End of the year

It's been quite a while since I have posted on ol Chainsaw so thought I'd put something down to end the year up.  Riding tapered off with the onset of winter and the days getting shorter.  Given the way he rides we need pretty decent footing to keep things in hand, so it has been a while since he's been ridden.  He came down with a weepy eye a few weeks ago, not real bad but you could tell it bothered him and he was blinking it quite a bit and always squinting.  I let it go a while thinking it would be better with each day but didn't see the progress in it so got ahold of a great horse vet.  The vet ran a tube up his nose and ran some saline thru his tear duct ( don't know how he got that little hose in there so slick) to make sure it was clear.  Gave his eye a good looking over and couldn't find anything in it.  Gave me some anti-biotic eye salve to put in it.  After a few days of application morning and night his eye cleared right up ( never did have any blue in it or anything that bad) and guess I'd have to declare it back to 100%. 
Stopped at an indoor arena down by Ankeny Iowa and gave it a look over on Dec 26th while they were having a team roping practice there.  Guess they have an open arena there on some Sundays.  Am considering loading Chainsaw up a time or two and taking him down to get him out into the world some to try and get him closer to the horse I need for the mounted shooting.  Don't want to put anybody else in harms way so it might just be lunging and whatever the first time or two but any way ya cut it, it would be good to get him out and about. 
Everyone have a Happy New Year!!!!!!!!!!!

Shorter days and less time

Chainsaw is so smart that now all I have to do when I have a halter on him is to point to his shoulder with an index finger and he will flex and touch that shoulder with his nose.  Our mounted shooting season is over so now there will be weekends to ride and get him a little further along before the ground freezes and things grind to a crawl riding wise.  Have the farrier coming out this Saturday to remove shoes from the horses with them and trim all four horses.  That way the snow that's not gonna fall won't pack under any shoes.

IN for the LONG HAUL

Has been a while since I have posted on Chainsaw.  We are going to Mounted Shoots every weekend now but that will be done after our event in Monticello Iowa on Oct 15-16.  So we leave on Fridays in the mid afternoon and return Sunday late.  I have been working with Chainsaw and he continues to improve.  We haven't even had any meltdowns or fits of bucking for quite a while now.  We have been doing lots of walk trot and one rein stops, etc.  He is loading into the trailer when asked now on the first try.  He's also calming down and getting less and less spooky.  He's learning to give to pressure.  In the past he'd hang up when being led from the barn and into the arena, needing to be pulled sideways to get his feet unstuck.  But now he seems to follow with little or no stopping so that's a good sign.  He's also giving to pressure and flexing from the saddle much better.  We have lots of walking, trotting and cantering circles ahead before I am going to intro him to much more like the gunfire and etc.    Good news is despite riding a slow horse all summer it looks like I will be the state high points for the mounted shooting once again~~~not in my class or etc but HIGH OVERALL points.  I am not the best or fastest, just pretty consistant and we did go to all of the events.

Back in the Saddle Again

After a few days of ground work I decided it was time to saddle up and ride ol Chainsaw some more.  Last night I did some lateral flexing from the ground, lunged him a little, a few more de-sensitizing exercises and stepped on for a little ride.  Not much had changed, he stands really well to be saddled and to let me get on.  We started flexing from the saddle where he's really stiff still and needs lots of bending in the future.  He still thinks the boogey man is gonna get him at the far end of the arena, esp on the side towards the timber.  Still we did lots of ORS ( one rein stops) and flexing and had no major incidents while walking lots and trotting a little.  While I really want to get this show on the road it is kinda nice not to have a sore nose/head at the end of a ride.  Will keep after him and see how things progress.

More Ground Work

Another night of ground work for Chainsaw.  Did the repeat of the lateral flexation from the ground, no problems.  Got the handy stick and string out and did some de-sensitizing which went well.  A little lunging, yaaaa, going great.  THEN did some spanking of the ground and found a hot button.  Almost lost him off the end of the long lead a couple times, but he quieted down within a minute or so and caught onto this game too and realized that it wasn't going to hurt him.  At first he thought it meant to go go go and he wanted to lunge around me as fast as he could go.  But wasn't long before he caught onto my body language and stood stock still, licking his brains and with a cocked leg.  After that we did another session of loading into the trailer, with the door closing behind and while he's not getting A's in that department he does load and stay in the trailer pretty good.  It had been over a week since his last trailer loading and he retained most of everything he did the last time.  Was tuff not to throw a saddle on and ride, but that will come in due time.

