The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE

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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT

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

[Farmer Dean]

It would be a good idea to test the soil PH and lime as needed.The uptake of soil nutrients into the grass can be improved a lot by liming and at today's fertilizer prices,lime is very cost effective.We found that deep ripping the pasture really helps too.It will look like a horrible mess for a while but opening up the compaction helps the growth of the pasture a LOT.

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm in an area that is more timber country than agrarian. I don't have a tractor. I'd love to pay someone a couple hundred dollars to come out and do some soil prep so I could overseed and fertilize my 4 acres... but I can't seem to find anyone advertising that they'll do harrowing or tilling or 'deep ripping' as you call it. I don't know quite where to look, except to start driving up driveways where people have personal tractors and ask them if they want to do the work on the side. Seems everyone but me who needs the work done has their own tractor.

[Farmer Dean]

Maybe advertise in the local paper,or post an ad at the local feed store where farmers buy their stuff.Try to find somebody who has a sub-soiler.For best results get down a foot or more,I know it sounds drastic but the sub-soiler blades are narrow and don't disturb the surface too much.

[HairOfTheDog]

One of the things I see the local hay growers do is pay the chicken farms to spread about 2 inches of chicken crap slurry right on top of the field, they don't even till it in... it stinks to high heaven for about two weeks and wouldn't make me popular with the neighbors but what about doing that? And if I did, could I seed over the top, or should I have seeded underneath it?

[Farmer Dean]

Chicken manure is a good source of plant nutrients,too bad they make a slurry out of it to spread it.If you could get it in solid form and compost it a couple years and then apply it,the results would be great.The heat from the composting would most likely kill any pathogens in it too.
I would seed first and then apply the slurry if that's the only way that you can get it.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think that's the only way to get it... I see the tank trucks driving through the field spraying it.

[Lemondropkid31]

Thank you, Cindy. Yea, I am north of Houston in Conroe. I seem to be smelling smoke here, but I think it must just be pollution.

[squarebarb]

Hi Lemondrop and Hair and Cindy and all; Yep I am west of San Antonio in the Hill Country. Here's a pic of a ranch gate near my place. It's very imaginative. And also you can see how dry it is here. No grass fires here so far. Rain coming they say (please pleaseplease please......)

[CindyDawg]

You can rent tractors. They aren't that high either esp if you split the cost with neighbors that want to get some stuff done too.

[CindyDawg]

Rains a comin

[HairOfTheDog]

Worth looking into... :~D

[CindyDawg]

That's what we do at our lake lot. It really brings the neighbors out:')

[CindyDawg]

If she will blow the picture up will you show me what you are seeing?

[Lemondropkid31]

Hello. I hope rain is coming! We are not having fire problems where I am at, but it would sure be nice to get some rain.

[CindyDawg]

The 10 day forcast has rain for SA Thur-Sun and Houston Thur-Mon. You know how those forecasts go though. I have dropped to just Monday now. Maybe it will come down a little further than expected.

[RebaJ]

I thought something did not look right in that picture. I was thinking maybe whoever took that picture tweaked it as it looks narrow. Hopeully Bucket will be ok.

[RebaJ]

I can't work with them until I am living on our land and able to take in livestock. They do charge adoption fees pending on the condition, quality and training of the horse. Here is the link for Blondie. http://www.lser.org/horses/blondie.htm

[RebaJ]

Speaking of Bucket, I thought I remembered him from last season. He is close to 12 months now and looks better than that first picture did. http://www.lser.org/horses/bucket.htm

[tuffydoodle]

I'm probably the closest of the saddle club members to the Texas fires but I'm still 500 miles away. When the wind is right we can smell it, though.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Just remember it could just be the way the picture makes him look, and/or it's really hard to judge how a foal will mature out.

From the pictures he just looks way too short in his back for the length of his legs. He could land up having interference problems when he moves, his back hoofs striking his front hoofs/pasterns/heels. It looks like his canon bones (the bone that runs down from his knee to ankle) is where he gets the length in his legs, and long canon bones can make them predisposed to bowed tendons. In the link Reba posted to more pictures of him he looked better. I thought his neck looked like it could be very short too in the one she posted, but it looks a lot better in the other pictures. I thought his mother looked a lot better then he does, so it could just be he's a foal and will mature out just fine. It's really hard to tell from pictures.

Becky