The Right Lead!

Have I mentioned how much I love Daylight Savings Time?  No, well let me tell you, I freaking LOVE Daylight Savings Time!  Tonight Chief and I went for a nice 30 minute ride and it didn't even start to get real dark until 8:00 pm, that's right folks 8:00 pm.  Its just wonderful, I don't even have to sneak out of work early to catch the daylight.

So tonight Chief and I started on the new, new trail but instead of going left towards the jumps, we went right to shorten the ride.  Once Chief realized we were taking the short route, he got fired up.  It had been unseasonably warm (not that I'm complaining) and was starting to cool off, and on top of that, it was nearly feeding time.  So Chief thought he'd be a spicy meatball.  We starting tearing up the hills, and holding him back hard down the hills.  But since he was feeling so good, I decided to try and signal him for the right lead.

For those unfamiliar with the gaits of horses, there are essentially 3 gates, walk, trot, canter.  When a horse canters, they will lead with either the left or right front leg.  And in the show world, you always have a horse lead with the inside leg.  So this is a big deal if you show, not so much if you trail ride.  However, a horse can over develop the muscles on one side or the other if you only cater on one lead.  So, it is best to have your horse canter on both the right and left leads.  Just like people, horses can be right or left handed if you will and they will favor one side over the other.  Chief is left handed.  So left handed in fact, it is really hard to get him to canter on the right side.  We have been working on this for years...  We have worked in the ring, we tried what Clinton Anderson told us, we tried it all.  Ultimately, my training method was to let him pick which lead he wanted (usually the left) and signal him with that lead (right leg behind the girth, left leg at the girth).  On occasion, when his left side would get tired, he'll pick up the right lead and that is when I would signal to him the right lead (left leg behind the girth, right leg at the girth).  This truly has never worked until today.  Chief is a smart horse, and also a lazy horse.  So while he knows what to do, he's too lazy to use the right lead.  Or at least I was never sure if he knew the difference between right and left leads.  But today, since Chief was all sorts of spicy, he was more willing to pick up the right lead.  So I signaled for the right lead 3 times and sure enough, all 3 times, he picked it up!  This deserved lots of verbal praise and lots of patting on the neck.  I was so proud!  I then signaled a left lead and mixed it up with the right lead and he was picking them up right every time.  So, now that he knows the difference, and I know, he knows the difference, he's going to have to do this every time.  From now on, if he picks up the wrong lead, I'll bring him down to a trot and then back up to the canter until he picks up the correct lead.  Now the hard part for me will be to consistent with this.  But that is the only way he'll get better.  Reminder to self...

So we finished up the ride by taking the Creek Trail back up to the barn.  We finished up just before the sun started to go down.

It was a great evening and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.  Chief even got an extra treat, not that he needed it... but he was a good boy today so he deserved it.

By the way, should you have suggestions about any training topics, feel free to comment on what has worked for you.  I'm always open to good ideas!

Weeknight Rides

So it is staying light enough just late enough that I can squeeze in an evening ride.  So tonight, Chief and I went for a short trail ride.  He was a ball of fire this afternoon.  I'm not sure if he knew it was almost feeding time or if the Vet gave him some extra good shots today, but Chief was a big old ball of energy.  I had to hold him back quite a bit, but we did lots of cantering and had a good old time.

The Vet came up to the barn today and Chief got his yearly shots.  You know the normal rabies, west nile, Coggins, and the like.  For those of you that show and or travel a bit with your horse, you know that a Coggins test is a must every year.  It was also time for teeth floating.  For those unaware, every so often, horses need to have their teeth floated to grind down sharp points on their teeth.  Of course this must be done by a Vet and they have to be sedated slightly to have it done.  But it had been about 4 years since the last time Chief had this done, so he was a little overdue.  If you don't float your horses teeth as needed, it will become painful to chew and your horse will often loose more gain than he gets.  Or, if it becomes bad enough he won't eat enough or at all.  So be sure to have that done every couple of years.  It depends on the horse how often this should be done, but consult your Vet if you're unsure.

And did you know that this Sunday the time changes?  I'm so excited I can barely contain myself!  Some people don't like that we loose an hour of sleep, but I love it because we gain an hour of day light.  That leaves plenty of time in the evening to take a decent trail ride.  So I'm looking forward to more evenings on the trail!  Spring is on its way!