The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!

[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. In the last thread we had a great time and were a great help to each other working through lessons and training, horse lamenesses and illnesses, questions and challenges and always just our stories we like to tell.

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 Becky pings everyone most mornings. Let Becky (Paynoattentionmanbehindthecurtain) 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 last thread, 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.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

For quite awhile he was kept in a pretty small pen because I was trying to get some grass to grow. At that time he was getting rode quite a bit tho. My daughter trail rode, and did barrels, flags, and poles on him. Now he is on about 2 acres. But there isn't much grass. I just went out and took some pictures, don't know if you have seen any of him, and I noticed he was eating leaves off trees...is that bad? and some dead ones on the ground.

Yes he can see other horses, can even get right up next to one, just one strand of wire seperating them.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Wondered where you all were:)

Making progress?

Becky

[Duchess47]

Unless you have some poisonous trees, that won't hurt him. Lord, he is beautiful. My husband would probably kill for him :) How old is he? He's got plenty of room for sure. Our stud is in a 12X12 stall and 24X24 paddock when he's not being worked or used.

Sure sounds like he's bored or picked up some bad habits earlier when he was bored (maybe as a youngster).

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I think most of his bad habits started before we got him, but we didn't help much at the start.

Thanks for the compliment. We are proud of him. I think he's about 15-16, grandson of Poco Bueno. Jenny, my daughter, started riding him when she was 14. He is a great barrel horse, and LOVES cows. She did alot of team penning on him. My son roped on him a bit, he's kind of small for heading and that's what Charlie does.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Here he is a couple of weeks ago running barrels. The only thing we can figure, other then a deficency is Jenny thinks he slipped on this turn. He came in running hard, but slowed up alot after the turn. When he came out he was gimping a bit, but it cleared up fast. The next week when she ran him, he never really got going like he usually does, and when he came out he had that knot in his flank. And reacted to pressure on his hip and flank. My vet said to let him rest for a couple of weeks if he stops reacting to pressure. Said it was probably a soft tissue injury in his stifle. He is not reacting to pressure, had even stopped reacting by the next day, but he is on vacation now for awhile. But I'm trying to cover the other bases too.

Becky

[Duchess47]

He has the look of a Poco Bueno horse. Bob's first stud was a small buckskin (Wilson's Yellow Cat horse)that looked a lot like your guy and he used to ride a lot of Poco Pine horses.

Put some goats in the pasture with him. Unless he shows a tendency to hurt them, that will keep him entertained and give him something to do. I've got a mare that loves to herd goats. When she's feeling her oats, she will cut one out. Well, used to. Now there's a minature llama in with them that doesn't take kindly to it.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I've thought about goats, but our fence just won't hold them, and I just really don't want any more animals to deal with:). Too many now.

Becky

[Duchess47]

What you're describing sounds like some kind of an muscle or tissue injury - but your vet would know. In the picture he looks stretched out. Have you had your vet run a blood test on him just to see if he has any deficiencies?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No, I probably should. I was going to let him rest some, before I do anything else. I really don't think that's what it is, but he hadn't had a block in awhile. That's what made me wonder about it. But then giving him the block made me worry about the way he licks it so much then drinks so much.

After his rest, a month or so, we'll ride him some to get him back in shape then try again. If it were to happen again I would for sure do bloodwork. We're pretty tight when it comes to going to the vet:), and my vet is pretty conservative anyway about doing that stuff. I had to beg him awhile back to do blood work on another horse I have. I know that might make him sound bad, but he's really not just very careful with other peoples money.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Oh, forgot to ask, would there be any treatment for a soft tissue injury? or just rest?

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Hair and I think I took the picture just as he was slipping. Since I was behind the camera I didn't notice it, but noticed immediately that he was not running after that. I was hollering at Jenny "He's not running" Feel bad about it now:) He's never quit before, so I should have known. Heat of the moment.

Becky

[Duchess47]

Sounds like you have a good vet. A lot will spend your money like it's water. Rest is about it I think, and bring him back slowly. If he was still reacting to pressure, you could rub the area down a bit with Absorbine gel and give him some bute.

Have to get ready to go to my son's for dinner but will be back later this evening. Hubbie said send you a picture of BoBo Cat :) I'll try to figure that out tomorrow.

[CindyDawg]

Nothing. The owner stated the horses weren't using it and went to feed with sodium. I used to be concerned caz Okie would lick my arm when I was sweaty. His lytes were fine and the vet was ok with it though.

[HairOfTheDog]

We did make progress.... Got hay moved into Bay's old stall and even got it worked out so they can all get in out of the rain. The area that will become Bay and pony's new stalls is now open for them to come and go. Cyn's closed in the back. I think these two will do OK like this for now.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Good morning.

Raining here.

Becky

[Momto2]

Morning ... threatening rain here in Ga. too - we did get a ride in late yesterday - I didn't respond to the salt question - we just have the white block - it is in the paddock next to watering trough...they use it occasionally but not obsessively.. Maybe I need to ask vet about the other Minerals.... I did read if they can roam around pasture with trees, etc... sometimes they will eat bark, leaves, certain things to get other nutrients they need. I've even read of putting a branch of leaves in stall for them to "snack on".. if they can't roam freely.

[CindyDawg]

Morning. Clouding up again here. I don't care though caz I'm fixing to go to bed. Maybe, I'll go out to the stables later or I may wait til tomorrow to get back to my routine.

[HairOfTheDog]

We are fogged in this morning, but it isn't supposed to rain again. The temporary stall shared by Bay and the pony last night worked really well. There is just a rope across to define their space from the rest of the barn, and strategic use of a few pallets, and they didn't get into anything. Cyn, on the other hand, dragged a whole bale off the stack into her stall. Heh. We were gonna tarp it, we just didn't get to it yesterday.

Not sure if we will ride today, ecurbh and I are both pretty sore. Moving a ton of hay is one thing, but it was moving those rubber mats around that killed us!

[Duchess47]

Good morning everyone. Guess I'm looking, it's a gorgeous sunny day here. I'm going to try to post a picture of hubbie's first stud. The one that yours reminded me of.

[HairOfTheDog]

He does look like Rocky!

You seem to be the only one with sun this Sun day!