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The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*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

[MissTargets]

Bob started turning on the lights in the barn to speed it up.

Do you think that works? I yell at my daughter for doing that and running up the electric bill.

[MissTargets]

We've got mouse nests in the vents

Remember when the rats/mice got into my lawn tractor? Well, this year I put moth balls in the engine. Not loose, but set the whole box on it. No mice this year. We kept the tractor in the sawdust shed, instead of the barn and that could have made a difference. I was not taking any chances of them eating all the wires again.

[MissTargets]

Bits can be so confusing.

Just have to find the one everyone is comfortable with. The D ring snaffle worked well with Bodie, so that is what I will use. Too much mouth gaping with the Tom Thumb, even with just walking around.

[FrogInABlender]

...we have a forecast of 100% rain.

Send some of that rain my way please! We're having a continuation of last year's drought, and if we don't get some serious rain soon I'm afraid that hay will be even scarcer and pricier than it was last year. I''ve already called the guy I bought from last year to make sure I get on his list this year for what ever I can get.

On a better note, I had a great ride on Bob Saturday. Well, the last part of it was great anyways. The first hour I spent fighting with him over his desire to go wide-@$$ open and tailgate the horse in front of him, and my desire that he slow down, pay attention to what I'm telling him and get off the bit. He hadn't been ridden but maybe once or twice since Thanksgiving so he's been feeling pretty full of himself and had himself in a full-blown lather within 15 minutes. I told him "Hey, you wanna work that hard, then knock yourself out. I'll still be back here when you're ready to listen". And he finally did. He quit his jigging and his gait smoothed out and there was actually some slack in his reins, so it was a productive ride.

There were 9 of us, all riding gaited horses. Well, there was one mule, but it was gaited too, so we didn't have any speed issues. There was one couple in the group whom I'd never met, but they live fairly close to me so we exchanged phone numbers and plan on riding together again soon. The man knew my husband and his older brother and went to the same school, although he's a few years older than them. His wife was real nice too. They've only had horses for a year or so, but they had some nice ones. They were a strange color though. They were Champaigne, which kinda looks like a washed out buckskin with gold eyes. Very pretty.

I took pictures, (of course) but this darned loaner PC I have here at work doesn't have the right drivers on it for me to unload them from the camera. I'll have to unload them this evening at home and bring them in tomorrow on a thumb drive. I think I took some good video too, but I'll have to see how they all turn out.

Another interesting thing that happened is that we got lost, kinda. We decided to take a short cut by using one of the old trails that had been bypassed when they opened up the new trails 6 or 8 years ago. We've been down it several times over the years and had done fine, even though there are quite a few downed trees on it since it's no longer being maintained, but this time I guess we lost the trail and ended up just having to bush-whack our way out of there. We were scrambling over logs, sliding down hills, jumping over small creeks and dodging vines. We finally found some marking tape on some of the trees that either a hunter or a Forest Service person had left and followed it out to a newly cut log road and then on to the paved road that led back to the trailhead, which was what we were trying to shortcut back to anyways.

It made for an adventure and an interesting afternoon to say the least, and I was proud of the way Bob handled it. He never balked at a thing, although we did have a few disagreements over whether or not we could both fit between a few trees without leaving my knees behind. It was fun, but I don't think we'll be taking that particular shortcut again. ;o)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm so sorry about the drought hanging on...that would be scary.

Sounds like a great ride...wow, 9 people on gaited horses, You all probably just looked like a blur going by:)

Sometimes it is just better to let the go go go at the start when they act like that. I think after a while they figure out, what;s the hurry, and they do that often enough they learn to NOT start out that way:).

You are braver then I am venturing off on a trail that is unknown with no map:)...I have a huge fear of being lost. I always stick to what I know:)

Now is Bob one of the babies you raised that you had broke since we've know you?

