This thread has been locked, it will not receive new replies. |
Locked on 06/01/2005 7:40:05 AM PDT by Admin Moderator, reason:
Thread Six: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/1414401/posts |
Posted on 03/21/2005 7:18:04 PM PST by HairOfTheDog
This is a horse chat thread where we 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 previous threads we have had a great time talking through lessons, training, horse lamenesses, illnesses and pregnancies... and always sharing pictures and stories.
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 previous threads, 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.
Previous threads:
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - thread ONE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread TWO!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread - Thread THREE!
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FOUR
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
Darn! We always miss her when she's not around.
I thought she was being awful quiet this morning. Now we know why. ;o)
Thanks for letting us know.
~tap tap taps on keyboard~
Is this thing on?
I'm Baaaaaaaaack!
Luckily it was a short outage... if I go too long without internet it was gonna get ugly 'round here!
Well, glad you're back on:)
I just got done riding Harley. We are making progress, slowly but surely. I'm so glad I got him rode, it is heating up fast after our morning rain.
So, we've never heard much detail on your trail ride. Did you do any trotting, loping? any booger's, how did they load in the new trailer?
Becky
LOL!! Kinda like a junkie without his drugs huh? ;o)
I just walked, want to be careful to start Bay out gently, but he walked out fast as usual, and ecurbh had to trot to catch up to us from time to time... he'd lag behind, then trot up to us, or a little in front of us, and Bay would catch up again. :~D
He can almost outwalk Cyn's trot when he wants to. I tried to slow him down so ecurbh could walk alongside us, but he just fights my interference. That's just his pace. I sometimes think I could ride with gaited horses without the usual complaints about pace. But I can tell from his walk and attitude that he feels good, so I feel good about that. If he starts out stumbly, I know he's not good.
No boogers... Bay starts out the first few miles on the muscle and hyper alert, and I was nervous as well at first.. being the first trail ride of the year, and my mind fills me with fears, about Bay tripping, and still feeling like Cyn and Bruce are unknown entities and all... And wanting so much for everything to stay safe and sound.
Bay remains alert to everything within a few miles around him throughout the ride, and Cyn just goes. You can tell she isn't looking further than the road directly in front of her feet. ;~D
Loading at home to go, she wanted to stand half in the trailer for a few minutes, and we let her. She eventually walked in. On the way home, she did the same thing, and we actually backed her back out once and started her again, and she walked right in on the second approach.
Bay went right in and fits pretty well in the back. We had the windows 'in', so I couldn't untie him before opening the back door, which I prefer to do for the back horse. But he wasn't pushing on the door when we opened it either time, and he waited to back out until I asked him to. Cyn stood quiet and wasn't pawing or pushing until we could get to her, so that was good.
All around, I continue to be really impressed that we got so lucky with Cyn, she's just solid as a rock. While I trust Bay completely, he's still Bay, and you have to really ride him, you have to be ready for him to startle or dance, you can't be passive. Cyn is just easy and willing without a bunch of doubts or opinions. And since it was entirely on hard roads, where we might worry about her feet, she seemed fine all the way to the end. And so did Bay. Bay only sweat under the pad, Cyn didn't sweat at all even under the pad. She's never worked up a good sweat yet, and while I worry sometimes that she can't sweat, I think we've just never worked her hard enough. She's young and strong and we've taken it easy on her. This ride was probably 5-6 miles, and it was chilly out. No sweat at all.
I heard an interesting story Sun. We ran into a man at breakfast that we know pretty good. He has a horse, and does alot of team penning. He's relativly new to horses I think, but sounds like he does pretty good. But he has told us he can take the horse sport or leave it. This past winter he had all but decided to sell his horse, and mentioned it to some lady he knows who pens.
Anyway, she called him a few weeks ago and asked if the horse was still for sale. He told her yes, but he told us he had changed his mind (funny how in winter everyone wants to sell,and then spring hits:). Anyway, she wanted one of those pre purchase vet checks.
The same thing happened to him that happened to me last year with Harley. Altho this horse has never taken a lame step, never had a problem, the vet told the lady there is a "possiblility" that this horse "might" have a problem with his left hock at some point in his life.....of course she back out of buying him.
What is it with these vets....if they are afraid that they don't put something bad out there about the "possiblelities" of what could go wrong because of liability reasons, they need to not do these types of exams. It doesn't seem fair to anyone buyer or seller.
