LOCK ME PLEASE C:

[Dolphinlover~]

I had a fantastic lesson on Sunday :3 I got to ride my buddy Mulligan! I love that Mulligan man <3 We got to ride in the big front outdoor since they finally put the hunter jumps back! Well Mulligan was absoulutly wonderful, like always. He was a little stiff so we started out by cantering him. I cantered him a bit in half-seat since my trainer wanted me to. Then we trotted him some and went over some trotting poles....Not to forget the sitting trot. Mulligan is very bouncy so the sitting trot wasn't the post pleasent thing ever, but I slowed him down and my trainer loved it! His owner was in the ring riding Bubbles and my trainer was yelling to her "Look, look! She can do a sitting trot on Mulligan!" xD It actually wasn't too bad once I figured out how to get him moving nicely at the sitting trot ^^

Now for the best part: Jumping 8D First we trotted a crossrail a couple of times. Then my trainer didn't hesitate and had me canter a 2'-2'3" line after the crossrail. The first time I got a little bit ahead of Mulligan at the first jump, but my trainer thought it was fine. Then we cantered that line a couple more times, and it kept getting better and better once I got the hang of his jump and realized to sit back and wait more before each jump...Then after my trainer was happy with the way we were jumping the first line she had us a canter a line with either a 2'6" or 2'6" gate and a 2'6" liverpool *ish* jump. The first time Mulligan refused the first jump, but we got a bad distance so I don't blame him -- and I sat up and was just on his neck so no problems there. My trainer decided to have us trot in the first time, and the line was great! Right after that she had me put both lines together, outside line to the diagonal gate line. It was AWESOME! I could tell my trainer was really happy with how I rode him, she told me to give Mulligan lots of pats <3

Also, before the lesson my dad was talking to my trainer and asking her if she thinks Mulligan will be "my horse"/horse to take me to that "next level". My dad said she said yes because she wants me to half lease him this summer o.0 My dad said that he might actually let me half lease Mulligan <3 8DD I couldn't believe it! Mulligan is like the most amazing horse and I love him, I am so happy that my trainer likes me on him and thinks we can go far ;D Mulligan's owner was there too ^^ She is sooo sweet. His owner said that she is so excited about me maybe half-leasing him and me just riding him in general :3 It was awesome to hear his owner almost cheering us on ;D What a nice lady Mulligan's owner is. She is so accepting of me riding her baby, and excited about it too. That was an awesome lesson. I can't wait to go back next week and ride Mulligan again. Not to mention, it was totally awesome that I got to jump him so high 8D I may have actually jumped him 2'9"! It was awesome how my trainer didn't hold back and just let me jump him so much/so big after only my second time riding him :3 I have pictures too. That lesson just like made me week, along with the good lesson I had on Saturday~

[scene_kid]

Bitless bridles are even less efective, rope halters work though pressure points on the horses face. Communication isn't the problem, he knows he should be slowing down and putting his head down. We've improved a lot in regards to the speed and control, but he just won't collect himself. When I'm bending (circles) him or going over ground poles at a canter and ask for it he will, and he collects nicely at a walk and trot, but just not at a regular canter. So I'm looking for some sort of martingale or something I could use with the rope halter?

Like I said pesso lunging, unless you use a lead rope as a standing martingale you can't do anything.

[PathEast]

Bitless bridles are even less efective, rope halters work though pressure points on the horses face. Communication isn't the problem, he knows he should be slowing down and putting his head down. We've improved a lot in regards to the speed and control, but he just won't collect himself. When I'm bending (circles) him or going over ground poles at a canter and ask for it he will, and he collects nicely at a walk and trot, but just not at a regular canter. So I'm looking for some sort of martingale or something I could use with the rope halter?

Like I said pesso lunging, unless you use a lead rope as a standing martingale you can't do anything.

But doesn't the pessoa aid have to connect to the bit?
Could a chambon be used, if I made loops to connect it to the halter by the mouth? In some way so it wouldn't rub him uncomfortably.

[Hanoverian]

It really sounds like it :3 Aww that's so cute that he did that xD I love when you can bond like that with a horse. When Meg is eating and I call to him he will list his head up and prick his ears. Hopefully I can keep riding Mully so we can bond like that...Since no one else (except his owner) rides Mulligan, and same with Meg. Hehe that's adorable that you braided him. I think horses look so sweet when they are braided.