Lateral Flexing

Am needing to get back with Chainsaw and ride him more.  The horse I am riding is a 4yr old gelding that is so laid back he isn't doing the job needed for the mounted shooting.  He just doesn't seem to want to run fast.  But this is supposed to be about Chainsaw.  We got back from the Iowa State Champ mounted shoot at Marshalltown Iowa, and LOTS asked about Chainsaw.  It was raining last night so after I grained our 4 horses I decided I'd see how Chainsaw would do with some lateral flexation.  My center isle is concrete and pretty slick so I decided to just work him in the 12X12 stall he is let into for grain since it has nice thick rubber mats in it.  We must have spun 300 circles ( OK not THAT many but it sure seemed like it) before he figgured out that I was asking him to flex laterally while his feet were NOT MOVING.  He did catch on tho was still pretty much on high alert, with a meowing cat and cats jumping up concerning him more than it would most horses. He might have been a little anxious due to the fact that the other three had left the barn and gone out to the pasture without him.  In a half an hour or less he was giving to pressure and flexing both ways fairly well. 
This morning I put the halter on him after feeding. ( I let our four horses in the barn 2X a day and give them about a half a scoop of Strategy then turn them out into an 8 acre pasture) This morning he flexed almost perfect in both directions in the stall and out in the alley of the barn. 
Am planning on some more flexing and sending exercises and riding this week and will report back on how it's going.

Ground work and some ridng

Have been riding ol Chainsaw at a little slower pace and doing more ground work with him.  Got to talk to the gal who started him about a year ago today and she was very helpfull as to how he's acting. 
Have worked with Chainsaw 2X on his trailer loading and now he's going right in with a very light ask.  I did lounge him the other night and tho he was rusty with it I could tell he had been lounged in the past.  He was stiffer going one way than the other but that should fade in time.  Am planning on keeping after him with some light riding, and more flexing and ground work to get him to give to pressure and relax.  He's great to stand to be saddled, stand for flyspray, and stands stock still when I'm getting on.  It's the transitions from the trot to the lope that get a little hairy.  Will be interesting to see if all that gets better when I do more ground work.  So far we are both alive and in very good health and have high hopes to continue that trend.

Blow up on Ride #14~~~Horse with a rider problem

August 24th was my 14th ride on Chainsaw.  Am learning to take a little more care in what I do and not just jump into things.  Guess I have been pushing this horse a little too far and fast for his comfort level.  In the process of riding, I have been trotting and cantering lots more than he must be ready for. My big mistake on this ride was that I had been riding another older horse and had my spurs on and felt they were not a big deal~~~Chainsaw felt differntly about the spurs.   Again on Aug 24th he whirled and reared an we met heads again.  This time he got me in the nose and eventually he did get me on the ground.  I got right back on and we rode some more, but a sore nose did make me pause and think this whole situation over.  Soooo I let him sit a few days and talked to some trainers and other horse people over the next couple weekends about him.  Got lots of ideas from put a tiedown on him and crank it down ( my least favorite choice) to have his teeth looked at and take him to a horse chiro.

Went to a big Mounted Shooting event and saw LOTS of really nice horses on Labor Day weekend.  Got home about 6 on Monday evening, Sept 5th and couldn't stand it anymore.  Saddled ol Chainsaw up and took him for a spin.  We did lots of bending ( advice from a Kansas horse trainer) , stopping, and backing at a walk.  The horse was very relaxed and did well for the 30 min ride.
On Sept 7th I rode him again and knew he would be a little more elevated since I had been mowing in the pasture earlier and Chainsaw and his buddies thought it was a WILD time to run and snort.  The horse was noticeably more spooky and alert for the ride, spooking ( just a little) when one of our cats jumped up on something near the arena.  He did have a mini-fit at a walk even but handled it much better than his others and didn't dive off or rear or any other bad behavior.  As hard as it is I am going to try to go slower with him and see how that goes for more rides before doing anything rash in the equipment area.  He is always going to be a more elevated horse and that is what I wanted when I got him.  Will just have to see if we can get along well enough to compete as a team in the Cowboy Mounted Shooting. 

