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Thread III: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1311311/posts |
Posted on 09/18/2004 6:56:23 AM PDT by 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.
What a beautiful picture. Are you a professional photographer?
Those are gorgeous:')
You GOT it! Beautiful pictures :)
Just realized my question went to CindyDawg not you. Are you a professional photographer, the pictures are great.
Not professional, but it was a pretty morning here Saturday, we get fog in this valley we're in and some morning are so pretty. Just got the camera a month ago and still don't know how to use it, just a Cannon A310 for $130.
Girl, I'd say you got natural talent then. The pictures are great, and he(?) is a beauty.
Life would be so much simpler if I could just put them in the garage like Cindydawg. She has her own bed, blanket, heater and fan:') Still not enough though. She prefers my bed.
Funny how despite how stubborn they are that the stomach always wins out. Sarah Lee will come all the way across the pasture when she sees me but I couldn't get her to make the last 20 or so feet thru mud and water. A little feed in her bucket brought her right to the gate though :')
Pretty horse:)
Becky
The horses here grow pretty good winter coats. I don't blanket mine until about the middle/end of March. I've been told that thier own coats will keep them warmer and dryer then anything we can put on them. If they do get really sweaty when I ride, I put one on till they dry.
I put one on in March to help rub the winter coat off and to help keep them clean. I only put it on at night. Blanketing them is not what makes them start shedding. It's the length of day. So starting in March, I leave the lights on in the barn till around 9-10 when I go out to feed the last time. But since I get them shedding before they really should that is another reason I blanket.
And actually, the last few years since I haven't been competeting in the spring, I haven't even done that. If I notice one really shivering, which usually is only when it is wet and cold, I put one on. But shivering is their way of warming up, so I've been told.
Kristy's horse, Rowdy, doesn't grow a winter coat at all. We haven't figured that one out. She blankets him to help.
This is just what I do. I've come to the conclusion over the years they handle the cold a whole lot better then the heat. My mare hardly ever went in her stall, even in heavy snow. But she went in in the summer. She'd be standing out there with an inch of snow on her back. Drove me crazy, because I had wanted a shed for them for so long, and when I got it, she didn't use it. Rocky is a differnt story. He won't stick even his nose out in rain or snow:) What a wuss:). When I would go out to brush the snow off her, I noticed down by her skin she would be dry.
Becky
I loved brushing Okies winter coat out. Of course there was hair everywhere and he had to shed it because of the heat but he just looked like a "winter" horse. I thought it was pretty. He was hard to keep clean but he would look so nice when brushed down.
At night in late late winter, I put a blanket on to help rub that hair out, and rub mud and dirt off. Cuts grooming time down alot, It also keeps the hair from standing up, which is what the hair does when it gets cold. Sometimes it looks like they grow a winter coat over night, but it's just that the hair stands up, makes it like insulation. Putting a blanket on keeps it from doing that and polishes the hair. They can look slick and shiny then even with a winter coat. The problem with doing it is once you start you really need to do it all the time till the temps warm. Where you live it might be differnt, as with Hair. Our winters are not nearly as bad as hers, but worse then yours:).
About putting one out in the pasture with a blanket. I know people who do that, but you need to make sure the blanket fits really well, they can get a leg hung in the straps if they roll. Also, other horses can and will ripe them off:). Jenny got a brand new blanket ripped to shreds last winter on her mare. She came in with it hanging in pieces. We're pretty sure the horses she was pastured with were the culprits. Personally, I wouldn't blanket one and put them in a pasture. Their too expensive and can get destroyed pretty quick and to much rish of them getting tangled up in the straps...which of course they could do even in a stall, but at least you'd be able to find them the next morning:)
Becky
Yeah. If it gets cold enough down here that they would need one, I'll probably bring them in. The horse I was talking about would lay down and sleep when the owner put her blanket on:')It will be so nice when I have my own place so they can come and go as they need to.
A girl that has been coming here to ride and parks here at my house just came. Her husband is with her. I don't know why...it's raining. Anyway, when they get back I'm going to take a picture of one of the horses they brought. He is beautiful! Now. But I didn't know if you knew about grays, that they are born very very dark, in the case of this one black, but the older they get they turn white with freckles. Just as a point of interest. When you see this guy, it's sad to think that he won't stay this way. Not that I don't like grays, it's just amazing to see the change from when they are born to when they are about 10.
Becky
BTW, your medicine hat gelding is beautiful. Did you mention, what breed he was?
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