Willow Learns to Drive---The Conclusion



When Fonz hooked Willow for the first time I figured he'd probably drive him around the barn yard a few times (no arena, and he'd probably feel safer ((Fonz)) in the open anyway, with no fence to tangle in), or up the hard-dirt road Fonz's barn is at the end of, it's a mile or so long, and nice and wide and has all kinds of things beside it.  Nooooooo..... being Fonz, he took Willow up the road 1/4 mile or so, to where there's a NARROW--I mean it's exactly 1 cart wide w/no room for error-- 90 degree right turn up a bank into a 1 cart wide driving trail through the woods! Eeeeek!  I'd never have tried that the first day, esp. with a horse that's green about the outdoors---but I guess that's why he's the wizard!  So, he drove him through the woods a half mile or so, to another 90 degree right turn, down a bank onto another dirt road, circling back through a lovely big farm that has a beautiful twisty drive lined with Bradford pears, and paddocks, and back down a rather steep, RUTTED and uneven path back to the barn. No smoothly graded surfaces here!   Not a long drive, maybe 2 miles, but I'm sure Willow learned a lot--- seeing a lot of things he'd never seen before, never mind with a cart attached to his behind!

Willow's 5th day hitched as he and Fonz cross the Very Scary Bridge!

The boards on the bridge are not fastened down so they each move up and down and make a terrible clatter!  Sounds kind of dangerous to me but Fonz wanted him to be prepared for any weird sound or sensation, especially with an unskilled driver such as me.  Driving down the highway, Fonz would reach out with the whip (the only time he used it) and clang it against metal road signs, and purposefully drove near  or over sticks and branches so they'd crunch or catch in the wheels and make a racket.  Kind of the driving version of sacking out, but I appreciated it. 

Fonz just drove him w/his voice, no whip, but then his voice, when he says 'TROT' is like a Really Big piece of Velcro being separated! He never actually  used  the  whip with him since he's pretty sensitive to the whole concept and needed to not be worrying about it, and it's alot easier to wake 'em up than to put 'em to sleep!

How, ahem...Appropriate

Willow Learns to Drive ---Part One



When I got Willow in 2004 he was a mostly unbroken four year old.  Because of his dropped hip he has a mechanical unevenness of his stride, one back leg moves a little different.  I've had him checked and xrayed and everyone agrees it's caused by the way his hip healed.  Since I have no ring and usually no one to ride with I thought I'd get him broke to drive so he'd be really bridlewise before I started riding him on my own and in the open.  He had about 5 rides on him when I got him, which I was very grateful for.  My very good friend Fonz Hargrove is a combined training driver/trainer extraordinaire.  I was lucky enough to get Willow a place in his barn and Fonz put him to work.   First, he introduced him to the harness and long-lined him for a week or two before hitching him. 

Soon, he was pulling a tire around during his longlining lessons, getting used to the uneven pull as it bounced and jounced and thumped over the ground.  Next came letting the tire run over obstacles such as big orange cones, which make quite a scary racket as they get hung up in it and flop around!

Fonz never gets upset or hurried.  I don't think I've ever seen  him flustered by anything a horse has done.  When the scary, horse-eating cones got caught up in the tire and chains  Willow did have a panic attack and reared straight up. He was on a slight slope at the time and lost his balance and sort of rolled down on his behind (thank goodness he didn't fall over!), then got up and looked a bit embarrassed, and Fonz never even acknowledged it, just said, 'yeppppp, okaaaaaay' and circled him back near but not in the cones a few times before going back over them. Somehow I failed to get a picture of all that (too busy going ) and when I left he was still walking Willow over the cones, and Willow was still worried about it, but I knew before they finished, he'd be fine. I couldn't have  asked for a better trainer for my baby. 

Blowin' in the Wind

As I watch our Super Dog Daisy travel through the suddenly present twilight of her life, I can't help but be reminded how transient and nebulous life really is.  Daisy entered my life when an employer scooped an emaciated, mangy pup off the highway, later finding the grown dog far too much to handle.  The possibility of a shelter loomed.  Single at the time, I was already knee-deep in rescued dogs, but I saw something so special shining out of Daisy that I couldn't entertain the possibility of an uncertain future for her.  So home she came with me, where her boundless, dervish-like energy required her to be leashed in the house at first, just to keep her from caroming off the tables and counters, and mowing over the small dogs.  Daisy's preternatural intelligence was always there, even as her boundless energy made her a very challenging responsibility. 

