Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[MoonfallTheFox]

Hey, have any of you guys worn a cloak while riding? I'm going to desensitize my friend's horse to it and then ride him around with it billowing out behind us

Yeah. Start with a small cloth like a dish towel and flap that and gradually get bigger. The billowing is scary.

[cashew jackman]

Hey, have any of you guys worn a cloak while riding? I'm going to desensitize my friend's horse to it and then ride him around with it billowing out behind us

Yeah. Start with a small cloth like a dish towel and flap that and gradually get bigger. The billowing is scary.

He did great, as I've already desensitized him to a tarp, and I even cantered him while wearing the cloak. He was a bit nervous at first, though I kept my seat calm and showed him that it was okay and he caught on instantly. It's so fun, and I'm so proud of him

[Livid-Silver]

@Nutmeg33149; Hello and welcome to the thread! I'm sure you'll fit right in
I did breed Miles myself He's out of my WB x TB mare Cleo by this warmblood stallion I will do most if not all his training myself, but at the moment his 'training' mainly just consists of hanging out and getting scratches lol He's pretty compliant with most things, so I don't drill it. I've been handling STB foals the last few seasons for the stud where Cleo and Miles currently are, so I've had a bit of practice lol Will see how we go when we get to the breaking stage, which would probably mostly depend on the time I've got available since I will hopefully be starting vet school by the time he's ready to break. Hoping to do it myself (just then you know what was done and how it was done ect.) but never say never lol 3-4 years is a long time between then and now.
With your barrel racing predicament, I suspect it would depend a lot on your riding experience. The basics are pretty much the same regardless of discipline. However, if you can already walk, trot, canter confidently ect. then you might have to look for somewhere/someone that teaches barrels specifically. If that isn't an option, lots of reading may help and then you can teach yourself at least the basics of running the pattern. I'm an english rider myself so I'm not that familiar with barrels, but I would assume there would be some stuff you could learn on your own if finding a trainer locally is too difficult and you're unable to travel out to someone

@Gam; Hi and welcome to the thread! Lucy looks like a really nice little mare and looks lovely to ride! I tried to look at the pictures you posted, but it appears the links to them are broken. The only one I could get to work was the video, so you might need to check the others

@Hime; Heta looks like she's having so much fun playing in the snow! Hopefully you have an uneventful trip home

@Moonfallthefox; Weather is all over the place, it goes from 38 one day to 20 and pouring with rain the next lol It makes doing outdoor things a bit difficult unless you want to get up really early or really late.

