FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 12

[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The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - (very out of date) Who's Who *pics*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, usually about our horses, sometimes about our dogs, gardens and other stuff we do. :~)

I have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will ping everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list.

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.

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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11

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]

Ah - well that doohicky looks cool. OK - if we get a fountain, we’ll get one of those :~)

[Duchess47]

I believe she’s in Colorado. I’m really taken with that guy - he reminds me very much of one of our horses, True Quest. However, I’m selling horses, not buying, unless I want me and my horses sitting on the street :)

[Duchess47]

Yep - you’re so right.

This colt reminds me a lot of Quest, soft eye and beautifully put together ~sigh~

[Duchess47]

The nice thing (if there is a nice thing about snow) about the snow here is that it melts fast. Just isolated small patches left now. And a beautiful sunny day. The weather man promises 50 degree temps, although I’ll believe that when I see it.

[Duchess47]

And my opinion :) If you have a snaffle bit, use that instead of the Tom Thumb.

[FrogInABlender]

Well, in other news, we had another good ride on Saturday. My friend Kari came, and Shirley rode with us for the first time in over a month, and BladeRider's friend Cathy came and rode Blade. BladeRider rode Jake because she'd had some new toe weight shoes put on him and wanted to see if it smoothed out his pace any, and it did, but I'll let her tell you about that.

So here's the pics, such as they are. It was 34* when we started out and was supposed to get up to the low 50's, but it DIDN'T, so we stayed bundled up all day. We were just riding along when Shirley decided to explore this new cliff shelter that was just right off the trail. He does that sometimes. One minute you're on the trail and the next you're tearing off through the woods. We always end up someplace pretty though so it's always fun.

He looks like OldHermitGuy in this one, or some kind of a miner. That hood he had on went with some other jacket and it looked really funny, but apparently it was warm so I guess that's all that matters...

So we moved on from the cliff to the break area, and speaking of goofy-looking headgear, Kari and I found these fleece helmet covers on ebay, and goofy or not, they're warm...

So we finished our lunch while freezing our butts off and were about to mount up and leave when this other group showed up and commenced to build a fire, so needless to say, we hung around for a while and warmed up...

And here's good ol' Bob helping me out by straddling a log for me...


But we gotta work on that departure. It lacks a little in the grace department. :o)...

And speaking of grace, check out this video of BladeRider finding a hole at the cliff shelter. She only hurt her pride, so of course I laughed at her, but I'm sure she'll get even with me at some point.

One last pic, of Kari and Faith at another pretty cliff on the trail...

[HairOfTheDog]

Those are great new caves! ~applause~

And you guys in your cute hats are just the cutest thing!

Yeah - the straddling the log thing makes the first step a doozy. I usually just have them sidle up along side the log ;~)

[BladeRider]

BladeRider rode Jake because she'd had some new toe weight shoes put on him and wanted to see if it smoothed out his pace any,

Boy what a difference those weighted shoes made. They were 14 ounce shoes and seemed to be just enough to get him to use himself better. Hopefully he will continue and not just "get used" to them and fall back into his pacing.

And speaking of grace, check out this video of BladeRider finding a hole at the cliff shelter. She only hurt her pride, so of course I laughed at her, but I'm sure she'll get even with me at some point.

Thanks "friend"! I knew that when I went down in that mud hole and looke dup to see hte camera pointed at me that you all would hear about/see it.Luckily she did not get a picture of me when Jake rubbed me about out of the saddle on a tree! Temps topped out at 39 degrees but it was fun, at least the wind was not blowing.

[FrogInABlender]

...when Jake rubbed me about out of the saddle on a tree!...

Jake does tend to be a bulldozer when going through the rough doesn't he! I didn't see it because I was in front of you, but I heard the breaking limbs and cursing and turned around just in time to see you coming out of it. You just provided all kinds of entertainment value that day!

[FrogInABlender]

Oh, another new development this weekend was that the trainer called yesterday and said he had an opening so I took Goose up there for him to train. So I’ll have another green ‘un to ride in about a month. Then Miss Whirl will get her turn after that. Should be an interesting Spring and Summer!

[HairOfTheDog]

That’s a lot of horses to keep in shape!

[HairOfTheDog]

HA! I didn’t see the video link the first time around! Friend indeed ;~) I wouldn’t expect less!

[HairOfTheDog]

I was glad to be in the back, I think, for the first several of Becky’s low hanging branches at saddlemoot. The first one nearly swept me out! I was shocked by how hard the trees are, for starters, small branches here would just bend out of the way, so I didn’t eve think to try to duck it. And of course, the saddle horn was a new obstacle for me still ;~)

[BladeRider]

You just provided all kinds of entertainment value that day!

I guess it was my turn. Kari has entertained us plenty the last few rides.

[BladeRider]

So I’ll have another green ‘un to ride in about a month. Then Miss Whirl will get her turn after that. Should be an interesting Spring and Summer!

Guess we better start recruiting more riders!

[BladeRider]

I was shocked by how hard the trees are

I would be in serious jeopardy if I were on Jake there, he counts on the trees bending when he bulldozes through them.

[FrogInABlender]

Yeah, and I think she was getting a little paranoid about it. She said on our last ride that this was the first ride in about 4 outings where she didn’t manage to hit the ground in some form or fashion. And to her credit, I don’t think that most people would’ve been able to have stayed on in any of those circumstances, so she really didn’t have anything to be self-conscious about. But things like that do tend to rattle your self-confidence, so I can understand.

I was amazed that you didn’t go flying off the back when Jake decided to jump that little ditch with you. I’ll bet it about gave you whiplash as it was. And then when Kari's horse found that hole in the same spot, that's when I decided to find another place to come down the hill.

[FrogInABlender]

...And of course, the saddle horn was a new obstacle for me still ;~)

Yeah, and when you hung your shirt on it that time when you were getting off and your tippy toes were just barely touching the ground and I thought we were fixing to have to come cut you out of it. You were just lucky that Rocky didn't have a wicked sense of humor and pick that moment to decide to high-tail it for home coz your shirt would've gone with him and left you standing there in your bra.

[HairOfTheDog]

And being the good friend you are, I’m sure you would have tried to capture the moment on film!

[HairOfTheDog]

Lord I’m laughing about that. I’d nearly forgotten about it!