Posted on 08/07/2007 7:33:14 AM PDT 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, 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!
Too bad, I hope you can find your buyer for Harley soon!
And the Vet!
I am busy all morning every morning, first it’s all dogs out so let the kittens out, clean the litterbox and prepare their breakfast. By then the kittens are crawling all over me for the breakfast and the dogs want in for their breakfast, so kittens go back inside the crate and dogs come in for breakfast. Then they need out after breakfast and kittens have a nap.
Whew... now I need coffee and to feed the horses. I’ve been closing them in the paddock at night and feeding hay to limit their grass, but skipping hay most mornings and just turning them out. For a couple weeks anyway, we might save on hay.
Well, the App was gaited, so he did fine. The Arabs not so much. They were having to either do a slow trot or a walk/canter combination to keep up. They would have been fine if they’d been in better condition, but those people apparently either didn’t ride very much or just walked them most of the time because their horses were pretty hot and tired by the time the ride was over. And we weren’t really even going that fast because we were walking in the creeks or going up and down big hills a lot of the time.
We’ve had non-gaiteds ride with us before and do fine, but they either had a nice smooth jog or a nice slow canter and could do that for long periods of time. There was one guy we used to see on the trail sometimes who rode a big TB/QH gelding and he could absolutely burn you down. He’d set that horse in a big extended trot and DID...NOT...STOP. I’m sure some of the gaiteds could keep up with him, but I sure couldn’t. With my piddly little once-a-weekend riding schedule, my horses aren’t in good enough shape. So it’s not the gait, it’s the condition.
It's my knees that hurt after riding down hill. We pretty much went up and down, all the time on this ride.
Yeah, down hill riding bothers a lot of folks. I don’t have much problem with it because those little thin english leathers on my saddle don’t put very much torque on my knees. But some of the others who ride western swear by those “Stirrup Straight” stirrup hangers that keep you from having to twist the fenders around your lower leg.
Well, I guess BladeRider and the rest of her crew are headed towards Land Between the Lakes for a weekend of camping and riding. I don’t think HaveFaith and her hubby will be leaving ‘til tomorrow. I sure would have loved to have gone with them, but since I just went on a weekend-long horse camping trip at the first of the month I figured I’d better sit this one out. My sweetie said go ahead and go, but I didn’t want to take advantage of his good graces too much. I’ll save it for when we get up another trip in the fall, maybe to Big South Fork. I’ve always wanted to go there.
Bay kept up with that gaited mule in his medium trot, he was in good shape then so it was easy enough for him. In his day he could do that for MILES. Not so much now, though on a good day it would be hard to explain that to him. Cyn behind us did her rubberband lag behind trot or canter to catch up thing. :~)
Miles is miles, they sill have to be in shape, even just walkin’.
Well we got a live trap yesterday for the momma cat and put it out last night with food in it but not set to trap her yet. Just feeding her in it for the next several days, we don’t really want her till Monday. She ate the food last night, so all’s hopeful we can get her.
That’s good news about Mama Cat taking the bait. Hopefully she won’t freak out TOO bad whenever you finally trap her. I’d put the cage in the back of the truck coz she’s likely to pee and poop all over everything in her panic to get out. One of my three does that every time I put them in the crate to go to the vet’s, and they’re TAME, so I can imagine what a feral cat will do. But it sure will be good to not have to worry about her having a litter of kittens 2 or 3 times a year. You might just have a cuteness overload if that happened. ;o)
The trap should come in handy too if those possums ever come back.
I would love to go there. At the Equine Affair, I picked up some info. They sell home sites in an area close and you can get a free vacation by visiting and listening to the sales pitch. A little too rich for my wallet.
I was surfing for gaited horses for sale and the prices are not cheap. The market is down, but the prices are not.
Blade and Faith, you all have a safe and fun trip!
Yeah - we don’t want any more kittens. Gotcha on the warning about the cage! Ack.
Speaking of possums... Barkley and/or Gidget have killed two. Baby ones, not much bigger than these kittens. I think it was they who were/are under the house... a litter. We’ve been leaving the dogs out at dusk for awhile, and they are on a constant hunt circling out there looking for more... not a bad team! I practically have to drag them in when it’s time for bed. ecurbh saw another one but he wasn’t armed at the time.
Yeah, I could afford to camp there but I imagine the land, especially in one of those fancy developments, is kinda pricey. But I’d love to live someplace with access to that many miles of trails. I’d never come inside! ;o)
The only place you’re going to find a cheap gaited horse is at an auction, and then you’re just taking your chances on what you’ll end up with.
Good DOGS! Even baby possums are nasty-looking!
Those humane traps come in handy. Neither mom or I can bring ourselves to shoot varmints, even the nasty ones like groundhogs. We ended up having a groundhog and possum relocation program going where we took them to an abandoned cemetary about 6 miles from the barn. My bf thought we were nuts but I couldn’t shoot one of the stinky things if I had to.
Yeah- there’s only a few animals I can think of that aren’t even cute when they’re babies, and possums are one of them.
I would probably have a problem with shooting them when they’re caged. It’s just so unsporting. Once they’re caged, they become pitiful. We do have the state forest where we ride only 7 miles away, and I don’t think there’s a big ethical dilemma with releasing them up there.
But my honey thinks that’s silly. ;~) We actually got in a fight once because I freed a mouse who was trapped in a bucket. If the cats or the dogs kill it quickly, I’m OK with it, but once it’s just injured or trapped, it’s too sad.
I dumped mine way out in the back forty where he hopefully couldn’t find his way back.
Heh, you just gave him a roadtrip. He was probably back by the next day. Same with CJ’s varmints. ;o)
You’re not helping my case for pity. :~)
LOL!
So how’s everybody doing over on HH? I haven’t been over there in a month or so. Last I saw, Rosie had just gotten her new car.
They’re OK :~)
Corin’s MIL died. She’d been failing for some time. Her service will probably be this weekend or within the next several days, we haven’t heard yet.
So other than that, the same conversations over and over again... if you miss something, I’m sure it’ll come up again. :~)
Well I hate that about Nana. I knew she’d been going down hill since before Mother died. I know they’ll miss her, but I’m sure she’s much happier now rather than living the way she was.
I have a few pictures of the layout of my apartment. I know it's hard to see but you might be able to figure it out. I think it's going to be very nice and efficient. This is the whole thing. If you remember the office...we will put a wall from front to back between the two sets of windows. And another wall will be put in across the back. My side will be the side that the drums, pool table, etc was on. The bathroom will be taken out and we will start from scratch. The top of the poster board is the side with the windows facing the park, where the drums were is the side where the kitchen and bath will be. The living room will be the rest of the room left open with and island defining the kitchen area from the living area.
This is a close up of the bathrooms, and kitchen. The bedroom will be to the left of the bath and closet. The closet is the room to the left of the washer dryer.
Becky
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