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!

[ShakeNJake]

Oops, I thought it was Becky looking at this horse but it is Hair?

Comments still apply though.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the comments, ShakeNJake!

Good points to consider... It's at least not an emotional decision, I'm full of reservations about whether I even have room to bring in another one, and I appreciate the mix of optimism and skepticism about him on this thread.

I agree horses can have a range of conformational flaws and still do fine their whole life. Bay has the crookedest back legs I've ever seen, and they're the part of him that has never given me trouble. :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

I know you sympathize with my reservations about the amount of room I have! How's your new one, and your rescues doing?

[MissTargets]

Everything is ok with all the new additions. Sable, the black one, had a bit of a runny nose the other day. Cleared up right away. They just seem like such unhappy horses. Maybe it is lack of human contact in their previous environment. They are getting a shine to their coats, but I can't really tell if they are gaining much. It will take months before we see a difference. The new bedding is working out really well. It goes on sale next week, so I am gong to get some more.

Bodie is fine, but has this annoying snort...lol They all have a hole somewhere. With all the rain, I have not had a chance to ride him at all.

[HairOfTheDog]

Well, they should gain slowly, so it's OK if you don't see them bulking up. I do hope their temperaments come around with kind handling. It takes awhile sometimes to build trust and find pleasure in people.

[HairOfTheDog]

What ~snort~? Snorting ~at~ scary things, or just annoying like a guy blowing his nose at the dinner table?

[MissTargets]

like a guy blowing his nose at the dinner table?

Ya, that's it..lol It is sort of funny. He is still getting used to things around here, so I am not too worried. He never did it at the other farm, that I noticed. With 4 mares in the barn, he has to act like the big dude.

[CindyDawg]

Morning. I have to meet someone in awhile that has a used training doll for sell. I have no idea what it is worth. She won't give me a price but says to make an offer. That's a fine line. If you offer too low it insults people. I know you were buying horses but how can you find a price without making the owner mad? Awhile back I was getting pressured to sell Okie to someone's "friend". I had much higher offers that I had turned down. I was insulted that someone almost wanted me to give him away, which was ironic because I might have "given him" away to the girl if they hadn't gone cheap on me . I reached a block where I wouldn't have sold him for 10xs what "momma" offered. Sigh. I really need this doll.

[HairOfTheDog]

In horses I find the prices to be quite arbitrary sometimes. The same horse might be viewed as worth a thousand or ten thousand and anywhere in between, based on what people plan to do with him and what they think those kind of horses cost. It's the economics of the market they're being offered to, more than anything innate about the horse, in my experience.

I'm like you on the 'make an offer' game. It's like they're asking "how stupid are you? Maybe you'll offer me windfall." I want a price and I either want to pay it or not. I don't like to dicker.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I pretty much agree with ShakenJake, that I think it is impossible most of the time to tell if some confirmation problems will cause lamenesses. And as young as he is, I wouldn't even think of trying to correct anything at this point since he is showing no signs of lameness. Sometimes I think our help hurts more then it helps. If they make it to older age, and then show lameness...well we get lamenesses in our older age, we should expect that.

My only skeptism about this horse is more your reaction:)...IMO, it wasn't ethusiatic enough. I'd think with buying a horse that was that far from what you want, you would tend to not really be ethusiatic enough to work with him, and at this stage he is going to need consistent work. You ran thru several points about him that did not match what you want. Now granted it is almost impossible to fine exactly what we want...I'd like Harley to be a bay:), but color is just not something I worry about that much any more, like I use to.

He really is a pretty nice looking horse, and I would say too I think he looks like he would be more comfortable to ride, which is a plus for trailriding.

BEcky

[HairOfTheDog]

I think my lack of enthusiasm is a combination of a lot of things... I wasn't looking for a horse, Bob called me out of the blue and is trying to talk me into one. I've got other issues going on, I'm not ready, we don't have extra money or space right now, and I dread looking for a new horse anyway. I want Bay. A younger, stronger Bay.

That said, I'd probably bond with anybody, no matter what preconception I had about what my next horse will look like. Look at me and that pony ;~) It'd be fun to work with and teach a new one... A little scary but satisfying work if it works :~)

I did post about him in the farrier forum... no response yet there.

[Duchess47]

Every horse that has come here as a rescue of one kind or another has been depressed and untrusting. As a matter of fact, we only bought Sonny because his eyes were so unhappy and dead when we first saw him. I just couldn't leave him behind.

All of them, as they gained weight and/or healed became friendlier and happier. And it continued to improve as we did something with them - rode them, taught them, showed them - just anything that wasn't ignoring them.

Your mares will change, and change for the better. Even working them on ground manners 5 minutes a day will give them something to look forward to.

[Duchess47]

LOL - some of the best horses have personalities only a mother could love. Everyone hated riding my old mare except my son and I. She had a real sore spot for cowboys - hated them all equally.

[CindyDawg]

I'm back. Got her. The doll is about 1500 new. She worn but workable. I figure she's worth to me about 2-300 dollars. I gave 5 for a package deal. Books, equipment, supplies. I'm happy with my deal. I think she was too. She kept adding stuff to my pile that she thought I might need which I appreciated. Now if I could just get some students. She suggested I lower my price at first. I told her my counselor recommended I be competitive but not have the lowest prices or people would think cheap. She said maybe but around here people are going to go for the lowest unless the government paying for it.

[CindyDawg]

Everyone that rides Sarah Lee asks what the heck is wrong with her. She gives um her bumpy ride. I think on purpose. "Momma can make me take them for a ride but she can't make me like it"

[Duchess47]

Glad you got your doll. Low prices might be good until word of mouth works for referals. Not real low, just the low side of the scale.

[Duchess47]

That's it, exactly. Lady had an extended trot you could ride all day, smooth a glass. 'Cept, if she didn't like the person riding her, it would jar your teeth out. She never shied at anything when I rode her, would shy at a shadow with Bob :)

[CindyDawg]

I came back with my husband's truck loaded. All the moaning and groaning as he helped me take it to my classroom. I hate to tell him that I have another load coming in a day or 2 :')

[tuffydoodle]

Hey, have any of ya'll been keeping up with that thread on the arabian horse forum, about the horse rescued from the killer buyer? It has desolved into name-calling and accusations when people started donating money to help the rescued horse. It's a long thread, this is where I'm currently reading.
http://www.ablackhorse.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=11743&st=700

And FYI, Tom/gessippi is the forum owner (I think) and he's definitely the same Tom that started that "Whisper Syndrome" scare awhile back. He's a jerk and an instigator, imho.

[tuffydoodle]

Ok, I'm wrong, Tom Holland is the whisper syndrome guy, Tom Zeffer is the forum admin. Tom Holland had chimed in on this thread earlier so I thought it was the same guy. My bad.