8-23-11 Ride

Chainsaw gets better every day.  Rode him last night (8-23) in the sidepull hack and he is doing better than ever.  His upward transitions were much smoother, esp going from a trot to a canter.  He seems to flow now when he's going into his canter.  Guess I better have his teeth looked at, maybe the bit was hurting his mouth.  He even is starting to back when asked.  It's probably a combination of settling into his new digs and being ridden, as this was his 13th ride.  Thanks to my wife for giving me the idea of putting him in the sidepull hack, it seems to make a huge difference.  Chainsaw is getting legged up some too.  When we went back to the barn to take the saddle off last night he was still blowing a little.  Am thinking the next few weeks will be the meat of his training, with slow but steady progress on his leg cues, backing, etc.  Will probably start working more with the balloons and maybe some gunfire too.  He's accepting his ears being rubbed inside and out so earplugs will be coming soon.

For the Long Haul

Another nice ride last night.  Chainsaw seems to like the sidepull hack better than having a bit in his mouth.  He's still "SWOOPING" quite a bit, meaning that we will be going along at a walk, trot or canter and he will suddenly dive into a turn with being cued or asked to.  The swooping is becoming less and less frequent.  Most of the time it's to head back to the gate, but sometimes it's for no reason at all.  Thinking maybe Chainsaw just needs more time to realize that he is not driving the bus anymore but has someone else that is.  He's becoming more and more gentle on the ground and less and less spooky the more we are around each other.  Would like to put shoes on all fours soon so we can ride outside the arena and go out into the world to learn.

First Wreck

Thursday night got on Chainsaw again.  This time when we broke into a lope he pitched a fit, reared and head butted me off in a most agressive manner.  Was out in the arena all alone with nobody there to even cheer ol Chainsaw on.  After taking the lick on the left cheek and being tossed off, Chainsaw trotted out of the arean to go stand by the barn.  Is just like he puts himself in "time out".  He stood there nicely while I got up, dusted myself off and walked right up to him, gave him some soothing encouragement NOT to do that anymore.  Led him back into the arena where we went back to loping a LOT of circles.  He still seems stressed out from loping.
On Friday we went out of state to a Cowboy Mounted Shoot so was no riding on Friday or Saturday.  Got home Sunday about 6PM and decided to try the wife's suggestion of going back to a sidepull hack on him.  Put the sidepull hack on and he did just about the same as before, but no big wrecks and he is getting a little better with each ride.  Will continue on with the sidepull hack for a few weeks and see how that works out. He's better every day to handle on the ground and seems to like attention now.

Breaking into a Canter

Nice weather made for a good ride on Chainsaw again last night.  He's getting lots better about almost everything.  We did some cantering last night with just a little "HiYo Silver" to start with but he did smooth out some after a few laps around the arena.  He's still not the best to line out, relax and carry his head where he's comfortable. The resistance is fading ride by ride tho as we become a team.  My wife brought out a stick and a balloon to introduce him to the first of many balloons he will see in his lifetime.  (Balloons are what we shoot at for targets in the mounted shooting)  He was very shy of the balloon to start but as time went by he became more and more comfortable with it. After letting him view the balloon on a stick in the arena, we kept riding and finished our ride.  At times I'd dismount, pull the balloon peg out of the stick and let Chainsaw follow me around while I banged the balloon on things.  After the ride when he was put up, he stayed at the stall wanting attention so I put the halter and lead on him, and took him out to graze around the arena while I had the balloon in hand.  Ended up with the balloon popping less than two feet from his nose and he didn't even spook which was a surprise.  More cantering in the future till he smooths out and will walk trot and run a straight line.  Then will be on to acclimation to gunfire.

