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Judi
www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com
Home of my free e-newsletters for the pleasure trail rider and my two awesome books "Trail Training for the Horse and Rider" and "Trail Horse Adventures and Advice

Here is a link to an article that I wrote about some Morgans that the Chinese government bought right after WWII.  Shortly after, the Chinese Revolution erupted and all trace of the Morgans were lost to the western world.  (That is until I got involved.)

http://www.lrgaf.org/articles/morgans.htm

Judi Daly

Author of "Trail Training for the Horse and Rider" and "Trail Horse Adventures and Advice"Sign up for my free e-newsletter.

www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com

I have been posting my newsletters here, but I don't know if I will be able to keep it up.  My emplyer has been blocking my access to this sight.  Every now and then, I can get through (like today.) 

Anyone interested in reading my newsletters can sign up for them on my website, and then I will e-mail them to you monthly. 

My address is www.trailtrainingforthehorseandrider.com

The River

The river, often the thorn in our side, has been very cooperative, lately.  We can see the bottom and are crossing without any problems.  Some of the crossings improved over the winter, too.  Life is good.

Other people in the neighborhood, who are new to the area or have new horses, are now training their horses to cross-or in some cases-their mule.  Katy the mule moved into the barn, and her stall is right next to Mingo.  They are in love, and it is really cute when they roll simultaneously in their stalls and how Mingo watches over her when she lays down to sleep.  They are buddies.

Katy crossed the river a few times last year, but only if her rider led her.  Well, over the winter, her opinion of rivers hasn't changed a bit.  Rather than fight, her riders lead her across and mount on the other side.  She's fine crossing back on the way home, of course.  The other night, we were riding home and intercepted Katy.  Andy was riding her.  Instead of riding across to get back home, even though he knew that she could do it, he dismounted and stood with her in the water for a while so she could get used to it.  I'm sure, in time, she'll be happy to cross the water, since her riders are being so patient with her.

Another man that we know was riding a horse that belonged to his friend last fall.  This horse was new to the trail.  Ellen saw him riding across him across the water, and the horse must have figured the water was filled with piranhas.  He bucked across the water to the other side.  My sister said it was a fine example of a very balanced rider. 

We were coming back from a ride last weekend, and we saw our friend trying to lead the horse into the water.  He persuaded him in, slowly, and led him here, there and in circles.  We didn't want to get in the way, so we just stayed on the far side and watched.  He finally crossed.  The horse did just fine-much better than the last time Ellen saw him.  He got into the saddle, and we told him to have a nice trail ride.  He replied, "Oh no, we're done.  We're going home."  He brought him down to the river, splashed around and knew when to quit on a good note.

Sometimes in training a trail horse, you just have to get off and get your feet wet.

Cruiser - a Few Weeks Later

Something has happened to my horse.  We have been working the hill and, once the river went down, going on short trail rides.  He just simply is not settling down. 

Mingo is.  Mingo is going faster than he did last summer, but he is controllable.  Of course, there was that day that he leapt into the river instead of stepping into it-twice-Ellen said something about sounding like Shamu.  I could forgive him for that, though.  It was the first time at that river crossing since December.  Then there was the time he just jumped straight up in the air, for no reason, with all four feet, but when he landed, he was fine.  Overall, he is getting better with each ride.  I'm sure in a few more weeks, he will be the old Mingo, once again.

The thing with Cruiser is that he's not settling down.  He is getting faster with each ride.  Probability it is because he is getting stronger.  The other night, I was out riding with Kevin on Starry.  I tried to slow Cruiser's trot down.  Huge Starry couldn't keep up with little Cruiser, and kept trying to canter.  There was no question as to whether we should canter or not.  In the mood that Cruiser was in, cantering would have been galloping, and I'm too nervous to be doing that with his tendon at this point.

I thought that Cruiser's gradual slowing down over the last few years was due to his age.  In a sense, it was.  Insulin Resistance is usually an age related condition.  The summer before Cruiser bowed his tendon-he never behaved so well in his life.  I figured a horse in his upper teens wouldn't act the same as a horse in his prime.  I was wrong.  He just needed a change in his diet.  I should have known better.  My first horse, Brandy, was quite a handful up until he died at the age of 24.  There was no slowing him down, either.

The best thing about an Insulin Resistant horse is there is another component, other than diet, in his lifestyle that helps with his condition.  Exercise.  The more I ride him the better, and I am more than happy to comply.  Exercise causes the muscles to absorb insulin.

This gives me hope in another way.  Mingo is such a quiet horse, I often wondered how slow he would get once he got older.  Maybe he won't get any slower, and when he's in his twenties, he will still be unexpectedly jumping up in the air with all four feet for no good reason.  I sure hope so.