Working Partners

Thirsty Soul surveying a group of yearling cattle to be worked on Thursday.

Tuesday through Friday of this past week represented one of the first really big cattle working weeks of the spring season. 

Dale assisted a large ranch north of us with working (vaccinating and deworming) yearlings they were moving to summer pasture.  They worked them in groups of 250 to 300 and by the end of the week had moved a few thousand head.  Dale used Spike on Tuesday, Al on Wednesday, Thirsty Soul and Fist Pump on Thursday and Some Touch on Friday.

Special Al.

The long days of cattle work that make up the spring and the fall are one of the key cornerstones in our program.  Horses are asked to work long 10-14 hour days in conditions that test their physical and mental stamina. They must contend with varied working conditions from 1000 acre prairie pastures you can't see the end of to the heavy brush and pine trees of the foothills of the Black Hills.  They must deal with new horses, working dogs, trucks and trailers, 4-wheelers and ornery cattle of every description.  Horses rarely work at speed but instead must learn to conserve their energy for the hours of walking and trotting and waiting that it takes to get the work done.

Thirsty Soul

Dale will tell anyone that his goal for a horse is to have a "working partner that will do any job I ask of him and do it happily".  We have found that having a horse, especially an ex-racehorse, to get truly tired while doing an interesting day's work teaches them many things:

-They learn to conserve energy. Prancing and jigging and acting like a fool the first 2 hours of a ride come back to haunt you on hour twelve.  Working steadily from start to finish is much easier on everyone.  Horses also learn that when you get to stand still, it is important to completely relax and take full advantage of it.  Our horses know how to chill out and cock a leg even with total chaos surrounding them--it's much more important to rest than worry!

Some Touch and Dale.  Lots of miles in rough country teaches the importance of energy conservation.

-On that note, they also learn what is and what isn't worth worrying about.  Some Touch showed a huge fear of semis his first ride off the ranch two weeks ago.  He spun and whirled, desperately wanting to run away from them.  On Friday, he encountered semi trucks again--only this time it was 6 hours into a 12 hour day.  He started to get worried and then looked around and thought better of it.  He knew he needed his energy for other things.

Crow Creek aka Spike.

-They learn patience.  Cattle work tends to be a lot of "hurry and wait".  You move cattle in from a pasture and then you need to get them worked through the chute.  They might be chasing down an errant calf one minute and asked to stand still for 15 minutes while that calf is branded.

Dale estimate that he and Special Al opened and closed 150+ gates on Wednesday.  You can't teach that kind of patience anywhere else!

-They learn to pay attention.  A horse that has had to run down it's 10th runaway yearling soon learns to watch for signs on its own. It goes back to conserving energy. Horses are smart-they know if they can stop that calf before it gets a head of steam running off, they don't have to work so hard. And so they learn to pay attention to the job and really start thinking about how to make things work better.

Fist Pump

 -They learn to REALLY love to load in a horse trailer!  Some Touch did just that on Friday.  He and Dale had been trailing the newly worked herds to new pastures 6 miles away and then the truck and trailer would pick them up in the middle of the pasture to bring them back to the corrals. By the third herd (and 18 miles), Some Touch positively loved the sight of that trailer and practically went flying in!

Crow Creek, aka Spike, getting some TLC after a long day.

-They learn to be a partner.  Ranch horses aren't just something we ride, they are our working partners, helping us do a job that we simply could not do without them. That creates a different attitude between horse and rider.  We need them and they seem to understand that. Time and time again, they rise to the occasion and get the job done-even in the toughest of conditions.  They learn to think ahead and anticipate our needs. They try so hard to do the job right and you can't help but love them all the more for that.

And at the end of the day, they put their head in your chest and we say thank you--not just to a friend and riding companion, but to a workmate, a helper and an equal partner in the job.

Some Touch and Dale saying thank you.

Horses as an Art Form

Dorothy and Painted Forest

By Dorothy Snowden

As an artist, I am often asked, “How long did it take you to do that?”, when an observer examines a piece of my work. My reply begins, “Forty years and a couple hours.” While that statement might be a simplification of a lifetime studying art and sharpening my skills at the easel, it usually elicits a laugh and sense of appreciation from the questioner.