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Yeah, Bob will be 4 on the 11th of April. He was the first foal that I imprinted myself. He's always been a character and a handful, but he's very smart and I'm sure that when he gets some more miles on him he'll settle out to be a great trail horse. Heck, he already is except for the sassiness and the gotta-go-gotta-go-gotta-go-right-now attitude. But I'd rather have that problem with a horse than to have a lazy one. I know that's not for everybody, but it works for me. He does do better when I make him go first at the start of a ride, but sometimes that's not possible, so I just stuck him behind a slower, calmer horse that I knew and made him behave in spite of himself. He would have liked to have bucked me off a time or two, but lucky for me he's not a very talented bucker and I have an extreme aversion to hitting the ground so I hang on for all I'm worth. Riding young horses is nothing if not interesting. ;o)

[HairOfTheDog]

We decided to take a short cut by using one of the old trails that had been bypassed when they opened up the new trails 6 or 8 years ago. We've been down it several times over the years and had done fine, even though there are quite a few downed trees on it since it's no longer being maintained, but this time I guess we lost the trail and ended up just having to bush-whack our way out of there. We were scrambling over logs, sliding down hills, jumping over small creeks and dodging vines.

Sounds like an average trail ride with Tiff :~)

Good morning everyone... was restless last night then slept in... Late getting started :~\

[Duchess47]

Good morning. Shedding seems to be dictated by the number of daylight hours as well as temperatures. It always sheds out the barn horses sooner than the ones out in the run ins (of course, it's probably warmer in the barn too)

[FrogInABlender]

So what caused the restlessness? Not horse problems I hope.

[HairOfTheDog]

Nope, the horses are tranquil, I think it's the espresso that I thought sounded good around 5 pm ;~\

This new set up of them coming and going is really working out pretty nicely, really...

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well, I've gone out twice now to saddle and it's started to rain both times. I come in the house and it stops. The radar looks like I should be in the clear for a while, so these little spots of rain, I think, are just that spots. But OOOOO...I hate riding in the rain, even if it's not cold...

Well, it's already stopped again, so I'll try again, poor Harley was tied to the trailer this last one that lasted maybe 2 minutes....

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Heh... Sounds like God is having a bit of fun with you :~)

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

LOL...well that's a cheerful view of it:)

I think I'm in the clear now, he's saddled, I'm having a quick lunch, then we'll be off, hopefully for a couple of hours.

Becky

[BladeRider]

Do you think that works? I yell at my daughter for doing that and running up the electric bill.

My neighbors do that with their show horses, they blanket them and leave the lights on (I tell them they are the Equine Motel 6) they say they don't get in full winter coats that way.

[BladeRider]

It made for an adventure and an interesting afternoon to say the least, and I was proud of the way Bob handled it. He never balked at a thing, although we did have a few disagreements over whether or not we could both fit between a few trees without leaving my knees behind. It was fun, but I don't think we'll be taking that particular shortcut again. ;o)

AHH, one of your kamikazee rides huh? Was this in the Sipsey Wilderness?

[BladeRider]

But I'd rather have that problem with a horse than to have a lazy one.

HEY! I resemble that remark! Or should I say Blade resembles that remark. As long as he does not have to lead we can keep up. If he has to lead we would never get home.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

You know, I've been wondering if it works too. This year I started turning the lights on in the barn when I went out to feed the afternoon feeding, so that they would be on when i went out there at night to feed. I don't know why, but for some reason walking out to the barn in the dark and the cold just made things feel darker and colder. Walking out to a lighted barn didn't seem so bad. I didin't really start doing it till Jan...

I don't think my horses started shedding any faster then they normally do. Rocky has always shed out earlier then any other horse I've had, and Harley is just now really shedding big time.

I don't think putting a blanket on them makes them shed any faster either, I think it just helps rub it out faster once they start shedding..

So my opinion has pretty much become they are going to shed when they are going to shed:).

Becky

[BladeRider]

Good morning everyone... was restless last night then slept in... Late getting started :~\

I wish I could have slept in, coyotes kept me up all night with their screaming and yodeling. I finally got up and closed the windows and turned on the ceiling fan. Spring time is here.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

they say they don't get in full winter coats that way.

Oh, and I don't think this is necessairlly true either...I use to keep a blanket on my mare all winter and she grew a full winter coat...is why it seemed like she didn't was the blanket kept the winter coat flattened down and polished, rather then it standing up and being fluffy. IMO, a horse is going to grow the winter coat that the horse is going to grow regardless:)

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Oh, hello:)

Becky