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 I just heard from Becky, briefly, before we lost the connection. Mack came through the surgery today OK... and she’s really hoping that now they can get him home soon.
Then we got cut off. Waiting now to see if she’ll be able to call back... hope so.
From suburban Chicago to Polk County, NC - yes, it's a lovely area, lot's of friendly folks and lot's of friendly folks with horses. The county has many, many miles of dedicated riding trails. My cousin and her hubby lived for years near Asheville, so we knew what much of W. North Carolina was like.............and actually, it is very much like how I grew up here in IL YEARS ago (minus the mountains, of course), when you could ride out along a gravel road and not take your life into your own hands. But I really, really liked the idea that folks in Polk County have worked really, really hard to preserve, dedicate and maintain many, many miles of trails over private property limited only to riding. I many areas, if you sell property along the trail, the trail easement is part of the deal.......with rules that protect both the property owners AND the riders, of course.......kinda like Norco, CA - without the "Real Orange County Housewives" stigma attached - hahaha!
Frog, as are YOURS!! Gosh......an absolutely beautiful herd, how many do you have?? Are you anywhere near western NC, by chance???
Since my candidate isn’t on the list I voted for yours on the FR poll:’)
:) Sweet. I didn’t see the first part of the debate so I don’t know if he addressed Hunter not included but I’m guessing he didn’t or I’d have seen something on the boards.
I’ll let you know if I ever get an answer to the email though.
Boy, I'll bet you can't wait! I love the Asheville area too. The Biltmore Estate just blows my socks off. We've visited it several times, but it's so interesting, seeing all the stuff he had that was really cutting-edge technology for it's day.
And that's really great that you're moving to an area that has that committed that much to maintaining dedicated horse trails. That's a really rare thing, at least around where I live in NW Alabama. We have almost NO horse trails around here and very few dirt roads left anymore. I have to trailer at least an hour to ride anywhere, other than on my own property. Most of our trails are on National Forest land and they're VERY strict about where you can ride. If they catch you on anything other than designated horse trails they'll fine you pretty heavily, so the idea of a horse trail running across multiple parcels of private property, with a protected right-of-way sounds pretty cool to me. We do have one trail that is similar that is a rails-to-trails, and that's really nice. I sure wish the concept would catch on around here!
Yeah, we made it through the bad weather just fine. It was much worse all around us, so I’m thanking God for that.
I currently have 8. I did have 9 but I sold a 2yr old filly, Ellie, just before Christmas. I need to update the pictures on my profile page. All the babies have grown up now, but I just love their baby pictures so I haven't gotten around to it. I'll have to get some newer pictures this summer when everybody sheds out.
I’m glad to hear that you heard from Becky and that everything went well. Hopefully now he can go back home and eat like a horse and get some strength. I know they’re both anxious to get back to some semblance of a normal life.
Well, she never did call back... I think she gave up... the connection was pretty iffy. But yeah, she’s really looking forward to some normalcy and getting home.
Me too.............I stood looking out a window on the 5th floor of that place, Vanderbilt's "back yard" - some 83,000 acres - not a cell phone tower, no other buildings, roads, lights, nothing but trees, green fields and mountains as far as you could see, thinking "Man, now I know what must have motivated some people - to look at all this and know it's mine and it will never change if I don't let it".....but I think after he died, the widow gave 75 or 100 thousand acres to the govt. and today, that is Nantahala or Pisgah or another one of the nat'l parks down there. It is breathtaking. Did you know you can ride on the Biltmore trails?? You can trailer there and ride, with the appropriate pass. There are also trail rides through their stables, I think. I'm sure it all is $$$$$, though..........
Here is a link to one of the major, privately supported trail organizations in the area where we're headed:
It's absolutely splendid. They have paddocks for the horses and a very nice little barn. In good weather the girls put their sleeping bags next to the paddock - my daughter woke up in the morning with her horse nuzzling her hair through the paddock fence. .. . (HE knew who had the treats!)
