Posted on 08/07/2007 7:33:14 AM PDT 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, usually about our horses, sometimes about our dogs, gardens and other stuff we do. :~)
I have a ping list for horse threads that are of interest, and MissTargets will ping everyone most mornings. Let MissTargets and/or me know if you would like to be on the ping list.
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.
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
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread NINE
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread TEN
The FreeRepublic Saddle Club thread! - Thread 11
New folk and occasional posters, jump right in and introduce yourselves, tell us about your horses, and post pictures if you've got them!
Well, in the long run, Hope and Ellie will be practically indistinguishable, don't you think? I could barely tell them apart except for size, and the cut over her eye and Ellie will grow out of those ;~). I just think right now Hope has that extra year of experience that makes Becky a little more comfortable. It'll leave you time to put more miles on Ellie. If Becky delays too much, you might be able to sell her Ellie anyway :~)
I will say that under your leadership, Ellie was most impressive for such a young horse. She's a bold, brave little horse. She did great. And I'd say IF I were ever to buy a gaited, it would have to come from you. I like the experience you put on them, and I'd trust your judgment of a good one.
I know I’ve seen gaited Appaloosa crosses, Walkaloosas for example...
But I think there’s a gaited breed that has Appaloosa markings. Isn’t there? I don’t remember the name.
Cool! The Spanish Jennet is in the lineage of the TWH, but I thought they were a lost breed. Very interesting. Thanks for the link!
I just got back from riding with Julia...LOL...she’s so funny.
I could tell right off the bat she was nervous about my riding Rocky.
Then half way thru the ride she’s asking me how much we want to sell him for, she’d pay that for the horse if it was what she is looking for. All kinds of questions about what he does in different situations...has he ever bucked, take off after other horses, etc. etc. LOL.
I finally told her, Julia, he’s good because we make him good...if someone was to let him start getting by with little things, there is no guarantee that he would turn into a crazy stud. She finally said, well yeah, I probably wouldn’t be firm enough because I’d be afraid to correct him because I’d be afraid of what he might do when I did correct him.
Becky
That poor gal is a bundle of nerves isn’t she?
Well, I wouldn’t let her watch someone lunge him. Lunging pisses him off ;~)
LOL!! That statement just blows my mind. WHY would anyone want to post?! To each her own I guess.
I said something similar to Frog after our ride on the gaiteds. It was really really neat and everything, but I still love a really big trot. Like Bay's trot, or a great dressage horse. Maybe it's just a regimented part of my brain that I think I would miss it.
Anyway, Frog looked at me like I had two heads. ;~)
LOl...he does need some practice at that. Really he USE to do it better.
Julia wants a perfect horse...I can’t convince her they don’t exist.
She brought her little Arab today. He spooked while she was saddling him, I think it was because Susie came up behind him unexpectedly, but was fine once he saw her. But after that she was I’m going to have to walk him around a bit before I get on, he’s acting funny:)
Then she was telling me all the things she didn’t like about the horse, and her other one...
The main thing she is looking for in a horse, is a horse that she can ride up the road and it not spook about cars or horse’s/things along the road. She wants to be able to ride up the road by herself, so that she doesn’t have to always trailer a horse somewhere. She’ll go up a road by herself, but would never consider going down a trail by herself, that’s dangerous. She’s always telling me I shouldn’t do that:)
Becky
I’m just disappointed neither of you got pictures of him really acting up ;~)
Gads... yeah, I’d much rather be on trail than on the road, it’s the people I don’t trust. But on the other hand, out in your woods you’re alone in the middle of nowhere if you get in trouble, and that is probably what scares her. No house in sight.
Posting doesn’t bother me either. In fact I think it’s a good way to stretch your legs after sitting for a long time.
I’m liked the gaiting part of riding Hope, but I liked Hope too. Her size, color, build, temprament. She seemed very sweet, and willing.
