I finally found a way to make Ransom eat – stall lockup. For about three meals straight, I locked him up in his stall for a few hours, with water & grain. No hay, no attention. He got the hint – if he wants freedom, he’ll eat. J Works like a charm.
Thursday after work, the wind was howling my name. Howling “boo look at me.” I bucked up my courage, and got in the tack.
Ransom was delightful. We rode all three gaits, both directions, and even looked at the cows a few times. Yes, cows. They were grazing in the pasture next to us, and a few even laid down for a rest. Right where they usually are that spooks him. He didn’t flinch. That was absolutely delightful.
Knowing that dressage is getting boring & repetitive for both of us, I asked for some leg yields at walk. Sweet, and pretty. Stepping it up, I asked for leg yielding at trot. Heading to the right (left leg pressure), he was gawgeous! Heading left, a little stickie, but it got better the longer we did it.
I rode for about 40 minutes before admitting that weather had more wind and sprinkles than I had courage. We did have fun, though.
Showing posts with label Cows. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cows. Show all posts
Friday, May 14, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
3/23/10 Dressaaaage
The next show I'm thinking about is in April at Sienna. Probably only training level, unless I can get these pesky Prix Caprilli tests figured out. I'm finding them a little confusing, and can't find two links that say the same things for the tests.
Ransom and I danced for about 45 minutes yesterday. We focused primarily on trot to canter transitions. To start this, I did halts to walk collected, then walks to trot collected. Trots to canter weren't perfect yet, but canters back to trot were nice. All the down transitions were quite pretty. Well, the scheduled ones, at least. He broke gait a few times, but I suspect it's a little tired, a little lazy, and a little "hey look at the cows, Mom!"
Speaking of cows, I learned yesterday the distraction to cow-panic is busy feet. He took a long hard look at them heading our way last night, and I pushed him away from them, towards the other side of the arena, and picked up a trot. Anytime I had his attention, I left him alone, quiet reins, quiet legs. If he got all wiggly eyed at the trot, I'd tap inside rein, inside leg, and push him forward. Distractions, distractions.. the darn cows.. :)
We had a good time. No jumps, no cavalettis, just flat work on the rail and in 20m circles. I didn't even ask for a lead change. One time, canter-right, we got to the spot I did many lead changes in last week. I saw the cows up to the far left of us, I looked at them, and Ransom made a quick break to trot and tried to change leads. He saw where I was seeing, and was trying to change direction for me. :) Good boy, and cute that he caught what I was doing rather than what I was intending.
Tonight, we rest. Perhaps tomorrow, too, in some effort to get his energy back up a little. I'm anxious to get the fear monsters out and canter-to a fence. I just need to get it over with & do it. What's Momma keep telling us? Shut Up And Ride!
Ransom and I danced for about 45 minutes yesterday. We focused primarily on trot to canter transitions. To start this, I did halts to walk collected, then walks to trot collected. Trots to canter weren't perfect yet, but canters back to trot were nice. All the down transitions were quite pretty. Well, the scheduled ones, at least. He broke gait a few times, but I suspect it's a little tired, a little lazy, and a little "hey look at the cows, Mom!"
Speaking of cows, I learned yesterday the distraction to cow-panic is busy feet. He took a long hard look at them heading our way last night, and I pushed him away from them, towards the other side of the arena, and picked up a trot. Anytime I had his attention, I left him alone, quiet reins, quiet legs. If he got all wiggly eyed at the trot, I'd tap inside rein, inside leg, and push him forward. Distractions, distractions.. the darn cows.. :)
We had a good time. No jumps, no cavalettis, just flat work on the rail and in 20m circles. I didn't even ask for a lead change. One time, canter-right, we got to the spot I did many lead changes in last week. I saw the cows up to the far left of us, I looked at them, and Ransom made a quick break to trot and tried to change leads. He saw where I was seeing, and was trying to change direction for me. :) Good boy, and cute that he caught what I was doing rather than what I was intending.
Tonight, we rest. Perhaps tomorrow, too, in some effort to get his energy back up a little. I'm anxious to get the fear monsters out and canter-to a fence. I just need to get it over with & do it. What's Momma keep telling us? Shut Up And Ride!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
3/14/10 What Did I Learn in the Lesson?
I am teaching my horse pace & rhythm.
And cows still eat ponies.