Mounted shooting horse prospect~~~Chainsaw

Was to go look at a six yr old gelding on 7-10-11 but had to postpone due to a funeral visitation, so rescheduled for 7-13-11. On 7-13 got the dually hooked to the trailer and took off for points west.  Went about ten miles and felt the truck was pulling funny.  Pulled off the road to find the inside drivers dual flat.  Strike two at making the trip to have a look.  Saturday 7-16-11 we leave again with fixed tire on a warm July day here in Iowa to make the 100 plus mile trip to have a look see at this horse.  We get fairly close to the destination and stop to retrieve some cold drinks from the fridge of the LQ of the horse trailer.  Ooops, drinks weren't so cold, the fridge had stopped working.  Made note to stop and get ice on the way home to put contents of fridge into the cooler.  We take off and dial the address into the wife's "smart phone" to show us the way to this wonderfull new prospective shooting horse.  It takes us over 8 miles of muddy gravel roads ( area just had two inches of rain that morning), and we arrive at the destination which is on a PAVED ROAD~~~~~so much for smart phones.
We pull in and the horse is in the round pen by the barn.  Nice looking good sized six year old registered AQHA bay gelding.  The owners neighbor happens to be an ex rodeo stock contractor by the name of Ron StPeter. Had a nice visit with Ron and the owners~~~great people and the horse is just about what I was looking for. (Maybe I should have asked Ron if he has bucked this horse???)  I do get on the horse for a short ride in the round pen and things went fine.  We arrive at a price, sign the transfer sheet and it's time to load the horse and take him home.  45 Minutes later I jokingly ask for my money back when the horse refuses to load into the strange 3H slant load Featherlite trailer.  After lots of patience the horse is loaded and we are on our way.  Owners say they always tie their horses in but I don't tie them in soooo off we go.
About 20 min down the road we stop at a Casey's store where they are having a shift change and it's quite a wait just to get some ice.  Old feller in there looks us over and tells us we should watch RFD-TV.  My nerves are a little thin at this point.  I tell the clerks my wife will hang around and pay for the ice, I am taking it to the trailer to get things done as it's HOT and the poor horse is in the trailer.  I go outside to the trailer and drop the bars on the window of the horses stall so he can stick his head out and get more fresh air. About the time I am behind the trailer I hear a racket, look back and see my new horse is a very good climber, he's got his head, and BOTH FRONT LEGS OUT the window of the trailer and has struck the hinge on the bars window, breaking it creating a sharp object which is drawing blood in a wild way. About this time the old feller from the store drives up and says "YOU REALLY NEED TO WATCH RFD-TV, I gave him "THE LOOK"  After some struggling I go inside the trailer, open the divider and the horse decides he will come back in.  Side of the trailer looks like the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, blood and hair everywhere.  I am crushed and feeling mighty low at this point.  New horse is all cut up and our nice trailer now has an oblong window.  I look the horse over and see he's not bleeding terribly bad so I put the bars window back up and head east to home.  We get home and things settle down.  I doctor the cuts with Underwood horse medicine and intigrate him into the herd of our 3 other gentle horses.  After telling this to some friends the name CHAINSAW got stuck on him, everyone seems to like it. 
Heat stayed with us till the first part of August, I doctored ol Chainsaw up and his wounds were not bad at all.  Worked on the window of the trailer the next day and it wasn't bad either, so things looked lots better.

Finally on August 8th I couldn't stand it any longer, Chainsaw was 97% healed, the weather was nicer and I was itching to ride him.  Tossed the saddle on him and took him out to our 100X200 arena.  Sold the round pen last year so the arena was the smallest place to ride I had.  The horse was at a trainer for 60 days last fall so it's not like he's never been rode at all.  I get on him and we have a nice short ride with him dropping his nose lots to try and evade the bit.  I KNOW I should have done more ground work but it just felt like time to RIDE.  Didn't sack him out or anything and we had an OK ten minute ride.
August 9 rode him again with him becoming some better.
We ride Aug 10&11 with some trotting involved and he gets better with each ride.  Still haven't had any buck or real wild issues but he is VERY sensitive.
Had company on August 12, one of which was our 9 yr old grandson who is VERY active and can make lots of interesting noises without even trying.  Chainsaw was so snorty I knew better than to hop aboard so I chose to wait for a better time.
Aug 14 was a Saturday and we had a nice ride in the arena again, with Chainsaw getting lots softer in the face by the end of the ride.  We are trotting larger circles all the time.
Aug 15 another nice ride but when I stepped off after 30 min or so Chainsaw bolted like cockroaches when U turn the light on.  He went out of the arena to stand over by the barn.  Nice thing was I walked right up to him and he was fine. He's been very good to stand still for mounting and dismounting.  He did cowkick at my some when I was doctoring his front leg, but I write that off to spirit  :-)  He stands like a rock for flyspray and is getting gentler every day. 
Aug 16 ~~last night I had another nice ride on him. We are trotting the entire arena now and he's picking up on leg cues and doing great.  Needs his feet trimmed or shoes put on so I can ride the gravel roads soon.  We will be cantering soon and am looking forward to it all.  A few rides back someone shot a gun off over a mile away and that perked him up some, so am thinking teaching him to accept the gunfire off of his back will be a challenge.  So far I can move my hand all around and he's not spooking.  Will work up to carrying balloons on him, shooting around him and etc in the near future.  To this point there has been no bucking or really bad behavior, he's just very sensitive. 
THANKS TO THE PREVIOUS OWNERS, he's a great horse and he's responding well to the calm gentle handling he's getting at our house.