Growing Wine Grapes

I grew grapes for wine, the noble Vitis Vinifera, for close to 30 years. A good wine can enhance a meal. In fact, given any other choice I will choose water with lemon if a decent wine is not available. The acid in the wine, or from the lemon, keeps the palate clear and lets you get more flavor out of a well-done meal. Then there is the allure, “why yes I grow my own grapes and make my own wine my dear, care for a glass?” 

I know it sounds trite but good wine starts in the dirt and everything in the dirt ends up in the wine. I had sandy, rocky soil with minimal amounts of organic material. Vines need to struggle to make good wine grapes. I did fertilize but with composted organic material and a mixture of manures. If your manure still contains some amount of ammonia in it the wine will have an interesting bouquet so have patience give it 2-3 years to compost well. Watering, I always drip irrigated but sparingly. If you’ve got city water its’ treatment chemicals will end up in the wine so avoid it as much as possible. I had my own deep-water wells, so I didn’t have that worry. It’s the same with pest treatments. I planted a certain type of tree near the vineyard that Ladybugs were partial to. Ladybugs do a number on most common insect pests.

Mountain Horse Training 2: Tack/Untack Both Sides

Suppose you are in the high country and need to saddle, or un-saddle your horse near a cliff-side. I don't know about you but I'm not standing between my horse and the edge of the cliff to adjust his tack or work with the saddle. Sometimes that means you have to work with him from his offside

I'm going to assume you can saddle your horse, so now it's time to work from the offside. Start as if the horse has never been saddled before. Get him on a longe line or his lead rope and run him through his routine for moving forward, backward, "Come" and "Whoa" all while standing or walking on his offside. At this point grab a bucket or step stool so you can be slightly above him on his offside. Pat and rub the horse from tail to ears all the while talking, whistling or singing to him. Gently lay across his back and slowly let your weight come to bear on his back.

A Man and His Buds

Dogs. I've had a lifelong relationship with horses and dogs, and if pressed I couldn't give you an answer as to which is my favorite. Could you answer anyone if they asked you which of your children do you like the most? Back in 2010 I jokingly said to my wife, "I need a wolf." Damned if she didn't find me one that had a bit of dog in him. Most of his genetics expressed as wolf, including much of his behavior. He weighed in at over 100 pounds and was a handful.  Here's a photo of him and my other dog.

As one might imagine having a wolf can be a bit troublesome. If you think you might train a wolf, forget it. What you can do is bond with him and become a packmate. He was my hunting and fishing companion. I would heave a trout to him and he'd give me a look almost to say, "what, this is all for me?" Crunch, head, fins, entrails, everything, gone in a flash.

My other dog, my favorite breed Heinz 57, they have a little bit of everything in them. He's my working dog. He hustles the horses when needed and worked cattle well. He's also my truck dog. A man has to have a dog in his pick-up.

I had to put my wolf down not too long ago. They tend to die fairly young for canines. My other dog has mostly retired and his days are filled with power lounging in the sun, and pick-up rides. Oh, and wienies, lots of wienies.

Children and Horses

We get our Number One Grandson, who is 5, for 2 to 3 weeks in the summer. The great thing about grandchildren is you've already been there so you can just savor the experience. Hell, all the mistakes you were ever going to make you've already made with your children.

My first experience with a horse was when I was 11 or 12. I was shown how to saddle it, and then mount it and away we go. There was a girl who I had a crush on involved which explains some of my complete lack of sense. Fortunately for me it went well enough and my relationship with the horse has been with me since. 

Mountain Horse Training 1: Ground Tying

This post is more or less a re-post, but I've separated it out from my previous one in an effort to make things a little more coherent. When you're riding the back country, horsemanship follows some different trails. You have to assume nothing will be possible to do in the way you might normally do things. One of these is tying your horse. There just may not be room or a place to conveniently tie a horse to but you need the horse to stand still while you work with it. The solution is to ground tie the horse. It really is nothing more than having the lead rope on the ground with an appropriate command to let the horse know he's "tied."

So how do I proceed? Start at the beginning and train the horse to stand still while attended. Using a vocal command (I use whoa) and body language (stand tall just off to the side at the front of the horse) I step back and put some slack in the lead rope. If the horse attempts to move forward, I shake the lead rope with my hand clearly visible to the horse and give my vocal command.

Continue until the horse doesn't move when you are at least one horse length away. The next step is to do the same thing while the lead rope is on the ground. Drop the lead rope to the ground and give your vocal command. If the horse tries to move, hold your hand up in a stop attitude and give your command. As the horse progresses move around all the sides of the horse while he's ground tied. If necessary, go back to the lead rope in your hand portion of the training until he gets it right.

At this point you need to get the horse to stand comfortably while you proceed with other business. Ground tie the horse and do a small chore. Keep an eye on the horse with your peripheral vision and admonish it with your vocal command if it tries to take a step. Keep working on it until the horse can stand comfortably for 10 to 15 minutes without taking a step and with you at least once going out of sight of the horse. This should now be a regular part of the groundwork you do with your horse. As always at the end of the session praise the horse and give him a lot of positivity when he gets it right.

Mountain Horse Training

I've been remiss. It seems I haven't written a thing here in months and I also have failed in putting my thoughts down on mountain horse training. 

A friend of mine sternly reminded me of this recently. So, without further ado I have posted a list of things a good mountain horse should be able to do and in subsequent posts I will provide some rationale and the methods I have used to meet these requirements. As usual, this is my list and others might want to add or subtract as deemed necessary. Here we go:

1. Ground Tying

2. Tack/Untack Both Sides

3. Flapping Objects

4. Startlement Horse

5. Startlement Rider

6. Wildlife Encounter

7. Chain Saw

8. Obstacle Crossing

9. Backing

10. Sidepassing

11. Weight Drag

12. Load/Carry Saddlebags

13. Don/Doff Clothing

14. Lead/Follow

15. Firecrackers

16. Gunfire

17. New Trailer Load/Unload

18. Cross Water

19. Cross Bridge

20. Ground Leading in Harsh Terrain

Horse Trailer Wrap-Up

My horse trailer is finished, registered, and road worthy. I've given it its maiden shakedown cruise carrying a one ton load and then did a complete re-inspection. Everything checks out so I'm good to go. Of course, my horses, even though they've been trailered extensively before, see this new trailer as an existential crisis so they have to be re-trained. Pain in the... A few pictures of it are shown below the jump.