=) I warmed Ransom up briefly free lunge. He decided this was a good day for a gallop, and ran like a nut for probably five minutes. I knew he'd have the lesson anyways, so I left him go. He wasn't going to end the ride in the lazies, and I was going to force him to move out.
Jen arrived, and we got to business. I didn't spend a lot of time riding flat before trotting to the poles. First set of trot cavaletti, he hit one. Second, third, same deal. Kept knocking over one or two. Jen said, "He's being lazy, watch this." She set the landscape timbers I've been using as poles on their sides, making them a little bit taller. I approached at the trot, and Ransom hopped through the pattern without knocking anything over. "See? He's being lazy. Now, get him up to canter, ride the canter poles, and show me what the heck he's been pulling over there. I suspect more of the same lazies."
He did the exact same thing he's been doing, breaking to trot, and trying to canter in the middle of it, or heading out of it. Jen started kissing to him in front of the poles, and I focused on heels down, energy up. After three go's, he got it. Stayed in canter for all three poles, and stayed steady throughout. Similar action happened heading right as well, started out messy, ended clean. The homework here? Keep doing it, and forcing him to canter. He's way out of practice needing to think about low steady work, and I'm retraining him on rhythm & pace, to see his distances, and stay quiet through the pattern work.
Then we set up the low crossrail, and I got after those too. Jen got some neat pictures (psst,, share!) of us looking great, and looking terrible. On one of the approaches heading right, I thought I heard her say "release your knees." By the time I started processing the thought, and changing my body, it was too late. Ransom jumped big, and pitched me straight out of the tack. We laughed - That's how I'll know if I'm holding on at the knees.. legs come behind me, and his launch will shove me out of the saddle. Each direction we hopped a few ways, and it got progressively better.
Changed direction to left, hopped once, talked about what I needed to change, and circled around. Hopped again, landed, one stride, two stride,
Horse Explosion!
Ransom jumped HARD to the left, 3-4 feet, and I quickly shoved my heels down, sat back, and grabbed one rein to turn him. What in the hell was THAT all about?
Cows.. That's what. About a dozen cows were trotting across the neighbor's pasture. They came out from behind the trees about two strides away from the fence. Spooked Ransom, and he was absolutely convinced they were going to eat him. When I got Ransom stopped, I hopped off, and spent some time talking with Jen about what happened. This isn't the first time he's spooked at the cows, and it's worse the faster they're moving. We're still formulating a "cow desensitizing plan" for him, and it's probably going to involve some time in a pipe fence pen with a few quiet ones. We can't keep repeating this "spook after the fence" nonsense.. For sure!
I "cowgirled up", got back on him, and he settled. Jumped a few more times, rode a little on the flat, and called it a lesson.
Long ride, and a lot learned. We're to keep up the canter poles, and if he gets lazy, move the cavaletti rail razors over to the canter poles. Switch up location of the canter poles and the trot cavaletti to keep him thinking and try to not repeat any one thing too many times in a row to prevent anticipation and laziness.
And cows still eat ponies.
=) I warmed Ransom up briefly free lunge. He decided this was a good day for a gallop, and ran like a nut for probably five minutes. I knew he'd have the lesson anyways, so I left him go. He wasn't going to end the ride in the lazies, and I was going to force him to move out.
Jen arrived, and we got to business. I didn't spend a lot of time riding flat before trotting to the poles. First set of trot cavaletti, he hit one. Second, third, same deal. Kept knocking over one or two. Jen said, "He's being lazy, watch this." She set the landscape timbers I've been using as poles on their sides, making them a little bit taller. I approached at the trot, and Ransom hopped through the pattern without knocking anything over. "See? He's being lazy. Now, get him up to canter, ride the canter poles, and show me what the heck he's been pulling over there. I suspect more of the same lazies."
He did the exact same thing he's been doing, breaking to trot, and trying to canter in the middle of it, or heading out of it. Jen started kissing to him in front of the poles, and I focused on heels down, energy up. After three go's, he got it. Stayed in canter for all three poles, and stayed steady throughout. Similar action happened heading right as well, started out messy, ended clean. The homework here? Keep doing it, and forcing him to canter. He's way out of practice needing to think about low steady work, and I'm retraining him on rhythm & pace, to see his distances, and stay quiet through the pattern work.