For years, Daisy would periodically get restless and just leave the farm.  It felt criminal to pen her up during the day,  but with a baffling frequency she would head out the driveway, cross a major highway and just keep going in the  same direction each time.  Putting her name and my number on her collar meant that I met a lot of interesting and diverse people from nearby communities and towns.  Meter-readers and UPS/Fed Ex trucks were a favorite target, and she'd cannily sneak in, only to surprise the drivers with the knowledge of a stowaway.  Often she'd stop at the same house to lounge around their yard and visit, and the nice retired couple would call me sometimes before I knew she was gone.  Over the years, they became so fond of Daisy and so happy to see her that they named a cat for her.  After I retrieved her I'd pen her up for a day or two to give her a chance to think about the resulting loss of her freedom.  Her maturity brought a lessening of runaways, but she didn't completely give it up until the last couple of years, though sometimes she'd stay home for weeks or months at a time. 

Over the last eight months or so, her vigor and energy has declined dramatically, and vets could find no reason.  She's coming thirteen, so while it could have been just her mileage catching up with her, she still moves well and gets up and down easily.  Some hip arthritis, but not severe.  Many tests later it seems the likely culprit is a spreading mast-cell cancer.  She does have a rapidly multiplying crop of small tumors more or less all over her, and while there's no detectable large tumor found by ultrasound, her spleen does look "irregular".  At her age I can't see opening her up just on a fact-finding expedition so we've elected palliative care consisting of steroids, arthritis medicine, benadryl and  omeprazole to try to keep her tummy happy.  She does still have a great appetite, and today, after 24 hours of prednisone she went for a walk with my husband for the first time in a couple of weeks! So for now, we're stocking up on steak, macaroni and cheese, barbecue, ice cream---all her favorites that economizing has eliminated from our shopping over the last year, but she's well worth it.

What's to say about a great dog?  They break your heart, and you know they're going to, but oh, to cut yourself off from all the love in order to avoid the pain?  All a dog really wants is someone to love, food and shelter, and every one you rescue, rescues you right back. 

Not every person can love a dog, but every dog knows how to love a person. 

The Great Horsetrailriders Distance Derby

The brilliant Tammy Vasa of Horsetrailriders.blogspot.com has come up with a wonderful way to get us horse people out of the house and into the woods--or deserts, beaches etc.--for the rest of 2012.  The Great Horsetrailriders Distance Derby will be a year-long game whose stated purpose is "to encourage you to get out and ride" (or drive.) "Any equine, any time, and speed." 
What a marvelous idea! 
Teams are made up of one human and any equine--or equines--they have the use of.  Personal GPS units (my HTC Thunderbolt super phone in this case)  will track our mileages and times and we each must keep our team's post updated to reflect them.  Currently, there are 58 teams, of which we are number 54.  At the end of the year the team with the most mileage will win, but really--won't we all be winners? 
I know it's already inspired me to ride three days in a row (Dec. 31 didn't count), and I hope this will be the impetus I need to help me make the extra effort.  To keep up with the teams, the website address is:  http://distancederby.blogspot.com.


Come along for the ride!

Mule Hooves Versus Horse Hooves

It's very interesting to me to learn more about the physical differences between mules and horses.  The ears may be the first thing you think about but upon examination, the hooves are markedly dissimilar also. 

The first thing you may notice about mule hooves (first photo) is how boxy and improbably upright they are, when viewed from the front. The first shot is Josie the mule, and the second is Willow the Saddlebred. 

From the side, mule and horse hooves look about alike, although the mule's angles are usually more upright. 

Looking at the sole (next to last photo) it's easy to see how the mule's hoof is more oblong, rather than round like a horse's.  Mule feet are said to be tougher than horse's and less given to lameness, and I guess it must be so, because a mule will usually have smaller feet than a horse of the same size, and it's not uncommon for a horse-sized mule to wear pony shoes (if shoes are needed, which is not usual).   The mule hoof also has a thicker wall near the toe and heel, and the frog can extend a little behind the hoof. 

Of course, I think Willow's feet are uncommonly big and beautiful, but I may be a little prejudiced!