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!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Great pictures, looks like fun:)

We took the kids to one of those kind of parks one time. It was in TX. Very interesting how trained the animals can become.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Back from my ride, I managed a good 2 1/2 hours today. I actually got started before 8, but man is it hot, it was hot when we started.

I missed Grizzly being with me...ran into a herd of deer. He would have had them scared off before we got to them. I saw them before Harley did, but I think he knew something was there. When he did finally see them it was when we were right by one and it took off thru the trees. The rest of them, I think there were 3-4 stood pretty still, and then took off one at a time. Harley did good, altho he did jump sideways. If he hadn't stopped I would have gotten scraped off by low branches...

I took him to the creek at the end to cool off a bit. The flies were bad, and one was on his chest. He swung his head down to get it off, and he landed up with his face it the water:), it was pretty funny, because he jerked back up and was snorting and blowing:)

Those were the only exciting things about the ride to talk about. It was too hot to work hard, but we did do "some" long trotting, and in a clearing we loped circles a bit...

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds good!

Heard back from Tiff from their trip, they had a great time, I guess, went some places even she thought were hairy, and I guess the new horse worked out just fine. She's a flashy mare, they got, with her blonde trim, if a little scarred up from some pretty hard use.

She's buying hay out of the field today for $1.50 a bale (which is waaaay tooo cheap) and wants us to come get some too, because she bought more than she can fit. I'm skeptical about the hay she finds, and it rained yesterday, apparently everywhere but at this place, if you believe that ;~)

But we're going to go look in a bit.

Oh - and I called down to talk to Bob, and he wasn't there, so I talked to Kay and she mentioned that Bob was busy getting everything organized for this benefit ride this weekend... that they go all out at night and have steaks and music and dancing.... I said, "well, I'm marked trail for it now two years in a row but I've never actually gone to the thing" She said "Well you're going this year aren't you? I thought I heard Bob say you were riding sweep" I said "I guess Bob needs to call me back"

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I've thought of Tiff several times, and wondered how the ride went, just never thought to ask when we've been talking.

So is the ride the same weekend that you would mark trails...Be a good test for the new pad..has it come in yet?

Well it doesn't hurt to "look" at the hay...never know, might be a real bargain. How'd your horses like the new feed? If your feed is good quality, you could skimp a bit on the quality of the hay, but I wouldn't want any that had been rained on.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I thought Tiff's new horse was a pretty thing too. Usually don't get a mane and tail so blonde on that dark of a horse.

Funny her name was Kat too:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

They had just got back from the trip and I hadn't talked to her about it either.

We're going to go look and see, she knows I'm skeptical. I guess she arranged to buy this guy's whole field for a thousand bucks, and she doesn't have room for all of it. If it's not been wet, I'll buy some, but not as much as she wants me to buy, probably... but yeah, the horses are getting plenty good feed, as you say, they just need something to munch on. They like the new feed just fine... it doesn't look too much different from what they've been getting.

The ride would be the same weekend, marking trail on Friday, and the ride is Sat and Sunday. Our horses could do the 8 twice, if we went Friday to put up signs and Sunday to take them down. We'd just like to know ;~) New pad isn't in yet. I have others that will work for the interim. Probably the big square on with the pockets, since we'll have other gear to carry to ride sweep - radios and a special first aid kit, and ecurbh will have to have his pack full of signs.

I guess Bob's going to be on a new horse he's trying: "Barney" - a no-spot appy he wants to buy if he's good. Don't know anything about him except he's big. I think Bob's coming around to the idea that Kai (the big grey appy) is just a butthead to be around and I think at Bob's age he needs someone that isn't so hard.

[cjshapi]

Those pics are awesome! Looks like a lot of fun.

I'm sitting here at my desk singing a new little ditty....
It's raining, it's pouring, my vet bills are soaring!

No word on Deuce's biopsy results yet. Still praying from tissue removal at home. Course now I'm saying a few for Whitey, our 18 year old half arab/pinto campaigner. A kinder horse was never born. Anyway an old soft tissue injury on a hind pastern blew up over the weekend and is not responding to the same treatement we originally used. Call into the vet.

I think mom and I are actually funding the vet's kids riding lessons this year. Or paid for the family vacation. Or maybe a big screen TV!

Carolyn

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh dear... Keep us posted, prayers for your horses, your budget, and the vet's family vacation!

[cjshapi]

Just wondered if any of you have any experience with Foundation Quarter Horses? Helped a friend buy one a few months ago and this may be one of the coolest horses I've ever been around. A wonderful natural athlete with a super quiet disposition.

[FrogInABlender]

I'm curious, when yours rip around the pasture, are they gaiting? or do they gallop? I'm afraid I've never seen a loose gaitin' horse.

Hi there! I'm catching up after a long weekend off. Thursday was my birthday and I took Friday off, so I'm a little behind on the thread. You'll have to forgive my late responses.

When they're doing their fly-bys they're galloping. When they slow down, Grace, Hope and Ellie will trot, but Bob racks. He does it at a pretty good clip too and that's what I really like about him. His mama is the same way.

I took Hope up to the trainer's place on Friday so I'll be anxious to see how she turns out in a month. She was NOT a happy camper on the trailer ride up there.

