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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.
Once again, it's all part of the show classes. AQHA has always (and rightly so) been proud of the versatility of the American Quarter Horse. The show ring is where this versatility is demonstrated.
lol. Drugged, could be :-)
I think the complaint we are trying to articulate is that too many of the horses move essentially the same in western classes and english classes, as if there is no difference in how they should go, they only change the tack.
Well, I'm back and I'm in a "give my horses away" mood:') I couldn't get her out of the pasture. It's cold and rainy and she's standing in mud. I was coxing her down the fence line and she was trying to get out but it was getting close to feeding time and the first bucket by the gate. The boss mare charged and kicked her. I couldn't go get her because I was in my work clothes and I wanted my feet on solid ground if that she devil tried to kick or charge me. I sure didn't want to slip in the mud under her. I'm going to go get me some mud boots and go back out there. I want to stall her tonight. The worker wouldn't go get her either. I am going to knock the crap out of that red horse if she comes near us. All this and no place to ride anyway. My white car brown. I'm surprised I didn't get stuck. I was bottoming out and sliding all over the road :') (which was kind of cool).
Thanks. He says he's going to be an "animal doctor":')
Now I'm really p/o. My husband took off and left me at work and went out to the stables and took her out and bathed her. I was wondering why she wasn't muddy. We have been running circles around each other all day:')
Well, we're back, had a good time! Trying to upload pics, but my pic host is locking up on me. I'll try again in a bit :~\
Where did yall go?
*gasp* The nerve!
Yeah. I felt bad. I called Sarah Lee into an area she probably wouldn't have ventured and got her kicked. Tomorrow, lead rope, rocks, water gun, tazor... wait...how do you kick a horse?lol You are shorter than I am. I tried to kick Okie once and landed up on my butt. I think that horse laughed:')
Buggy whip or lunge whip works well. You can hurt them without getting too close.
HMM. Maybe I'll try the lunge. I use the lead rope but I have to be careful. At first when I would swing the rope Sarah Lee thought I was going to get her but now she tenses but seems to understand. It was the mud I was concerned about. She was sinking about six inches and making a suction noise raising her foot. I don't want to replace shoes (hers or mine:') or fall down if I need to move fast:') The geldings tested me but nothing like this. She dares me.
I arm myself with a lead rope and I'm not afraid to give anyone a good swat if they try any funny business. I end up tripping over lunge whips! :-)
That's the stupidest, ugliest thing I've ever seen in my life! What a travesty!
That horse couldn't jump over a pole on the ground in that configuration. Aside from the fact that his nose is tracking in the dirt, his back is so roached and his forehand so low that he couldn't get his front end six inches off the ground.
It's ridiculous for people to take a "Western Pleasure" horse and slap a jumping saddle on him and call him a "hunter". The only thing that horse could hunt is worms.
I would look completely stupid taking my beautiful T'bred hunter mare into a Western Pleasure class, but at least I have the sense not to do it.
Gracie was very nice, only got strong with me once or twice. But she always gets in one naughty trick per hunt. We were at a check, just standing around eating muffins and drinking sodas brought out by the staff :-) when suddenly I felt her knees buckle and she just LAY DOWN for a good roll! I just kicked my feet out of the stirrups, hopped off, and was waiting for her with the crop -- she didn't get her roll in. Fortunately there was a convenient stump all by itself in the middle of the field so that I could climb back on . . . everybody had a good laugh at our expense.
They laughed even more at the person whose horse decided to have a good roll in the POND . . .
When I got out to the barn last night to braid our horses (my son doesn't know how - something I have to teach him before the next hunt!) the "barn rats" had already bathed Gracie, I don't think they got all the soap out of her mane and she was probably feeling a little itchy.
I'll post pics when I get them back from the photo place. I don't carry my digital on hunts in case of accidents -- just an el cheapo disposable 35mm.
This doesn't demonstrate versatility! It just demonstrates that you can put a hunting saddle on a western horse.
The way these horses are trained makes it utterly impossible for them actually to function as a hunter. The standard for hunters is very clear - the horse must go forward and balanced on contact, be bold but under control, have good pace to the fences, good balance in the turns, and good jumping form with a collected takeoff, good tuck-up and a consistent arc over his fences. These extreme "western pleasure" horses could no more do that than they could fly to the moon.
I've seen some horses that went "both ways", but most of them are compromise horses, they don't do either one very well. Occasionally you'll find one that can completely switch gears, and show well in both. Rare birds though.
I've shown in h/j for upwards of 40 years and acted as a judge's assistant and recorder - a hunter judge would not place that horse and might actually send him down if an adult was riding him (I wouldn't do that to a kid though, not ever.)
AAM We're in agreement about that hunter... I would only add that I don't think it's a useful frame for a western pleasure horse either. It's not just a bad idea under english tack, the whole idea was a bad one ;~D
We went to a little local schooling show today (just to watch) so ecurbh could get to see all the different types all mixed together, and it was good for that. And, I would add, we only saw few horses of the stock horse type in hunter who were that exaggerated, and many that looked very nice indeed.
Glad you had a good ride today, sounds really fun!
It looks as though it would be very lonely swaying up there on the tip-top of a roach back. And as though it would be difficult for the horse to stop or turn in a collected fashion.
The cutting horses I have watched do have their heads down pretty low, but their haunches are way under them and most of their weight is off their forehand.
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