Thanks so much (: I was really happy when I saw the pictures of me riding him. I thought that we looked nice. Me too :3 Unlike Meg, he doesn't rush jumps at the canter and my trainer was really happy when we cantered the vertical so nicely. I am hoping she will let me jump him bigger, probably though ^^

Yeah, I was so happy! I felt special lol. Aww, that's sweet that Meg does that for you. Hope you and Mully work out well!
I know, he's precious. We are going to cut/pull that mane soon,though, especially since I'll be showing him. C: I think he'll be cute with the hunter clip though, because of his gorgeous little neck. The fabio mane hides it. xD

He sounds like a nice horse! I didn't read through the thread, I will soon. I'm guessing that you jumped him bigger this weekend. xD


I'm dying! Vacation is hard! I MISS THE BARRRRN! D:


And we got THREE new horses in! And I'm missing it!

Reno, a bay warmblood gelding. We had him on lease last summer, too, he is very fancy and quite the jumper.

Mister - I don't know anything about him, really, except that Lukas's old leaser will be half leasing him

And Willie, the large pony gelding!

I can't wait to get back to the barn to try the new horses and ride in the new outdoor. I feel like I'm missing everything in the one week I'm gone. ><

Haha, you should feel special <33 Ooohh I am sure he will look precious with his hunter clip ;D When are you showing him? Is it soon? What classes? xDD Can you tell I am a bit curious? Just a little.
I didn't post about our lesson yet, since I didn't have time but yes we jumped higher -- a lot higher 8DD And...Mulligan IS working out. My trainer says that he will be my horsey, as in the one I will be riding from now on 8DD My dad is probably going to let me HALF LEASE him this summer 8DD Like holy cowww o.0 I will tell you guys waaay more about the fantabulous lesson yesterday!!

Aww the new horses sound so nice :3 I love warmbloods, Reno sounds awesome. They all sound awesome actually~

I'm probably going to show him near the end of the summer or in the fall, since he is still pretty green. ;D I'll do the greens, probably jumpers. Either 2 foot or 2'6, depending on how his jumping goes! My trainer thinks that with some time I could do at least 2'6, though, which is nice. I'd like to show him in Equitation too, but Arabians don't exactly make winning Eq. mounts. xD I might take him to some of the local Arab shows, too. And I'd love to try eventing! He could really do amazingly at dressage because he moves so well, and he would love XC coz he's so brave. Miss my boy.
I need to hear about it! I'm glad that you got to jump more! I bet you already posted about it, lol. Just haven't read through the thread yet. Awesome that you'll be riding him more! And I hope you can do the half lease!
Yeah, Reno is pretty awesome. (: He can easily do 3', so I'm hoping to do some of that with him now that Lookie Tookie is gone. D:
I'm assuming that Mister is a Warmblood. But he might be a TB.

[Sadie~Bronson~252]

Alright, I now have a major, major problem that I don't know how to fix. It really needs fixing. So I'm throwing this up for Ideas.

As some of you may know, I 'work' at a riding stable. It's a beautiful place. The horses are great (I've fallen completely in love with 6 of them over the years), the people (most of them) are nice, and I simply love it there. I've been riding there for nearly 8 years, and I don't want to leave.

There's only one problem.

The owner.

The first two years (2005- 2006), were absolutely amazing. I rode every wednesday, which was really surprising since our family is definitely not what you'd call 'rich' by any stretch of the word. $30 was a reasonable amount for a 4 hour lesson, and I learned a ton in those two years. That's when I found Duchess, the first horse i really loved.

Then in 2007, I was starting to know enough to help out with the actual trail rides, but I still had to be really told, so i was still paying, and that was still okay. 2007 was the year that Duchess died. Darla never told me one bit about it, even when Duchess started losing weight and I got really concerned about her health. No. Just, 'she's fine', or ,'she's just out in the back' after she was gone. My friend had to tell me a week later. But I found Sadie, and I was able to move on.

Sadie wasn't really Darla's horse. A family had began to board her there, and one day they never came back, leaving their beautiful gray arab behind. In the beginning of the year Darla told me that she was dangerous, but later on I was convinced to ride her. Needless to say, I loved her. She was every bit the horse I'd dreamed about- one that would lie down in the pasture with me, out of her own free will. I trained her in bareback and bridleless, and she did amazing. But Darla still made me pay to ride her, even though she wasn't really her horse. But I was convinced that the $30 dollars would pay to a round bale, so I didn't look at paying bad.

