Where are you going with your fetlocks blowing in the wind?
On Sunday I finally managed to do something I have wanted to try for the last five years and actually rode my horse to cattle here in the UK.
There aren't many places that one has the opportunity to do that in this country - the only one I know of is Bar S in Kent who are about seventy miles away, so when I saw they had a cattle clinic there I booked myself onto it for mid January. Then it rained for the entirety of December, January and most of February and they were pretty much too wet to do anything. Last weekend was the first time that they actually had any dry enough space to ride in and as it was the going was quite muddy but workable.
We unloaded and it was nice to be around a group of friendly western riders with a common interest in trying some practical western riding rather than the showing disciplines which are most of what one sees here.
The specific event we were working with was ranch sorting, where people work in a figure 8 pen with numbered cattle and two riders. The goal is to get as many cows as possible from the pen with the herd in to the other, in numeric order. One rider typically maintains the gateway and makes sure that no previously sorted cows come back, the other rides into the herd and sorts out the numbered cows then guides them to the gate. Letting an out-of-order cow through is an instant disqualification and the game has a tight time limit.
As the most total n00b there, I was teamed up with Stuart, who owns the ranch and was consequently excellent at sorting and moving the cows. We watched from the side of the ring while everyone else had a try - Iris with her ears fixed on the cows - and very quickly ( ninety second rounds go by quickly ) it was our turn.
First time around we just worked on being able to approach cows and move through them, which Iris thought might be impossible. We were better on the gate in our second round, because that mostly required a bit of forward and backwards, which we can usually manage, although the day did make me realise our accelerator is a bit sticky. With Stuart sorting cows out and us keeping them sorted ( and moving to cut off other cows from diving through ) we got a lot through, though I don't think that speaks ever so much of my skill. On our second attempt at sorting we managed to get a single cow out and through the gate, although it took us a lot more time than the round limit, nobody minded and the whole atmosphere was very much of supporting people at improving.
The third time we went into the herd, something clicked with Iris and she realised that she was here to chase these cows and that they would move when she moved them. Everything changed in a moment- suddenly she was enthusiastically pushing the cows around and turning quickly to mark them once I made it clear to her which one we needed to beat. There was no longer any feeling of heaviness to our steering or transitions and we were able to get several cows through - in fact I think we were allowed quite a lot of extra time because Iris had so clearly cottoned on to her job and was doing so well.
Iris having figured out what I was trying to ask her to do.
After lunch we went back out and when I was tacking up Iris attention was already fixed on the arena where we were going to be working and after that our rounds got smoother and way more effective, although there were one or two moments where she got a bit over-excited and kicked a cow that was passing behind her, so we might have to explain that isn't a great strategy.
I had a really fun day and Iris seemed to enjoy it too. It certainly reinforced my view that if you have the chance to work cattle with your horse, regardless of your normal discipline, it is well worth taking.
It made me so proud of my horse and so impressed with her ability to turn herself to anything I ask of her, she really is about the best mare that a person could possibly wish for. I am already planning to go back next month for their next cattle clinic.
There aren't many places that one has the opportunity to do that in this country - the only one I know of is Bar S in Kent who are about seventy miles away, so when I saw they had a cattle clinic there I booked myself onto it for mid January. Then it rained for the entirety of December, January and most of February and they were pretty much too wet to do anything. Last weekend was the first time that they actually had any dry enough space to ride in and as it was the going was quite muddy but workable.
We unloaded and it was nice to be around a group of friendly western riders with a common interest in trying some practical western riding rather than the showing disciplines which are most of what one sees here.
The specific event we were working with was ranch sorting, where people work in a figure 8 pen with numbered cattle and two riders. The goal is to get as many cows as possible from the pen with the herd in to the other, in numeric order. One rider typically maintains the gateway and makes sure that no previously sorted cows come back, the other rides into the herd and sorts out the numbered cows then guides them to the gate. Letting an out-of-order cow through is an instant disqualification and the game has a tight time limit.
As the most total n00b there, I was teamed up with Stuart, who owns the ranch and was consequently excellent at sorting and moving the cows. We watched from the side of the ring while everyone else had a try - Iris with her ears fixed on the cows - and very quickly ( ninety second rounds go by quickly ) it was our turn.
First time around we just worked on being able to approach cows and move through them, which Iris thought might be impossible. We were better on the gate in our second round, because that mostly required a bit of forward and backwards, which we can usually manage, although the day did make me realise our accelerator is a bit sticky. With Stuart sorting cows out and us keeping them sorted ( and moving to cut off other cows from diving through ) we got a lot through, though I don't think that speaks ever so much of my skill. On our second attempt at sorting we managed to get a single cow out and through the gate, although it took us a lot more time than the round limit, nobody minded and the whole atmosphere was very much of supporting people at improving.
The third time we went into the herd, something clicked with Iris and she realised that she was here to chase these cows and that they would move when she moved them. Everything changed in a moment- suddenly she was enthusiastically pushing the cows around and turning quickly to mark them once I made it clear to her which one we needed to beat. There was no longer any feeling of heaviness to our steering or transitions and we were able to get several cows through - in fact I think we were allowed quite a lot of extra time because Iris had so clearly cottoned on to her job and was doing so well.
Iris having figured out what I was trying to ask her to do.
After lunch we went back out and when I was tacking up Iris attention was already fixed on the arena where we were going to be working and after that our rounds got smoother and way more effective, although there were one or two moments where she got a bit over-excited and kicked a cow that was passing behind her, so we might have to explain that isn't a great strategy.
I had a really fun day and Iris seemed to enjoy it too. It certainly reinforced my view that if you have the chance to work cattle with your horse, regardless of your normal discipline, it is well worth taking.
It made me so proud of my horse and so impressed with her ability to turn herself to anything I ask of her, she really is about the best mare that a person could possibly wish for. I am already planning to go back next month for their next cattle clinic.