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Posted on 01/02/2007 9:57:39 AM PST by HairOfTheDog
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!
Pony usually jumped it... much higher than she needed to... and then would run off farting. ;~) I never timed the camera will enough to capture it, she was always right behind me.
LOL...I’m still working on that one too:)
Becky
You were on your horse when you took those pictures of Cyn and ecurbh? Pretty good picture taking:)
Becky
I’ll copy this too, that I said over in the horse forum...
Cyn did something interesting today, fiddling around with her hackamore bit while we were stopped, she got the chain that holds the end of the shanks together in her mouth. Then she was stuck with it right between her bottom front teeth and her canines. Some horses might have wigged out about that. She just stood there with her mouth gaping open till he jumped down and fixed it. So amid all her annoying quirks, those are the kind of reactions I’m thankful for. We adjusted it so she can’t do it again.
Thanks ;~) Yeah - I was on the horse :~)
Another test to do on Cyn would be to have you keep walking away, and see if she will stand astraddle the log.
At a ride, sometimes they don’t let people wait on each other sometimes they do, and sometimes you’re just at the mercy of the people in front of you, hoping they will wait. It’s best to have your horse trained to do it no matter what the horse if front of you does.
Becky
That test would bother Bay more than Cyn, probably. She doesn’t particularly care if she’s left behind. She’ll lag on trail to the point where Bay stops and looks back. :~)
Well that is a great trait to have, one of the hardest to deal with at a CTR, the herd instinct.
I’ve figured out that Harley doesn’t care about strange horse passing and leaving him, but If I ride with someone, like I did at this one, he does get a bit herd bound. But seems OK once his buddy is out of sight. I just don’t ride often enough with others to work with him letting the other horse leave him. Riding by yourself, IMO, doesn’t really help the problem. You have to ride with other horses, and let them leave, and come back, and leave again.
Becky
Bay will go if he’s the one leaving... but if someone else leaves and we’re staying behind, he’d be on the muscle about it. Not at home, necessarily, he doesn’t care if they’re out of sight at home. But on trail or at a trailhead.
That’s pretty normal, and would be a tough test :~)
Great pictures, Beaker and Hair. Looks like loads of fun for you all.
Rain yesterday and today.
Aw Man! That “Retreat” sounds like a nightmare! Nothing like some dorky little goober who knows nothing about anything (except how to tell other people goofy things to do) telling you what is important in your business. Getting the incorrect mission statement is a classic example. The desert survival test was interesting. I’m with you about the water and gun. A signaling mirror ain’t gonna do you a whole lot of good if you die of thirst or a snakebite first! But I’m glad that you gritted your teeth and made it through. That’s about the best you can do because it’s not a good career move to be uncooperative. I’ve seen too many good people get run off when the consultants thought they weren’t being a “team player”. :-/ You just have to grin and bear it until they leave. Hopefully you won’t have to put up with another one of those for a long time!
Well, the Bob and Kat session sounds interesting. It sounds like she did surprisingly well given the chaotic surroundings. There are very few horses that would be all that cooperative with all that going on. I sure wish he would get more motivated and organized because I’m afraid that his daughter will never feel very comfortable about riding if he doesn’t. I think that riding her away from home, either at the arena or out on the trail with a few trusted companions will probably be the best thing for both of them. I sure hope it works out for them all!
Glad to hear that you made it back with the new trailer all safe and sound. It looks great, but I hated to hear about the Gator incident. I couldn’t believe that Becky and Hair had never heard that term before because that’s what I’ve always heard them called. When they’re laying flat in the road in a big long strip they look exactly like a gator’s back, and they’ll sure do a number on your car if you run over them.
The inside of the trailer sure looks nice and I definately like the cushions you picked out over the ones he first showed you. I’ll bet you’re tickled to death with it!
I'd lower your stirrups at least one hole, maybe two. You don't need all that bend in your leg.
It took me a couple of years riding combined training to get my stirrups down from the "jockey seat" that we all used to use in hunter-jumper shows, to a more reasonable length. At first you feel like you're feeling for the stirrups with your toes. Riding without stirrups helped a lot, also rotating the leg inward from the hips instead of outward, and getting rotated forward on the front of my "sitz bones" instead of on my seat.
When I got on the "big blond" - my trainer's new horse - I lowered my stirrups two holes.
The older I get, the more I appreciate that quality in a horse.
Wow Beaker, you and Levi look GREAT! Good job on finally getting us some pictures! I don’t think you look silly on him at all. That’s funny about the stirrups being at chin level on you. Dang, I don’t see how you ever get up there, so I can understand your concern about falling off, and about you having to slide down to dismount. I hate it that the saddle got you though. I’ll bet that smarted!
Those are some really nice obstacles y’all made there and it looks like everybody handled them beautifully. That’s really funny about Pony going over them like they were really high and then going off farting and bucking. She’s a mess! I’m amazed that her antics don’t cause any problems with the others when you’re out there riding them. I always pen the others up when I’m riding one at home for fear of them deciding to go tearing off running and bucking and causing the one I’m on to do the same, or for the loose ones to suddenly decide to take a swipe at the one I’m riding and getting me. We all have our comfort zones I guess and it’s interesting how different they are for all of us.
It does rattle the others some when she runs up behind, or takes off running ... We decided it’s good practice for going on trail rides with yahoos. :~)
I think it’s safe because she’s low man, so she can’t come and intimidate them, only startle them.
She did... and the surroundings rattled me as much as anything she did.
Bob never rides at home, he only rides on trail, so I agree... if they got into a normal routine of going, and she had a horse to follow, she'd be fine. Tiff did say she'd go with us on a ride, maybe next weekend.
You know, that's a really good idea. They should be paying attention to their rider instead of what some other horse is doing. I'd still have to worry about the kicking part though. I rode Hope out in the Forest on Saturday and when I got back and turned her out with the others, for some reason Grace decided that she needed to exert her Authority and kept on running up to her and squealing and kicking. I have no idea why. Hope would just run off and go graze somewhere else and then Grace would wait a few seconds and go do it again. I finally had to go holler at her and tell her to knock it off. After a while, they finally settled down. ~:-/
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