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!

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I heard back from the board...it wasn't encouraging:) Tex. 2 step, and once again, who are you seems to be all they can say.

Becky

[HairOfTheDog]

It's Friday :~D

[FrogInABlender]

Uh, Becky, it's FRIDAY....You must really be in a bad way if you don't know what day it is! ;o)

But you're doing good and behaving yourself. You want that wrist heal and not have to wear the darned brace AGAIN.

[HairOfTheDog]

So.... nothing will come of it? Are they going to publish anything?

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I'm jealous of your tractor:)

We use to have a really big Massy/Ferguson, and I loved driving/brushhogging with it. But it was really alot more tractor then we needed, so Mack downsized. The new one is a lot harder to drive, and I had a few mishaps in it. Crashed in to his lease truck...:). I was banned from it. The kids have it now down on their property and only Charlie and Travis are allowed to drive it. I do my work here with the bobcat, the lawnmower, and the weedeater:\ Not nearly as much fun.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

LOL, oh yeah:), It sure is. I don't know why, but it has seemed like Sat all day.

Becky

[FrogInABlender]

Well, I guess I'm not suprised. I really didn't expect anything different out of them.

[FrogInABlender]

...Crashed in to his lease truck...:). I was banned from it...only Charlie and Travis are allowed to drive it...

Oooooo, that's not good! That's why my butt drew up so tight when I got the bushhog in all that barbed wire. I just knew I'd torn it up. But heck, they can't say anything, seeing as how one of them seems to tear something up every time they do anything.

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

No, I'm done. They are moderating my posts. The post that killed me was when I mentioned I knew of several horses that had died.

In her first response back to me she was a bit hateful, and said that was news to those "that had been riding for years" and that they checked me out and since I had only rode "several" NOVICE rides, I was not in the position to talk of horses that had died.

That I had refused to follow the rules about identifying myself.

That my posts were accusotory and inflammatory.

I responded back by saying I had rode more then a several rides in the past, that I had been open about being out of it for several years. That the moderator had come back and defended my posts as NOT being accusatory and that I did not have to identify myself. That she needed to read the entire discussion, get on the same page as the mod, and that horses had died, coliced and tied up. That I would stop posting but I was going to continue to ride while the sport was still going because I didn't think it would last much longer anyway with all these politics:)

She just responded back again, and said she was glad I would continue, that people who posted on the internet could be surprisingly nice people, when you met them in person, and hoped to meet me:)

I'm laughing now, last night I was pretty hot over her first response back.

Oh well, like Mack said, When you throw open the barn doors the rats run for cover and the birds sing:). Maybe some light has been shined on the rats and they'll run for cover at least for a while.

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

Well the bob cat does most everything I need to do around here. I like mowing, but brush hogging was fun and very relaxing.

I just couldn't get the hang of using the clutch as the brake. When I was heading for his truck, he was hollering "clutch, clutch, clutch," and just kept mashing harder and harder on the brake:) Why have a brake if it won't stop it...that's just stupid:)

Becky

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I read that wrong, I thought you were asking if "I" was going to keep posting.

Are "they" going to publish any thing. No, they keep this stuff "discreet". If they humiliated volunteer workers and judges there would be no volunteers and judges was what she said.

Becky

[tuffydoodle]

We have a bobcat but I'm not coordinated enough to drive it. Can't get used to those levers on each side that you drive with, the darn thing needs a steering wheel.

[tuffydoodle]

"Oh well, like Mack said, When you throw open the barn doors the rats run for cover and the birds sing:)."

LOL, I've never heard that one before, it's perfect.

[tuffydoodle]

"I think she was just dropping in to talk on her lunch break and nobody was here. I was gone to Wendy's."

I was at WalMart. I got 2, brand spanking new, flowered, vinyl tablecloths for $5 each. Vinyl goes with my kid-proof decor.

[HairOfTheDog]

I was just over there catching up on posts... seems they've moved on.

I was following along on the issue of hills they're talking about... About whether you should force them to walk up hills or allow them to speed up.

CTR may have rules, and that's fine, I guess you do what the rules say, but here's what I think:

Let the horse seek his easiest gait unless that upsets the group you're in.

Granted, I give Bay a lot of informed consent on trail. He's experienced, I trust him, and he doesn't choose to do things that are unsafe. If we're going along and he wants to speed up, if the group is OK with a little trotting, we do. Likewise, I don't make him trot if he's not feeling good. On hills, most of the time he walks up, but sometimes he speeds up and I think, again, as long as it's not causing an unsafe issue with horses behind me, if he's hauling my butt up a steep hill, he can choose to speed up if he wants. They speed up for a reason... so they can engage their rear end better. Pacewise, when I've gone with ecurbh, we haven't had a conflict. Bob does enforce the walk up, he doesn't like them to rush, so I'd check Bay a bit if Bob was in the group.

But I think "They should do the hill at the speed YOU say they should do it" is something of a power trip if you're only doing it to enforce who's in charge. You should be able to pull rank on the horse at any time, but I think they work better if you only do it for logical reasons. I wouldn't let the horse override what I say, and I get around that by not making any particular demand that he walk. "Take care of me, Bay, as easy as you can do it"

Certainly a horse that starts rocking and rolling at the bottom of the hill in anticipation of a hill (an example brought up over there) has a safety and obedience issue the rider needs to handle. But I don't think most horses do that.

[FrogInABlender]

Well, ya gotta use the clutch AND the brake, but you're right that the break won't hold it if the clutch is engaged, the motor's just too powerful. It's kinda like driving a stick-shift car, if you put on the breaks without pushing in the clutch then something's gotta give, and with a car it'll just kill the engine, but a tractor'll just keep going. I've almost done the same thing though. There's so many levers and pedals to remember what they all do, and I don't know about you, but when I get in a tight spot it seems like every brain in my head just evaporates away and I forget everything I ever knew. I'm sure it'd be different if I drove one on a regular basis, like I drive a car, and all the controls would just be second nature. Maybe you can get them to give you another go at it, in a wide open field, 'till you get the hang of it again. That's how I started. Nothing out there I could run over. And if all else fails, pull the kill switch.

[Inge_CAV]

Back when my uncle bought his first tractor, he drove it into a stock pond one afternoon. Yelling, WHOA MULE!!!

True story.

[HairOfTheDog]

In my rebellious youth, we investigated, played on, and started a backhoe that was parked over the weekend at a construction site with the keys in it. Heh... We never got it to do what we wanted. We pushed, pulled, twisted and yelled, and ended up leaving it at the far side of the site from where we found it :~D

[PayNoAttentionManBehindCurtain]

I deleted my membership over there last night:).

I've always been told walking is up a hill is safer, moving faster, they could be more apt to slip. Belle always walked, Harley wants to break to a trot the closer he gets to the top when it's getting harder. A lot of how I decide is if I know the trial. If I'm not familiar with it, or the footing is hard to see for some reason, he walks, otherwise I do let him pick the pace as long as he keeps it reasonable. If he really gets to lunging up the hill I slow him back down. I think with him, it's mostly experience. He's gotten better and better as he has gained more experience.

Becky

[Inge_CAV]

Ah Ha! so that was you that moved my backhoe..........

I have two kittens here, both sound asleep in a plastic gallon milk carton, with both their heads sticking out. It has part of one side cut out so that it used to be their water bowl. Now it is kitty sleeping quarters.