The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT

See our "who's who" page! ^

[HairOfTheDog]

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

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 MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets 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!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN

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

[HairOfTheDog]

Funny, freeping is a hard habit to get started, but an even harder one to break:)

Isn't that the truth :~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well, did he act like he thought you were crazy:)

I had a few ladies respond to me by laughing a bit. You could tell the ones who thought it was a waste of time, etc. But oh well, too each his own:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, yeah - I did think he thought I was a little crazy ;~D

My friends that I ride with know all about it... My friend Tiff would really enjoy FReeping, I think. She's becoming more political all the time, she'd like the Saddle Club, but I told her she'd ~really~ love the religion forum, where should could finally have an audience to debate all the stuff I don't ever want to talk about. :~D

But she doesn't have a computer at home, and only occasional access at work.

[HairOfTheDog]

err... ~think~

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, I'm gonna go out and clean stalls and tidy the barn.... I ~think~ and ~hope~ it's going to be dry enough for us to do the saddle fitting outside instead of in a cramped stall, but just in case...

[MissTargets]

Jody has white hairs on her withers now, on the left side. I presume it was from that marathon trail ride over Labor day weekend. Five hours was just too much, for a horse hardly ridden. We used my Big Horn saddle, like your husband's on her. So, now it's solve that problem, of what is pinching her.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - good to solve it! Sometimes you don't know there's a problem till those marathon rides. It's all in degrees.

I just want to have my confidence in my system back. So many unknowns with Bay about whether his white hairs were from one ill-padded ride or are part of an ongoing fit issue that needs corrected. His original fitting was three years ago, backs change, pads wear out. So out of this he'll get a new pad(s) that are right now.

[MissTargets]

Hello, have a great time on your trip in the East. It's raining everywhere in the area. Here for two days now. I bet the fall colors are gorgeous in Maryland. It's a beautiful State. You staying long?

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, Dan the Saddle Man has been and gone, and I didn't get any pictures while he was here, but I did take these while I was waiting for him to get there.

I took every pad I own out there...

Here's a picture of the problem... looking back from his wither. White patches right on his spine in the back, and right at the front of the tree in the front.

He put my saddle on with the system I used all summer, and said the saddle was bridging even with the Cashell, and it's time to build him up in the middle.

He took my Cashell pad back with him, and he's going to sew pad to it that will fix it. I can pick it up Friday. I'll certainly take pictures of what he makes!

[FrogInABlender]

If you've still got the sore throat, try some zinc tablets. They usually knock it right out for me.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks.... so far, I'm better today. I might have beat it. :~D

[squarebarb]

Until Sat. then to NYC and then home. It's great, cool weather.

[FrogInABlender]

...But he was in a bandage that went from fetlock to above the hock...

That's interesting because my vet had me take Bob's bandage off after the first night and told to leave it off. I was skeptical, but it's done fine. I'm like Becky, I wish they would all tell you the same thing!

This is Bob's wound when I found it...

This is it the next day after it was cleaned up...

It wasn't down to the bone like Henkell's was, but it's done fine being left open and he's had free run of the pasture with all the other horses. For the first week or so I kept him on Bute and Tucoprim, but after that, nothing. I spray with Granulex in the morning then irrigate and debride in the afternoon and spray with Granulex again. He was slightly gimpy at first, but not too bad. This past week he's been ripping around the pasture like nothing's wrong with him. I do notice that every now and then he'll gallop on 3 legs for a step or two, but it's definately getting better. I'm entertaining thoughts of taking him out on some short rides around the barn to see how he'll fare and if he does ok then maybe for longer ones. I figure the exercise will ge good for him.

I'm amazed at how much Henkell's scar has shrunk. The vet told me that Bob's scar would not be very noticeable and I didn't believe him, but now maybe I do. Thanks for sharing, it makes me feel better.

[FrogInABlender]

Funny, freeping is a hard habit to get started, but an even harder one to break:)

Isn't that the truth :~D

Yep. Cav was on me forever to drop in and lurk but I very seldom did. Then I got started lurking regularly. Then when I got started posting and talking to everybody on a regular basis I talk to y'all more'n I talk to my own family. It's kinda funny!

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... I had a lot of conversations about you with Cav! He'd say "I sent your post to LurkerBeth, and she says..."

I asked him then, why is she lurking? Why won't she sign up? :~D

[HairOfTheDog]

That's ghastly too. Worse than Bay's knees were when he fell, but his looked that meaty, without the flap of skin hangin' there.

And his healed up with little scarring and good dark hair coverage... and I just couldn't imagine that they would.

Hey - do you still have access to the pic of your vet doin' castration on Bob? Can you post it again? I'm having a conversation in FRMail with a friend about veterinarians and large animal practice... and I want her to see it. She'll hopefully explain why in a minute, I'm trying to encourage her to use you guys as a resource.

[FrogInABlender]

...White patches right on his spine in the back, and right at the front of the tree in the front...

Am I seeing it right... It looks like in the front there's 2 large well defined white spots out around the shoulder blade area, then another more diffuse looking one in the middle at the wither area. I see the 2 smaller white dots on either side of the spine in the middle of his back pretty well.

[HairOfTheDog]

then another more diffuse looking one in the middle at the wither area.

That's just glare. There's no white in the center wither.... just the large white spot on his shoulder blade and the two by his spine.

[FrogInABlender]

...And his healed up with little scarring and good dark hair coverage... and I just couldn't imagine that they would...

Yeah, I don't think Bob's knee will have hair on it since they had to cut off that huge flap of skin. I don't think hair folicles come back in scar tissue that big, but I'll hope for it anyways.

Here's the pic of Bob gettin his noogies nipped...

[HairOfTheDog]

OK Rose... here's my horse vet:

Here's his truck. He's got most everything he needs in there... even the water hose he's using is hooked to a tank in the truck.

Here he's checking the pony's ears in her stall.

Here he's floating (grinding down) Bay's teeth, while Bay is heavily sedated in his stall. Bay's too drunk to hold his head up, so his chin is resting on a crutch with the red pad on it.

Here I'm holding Bay's tongue out of the way.