Then we set up the low crossrail, and I got after those too. Jen got some neat pictures (psst,, share!) of us looking great, and looking terrible. On one of the approaches heading right, I thought I heard her say "release your knees." By the time I started processing the thought, and changing my body, it was too late. Ransom jumped big, and pitched me straight out of the tack. We laughed - That's how I'll know if I'm holding on at the knees.. legs come behind me, and his launch will shove me out of the saddle. Each direction we hopped a few ways, and it got progressively better.
Changed direction to left, hopped once, talked about what I needed to change, and circled around. Hopped again, landed, one stride, two stride,
Horse Explosion!
Ransom jumped HARD to the left, 3-4 feet, and I quickly shoved my heels down, sat back, and grabbed one rein to turn him. What in the hell was THAT all about?
Cows.. That's what. About a dozen cows were trotting across the neighbor's pasture. They came out from behind the trees about two strides away from the fence. Spooked Ransom, and he was absolutely convinced they were going to eat him. When I got Ransom stopped, I hopped off, and spent some time talking with Jen about what happened. This isn't the first time he's spooked at the cows, and it's worse the faster they're moving. We're still formulating a "cow desensitizing plan" for him, and it's probably going to involve some time in a pipe fence pen with a few quiet ones. We can't keep repeating this "spook after the fence" nonsense.. For sure!
I "cowgirled up", got back on him, and he settled. Jumped a few more times, rode a little on the flat, and called it a lesson.
Long ride, and a lot learned. We're to keep up the canter poles, and if he gets lazy, move the cavaletti rail razors over to the canter poles. Switch up location of the canter poles and the trot cavaletti to keep him thinking and try to not repeat any one thing too many times in a row to prevent anticipation and laziness.
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
12/14/09 It's a Cow ! ! ! !
Ransom and I played dressage last night.. However, so did the #$*^& neighbor's cows.
Stupid Cows!
Ransom had the "lookie loos" at the cows. I don't mean peek & get back to work. I mean head & neck in complete denial of forward and away from the cows. He was flexed OUT at the rail facing the cows.
I rode through it for nearly 30 minutes. In his cool down, he got fussy crabby again, and really stopped paying attention to me, as if he needed to know why the cows were coming closer to him. I dismounted and hand walked him over to the cows. I stood & waited with him until he started to drop his head & relax.
We ended up walking back to the trailer in near dark. Undressed & put his sheet on, in the dark. I hate winter here - dark & dreary. Not cold enough to be called winter, not snowy, not even sleet. Just dreary.. and dark.
When he did work, it wasn't too shabby. In the cooler temperatures, getting forward is really quite easy. Transitions aren't beautiful, but that's expected since my rides have been so irregular.
Stupid Cows!
Ransom had the "lookie loos" at the cows. I don't mean peek & get back to work. I mean head & neck in complete denial of forward and away from the cows. He was flexed OUT at the rail facing the cows.
I rode through it for nearly 30 minutes. In his cool down, he got fussy crabby again, and really stopped paying attention to me, as if he needed to know why the cows were coming closer to him. I dismounted and hand walked him over to the cows. I stood & waited with him until he started to drop his head & relax.
We ended up walking back to the trailer in near dark. Undressed & put his sheet on, in the dark. I hate winter here - dark & dreary. Not cold enough to be called winter, not snowy, not even sleet. Just dreary.. and dark.
When he did work, it wasn't too shabby. In the cooler temperatures, getting forward is really quite easy. Transitions aren't beautiful, but that's expected since my rides have been so irregular.
Thursday, August 27, 2009
08/26/09 Romeo Lesson
Pulled Romeo out of the pasture for his probably last time this week. In fact, until those pesky mosquitoes ease up, it might be my last ride for the week. Snotty monsters BITE! Saddled him up western, english bit, and wandered to the arena.
Warmed him up free lunge a bit, no issues. A little goofyness, but I figure he knew something was different about me - I meant business. Jen arrived, and I hopped on.
Neighbor's cows were grazing through the pasture, and Romeo's ears pinned on them. Cute! So, for a few minutes, Jen "played cow", and walked up & down the long side, turning frequently. After quite a few turns, Romeo started sticking his rear and turning on the haunches really nice... cute cute - his own little version of a rollback.
