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Wanted! Change for a DIME
Hi! It's me, Shakespeare!
We've had a lot of snow and ice this past week, and it's turning to mud. Seems like a perfect opportunity to talk to you about slippery footing.
Usually when a horse slips and goes down, it's a young horse who is still getting used to having the extra weight of a rider, or it's because of a rider who pulls hard on the reins so the horse can't find his balance or overcompensates by leaning too much and pulling the horse off balance. Sometimes it's our own fault, but not very often. Here are a few experiences of bad footing.
First, I'll tell you about Dad and Kayman. Kayman was a four year old gelding that Dad had just started. He's a big, stout young horse, and was coming along fine. I guess Kayman had about 15 rides or so. Dad had started riding him in the pens at the feedyard, and also checking pastures. It had rained a little bit the night before and the pens were a little bit muddy. Dad was taking it real slow and easy. They were in the process of cutting a sick calf out and heading him toward the gate, and the calf made a break to get away. Kayman was catching on to working cattle pretty good and was on the calf in a heartbeat. One quick move, and BOOM! Down he went! His feet just slipped right out from under him. It's a good thing Dad pays attention when he rides, and doesn't have his feet jammed down in the stirrups like some folks I've seen. He just kicked his feet out of the stirrups and stepped off Kayman, pretty as you please. Dad helped Kayman back to his feet, and got right back in the saddle. He told Kayman it was okay, and that after more rides he'd have the feel and balance of carrying a rider. No problems, they finished up the day's work without any further incident. Kayman did slip a few more times, but didn't go down. It just takes time and rides for a young horse to get the feel of the extra weight of a rider. It also helps to have a patient rider, and one who rides with balance.
Usually when we horses slip, it's because of mud or ice, but not always. I'll tell you another story about a horse's feet slipping out from under her. Dad was riding Bessie one day. Bessie is a cute Paint mare, and the best cow pony I've ever seen. All us young horses at the Rafter G strive to someday be as good as Bessie. I mean, she's QUICK!! She can stop on a dime and give you change in pennies or nickels. She can stop, turn, and in two steps be at full speed again. She can almost turn inside out, and her rider better be paying attention or he'll end up on the ground wondering where his horse went! Yep, Bessie is something all right.
Well, one day Dad was riding Bessie. They'd checked all the pens for sick calves except the pens up on The Hill. The Hill is where the bigger calves are usually kept. Bigger calves eat a lot more, and they also make a lot more cow patties, if you know what I mean. The manure and dust mix, and get pretty powdery when there hasn't been much in the way of moisture. We were in the middle of a drought, so the "powder" was pretty thick in these pens. Your hoof could sink a couple of inches in the dry powder with every step.
So Dad and Bessie get up to The Hill. They found a calf that didn't belong in one of the pens, and went to cut him out and send him home. Now most calves don't want to be separated from the herd, and this calf was a prime example. He was doing everything to get back to the herd once Dad and Bessie got him cut out. He absolutely WAS NOT going to let them take him to the gate without a fight.
You really ought to see Dad and Bessie work together. You'd think they were one animal, they move so well together. Bessie seems to read Dad's mind, and it's poetry in motion when she gets on a calf! Well, Bessie and Dad finally had this calf moving toward the gate. He was still putting up a fight, but every time he'd make a move, Bessie was right there to cut him off. She was dancing and working this calf. The dust was flying and they almost had him to the gate. That silly steer made one final break to get back to the herd and Bessie was on him as soon as he thought about breaking. She made a big cut... only problem was, she planted to make her cut in some of the deeper "powder" and her feet just slipped right out from under her!
Now Dad is focused on his work, and he feels his horse. He felt Bessie slip and knew there could be a problem if he didn't get out of the saddle in a hurry, cause they were moving fast. I wish I'd had a video camera. We could have sent it to The Cutting Horse Journal for the horse and rider of the year award. Dad kicked his foot out of the stirrup and swung his leg right over Bessie's head and stepped off. Like I said, they were moving fast, and when Dad hit the ground he was sprinting to keep his balance (he's still a pretty good athlete, as far as humans go). Now he'd been focused on that calf, and he stayed right on him and out the gate the calf went! I'm sure it was more by accident and self-preservation than anything else, but it looked good. As Dad turned from the gate, Bessie was getting up and was okay. Dad checked her over good, and they went back to work. When you're working cattle, things can happen FAST and you'd better be paying attention to your horse, or you could get hurt!
Sometimes, even good cowboys get hurt. I heard a story about Grandpap that had been passed down from generation to generation of cow horses at the Rafter G. Grandpap is a legend at the Rafter G. I wish I'd had the honor of carrying him. The neighbors knew he was good with horses, but more importantly, the horses knew he was good.
Grandpap was working cattle in the mud one evening. You see, it doesn't matter what the weather conditions are, we still have to check the calves. Grandpap was riding a young horse, and the mud was pretty slick. They were on a calf, and as the calf made a cut, the young horse slipped in the mud and down they went. In the heat of battle with cattle, things can happen mighty fast. This young horse went down so fast that Grandpap didn't have time to kick out of the stirrup. Legend has it that Grandpap was in his early 50's when this happened, and he was still pretty spry. But he couldn't kick out and SNAP! He heard his leg break. You want to talk about tough? Grandpap let the horse start to get up, and he grabbed the saddle horn and pulled himself into the seat as the horse stood up. Then he rode to the house and hollered for Granny to tie the horse and drive him to the hospital. He unsaddled while standing on one leg, and turned the horse loose before he hobbled to the pickup to head to the hospital and get patched up by the doctor. Yep, the horses at the Rafter G and all over the county respected Grandpap. He holds a place with us that few other humans ever will achieve. I'll probably tell you a few other stories about him later.
Sometimes it's the ice that causes us to slip. Dad was telling me a story that happened when he was a hunting and fishing guide in Montana. They'd had about a foot of snow, then it had rained. That night the temperature dropped below zero, so there was a sheet of ice on top of the snow. There were places where the snow had been packed, and it was ice all the way to the ground.
Dad was guiding a fellow who was overweight. He weighed at least 280 lbs, and carried most of it around his middle. He was to ride Mac, a stout quarter horse. When he started to mount Mac, his extra weight pulled Mac off balance and he slipped on the ice. Mac would have regained his balance if that Goomer would have let go of the reins and let him have his head. But no... he pulled back on the reins harder and harder as Mac was slipping. Dad was telling him to let go of the reins, but he wouldn't do it. Poor Mac lost his balance and fell on his side, pinning the overweight human's leg. Dad took the reins from the Goomer and helped Mac back to his feet. The Goomer wasn't hurt, and neither was Mac. Dad helped him on Mac. This time, though, Dad kept the reins and gave Mac plenty of slack, which allowed him to steady himself when the big boy's weight threw him off balance as he was mounting. I'm glad nobody was hurt when Mac went down. It never would have happened, though, if that Goomer would have given Mac some slack in the reins.
The point here is to trust your horse, and allow him to regain his balance. The horse knows better than the rider what needs to be done to regain his balance. And please pay attention to your horse when you're riding. Accidents can happen, especially in slick conditions. Sometimes the horse or the human can get hurt. But more often than not, if the rider is paying attention to the horse, he or she can get off and avoid a big wreck. Be safe out there, especially when you ride in the mud or ice!
Until next time,
Shakespeare
Email: tbgraef@fivearea.com
