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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!
She cancelled but wants me at that reunion. I don't know if I can take another Friday this month. It would be 3. I told her I would show up Sat. That's about the best I can do.
I'm so glad you are near her:')
Buy as much truck as you can afford. When pulling a big horse trailer like that, you may pay a lot for gas, but you'll never say "I wish I had less power right now".
How's the retirement plan going?
Needless to say, that threw a crimp in retirement plans since I don't forsee selling enough horses to pay it off real soon. I am putting every dime I make on bills though and hope to have most of them gone by summer.
How are your plans doing?
Slow. I'm very patient but I like to make things happen. I want it this July but next more realistic caz I'm not happy broke. I don't care about being rich but I like my pleasures and comforts:') Our truck is a 96 but the body as good as a new one. It's a 3/4. I like trucks.
We were going to sell the '92 Dodge but now are thinking about just having some major engine work done and keeping it too. It's in excellent shape except for the tired engine :)
Well I like those new ones but there is no way I'm gonna spend 50k for one. Ours is comfortable. As you say though, they just require overhauling after awhile.
Besides, the new ones are all bucket seats. Ours is a necking truck:')
Be safe, all in storm's way.
She is not cancelling. I told her again last night I was taking her to Austin on Wednesday and that she needed to work it into her schedule. I can't be there Thrusday and Friday, but maybe I can leave her there with you and pick her up Thrusday after class around 11pm.
Quiet in here - not much horsey going on I guess, except Froginablender sent these neat video clips - there's a lot of them, of those neat rocks we like so much :~D Sit and watch them when you've got awhile! They're Windows Media.
These recent storms are bad, hope everyone in tornado zone stays safe today.
My riding buddy and I rode yesterday on the wilderness side of the Forest. I rode Grace, but I didn't have a girth small enough to fit her on either of the new saddles so I just took the old one that I knew would fit her. I didn't want to be out in the middle of nowhere with an ill-fitting saddle. We had a good ride over all, but not without incident. Since we were going into some rough country, I felt I needed to put the crupper on her to keep the saddle from sliding forward, even though she'd never had one on before. She did fine with it for 3/4 of the ride, but all of a sudden, going down a hill, she took exception to it and bucked my butt off. I managed to hang on to the side for a while but finally had to concede to a hopeless situation and let go. I won't say that it didn't hurt, but not enough to do any real damage. I jammed the pinkie on my left hand and it's swollen up real pretty today and I'm sore all over, but nothing that won't heal. I got back on and she did fine for a while, but I could feel another bucking spree coming on farther on down the trail so I removed the crupper at that point. No sense getting your neck broke out in the middle of nowhere if you can help it. She bucked one other time after that, after something spooked her, but I really don't know what it was. It's like she shot forward, then slammed on the brakes and bucked. But that time I managed to grab her around the neck on my way off and kept from hitting the ground. I got back on again and made her go first at a pretty good clip for quite a while and she did fine, aside from the occasional dip and dodge at the imaginary boogers on the side of the trail and her gait was very nice, so I'm not going to complain too much. It's all part of the deal when you're riding young horses. One of these days I'm going to be too old for it.....but not YET!
Grace at a exploring break...
A creek crossing...
Some big rocks we had to check out...
The "Fat Man Squeeze"...
I managed to hang on to the side for a while but finally had to concede to a hopeless situation and let go.
I know that feeling... seems like it drags on minutes where you know it's a foregone conclusion you're going down... but you're still hangin' on!
I respect your guts riding young horses, I don't have the courage to take a fall in stride any more. I hope your aches and pains mend quickly and you can get her over the crupper... That's tough because even lunging in it wouldn't put it in play... it's got to have weight in the saddle and going downhill before it would upset her I bet. Good luck.
Yeah, the crupper thing was kinda strange. Like I said, she was fine with it for most of the ride, even the steepest part where I knew it was needed. It was a small slope in the trail where she bucked the first time and was relatively flat when I felt her gearing up for another round. So go figure. Maybe it finally just got on her last nerve. I'll just have to play it by ear and see how it goes the next time I guess.
Interesting.... I have to side with her that it'd be a pretty weird feeling... a little like wearing a thong and gettin' a wedgie :~D But they do get used to it.
I've never used one or had trouble with forward moving saddles... not with Bay and his big wither anyhow.
The only other time I had trouble with one was on Truly, Grace's mother. I had been riding her in it for several months, but this one day she had these big ol' horse flys after her and they kept biting her on the butt and I think she kept clamping her tail down on the crupper because of it. She bucked me off 3 times in one hour that day. I finally wised up and took it off. I sprayed her with OFF too, so that helped, but I never got up the nerve to put the crupper back on her either. She has big withers too, so she really didn't need it, but then again, I didn't ride her into some of the places I've been here lately either. I guess I need to tighten my girth up from now on.
I really like this barn. It doesn't belong to a Mennonite family, but I have to gaze longingly at it every time I pass...
This is your typical Mennonite homestead. All the houses look the same. They're white, 2 story with a front porch. And all the barns and outbuildings are barn red...
This fence was pretty cool too. They weave little cedar sticks in and out of the barbed wire between t-posts, I guess to help hold the fence up and keep the livestock from sticking their heads through it...
I love that top barn.... so pretty and tidy!
And the fence is pretty cool. Those cedar battons would make it quite strong, making it act as a whole unit instead of individual wires.
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