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.

[Inge_CAV]

"Don't know much about him other than he's kinda screwy and hasn't been ridden in a while"

"And I'm taking a bunch of whistles, so I need to figure out a way to carry them all. Before I just used to take 1. Now I have 4 or 5 as well as a flute or two."

Hmmmmmm, maybe you should wrap a pillow around your head and your rear, just in case........ : )

[Beaker]

Hmmmmmm, maybe you should wrap a pillow around your head and your rear, just in case........ : )
Good idea. Very good idea. :-)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Back from the ball game. It was fun. It is a beautiful evening here.

We did find out right before we left that a neighbor up the road committed suicide this morning. If you have a neighbor that you really don't know other then to wave, should you take a meal to them. I'd only talked to these people a few times. I'm not sure if it would be the right thing to do to take something, or just send a card, or what?? What would you all do.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm beginning to wonder about this neighborhood. In the 24 years we've lived out here there have been 2 suicides and 3 murders (one the murderer tried to blame it on a horse). Does that seem high to you all?

Becky

[Beaker]

Quick, what's the Lorentzian transform in tensor notation??
Heh. It's a good thing that you're just messing with me, because I hate typing out equations. :-)

[HairOfTheDog]

Wow... I don't know what to do in that situation. Anything would be nice... And unexpected.

[Inge_CAV]

At least you are a better rider than I. : )

[Beaker]

He's a horse that belongs to someone I know. Apparently he's screwy because of they way that he was ridden. He was a hunter and the trainer rode him hard and fast and too strong, and it made him kinda nuts. But when he's not being asked to jump, I guess he's ok. I'll check it out, and if I don't like it, I'll pass. I'll just be sure to wear a hard hat.

[Inge_CAV]

"Does that seem high to you all?"

Yes it does seem high. Are you near the Kansas border?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Will the people that own him ride him at all? If they won't get on him I wouldn't. But that's just me:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

That does sound kindof high for one neighborhood...

(one the murderer tried to blame it on a horse

You have to tell that story!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No. Why would that make a difference?

Becky

[Beaker]

At least you are a better rider than I. : )
No, I'm probably not. It's just years of not listening to my brain when it tells me that riding a certain horse isn't necessarily a good idea. I end up staying on because I'm stubborn as heck and I don't want to be on the ground before I'm ready. :-)

[Inge_CAV]

"He's a horse that belongs to someone I know. Apparently he's screwy because of they way that he was ridden"

When you have your own horses and raise your own colts, you will not have to worry about situations like that. : )

[CindyDawg]

I guess, just what you feel comfortable with. Maybe you could send something with another neighbor that knows them?

[Inge_CAV]

I thought you had mentioned Kansas in one of your earlier posts and I thought of the Bender Inn story that happened in Kansas. I have relatives in that area is the reason I know about it. : )

[CindyDawg]

It seems high but 24 years a long time. Something to look at is weather and professions. I was looking at some statistics awhile back and suicides higher in winter and psychiatrists high on the list. Go figure. Maybe listening to other peoples problems all the time depresses them.

What happened with the horse-murder?

[Beaker]

The people that own him do ride him. She was retraining him to go western, but stopped when her trainer left. So he's kind of in between. I don't know enough about western to keep going, so I'll just keep him wear he is.
No, I'll be very careful, I promise. :-) I've had too many riding accidents to throw caution to the wind anymore. :-) If no one rode him, I wouldn't touch him, especially since she said that he was high strung.
Sometimes high strung horses are ok once you lunge them. (I don't know if I spelled that correctly) longe/lunge. It sounds like bad training. He was a sane horse before one of the trainers got a hold of him.

[CindyDawg]

Well be careful and save the pictures for when you are "grounded". :')

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Young couple that lived together and rode horses sometimes. The kids and I had rode with them a few times. He seemed like just a regular nice guy. Computer geek:)

They came by the house one day while we were out and he asked if we were going to be out riding. We said No.

What he did was while they were out there he bashed her in the head put her foot in the stirrup and gave the horse a slap, then he went home. Went back out around midnight a found her, still hooked in the stirrup. Went to a house a got them to call 911.

I took a meal up there and he told me that she had wanted to ride longer then he, and when she didn't come home he went and found her.

It wasn't till a year later they arrested him. I guess there was evidence he had offed another girl somewhere else. They had him in a county jail and was getting ready to drain a pond looking for the other lady, and he hung himself in his cell. Guess he was guilty.

Later I heard the police were suspicious of the story he told, because there was blood on the saddle where it shouldn't have been if she died caught in the stirrup.

Scary thing was I never believed he was guilty altho some of the neighbors did. Just a week or so before he was arrested, he showed up here, he had moved away, late one evening and asked if we had been hearing rumors about him, or anything new. We said no, and he left. Later we heard about his arrest and suicide.

Becky