Do You Ride Horses?

[ilovemyhorse95]

hi I love horses and started a riding club

[Hime]

@Boomer: Barbed fences are ton lot more danger than electric ones. They can actually hurt the horse pretty bad if they would get tangled in them(sharp pointy things vs. small shock). Manes and tails get caught on them more easily as well, which could cause the horse to spook and panic plus it could take the whole fence down with it at worst if it would get tangled really badly.
Where I live I think people are not allowed to keep any sort of animal in barbed wire fencing. At least I'm 100% sure horses aren't allowed to be kept in such fencing, not totally sure about cows and sheep etc.

@Dolphin: HII! Long time no see indeed. ^^ Huge congrats on you show success!
Did you already see pics of my baby? I'm not sure how much you've had time to stalk around the thread and to be honest I can't remember exactly when you 'dissappeared'. ^^'
_____________________
Had fun weekend trip with friends, ended up getting sick... No fun, but thankfully it's not too bad. Just some sort of flue and I think I got mild fever on Monday and Tuesday and today I just have stuffy nose. Still drove to the stable to give Heta her meds, so if I was able to drive it isn't super bad. XD I hope... Since today I also ended up helping to unload the hay load. I can still breath, no worries. Horse flies are really out now and they annoy Heta non stop and bite her udder all the time(that's not nice for Tývar, since Heta keeps kicking the bugs away making it little harder for him to get his belly full)... Tývar doesn't seem to mind them that much and his lot less itchier so that's promising. I need to call the vet tomorrow to get more meds for Heta as they seem to be doing some good, since when I left her without hood yesterday night she hadn't rubbed it at all during the night.

[AnimalTraining101]

@Hime good point I thought about that. Barbed wire dose look a whole lot worse than a shock.

[Hooligan.]

@Location:
Wyoming!! COWBOY STATE!!!! <3 I absolutely love it. Its got the toughest country I have ever been in, but I wouldn't trade it for any other place on Earth. Winters here we get tons of snow, our hunting camp gets over 25 feet of snow (thats around how tall the main cabin is, and every year snow is over the roof), our main HQ where I live we get around 3-7 feet. Temps get down to -60*F+ with severe wind, and summers get up to 85-95*F. With extremely severe wind. As I've said before, the wind gauge thing on the mountain above our ranch got past 400mph before. Normally its around 130mph up on that mountani. Thats at 11,000feet above sea level. Our ranch is a few thousand feet in difference though haha.

@Showing:
Well guys, I have another show this Saturday. Its not even far away at all, only around an hour or so. But I haven't ever been to the arena, all I know is that its outdoor. This is the first time a show has been at this place, so I am thinking that, paired with it being an outdoor arena, that not many people will be there. So far I am entered or barrels, reining and showmanship. I think I'm going to wait to enter anything else until day of show, if theres not many people there, I'll pay the late fee and enter a few other events like WP and maybe poles. I'm not real fond of poles, I know I've said that before haha. Its odd though, all of my family but me likes poles, and everyone in my family has always done well in them. I dunno, I just don't like them. Anyway, next Saturday I have another show, this time like 2 hours away. Its an outdoor arena too. But I've been there before, I really like it.

Missed?

I'm going back to page 628 as I haven't been extremely active lately :3

@Scarlet:
My cousin was riding one a few days ago and she said it was totally crazy!! She was riding a new horse they had bought and she said she would just get into the rythm of a gait, like the running walk or something, and the mare would switch to a lope or to a trot and back. It sounds like it would be fun though.

@RavenclawHobbit:
It must be almost killer to ride the running walk for a long time hahaha. Sounds fun though!!

@gnr lies;:
Oh awesome!!! I love Nevada. I've been to Mesquite and Las Vegas a few times. I would love to explore the rest of the state though. Deserts intrique me. Lucky is very pretty!!! I'm sorry he has colic, I hope he gets better!!! My mare Denali died last year from it. The have sand clear, it removes sand from their systems. We always have some on hand because theres a ton of sand here too. Lady is also very pretty!!!

@Blue:
Queso is actually a beast at poles hahaha. I just don't like them for some reason. Its some odd unexplained feeling of disliking going on hahahahahaha. That sucks that S didn't get the job, but I always think that things happen for a reason.

@Boomer:
Why did they take his halter away?