@Ruscher; I haven't ever owned an appy, but a friend of mine used to showjump an appy mare. She was a force to be reckoned with and if she didn't want to do something or you asked her the wrong way, you had no hope of making her do it A lot of appies seem to be on the fiery side.

~~~

Just a heads up, I am exhausted so please forgive any mistakes in this post- its very likely I'll miss something if I even end up proofreading lol
I went up to visit Miles and Cleo on Sunday and noticed he had a decent amount of swelling down near his sheath. So cue a phone call to the vet and we both agreed it was probably due to a hernia. Miles was well in himself so we left the physical exam until the next day as it was after hours and he was due to come to the stud on Monday anyway.
So Monday rolled around and confirmed it was definitely a hernia and would have to be surgically repaired. They can reduce and close over on their own, but he's on the upper age limit for that to happen so we decided it would just be best to call it and get it done. It wasn't apparent last Monday when I went down and D hadn't noticed anything in-between then, so it must have developed fairly quickly and we caught it early.
So we booked him in for surgery at the specialist equine clinic and floated them both up on Tuesday- which was a 2.5 hour trip one way without a float >.< I'm not exactly sure how long it took us to get there on the way up, but it was a LOOOOONNNGGGG drive. The horses traveled well and I am so glad Cleo is good to float! I couldn't imagine doing that with a scrambler or nervous mare Had a chat to the surgeon about what the game plan is (lovely guy btw! I think he's supposed to be semi-retired but he can't seem to stay away lol) and we decided to geld him at the same time. It is possible for them to save the testicles (especially on the non-affected side) but it can increase risk of complications and makes the surgery a little more complex, plus I'd have to take him back to a clinic to geld because there is an increased risk of herniation (well mildly increased, but I would not want to take that risk lol). Our standard practice is usually to leave them entire as long as possible, but for Miles as long as possible is apparently not as long anticipated The surgeon felt it shouldn't affect his growth too badly, but he'll probably end up an extra inch or two taller than he would of if we left him a colt and all things considered, I think I can live with that lol I don't think I would ever want to geld this early, but when its a medical concern it would be foolish to try and push it. So he'll go into surgery today (or he might have gotten done last night if they had time) and then we should be able to pick them both up tomorrow and then its box rest for the next few weeks. On the plus side, Tuesday was farrier day for the clinic so Miles was able to get his little shoes put on =D Got the vet to have a look at his legs as well and even though he'd been improving, we thought might as well put the shoes on while he's here and the farrier is available (what's a couple hundred extra when I'm already paying a few thousand? ). Also handy they'll be boxed or yarded while he has them on, so if he does happen to pull them off it should be easy enough to find and reapply.
I am crossing my fingers after this we don't have any more issues, he's had his fair share already Guess that is just part an parcel of breeding horses, keeps you on your toes. Also highlights why its usually WWAAAYYY cheaper to buy than it is to breed Not only money but also time invested- I literally traveled about 6 hours yesterday (from D's to clinic, back to D's and then home), get to do it again on Thursday/Friday and I'm sure my bank account is going to be very sad once I get the bill.
Horses, why do we have them?

[alouetta]

Hi! I joined awhile ago but I've only ever posted myself once so I'll re-introduce :>



I'm Marin! I ride Hunter/Jumpers and show twice a month in mainly A show circuits, but I'm taking a break from showing (not voluntary) as we're in the process of moving and it's very hectic. I used to ride at a barn that I thought was a good barn, and it was, teaching wise, the trainer was very knowledgeable when it comes to riding in general, but I later found out she was borderline neglecting my horse. He had multiple ulcers, and my trainer had assured me that she was using the ulcer guard we bought and getting him all fixed up - but nah. She used it for other horses and completely disregarded my pony just because he wasn't her top priority. She also decided to give him half the amount of food he was supposed to have.
Needless to say, it didn't work out with that pony and I. I loved (and still do) him with all of my heart and I'd trade anything to go visit him right now. However, after a year there was a lot of bolting and bucking and concussions (I'd assume from stress, and it breaks my heart to think about how he could've been a match for me had he not been neglected), we decided to finally sell him. My trainer didn't even try to help sell him, so we moved him to a sale barn where, they realized how bad he looked.
It's not like he was dying, but he was obviously anxious and had an ulcer, and his topline had no muscle and it was evident he was malnourished. So yeah, when I heard that, I was horrified and I felt terrible for the pony. I didn't know, and the trainer was extremely manipulative to where it was comical, but I still felt absolutely horrible. He's a sweet dude who aimed to please, but I was being fed the wrong information. And in the end, we did what was best for him.

So now, I switched barns, because uh - yeah.