If you were paying more then say $2500 for a horse, would you insist on a prepurchase vet check? If the vet came up with things like this would you pass on buying?
Doesn't it seem that any horse has a possibility of something going wrong at some point?
I've been quietly simmering about this since I heard this. Makes me mad all over again about Harley, altho I'm glad now I still have him.
If I ever have a buyer again for any horse, I'm telling them right up front there will be NO prepuchase vet check, other then to my vet to say the horse is sound, and I would allow a blood test to insure no drugs or infections at present time. But that's it.
Becky
I was scratching her leg here and apparently she needed her eye scratched too...
I was trying to get her to let me take her portrait but she was more interested in my fingers...
Sounds great. Yeah, Cyn does sound like a great horse:). I would think Bay walks like that mostly because of his past, being an endurance horse..??? I think you're pretty smart taking things slow at the start. Especially with Cyn. IMO, horses form habits pretty quick and if you went out there the first couple of times moving out pretty quick, she'd get it in her head that is the way she is always suppose to go. You can almost always get them to speed up (only exception I've had is Rock:), but sometimes getting them to slow down if they're in the habit of going can be a challenge, like Bay. It's so hard to find one that goes fast enough, to keep the ride interesting, but slow enough that you can enjoy visiting with a partener.
Do you think you'll get to go again next weekend.
Becky
She's gorgeous! Very pretty foal. She has the look of maybe staying dark... hard to say yet though huh?
She is very pretty:) Looks like she is already developing some personality.
Becky
I was the one who said it was a 5 hour drive. It might be more for her. She lives North of me, and I don't remember how far South she is going. I do not agree, with letting her horse out, at a rest stop. It's a holiday weekend, and the roads and rest stops will be jammed. If he got scared and got away from them. It could turn into a real mess. She could, and should stop and let him rest, while in the trailer. Ours would pee in the trailer, but didn't want water. We always kept a hay bag in front of them also.
It does sound like at least some vets are overly anxious about OK-ing a horse without finding something that could be a caveat. I don't know what the answer is. What we want is to know if the horse is currently suffering something, or if they are prone to break down bacause of an obvious defect. But ALL horses have the potential to be injured any time anywhere, it's part of the game of athletic sport. No horse is a perfect specimen in all areas of conformation, all horses could be designed better somewhere. It's OK to point out conformation areas that are not ideal and describe how that shortfall might limit some expected activity, but all that needs to be taken as good background information to be aware of in moving forward in training and conditioning for the sport, not necessarily a reason to back out.
We didn't do a pre-purchase exam on Cyn... we just took the shot because at her age and usage we wouldn't expect anything pre-existing to be wrong. IF we had, and IF the vet would have seen her stifle issue, would we have declined on her? I don't know. It's really minor.
As for trying to set ground rules for vet checks, I think you'll lose buyers... I'd be leary about a 'no vet check' rule, even if I wasn't planning to have a check. But I'd be happy enough and would find it useful to talk to your vet, because I think the history of treatment is valuable, and I would assume vets would be honest. They aren't going to outright lie for any one customer's business.
I'll say this, when I had my vet out a couple weeks ago to do shots and a soundness evaluation on Bay, and Bay was so hot-to-trot, he said, "If this was a pre-purchase exam, I'd approve him without even wondering if he had Navicular".
Oh cute. What a little character. Growing fast isn't she?
Yeah - Bay's set in his ways, and he'd rather trot out the first couple miles... And I am sure that's his endurance racing, as well as just his temperament. He gets excited to go, so he walks fast. The trouble with him is always with the other riders with me who get tired of trotting to keep up. ;~D
What's good about Cyn is she seems to go fine even in front. when ecurbh would continue to trot past me and stop a ways ahead, she wasn't at all nervous about going first, the way some are. The only way to slow Bay's walk down without fighting him is to put him behind, which I didn't do too much because Cyn was lifting her tail at him... she's still in heat.
Not this weekend (would rather stay out of the public trails on holiday weekends anyway) but I think we'll get the truck back for the weekend of June 3.
It's too early to tell. I've seen a few white hairs, but not enough to be able to say for sure. So far, she's just got a wisp of a crescent moon on her forehead.
Yeah - I don't know a thing about roans... My experience is with Arabs, who you can tell are going to grey because you see it on their face early on. Your roans don't start there. She may be like your other one, who looks completely different every year!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.