{ - Western Riders United - } Open! CONTEST!

[Actually.A.Herondale]

That horse I was talking about earlier that we were going to go look out, turns out we aren't going to go look at it. They want too much for it (or a lot more then my mom wants to pay). But one of the other people looking for horses for us found a horse that they had trained a few years ago, named Dakota, who's owner is going off to collage and can't take the horse. She's trying to get him to lower the price from 4000 to 2800, and is thinking that he'll do it if he knows the horse is going to good home. She says that the horse is definitively worth 4000, because he's a money-winner and has already won a saddle, but she knows we don't want to pay that much. We want to buy a horse around 3000 at most, so 2000 can be used for first month board, tack, grooming stuff, insurance for the horse, and other necessary things for it. If the price is lowered to 2800, my mom is willing to buy it earlier then our original plan.




And at the barn I ride out, I just found out about a fight that happened a few weeks ago. There are these two english horses, Mufasa and Starbucks. Their paddocks are right next to each other, and the fence broke or something, so Mufasa went into Starbucks paddock, and Starbucks beat him up. Mufasa didn't fight back, but it turned out he has stitches on his leg, cuts all over him, and his leg was swollen today. I feel so bad for him! He was colicing really bad the week before, and then he gets beat up....
And yeah, it's pretty much offical that western is being removed from my barn. English is being put first in everything, and they're even putting their saddles on the western saddle racks when they know they're supposed to stack the english saddles ontop if they run out of room!

The western show is tomorrow, but I'm not gonna be in this one, because I have no one to ride. *sigh* Maybe I'll go volunteer anyway.

[cobalt.]

This video is kick a$$!
{make sure to watch it in HD}
x

[Actually.A.Herondale]

What an amazing video.....in my favorites now.

So, the search continues...I'm going to go see Dakota sometime this week, I think. And if he doesn't work out -which is very likely, because he might be a little too advanced for me. I've been stuck on barn horses for a while...- then we have two others that might work out. One is Doc, a red and white paint thats about 14 years old, a gelding, and already trained for barrels, 4-H, All-Around, and some english stuff, but I don't ride English, so I don't care about that. Here's a picture of him from the ad (not me riding, but looks like the same helmet...):


The other is a Palomino gelding named Skittles, who's about 4 years old, never trained for barrels but apparently has a lot of potential.


I don't like those named very much....Dakota is a cool name, but the name Doc just annoys me, and Skittles would be cute for a little paint pony. But names don't matter right now.

[bonjour.]

I'm helping my friend look for a gaming horse.
Any sites I should use besides Kijiji?

[Actually.A.Herondale]

Dreamhorse.com seems good. Same with EquineNow.com

[cobalt.]

Also try Horsetopia. :)

[xChry.]

I found a really nice 10 year old QH/Appy or sale. The price? 50$. Why? The horse apparently has "lack of respect" for the owner.
Well I went to go look at him. I now know why he has lack of respect. The owner hits him with all his strength. Like seriously? No wonder why the horse is trying to protect himself..
He also does do a bit of crowhopping and such though. But that acn easily be fixed.
So now were gonna take him in.. lol

[cobalt.]

Poor horse. I'm glad you can take him in :3

Yesterday I rode Cowboy. I was so pleased with him! :3
He actually let me spray him with fly spray and he didn't freak out! I got as close as the base of his head with the spray and even then he didn't freak out on me. I had to spray some into my hand then wipe it onto his face since the flies love to bug him and congregate around his eyes, mouth, ears and nose. -_- The only problem he gave me was when I tried to pick out his hooves he'd keep jerking his leg forward, trying to get me to let go only after a couple seconds.

