The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[FrogInABlender]

The trailer might have sunk, or it might have still been towable or light enough to move without the boat on it so they hauled it off. The boat was probably just too much trouble to deal with.

[FrogInABlender]

LOL! She'll have to figure out a new game to play with her new bucket then. I'm sure it'll be equally creative and annoying. ;o)

[Beaker]

My first thought when I saw that boat in that small creek was "tornado". I've found stuff out in the middle of nowhere too and that's the only plausible explanation that I can come up with for them. Either that or Aliens out for a joyride. ;o)

Maybe they're practicing, a la "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" ;-)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Beaker: LOL:)

Well, since there is so much speculation I ran down there, actually I drove:), to get pictures from the bridge. I don't think it could have been dumped over the bridge. It would have had to float over a very wide area of rock and thru brush and trees. In the first picture you can barely see it way off in that second body of water.

Close up from the bridge.

You can go down this dirt path and come out by the pool of water it is laying in, but that would have been difficult in a truck and trailer. You would have had to back down it, as there is no where to turn the trailer around in. I don't think there is a trailer under it anywhere. Last year the water got pretty low. My theory...kids with 4 wheelers drug it down this path and shoved it in.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I got an interesting flyer in the mail yesterday, addressed to me, not just a spam mailing. I'm thinking I got it because of that Purina seminar I went to last year.

It's an invitation to my spouse and I to attend "the first Northeast Ok. Professional Horseman"s Conference. It's being held at a very nice hotel in Tulsa.

This is the middle paragraph:

"As a leader in the equine industry, you and other top equine professionals (ROFLOL, I've never considered my self a "top equine professional:), in northeastern OK will not only be recognized, but will hear exciting information from the guest speakers that are participating in the conference. We have arranged to have some key allied suppliers available at the conference to discuss resources that are available to the equine industry. You will also have the opportunity to discuss the horse industry with other attendees during the dinner and social time. And, we have arranged for some fun entertainment!

Registration for the conference is free and will start at 4:40 PM. Cocktails, dinner, entertainment and social time will follow the speaker presentations."

What do you think??? It almost sounds to good, but I can't see the catch. There is a Purina Mills Equine Event logo at the top...I have to RSVP...Mack said he'd go if I wanted to. I'm going to see if Celia got one, she went to that seminar too. Might be interesting...I just don't know tho, once I get there if they figure out I'm not a professional, could they throw me out:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Go.... why not? :~)

I've been to a couple conferences... but they weren't dinner and cocktails type things... they were more like classroom lectures.

[HairOfTheDog]

Thanks for the new pics :~) It will help the Internet Detective Corps figure this whole thing out :~)

My theory...kids with 4 wheelers drug it down this path and shoved it in.

For reasons only kids with 4 wheelers understand :~)

[HairOfTheDog]

This was a big local story yesterday.... two kids out of a group on 4 wheelers were missing up in Capital Forest, on the motorized side. They were found the next morning... OK. (Friends’ dirt bike outing turns into night in woods)

It says at the bottom of the article that the trails are still closed to protect the trails, till April 1. I really wish they'd fine them all for being there. Or am I just being a snoot? The horse people don't break the rules... I saw NO horse hoofprints in the mud when we went up there walking. But the off-roaders do.... and apparently get away with it.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well, I'm glad they were found unhurt...but I'd fine the crap out them/their parents too, so I'm a snoot too:)

The kids around here on their 4 wheelers and dirt bikes are really causing trouble around here. They are the reason that german shepherd has gotten mean. The man behind me that blocked the trail and opened it back up because I complained had to close it back up partially recently. He stopped and talked to me about it first. At the time he said it would be a cable that I could step my horse over, but high enough the 4 wheelers could get past. At the time I was thinking a like fencing cable the heavy stuff. Turned out to be a think plastic covered light weight wire. I'm afraid to step the horse over. If he bumped it with his foot I'm afraid it would scare him and cause him to jump back and get all caught up in it. I'm not going to complain to the guy about it tho...I don't blame him for trying to keep the little brats away from his house. And they are tearing up the trails going when it's muddy.

I guess being out of sight of mom and dad, they just get wild...the parents are the ones I'd like to get hold of.

Becky

[BladeRider]

The first is this Western saddle one. It's really cute. It was made to mount from the bottom, not hang, so we put it on this pole and put it out in the pasture.

Is that made from a real saddle? It sure is cute. My hubby would like that.