My paintings certainly don't always turn out as masterpieces by anyone's standard, but a feeling of accomplishment comes from knowing I've applied myself to the best of my ability, with the tools available to me, on a given day and set of circumstances.

I like to think of my horses and their training in similar terms. My responsibility as an owner and rider is to utilize the resources and skills I posses to realize the vision I have for each animal. As in my artistic endeavors, it is a challenge I place on myself, fully knowing the outcome might not yield the desired results, but is a process of personal development and enrichment for both me, and hopefully, the equine.

With this in mind, I consider myself fortunate to participate in the retraining of my off-track Thoroughbred, Painted Forest. Known around the barn as “Gump”, he is my work in progress, or “paint over”, referring to my re-purposing old paintings.

Gump's sales photos from the CANTER website.

His name and flashy markings caught my eye, as I perused the trainer listings of horses for sale at Beulah Park. I needed another horse as I needed a hole in my head, but the artist in me latched on to the outward appearance of this cute little guy, and prophetic name. Out of the mare, “Take Me Home”, that's exactly what I did.

A career as a racehorse meant he wasn't a blank canvas. He had been shaped in the vision of those before me, to be a competitive athlete on the track. Early on, he fulfilled that purpose, but with age and infirmities, could no longer meet those expectations. I saw in Painted Forest an opportunity to create a pleasure mount, and possibly, a show-ring partner.

Using my somewhat modest horsemanship skills, I hope to transform him into my vision for his future, being mindful of the elements he currently possesses and his willingness to molded to this new form. While the outcome may be the result of compromises on both our parts, the journey will certainly be rewarding.

Painted Forest at home, April 2015.

  

Jaded Lover's BIG Cow Debut

All winter, Dale has noticed that JL wasn't just interested in cattle, he was obsessed with them. Not in the least afraid, he seemed to find them the most fascinating creatures in existence.

And so we simply could not help ourselves this morning...we turned him loose with them...and what a show he put on!

A true natural cow horse if there ever was one! (and have you ever seen a horse having so much fun?)

Getting Serious with Thirsty Soul

Thirsty learning to shut a gate.

Thirsty Soul is the youngest, and based on his limited (10 starts) racing experience, greenest of our four Makeover contestants.  As such, we have put some extra time in with Thirsty to reinforce the basics before moving forward.

Most horses that have been on the track for any length of time come with a great set of basics--they walk, trot and canter willingly and under control of their rider. They know how to change leads (yes, the jockey asks for it and they know what he is asking!) and know very well how to "whoa", contrary to popular belief. The longer they race, the more they know, just like any horse that gets ridden more.  The "war horses" that have 40, 50, 60 starts are often our best horses because they have 1,000 rides or more and, well, you just really need to get on and ride!

But Thirsty didn't start his racing career until age 4 and only raced a handful of times.  As we found on our evaluation ride in December, he was a naturally kind horse with a trainable mind, but he was green.

As it was for most people, this winter has been a real bugger to get any riding in.  We don't have an indoor arena, so finding suitable weather WITH suitable footing is a real challenge for 6 months of the year.  But when we do get it, we make the most of it.

In January, we had a few nice days but our outdoor arena remained frozen, so Thirsty went out to learn in one of our favorite environments-the hay field.  It's big, it is lonely (no other horses to fuss over) and it comes with its own set of challenges in the irrigation ditches that criss-cross it.

Jumping the irrigation ditch.

We like to use these shallow ditches as a lesson in trying new things. While riding towards home (for a little extra incentive), we point a horse to cross the ditch to get there. They can go down and thru it if they choose, but it is far easier to simply jump it...something no racehorse has done before.  Some do it without a second thought, others have to test and try to see if there is another option. They will fuss and wiggle and try anything but simply cross it.  Thirsty was of the first group, point and shoot!  He hopped it without a second thought and continued on his merry way.