{This was really stupid of me} I took scissors and started to trim some of his whiskers on his nose and on his jaw. He stood still so I didn't nick him but a guy came in and yelled at me about it. "Don't do that! Horses use their whiskers to feel the world around them and to communicate with other horses. That's just a human thing- cutting their whiskers like that." so I stopped cutting the whiskers and then decided to trim his bridle path so what does he say "Don't cut the mane, they use that to keep the flies off." I said nothing as much as I wanted to say "I KNOW! I'm trimming him for the fair!! They want him to look like this!" e-e Then he gave me a carrot to give to Cowboy. :/ Then later on when I was tacking him up, I put a glob of Vaseline on his sore, like my trainer told me to and I was just about to put some soft cloth on it when the guy comes back. "Here use this SWAT it has healing properties and it keeps the flies off." Then he wipes the Vaseline I just put on Cowboy's sore, off and hands me the bottle of SWAT. e_e Again, bit my tongue didn't say a word. "SWAT isn't meant to be used for when you're riding! It's meant for when the horse is in his stall or the field. I don't need to put that on when the sore is 1.) going to be covered with soft, padding, cloth and 2.) the padding will be covered with the saddle pad then the saddle." It's just going to come off later anyways.

I rode him around the ring for a while and got him to turn in place inside the box, instead of using every inch he could get. Got him turning nicely around some barrels and trotted two laps around the arena. This is the Cowboy I love to ride. :3 Plus I gave him tons of pats and "good job"s when he did as I wanted and maybe even a couple hugs or two. {Don't tell anyone. :3} To finish off this perfect day I took off his saddle, but left the pad on and rode him bareback. :3 My Mom made me stay at a walk, but I got him to turn nicely for me. I even rode around without holding the reins, just guiding him with leg pressure. He listened pretty well :3 Then when I put him into his stall to take off his bridle and saddle pad, I may have snuck him a treat when no one was looking. I mean, why not give him one when he did such a good job? c:

So now we have only 4 days until we bring him to the fair grounds to get settled in. {I'm bringing him in the day before the fair, and our Gymkhana show starts. c:} 5 days 'til the fair and gymkhana starts and 8 days 'til the Western and Trail classes. I'm soooo excited! :D

[Actually.A.Herondale]

I found a really nice 10 year old QH/Appy or sale. The price? 50$. Why? The horse apparently has "lack of respect" for the owner.
Well I went to go look at him. I now know why he has lack of respect. The owner hits him with all his strength. Like seriously? No wonder why the horse is trying to protect himself..
He also does do a bit of crowhopping and such though. But that acn easily be fixed.
So now were gonna take him in.. lol

That poor horse! Watch him become one of the best behaved horses and be the gentlest thing ever and the guy be just like, 'what?' .
I don't get why people will spend the money on a horse and then just abuse it. -_-


Also, I need help deciding where to board my horse once we find one. Because we're really starting to look now and have several horses that I want to go try out, My mom is getting a little nervous about where we'l be keeping him/her. Our first plan was Indian Head ranch, because it's much more western. But that place is a little dirty...the floors are all dirt, including the floors of the stalls. The ground is a little uneven in the stalls too, which my mom pointed out that standing on uneven ground all the time could make the horse lop-sided ((which was probably the only good point she made with horses, because she doesn't know much about them.)), and a lop-sided horse could become lame. It smells bad in the barn, and there are cobwebs all over, and I don't see the stalls getting cleaned as often as they do elsewhere. It's also a lot further then the barn I normally ride at, but it's cheaper, more western, and they have a special needs program that would be awesome for my cousin.
The other barn that's a possibilty is the place I was taking lessons in for a while, that's going to eventually become a Spanish dressage barn. But the goods things about it is the stalls are cleaned multiple times a day, the stalls have even ground at all times and shavings down for a nice bed. They're turned out into paddocks everyday, and brought in at the same time every day. I know the barn more, and the people who work there. The arenas are big, but not the best footing. There are plenty of trails to go on for a change of scenery too. The downsides are it's much more expensive, more English than Western, the paddocks are ankle deep in mud at all times, and the footing is really bad in both arenas.

Pretty much:


Indian Head Ranch
Pros~
More western
Cheaper
Better footing in the arenas

Cons~
Uneven stall grounds
Smells bad
Not cleaned as often
Hotter indoor arena


Bethpage
Pros~
Even stall grounds
Cleaned often
Turned out every day
I know the people more
cooler indoor ring

Cons~
Bad footing
Mainly English
More expensive

[Hooligan.]

Well hopefully Queso and I will be showing in some reining shows, if any are put on. We arent the best, I mean, we are still working on right leads and spins, but he is getting a lot better. It is a lot better for him because he can still run (which he loves to do), but it doesn't put as much stress on him as barrels and poles. I am going to show my reining horses as well, but I've been mostly working on Queso lately.