The Bag Lady - Part II of III

Pepsicap Mountain

A distinct butte, identified as hill 3291 on modern topographical maps, thrusts up half a mile northeast of where I stood. In archeological terms, it is a fortified hilltop with Hohokam ruins dating from the 10th through 13th Centuries perched defensively on its crown. The country around these parts contains numerous reminders of the earlier inhabitants from the ancient indigenous peoples to the rugged Spanish and Anglos of the 19th Century.

The monograph mentioned earlier, has a hand drawn map showing a peak to the southeast of Table Mountain called Pepsicap Mountain. Modern topographic maps show Table Mountain as Table Mesa, an arrogant redundancy of the Spanish by ignorant Anglos. The settlers of the 1930's, when this area was first opened to homesteading, referred to hill 3291 as Pepsicap. The cracked and fissured rim rock "cap" of this old volcanic cone does look very much like a bottle cap.

The indigenous inhabitants and early settlers of the West were straightforward about naming places, as a review of the historic literature will reflect. Their prose was more literate and expressive than what we are used to seeing today and they were less pompous about giving names to the landmarks of this harsh and beautiful land. Contrast that approach with the grandiose names given the endless ticky-tack subdivisions scarring the urban landscape. It is another example of corporate mentality "progress" where the market rhetoric of shallow and artificial descriptions has replaced a true connection to the land.

I climbed a small rise fifty yards from Tassi. I sat and listened to the wind in the palo verde trees watching the cloud shadows play hide and seek in the canyons of the surrounding mountains. The contrast of light and shadow gives the desert its most striking character. A Harris hawk silently drifted past, cottontails hopped about, and deer and javalina had left their script printed in the sand of the creek bottoms.

After a few moments, Tassi unclamped her tail and stood hipshot and relaxed enjoying the meager warmth of the afternoon sun. She had passed another lesson. It was not a lesson completely learned by any means, but successful nevertheless. I walked back to her speaking softly as I checked my equipment and untied her. Carrying my rifle, I led her across the slippery bedrock to a place where she could drink. Ever the opportunist, she opted for a snack of some tender grass shoots growing nearby instead.

Young horses getting started under saddle need practice being led in rough country, especially where the footing is loose and steep. Over the years I have seen more riders run over leading a horse uphill than downhill. It all goes back to training. Horses do what they know. If horses are allowed to speed up every time they come to an incline while being ridden, why expect them to know the difference when they are being led?

My training philosophy begins with the concept of teaching a horse to “follow” rather than be “led.” It is a crucial distinction. Just now, I needed to get up a steep ten foot bank on the edge of the draw without getting run over, or worse, having the horse run around me and get into cactus or loose footing and tumble back down the slope on top of me. It has all happened to me many times over the years and I didn't need any more practice.

I am a traditionalist. In some circles, that is a euphemism for being outdated. I train "practical" horses for use in rough country. The traditional methods and philosophies of handling horses have been developed over the centuries because they work. Born and raised in the land of the Nevada and Idaho buckaroo, where the California Bridle Horse tradition was followed, I am a hackamore man. Whether I'm riding a horse in a hackamore or a bridle, my horses wear a bosal and neck rope with a twelve to fifteen foot mecate or "get down" line attached. My horses are trained to be led cavalry style with their nose about two feet behind my shoulder and to increase the distance when going up and down steep slopes. They are taught to stand and hold their position while I negotiate an obstacle first and to come to me on command guided by the lead line. This method saves a lot of wrecks and reinforces the transference of leadership and trust from horse to rider. This is not accomplished without some exciting moments now and again. But that is why I train horses. I like the excitement and I'm less likely to get hurt or to injure the horse in the process than someone less experienced.

I chose a spot with reasonably good footing and no serious obstacles. In this country, cactus and large rocks are some of what I consider serious obstacles for young horses. I turned to face the mare and gently waggled the mecate back and forth. The action causes the bosal to tap her on both sides of her jaw. Her ears pricked forward and her head came up in a full alert posture as she shifted her weight slightly to the rear. If I were to keep this up, she would back up. It is a handy way to get a horse to move backwards by remote control and continue to face you at the same time.

I scrambled up the incline making sure Tassi did not attempt to follow me until invited. Once I reached the top, I asked her to join me by slapping my chaps once and speaking encouragingly. She quickly began her ascent. Horses see the world differently than we do. With her athletic ability and a very determined sense of independence, she veered sharply to her right up a steeper but shorter portion of the cutbank. I corrected her with the mecate, timing the correction to create a minor loss of balance and footing for her. To regain her footing, she had to reenter the path I wished her to take. It's not that she couldn't handle the route she chose with ease. The purpose of this exercise is to teach her to do exactly what I ask. In her career, this obedience may save her life and that of her rider.

