Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[MoonfallTheFox]

Ok guys question my friend asked me: In winter how long would you leave your horses without water?

To answer it I personally don't like my horses being out in the cold without water for more than an hour. I kinda understand that I'll fill up the trough at 9 then the horses will have it empty or low enough that it froze before 7. I personally would prefer horses to have water in front of them all the time when not being worked. Your opinion? I only know she's asking because their pump went out and they have to get water from the house

They should always have water. Cold is very drying and they dehydrate very fast, they drink GALLONS every day.

Just an example but our de-icer froze during the night. By 10 AM when we were able to get things thawed and replaced and water put back in my horse's urine was very dark. I was afraid I was going to need the vet. Thankfully she resolved as soon as she got water and in a few hours her urine was back to normal.

[Stonefly]

Hello everyone,

Long time no see guys! i wish I could go back and read everything and catch up on everyone and their horses. Although Hime your pons are looking well! So fluffy! Glad to see you got your girl home safely with this ice.

But just posting here to give an update then hopefully actually stay active within this group c: I miss talking to all you guys and hearing about everything you guys have been doing and have achieved.

I found a new coach, she is the best thing that ever could have happened in my riding career and I am beyond thankful that I stumbled across her. If you guys remember I had the issues with nerve damage in my hand and leg and I quickly learned she has the same issue with one of her legs so she can understand and we can adjust my training need be.
I found this adorable gelding named Navarone and I have fallen in love, if I could have could buy I would but I doubt the owner would ever sell her boy. I guess I will have to deal with leasing.

I rode with her for just over a year and I did my first big show with her and Navi and we did amazing! Over the weekend show we ended up getting Champion and Reserve Champion. I would have gotten the other Champion but sadly during out last round of the weekend I messed up a line and ended up getting a refusal at a jump. But I am more then okay with still getting a reserve.
At the end of the weekend we got three 1st, two 2nds, and one 3rd. Next year my coach and I have decided I would skip showing at 2'9 and jump from 2'6 to 3 - 3'2 so I am super excited about that.





After this show I took a three month break and now I am currently for a temp amount of time I am riding back with my old coach while my new trainer is getting healed from her horse kicking her..

[ryukrem]

Update: my horse is lame and we aren't quite sure why. We are guessing a bruised hoof but we are waiting for the farrier and vet to come out this week and take a look. I want my old Alice back :c

[tenturo]

oof im terrible inactive here, i'm so sorry uwu


[ -- ; replies ; -- ]

@ryukrem;; heck im not too sure what happened but i hope you find out what it is soon uwu, hopefully it won't be too awful.
@triggered canadia;; woahh , congrats dude! that's super fun c: best of luck with your future shows.
@about the water;; my horses have 24/7 access to water, as the pond is in their pasture. if it's frozen, i have buckets that i take out to them but i make sure they have access to water.


[ -- ; updates ; -- ]

well, heck. i'm not sure how many of you live in the mideast/east part of the US but i'm smack dab in the middle of winter storm inga. we've got quite the bit of snow out here and i've been a bit sick so sadly i haven't been riding in almost a week >.<
luckily the horses are loving it and have been having a blast, so that's pretty nice c: i actually haven't posted here since before christmas so i hope your horsey holidays were lots of fun c:

if you aren't stuck in half a foot of snow, i'd love to know how the weather is because i'm super jealous of any place above 5 degrees right now ;-;
i might have some fun winter photos for you all soon, but it all depends on if i can even get up the driveway to get to them eheh.

[buckskin.]

so I've been very slack, I can't remember when I last posted on here but it'd have to be a while back now. Anyway, there has been quite a bit that has happened since then and its only fair that I give a bit of an update.

I don't know if I updated about this but I took Pumpkin to my Pony Club Jamboree in early November and it was quite the opposite to take Saidee/Sunrise the year prior. With Pumpkin we got a 63% on our dressage test, placed in several Hack classes and Stock Horse classes but didn't do so well in our sporting as it was wet and I still wasn't too sure how much I could push her, unlike with Sunrise who in 2016 placed in some sporting events and no hacking. I got overal 3rd over the year for sporting and several other awards at our presentation thing at the end.