The new barn is a lot more low key and only shows at local schooling shows, which is fine by me because we're moving soon anyways. The barn where we're moving is fancy and hardcore, which will be great for getting up the ranks. I ride this really sweet mare named Magic. She's really cute lol

[Livid-Silver]

Quick update to say Miles and Cleo are back home Miles looks like he's doing well considering, swelling wasn't too bad and vet was happy with him. Cleo has lost a bit of weight since being hospitalized so I'm hoping she puts is back on quick. I'd say it was from going from free pick on improved pasture to a box and just lucerne for feed and maybe the stress of it all (though she didn't seem particularly worried by it all). Either way she should pick up quick and we'll be back on track
Miles has got to be on box rest for two weeks while the surgical site heals, which is a bit unfortunate; I think he's going to go a bit stir crazy lol There wasn't as much swelling as I thought and the vet it was actually looking really good considering he had a decent amount of bowel down in that hernia. He is pretty wary of people now, I couldn't touch him and he didn't even really want me that close. I suppose it is understandable, he's had a lot of people messing with him, far few injections plus the whole process of induction for surgery and recovery. Will take a while for him to regain his trust, but hopefully he'll come around and go back to being my happy friendly boy. Cleo doesn't seem to be holding any grudges lol
I didn't get a chance to take any pictures when we picked them up (we were in bit of a rush to get home before traffic cause we had the vet coming out to check one of the other horses) so I'll have to take some next time. His little shoes look funky as lol But it was an adventure and a half (I think it woulda been close to 18 hours total driving time if you added it all up) so I am very very happy to have them home <3

[warmblood]

How would you teach a green horse to be lunged without a available round pen?

[cacticollie]

hey guys!
figured I'd introduce myself before asking a question
I grew up riding horses (my family has owned a ranch for generations) but I recently got back into it this last year
I've just been doing omoksees, trail riding, and ranch sorting but this summer I'll be doing flags for rodeo which will be my first big event (ive seriously never been more nervous in my life)
After this semester of college, I'll be buying a horse so for Christmas my dad got me a saddle
i love it but it's seriously driving me crazy that the seat is an odd orange ish color
Have any of you gotten your seats switched out? Was it expensive?
I seriously cannot let it be but I figured I'd wait until January when we ride less and the saddle shop is less busy to get it looked at

[warmblood]

hey guys!
figured I'd introduce myself before asking a question
I grew up riding horses (my family has owned a ranch for generations) but I recently got back into it this last year
I've just been doing omoksees, trail riding, and ranch sorting but this summer I'll be doing flags for rodeo which will be my first big event (ive seriously never been more nervous in my life)
After this semester of college, I'll be buying a horse so for Christmas my dad got me a saddle
i love it but it's seriously driving me crazy that the seat is an odd orange ish color
Have any of you gotten your seats switched out? Was it expensive?
I seriously cannot let it be but I figured I'd wait until January when we ride less and the saddle shop is less busy to get it looked at

it depends on how the saddle was originally tanned and colored, but you could try using leather dyes. I imagine it would be quite difficult to get a good finish though. There are some leather oils that are designed to darken the leather. You can use mink oil or neatsfoot oil, but make sure to use pure neatsfoot oil or it can damage the saddle. Apparently vegetable oil works as well. You can leave the saddle under the sunlight to darken it too. However, I think your best shot is to go to a professional, or at least do more research on it.

[MoonfallTheFox]

How would you teach a green horse to be lunged without a available round pen?

Use a line, you should be able to train the horse to send with body language and other cues without the pen. I did it with my filly and I don't have a roundpen. If you need help with how exactly to do this, there are good instructional videos on youtube.

The main things are that your horse understands clicking/etc means to speed up, then you can add walk trot canter cues as well to solidify. Directional cues are also important. Make sure your horse turns into you, eyes to you, and goes off at the SAME rate as you asked for the change from with good impulsion. Don't allow the horse to become lazy. Use your whip as a tool, and don't be afraid to touch your horse with it if they become obstinate about impulsion to remind them you are serious. Do not hit them, just tap. Be annoying.

Ensure your horse has been desensitized to ropes and whips around the full body including the legs and neck in case of tangles so there are no accidents. You are not chasing your horse. Start small and slow, take it easy.

[Brynmala]

How would you teach a green horse to be lunged without a available round pen?

Further to Moonfall's comments, don't try and lunge by yourself to start with, you'll need someone at the horse's head to lead him round until he gets the idea of going in a circle, and control the the speed until the voice commands are understood - remember downward transitions also need to be taught, not just going faster, and this is difficult without help.

And, I'm sure it doesn't need to be said, but keep sessions very short (not more than about 15 minutes) as it is really hard work for the horse, and can put a lot of stress on bones of a youngster particularly.