I went riding on Saturday out at the horse camp and had a good ride, but we got into yellow jackets two separate times and that was definately NOT fun. I've never seen them this bad this early in the year. They about ate us up. I got stung 3 times the first time and once the second time. I don't think they got Bob but they were all over his mane at one point and on my shirt too. Some of the other guys and their horses too got stung real bad. Of course it didn't help that there were 10 of us. The first 2 or 3 get them stirred up and the rest get stung. My worst one was on the back of my right hand. After about 10 minutes I had a Pop-eye hand and it looked really funny. I didn't have any Benadryl or or Sting Kill with me either because they usually aren't a problem until about September. Somebody else had some but I didn't want to take it because I'm not allergic and he was and I was afraid he might need it if we got into them again, and of course we did and he got stung that time so I'm glad I didn't. We did have some tobacco though so I put some of that on it under a piece of duct tape and that brought the swelling down quite a bit. I took some pictures and I'll post them in a bit. I've rambled on way too long in this post.

[BladeRider]

I went riding on Saturday out at the horse camp and had a good ride, but we got into yellow jackets two separate times and that was definately NOT fun.

Well! I am glad I couldn't go with you after all! What did the horses do when they got stung? I know those things can hurt like the dickens.

[HairOfTheDog]

Oh dear.... jellowjackets can be bad... I was riding with Bob once when he started riding up my butt yelling "GO GO GO GO GO GO!" I'm like "What?" "BEEES" "OHHHHHH!" and off we went at a run.... He's allergic too, carries a kit. The only ones that got stung were the horses, poor things... the mare I was riding got a big ole fat lip. I think she bit one that was stinging her elsewhere...

OH - And Happy Birthday!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

All my horses are Foundation QH's, and I MAY be a bit prejudice:), but I don't think you can beat them with a stick for being great all around horses:) I wouldn't own anything but. But:) the Arab I rode in WA, was pretty good:)

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Here's my gelding that I'm riding now, I have 2 others, a stud and a mare.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Nothing wrong with a Quarter horse :~D They're like an SUV.

[HairOfTheDog]

I think my only complaint with Quarter Horses is the way they're shown, with their heads down so low and movement deliberately flat. I don't think that's what a cowboy's horse moved like. Oh - and the small feet the show people put on them. Doesn't make a bit of sense.

I like a fancy mover, no doubt about it, so I like the flair of the Arab. But I also appreciate the big mature movement of a QH or TB that hasn't been deadened down by the show people.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, the hay looked OK, so we loaded one truck full and got it home.... Honey whacked and scraped his shin bad on the corner of the tailgate... so he's now sitting with a package of frozen peas on it :~)

[FrogInABlender]

...What did the horses do when they got stung? I know those things can hurt like the dickens.

Well, that was (kinda) the funny part. The first time, I was about 5th in line and was riding a bit back from the others, so by the time I came up on it they were already in the thick of it. Some of them were off their horses and were madly flailing about with their hats, which I totally didn't understand. Then they saw me and started hollering "YELLOW JACKETS!" but it was too late because about that time I got popped on the hand, which felt like somebody had hit me with a ball-peen hammer. When I looked down I saw 5 or 6 yellow jackets in Bob's mane and about that many on my shirt. Apparently they hadn't stung Bob yet, so that was good, coz I'm sure he would've set in to bucking like the other horses had done, and one of them was even trying to lay down and roll to get them off, so I'm sure that's why the other riders were on the ground. But all I knew is that I sure as hell wasn't going to get off when I had a perfectly good horse under me who also had a vested interest in getting the heck outta Dodge, so I clapped the spurs to Bob and me and him bugged outta there. I didn't care where he went as long as it was away from there, coz they were following. I was slapping and thumping to get them off of him and me and they just kept coming back and got me 2 more times, once on the back of the arm and once on the back of the calf before they finally figured they had made their point and left me alone. So we stopped and waited for the others for a few minutes and they didn't come so I went back to check on them and they were just standing around in a clearing, talking. Apparently the bees had left or something but I still didn't wanna be within 5 miles of that place for fear that they'd come back. Goofy@ass people!

The next bunch we got into was not too much farther down the trail. I was 3rd in like this time so they didn't get me, right away anyways. They got Billy, who was 4th, and every body after that. That kinda split the group for a while. We waited on them for a while further on down the trail, but apparently not far enough because that's when I got stung the 4th time, on the back of the shoulder, when I went back far to yell to them that we were going on to the break area and would wait for them there. They were kinda stuck between a rock and a hard place at that point because there were yellow jackets behind them and yellow jackets in front too. They finally just went cross country and got around them the best way they could. You hate to have to do that because you never know what else you're going to run into when you do that, but what else could they do. Needless to say, we're not going to ride that trail again until it gets cooler, and definately not in large groups.

[cjshapi]

I love his color. So many of them are bred for color as well as athletic ability from what I can see. I'll never give up my Arabs but I might have to get me one of these guys one day.

[cjshapi]

Whooooo Hooooo! Just got word Deuce is benign. Vet has to do some homework on the type of granuloma but the news is good.

We've got to take him to a surgical facility for removal but I'm so relieved I could just scream. Course the folks in the cubes at work wouldn't appreciate it much....