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Posted on 06/19/2006 8:46:45 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
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!
Wow - where is that fire located?
Castatic Ca. Not sure where that is.
It would have had me really going if I'd found that in my yard. We're so desert though, that we don't get raccoons or bear. They are a problem in town and at Tahoe but here we only have the worry of coyotes and occassionally a mountain lion.
I believe that is the one near Auburn but not sure - it may be southern California.
Mountain lion would give me even more cause for pause.
Boarding stable 15 miles from here awhile back said they had eliminated pasture only board and were bringing all horses in the barn at night because a horse had been attacked by what had to have been a couger. Tore up his back. Horse escaped though. They do butt right up to forest land. They aren't common here, but they do exist.
I would imagine you do have cougar up there. Most of the time, they stay away from people but we had one three or four years ago that was walking right through yards. He/she got hit by a car, probably one that was old or ill.
Get a good night's rest. Explain to SL that the waves won't hurt her and the sand is easier to walk on the closer to the water :)
And, remember your camera.
It's a little above LA
There's a hunting season on them in the forest where we ride. And since hound hunting is banned, their numbers are probably growing because I don't know how you'd find one otherwise.
I'm told the only way to ever see them is to look behind you. ;~)
Have fun! Are you going with a group?
~what Duchess said about the camera~
Camera. Check. Night.
Night :)
The closest I've ever been to one, other than seeing the one killed on the highway, was seeing the sand still falling into one's tracks. That was when Bob and I were riding in the mountains and Lady kept telling me she really didn't want to go up the trail we were on. I insisted and we came around the corner to a mine and the tracks. I listened to her after that :)
There's times that Bay stops and alerts in the woods, and he stands for a minute or two and then he'll go on, and I never knew what he saw, heard, or smelled. I usually talk real loud then, cause it might be riders coming, or a bear, or who knows what! The lady with the walking mule we rode with doing signs, her mule stopped once and absolutely refused to go forward. She didn't want me to pass, either, even though Bay didn't seem keyed on anything. She got down and led her, which I wouldn't have done right there if I thought there were boogies. the mule was looking real wide eyed from side to side, we never saw a thing.
A mule looking real wided eyed would get my attention :) They are usually pretty laid back. They do have a strong sense of self protection though.
Bob saw a bear when he was on his mule. It was in the water when he was on one of those metal bridges. The mule just refused to move. Not forward, not back, just stood there. I said "Well, Bob, I guess that's a safe way to respond to something scary" "Not if it came at us it wasn't!" The bear just wandered off and then he'd go. With Bay I'm sure I'd be moving out of there on a very tightly coiled horse trying to keep him touching the ground.
LOL - that sounds like a mule.
I told Bob... Just standing there might have been the right thing to do! Trust his instincts!
The two times we've seen bears riding, I don't think Bay saw them, or if he did, he didn't act like he did. One time, again, the bear was in the water, on a log or a knoll in the middle. I cranked Bay's head the other way and we moved right by out of there. I don't think any of the horses saw it, but I was afraid that bear was going to start splashing through the marsh and they were all going to bolt. He never moved. :~)
The other time, the bear was way up a hill in a clearcut... I don't think the horses ever saw it, even when I tried to turned around and tried to get a picture. Bay was dancing around so I couldn't focus, but that was because ecurbh and Lisa had already headed out. It wasn't because of the bear.
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