In 2008, everything changed. Darla held an auction to cut down her herd. My parents said that they couldn't afford the $150 a month boarding fee and that we had nowhere to keep a horse, so they didn't let me buy Sadie. She sold for $75, and was later put down because she was too 'old' (18 years old and in perfect health.) I wanted to leave then, but still i stayed. Where would I go? But things changed more. I knew enough and was old enough to work the trails. Not quite on my own, but close enough.

In 2009 I started working trails on my own- sometimes taking out rides of 8 people, alone. And STILL I payed her. I- I don't know. The hay lie still made sense to me or something. I didn't really look at it like I should have until the start of july, when I asked if I could get a job there. She said no, and I tried to explain how much I did around there, but she just ended up getting mad and almost banning me from the property entirely. But she didn't, god knows why. I broke my arm a week later and couldn't ride until November.

I got busy in 2010 and didn't ride much. I was also trying to decide I I really belonged there. My favorite horse, Judy, was Pregnant and due in August. Since she was practically my horse and Darla would give her to me if I only paid boarding (Parents said no), I asked her to call me when that filly was born. But she didn't. I found out a month later that the filly had died, and Judy barely made it. No one even thought to tell me when it happened.

I went back in 2011, 16 years old and more than capable of running the place. I spent all day, sometimes 13 hours straight, running a doing EVERYTHING. Catching, grooming, saddling, bridling, watering, feeding, leading rides, watching kids, stacking hay, fixing fences, a lot of times on my own and at least three things at one. It was absolutely insane, and STILL she expected money. I should have just stood up to her then, but I was afraid. Afraid too lose Henry and Judy and all of my friends there. If I spoke up, who knew if I'd be allowed back. There were a few times when I babysat over night, then had to make breakfast and get a ride ready while Darla wasn't even there, she was down in the other part of the state. Did I get paid for that? Heck no. I paid HER.

Mid July something changed again. I'm assuming my friends mom talked to her, because she stopped making me pay for working days. Just days that I was there for 'fun', which means watching about 4 kids while getting to canter and sometimes ride the horse that I like. There's no actually trail riders there, just us, but it's never really fun for me. It's still work. That summer she made me pay to ride my friends horse while I worked at a birthday party. The horse wasn't even Darla's and I paid! I confronted my friend on that one, and she said that she couldn't do anything about it. I probably should have talked to her mom about it, since Darla actually listens to her, but who knows. I just don't think that's right. But I don't know how to confront it.

Two weeks ago by friend came up on her spring break, and I came out after school to help her train the fillies, while I also worked with the new boarder who's came in a few days before and with the kids who were there. It wasn't fun lazy ride for me. But I showed up last sunday to pay her the money that I did owe her (we went out to eat), and she asked where the rest was. Now I owe her $40 for pay for 9 hours of riding. Where I WORKED. Several times this spring I called to see if she was going to be riding, got her answering machine, and told her to call me back when she got the message. over five seperate weekends I called, with no answer. (I'll only call once, twice a weekend) I assumed she wasn't home. She had been all have of those weekends.

Now someone else is working there, just started, doesn't know horses well. I have no idea why, or what she's doing it for. I'f she's getting paid... I don't know what to think.

TL;DR (or read anyway)
So my question is this. You've heard my story. I know it's long. I've lived it though, every bit. What I want to know is what I should do. Should I simply confront her, risk never going back? Ride again and wait for her to tell me to pay, then just take my stuff and leave? Go on normally like everything's fine and dandy? I honestly don't know. I want things to be RIGHT. I want to ride like everyone else and not worry about being used. I want to be able to work with the horses and not have to pay her. I want her to realize all that I've done and all that she would have to do herself if I wasn't there. I know she was people to replace me with, but I know that no one is as loyal as I am. Who else would actually stay?

Please, try to think this over and give me an answer. I have no idea what to do here and it NEEDS to be fixed. I can give you anything extra you need to know, just P.M. me, but someone has to know what should come next.

[Toppyrocks]

sadie- Does she treat everyone there like she how she treats you? And how many people are there regularly that work like you do?

I'll think this over and I would like to try and help you.

[Sadie~Bronson~252]

as far as I know, no, I'm the only one worked and used like this. Some people are there more often, but they don't know how to run the trails or stuff like that.

edited- Trains. Wow. Typing fail.