@Nagema:
I'm jelly. Beau is absolutely GORGEOUS!!!!! I am a major sucker for palominos and buckskins. I love the loud palominos like Beau. My horse Queso is also a loud palomino. I absolutely love it!!! Heres some pictures of him
http://i1344.photobucket.com/albums/p65 ... f188f9.jpg
http://i1344.photobucket.com/albums/p65 ... f0ad54.jpg
http://i1344.photobucket.com/albums/p65 ... d64cdc.jpg

@Baylone Rose:
I love her name hahaha! She is a doll!!! Thats awesome that Tweety sits on her back!!!

@Dolphin:
OMG YOU /ARE/ ALIVE!!!!!! <3 Its awesome that you and Memphis are doing so great!!!

@Fencing:
Ours is almost all barbed wire, we use some panels, like Powder River, but only around corrals. Our horses respect it. One thing though, as a precaution, that we do to every horse we get is to immediately train them to hobble. This is not only useful when taking a break from riding, but also, if they ever /do/ get caught up in the fence, they know not to panic. We do have portions that are barbed wire with sheep fence over it. Mostly because miniature horses are fearless little buggers and craw through barbed wire. Also, as you guys have seen before, during the winter we have a lot of horses out on hayfields with cows. Cows and barbed wire. They go together. Cows don't pay attention to sheep fence. The only problem we've found with sheep fencing is that we have an occasional jumper. Maggie, she was a jumper. Back in her earlier days, we had her up here by our house in a remuda. She always would jump the fence, although she luckily never did get caught in it. She died back in January though, from colic. But she would've made someone a jumping horse. She was purebred Arabian, a tall chestnut girl. She never did have any cow or range sense. She loved to jump, and therefore got moved to the hayfield as more of a backburner. Couldn't ever find anyone to sell her to. She was too spirited, and really, theres no jumpers around here. But anyway, yeah, I don't necessarily /love/ barbed wire for horses, but our horses respect it and we rarely have problems. The fence that built the west you know. In our summer drives when we have the chuckwagon and we sleep along the drive (this is when we have the nighthawk and nightrider), we use rope corrals for the remuda. Our horses are pretty well accustomed. Mostly its a mental barrier, instead of a physical one that keeps them in place. I don't see any problem with electric fence though. I'm not a particularly big fan of it, I don't actually like it a terrible lot, but I don't see a problem with it.

[AnimalTraining101]

*Smokey-

Good points on the fence Well anyway Im not really sure of why they took the halter or im starting to wonder if they did or it slipped cause Cash's halter was missing then we found it under the pine trees the next day. Either way Im able to lead and train him without it just do a lot of hand motions, commands, and a training stick. I also taught him to step and half bow and back up. Don't need the halter for everything just would be nice to have it for grooming oh well what are you going to do.

[wibeke]

Fencing: We don't have any barbed wire around here, not just in the barn I ride at but I've yet to see any barn around here that uses it.
My barn has wooden fences (around 4 foot-ish?) with wire running around the top panel. The current isn't all that strong on the wire. Every once in a while someone gets shocked by it, and they've all lived to tell the tale, lol.
It works for every horse except Harry. He's... special. He loves to jump, and gets upset when he goes too long without a jumping lesson. My instructor has to be careful not to schedule too many beginners in a row or he'll jump the fence. He's also been known to send beginners over 3 foot jumps because they accidentally pointed him at them.
He's a bit of an idiot though. After he escapes he just stands at the gate and waits for someone to put him back in his paddock. He's too well behaved to actually make something of his freedom. xD

I honestly really don't like barbed wire fencing, even with hobble training. (I knew a girl on another site who's horse completely tore up his leg even though he was hobble trained- he knew not to struggle but just getting tangled was enough to do a TON of damage) Too much potential to go wrong when most horses can be held in much less harsh fencing. Horses and sharp objects are just disasters waiting to happen. Most horses know to stay away from fences, but that doesn't mean there's no chance that they'll come into contact with one. At least with electric fencing they get shocked and know not to do it again. With barbed wire they only have to mess up once to get seriously hurt.
I guess it works for some people, but it's not something I would use on my own (hypothetical, lol) horses.

Boomer: Unlike electric fences, barbed wire fences are sharp and can cut through skin. If a horse runs into an electric fence they get shocked, which can be painful but is only temporary and doesn't break skin. A bad run in with a barbed wire fence can cut down to the bone.
I'm not a fan of it because there isn't much of a learning curve with barbed wire as there is with electric fencing. A horse can get shocked while they're learning and it won't cause any damage, but wire isn't at all forgiving.

