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]

Any movement results in wear and tear... if they don't start out with issues, they develop them. His bad shoe job probably made him just move wrong enough to cause aches, but nothing else you could put a finger on.

But even in the best circumstance and with the best of care, we all wear out. And you ride a lot! It could be you need to have more than one horse so you can rest one! ;~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

LOL...No I don't want any more horses, more horses means more problems:)

I have learned that I don't have to ride hours and hours every day for him to be in shape for a competition. My goal is to ride him 3 X's a week, and Rocky 2X's. That should be plenty.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

more horses means more problems:)

Well... so there's that.

I was thinking the other day how low maintenance my pony has been (of course, she's never done a lick of work, either)... But I was thinking about that when I thought she was colicky. She was really hot, had broken a sweat, but I think it was just from getting stuck and stressed out.

[Duchess47]

Yes, he moves really well. Friday doesn't have the mind or personality for English (or western). She can handle halter but she gets really stressed and worried if asked to do more than very simple things. If she were a person, I'd say she was mentally challenged.

We'll just show her at halter and ride trail occassionally. We'll breed her next year and see how she does there.

[HairOfTheDog]

(I know I tend to over worry tho:)

I don't think you worry as much as I do about Bay... every little thing.... "uh oh - is he off? does he need to be retired?" Then he struts around the place like a colt the next day and I think he'll go to 30. He might, but I think he needs to be carefully used.

So how was Harley's back? You thinking about the saddle fit still?

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... sounds like my pony. You think it's just the way she was wired, or was she mis-handled? I wonder with my pony, if she was handled better all the way along would she still be thinking she was about to be killed all the time? It could be they were rough on her breaking, it could be it's just the way she is.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Yeah the fit of the saddle has been my worry still, and wondering if he has a problem since his shoulders are different. I guess I should look at other horses to see how common that is.

BUT, I don't believe there is any problem. I just pulled the saddle, and I mashed down as hard as I could the whole lenght of his back and he was rock solid:)

Yes!!!! :)

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm a bit excited. Jenny's birthday was Mon, and Kristy's is next month. For their birthday's we got them (and me:) tickets to go see Beauty and the Beast on stage in Nov. I just got the tickets in the mail today. Something t look forward to:)

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

My trainer had a couple of Hackneys given to him by an old guy who had raised them all his life and was getting out of the business. He told him that if they weren't flakey, they weren't worth a lick in the show ring. These two ponies seemed awfully skeptical of everything and everybody too. So it may be a breed characteristic.

[HairOfTheDog]

Hey - that sounds like something real different to do! Is it a big-city national tour thing or a more local group?

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - I remember that, and I started to rethink her temperament and wondered if I'd been overly hard on her prior owner.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I believe it is a tour group. I love going to see on stage productions, so Mack has taken me quite a few times. I've been to this theater several times, and altho it is at the Tulsa Community College it's always been a touring production co.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

That sounds like fun.

ecurbh likes the symphony, and we've never seen the local symphony play. That would make a pretty good present for him...

Symphony or new hackamore? Could be he deserves both!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Go to the symphony:), birthday and Christmas presents (at least one anyway), should be impractical, something you don't need, and wouldn't buy for yourself.

Becky

[Duchess47]

No, I'm quite certain she was never mishandled or mistreated. It may be due to her mother dying when she was pretty young. The people we got her from owned her mother when she was born. They did not teach her a lot of things that they should have (like standing tied, or respecting your space) or anything but the basics as far as being ridden. It may have been easier to do those things as she was growing up - hard to say.

Now, she gets very nervous, chews on her tongue and wants to sit in your lap if anything new or different happens. She has found she can trust us, her normal stance is acceptable for halter, and we always make sure that Prez is in her line of site, and reassure her often.

[HairOfTheDog]

I agree with that!

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, she's pretty... Hopefully she'll have pretty babies. What does the mare add to the equation in Appy color? In Paints, they give very little credit to the mare.

[Duchess47]

Depends on the mare really. Farah is the mother of Indy, Fanny and Tuffy. Gorgeous color on all of them with three different studs.

Dusty is the mother of Speed and of Little Bit (sold) both solid and both times bred to colored studs. But, both will roan out to look like her most likely.

Friday has one dominant LP gene (she has to have because of her color). So there is a 50-50 chance of her having a baby with color if bred to a solid stud, odds of course better with a stud with color. Tuffy has two LP genes, he will always throw color, no matter what he is bred to.

[HairOfTheDog]

Tuffy has two LP genes, he will always throw color, no matter what he is bred to.

Ah - I wondered if there were color guarantees in Appys... like there are with the homozygous paint.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

sigh....a cold front is headed this way. Looks like fall is really going to get here. They are predicting a 30 degree drop in our tempratures within an hours time....

Becky