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!

[Duchess47]

Those are my plans if I ever win any kind of lottery (or come into excess money from anywhere :) )

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks ladies :~)

I'll think about him a little more... might post the videos to the shoeing forum and see what they say, but you're right, I'm not sitting here rationalizing myself through all the $$$ and work that would have to be done before I could bring him home, like I would be if I were in ~love~. He may not be the right horse, he's not the type I imagine anyway... It know it's not really right time, and I have other issues that are on my mind and keeping me from getting all excited about the prospect.

For a green horse, I don't picture him being hard to work with, he just seems pretty easy going. But I'd like a horse that is at least Bay's size or bigger, and I'd like one with enough presence and movement that I could play around a little with dressage if I want. And the wonky foot may never cause him pain, but I worry about things like splints or sidebone, because he just seems to torque it funny.

[2Jedismom]

I'll say!

This may sound like a dumb question...but can you ride an alpaca? I swear, I've never had much experience with them...just sent them in fields...

[Duchess47]

Wait until you find one you like as much as this one :)

[HairOfTheDog]

They're too little to carry an adult... they probably only weigh a few hundred pounds. People put backpacks on them but I bet they limit them to less than a hundred pounds. They can carry your tent, a sleeping bag, their feed, and some water bottles.

These are llamas which are a little taller, but you get the idea.

[HairOfTheDog]

That's true... I do like that one an awful lot :~)

[2Jedismom]

Ahhh...yes.

I'll have to post the pictures some time of Steve and I on the burros when we crossed into Mexico that time and hung out in that little town...I've had a fondness for the creatures ever since.

Good night Gracie.

[Duchess47]

Bay's got a lot of good years left yet. One of the apps that a friend is showing has navicular and is shoed with xrays every four weeks. He stays sound with a lot more work that Bay gets.

When Bay is ready to retire, then start thinking about the next one. And if you think he's ready to retire right now, just try taking Cyn out on the trail without him :)

[HairOfTheDog]

And if you think he's ready to retire right now, just try taking Cyn out on the trail without him :)

Yeah - I know how that would go :~)

[CindyDawg]

My old utility is going to have to do for awhile but it doesn't hurt too look. There are some really nice living couters now and the prices aren't bad.

[Duchess47]

LOL - I knew you'd understand if you looked at it that way.

[Duchess47]

I'd really like to eventually get a 3horse slant load aluminum with living quarters. Then we could use it to travel with or without horses. Take the horses if we wanted or take ATV's instead. Plus, Bob could use it for hunting. And they'd be so much easier to pull than the standard trailers. Ours weighs a bunch just empty. A hard pull for just about any truck.

[CindyDawg]

Uh huh. I was thinking one could double for a cabin and a tack room wnen not in use too. I've not pulled a gooseneck/5th wheel though.

[Duchess47]

Goosenecks pull a lot easier once you get used to them than tag a longs because of the way the weight is distributed. Instead of on the rear bumper, it's on the bed, over the rear wheels so the truck doesn't get squirrelly with horses moving, throwing fits, etc.

[CindyDawg]

Well I have the truck. My husband has to find the land and then I'll think about it. I'm not sharing at the stables.

[Duchess47]

Bob won't loan his trailer to ANYONE. In an emergency, he will move a horse for someone, but the only person who has ever towed his trailer except himself was my son once, and me once - both emergencies to go pick him up in the hills with a lame horse.

[CindyDawg]

Don't blame him.

[AnAmericanMother]

She was a good girl - VERY forward, good clever jumper, lots of experience as a field hunter.

She wound up at the barn by happenstance. She belonged to a guy who hunted her with the Shakerag - he dropped dead of a heart attack in the field one day, and they had to bring him back ponying Bella with him slung over her back. The widow said, "I don't care what you do with that horse, I never want to see it again" so Bella wound up taking up stall space at the barn. Horrible stall manners, bad ground manners, but once you got on her back without being kicked or chewed on, she was wonderful (but very strong. It took a clever rider to hold on to her, if you got in a tug of war you would lose every time.)

There were some neat horses at that old barn. Rodney Dangerfield - who got no respect, he was the most beautiful hunter you ever saw from the throatlatch down, but he had a head like a mule - Roman nose, loose mouth, pop eyes, big loppy ears. We used to threaten to show him with a paper bag over his head. And my old favorite Mister (the only gelding I've ever really liked), an ex racing QH with the sweetest manners of any horse - good mover, he could do his everies, would get flustered on a jumping course though (that's how I broke my hand).

The barn was wrecked out for subdivisions back in the 90s . . . yesterday, leave me alone!

[MissTargets]

Good Morning.

Hair, that is a very nice looking horse. It is a hard decision to make. I know I went through that a few weeks ago. It is fun and exciting to have a new one. The price seems right and you certainly are experienced enough to take on a green horse.

Nasty day today and I have to go to a wedding later this afternoon. You all have a great weekend.

[ShakeNJake]

I liked him Becky. He uses his hind end well, bends the joints, and steps under the body. He should be a comfortable ride. He appears to have a kind temperament. I wouldn't be concerned about the difference in picking up leads. That is normal in a young horse who has not had a lot of training, and is on the lunge without surcingle and side reins to give him some support and guidance. All horses are one-sided to some degree just like handedness in humans.

The walk is clear 4-beat and the canter is 3-beat with a clear moment of suspension. I look for a good walk and canter because trot is the gait that can be improved the most. His trot looked fine and he appeared to track up fairly straight going away.

If I were serious about this guy, I'd have my vet and farrier first look at the videos, then if they saw something that concerned them, I'd pay for them to see the horse in person. At his price ($1500?), I wouldn't have a full vet check workup with xrays and bloodwork, etc, but would at least have a general exam and flexion test. That should only cost you a couple hundred. Anyway, the price is attractive and he is a nice-looking horse. I would call him a dark or black bay. He will probably bleach out in the summer but Black As Knight will help with that.

For $1500, you can't expect perfection or a lot of training. You just have to look at the horse within the context of his price, his training, his physical attributes, and the intended use.

The most important question is whether YOU liked him. If you, as the potential owner, don't really like the horse, all the professional and non-professional advice in the world is worthless. If someone were to objectively assess my Jake, he would be avoided like someone with the plague. He has a huge, golfball size splint on his right front cannon bone, a clubby right front foot which turns out more than the left foot, and is slightly sickle-hocked. He has windpuffs on all 4 fetlocks. You would think by looking at his legs that he hasn't taken a sound step in his life. But the reality is that he is 19 years old, does 3rd level dressage, schools canter pirouettes, piaffe, and passage, goes on trail rides, tells Henkell what to do and when to do it, and is still at 19 years old sound as a dollar bill. Sure, he is on a joint supplement because at that age, he has some stiffness, etc. But that is normal and to be expected.

So, I didn't see anything on the video that I felt was enough to put me off the horse without another look.

BTW, I have been SO busy with nursing school obligations that I haven't been able to keep up with the Saddle Club like I want to. I try to scan the thread but probably missed some things. If you guys don't hear from me for a week or so, it is just because I have had too much to do to participate.