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!

[CindyDawg]

So noted:')

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Just read the posts, hoping everything is fine this morning.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Everything's fine...

So they were just bein' stooopid. :~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well good.

It rained thru the night and more is forecast, thru the whole week it appears. I'm very very glad for the rain but I need some sunshine. I don't think we've seen the sun for a week.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

It's sunny here again, after raining most of the day Sunday. Should be good for our pasture grass. I feel bad about the folk who got cheated on a weekend day though and have to go to work... the forecast looks nice most of the week again, with rain possible again next weekend.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

How do you think Bay was yesterday, after his ride? Any sign of soreness? Tired?

Becky

[MissTargets]

Good Morning everyone.

So nice to see the pictures of trail riding from Hair and Squarebarb. It was a beautiful weekend to ride here, but I didn't do it. Went truck shopping Saturday and did get to see the Kentucky Derby. The Granddaughter had her first show Sunday. I didn't get to go, but will post some pictures when my daughter sends them to me.

[HairOfTheDog]

He was pretty good, far as I could tell. Seemed to have enough spring in his walk, wasn't dragging around anyhow.

I did Bute him in the morning, just for good measure, I figured, if I had aches, he probably had worse ;~D

So when I went out, I had the syringe of Bute in my hand. When I pressed on his back the first time, he flinched bad, but I realized, he was flinching because of the syringe, he thought I was gonna give him a shot ;~D

After I ditched the syringe, he was OK I think... but still a little unsure what I was doing ;~D It wasn't a good test but I think he was OK.

His sweat pattern was good under the saddle. It occurred to me I hadn't rode very much in the new pad yet, it was made at the end of the season last year, when the white hairs showed up. But it looks good. And the white hairs from the pressure spots last year disappeared, I'm so thankful for that. I hated being reminded of them.

[HairOfTheDog]

Looking forward to pics from the show then :~D

Duchess, did you have any babies over the weekend?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

That's good.

Even if he was a bit sore in his back, it could be more from it being his first ride of the season, and not the saddle not fitting. Especially since you did a lot of climbing.

The sun is shining right now:). I'm suppose to have JP today, so no riding, at least not this morning. Maybe this evening. I've got 2 weeks before the week before the ride. The week before I usually just ride once and easy ride to keep him supple, then go to the ride and Fri. and take a short one there. Chris is suppose to shoe Celia's horse the Mon. before, I'm going to call him and see if I haul Harley over there if he would go ahead and shoe him then. He is scheduled to be shod on the Mon. after the ride. With all the riding I'm doing, and hope to do before then, and with the rain. I'd feel more confidence in his shoes if he was shoed before I go.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

That's what I figured... If my butt was sore, I'd figured the guy who had to haul me around was probably feeling it too :~D

Hope you can get Harley shod so you're confident... You don't need shoeing problems before the ride again!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

He has been doing great in the shoe department. I just don't want to lose one during the ride. If we keep getting rain, it could be very muddy there. It's also very rocky so losing a shoe can be disasterous. They usually have a farrier there, but if you lose one in the middle of the ride, a horse can get really sore before you get to camp and have it replaced. That's what happened one time when I tried Rocky at this ride. It was such a freak thing. He never loses shoes, but pulled one off the first day right at the beginning. He got so sore that I pulled after the first P&R.

Becky

[BladeRider]

Well we had another unsuccessful weekend getting the farrier to come. It is bad when the farrier actually is your neighbor! We will probably trailer the two boys Jake and Blade to a guy about an hour away to have the NB shoes put on them and have another local man come trim Old Queens feet. Unfortunately I guess the key to getting a farrier to call you back is to find one that is hungry!

Carolyn

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Farriers are arrogant pigs aren't they:)

I went thru that. I've finally got one now that is at least dependable. I'm having to school him a bit on the finer points of NB shoeing, but with the help of Frog, we are getting there.

I called him this morning to change my shoeing date, and he has called me back, so there's that. I did have a problem with this farrier a year or two ago about not calling back, but after a little talk:), he has gotten better.

Good luck.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Yeah, I got a couple of black nylon trail bridles and I really like 'em. They were made by an old local guy who's in a nursing home now, but National Bridle has a nice one that's made out of black Biothane with all solid brass hardware and it's the only one I've found that anywhere near the quality of the ones the old guy made. The biothane really feels like leather, even the reins, so you might want to get the reins that go with it. It sure beats the heck out of having to clean and oil leather all the time. I just throw these in the water trough when I get back and rinse the salt and dirt off of them and they're all set to to the next time. It keeps the brass from turning green too. Here's the link to the bridle...

http://www.nationalbridle.com/Shopping/productb.asp?catalog_name=nationalbridle&product_id=5315

and the reins...
http://www.nationalbridle.com/Shopping/productb.asp?catalog_name=nationalbridle&product_id=5317

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well, I'm off. I'm going down to Kristy's to help her get her horses gathered, and loaded and watch JP, then we are coming back here and she is going to ride here. With all the rain, her driveway is a mud hole. Charlie has been working on it and had it all dug up, before the rain hit. She can't get her trailer out, so has to go borrow Jenny's. What a mess:)

See you all later.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Get batteries in the camera :~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

So, that is a halter, bridle combo?

I like it.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

I like the halter bridle combo too... I'd love one :~D

But now I've switched to a Hackamore... so there's that.

[BladeRider]

It's a lucky turn of events for me that he's gonna end up being a good rider without a lot of lessons and training, because I'm not sure he'd find that part all that fun. He just wants to go. I was really lucky to when I met (as Frog calls him) the "better husband". He had never ridden before but he has turned out to have a better seat than I do! We went on a guided trail ride last fall in Bryce Canyon Utah. That was a very challenging ride for us, luckily the horses to that ride everyday, twice a day so they were very sure footed and stable. If I can figure out how to post pictures I will send some. It was BEAUTIFUL there.