February brought more time in the hay field and some work in the small corral with the basic concepts of the rope.  The lariat can really bother some horses. The only time most racehorses have had something swinging over their head, it was a jockey with a whip, and they can sometimes react very strongly.  And having the rope on the ground in front of them is about as foreign as it gets.  Thirsty took to the lariat above his head just fine but he wanted nothing to do with it attached to a tire.  He spun and kicked at it like it was a wild animal.

Adjusting slowly to the idea of the rope and tire.

In this scenario, it is best to just get off and take things slow, which is what we did.  If a horse is fearful of something, he needs whatever amount of time he asks for to get over that fear.  We let Thirsty sniff and paw the offending rope and tire while on the ground with him until he finally decided it might not kill him.  And that was that.  If we had pushed him to deal with it, he might have developed a worse fear but by slowing down, he learned on his own he had nothing to worry about.

So far, our March weather has been outstanding. Our snow melted long ago and things are drying down and really getting nice to work in.  Thirsty has spent some serious time in the big outdoor arena learning more about neck reining, working off the leg and generally getting to be a bit more "broke".  It didn't take him long to lope nice, quiet circles and switch leads for us...he is a naturally balanced horse and it shows in how he moves.  A smaller horse at just barely 15.2, he has an easier time of maneuvering than many big horses do.

Cow work started this week.  Thirsty has always been a bit apprehensive of the cattle. He has seen them over the fence and the strange creatures worried him a lot. And when our neighbor's cattle got out a few weeks ago, they got a lot closer that he liked and he actually jumped out of his corral!

Getting a little too enthusiastic with Joe!

But we have an ace in the hole in these situations--Joe.  Joe is a two-year-old Jersey steer that was hand fed by his former owners and thinks he is a big pet. We bought him early last year with a group of heifers and he has proved invaluable on the ranch. He is big, slow and quiet...the perfect introduction for horses to cattle.  And at this point, Joe is "broke"--he knows his job and does it well. 

Thirsty got into the pen with Joe rattling his nose and pretty sure the big steer would eat him up.  But Joe, as Joe does, just stood there and waited for the games to begin. Joe knows his job is to trot along just in front of a horse's nose and goes where we point him.  As soon as Thirsty realized that Joe would walk away, it was game on!

We have always said that the best cow horses are a little bit afraid of cattle...they focus much more intently on them than does a horse that has little interest either way.  And that was the case with Thirsty.  He was afraid but fascinated by the fact that Joe ran from him.  Thirsty is low man in the pasture, so being in charge was a novel thing for his mind.  Soon, he took it too far the other way and actually bit Joe in his enthusiasm for the new job.  We pulled him back a bit and let him regroup.  By the end of the lesson, he was tracking Joe like a born cow horse and even let us swing the rope a bit. He is going to be a fun one!

One a side note, we did learn something we hadn't thought of---steers need to be brought into spring conditioning as much as a horse, at least steers with a job like Joe has. The poor guy was plumb tuckered out after working with Thirsty and spent the rest of the day napping.  Looks like Joe might need a "steer jogging" program to get him in shape!

JL Meets the Rope

An integral part of our ranch horse training is the introduction to rope work.  Beyond tracking cattle, rope work is an important part of the foundation training our horses receive. Whether or not they ever rope a cow after leaving our ranch, the steadfastness that rope work teaches them creates a strong foundation for their future.

Many racehorses have never dealt with anything swinging above their heads besides a jockey's whip and so simply getting used to the concept of a swinging rope is the key first step.  Some horses are fine with it, some take several sessions before they can handle the "whooshing" noise and seeing the movement above their head.  We let the horse tell us what they are ok with and how long they need.

The next step is simply throwing the rope on the ground around them.  Again, this is something no horse has ever likely seen---something flying from above their head and landing with a thump on the ground.  We keep them moving at all times and let them see from every angle.  Eventually it becomes no big deal no matter where or when it drops...a nice attitude to have in case you drop your phone, whip, etc from the saddle!

