| This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
|
Locked on 06/19/2006 8:54:08 AM PDT by Lead Moderator, reason:
New thread here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1651860/posts |
Posted on 02/24/2006 9:12:25 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
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!
Short, muscular backs are better. Check. :-D
And nothing smaller than 13hh - maybe between 13 and 15?
Hair's always counseled on getting a well-seasoned horse, especially for a first horse - but what age is considered "too old"? Bay looks wonderful in his mid-twenties, but isn't that an exception?
You could ridethat horse just fine, especially being a mustang. Ponies and mustangs are very hardy and strong.
Becky
Oh, lookit that. You're right!
That would definitely be something to consider with my oldest daughter, although at the rate she's growing - she'll soon be taller than I am!
heh...her mom will end up on the smaller horse. She'd get a kick outta that.
Hey you know what that makes a lot of sense. Seems like it would be good for any horse. I guess the trick is getting it placed right? Would that be hard, or is it obvious where to put it? Wonder why Chris said Harley wouldn' need them. Could you use them on the front only?
Becky
You shouldn't be able to put your feet down out of the stirrups and stand up. ;o)
Seriously though, it's a matter of personal preference. I've seen some seriously big people flying along on little Icelandic Horses (for heaven's sake don't call them Ponies or their owner will stoke out!), and they seem to do fine. They just look a little funny.
I'm trying to train my brain to look past the pretty faces and learn more about good/bad conformation: posture, carriage, feet, hips, etc.
It'll be years before I get my own horse, but I can't pass up an opportunity to learn as much as I can about them before I'm in the market.
I really do like that horse I posted. I can really appreciate her now based on the comments I've read here and she still has such a sweet face to go with it.
Ponies also have a longer useful life than horses (there really are documented genetic differences between the pony strains and the horse strains, even though they can crossbreed.) My trainer had a pony in work for almost 40 years, he was very healthy and sound as a dollar although she had semi-retired him to just carry beginners on the flat. He eventually just lay down one morning in the pasture and died -- just wore out all at once I guess. He was a good little pony and everybody loved him.
It also depends on how the horse has been worked. My mare is 21, but she was not even broken until she was 14 (she was a broodmare who came up empty on two rebreedings and was sold cheap . . . we got a real bargain in her). Horses off the track will tend to go unsound earlier because of the stressful work at a young age. Most horses are retired from work not because of age or health issues but because of intractable lameness.
LOL!
14 hands is the official breakover between pony and horse.
Here's a little hint when looking at horses. Everybody thinks their horse is 15.2, when in fact, most traditional QH's are just under 15. Bay looks huge next to them, and he's a ~measured~ 15.2.
As for 'too old' - it really depends on the past use, and care the horse has gotten, and the luck of good or bad genes. I'd hope you would get someone that has 'been there done that' but still has a lot of years left, first for you, then perhaps getting handed down to the girls. I'd start looking in the teens, but don't overlook a nice sound 20 year old like that one, if she is. All that said, we were looking for a horse in the teens for ecurbh, and ended up with a 7 year old.
I've always liked that picture! That's a very nice looking horse.
Fjords are little too, but they're built like a Sherman Tank.
All horses and ponies look taller than they really are when you're standing next to them. My mare is exactly 16 hh . . . I have to stand uphill to mount from the ground if I don't want to lower my stirrup. That, or lead her into a ditch (there's never a bucket or a stump around when you need one).
My guess is that would be the scariest part of the purchase of any horse. You'd really have to trust the person selling it to you.
And if that horse has changed hands many times before you got it, it would be impossible to know what they were put through earlier and what possible problems you might face as a result.
You can take whatever the person selling the horse ~says~ with a grain of salt, and the decision is always really on instincts. The horse either looks vigorous and healthy, moves sound and checks out OK with a reasonable vet, or not. Horses can go lame at 4 or 24, whether they've had prior problems or not, they could all go lame next week.
Funny story -- back before my husband turned up allergic to horses (and back before we were married), he started taking riding lessons (hey, he was courting me at the time, it was "love me, love my horse".)
He rode at the barn in NJ where our equestrian team trained. He was this huge big guy (6'6") on the biggest horse in the barn (half Belgian, half God knows what) in a class of little 8 year old beginner girls.
That was funny enough, but one day his class went on a trail ride, and this mean little gray pony named Lambchop decided to crowhop a little and his rider fell off. The little girl began crying and did NOT want to get back on Lambchop. The instructor looked around, but all the other little girls were afraid of Lambchop and they were hanging back. The instructor's horse was a wiggy T'bred and completely out of the question. So everybody looked at my husband . . .
You could hear them coming before you saw them because everybody along the stable road was laughing. We were up in the upper ring working, and here came this procession . . . this tiny little girl up on this Belgian, and my husband on a VERY unhappy Lambchop, with his feet dragging the ground. He could literally point his toes and make two drag marks in the dirt.
Lambchop probably thought twice before dumping any more little girls . . . at least while my husband was around!
I have to find a way to get uphill on Bay too.... especially since I loosened my cinch up ;~D
You've hit on the crux of the problem right there. That's why so many of those farriers on that forum are bad-mouthing them. You can't just take that shoe and without any training, slap it on any old way, or for that matter, apply it like you would a peremiter fit shoe and expect it to function like it was intended. Getting the heels trimmed back properly and calculating the proper breakover point over which to set the shoe is 95% of the solution. Also, when first applying them, the hoof capsule is usually elongated and it takes several shoeings before you can get the toe back to where it needs to be, so you've got a breaking in period so to speak.
Is that why they're big on x-rays? It cracks me up a little to hear them talk like you can't shoe a horse without x-rays, because I don't know anyone who has ever gotten x-rays for that purpose.
When we bought my daughter's first full Size horse, we were told he was 12, he had no papers. We had him 6 years, till he died. At the time of his death, he was at the vets, they said he was in excellent shape for a horse in his 30's:)
Beware of "12 year old horses without papers:)" just as Hair said all horses are 15-2, all unpapered horses are 12:)
Becky
Ha! That's very true!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.