We had a great flying lead change lesson. Pick up canter on the low end circle, circle twice, cut across the diagonal, break to trot briefly before switching back to canter on new lead. Travel on new lead around the arena, and repeat on the circles. Worked through this exercise a number of times. Closer to the end we had some great results - it seemed to start making sense to him. Though.. some humorous parts of the lesson, as he was flipping his feets all over the place, trying to figure out what to do, combined with his general "lack of fitness", it probabably resembed this:
Warmed him up free lunge a bit, no issues. A little goofyness, but I figure he knew something was different about me - I meant business. Jen arrived, and I hopped on.
Neighbor's cows were grazing through the pasture, and Romeo's ears pinned on them. Cute! So, for a few minutes, Jen "played cow", and walked up & down the long side, turning frequently. After quite a few turns, Romeo started sticking his rear and turning on the haunches really nice... cute cute - his own little version of a rollback.
We had a great flying lead change lesson. Pick up canter on the low end circle, circle twice, cut across the diagonal, break to trot briefly before switching back to canter on new lead. Travel on new lead around the arena, and repeat on the circles. Worked through this exercise a number of times. Closer to the end we had some great results - it seemed to start making sense to him. Though.. some humorous parts of the lesson, as he was flipping his feets all over the place, trying to figure out what to do, combined with his general "lack of fitness", it probabably resembed this:
(I know, I know... I shouldn't tease him. Surely Romeo is sneaking on the blog & reading up on our antics, but I can't help myself...)
Rode for about 45 minutes, a good time. Nothing too spectacular, but we were having a good time. For now, I can feel like we're working towards something when I want to ride him more than a trail hack.
Tonight, mosquitoes pending, Ransom dressage. Anxious for this - I need to get started on picking up canter in the corner heading down a long side and into a 20m circle in the center. hmm... This makes me think. I bet, if I were courageous, and felt so darn ambitious. I bet Ransom will do flying changes. In fact, I bet I can practice on him, and see if I'm really giving the cues right or not... hmmmmmmmmmm
Thursday, August 20, 2009
08/19/09 Romeo Tracking
Ate an early dinner, and even debated if I wanted to fight the heat to catch & ride Romeo. I wandered outside to let the girls potty, felt it cool down just a bit, with a good breeze. I decided it was a good day to pick up the Little Guy & go play.
Saddled up Western, Western bit. I wanted to tune up his neck reining, and play at the canter. Let him goof off run around the arena just a little, I said "whoa", and he turned & walked towards me. Good 'nuf for me, let's get to work.
Bitted & hopped on him without the mounting block. He's short enough, and I don't really want him depending on it (or me, for that matter). If I trail ride him, or take him out to "play cows", I'm not always promised an easy way to mount up. He didn't move, of course, so we walked on.
Lots of warmup walk & trot, my mind anywhere but on where he was going. I kind of let him auto-pilot around the arena. If his feets kept going in the gait, I pretty much left him go. He voluntarily hopped over Ransom's lesson-set ground poles & stepped over the low crossrail. Okay, maybe he was following my eyes better than I thought.. *giggle*
Picked up a canter-right, no problems. Soared around the arena a while, then switched to canter-left. Wrong lead, wrong lead, wrong lead, wrong lead, LEFT lead! Geez, there we go. Flew about a bit, then brought him back to a walk & tried again. Wrong, wrong, left. Geez, buddy.. brain in the can, or what?!
To help make him aware that the leads do matter, I did some figure 8s in the same lead. So one circle was correct lead, one circle was counter-canter. I think Romeo quickly figured out the counter-canter ain't so fun. He fumbled around one time heading right on the left lead, and when I looked down, he'd changed it to the right. Neat-O! So, we played with this a bit.
Canter left circle
Head to "X".
Little trot, change direction
Canter right circle
He got his leads 5 out of 6 times playing this game. It's something to repeat another time. I think it will be a bit easier on his French link English bit.
Preparing to cool him down, Ransom showed me a little trick (little fart)! Ransom slipped underneat the "rope gate", and proceeded to walk & trot around the arena. I decided it was a neat time to see if Romeo could still "track" and stay with him. So I stared at Ransom's inside hip, and pushed Romeo up towards him. What a good pony! I think he wasn't real sure why we were tracking another horse, but he did it anyways, ears switching between me and Ransom. Ransom surely didn't understand why we were tracking him, and would kick up every once in a while, though not towards Romeo.
We played together for nearly 45 minutes. Fun stuffs. Hosed him down, scraped off most of the water, and tossed 'em some hay to occupy their minds a while.