From there we progress to actually pulling something on the end of the rope.  Typically starting with a tire or a log.  This inanimate object lets them feel tension on the saddle horse for the first time and also learn to cope with something "moving" on the end of it. 

 

More than a few horses think they are being "chased" and JL was one of them!  We like to start pulling the tire on the ground so they can see the movement of it first.  He wasn't thrilled in the least, but he trusted Dale and so he tolerated it.

Next Dale added a tarp to the mix---it moves in a more unpredicatable manner and is loud...much more similar to a calf than just a tire.

But JL is a smart horse and he wasn't going to be buffaloed for long.  After 10 minutes, he was bored with the ordeal and so Dale got on and repeated all the lessons from horseback.

Another fun day with a very fun horse!

A Roundabout Way

Malibu Mystery and the "stair" photo that brought us Thirsty.

Thirsty Soul, our second entry in the 2015 Thoroughbred Makeover, came to us in a bit of a roundabout way.

In April of 2014, we had our shipper stop at Beulah Park racetrack in Ohio to pick up Rikim (who would go on to be our 2014 Thoroughbred Makeover contestant). In addition, we were to pick up another horse from Beulah but at the last minute, the owned decided to keep the gelding instead, which left us with one paid berth to South Dakota sitting open.

Luckily, we were in close contact with track management at Beulah and they set about making sure we had another horse to fill our load. The head steward contacted several trainers on the backstretch and soon he had a waiting line of trainers at the racing office, waiting to talk to Dale to see if their horses might fit the bill.

The second trainer Dale spoke to had a son of Malibu Moon, Malibu Mystery, he was looking to retire and sell.  He couldn't tell us much about him (when Dale asked how tall he was, the trainer replied 15.9 hands, we decided it was best not to ask too many questions after that!) but he could tell us the horse was sound and since we love the AP Indy line, Malibu got on the trailer with Rikim.

When he arrived, he was very fit and sound physically but a head-case mentally.  A quick review of Malibu's race record showed he had changed hands at the racetrack no less than 14 times in less than two years, meaning he had rarely stayed in any one barn more than a month or two.  He was a cribber, a fence walker and a horse that wanted nothing to do with people. He was the poster child for "burn out".

And so Malibu went to the big pasture to just "be a horse" for a few months.  He fence walking ceased as he ran with the herd and his cribbing became almost nonexistent.  By June, Dale thought it was time to bring him in and see what we had.

Malibu was a prince under saddle--great mouth, very attentive and loved to work. Malibu was one of our star pupils in 2014--there was little he did wrong. He was savvy about cattle, had no problem learning the concept of roping and was outstanding working in rough country.  When some friends came to visit in late summer, we took him on a trail ride at Ft. Meade Recreation Area and it was from there he connected us with Thirsty Soul.

Dorothy always brings her camera along when we take an outing and that ride at Ft. Meade was no different. Ft. Meade is an old calvalry station and some interesting artifacts and obstacles still exist in the hills that surround it.  A long stone staircase, likely a training tool for calvalry horses, still stands--built into the side of a hill. One of Dale's favorite training excercises when we are there is to ask his horse to use the stairs.  Many horses balk at first, but Malibu went right up it as if he had done it every day of his life.  And Dorothy got the shot.

That photos ended up on our Facebook page and that is where racing owner and trainer Kristi Tumblin saw it.  For a few months, Malibu was part of their racing stable, owned by one of their grooms before he was claimed away. Kristi well remembered how stressed and difficult Malibu had been at the track...an unlikely trail horse if she saw one!  Seeing a photo of him transversing a tough trail object amazed her and she soon called Dale.

She and her husband Andrew had two geldings, Some Touch and I Shall Return, whom they were looking to place in a second career. The two geldings had been owned by the Tumblins since they were yearlings and represented their first winners on the racetrack.  Now age 9, they were ready to retire and Kristi wanted to see them in a good home and decided our program would be the perfect fit.  By the time we were all able to coordinate shipping in November, they had decided to retire another gelding, Thirsty Soul, as well. He had run 10 times and hadn't amounted to much, so he was thrown in the package as well.

