few minutes with out carrying on like the spoiled rotten brat that he is, I let him head back for home. It took him a quite awhile with lots of stops and stands, and “keep your mouth shut”, before he finally settled down enough for us to head on back home with something familiar of a relaxed horse in hand.  Well sort of – he was kinda frazzled.  For a baby boy on his first real training adventure he did exceptionally well yet he had hit his wall and so without too much fan fair I walked him home let him steel some nibbles out of the pellet sacks and put him directly back in his pen. 

Paisano scolded him for leaving then came over to me wanting me to put the halter on HIM.  Pasiano reached out for the halter and held it in his mouth while batting his eyes at me and blowing on my neck.  Now what would you think of that?  “Sorry Pai you get to go tomorrow”…

…”no – you get to go tomorrow“…

…swish goes the tail as he spun around to pin his ears at Pro and snub me.

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Remember this photo?

Nice big pen, horses scratching one another…

Well I came home from work about 10 pm last night to find Pro on the near side of the fence that separates them from the backyard. My first thought was that Pai had chased him out of the pen and that my room mate had caught and put him in the back yard.  Rebecca, said she thought I had put Pro in the back yard for some reason.  As I go out to check Pro over and move him back  to the proper side of the fence visions of the corrals panels all mangled weighed heavy on my mind.  As it turned out though, only the wire between the two horses and the house was neatly laid over where Pro had obviously fallen over the fence trying to avoid being eaten by Pai. The wire was still strung tightly to its posts with the posts bent over, so I straightened them back up salvaging the fence.  I put Pro back in with Pai, fed them, then went back into the house hoping that food and darkness would keep things reasonably safe until morning… 

This morning I go out to feed and neither had finished their feed, and Pro was dripping wet, terribly dehydrated, looks to have dropped about 40-50 lbs, basically one very sad and sorry looking boy.  With Pro hiding behind me, I began working on the fences making a smaller corral right about where the boys are standing in the above photo.  Paisano is in there now.  I let Pai know my displeasure by ordering him and not Pro through the opening into the smaller corral and locked him in tight.  I could see he was put out by my choice.    Funny thing though that snappy alligator mouth of Pro’s was shut tight as a drum.  He laid his baby head into my chest for a great big Auntie Suzie hug. 

So…

…we now have rivalry and jealously. Wonderful!  I think Pai got a hair up his butt because I tied him up yesterday to give Pro some extra pellets.  Apparently Paisano thought it was undue treatment that messed with his supremacy hence choosing to take it out on Pro.  That and Sophie I believe is coming into heat.  So between owning the corral, the food and now the mare too, Pai has become insufferable.  I am not feeling sorry for him in the least right now standing in his smaller enclosure.  I’ll try this again later when there is a large enough pasture for them to run in with no  mares around.   Until then the corral set up like it is now there is a fence line running between the two boys which will make it much easier to rotate them so no one has to stay in the smaller enclosure more than a couple days at a time.  At some point I’m thinking a hot wire will be needed to keep them from doing battle over the fence.  At lease I know now how things are going to be between them with some good things having come out of this adventure.  Like, I know that I am not willing to risk injury to either horse just to have them run together “in a natural setting”.  In a natural setting Pai would run Pro off possibly injuring him in the process and its not worth it to me to risk losing another horse by trying to do the “natural” thing.  Pro will be gelded someday when he is older and more able to stand up for himself at which point the boys can live together safely. That and I know, Pai sees me to be his, and that my baby boy Pro looks to me for protection.  Those two things are worth everything to me!

In the meantime I’m thinking that I’ll just play up that jealously card ending up with both boys eating out of my pocket and ready to go off to play with me just to show off to the other guy that “they” are the DUDE!

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Oh Boy Pai is a jealous one!  No pictures today, as I was all alone with the boys while we embarked on a new project together. Working as a team.  I chose something simple for them to do and brought carrot bites for rewards.

Armed with the carrots, whip,  curry  and a brush I entered the corral and got everything situated.  Then asked each boy to come to me and they both did at which point they both got a bite of carrot. That instantly turned them both into greedy monsters.  I was not too thrilled to be in the middle of their over zealous ploys to get to the barrel which contained the bag of carrots bites.  So out they went and it took a few minutes to get them to concentrate on what I was asking of them.  All they both wanted  to do was try out notions they had of what would get them another reward.  Once they got what it was that I wanted them to do for the reward I allowed them to stop and then asked them to come in and stand quietly, neither got their reward at this time.  I began to curry Pro and would go back and forth currying a spot on Pro and then on Pai.  Observing Paisano as I’d get close to him he’d get all clingy while focusing strongly on Pro would try to push him away.  Pai wanted so bad to put himself between me and Pro and we had wrestling matches with his head until I’d have to make him back off a step or two. If he got too pushy he’d get sent out on the rail.  I’d bring him back in and usually would have to work at getting Pro back in to the work space due to Pai being all puffy.  Once they both were there I’d go about currying again.  About half way through I’d leave them standing in their spots and go get the bag of carrots giving them one or two then leave them again returning the bag of carrots to the barrel. Plenty of  time for them to get in to mischief, yet they stood perfectly still in their spots. Upon returning to them I would then begin the grooming again.  If one of them tried to move in on me, Pai out of jealousy and Pro out of boyish antics, I’d take the blunt end of my whip and tap them on the chest and the culprit would back up. Sometimes with a scowl on his face. If someone chose not to listen out he would go for a lap.  I think I was out there for 20 minutes was all this first time out.  I didn’t want to push either of them and I wanted it to be a small piece of information for them to process. In the end, they were somewhat curried, brushed and having received a few extra pieces of carrots, I left them to think it all over.

I learned a lot about how Paisano feels about me, and about how they will work together.  I am hopeful that by working them together like this that they will develop a deeper bond than just by hanging out together.  They will learn what to expect from one another, like Pro taking pot shots (kicking) at Pai as he went around, and Pai wanting in the worst way to clean Pros clock for him but remained listening to me instead.  Its going to be a great experience.  This exercise promises to make good workers out of them and increase their focus and tolerance.  It is going to keep me on my toes to be sure that each boy get’s a strong sense of hmiself as my partner and not feel pushed away in anyway.

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