Anyway, after Jamboree, I haven't really been riding Pumpkin as Saidee is still here and I'm not sure if she is going to be sold anymore. Her owner is thinking about keeping her and putting her in foal when she's older. Saidee carries all the old lines that run through the horses at my work place and as she is one of the only young mares left, she is too valuable to let go. At the end of November, I changed her bit to a Myler and it is like a totally different horse. She is giving me a lot more respect undersaddle although the bit is softer than the normal snaffle we had her in before and I am now able to tuck her head consistently with a fight. I don't think I will be using her for Pony Club as my boss mentioned something about me taking a big bay Paint x Tb gelding named Spearo instead of Pumpkin and/or Saidee. There was also talk of me riding one of the young ones but I don't think that is going to happen.

I have started lessons again with a local trainer, who lives only five minutes away from me and previously worked at the same trail riding centre as myself . I have started focusing more on the hacking side of things which is easier as she has had me on her 16.2 Thoroughbred who I just adore. I have so far only done two lessons with her due to lack of time on my part and the improvement is already immense according to my trainer. I have done mostly flat work to work on my seat and transitions through the gates as well as my right arm as I have a tendency to bring it too far across and chicken wing it. I have ridden in a dressage saddle with her and it was by far the most comfortable thing I have ever ridden in but due to my ridding in a stock saddle, it was much different to what I was used to. My goal it to work on learning to jump properly as at this stage I am mostly self taught in that compartment, so once school starts up for me I will be doing lessons with her after school of weekdays which I am yet to organise.

Anyway, I am going on a beach ride for the first time tomorrow and I'm so excited. I am not taking one of the horses where I work (this includes Pumpky and Saidee) but am going with a different place about an hour from where I live. I am looking forward to this purely because I don't work for them and don't have to worry about much, haha. Fingers crossed they give me a good horse.

@cold weather things
As an Australian, it is currently summer for me and we don't generally get snow in the winter so I am really no help to this topic.

[Faded...]

Hey i just joined chicken smoothie and i have a horse just wanted to join this post.

[APH Italy]

Hey i just joined chicken smoothie and i have a horse just wanted to join this post.

Welcome to the community!!

[Faded...]

Anyone know any tips on teaching a lazy horse how to do liberty? My horse follows me walk, and trot and sorta stays and comes but i cant make him go in a circle with me with no halter. Anyone got anything?

[steve rogers.]

never have i ever been so angry at the racing discipline. learned my 23 year old ottb was bleeding internally and fed steroids as they continued to race her. they raced her knowing she was in pain. complete disgrace.

[Lilus]

Hello! I'd love to join the chat~
So, there's this one thing I wanted to ask other equestrians (or, those who have at least a little bit of experience in horse training!)
I have a 16 year old fjord horse mare that I take care of. She's fairly green, (she was in training for a year I believe) and knows nothing but the absolute basics. (halt, walk, trot, and turning left or right) Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but her owner would like to see her improve under the saddle. Since I'm the only one riding her, I find it difficult to teach her things while riding. I've been riding for 6 years now, twice a week, so I'd say I should have about moderate skills. We ride légèreté, that means that anything forceful is out of question. The main things im trying to focus on are walking backwards, her flexibility while turning (she likes to just walk a straight line instead of bending to the side) and canter. She CAN do these without being ridden while lunging or in the roundpen, but does not react when given the aids. The first thing i've tried is getting her to walk backwards: I made contact to her mouth by putting my hands up and turning my fists, put my calves back and squeezed lightly. However, she just started walking forwards. Second would be flexibility: It takes way too much effort to get her to walk a curve, even though she does go to the actual direction I want her to. I use my inner leg, weight and reins, please correct me if i'm doing something wrong or unclear. Third, canter: she does canter pretty nice and "fluently", but It feels wonky and i feel like shes putting way too much weight on her front feet if you get what I mean. I try to get her to pick up her head a bit more, but she just slows down to a really fast trot. So, what exactly am I doing wrong? Suggestions would be greatly appreciated! <3