[BladeRider]

That's great that she did agility. There's an Irish Setter in our agility club, he's been in training at least since Shelley started five or six years ago . . . and he still hasn't managed to Q in Novice.

She did agility without faults, her problem was she was to much of a lady to break her gait and actually run. She just trotted through the whole course. That is why we never got our OA, she always went over time. Thanks to everyone for their kind words and prayers. It has been a rough couple of days. Bless my hubby's heart he had all her toys picked up and her pillow put away when I got home yesterday.

[FrogInABlender]

Interesting invitation. I'm like you and keep wondering what the catch is, or what they're gonna try to sell you once you get there. But heck, go ahead and go. A free dinner is a free dinner. They can't exactly run you off when they invited you themselves. If they only wanted "Equine Professionals" then they should have screened their guest list a little better.

[BladeRider]

It's all plastic. :~) It should hold up just fine, although it may fade.

Didn't see this when I posted earlier. I would guess maybe it was off of a rocking horse or something. Very creative indeed.

[HairOfTheDog]

It's very cute... I hope someone moves into it.

[AnAmericanMother]

My Shelley dog always goes over time too. . . not because she's a lady (most definitely NOT - she's a rowdy hoyden of a Lab!) but because as a first agility dog she was nannied and fussed over too much. She never knocks a bar, never blows a contact, never misses a weave entry . . . but she's always looking to me for reassurance that she's doing it right, and it slows her down.

"Is this o.k., Mom?"

She made it through AXJ and AX, but she maxed out on time faults in every run, and of course once she's in Masters it's no time faults allowed. So we've moved on to other things. (She never asks me if it's o.k. to grab a duck!)

It was sweet of your husband to pick everything up for you. After awhile you'll probably be able to reminisce without too much pain. I can even think now of my big Blue Point boy that I had to put to sleep this winter without getting (too) choked up.

God is good, the faithful animals will be tended to. St. Francis is probably stroking that beautiful red coat even as we speak.

[AnAmericanMother]

Look, if you act like a professional, nobody's going to check!

You wouldn't believe the places I've been able to go, just with a business suit and a serious expression.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

Hey guys .. I'm back :-).... looking for more advise.

Ok, first of all, the filly's face is looking much better .. it's daily wiping face with fly repellant and swat on the bare spots ..

Here's the other deal. This filly is spoiled rotten! And in not such a good way .. She's 7 months old. I have to bribe her with apple or carrot to get her halter on her.. she's good once you get it on .. except for respecting your space. You can do anything with her. Her feet, fly spray, face, body, mane, tail ..

My biggest problem is when she is loose. If you have treats, she is all over you .. if you try to approach her otherwise, all you get is her butt, ears pinned, and while I've never given her the opportunity to kick me, I think she would.

The other day she kicked the feed bucket out of my hand ... niiiiiiiiiice, huh?

Now, I know what I would do if this was and app or a QH filly, but I've been fed so much "Arabians are different, you can't hit them, they'll never respect you ... bla bla bla" stuff, that I'm not sure how to approach this.

Hair? (Oh Arabian guru .. lol)

Anybody else?

Side note: she is still with her dam. hardly ever nurses, but the bond is there. will be working on seperating in the next month or so.

[HairOfTheDog]

I smack my Arabs when they need it, without hesitation. If she's pushing at you, smack her. They aren't glass. They won't break.

Now... with the really flighty ones that are easily scared, you may only have to do this once, and continuing to hit them would make them more scared than obedient, but I think you probably know where that line is.

[FrogInABlender]

Sounds like she needs some serious "respect my space" work with the halter and lead rope, either in a round pen or someplace where it's just you and her and she can't run to mama for emotional support, and where you can shoo her away from you pretty forcefully but not lose control of her. I've found that when my foals get too pushy that a quick jump/stomp-your-feet/slap-your-thighs move will get them off of you in a hurry without hitting. But I think getting her weaned will solve a lot of your problem too.

[proud_2_B_texasgal]

Ok .. that's all I needed to hear. I'll put MY head back on and quit thinking they are so different. Respect is respect.

she is NOT real flighty ..except when she wants to be .. lol..

I also had already refreshed my mind on the roundpen respect type training.

I'll be glad when she is away from mama .. mama is too easy going with her also, so she has no respect there either.

I'd like to take mama away and put my old mare in there with her and let her learn a little horsey respect too .. lol.

thanks, guys.