Saddled up Western, Western bit. I wanted to tune up his neck reining, and play at the canter. Let him goof off run around the arena just a little, I said "whoa", and he turned & walked towards me. Good 'nuf for me, let's get to work.
Bitted & hopped on him without the mounting block. He's short enough, and I don't really want him depending on it (or me, for that matter). If I trail ride him, or take him out to "play cows", I'm not always promised an easy way to mount up. He didn't move, of course, so we walked on.
Lots of warmup walk & trot, my mind anywhere but on where he was going. I kind of let him auto-pilot around the arena. If his feets kept going in the gait, I pretty much left him go. He voluntarily hopped over Ransom's lesson-set ground poles & stepped over the low crossrail. Okay, maybe he was following my eyes better than I thought.. *giggle*
Picked up a canter-right, no problems. Soared around the arena a while, then switched to canter-left. Wrong lead, wrong lead, wrong lead, wrong lead, LEFT lead! Geez, there we go. Flew about a bit, then brought him back to a walk & tried again. Wrong, wrong, left. Geez, buddy.. brain in the can, or what?!
To help make him aware that the leads do matter, I did some figure 8s in the same lead. So one circle was correct lead, one circle was counter-canter. I think Romeo quickly figured out the counter-canter ain't so fun. He fumbled around one time heading right on the left lead, and when I looked down, he'd changed it to the right. Neat-O! So, we played with this a bit.
Canter left circle
Head to "X".
Little trot, change direction
Canter right circle
He got his leads 5 out of 6 times playing this game. It's something to repeat another time. I think it will be a bit easier on his French link English bit.
Preparing to cool him down, Ransom showed me a little trick (little fart)! Ransom slipped underneat the "rope gate", and proceeded to walk & trot around the arena. I decided it was a neat time to see if Romeo could still "track" and stay with him. So I stared at Ransom's inside hip, and pushed Romeo up towards him. What a good pony! I think he wasn't real sure why we were tracking another horse, but he did it anyways, ears switching between me and Ransom. Ransom surely didn't understand why we were tracking him, and would kick up every once in a while, though not towards Romeo.
We played together for nearly 45 minutes. Fun stuffs. Hosed him down, scraped off most of the water, and tossed 'em some hay to occupy their minds a while.
Monday, April 20, 2009
4/19/09 Yep, I'm Blessed
Mrs. Mom is right - We're all pretty darn fortunate. Me, I'm better than that... Another wonderful Sunday - and I even got to ride!!! Sunday service was another nice blessing - my boss's daughter finished up her two years of confirmation. She, along with the other students, were required to memorize a Bible verse. My boss had asked me a few weeks ago to give him a list of my fave's, which I was glad to do. Boss's daughter, along with two other girls, memorized verses off my list. How incredible - watching young lives recite verses that, right now, might not mean more than a bunch of words. I can only hope that, in the future, those words mean something very important when it matters most. Pretty cool blessing to hear the words aloud, and know I had something to do with planting the thought in their minds.
After a false alarm and two changed minds, after church & a late lunch, I headed to the roping arena with Romeo. R came along, volunteering to work the chute so I could ride. My time with Romeo was phenominal!! He let me work on walk, trot, and even a little collected canter. Got his leads without incident, and gave the *best* jog I've gotten from him in a little over a year. His canter is, of course, nowhere near a WP lope, and I wouldn't expect it to be. That jog, though, was near picture-perfect.
We rode together for a bit over an hour, and pushed the steers up the alleyway twice - again, without incident. None of them got away from me, and I was able to open one of the gates alone near the end. Romeo gave some cute turns on forehand, nice turns on haunches, and a little sidepassing, again, without incident. Now, all those more advanced things aren't picture-perfect, but he sure is trying, and remembering. It's nice that I don't have to re-train every single ride.
I was able to play a part in the faith of a few teenagers (something I never thought I'd do - after my summer in IL with NAMB, I knew I changed lives of more than a dozen "little-little" kids, 10YO and under, but my events with teenagers never went very well), which was awesome. I was blessed with great company sitting in the service - something I had avoided, having been comfortable being alone in worship. It'd taken a few years to get comfortable being alone, and then I got too comfortable that way, because it only took about ten minutes to enjoy sharing it with R sitting beside me. Almost better than those combined, my boyfriend voluntarily worked the chute for the cowboys so I could ride!
