The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR

See our who's who page! ^

[HairOfTheDog]

*New* The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - Who's Who *pics*

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?

This is a horse chat thread where we 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. In the previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.

I always have 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 also have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list. 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.

So... like the previous threads, this is intended as 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.

Previous threads:

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[tuffydoodle]

"There are 43,560 square feet in an acre, right? so, multiply that by three and you get 130680 sqare ft.
Take the square root of that and you get 361.5 feet on a side, Multiply that by 4, and you get: 1445.9 ft, or 1446 feet. for the perimeter.
There are 5,280 feet in a mile, right? So divide 1446 ft by 5,280 feet, and you get .273 miles every time you go around. So, if you go around 4 times, you'll get 1.1 miles."


Will you marry me?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Good morning


Becky

[MissTargets]

Good Morning all!
Hope everyone had a good weekend. It was home and garden show for me again on Saturday. This was a small local one, nothing compared to Cleveland. It was nice and they had the ponds and waterfalls too.

I attended my first ever "Adult" birthday party Saturday night. Oh my, it was too funny. The Birthday boy turned 30, and he has a very funny personality. They had a "very large" woman come in and do a belly dance/skit type thing. We did get pictures.. :)

My daughter showed at a contest/schooling show this weekend. She rode a friend's horse that has been having trouble. It was very cold and snowy. She said her hands about froze, and could hardly hold the reins. I told her she was nuts...lol

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Have you seen this thread?

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1341811/posts

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

There is nothing colder then being on a horse in the cold:)

Was it indoor or outdoor? Sometimes I think the indoor ones are even more cold. Those metal buildings just seem to be like ice boxes.

Becky

[MissTargets]

Thanks for the reminder on that thread. :) It's good they are keeping it going. I will need to bookmark it. I do feed the birds, and garden, so it should be very interesting.

Two different stables, both indoor arenas. I agree on how cold those buildings are. They both have heated viewing areas, but they still can be cold. When she came home, she said "no more winter shows"..lol

[Beaker]

Will you marry me?
LOL. That's not legal in all states... :-)

[FrogInABlender]

Good Morning to you too!

I had a fairly productive weekend. I got to ride on Saturday at a new place I'd never been to before. It was pretty nice, but not nearly as pretty as some of the places in the Forest I've been riding. I'm spoiled I guess. The trails were cut with a bulldozer and it's been fairly wet lately so they were a little muddy and soft. They had even built some small "bridges" over some of the small stream beds. They were about 10 or 12 feet long and 3 feet wide. All the horses in the group but one had no problem going over them and that one just finally had to go around. They scared me real bad while trying go get the mare across though because they were trying to lead her across and she kept trying to not step on the bridge and I just knew she was going to hurt her legs or jump on the rider. She almost fell one time trying to avoid it and she nearly knocked the rider down when she finally jumped across the ditch. They need to do some serious ground work with her before they try that again.

The other thing I did was swap pastures with the mares and geldings so the mares will be off fescue as they get close to foaling. It took about 3 trips back and forth but I got everybody moved and settled into their new place. I'm going to have to do some fence repair before the babies come though because the fence where the mares are is fine for grown horses but not for foals. I also had to move some piles of lumber that my FIL and BIL in the barn that I was afraid the babies might get into. It was a busy weekend, but nice.

[HairOfTheDog]

Am I logged in? :~D

We've been without internet for more than a day! And our electricity was off too! Our whole area here lost power over a few miles stretch.

I woke up yesterday morning in the 19th century. Had to drive into town to get water for horses, I guess we had one modern convenience... a truck :~D

Power came back on early yesterday, but no internet till just now, the cable guy had to come and tweek it for it to work.

But I'm FReepin now! Any news? I gather I haven't missed any births?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well there you are:) I was rather worried about you guys, and thought about pinging to see if something was wrong, but didn't want to be an old maid:)

No biths, no deaths, so we're doing good:)

I'm cleaning out my closet:(. The weather does not look like it's going to do what the weathermen said. Gray windy and chilly. We had a big storm thru the night, not forecasted. Wind, thunder, lightening. All the stuff in my front yard is blown all over the place, and everything is muddy again.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

I think the yearling would get in the way and perhaps be a big problem.... of course you're right they should seperate them.