[Dolphinlover~]

I had a fantastic lesson on Sunday :3 I got to ride my buddy Mulligan! I love that Mulligan man <3 We got to ride in the big front outdoor since they finally put the hunter jumps back! Well Mulligan was absoulutly wonderful, like always. He was a little stiff so we started out by cantering him. I cantered him a bit in half-seat since my trainer wanted me to. Then we trotted him some and went over some trotting poles....Not to forget the sitting trot. Mulligan is very bouncy so the sitting trot wasn't the post pleasent thing ever, but I slowed him down and my trainer loved it! His owner was in the ring riding Bubbles and my trainer was yelling to her "Look, look! She can do a sitting trot on Mulligan!" xD It actually wasn't too bad once I figured out how to get him moving nicely at the sitting trot ^^

Now for the best part: Jumping 8D First we trotted a crossrail a couple of times. Then my trainer didn't hesitate and had me canter a 2'-2'3" line after the crossrail. The first time I got a little bit ahead of Mulligan at the first jump, but my trainer thought it was fine. Then we cantered that line a couple more times, and it kept getting better and better once I got the hang of his jump and realized to sit back and wait more before each jump...Then after my trainer was happy with the way we were jumping the first line she had us a canter a line with either a 2'6" or 2'6" gate and a 2'6" liverpool *ish* jump. The first time Mulligan refused the first jump, but we got a bad distance so I don't blame him -- and I sat up and was just on his neck so no problems there. My trainer decided to have us trot in the first time, and the line was great! Right after that she had me put both lines together, outside line to the diagonal gate line. It was AWESOME! I could tell my trainer was really happy with how I rode him, she told me to give Mulligan lots of pats <3

Also, before the lesson my dad was talking to my trainer and asking her if she thinks Mulligan will be "my horse"/horse to take me to that "next level". My dad said she said yes because she wants me to half lease him this summer o.0 My dad said that he might actually let me half lease Mulligan <3 8DD I couldn't believe it! Mulligan is like the most amazing horse and I love him, I am so happy that my trainer likes me on him and thinks we can go far ;D Mulligan's owner was there too ^^ She is sooo sweet. His owner said that she is so excited about me maybe half-leasing him and me just riding him in general :3 It was awesome to hear his owner almost cheering us on ;D What a nice lady Mulligan's owner is. She is so accepting of me riding her baby, and excited about it too. That was an awesome lesson. I can't wait to go back next week and ride Mulligan again. Not to mention, it was totally awesome that I got to jump him so high 8D I may have actually jumped him 2'9"! It was awesome how my trainer didn't hold back and just let me jump him so much/so big after only my second time riding him :3 I have pictures too. That lesson just like made me week, along with the good lesson I had on Saturday~

@Hanoverian: Oh okay, so you still have time before you show him :3 That's nice so you both have a chance to improve ;D Ooohh jumpers, nice. That should be lots of fun. Yeah Arabs aren't the best Eq horses, but that would be awesome if you could show him on the Arab circuit ^^ How cool! That would be awesome if you guys could try eventing <3 I think that would be fabulous.
I am quoting the post about my lesson for you :3 It's kind of long...But I couldn't really make it shorter, I didn't want to leave important details out xD Thanks, me too! It was crazy to hear my dad say that he would be let me as long as there is a way for me to get out the barn <33 EEppp!! I think it would be the best thing in the world if I got to half-lease, especially my Mully man.

That's awesome that Reno can go 3'! I think Mulligan can too, at least I am hoping but he is athletic and my trainer wants me riding a horse that can do 2'9" and 3'. I thought Mulligan was a warmblood, but he's actually an Appendix QH!

PICTURES: My Handsome Man
Jump (Well...landing a jump xD)
Cantering!

[❤️ Archiver]

I've been in the same situation and eventually with me, I had to just pack up and leave. If the owners do not respect you and are making you pay to get them business they're just using you. I loved the horses at my old barn, I'd ride for free but eventually, the bull form the owners made me leave. I miss the horses sure but it was not worth it.

Also think about it this way, if you do not spend that $30 for riding then well you'll have $120+ sooner rather than later on just savings.

In any case it's a hard decision all around.

[Sadie~Bronson~252]

Well, it's my parents paying for it, not me, but my main problem is that there is nowhere else for me that isn't over an hour away. If I quit here, I can't ride anymore. I guess I'd be okay with that, but I want to ride. I don't want to have to quit.