The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread

[HairOfTheDog]

Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?

A few of us thought it would be interesting and informative to have a chat thread where we can share ideas, ask for input from other horsemen, and talk about our riding and horse-keeping. We have a lot of different kinds of riders and horses, and a lot to share. We may not ~always~ have a lot of activity, but when we do, it will be fun. I will put a link to this thread on my profile page, so if you have something to say and can't find the thread in latest posts… look for it there and wake the thread up!

I will also develop a ping list for horse threads that are of interest. As FreeRepublic is a political site, our politics and other issues will probably blend in…. There are many issues for horsemen that touch politics… land use, animal rights/abuse cases that make the news…. Legislation that might affect horse owners.

I am hoping this thread will be a fun place to come and share stories, pictures, questions and chit-chat, unguided and unmoderated and that we come together here as friends. There are lots of ways of doing things and we all have our quirks, tricks and specialties that are neat to learn about.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Exactly!

I hate it when someone's got their horses nose in my horses butt and askes "does he kick". I want to tell them, well I hope he does:) I would if I had a nose up my butt.

Those people who do that sort of thing cause two problems. One and immediate response can happen that the lead horse kicks, and two that "teaches" the lead horse to kick when one gets too close, then the rider has to deal with un teaching a bad habit that wasn't their or their horses fault to begin with.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

I gotta go, I am gonna be late!

Post your trail ride pics before I get back this afternoon!
Have a good Friday everyone!

Long weekend! woo hoo!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Yes Ma'am:')

Oh, and I wasn't preaching. Just voicing my opinion, which is what this forum is for.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

See this pic? That mare does not like Bay one bit. If he gets close to her at all, she'll swing his butt at him quick if you don't catch her. Bay knows it. He's had it happen. He doesn't want to get any closer. I tried to get close for this posed shot, but look at that body language. Those horses are communicating what the safe distance is, and people cause trouble when they try to force it.

I wouldn't force these two into a small space, but they trailer just fine together. When we travel, he's tied in the front compartment with her tied in the back with the divider between them. Because Bay rides easier, I tie him backwards with his head on the opposite side.

OK - now I ~really~ gotta go.

[CindyDawg]

I know and I appreciate your experience:')

More than likely I'm just nit picking. She's probably a good horse and what I'm looking for and I'm just dragging my feet.

[CindyDawg]

I have seen that picture several times and never noticed this until you mentioned it. It's very obvious though. How about that!

[Beaker]

I'm not entirely sure how they score the meets in terms of standings. It's probably the way that they do it at most shows for year end standings. It's mostly Equitation on the flat and over fences, so they look at how the rider rides. It's based mostly on the rider, and less on the horse.

[Beaker]

It is interesting to draw your horse out of a hat.
Interesting is one word for it... yes... Nerve wracking is another. :-) When we did team practices at my hunter/jumper barn, that's how my trainer did it. We had some nutters for horses.

[Beaker]

What is USMA and OCS?

[Beaker]

I have found that the more different horses I ride the more I learn and the more confidence I have.
This is true :-) I used to get aboard anything and everything. However, after a hiatus, I'm discovering that I'm going through a "quiet and sane" horse phase. :-) They can have some nutty horses at the shows, and sometimes the way a horse behaves at home is completely different from the way he behaves at a show. (Been there!) And even with how long I've been riding, I've never done competetions where I've had to draw out of a hat, so I don't know how confident I'd be in that situation. (Probably not very)
But at the same time, I want to do it because I've never done it before. I'm crazy like that! :-)

[Beaker]

She seems very gentle and calm but how's she going to be at max. health.
I wouldn't worry about that. It's only when they're extremely underweight and go back to full weight that there can be drastic behavior changes. If she's on a rich food she might feel it, but if not, everything should be OK. I saw the picture, and she doesn't really seem to be that underweight. Her withers are a little narrow, but if you hadn't said anything it would have taken a good look to notice. Maybe she looks different in person. (In horse?) :-)

[choctawsquaw]

When I get a new horse, I always keep them separated from the other horses for a couple of days, they can sniff and touch each other over the fence, but that is all. After the couple of days I turn them out together. Yea there is some kicking and squealing until everyone figures out the pecking order, but after that everything goes back the way it was. Because I after all am the head of my herd and my horses know it, even our stallion. When I am out in the pasture I am boss. Horses should know thier place within the herd and with thier humans.

CS

[AnAmericanMother]

United States Military Academy - at West Point - in other words, the guys who go career and get commissioned after taking a four year degree. They have a reputation for being fairly stuck on themselves - a reputation, btw, that was completely justified from my experience with them at the horse shows.

OCS is Officers Candidate School. Ordinary guys who got drafted and started out as enlisted men, then got nominated by a Selection Board to go to school to become a lieutenant. The Academy guys and the OCS guys, needless to say, despise each other. The OCS guys figure THEY came up the hard way and know what it's really about, unlike the perfumed princes at USMA. The USMA guys think of the OCS as jumped-up lower class huddled masses. MY family are all OCS. :-D

[AnAmericanMother]

I think part of it is that you can never predict how a horse will act at a show. I must confess I suspect that the West Point boys brought her as a ringer to unnerve the other competitors - they did engage in sharp practice at the horse shows (telling off one rider to cut in front of other competitors and pull up suddenly, causing your horse to break gait, stuff like that.)

As far as scoring, the collegiate classes are purely equitation. The judges are scoring the rider for form and command over the horse. In the class I rode on Shalimar, I had no rails down - I was marked down because I was completely in "safety seat" - sitting back much further than a hunt seat rider should sit, with my feet thrust well forward to brace. If I had been riding in forward seat position, she would have had me on the ground.

[HairOfTheDog]

Horses are fun to watch! Are you doing anything today horse-wise?

I was ~really~ tired at work today. It didn't help that there was little to do but stare at the opposite wall.

Becky..... waiting for your delayed trail ride report!

But if I don't come back right away, it's because I succumbed to a nap.

[CindyDawg]

A nap sounds good. Just got home and thinking about it:') I'm going to the stables around 6. I want to work with "she" some more and ride and then walk the two of them (spaced) around. If she does ok I thought I would drop her lead rope and let her graze a little with Okie. She can run away but she can't really go anywhere and he stays real close.

I feel like I'm neglecting him though. I groomed him a little yesterday but during the week I won't have enough lite to ride them both. Eddies saddle isn't in and he won't use the loaner :'(.

[Beaker]

I was marked down because I was completely in "safety seat" - sitting back much further than a hunt seat rider should sit, with my feet thrust well forward to brace.
I would have done the same thing. :-) It's the smartest thing to do.

[Beaker]

I want a nap too! Rode 50 miles on my dad's new Harley. :-) Now I have to go ride a horse. Bikes and horses. Life just doesn't get any better. But I'm going to be sore tonight.
:-)

[AnAmericanMother]

I hunt that way too.

Now that I'm training with a combined-training coach instead of a hunter-jumper coach, my seat is much deeper and further back. You won't see any daylight under my seat over a jump - I'm clearing the saddle but just barely.

I fall off less now < g > but part of that is because I'm pushing 50 (hard!) and I don't bounce as well as I used to.

[Beaker]

My family never went to military school, but we're military. Well.. one half anyway. I would be, but they'd give me the boot once they did a physical! :-)