May 6, 2007

Drove Luc a relaxing six miles, that was until he saw loose dogs, it was time to turn around anyway.   Practiced Achenbach method of line holding, Luc is so light all I do is to take up on the line about an inch and he is in a tight turn. 56* with a light very cool breeze, at one time I was pretty cold in just short sleeves.   When we go home a big calf was out, made Luc go by him twice and stop at the mail box, he didn't like it but he did it. 1 hr 45 minutes.

May 12, 2007

My rider at the last minute was unable to accompany me so this turned into my first team solo road drive, the ninth one for the team. At 11:30 am Jim and I and the team headed to town after a tough time catching Dev.

We harnessed up in a new spot, at the entrance to Meadow Grass Subdivision bypassed crossing the highway and the mobile home court. Five mile drive, took 1 hr and 32 minutes driving time all at a walk, this is one of our hilly routes.

The boys did very well, traffic was extremely courteous. At the subdivision we had three horses with tails in the air getting their exercise but the boys were fine with their high spirited behavior and the penned up barking dogs.

At the start of the trip Dev did not want to have anything to do with stopping, did not make a big deal out of it and drove him on. Next time when I let him start after a brief halt his ears were telling me he was looking for the fight, "yeah, so where is the battle" they were asking me. Each time he stopped a little longer with less fuss, as we got closer to home his whoa got better and better. He was content to stop at the crossroads before turning for home and relax after we practiced some circles. At home we drove up to the machine shed made a tight turnaround and came back down the hill to the fence for unhitching. I would say that is a positive!

Liberty was pretty interested in the cattle, especially when they ran from him. His only problem is he would like to stop and rest and when Dev does his hesitation stop he really has to pull hard to get Liberty restarted. I'm not happy about this but it is good for Liberty to have to go.

After unharnessing I did a good thirty minute groom on Dev with the scissors; that makes an even 4 hours this week of primping. He's looking pretty clipped and snipped except I have yet to do his ears, legs and tummy. Liberty even let me put conditioner on his toes, I think he would like some of Dev’s grooming attention. Dev would like him to have some of it too!

May 15, 2007

Was finally warm enough to take an after work drive with Luc. The bees are working the bright yellow rape crop which is now in full stink (uh bloom) so one of my driving routes has been cut off for awhile. This gave Luc and I the opportunity to go thru Day Canyon and drive towards Stites Rd. All is bright green with nothing blooming and with the hazy pale blue sky fully of wispy clouds and lite cool breeze it was perfect.

Spoke with the head honcho of one of our local fertilizer companies and he promised to tell his truck drivers to slow down when they see me driving. We'll see. We visited for a couple of minutes about donkeys, I was very pleased that when he saw me he backed his truck down the road about a quarter of a mile to come back to visit.

Four Canadian geese flew by and lit into one of the fall grain fields and remained there our entire trip squawking all the time. Lots of cattle in the canyon on both sides of the road. We heard a big ole’ hoot owl going off and the yipping of a coyote with lots of coyote sign on the gravel road.

Luc was a powerhouse; he wanted to attack the hills and go. Long powerful totting strides and short collected jogging strides, he even broke into a lope several times. We did not make it all the way to Stites road so I would say we went a little over 5.5 miles. We practiced docking and he was perfect all the way around. Instead of pulling into the driveway when I got him home, I stopped him at the mailbox and opened and closed it several times as loudly as I could. Then we drove away from home and turned around by the east field. Came back and re-banged on the mailbox this time with a passing car dusting us pretty good as she drove past. The other thing I was able to practice was holding my lines Achenbach style and driving him one handed. We got pretty good at neck reining once we both got it figured out. The lighter I am with him the better he likes it. I did collect him and drive him into the bit; he also took that very well.

I moved the seat on the gig back 6 ½” to the center of the runner to see if that will help take out the motion I am getting in the cart. Now I need to get out and see if this makes a difference. It will be so nice to have a second cart so one can stay set up for Luc most of the time and one set for the big boys. That gives me more options of who I can drive and when. I know I need to drive the big guys as singles so will be changing the cart soon for them leaving Luc out of evening drives.

Left at 5:30pm drove 1 hr and 35 minutes with enough daylight to fix the cart. Perfect!

May 18, 2007 Friday after work met with the farrier who was able to reshape Dev’s hooves, a light touchup on Luc and took some toe off Liberty’s hooves still leaving me with enough time for a Luc drive. We left the farm at 5:45 PM and drove 2 hours and 5 minutes of moving time putting us back at dark which was after 8 o'clock.

First off changing the seat on the cart, moving it back 6 ½ inches, gave me a much smoother ride, than I have ever had before. I've had the gig for two years and this was the best ride I have ever had in it when hitched to Luc. Success!!

I was watching the traces to make sure that Luc is pulling from the collar and not the saddle, which I suspect has been done in the past, since I use a wrap strap around my shaves. Now I am wondering about trying it without the wrap straps, freeing up Luc more in the set up. From what I can see he is pulling from the traces as the swingle tree moves back and forth as he walks. Sometimes on flatter ground which is rare where I drive, the traces look to loose and yet pulling up hills they are definitely tight. I see them looser as we are descending and the breeching is working to keep the gig from running over the top of him which is how it should be. (no brakes)

We drove Longhaul Rd to the edge of a deep canyon and back home with no road traffic. Past an old blind dog that gave us no trouble and a freaked out horse that flew around the pasture in sheer panic stopping to puff up with lots of loud snorting. This is pretty scarie to a sweet little donkey boy who just wants to be friends with the world and have all the dogs just go away forever. We made it past freaky horse both directions without Luc running off. Coming back thru Day Canyon the big calves and their mothers were feeling frisky and decided to run towards us, stampede! This had Luc in a worry and he came up the steep side of the canyon without a rest break. We rested on top then trotted the rest of the way to the corner where he walks the final three quarters of a mile to cool down.

I changed the lines to the large ring next to the bit. Luc did not like them there and was not as light and easy as before. I may keep them there to see if he will get use to them, if not I can move them back down. We did not practice Achenbach as he was just not happy with where I had set the lines therefore my cart tracks in the gravel where much straighter tonight.

We did a practice backing, I was trying to see how light my hands could be to get him to take one step at a time, it felt like all I needed was about one ounce of pressure to get him to move..... Wow!! That was an awesome feeling. No verbal commands, I am asking for everything thru my hands. I had a lady once tell me to attach a thread from the bit to my ground driving lines... if I broke the sewing thread I was to heavy handed.

One half mile from home we came across a hitch hiker looking for a ride home and some supper. We picked up ole’ farmer Jim and I handed him the lines and said, “Home James” and off we went stopping by the mailbox this time to get the mail for good and down to the turnaround at the east field where there was a black cat that Luc was sure was going to give him bad luck if he turned around right there. Jim, the super hero that he is, talked Luc thru it and soon was headed for home.

I can still see snow on the mountain tops and the air sez bring your jacket or I'll play freeze out with you. Thankfully tonight we did not have the 25 plus mph winds we have had all week. It was an excellent trip, now I must set up the gig for the big boys and get them out as singles. I am going to miss driving Luc… hopefully his new cart will be here soon and he will be back between the shaves.

Kristi
www.teamdonk.org