When Taffy (the paint) went into labor Bay was in a next door stall and he was AWFUL hysterical and out of control. It was his bond with Taffy that was the problem. He thought she was in some kind of trouble or something. We had to get him out of there, put him in a pasture on the other side of the property, and hope he wouldn't hurt himself. When I pulled/led him over there, I don't think his feet ever touched the ground. This was 12 years ago now. Something I'll remember when positioning foaling stalls with other horses around, especially of Bay is one of them. Do your other horses get excited by the birthing process?

[HairOfTheDog]

My brother was supposed to report in to the HH yesterday that we were in the dark ages, but I don't know if he did... :~\

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

We've only had two foals born here. So far (knock on wood) it's never been a problem.

I've already tho been figureing where the blessed event will take place. If I leave her in the arena, I could miss it. If I'm sleeping out here to catch it, she could go off to the far end and I wouldn't notice.

The other place I'm considering is the run Harley is in. That is where she had Dot. But at that time that stall was 24X12 with an open front. Now it is 12X12 with an open front. Would that be big enough? And also if she is in that run, that means there will be a gelding on either side of her. That worries me because of just what we are talking about, if the birth thing gets these two gelding stirred up, she'll have one on both sides...

But those two places are going to be the safest for the foal, it's all panels, no wire.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Hmmm... You could put her in the run with the geldings in the arena. There's a buffer paddock between her and any other horse that way right? - supposing Rocky stays put?

[MissTargets]

Good to hear you got some riding in...lucky you. Pictures??

My gelding would not cross water when I first got him. We tied a rope on his neck and another rider drug him over. That would be the safest way. This was not over a bridge, so that would pose another problem.

I am going to have to start some indoor riding here pretty quick. I want my self in shape for the trip to the Smokies. No matter how much you work out, there are still sore spots you get from riding.

[Beaker]

Woah. What caused the power outage, does anyone know?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

If she is in Harleys run, I could put the geldings together. Then she'd only have them on one side.

I guess at night when I'm not able to keep an eye on things and when I'm not here I could put the geldings behind the barn where they can't get to her at all. It's just hard to keep water out there. Rocky's run is away from either place.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

My gelding would not cross water when I first got him. We tied a rope on his neck and another rider drug him over. That would be the safest way. This was not over a bridge, so that would pose another problem.

Unless he pulls the rider off into the drink too... I've seen that happen ;~D

I've struggled with a few horses over water and bridges... bridges make me the most nervous because their footing can be bad if they choose to clammer and dance on them, and the options if they panic and come off the bridge are never good. I've never seen it go really bad, but the potential is always there... even Bay gets tense on the loud metal bridges at our forest, I can feel him coil up and hurry to get off... I am as relieved as he is when they are behind us.

Cyn's a bit green on water, we found that out on her maiden voyage with ecurbh... she leaped every ditch instead of stepping in it. Ecurbh was just well-balanced and a bit lucky to stay on. In hindsight, I'd have chosen for him to get off and lead her. Yes, they can pull away, yes, they may leap into you, but to me it feels safer than getting dumped off the top. Usually, the best medicine is for the seasoned horses to stay close by, and cross back over repeatedly if necessary to help convince them they can do it too.

[Duchess47]

Our two foaling stalls are in the barn of course. Next to one (the one Farah's in right now) is the stud's stall. A gelding (Prez) and a colt (Buddy) are across from her in the two stalls that will become one later. She is next to the paddock of another mare, and the stalls that the guys are in are next to the paddocks of a mare and a gelding. Everyone seems to appreciate the company while at the same time, the mares know their space is their own.

Whenever a mare foals, the other horses are all awake and watching - no noise, just alert.

[FrogInABlender]

I think we must've gotten the tail end of your storm last night. It woke me up at 12:30 with some awful thunder.