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!

[HairOfTheDog]

Speaking of weight... Last time Cyn was out running around, I noticed she had a distinct jiggle-layer everywhere, so we've cut her way back on grain. She's only getting a half a can now and she is furious.... You know how she tries to go steal from the pony, we stand there and yell "Cyn" and she just ~glares~, I think Bay is about right, so he's still eating long after both of them are done, but neither of them question that.

The loose salt is working, they sometimes lick it all out of the bottom of the dish, sometimes leave it, sometimes come back for it later in the day. They are all drinking more. I think I'll probably cut them back to just a little by winter or they'll all be peeing too much in the stalls :~)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I was thinking about your salt issue yesterday and meant to ask you how you thought it was working.

What is the name of the stuff, it's not really just regular salt is it?

I've wondered about that too, because Harley never licks on his salt block, I've wondered if I should give it to him in his feed.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... Horsemanship is not for the meek :~)

I've never been able to bean Bay, he disappears like a frightened animal down the hole and no one can reach him. He gets done by the vet once a year.

My stallion was easy, he'd offer it if you just rubbed his belly :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

It's livestock salt, looks like the block. I'll go take a picture of the bag.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Poor Cyn, she is really going to feel neglected:).

I agree with that Bay looks just right.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Pony's a little chunky too, so she's getting a little less than half... a few bites, really, but she lingers at her pan and licks all the salt out and makes Cyn ~think~ she has more :~)

Cyn will get mad if we stop her from theiving, and go back to her own pan and attempt to throw it around, best she can because it's on the rope.

Bay sometimes looks like he has a belly, but it's really just his back that's sinking when he's standing out there all relaxed. When he picks himself up, you can see a little bit of rib, but his butt's nice and full.

[HairOfTheDog]

Here's the stuff...

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I thought the pony looked good.

Cyn looked good too, just a little soft maybe.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Ok, thanks for the picture. I may look for it tomrrow when I go buy feed.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

At our store, they didn't have any on display, it was in the back. I had to ask if they had loose salt.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the assessment on them, like you said, it's hard to say when you see them every day.

I don't want that pony to founder, so I try to keep her on the thin side, I've heard there's only two kinds of ponies, those that have foundered, and those that haven't ~yet~.

[FrogInABlender]

A coyote ran away from near my barn this morning as I drove up. I suspect it is stalking the barn cats that stay there.

Granny get your gun!

[CindyDawg]

Yall see this? I thought it was funnyhttp://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1685369/posts

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Yesterday afternoon when I went out to feed, there was a deer out in my pasture. I thought it an odd time of day for it to be there. Grizzly saw it too and chased it off:\ Anyway, I was just now laying on the couch watching the news and I saw, what I thought was Harley way off in the pasture. That was odd, because I had let him loose in the front yard, where there is a lot more to graze on, so I got up and looked closer and it was that deer again. The picture is hard to see, it was so far away, and I didn't want to walk out there too far and have Grizzly notice it again. But isn't this time of day an odd time for a deer to be out in broad daylight? I thought they were nocturnal...In the picture you can see the light brown/tan right above the panel, about the middle.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I wouldn't want her to get to fat either, they are prone to founder. Altho, IMO, she doesn't have that chunky build that alot of ponies have. She's got a big horse body, just little:). But, I'd still be careful too:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

I see her :~)

I wish we had deer to eat all the apples in the back forty. They're all falling and we have the horses blocked out of there completely till we rake them up.

Deer are commonly enough also active during the day, might depend on whether she's got more day predators or night predators after her. People hunt them during daylight, but at night she's got coyotes. Maybe she's got her fawn tucked away somewhere for the day and stays with it at night.

Speaking of hunters, during last week's ride, we passed two guys walking down trail with rifles... Rosie went on by them, not being prone to stopping and talking to strange armed men the way I am :~)

I guess it's already early bear season, will be open now the rest of the summer into fall. They'd been up in the clearing where we saw one last year but hadn't seen anything.

Bear season didn't used to take months to keep the numbers down, but now since they banned bait stations and banned hounds, you have to be dang lucky to spot one.

[Inge_CAV]

Wait a minute, how does that old saying go?

This is my rifle and this is my gun.

This one is for fighting and this one is for fun........

: )

[Inge_CAV]

Your pasture may be the only place with anything to eat for deer. There was a herd that used to stay with my cattle when I kept them on the state line. It was a heckuva sight to see about dusky dark, cattle and deer grazing together. Of course some hunters with dogs came into my pasture and killed them along with a few of my calves. I have despised hunters ever since then. Prefer to mount their heads on Pikes beside the nearest highway.

[HairOfTheDog]

We had a big coyote riot in the back forty again last night... Went out and spotlighted the noise till they quit, the horses were just all in a row staring at them all interested-like.

[Inge_CAV]

Borrow a donkey to keep in your pasture for a while. No more coyote problems.........

On second thought we have one that was chasing our calves. He would chase them until they would lay down from exhaustion then he take bites out of their ears. It is now in a pasture by itself.