The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN

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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[FrogInABlender]

You better watch out, she'll sell him to ya! You'd have a pretty darned long haul to go pick him up though. He's in Tulsa.

[cjshapi]

Thanks for the concern on Deuce. Anxiously awaiting word from the trainer still. Did leave him a message but suspect he is working horses outside.

His symptoms are a cocking of his head sideways and in towards his shoulder. His ears get all scrunched up and he just appears to be in great discomfort. This only happens when being ridden at a walk; he is fine in his stall or turned loose.

If the anti-inflammatories don't work I was going to next get a chiropractor to take a look. Much as I'd love to see Barbaro, I'd prefer it not be when taking Deuce to New Bolton for diagnostics and treatment!

As for the show, he was wonderful. Trainer told me he was not ready to show yet but he knew I wanted to see him and it was close to home. The horse shows tremendous potential as a Country English Pleasure horse. I did get one pic from the show photog and will post when I have it scanned.

[HairOfTheDog]

Interesting... and they injected steriods into his neck? Where? Or multiple places?

I do hope he clears up comfortable, whatever it is.

Looking forward to the pictures.

[cjshapi]

Steroid shot on the side of the neck, although I think it was an injection simply to deliver the drug more quickly. His next 3 doses were to be oral.

I have a lot of faith in this vet, but the waiting is killing me. Patience is not something I'm known for.

[RebaJ]

I know it's frustrating but whoever is proofing your papers is just doing their job. Just grin and bear it one more time. I was just telling my supervisor this morning pretty much the same thing. Those letters you get are evidence of someone elses work. They have to find something in order to justify their own job every time you submit.

Speaking of english 101 I didn't like that course either. You should see the one I am in now though. I'm required to learn to use the computer and internet. The first class was 4 hours of learning what the mouse is.

[FrogInABlender]

...The first class was 4 hours of learning what the mouse is...

LOL!! Makes you wanna pull your hair out doesn't it. And it wouldn't be so funny if there weren't so many people out there that NEED 4 hours to figure out what the mouse is.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ah - so it wasn't an injection intended to be at the site of pain, just your standard IM neck shot... I was misthinking :~)

I understand about the waiting... Hope you hear soon.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well:), there just isn't many like him. Anyone can ride him, he's a stud, great bloodlines, nice color, $10,000.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Horseshoers... I tell ya, I just don't know what to do with mine :~D

First of all, I was going to ask for new shoes and pads on the front, whether he needed them or not, because we're gonna be riding hard(er) this month and wanted them to be the best... But Mark arrives in a rather hurried mood, and didn't speak much more than two words to me nearly the whole time he was here. I'd ask him, like I always do, "How do Bay's feet look? Is he getting too much grass?" "They're fine."

He usually pulls off all four and then either resets or makes new, so I didn't talk to him about new shoes immediately, I was still trying to assess his unusual mood. Well, this time, he picked up Bay's front, pulled the shoe and pad off, trimmed, filed and put the shoe right back on pretty much all in one motion. I guess that part's OK, last time Bay was pretty ouchy standing on one bare foot in front while he worked on the other one, maybe he was trying to avoid that. They aren't worn out, they'll be OK... anyway, here's the fronts.

And I know you can't see much with the pad there, but here's what they look like on the bottom:

The weird part came with the backs, he said he needed new ones in the back, they were worn out. I asked why they'd be worn out in the back before the front, and he said "Because I did new ones on the front last time, but not the back" OK - I hadn't remembered that.

But he pulls out two shoes that look different than he's worn before, and I said "Those are different"... He said... "Yeah, they have toe clips on them, he doesn't really need that, but it's all I've got". I looked then, in the back of his truck, and it was practically empty... no boxes of shoes of various sizes... nothing. They look OK - in fact, they look like they're rather beveled, almost like a NB shoe. And they are the right size I think, I was just struck by him being apparently completely out of supplies. What do you ladies think?

Here's his backs:

I just wonder, with his mood and lack of supplies, if he's got something going wrong with his business and if I ought to be worried. He had his son with him today too, which is unusual. He was in and out of here in record time, like he was in a big hurry.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Maybe just an off day....

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - maybe he was just not in a good mood today...