Ellie did look almost just like her, but I didn’t handle her enough to know about her temprament. Maybe if it takes me a while to sell Harley and I go to Al. to get Hope, I’ll look at Ellie as an alternative. I’d feel bad buying a horse that Frog doesn’t really want to sell.
Becky
And I'm glad we didn't after all my talk about what a good boy he is:) He was sure showing his butt while lunging.
Becky
Well, I didn’t get a real feel for differences between their temperaments either... Other than I think frog said Ellie is actually bolder. Maybe Frog will tell us what the differences are... Are their gaits different?
I think Ellie will be a finer-boned mare. She won’t have the more muscled neck that Hope has. And for Becky’s CTR purposes, Hope will be able to compete sooner than Ellie. The minimun age for Novice class is 4yrs old and 5yrs old for Open. She could compete in Novice with Hope this coming spring. She’d have to wait another year on Ellie.
The only one I can thnk of is the Tiger Horse registry. That Spanish Jennet horse breeder in GA made reference to that breed on their website.
Ah - well that’s a good consideration!
Heh... the wicked part of me thinks they look so much alike to me that she could switch them in the night and have a fresh horse each day :~D
Is the ‘feel’ of the gait pretty similar among yours? Is there a lot of variance in the quality and speed of the the gait between Blade, Hope and Ellie? I know you said Bob is faster, but who is smoothest and steadiest?
HMMMMMMMM....that’s interesting about Ellie being finer boned. That was something I noticed about Hope that I really liked was she wasn’t fine boned. She wasn’t bulky either like a QH, but being a QH lover:), I was impressed when I really looked at her, that she did have a nice round butt:) But to be honest I didn’t really LOOK at Ellie.
I was just amazed at how well they both did given their age and the long trailer ride and being unloaded in such a strange place and all the commotion when we were all getting ready to go. They both did better then Harley:)
Becky
Heh... the wicked part of me thinks they look so much alike to me that she could switch them in the night and have a fresh horse each day :~D
I'm NOT buying two:). If I'd want two, I'd take Hope now. I'm a one horse horse owner:). I've never been good at keeping more then one in shape. And I know you aren't serious:).
Mostly, I'm saying I want Hope because she is the one I rode and LOOKED at. If I'd go to get a horse from Frog, I would definitely take a look at Ellie too, mainly because once again, I know Frog really didn't intend on selling Hope. But I really liked the way Hope was built, and her temperament.
Becky
Hope’s gait is more settled. Ellie’s you have to work at a little bit still. She’s in and out of it. And I haven’t really found a bit she likes yet. Anything works well on her when she’s out in front, but when she’s behind and wants to catch up she tends to want to get away from you with just the hack or the little chain-mouth Wonder Bit I used on her before. She didn’t like a straight-mouthed curb either so I don’t know what I’ll try next. I thought about one of those GaitsOfGold bits that’s kinda like your Myler bit. Hope seems to do fine in whatever bit you put her in but I don’t think I like riding her in a hack. She wants to put her head down too much. But they’re both pretty calm natured. Hope sees more boogers than Ellie but doesn’t react to them quite as big as Ellie does when she finally does react. Both of them are very willing. There’s really not much that I’ve ever asked either one of them to do that they just WOULD NOT DO. It may take a little persistance on your part, but they eventually do it. Hope seems to be a pretty quick learner. She picked up on my feeble attempt to get her to sidepass a step or two in just a few seconds. I really haven’t tried to do all that much with Ellie other than work on her gait. I’ll get to the other stuff later.
Hi everyone checking in. Cranky... I submitted my show forms by overnight mail (in advance) to save me the hassle of paying for my classes when I got to the show. I checked the farm’s website and I’m not on the rider list! ACK! I called the farm, and they had me call the show coordinator. I left a message on her machine, we’ll see what happens.
I’m on the fence regarding a posting trot vs a gaited horse. I like them both. As a matter of fact, I named Mina after the most beautiful horse I ever saw, a solid black tennessee walker by the name of “Twilight Dream.” Amazingly enough, no APHA registered horse already had it.
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