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The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*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

[HairOfTheDog]

OK - here's pics of the trail ride :~)

First pic... View you've seen many times before... going down into the creek...

Looking backwards...

We crossed the bridge this time instead of going through the water... the river was running pretty fast, and it was a little chilly - didn't much feel like being in cold water. Love Bay's ears on bridges...

The white rock.... still a little scary after all these years ;~)

The picture's straight here... it's the trees that all have a lean to them. ;~)

Here's the spot where the creek is running down the middle of the trail for a ways... Cyn (dances in creeks) walked right through it this time.

You take the high road... and I'll take the low road...

This bridge looks like it needs some repair after winter... it's washed out, careful there on the edges.

As with last time, I got off and walked a bit - maybe about a mile... A little further than I planned, we actually went into a place with no good stumps for a long time! Well... I wanted a workout.

Last one... (hope this hasn't been too many...) Cyn skirting a mudpuddle ;~)

Good ride! Bay was trying to get in my head a little, he did the pokey-slow on the way out... Trotted a bit to get his blood pumping on the way out, and that seemed to help wake him up. And as always he was really good and brisk as we headed back. ;~)

[CindyDawg]

No way lol. That has to be photo shopped.

[CindyDawg]

No way lol. That has to be photo shopped.

[CindyDawg]

No way lol. That has to be photo shopped.

[CindyDawg]

No way lol. That has to be photo shopped.

[CindyDawg]

How did that happen?

[Beaker]

Did you hit the post button more than once?

[MissTargets]

Good Morning.

Hair and Ecurbh, nice trail riding pictures. During the week, beats the weekend crowds.

Beautiful day again. I even mowed and rolled the yard yesterday.

Have a great weekend!

[CindyDawg]

No. Sometimes I get a “this is how it looks” as I back out and double post but not this time.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

So how did Bay feel to you? Any difference in stride.

I watched your video’s of him yesterday when I was in town, honestly, I couldn’t see much difference. He looked sound, and I guess that is the most important thing. It was just hard for me to see any difference in his stride.

Any way, great pictures...did those trees always lean, or is that wind damage?

Ecurbh...not trying to tell you what to do, and I don’t even know if you want, just and observation. If your horse is skirting too far around stuff and it is putting you in the trees, taking the picture as an example, you could loosen up your right rein, tighten up the left rein, pulling straight back to your pocket, not belt buckle, and not out, straight towards your pocket/hip just enough to tip her nose a little bit, and use you lower leg to flex her body, and that pushes them over, and is more effective, IMO, the pulling them towards the puddle with just rein. Doing that they swing their body away which can actually put you farther into the brush at the side.

Hope this is clear:)

Looks like fun.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Rolled the yard???

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning :~)

I don’t know if those trees always leaned... but I wonder if we ride through there if we end up a little ~tilted~ ourselves :~)

Yes, he’s sound, and that is the important thing! :~) The differences I saw are subtle, and not sure they showed up all that well in the videos. In person, I see some differences in his whole carriage. Yesterday we did enough trotting that I do think he might be smoother! We’ll see as we do more.

Thanks for the tips for ecurbh on getting Cyn where he wants her to be. It’s one of the things we should school on one day... either here or up there, before the mud’s all gone :~)

Next time, I think we’ll go to the other trailhead, the second one you went to, and go to the falls and back. If it hasn’t been too rainy, that is, as that trail would tend to be muddier.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well it sounds like Bay is good:)

I just got in from riding. Celia didn’t come to day, but I wanted to take Harley out for some schooling:)...He has shown just a tiny bit of attitude that I’m not happy about, mainly because altho it’s not really any thing bad, it’s enough that my weak mind tends to snowball it and I start getting nervous. So today my main goal, because I didn’t expect the problem to show being by himself, I want him not so fresh tomorrow:) when she does come.

He’s been coming in it seems about as fresh as when he goes out. Both days when Celia would be in the lead and would trot, he’d want to take off in a chargey way. He would stay at a walk just fine when I made him walk and let her trot off. I got him to stop taking off hard, but then he would want to break to a lope, which would have caused us to come up fast and close to Celia’s horse and Harley needs to learn to keep some distance. Well the more I’d keep him at a trot, the pissier he’d get, till he would finally throw up his nose and go bouncing down the trail sidewise.....It wasn’t bad, I never came close to coming off, but I don’t want this to get worse. So today, we went out and trotted...a lot...and altho he would still trot nice even at the end, he just didn’t have that look about him of being so fresh...he was a bit tired. So tomorrow when Celia comes, I’m hoping he’s this way, I just didn’t want him to have a day of rest today:).