Mrs. Mom was looking for galloping good news- That ought to satisfy for the weekend's worth, don't ya think?! Yes ma'am... I'm blessed beyond expectations. I only have those crummy moods once in a while, and they're less frequent that that lately.
After a false alarm and two changed minds, after church & a late lunch, I headed to the roping arena with Romeo. R came along, volunteering to work the chute so I could ride. My time with Romeo was phenominal!! He let me work on walk, trot, and even a little collected canter. Got his leads without incident, and gave the *best* jog I've gotten from him in a little over a year. His canter is, of course, nowhere near a WP lope, and I wouldn't expect it to be. That jog, though, was near picture-perfect.
We rode together for a bit over an hour, and pushed the steers up the alleyway twice - again, without incident. None of them got away from me, and I was able to open one of the gates alone near the end. Romeo gave some cute turns on forehand, nice turns on haunches, and a little sidepassing, again, without incident. Now, all those more advanced things aren't picture-perfect, but he sure is trying, and remembering. It's nice that I don't have to re-train every single ride.
I was able to play a part in the faith of a few teenagers (something I never thought I'd do - after my summer in IL with NAMB, I knew I changed lives of more than a dozen "little-little" kids, 10YO and under, but my events with teenagers never went very well), which was awesome. I was blessed with great company sitting in the service - something I had avoided, having been comfortable being alone in worship. It'd taken a few years to get comfortable being alone, and then I got too comfortable that way, because it only took about ten minutes to enjoy sharing it with R sitting beside me. Almost better than those combined, my boyfriend voluntarily worked the chute for the cowboys so I could ride!
Mrs. Mom was looking for galloping good news- That ought to satisfy for the weekend's worth, don't ya think?! Yes ma'am... I'm blessed beyond expectations. I only have those crummy moods once in a while, and they're less frequent that that lately.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
11/29/08 Playing Cow
Les delivered a handmade wooden bridge to the house, a flat one, made from an old wooden pallet. We dumped it in the side yard, and repaired a plywood stall wall that Chewie pulled off.
Then we loaded Romeo, and hauled to his house. He grabbed Amigo, we loaded up in his trailer, and off we went to the arena. We were going to play with the steers, and nobody else got called that we'd be there. This would be what the day before was supposed to.
Amigo tracks cows like a madman! He stayed right on their hip, often bounding one way or the other before the cow would move. It was hysterical fun to ride. I spent most of the time in the saddle hanging onto the horn tightly, trying really hard to keep my reins loose and my rein-hand on his neck. He galloped down the arena a few times. Les insisted "the Old Man only gave you about 10%. If you had your spurs on, he would've cut off every single one and kept them from running back to the herd." It didn't matter, I had an absolute blast, and got my cow-horse therapy in the form of outright squealing giggling aboard the OldMan.
Les rode Romeo, and said while he didn't track great, he did "lock on" to one steer, and when the steer stopped wiggling around, so did he. Les never got upset with Romeo while teaching him, and when Romeo got it right, and tracked up, Les was praising the daylights out of him. "Good boy!", patting him on the neck. Romeo's eyes looked bright, ears pricked forward. He knew he'd done good.
More work will be needed in this area if I intend on ever helping move cows out in a pasture, or the like. But a fun day overall.
Then we loaded Romeo, and hauled to his house. He grabbed Amigo, we loaded up in his trailer, and off we went to the arena. We were going to play with the steers, and nobody else got called that we'd be there. This would be what the day before was supposed to.
Amigo tracks cows like a madman! He stayed right on their hip, often bounding one way or the other before the cow would move. It was hysterical fun to ride. I spent most of the time in the saddle hanging onto the horn tightly, trying really hard to keep my reins loose and my rein-hand on his neck. He galloped down the arena a few times. Les insisted "the Old Man only gave you about 10%. If you had your spurs on, he would've cut off every single one and kept them from running back to the herd." It didn't matter, I had an absolute blast, and got my cow-horse therapy in the form of outright squealing giggling aboard the OldMan.
Les rode Romeo, and said while he didn't track great, he did "lock on" to one steer, and when the steer stopped wiggling around, so did he. Les never got upset with Romeo while teaching him, and when Romeo got it right, and tracked up, Les was praising the daylights out of him. "Good boy!", patting him on the neck. Romeo's eyes looked bright, ears pricked forward. He knew he'd done good.
More work will be needed in this area if I intend on ever helping move cows out in a pasture, or the like. But a fun day overall.
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