The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread

[HairOfTheDog]

Free Republic has a lot of horse people that have found each other on other threads…. And since we all like to talk horses, how about a thread where it is not off-topic, but is THE topic?

A few of us thought it would be interesting and informative to have a chat thread where we can 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. We may not ~always~ have a lot of activity, but when we do, it will be fun. I will put 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 will also develop a ping list for horse threads that are of interest. 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.

I am hoping this thread will be a 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.

[HairOfTheDog]

I'm certified to train and drive standardbred racehorses.

Well, that is certainly unusual! - Did you race them or were you the trainer and where?

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning everyone who found the saddle thread on the first day... We are off to a fun start.

I slept in till 7:00.... nice thing for me in the summer when I can leave the horses outside at night... My horse doesn't wake me banging his stall gate at 4:00 am because he has to pee.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'll give all this info. Since she uses it so seldom, it might not be worth it.

The horses are done with breakfast, I've got the garden work done, so I'm off to ride a horse.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

I may be too busy to play with ponies today... Have a meeting this afternoon with the pastor that is going to do our wedding.

[AnAmericanMother]

Have fun at the "pre-Cana conference." (Mine was just a blur.)

My son and I are riding this afternoon - my daughter has the school Drama Banquet to attend. I gotta get some more supplements for the mare . . . she goes through that Red Cell like Ted Kennedy through Canadian Club. . . . :-p

[HairOfTheDog]

Really? - She gets lots of red cell? - And she isn't pregnant is she?

I loved Red Cell and the impact it had on my old dog when she was aging and failing... It put weight and energy back in her for a long time. It is a great product. But I've only ever used it with pregnant and nursing mares, and that dog that was sick.

Guess my backyard ponies rarely need super-food to do the little bit of work I require.

[AnAmericanMother]

Actually, we're thinking about breeding her. She was sold for next to nothing (to us!) at age 14 because she came up empty after two consecutive breedings and was unbroken. But she was not in good condition at that time - although she was well cared for she didn't get enough exercise. She is now in splendid condition and coming into season regularly (fortunately she doesn't get witchy when in season, just makes sheep's eyes at anything that looks like it MIGHT be a stallion . . . sigh).

She is about 20 (by her teeth - her papers are somewhere in the trainer's office files) and she's slowed down a step or two. The Red Cell really helps her energy level, she does a good deal of work - our trainer uses her for lessons when I'm not riding her, and of course during the fall and winter she hunts with me, during the spring and summer she's doing combined training, not to mention the occasional hunter show when I get nostalgic - so she's a busy little girl.

She's also getting the glucosamine/chondroitin for her occasional stiffness. The vet can't really pin down anything substantial, she's just a little gimpy on cold mornings until she gets warmed up (I am exactly the same way, so I know how she feels!)

[HairOfTheDog]

Interesting... I thought she was youngish mare.

Red Cell is something to keep in mind with my old guy... right now weight and energy aren't a problem.

He's moving pretty sound so far this year, most days, he still floats when he plays in the pasture. He's on Isoxuprine in his feed for his Navicular, and he has pads on his feet. Other than that, he gets a supplement that is MSM/Gluc/Condroitin/Biotin all-in-one. I think three days this year I have Buted him because he seemed dumpy in a non-specific way I couldn't put my finger on. He hides pain really well.

[Capriole]

My horse doesn't wake me banging his stall gate at 4:00 am because he has to pee.

Excuse me, but do you have your horse housebroken? Why can't he pee in his stall like every other horse on the planet? Why does he have to be let out to pee? If you have discovered a way to housebreak your horses I'd love to hear it; it would mean I could keep horses in my walkout basement and not have to worry about building them a barn. ;-)

[CindyDawg]

I'm glad you posted that. I wasn't going to say anything but I was thinking I didn't know mine was supposed to be let them out to pee?lol

[CindyDawg]

I'm glad you posted that. I wasn't going to say anything but I was thinking I didn't know mine was supposed to be let them out to pee?lol

[HairOfTheDog]

Why can't he pee in his stall like every other horse on the planet?

Good question! I don't know why he is like this, but he would rather die of a cramp before peeing indoors. He bangs on the stall gate until I let him out, and he goes a few feet out of the barn and pees.

I have to admit, it makes his stall nice to clean. My pony is right next to him at night, and she pees in her stall... I don't know whether that amazes or disgusts him.

[HairOfTheDog]

No.... mine just has a psychosis! He really is in pain if I sleep in late and he's in.... you can see it in his face... and the way he walks out the aisle.

So... summer his nice. He can pee when he likes, and I can sleep in. I need to build him a small paddock off his stall and leave him to come and go, is what I should do. ;~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

So what does Red Cell do for a horse?

Becky

[CindyDawg]

Or install a urinal :')

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

My horses are in runs off of a loafing shed. They can go in and out as they please. Rocky NEVER goes in his stall to go, Rusty ALWAYS goes into the stall to go. He can be standing out in the run, but will walk into the stall to pee or poop:( Rocky stands in his stall all the time in the hot summer, rain, snow, wind. Rusty has only this spring started standing in the stall to escape the flies. During rain snow, and even the recent hail storm we had last week he stood out in the run. Go figure:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Mine have a lean-to/loafing shed all the time.... and closed in stalls just for bad weather.

My pony will run into their lean-to just to pee. Ticks me off, because the loafing shed gets all swampy. They don't poop in there ever, and it's not lined, so I don't clean it out like I do the stalls. Just this last month we dug it out and let it dry for a week or two.

I think she does it because peeing in shavings doesn't splash on her legs like peeing on hard ground does.

[AnAmericanMother]

Man, I wish my mare would not pee in her stall!

I can hot walk her for thirty minutes and let her graze on the grass in the outside paddock, she'll hold it until she gets back inside and can use the nice clean shavings I put in when I was saddling her up in the crossties.

When I was a teenager I broke and trained a horse named Honda (my friends' dad sold his motorcycle to buy him) who had the same idiosyncracy. Basically they built a little enclosure (not really big enough for a paddock, about 30 feet square) behind his stall, and put in a back door which they left open. He would wander out and down to the very back of the enclosure to do ALL his business in one corner. We just kept dumping sawdust back there! He never "went" in his stall, not once that I can remember.

Their dad built a porch roof over the back of Honda's stall so that rain &c. wouldn't come in the open door. It worked out quite nicely. Honda used to stand in the doorway to enjoy the breeze in the summer.

He was a nice old boy, a dark bay grade gelding about 15.3 with a good deal of Quarter Horse in him. Kind of shambling gaits (and I didn't know enough dressage to tighten him up) but he was good natured and perfectly willing to jump for me, although he did tend to drop his forelegs into his fences. I'm sure he's on the green fields of Heaven by now.

[HairOfTheDog]

Ecurbh and I were just talking about how we could build his... He could have an area off his stall if we cut a door in. It would open into an area of the yard that is already fenced on three sides. The doorway wouldn't be all that open to weather coming in... would be away from our prevailing wind.

[AnAmericanMother]

Red Cell

It's a vitamin and mineral supplement with iron. Don't know what it is about this stuff, but my trainer's used it on several of her elderly horses (including a big old T'bred who finally went to his reward last year at age FORTY THREE) with amazing results. They get very peppy. Maybe as horses age their digestive systems can't absorb vitamins as readily (their digestive systems are primitive at best!)