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]

Morning:)

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Good morning!

Dad came down to help and we finished the third stall doorway yesterday. But, unfortunately, I am sick today. Cold achy coughing kind of cold. WAH. Phooey.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm so sorry. I hate colds. Well drink lots of fluids, stay warm, chicken soup is great for a cold:)

I won't be around much till this evening.

Get well soon.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

Funeral services today?

[CindyDawg]

Morning

[CindyDawg]

Bummer. Get some rest.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Yeah.

It's in another town, so it'll be a drive. about 1 1/2 hours.

Becky

[estrogen]

I have a gaited horse and LOVE the running walk. My advanced age needs the smooth ride. Mine is a Rocky Mt. gelding that has the sweetest disposition. My husband had a TWH and that horse was NUTS. Took off all the time. Had to sell him to a park ranger. My horse is named Waylon and he's 3 yrs.old.

[cowboyway]

Morning all. You can blame GW for your cold, HairDog. (sarcasm)

About them gaited horses. I've been on a few trail rides with people riding walking/racking/gaited horses and where groups of walking/racking/gaited horse riders were on the same trails.

First, as a general rule, walking/racking/gaited horses don't mix well with quarter horses. People on the gaited horses want to be in that rack and its either a fast trot or a slow lope for the quarter horse. Either way, it can make for an unpleasant ride.

Second, I've been riding at places that were popular with the walking/racking/gaited crowd. It was kinda like the story about the tortoise and the hare. These guys would come roaring up behind us, literally run us off the road and tear off past us. A few minutes later, we would amble on by while they were resting their nags, just to repeat the whole thing all over again. We discovered that if we ventured off to the remote trails, we wouldn't see a single walking/racking/gaited horse. They seemed to prefer wide, easy roads to backwoods, single file trails.

[CindyDawg]

Your story reminds me of the traffic around here. We have lots of single lane highways/roads. We have people (usually women , believe it or not) that will run up on you, flashing lights and honking and will zoom around, just to get stopped at the next traffic light.:')

[cowboyway]

Morning Dawg.

Yeah. I made two rules about trail riding. (1)Never ride with walking/racking/gaited horse folks and (2)stay away from places they frequent. My trail riding is geared towards slow ambling through the woods and if I'm riding with someone, I like to be able to carry on a conversation without shouting.

For me, riding with walking/racking/gaited horses is like being in traffic surrounded by blonde's in minivans on their way to soccer games with cell phones glued to their ears.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Agreed:)

Becky

[CindyDawg]

Seems like they should be separate anyway. Wouldn't your horse always be wanting to catch up when they passed by?

[Duchess47]

I'm always leery of a horse that has been riden when I got there, sorta figure it's been riden down so we'll have a safe ride. When I sell horses, I always let the buyer go get it out and tack it up so they will know exactly how hard it is or isn't to catch, saddle, etc.

[Duchess47]

Good morning,
I'm sorry you're sick, hope you get a chance to just rest and drink hot toddies.

[cowboyway]

Oh yeah. It was a real pain in the hinder.

The sad part is, the several places that we went where the gaited crowd liked to go were really nice places to ride; up in the mountains of NC.

[Duchess47]

Oh, post some pictures when you can. I was reading about the Rocky Mountain horses awhile back but I don't believe I have ever seen one.

[Duchess47]

I haven't ever been on the trail with a gaited horse, although my DIL says there is one around here that runs endurance.

I have a hard time seeing them climbing mountains and picking through rocks and boulders like we have here but I guess they could. I guess I have a prejudice against non-western horses. That's silly on my part, I'll have to be more open minded. I finally did admit Arabs were darn good horses after rescuing a couple and being around them.

[Duchess47]

LOL - I commute 25miles one way every day. Blondes in minivans with cell phones conjured up my worst nightmare.

[cowboyway]

When you say 'western horses', do you mean quarter horses?