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!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Is that right:), how interesting.

I really wasn't sure if he was a sharp shinned or a coopers hawk, I'm going by the size that he was a sharp shinned.

I would never have guessed to look under the hawk section of my book, but my husband said it looked like a hawk. That's the only reason I figured it out so quick.

Becky

[AnAmericanMother]

Roger Tory Peterson said the first thing to look at is beaks and wingtips, I think. That and the talons and the squared-off tail say "hawk" - - that is a true accipiter and not a buteo (red tailed hawk) who has a rounded tail:

This is a sharp-shinned hawk.

Here's a peregrine - note the fluffy leggings -

.. . and a buteo or red-tail - the most common hawk hereabouts. He's a much larger bird, as big as a small dog. We have one who visits us periodically, roosts in a cherry tree in the front yard and terrifies all the songbirds into invisibility:

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I had a red tailed hawk who hung around here all summer. He'd fly around overhead screaming, and my chickens headed for the barn. It was rather funny:)

From the description in my book, this one was still immature. He didn't have the blueish gray head and back like the mature ones. He was still brownish mostly. They really are pretty, but sure have wicked looking eyes:). No doubt they are hunters:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning...

~shivers~ it's 17 degrees out this morning. My weatherbug from the airport says 14.

We gave our spoiled ponies a hot mash and some hot water in their buckets this morning... :~D

[MissTargets]

Good afternoon. I was out of town this weekend, and didn't make the ping list...my bad. It was sure cold this morning too. About what you have. This coming weekend is finally suppose to reach above freezing. Looks like it won't be a white Christmas, when all the snow melts.

Our horses have been out every day, with their blankets on. Biscuit would go nuts, if she had to stay in one day. Speaking of nuts, my daughter went to a barrel show last night. Cold as it was. She did ok, but with the divisions, she is too fast for one, and not fast enough for the other. I really don't understand the 2D and 3D's all that well. A chance for the slower horses to place, I guess.

[MissTargets]

That Horse is adorable! Good job getting it put together.

You have to get pictures of him riding it.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - we've discussed the merits of the D thing before too...

Our horses go out every day, rain or shine... they've just been staying in a little later... let them eat their hay inside instead of outside :~D

But it's sunny today, and warming up. We let them out in the front pasture where all the sun is, and they are out there standing broadside to it :~D

[squarebarb]

Hoipe you get it all together!

I will probably be jjust lurking for a while, now in addition to waiting on pins and needles for the results for my Thoroughbred mare, my white mare Dolly has cut herself up on barbed wire. It's like an emergency ward around here.

[Daryl L.Hunter]

If his back feet are hitting his front your shoer (or a corrective shoer) may have to role his toes, this is filing down the front of his front hooves making a curve arching them so they can roll over faster and get out of the way of the back ones.

Citizens For A Freer America & The Upper Valley Free Press

Daryl L. Hunter - Editor

 

[MissTargets]

Good Morning.

Back to the grindstone again.
At least my co-worker has come back for half days.
That will take the pressure off somewhat.

[HairOfTheDog]

Welcome to the saddle club thread!

Is that you and yours in the picture?

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning...

It's warmer now... and rainin'.
Which is better, I guess, than the sleet and ice they predicted :~D

[CindyDawg]

I'm off most of the week. I was supposed to be off Thur and Friday but I took another vacation day, today and tomorrow. My son is home from Japan and they are spending Christmas with us thru Wed , before heading to San Diego. I've been "cleaning" all weekend;') They should roll in about noon.

[ShakeNJake]

Welcome to the Free Republic Saddle Club! Loved your online newsletter! I especially enjoyed the Sam Adams quote and the news on how the wolves are doing in Yellowstone Park.

You sure do have some lovely country to trail ride through.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Good morning.

Very cold here, and it's spitting snow every now and again.

The 3/4 D's are very controversial around here, but does seem to be what all the jackpots are going to. IMO, it's fairer then the old way which was you entered into catagories according to how much money your horse had won in the past. Like Novice (no winnings), $100 novice (not more then 100). Some jackpots had 250, 500, then open. But the most fair way would be everyone run together, and then pay out more places depending on how many entered. That's the way rodeo's do it. One class for all. The thing about that way tho you don't draw as big a crowd, because beginners feel they don't have a chance.

I think the 3-4 D's are fairer, because if you have a beginner horse and ran in say the novice class, they paid to the 4th place and you were 5th, is no differnent then falling 5th between the 3-4 division if each division only paid to the 4th place. What makes it fairer is there is no cheating on entering horses that should be say open horses but someone lies and puts them in the $100 novice division. And that did use to happen pretty frequently. A little girl would climb on moms finished barrel horse that could run with no help, but mom enters the kid in the novice class because the kid is young and doesn't think it fair for her to have to compete against seasoned adult barrell racers.. LOL...lots of those little kids can ride better the adults too.

But alot of the old timer barrell racers bitch about the 3-4 D;s and won't compete in them. They feel cheated when they fall between divisions. My DIL, falls between divisions pretty frequently, and gripes about it. I think it's pretty funny, alto I don't tell her:). But if the jackpot was divided the old way, she wouldn't have won, so I don't see the difference.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Thanks for the info.

I think we've got him squared away now. The problem seems to be fixed. I think my shoer had just gotten in a hurry and the horse was out of balance. He's been shoed twice now since the problem got bad, and he has improved tremendously. I never heard him click once last week when I rode him. We put trailers on his back feet.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Still hopeing for the best. Let us know what you find out.

If horses can find something to get hurt on (and they usually can), they will:| Makes you wonder why we love them so much.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I meant to say I think the 3-4 D's are fairer then the Old way that jackpots use to be run, but not as fair as one class for all.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

I hated to hear that about the poor hawk hitting your door. They are so pretty. I love watching the Red Tailed hawks we have around here. Occasionally I'll see one hunting along the side of the highway. It's pretty impressive to see them dive-bomb a mouse in tall grass.

I've read somewhere that putting cutouts of a hawk or owl silhouette on the glass of your sliding doors will keep the birds from flying into it but the bad thing is that it'll keep them away from your feeders too. I don't think it would've kept your hawk from flying into it though. That's really strange for one of them to fly into a door.

[FrogInABlender]

...my white mare Dolly has cut herself up on barbed wire. It's like an emergency ward around here.

You're having the worst run of bad luck with your horses! Hang in there and let us know when the vet calls about the lymphoma results.