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!

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, that's certainly true! I do know somebody with a rather "flighty" Dobermann (she's a sweet girl, but oh what an airhead) who has been trying to get out of Novice Agility for at least three years!

[MissTargets]

'Coons and chickens...you have your hands full.

AC salesman left a bit ago. He was a little pushy and I don't care for that. He said they could do it this afternoon, but when he called it in, they won't know until this afternoon. My SIL put fuse back in the unit outside and it is working. That service guy let all this freon out when he was here. That was stupid. We changed the filter and he cleaned it, so maybe it just got over worked and will be ok. $2400 for A/C, furnace would be a couple thousand more.

[HairOfTheDog]

See, lots more bang for the buck that way :~)

You've done a lot of research, now just buy the dog and see what he's good at. Every dog I've ever known in any litter is different, so I don't think there's any guaranteed outcome. :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

Maybe the old one will hang in there... maybe AC units might be cheaper in the fall :~)

[BladeRider]

Wasn't there a problem with Irish Setters (much as we have with the Labs) of the conformation and field lines diverging,

Basically they do not diverge the two. Field Setters are so totally different looking that some could barely get a versatility certificate. They are little with short high set ears and 12:00 tails. Alot of show people have field dogs to but do not mix. It has been many years since we have had a dual champion but many, many show dogs are getting JH titles and even SH titles which to me proves their versatility. Some can be dumb as dirt, mostly the males (sorry guys)but the dumb ones make the best pets!

[FrogInABlender]

...Heck... I haven't done that since 22 :~)

What, you went walking down the road nekked waving an American Flag when you were 22? You must've been some kinda Party Animal! ;o)

[HairOfTheDog]

~chuckling~

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, since you can hold your dog on the line in JH and they don't have to be steady (even though they have to deliver to hand), anything with some retrieving instinct ought to be able to handle it.

I haven't sent my dog out for her JH yet, she's just done Started in UKC, so I don't know the details of the JH requirements. What are the distances? How many land and how many water retrieves for a pass? No blinds or diversions or poison birds, right? We can hold them on the line in Started and they don't have to deliver to hand, just to the area of the handler. My dog has always heeled and delivered to hand though, we trained her that way from the git go rather than have to retrain her when we went for JH. And she's pretty steady now, she was honor dog for 5-6 dogs yesterday before she got to run herself, and she half stood up a couple times (and got the heeling stick over the bum) but never broke.

[2Jedismom]

What a story!

I'm missing my chickens particularly keenly this morning...

[BladeRider]

There's one guy in our club who runs agility with a large male Irish Setter.

One setter I bred and co-own is only a few points away from earning her MACH2 (Master Agility Champion 2nd title) It is a race between her and a Midwestern male as to who will be the first MACH2 Irish Setter. Here is Charmin going through the weave poles.

[AnAmericanMother]

She's adorable! Good form too. It's difficult for large dogs to do the weaves. Here's my girl exiting the weaves . .

This setter in our club is not going to give either of those dogs a run for their money . . . I think he's still trying to get out of Novice A . . .

[BladeRider]

With a smart one, it all goes by so fast :~)

Ahh, not necessarily! The smart ones are always thinking of things to make YOU look dumb!

[HairOfTheDog]

So there's that. :~)

[BladeRider]

What are the distances? How many land and how many water retrieves for a pass? No blinds or diversions or poison birds, right?

Since ours are SETTERS we are not required to retrieve in JH only hold for wing and shot. I think the SH do have to retrieve but I have to admit ignorance since I have never even been to a hunt test. Here is one of my JH titled dogs. This is Sky, she lives in MI and is major pointed in the show ring, has her JH and her novice agility titles.

[BladeRider]

Good form too. It's difficult for large dogs to do the weaves. Here's my girl exiting the weaves

She is cute! Is she chocolate? At our National in June the had a weave run off with 60 weave poles and Mia (another one I bred) won the challenge. There were Flat Coats, Goldens an English Cocker and of course a lot of Irish. It was a lot of fun to watchy. I may have a picture of that somewhere.

[AnAmericanMother]

VERY handsome girl! She seems very nicely put together - the setter in our club is a very long-legged, long-bodied, lanky kind of guy (he shambles a little when he walks, that can't be good). Your girl looks much better proportioned (although she has a very long neck, at least compared to our bull-necked Labs. Is that a sought-after trait?)

I didn't realize that Setters didn't retrieve, once they whoa and the bird is shot. Do you actually have to go out and pick up your own birds? (I don't know much about setters, that's for sure!)

We have an Upland title in UKC, a lot of people take their Labs out for it . . . they have to quarter the ground ahead of the guns, hold, and then retrieve. A lot of Boykin Spaniels title in Upland in UKC . . . of course they retrieve as well as hunt and hold. But now that I think of it, I've never seen a setter at the club . . . and that's probably why!

[AnAmericanMother]

She's a very very dark Chocolate (Bakers not milk), her sire is a black Lab that throws all three colors. I thought that had some effect on the intensity of the color, but I met one of her litter mates a couple of months ago, and he has the more typical milk chocolate color.

Shelley looks black when we have an indoor trial, she runs pairs with a black Lab, her "good friend Tori," another small Lab (with an HRCH title), and you can't tell them apart in the dim light. But in bright sunlight you can see the brown, especially on her muzzle.

[AnAmericanMother]

Wow! 60 weave poles! I don't think Shelley would stand for that . . . she'd be looking for her treat around pole 20 or so . . . she actually is a good weaver, though slow (she's a Lab, not a Border Collie), but the most she ever has to do is 15.

[BladeRider]

Your girl looks much better proportioned (although she has a very long neck, at least compared to our bull-necked Labs. Is that a sought-after trait?) I didn't realize that Setters didn't retrieve, once they whoa and the bird is shot. Do you actually have to go out and pick up your own birds? (I don't know much about setters, that's for sure!)

Ahh yes, a long elegant neck that fits clean into the shoulders is very desirable. I have been known for my long necks :-)

I do not know much about hunt tests for setters, only the little bits I have read. I think www.akc.org would probably have the rules and regs. I wish I had time and the facilities to do hunt tests but I would have to drive 4 hours just to train and with working 40+ hours a day, the horses and keeping setters and terriers in show coat it does not leave time for much else.

[BladeRider]

I thought that had some effect on the intensity of the color, but I met one of her litter mates a couple of months ago, and he has the more typical milk chocolate color.

I am sure if she were in the sun all the time whe would burn a little don't you think? Good nutrition helps too.