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The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*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

I guess Hope getting to go out upset Grace’s sensibilities.

Pony will kick out when she goes by, but she never really connects, they’re intended misses, even when they are all loose. Although, in the picture where ecurbh is ‘pony cutting’ I said... “she might kick you” ;~) He was duly warned.

Pony will sometimes just come and stop right in front of me and Bay... and what I think is funny is, Bay doesn’t bite her. Loose, he would pin ears and bite to get her to move... under saddle, he just runs into her if I prod him. The riding part messes with the natural body language a little, they don’t do what they’d normally do. And that confuses Pony. She gets frustrated that the other horses seem to be playing a different game and ignoring her.

[HairOfTheDog]

I did really appreciate her keeping her head when she did the bit thing... now if she would stop trying to play with the shanks in the first place ;~)

We raised the hackamore a little higher on her nose, so now it won’t pass by her chin and she can’t grab it.

[FrogInABlender]

...Pony will kick out when she goes by, but she never really connects, they’re intended misses...

I guess that's where the term "Showing your @$$" comes from. ;o)

...ecurbh is ‘pony cutting’ I said... “she might kick you” ;~) He was duly warned...

Yeah, cutting cows is one thing, cutting horses brings a whole 'nother element into play. It's good that Pony's not real serious about it, and it's great that Bay's so steady when you're riding him too. He's a good ol' guy.

[FrogInABlender]

... now if she would stop trying to play with the shanks in the first place ;~)

Bob will always do that if I put him in a bit with swiveling shanks. He would take the shanks between his teeth and then just keep on going when I pulled on the reins. I had to switch him to a solid port, solid shank bit to keep him from being able to do it. He and Cyn sound a whole lot alike. They're both way too smart and have too much time on their hands to dream up trouble.

[HairOfTheDog]

Bob will always do that if I put him in a bit with swiveling shanks. He would take the shanks between his teeth and then just keep on going when I pulled on the reins.

That's what I was afraid of when she got the chain in her mouth, particularly when she realized she was now stuck and couldn't get rid of it. Luckily I was able to tell ecurbh what was wrong (hard for him to tell from the saddle) and she didn't take off.

[CindyDawg]

You look fine to me. He looks like a gentle giant that knows who does the driving. Still wondering how you got up there though. That must be some step stool:’)

[FrogInABlender]

Well, she may have just thought that she had a really strange bit in her mouth since it was kinda laying where a bit would go anyways, even if it was a bit low, and it may have worked as well as a bit if she had taken off, but it's good that she didn't.

I didn't take any pictures on my ride on Saturday because it rained and I didn't want to get my camera wet, but I did take some yesterday when we went to the Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville. We went to see Spiderman 3 at the IMAX and had a little time to kill before the show so I took some pics of the airplanes and rockets they've got.

This one is the SR71 Blackbird, the fastest plane in the world. This particular one set the coast-to-coast speed record right before they retired it. I forget what the time was, but it was incredible. It looks pretty cool too. That's my husband in the foreground. He's 6 feet tall...

I couldn't get over the tiny size of the cockpit either. It looks like one SKINNY guy could get in there with barely enough room for his shoulders. There was what looked like one tiny little display up in front of him. I have no idea how they flew that thing at speeds like that. My husband says it's not bad engineering for the period it was designed in and the technology that was available. I think they did it in 18 months, with a sliderule. Jeez!

This is a replica of the Saturn IV, the rocket that took all the Apollo missions to the moon. They have one of the 3 remaining real ones too but it's not standing upright. They've had it laying on it's side outside for the last 30 years and they finally decided they'd better get it out of the weather or it would eventually not be there anymore. So that's what that big building going up in the background is for...

[ecurbh]

This particular one set the coast-to-coast speed record right before they retired it. I forget what the time was, but it was incredible.

I just looked it up on Wikipedia...

When the SR-71 was retired in 1990, one was flown from its birthplace at United States Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, California to go on exhibit at what is now the Smithsonian Institution's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (an annex of the National Air & Space Museum) in Chantilly, Virginia. The Blackbird, piloted by Colonel Ed Yielding and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida, set a coast-to-coast speed record at an average 2,124 mph (3,418 km/h). The entire trip was reported as 68 minutes and 17 seconds. Three additional records were set within segments of the flight, including a new absolute top speed of 2,242 mph measured between the radar gates set up in St. Louis and Cincinnati. These were accepted by the National Aeronautic Association (NAA), the recognized body for aviation records in the United States.

[FrogInABlender]

Cool! Thanks for the info. So the Blackbird that set the record wasn’t THIS particular one. For some reason I thought it was, but it makes more sense for that one to be in the Smithsonian rather than here. I guess because Colonel Ed Yielding was from this area I assumed when they put this Blackbird on display that it was the one he flew. Oh well, win some, lose some.

I sure didn’t know that it held two people! I wonder where the heck the other guy sat because it sure looked like there was only one seat in there. The co-pilot or the navigator or whatever he was must’ve only had a view of the pilot’s butt! ;o)

[HairOfTheDog]

Hey - neat! Man, that’s a sexy plane.

I got to see on in flight once. On an airline trip, the captain dame on and said something like “Those of you on the right are about to get a treat, an SR-71 is about to pass us on his way from an airshow at [some place or another]...”

He did pass by pretty close, everyone on both sides was trying to get a look out the windows, and he was so much faster, even at his ‘cruise speed’ that he was in and out of sight again in just a minute or two.

[HairOfTheDog]

errr, it was not a captain dame... the captain [came] on.... ;~D

[FrogInABlender]

Hey, Captains can be dames too! ;o)
Seriously though, I read right over that one and never noticed it. I guess I better not try to make a living as a proof reader!

[Beaker]

Yeah, those stirrups are embarrassingly short, I’m going to lower them two holes, and see how that does. It was a different saddle than what I usually ride in, so I was just guessing and checking, I didn’t realize that my leg had all that bend in it until I saw the pictures. It was difficult to judge from the ground when I was adjusting them because of his height. I actually prefer riding without stirrups, and I’m more comfortable without them. They just get in the way.

[Duchess47]

Good morning :)

Grin and bear it was the watchword for all of us. At least this won't happen again in the near future - our patrons would have a fit.

[Beaker]

We have a big wooden three step mounting platform that I use to get on him. I can’t get on him using a regular mounting block.

[Beaker]

Is Grace head mare in your herd? We have an Appy who goes beserk every time we take the lowest mare in the herd out, and will run the fence line screaming and screaming, and then waits by the gait so that she can put the low mare “back in line”. Sometimes we have all the mares out of the pasture, and you’d think that her world has come to an end.

[FrogInABlender]

...Is Grace head mare in your herd?...

Ooooooh yeeeeeah! When Grace says "Jump", everybody says "How High?", so you're probably right.

[Beaker]

Ooooooh yeeeeeah! When Grace says "Jump", everybody says "How High?"

LOL! Yup, sounds like Grace is head mare alright.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Good afternoon:)...I just got in from making a run up to my dad’s.

Frog, interesting pictures:).

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Hi there... Hope you had a good visit.

I’ve been working today... we’re getting a little bit of rain today... it’s late enough in the season that it’s welcome.