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]

I had to add these two pictures to mine....:)

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Most of the time he got regular Cichlid pellets but he LOVED crickets and worms. You could hold a worm or a cricket up to the glass and he'd just about go ballistic. He'd get to wiggling all over, like he was saying "Give it to me! Give it go me! Give it! Give it! Give it!" It was almost like watching a dog wagging his whole body over a treat. We even taught him to jump for them. He'd wet you pretty bad though coz he weighed about 2 pounds and could make quite a splash.

Oscars are pretty smart. I saw one once on Funniest Animal Videos that had been taught to "play basketball". They'd drop a pingpong ball in the water and set up a little hoop on the side of the tank and he'd hit the ball with his mouth and knock it out of the water and through the hoop to get his treat. It was really cool! One of these days (when pigs have flown and I get my house built) I'm going to get another one coz they're really fun to have around.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Here's pictures of the new pad I got yesterday. It's hard to tell in the pictures, but this one is a lot softer, more flexible, and has rounded edges. The bottom one is the felt pad I have been using. It's pretty stiff, and the edges are not rounded. I should not have to use a navajo under the new one, which should cut down on the bulk. The old one's under side is a bit rough feeling too, the new one is 100% wool fleece. The new one has what feels like a space inside that is inflated with air. Crossing fingers that it stops the rub.

Oh, and I realize I got the date wrong...again:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Remarkable :~) I'd be afraid to let him jump, he might miss the tank on the way back down!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

My mother had Oscars. She did lose a few because they jumped out of the tank. After that she put a lid on. They did get very very big...they were also very very messy, the tank had to be cleaned almost daily, after they got so big. Lots of poop.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... It might make future explanations more clear! There is a video too I uploaded, if you think you can download and play it :~) It's the Pierre Money Mart commercial she likes with the bouncing car :~)

I saved it down to 3 megs... see if it works.

Gidget TV.wmv

[HairOfTheDog]

That pad looks nice, The real fleece is reeeeeally nice, I've always wanted to actually break down and spend the money for it :~)

The air cushion thing seems interesting too. Let us know if you can tell it's there or if it feels like you're riding on a bubble. :~)

Hope it stops the hair rub.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Hey, thanks for the video. It did work. I'll save it to help tell the story:)

I saddled him up yesterday with the new pad, and just did a few minutes in the yard to see how it felt to me. You can't tell the air is there. I wondered the same too. It did cut down on the bulk, because I the hole in my cinch changed.

I wont' be able to tell how it works for him till I ride him a while in it. Celia and I are riding in the morning and going to shoot for 4-5 hours. After that, I'm not riding him at all new week so that everything can be good and rested for the next weekend. We'll just work on lunging next week.

Farriers here, talk to you later.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds good, glad the video worked... Ride's comin' up!

[FrogInABlender]

Oh, he did jump out a time or two. Then there'd be me and him flopping all over the dining room floor trying to catch him and put him back in the tank. He could pack quite a whallop if he hit you just right with his tail.

The cats used to like to get up on the top of the tank when I had the lid up and walk around on the edge and look down in the water and he'd get right underneath them, looking back up at them like he was thinking "Should I, or shouldn't I?". I always kept expecting him to jump up and goose them or at least splash them but he never did, and they never fell in either, which always amazed me (and kinda disappointed me too coz it would've been funny).

[FrogInABlender]

Boy, that's a pretty pad Becky. I'll bet it looks really sharp on him. I always liked black and gold together.

[HairOfTheDog]

Now, either of those scenes would have been even funnier than the woman with the live crabs in the kitchen :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

I did have a big goldfish that just disappeared once. Thought he must have died and been eaten or something because he just disappeared. Then a long time later we moved the couch that was by the fish tank and he was under there, all dried up.

[FrogInABlender]

I had that happen with one of those little green turtles that they used to sell in every pet department of every little department store when I was a kid. You know the kind where you got the little shallow clear plastic bowl with the little island in the middle with a little palm tree that stuck up out of it. My turtle disappeared one day and we couldn't figure out where he went, but later, it may have even been a year, we found him under the rug in the corner of the room, all dried up and mummified. The funny thing was, he didn't look all that much different.

[HairOfTheDog]

I guess the normal water content in a turtle is not very high :~)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Thanks:)

I've been looking at this pad for several months now, everytime I went in there. Yesterday when i went in and asked for a reccomendation on a pad that would be good not to rub in the loin area, they recommended this one. I hadn't told them I like this one, so it worked out good. Of course now, I hope it works as good as it looks. I just don't see how something as soft as it is could rub, and with the cushiness of the air pocket in it hopefully it will be comfortable for him too. The more I used the other, the thinner the hair was getting at the back of my saddle and he was still acting tender there after a ride. If this doesn't fix it, the only conclusion I can come too is he is a wimp. But with the hair thinning there something HAD to be rubbing.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well Harley is all shod now.

I wanted to tell you Frog, that I decided to go with just a rim shoe rather then the NB. I don't know, but after I saw him shod with the NB shoe, I thought the square toe was on them was too radical...but I do think the beveled shoe theory makes sense, the square toe too, but just not that much. Chris has always squared the toe to some degree, just not that much. Maybe it was just that it was so different, and I should have given it more time. Maybe Chris wasn't doing it right either...But it seemed it really stood him up too straight....This is the second shoeing now with the rim shoes, and I like the looks of it better, and he still is moving very nice.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Well, as long as Chris keeps the breakover back where it should be and keeps the flares rasped off, the rim shoe should be fine. You've read all the material on how to determine where the breakover should be so if you think it's working for him and he seems to be moving like you want him to then that's all that matters. Just keep an eye on the angle of his toes compared to the angle at the coronet and keep them the same and he should be fine.

[MissTargets]

That's a very pretty pad. It should really look good with your saddle and set up nicely on Harley.

[MissTargets]

The weather was perfect for a ride today. Low 70's. Bugs were not as bad as the other day. We rode for about 2 hours. This was Biscuit first time out on the trail and she did very well. We did find a way to the bike trail, but it took a little "go where there is no trail" riding. We came out to the road, but I stayed on this time. Less traffic with kids in school and everyone working. Both of them did very well with the two bikes we saw and a few cars that did go by.

Amy and Biscuit.

Jody and I.

Amy trying to get Biscuit across this ditch. She was not having it. Jody walked right in, which surprised me. Amy just rode down a little ways and got her across another area.

This is where the trail ends. We used to go right across before the beavers started their thing, and hit the old railroad bed.

This is from the other side, after we worked our way through the woods.

We made it! Bad girl, riding on the pavement! Our horse club worked very hard, to make sure there was an area on the sides, for horses. We would have been shut out otherwise.