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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!
The other thing to do is take with you shopping the horsiest person you know -- your trainer or instructor or barn owner. Also be sure you have the horse vetted - it's worth the fee, especially if you intend to ride fairly hard (i.e. we do a lot of jumping so we have to be sure our horses are completely sound).
Another good idea is to get the horse "on approval" - keep it for 2-3 weeks and ride it and see what you think. Our trainer generally buys and sells that way, she's had some keepers and some she's sent back . . . likewise some she's sent out have come back, but most tend to stay. She does try to match horses with riders for a good fit - won't sell a wired-up T'bred to a beginner, or a pokey old horse to somebody who wants to compete. The seller is happy to have the horse stay with her because it's like free training! (I doubt somebody would let their horse go 'on approval' to a total stranger without a training reputation.) It's a good way to figure out if the horse is right for you, instead of just a quick ride around the seller's ring.
Horses Suck :) BigMack
I was trying to post: "Dam, there is nothing easy with horses" when Mack interrupted:)
Becky
Oh, if I was in the market now I'd definitely want to check out the mare I posted.
~sigh~ One day.
I remember you were a bit concerned about Cyn's youth, but she did turn out to be quite trustworthy, didn't she?
I was able to age my mare within one year from her teeth -- we checked it later against her papers when we got them, and I was only 4 months off!
The gypsies used to doctor the corner teeth by carving the groove out and filling it with tar . . .
Cyn has turned out to be the best rash impulse buy we've ever made.
ROFL! What a great mental picture you painted, chica!
You got that right. The same applies for 'too young'. I think I read somewhere that a horse could be considered a "seasoned" horse at about 250 hours. You could have a 20yr old that hasn't seen 250 hours in it's whole life, and a 4yr old that's already seen 500. It's all relative. Experience is the key. Horses should come with an Hour Meter, like a tractor! ;o)
My dog has turned out to be the very best snap decision I ever made . . . just because she came prancing over, loved all over my children, and shouldered all the other puppies away. "MINE! MINE!"
They lied the other direction on the pony. They said she was 6 at the auction... and the vet said she was six when he floated her teeth three years later.
Course they also said she was gentle and broke, and she was, when she was half-anesthetized :~D
From the best rash impulse buy ever, to the worst :~D
< /lurk>
*sigh*
I dreamed last night that I had a chocolate lab that I was takin' with me everywhere.
< lurk>
LOL!! Boy can I relate to that. My husband went riding with me once while we were dating, but boy you won't catch him on a horse now. He prefers his horses under the hood of a car, preferably a Mustang!
Glad to see you, I was about to ping you and ask if you still had signal... The monsters dumped your router on the floor a bit ago and I had to put it back up.
LOL! Oh, what I wouldn't have paid to see that! It's a shame you don't have a picture of it, you could have made a lot of money off of it.
Once in awhile the signal drops for a sec, but it's been really good over all!
Taking off for work now...see ya later!
Thank you. She IS a beauty - pretty conformation and nice gaits, good looking jumper who never refuses. Her former owner was breeding her to QH stallions and getting Appendix halter champion foals out of her. When I get tired of not doing really well in combined training (we both stink at dressage) I take her to a hunter show and enter her in everything. The last (unrated) show we descended upon she took first place in every class she entered, including 2'6", 3', handy hunter and conformation hunter, and won the championship class as well. (With a saddle on the pronounced dip in her back doesn't show.) She's a little bit pokey ordinarily, but the noise and excitement at a show jazzes her up exactly the right amount. (I ride with longer stirrups at a show so I don't look so strange.)
Naturally I never have a camera when I need one . . . I was in the upper ring training a green horse, a camera would probably have gotten smashed in the confusion. (That was back when I was in college and 19 and stupid - I rode all sorts of horses that I would never get near now.)
No, you've got everything you need to figure a proper breakover point right there on the sole of the horse's foot. All you need is a sharpie and a straight edge. My guess as to why they're so big on x-rays is that they might use them to see if the horse has any structural problems in the foot that can't be seen from the outside. If they do, you might set the shoe differently.
Sorry this one's not available . . . I take her with ME everywhere . . .
That might be the monsters. They sometimes manage to turn it around so it's not pointing well at you, and if I notice it, I fix it. Call if it lasts long.
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