The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE

See our "who's who" page! ^

[HairOfTheDog]

The FreeRepublic Saddle Club - Who's Who *pics*

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 MissTargets will now be pinging everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets 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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread FIVE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SIX
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread SEVEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread EIGHT

New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!

[Beaker]

If those rules are the case, then the rearing horse and rider team should have been disqualified under "a. Riders who abuse their horses. ", and "f. Unruly horses, such as those difficult to examine or judge. "

Becky I got your responses to my posts, I don't want you to think that I was ignoring you. If her kids were on the ride as well, then maybe she shouldn't have been disqulified because under those rules, her kids would have been disqualified as well, but she certainly shouldn't have placed second in horsemanship. I can't get over that.

[tuffydoodle]

I like this one.

[CindyDawg]

Well that makes sense. I always turn to the center in the arena. No telling what I let mine get away with because I don't know:') They probably tell each other, "just only do what you have to. It doesn't take much to make her happy. Remember how we used to get called up on turning to the rail. Watch how happy it makes her. hehe. Life is good".

[tuffydoodle]

I did a google search for "modest swimsuits" and I found this site. Not what I had in mind but kudos to this mother for keeping her children modestly dressed.

http://www.swimmodest.com/about.lasso

[AnAmericanMother]

Hard to swim in that stuff. T-shirts DRAG. So do those big baggy trunks.

Even though I'm overweight (to put it mildly), when I'm swimming seriously I wear a Speedo tank because the loose-fitting stuff fills up with water and slows you down.

I'm in the water and nobody can see my tummy or my butt. Now, if I were just hanging out on the beach, I might invest in one of those suits -- but when I'm at the beach, I'm in the water.

Which is a good thing for all observers . . . sheesh, one of these days I have to get serious about losing weight . . .

[tuffydoodle]

Dieting sucks, no doubt about it.

I can't go to the beach, somebody might think I'm a beached whale and roll me into the water.

Check out this site:

http://www.modest-swimwear.net/index.htm

[CindyDawg]

I don't swim in public and if I'm home,and the kids gone, I don't need a swim suit. We have a company retreat once a year to the beach though. Last time my grandson kept getting me wet and getting more and more daring so... I went in after him. In jeans and a tee shirt. I needed a towel to cover my top when I got out and I thought I was never going to step out in those jeans. Talk about heavy:')

[AnAmericanMother]

I just don't dig the skirts.

I took the BSA Lifeguard course along with my daughter a couple of years ago. Passed, too! (The BSA course is a lot tougher than the Red Cross version.) But if I had been wearing one of those skirted suits it would have been trouble - it would get in the way when doing rescues and it sure would slow me down. I have never been a particularly FAST swimmer (stylish but not fast - the instructors correctly identified me as an old WSI in the first 100 yard swim because my form is so persnickety) and I just barely passed the 50 yard sprint swim as it was.

[tuffydoodle]

I don't swim in public, either, but last year my kids were warting the heck out of me to go swimming with them (here at home) so I'm buying swimsuits this year. I bought 2 from Dillard's, tankini's with skirts, that are fairly modest, but I still wouldn't wear them in public.

AAM, I had a swim instructor when I was a young girl who was WSI. She was a beautiful swimmer.

[MissTargets]

What do you do on the last day of work?

Right now, I am eating my retirement cake! I will post a pic of it, when I get home tonight. I am training a new girl, and I still have things to do. We have uniforms that we wear, and I am not doing that today. Going to turn them all in today.

[AnAmericanMother]

Well, they drill the correct form into you so fiercely that you never lose it.

I went to eight weeks of sleep-away summer camp from the time I was 8 until I graduated high school, and my two favorite activities were swimming and horseback riding.

Didn't have any trouble passing the freshman swim test at my college! In fact, the swim coach was trolling for prospects at the swim test, but I told him the bad news - good form but slow.

[tuffydoodle]

You sound like me. I took swimming lessons from around age 8 as well, until I was around 16. My idea of a perfect day was swimming all day, then coming home in the evening when it was cooler and going riding. I didn't have a swimming pool at home but I durn sure had a horse!

[AnAmericanMother]

I was the other way around!

I would ride during the day, then come home and cool off in the pool in the afternoon!

I was swimming as an infant. My mom was a summer camp swimming instructor, my dad was on his law school swim team. They met at a house party at Lake Burton, and challenged each other to swim across the lake and back. It was love at first splash!

[tuffydoodle]

Wow, you have a genetic predisposition to be a great swimmer! My mother took swimming lessons when I was a kid, she couldn't swim at all. And she grew up in California!

[AnAmericanMother]

If you're really thin and/or a natural sinker (they do exist), it's tough to learn to swim. It's also harder to learn to swim as an adult, I guess because you know more and know all the things that could go wrong. You also tend to want to keep your head way out of the water, which makes you sink worse. But the earlier you start, the better.

My kids were both in the water as infants too. Both are fine swimmers - my daughter takes after her dad in body type (long and lanky) and has a good turn of speed, my son is short and muscular (like I used to be and for that matter still am under the outer coating of blubber) so he is a distance man - got his mile swim badge at summer camp at age 11.

[tuffydoodle]

"it's tough to learn to swim. It's also harder to learn to swim as an adult, I guess because you know more and know all the things that could go wrong. You also tend to want to keep your head way out of the water, which makes you sink worse. But the earlier you start, the better."

You could switch out "swimming" with "riding" and still be correct with both. I'd hate to try to learn either one as an adult. You think you're omnipotent when you are a kid.

[AnAmericanMother]

You're right. My trainer has a number of adult beginners coming along right now, and they do seem to have more trouble than the kids.

[FrogInABlender]

WOO HOO!!!

Welcome to the rest of your life! You'll have a blast!

[HairOfTheDog]

~yawn~ ~blink~ ~sip~

[cjshapi]

Congrats on your last day!