Yeah, I did. The NATRC has a Competitive Trail Ride there every year, and one of my goals in life is to go do that one some time. I think that would be a blast. Maybe one of these days.
Wow, FETA sure seems like a well-thought-out trail association! I’d LOVE to live in that area.
So have y’all changed jobs to move into the area or are you retiring or what?
Awwwwwwwww...................that has GOT to be every horse-crazy girl's dream camp!!! What a blast that had to have been for her. When I was young, the local "saddle club" to which we belonged, used to do "Jr. Overnight Trail Rides", which amounted to a bunch of horseback riding parents going out on the trails with their kids, pitching camp in a local preserve or a local farmers field, starting a campfire, bedding down the horses and DRINKING. We ran around like banchees (of course we thought it was the absolute most fun thing on earth, the closest to becoming a cowboy that you could be in 1950-1960's suburban Chicago IL), stayed up all night, and the boys tried to sneek in and out of the girls tents, vice-versa, etc. I still give my Mom a hard time about it - lovingly, of course. She, a non-drinker and non-rider, but a wonderful Mom, and my Dad, a drinker and rider, and a wonderful Dad, were divorced years and years ago. We laugh and tell her that if there was such a thing as Child Protective Services way back then, I'm sure they would have been called in - for total lack of adult supervision - hahahaha. Of course, being 9-15 or 16 years old, those experiences counted as the all time best and favorite of OUR lifetimes, hands down!!! Wheeeeeeeee!!! And we lived to tell about it...........hahaha!!
I think the individual riding permit for Biltmore, which might include trailer parking and a bridle tag, for a year is around $200, which really isn't expensive if you get use out of it. The scenery alone is worth $199!!!!! And the trail rides they have, if you go through their barn and program didn't seem to be outrageous, so you're right, it can't be THAT overpriced. Although with the drought they've had down there, the hay shortage has caused a lump in the throat of every equestrian down south, I'm pretty sure. My guy is boarded at a small private facility nearby where we're building our house/barn, etc, and the owner has had to do a moderate increase. But some folks are really hurting. But they ARE getting rain now, I guess. Small comfort cause it's gonna take awhile to come back..........
Wow, the overnight trail ride events sure sound like fun! You had some cool parents. Mine were afraid of horses so I had to wait ‘til I moved away of home go get my first one. And you’re right about the $200 yearly trail access fee not being that bad, as long as you live close enough to take advantage of it on a regular basis.
Fortunately there is some that our trainer can cut ON the fields she rents, and she has a tractor and cutter bar. The fields are bottom land, and the hay didn't suffer as badly from the drought as you might expect. You ought to see all us dazzling suburbanites raking hay!
Of course, with 32 horses she has to buy it, but she has "contacts" so it could have been worse.
I went there too, but back when I was there, 40 years ago, the property where the camp is now was the "brother" camp for boys, Arrowhead, and the girls' camp was on the campus of Christ School in Arden NC (hence the name of the camp). WE had to sleep in the school dormitories < bleargh > . . . but camping trips (including riding campouts) were going out all the time, so if you played your cards right you didn't have to sleep in a bed except for Saturday and Sunday nights . . . .
My mom went to one of the camps that has gone all debutante, so neither I nor my daughter went there . . . I saw pictures and couldn't believe it, they have a barn that looks like it belongs at Churchill Downs . . . and a heated swimming pool . . . how is that 'camping'?
Welcome to the saddle club thread... Not sure if I’ve said hello yet, we’ve been so distracted as quiet.
Today here in WA it’s 44 and just drizzling a little. It feels so balmy compared to what it’s been that I took the horse blankets off so they could get some air and a good scratch.
I’m cleaning stalls, they have a big run area with a lean-to they use as a toilet. It’s been about three days since I could get to it and they’ve spent a lot of that inside. :~\ I’m pacing myself. Coming in and resting after each barrow load.
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