[BladeRider]

Is he married? Maybe problems at home and has nothing to do with shoeing.

Why do you put pads on the front and not the rear?

[HairOfTheDog]

The good news is, Bay was rather spry when I turned him back out, trotted off and bossed the pony around for no reason, so he's feeling good after the ride yesterday. Pressed on his back and no flinching at all, even though the saddle was all over the place yesterday, I moved it forward both times we stopped because it was sliding back.

Sheesh... my back hurts, you'd think his worked harder than mine did :~)

[FrogInABlender]

That IS strange! Farriers are a strange lot I'll tell ya. He may be having troubles at home since he had his little boy with him, so that may explain his uncharacteristic mood and lack of supplies. He may not have the money to order more right now, for what ever reason. I know shipping on big heavy things like boxes of shoes has REALLY gone up. My farrier was talking about it not too long ago.

But the shoe job looks really good though. With him resetting the front shoes, you've really got a nice little natural roll going on the toe, just from the wear. And the back shoes, even though they have clips, which I hate, are the rim type we were taking about that give you a better breakover than just a flat shoe. His frogs and heels look great, nice and wide. He's got no apparent flare at all in the toes or the quarters, which would present itself as a change in angle from the coronet band to the ground surface. From what I can see of the back feet, he's got a nice cocavity of the sole plane, which means his coffin bones are nice and high and not descended. The only thing I see is that the outside hoof wall on that hind foot view looks a little longer than the inside. But overall, I'd say that Bay's got great feet and a nice shoe job.

[HairOfTheDog]

Yeah - he's married... and I considered problems at home, and maybe that's why his son was with him.

I wish I knew for sure what the pads are doing for him :~D They are just leather pads, not wedges, so they don't help him break over sooner. Bay has Navicular symptoms, been treating him for that for two years... and he put the pads on then, he's worn them ever since. I figure, if they ain't hurting anything, they offer some protection in rocky places.

[BladeRider]

I figure, if they ain't hurting anything, they offer some protection in rocky places.

I was thinking that was the case. I always wondered about what those were for.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, thanks for that assessment :~D More than I could get out of him today :~)

On the fronts... He rolls the toe like that even when they're new... he brought that up when I mentioned the NB shoes last time, he said "I roll the toe when I make them, I make my own NB shoes" And that's all he really wanted to say about it.

[FrogInABlender]

...I roll the toe when I make them, I make my own NB shoes" And that's all he really wanted to say about it...

Weeeell, he does and he doesn't. Yeah they've got a bit of a roll, but not near as much as an NB shoe, and he doesn't back the toe up nearly as far as I'd like to see him do, but for a regular farrier I'd say he does a nice job. A lot of farriers, most I guess, really don't want you questioning the way they set a shoe and if you don't like the way they shoe, then about your only option is to find another one that already shoes the way you like. Sad fact, but true.

[HairOfTheDog]

A lot of farriers, most I guess, really don't want you questioning the way they set a shoe and if you don't like the way they shoe, then about your only option is to find another one

Heh... yeah - I gathered that, from his unwillingness to talk about it ;~)

I really don't want to have to find a new farrier... Mark's reliable on appts, and I think does better work than the others I know in the area. He's been doing Bay since I got him, and does Bob's too. Bob tried every one in town and liked Mark the best. He's never lamed a horse and his shoes always stay on. I've never lost one, and when I was in the little bit of suck mud we found yesterday at 8 weeks since the last reset, I thought if I was gonna lose one, it'd be yesterday.

Mark's about the last of the farriers around here who went through the community college farrier school that used to be here, before it closed. Some of the others are just self taught guys who did their own and decided to go into business. I had thought about trying to find a NB-trained farrier, if there are any in town, if I thought they could keep Bay sounder longer. But I hate to burn a bridge with Mark if the new guy ended up not working. Mark's been reliable, which is a rare thing in a farrier, it seems :~)

I just worry about him if he starts to seem like he's barely making money.

[HairOfTheDog]

And the back shoes, even though they have clips, which I hate, are the rim type we were taking about that give you a better breakover than just a flat shoe.

I thought they were... Why, I wonder, if he normally stocks and works with that type of shoe, why wouldn't he have put those type on the fronts all along - since he's been shoeing him for possible Navicular anyhow...