I will give him a day off Mon. and then on Tues we are planning on hauling them up to the state park about an hour from here.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Sounds like a schooling day is needed. :~) That’s something I’d always have to deal with with Bay... he doesn’t like to be left behind... It’s one of the times, though, that I can coil him up and get a good piaffe ;~) But the pissy bouncing sideways thing isn’t good.

Cyn’s been cantering up behind me lately... I just asked ecurbh if he’s been cueing her to do that and he said “sometimes”. She lags so much sometimes, it’s like she missed the memo that told her she’s supposed to be herd bound. So she’ll get quite a ways behind and sometimes ecurbh’ll cue her to go catch up, sometimes she’ll decide to on her own... he seems to just go with the flow ;~) OK I guess in her case. Sometimes when she lags behind enough, Bay will stop and look back ;~)

[HairOfTheDog]

I will give him a day off Mon. and then on Tues we are planning on hauling them up to the state park about an hour from here.

This is a definite "don't forget the camera" day!

Is Celia entered in the CTR this month that you backed out of?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

So what would you do about the pissy bouncing???? My problem with stuff like that is sometimes I’m not sure of the proper correction...OH my, there’s that word:)

My main goal today was just not to let him have a day of rest...was that mean...tomorrow I’d say the “real” schooling is going to happen. I’m thinking, put Celia in the lead all the time, let her trot away, then start him, and if we starts acting pissy, even before the bouncing starts, make him do tight circles????? He’ll come down to a walk and stay there fine, he just doesn’t want to trot, even when I get him into the trot, he wants to just do that trot that beats you death, rather then his nice steady trot, like he did all day today...I’m hoping he catches on it’s just easier to be good:) by being good.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No she didn’t go either. It was this weekend. We are both working to get ready for the John Zink ride Memorial Day weekend. Her horse is not even in as good a shape as Harley. He’s been coming in the last two days tired. He’s six and this will be his first CTR. He’s the bay she’s been breaking for the last 4 years:). She has way too many horses.

Anyway, I think he is a very nice horse, I like him better then her gray and sorrel that I’ve posted pictures of. She’s left him here this week, I’ll get some pictures of him. I think you may have seen him, a bay. He’s the one tho that got joint ill right after he was born. I guess there are not going to be any after effects of it.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

So what would you do about the pissy bouncing???? My problem with stuff like that is sometimes I’m not sure of the proper correction...OH my, there’s that word:)

Well, I don't mind the energy on Bay as long as he uses it well, so I'd work on collecting him into the jog-trot, and block him from going sideways with leg. Reins to control the front end (scissor him if he sticks his nose in the air) and leg to keep the rear from swinging out. Use your seat by interfering when he goes too fast... "bounce" at the rhythm you want, slightly slower than what he's giving you. Give a click or a tempo on every (example left) foreleg and make it a little slower than what he's giving you, see if he'll try to match you. I use rhythm and cadence a lot with Bay, but they have to kind of learn what it means. I start out several steps matching his footfall, then I just start slowing it down, with my 'click' and my seat.

Or - another method - just stop him completely and regather him before starting out again. Do this if you can do it safely and don't think he'll turn that into a reason to have an even bigger temper tantrum. I think making them stop for rushing (if he sticks his nose in the air and surges, he has to stop) is as much mental correction as circling them. And to my mind, it's not a contradiction. It's staying straight, but enforcing the pace.

I've never been one to give busy work (the circling) except as a major correction if the above doesn't work and they really won't stop. Then it's a severe one rein stop where I crank the head around. And as you know... circling isn't really an option on most of our trails anyhow, there isn't room.

[HairOfTheDog]

We posted a thread about Western Saddle pad options over on the horse forum....

Thinner, but substantial Western Pad options?

[Beaker]

Well I’m back from the barn and had another good ride. It’s a beautiful day here, 75 in the sun. I feel nice and relaxed and accomplished and... satisfied. :-)