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!

[Duchess47]

I'd like to see that. I think I've seen more than one before, I just don't recall what horse it was. It would be really interesting if her hypothesis pans out. :) Now I'll be looking at every horse's face first.

[CindyDawg]

Great. Now I want to get my flashlite and go
check mine:')

[Beaker]

Meh. Everything will be alright. Things are just all over the place right now. So I put in some extra time at the barn instead, (horses are so therapeutic) and my trainer is being super nice to me and really going out of her way to let me have some riding time. She's even going out of her way to take me on a trail ride tomorrow.

[Lemondropkid31]

"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."

So far we have got next to nothing here. I hope that some rain is coming to north Texas in the next few days.

[Lemondropkid31]

"One white foot buy him
Two white feet try him,
Three white feet be on the sly
Four white feet, pass him by."

I have heard it this way;

One white foot, buy him
Two white feet, try him
Three white feet, eye him
Four white feet, deny him

[Lemondropkid31]

Ohhh I am so sorry, what a sweet cat. My parents have a cat that looks just like her named Fluffy.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I went back and read your this morning. I can't wait to go see Belle's face. Her personality fits #4 to the tee.

Becky

[MissTargets]

Good Morning everyone!

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

Duchess, so sorry about your kitty. The head shots of your horses are beautiful. NO one can say those are ugly Appaloosas!

The swirl thingys I have heard of before. Also, the position of the swirl on the neck is suppose to be an indication of how well a horse will rein. Personally, I look at the eyes and mouth to read a horse's "personality"...

Becky, talking about the 4 white feet saying...did ya ever hear the one about palominos?

"They are crazy, lazy or both."....(Harley excluded, of course)

[MaureenPT]

HAVE A WONDERFUL DAY EVERYONE Maureen

[HairOfTheDog]

Mornin'... :~D

~sip~

[AnAmericanMother]

Oh, man, have they softened that poem up! The original goes like this:

One white foot, buy him.
Two white feet, try him.
Three white feet, deny him.
Four white feet and a white nose,
Cut off his head and feed him to the crows.

Unpigmented hooves are softer and don't hold shoes as well. When my mare casts a shoe, it's always on her (white) near hind. She just has a white coronet, that and a tiny star are her only white, but the hoof is pale and softer than her other three.

Other folks in our barn have the same experience.

[AnAmericanMother]

Condolences on your kitty.

I have Siamese, and they are bad to chew and eat wool and string. (That, and plastic grocery bags.) I have to watch them all like hawks, they still get wool yarn and what not anyway.

But your kitty had happy years with you, and as a street kitty she would have had far less time, and far less happy.

[HairOfTheDog]

Unpigmented hooves are softer and don't hold shoes as well.

A common myth among horseman... Not really believed true by any farriers I've talked to. The Horse Illustrated this month also said it's a myth. :~D

[AnAmericanMother]

You know, T-J has some interesting ideas, but sometimes I feel like she has gone right over the edge into LaLa land.

I'd have to see some serious studies before I believe hair whorls (that's what most people call them) have any influence on personality.

I have the friendliest and steadiest horse on earth, so I'll check her face and see what she's got. I think her personality has more to do with her long career as a broodmare in very close contact with people and less with the hair on her face . . . but that's just me.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, all I know is that MY mare always casts THAT shoe. And the hoof does seem softer to me. (I use shoe polish on it for hunter shows.)

[FrogInABlender]

I'm so sorry about Kiki. I've lost several cats in the last year and each one of them takes a piece of your heart with them.

[HairOfTheDog]

I admit it's a common belief! I'm sure I've even said it myself... And I have a perception that part of what makes Cyn's feet so hard is that they are dark black. Bay is black on one side front and back, and white on the other side. But the farrier says the white and dark feet on the same horse are no different from each other.

But it might also be the power of suggestion... White feet ~look~ softer.

I'd think if she always throws the same shoe, then she's overstriking or stepping on it with one of her other feet.

[FrogInABlender]

Hey cool! Those are the kinda shoes I just had put on Bob. It seems like you're farrier knows more than he was letting on. I'll post you some pictures I took of them.

Natural Balance is a special way of trimming so that they can go barefoot, but it's also a special way of shoeing so that they are LIKE they are barefoot, only more protected. The whole point of it is to get the point of breakover back to where it would be if they didn't have shoes on.

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm still needin' to get around to watching your DVDs - Today would be a good day for that, it's drizzly out.

[FrogInABlender]

...A lot of our horses that are barefoot wear the front of the toe off sort of square between trimmings.

EXACTLY! That's the whole point of Natural Balance.