I do not advocate this kind of exacting performance for all of her ride time. Horses need to be able to make their own decisions and be allowed to relax and enjoy their rides. Most trail riding is best done under "general orders". But, on demand, the horse must do precisely what is asked of them.

Most folks just sit on a horse. They don't ride them. It is only the generous, kind and gentle nature of horses that prevents more people from getting hurt. My experience teaching traditional western horsemanship classes is that most people sitting on a horse think they are riding if they can keep the horse between the ditches. This underachieving approach to horsemanship is because a large number of horse enthusiasts have no idea just how sensitive and capable of precision the horse is.

Tassi and I repeated the slope a couple more times and she quickly understood what she needed to do. I patted her neck affectionately and blew in her nostrils. She nuzzled me in return, raised her head and gave me a haughty glance very clearly stating "I knew that".

Many people have a romanticized view of what horse training is all about. Few of them realize it is tedious and repetitive work. It is this fundamental nature of horse training that accounts for why so many horses are under-trained. The repetitive nature of horse training can be extremely boring and physically demanding. Take the last drill of scrambling up and down the slope for instance. Pleasure riding is supposed to be exactly that, "pleasure." Repeatedly negotiating a steep bank on loose footing wearing boots and chaps is not much fun, at least not after the first time. But, that is what a horse trainer is paid to do. They will repeat the necessary drills, no matter how tiring, for as long as it takes to get the point across. The backyard trainer will often get a horse through a situation and then congratulate themselves and the horse for a job well done believing the horse now knows all about it. Usually, they won't ask the horse to repeat the drill again, or, they will avoid teaching the horse to deal with the obstacle and instead, teach the horse to refuse. Ergo, an untrained horse, or worse, a horse trained to resist.

I carefully slid my rifle back into the scabbard on the off side and dug a small coil of parachute 550 cord out of my saddlebags. I attached one end to the mecate guide loop on the fiadore and looped the mecate around the saddle horn.

I want my horse to follow me rather than be led. The definition of terms is necessary to understanding the concept of “follow” vs. “lead. Follow: "to come or occur after." Lead: "to guide, or cause to follow one, by physical contact." The essential distinction between these two terms turns on the voluntariness of the action. To "follow" implies a self-directed, voluntary act. To be "led" means some sort of physical connection with its subtle threat of coercion.

As a young wrangler and apprentice trainer I had to occasionally ride and repair fence. I didn't have to build them, you understand. The code of the western cowboy still meant something even back in the 1960s. One of the elements of that code was that if it couldn't be done from horseback, cowboys didn't do it. We had "rosinjaw's" or "hired help" to do such undignified work. Cowboys, rough string riders, and wranglers rode. None of this running errands for the boss in a pickup, and, perish the thought, nothing to do with a shovel or hammer. Times have changed, and not for the better. As the horse wrangler and rough string apprentice, I was low man on the totem pole of the rigid aristocracy of cow country. "Hired help" wasn't even on the pole.

It didn’t take long for me to figure out that when I had to do chores I wasn’t getting much done working one-handed -- the other being employed in holding my horse. Hobbling took too long and I still had to retrace my steps. Tying a horse to a barbed wire fence wasn't an option. I wanted to train horses and the sooner I got my chores done, the sooner I could get back to working colts.

These circumstances demonstrated the importance of “liberty training.” A horse that is not easily caught or one that will run off is one of the most irritating habits a horse can possess. In the remoteness of western cow country, such a habit can be life threatening. It should be obvious that two-legged drive is no match for four-legged drive. Yet, it just amazes me how many folks will chase a horse. Like they think they're actually going to catch it. If a horse will not voluntarily come to you, you better have hold of him, or corralled where you can corner him. Riding fence, checking and doctoring stock, putting out salt, or other range work often times two days ride or more from the barn is no place to be afoot. Horses need to come to you of their own free will.

Parachute cord is so light compared to the mecate that it creates the illusion of no direct connection to the rider and the horse thinks they are actually free. As long as the horse stays within two paces of me, I make no corrections. This business of "correction" is a whole lot more complicated than it seems. Training horses, like anything else, is a matter of technique and timing. I've learned lots of technique in my forty odd years of starting and riding horses. I'm still working on timing.