The kind face of Thirsty Soul.

Kristi met Dale halfway, in Iowa, to deliver the geldings and on the way back, Dale layed over at a friend's farm.  During that layover, I Shall Return caught the eye of Heather Benson and he never quite left his "layover" spot and so Dale went home with just two, Some Touch and Thirsty Soul (incidentally, I Shall Return is entered in the Makeover as well with new owner Heather Benson!).  Upon arriving home, we decided to enter at least two horses in the 2015 Makeover when it opened and found that only Jaded Lover and Thirsty Soul qualified at the time (Some Touch had not raced since 2012) and so it was that Thirsty Soul became one of our entries.

He had his first ride in January and has proven himself a rock star in the making. Curious, fun and very kind, he will follow in Malibu's footsteps of being one of our star pupils. We can't wait for the weather to clear so we can really get to work with this special guy!

Jaded Lover's First Ride Adventures

The adorable face of Jaded Lover.

For those of you who follow our website (www.gatetogreat.com) and ranch Facebook page, you may remember that Jaded Lover caught more than his fair share of adventure on his evaluation ride upon arrival at the ranch.  When we get new horses in from the racetrack, Dale likes to give them a quick evaluation ride to get an idea of their mind, their current fitness level and what their starting point might be.

Typically Dale gets on them once in the first two or three days after arrival and then we give them a minimum of 3-4 weeks of turn-out before any retraining begins.  These evaluation rides are ideally low-key, low-stress, nothing new affairs but sometimes circumstance changes that!  Jaded Lover had a bit more than we bargained for on his first ride, but he handled it with style and class!

Here is a recap from November of 2014:

As you can see from his stats, Jade is VERY fresh off the track having just started at Mountaineer in September. He only arrived two weeks ago but we got a nice day and decided to take him out...and wow, are we glad we did!

Dale started him off in the round corral in the long lines. We like to long line new horses as it lets us get a feel for their mouth, mind and general attitude towards work. We also had some less than ideal footing from the cold and wet weather of the past weeks, so Dale wanted to be sure he could handle it. He was willing and actually showed us he was well started and well ridden at the track--he even backed nicely, something few off-track horses do at the outset!

Trying the footing out.

Next Dale took him out to the big arena and turned him loose, once more to see how he would handle the surface. Jade was pretty careful and never got dumb or ran "silly" like many horses might do, he felt his way around the whole arena and made his way back to Dale.

It was time to get in the saddle and really see what we had, so Dale mounted up. Jade has a wonderful, energetic walk--"enough to cover some country and bounce the bridle reins" as Dale says. But he walked around that big arena on a loose rein like a good horse should. He was just as maneagble and easy to ride when asked to trot.

The arena footing was pretty cuppy and frozen yet, so Dale thought it would be better to ride in the adjoining pasture. He rode to the big gate and was able to open and close it from Jade's back--a feat few horses are capable of on their first ride!

Opening the gate on the first ride--impressive!

The adjoining pasture they were in is home to our bred heifers for the winter and that is where the real adventure for Jaded Lover began! These particular heifers aren't the fat, slow beef cows--they are rodeo-bred to be athletes and a bit "hotter" than average cattle!

When Jade got to the cows, he really got keen to march right into them, but the cows took off, and Jaded Lover was sure the race was on! To keep him from losing his cool, Dale had to keep circling and pulling him off the cows. Dale prefers to just keep a horse moving, rather than taking a hold of his mouth and starting a real fight. The idea is to keep their mind busy and keep them moving forward.

Oooh, cows!

After the cows got done with their initial running and bucking, Dale was able to introduce Jade to the idea that you can follow cattle without all the excitement. He would not have normally introduced a horse to cattle like this on the first ride, but when something like this starts, it is best to finish it on a positive note. So they tracked the cattle at a walk and trot for bit, Jade was keen to "go get 'em" but settled into the role of follower quite nicely. Dale is really impressed with this horse and can't wait to move him forward from this first lesson!