As for the halter, have you checked the pasture yet? If he usually has his halter on then it might have gotten caught on something and slipped off. (if that's the case then you should talk to the owners about taking the halter off when he's not being worked with, it can be really dangerous to leave halters on when no one is around) Halters have a funny habit of disappearing though, haha. Just keep looking, it will show up somewhere.

Dolphin: Welcome back!
Pfft, you can't just say "grey westphalian" and not post any pictures! -drools- Memphis sounds wonderful, and I'm so happy that you've found both an amazing barn and a horse that suits you! That show sounds amazing, too. Congratulations on everything, especially the most recent show. You deserved it. =)
As for my update, nothing big on my end except that my barn got a goofy little morgan named Sully that I've been riding. I might half lease him this summer and i might do a couple shows with Harry over the summer.

Rehab: Is that your horse? He/she is pretty. ^^

E.urka: Welcome back! I remember you from the old thread, you're a really good rider. ^^
I'm sorry to hear that Casper was sold, but Storm sounds really cool. I'm a total sucker for draft horses, haha.

----

My lesson on Monday ended up being cancelled because of a big thunder storm. Apparently my instructor is absolutely terrified of thunder, lol.
I got to my lesson early and watched her give a lunge line lesson on Harry. (that pony is too perfect, haha) I didn't have to tack up, so I was talking to another instructor at the barn who was waiting for her students to tack up. The sky was really clear in front of us, but there was a massive cloud creeping up behind us and we were trying to figure out if it would hold off until after our lessons.
Harry finished so I brought him to his stall and took his bridle off so he could have a drink, and came back to watch another girl jump.
My instructor felt a few raindrops, then someone said something about a thunderstorm. The girl jumped the last jump in the course, then my instructor yelled, "trot to the barn!" and we all ran. It started pouring the second we got inside.
We waited about half an hour before finally giving up and going home. Of course it was perfectly sunny when we got back!

And on Sunday I galloped Major!
One of my friends was riding him but was having trouble getting him to canter. N wasn't being any help (surprise .-.), so she had me get on at the end of the lesson. I just dropped my stirrups and let him run, and it was amazing. I love my boy. <3
My friend got it on video, so I'll have to get that from her somehow.

[ayomi]

Hey people! I am doing lessons at a stable and am learning how to canter, my instructor is really getting on me on having my heels down and toes upward. I really think it should be the opposite! C: The horse that I ride is so funny! He is a biter though, if I try to stretch my feet in the saddle he tries to bite my boots off! He actually kicked my mom in the knee and it turned an ugly shade of green {Eww}. He gets into a lot of fights and this saturday when I was riding him I noticed a good chunk of mane had been bitten off!

[BayloneRose]

Hey people! I am doing lessons at a stable and am learning how to canter, my instructor is really getting on me on having my heels down and toes upward. I really think it should be the opposite! C: The horse that I ride is so funny! He is a biter though, if I try to stretch my feet in the saddle he tries to bite my boots off! He actually kicked my mom in the knee and it turned an ugly shade of green {Eww}. He gets into a lot of fights and this saturday when I was riding him I noticed a good chunk of mane had been bitten off!

He sounds like a lovely horse....
and yeah the whole "heels down toes up" thing can be a bit annoying at first but you will get used to it and once you get into some really serious riding you'll know why it isn't heels up and toes down

I am super excited about the next few local shows! I have been riding nearly every other day in preparation. I am really reluctant to go out in the show ring with my tack though, because my tack is very much used and very much not show worthy. I'd get new tack but idk if I can afford it. all my tack I either bought with money that I earned myself or "stole"...

[Hooligan.]

@wibeke:
I can totally see where you are coming from, and we've had some horses get caught up in it. Denali was extremely accident prone. When she was just a colt she cut her back left leg up pretty bad, as we grew up together, I was pretty little, so not sure what the vet gave us, but my dad had to spray it on the cuts and it stung her pretty bad. She always did have a problem with sprays afterwards. And in the winter one time she got a tiny cut, not even an inch big on the inside of her leg and the opening let the cold in and her leg went numb. We had to rub it and walk her around until it would "thaw". As I said though, for horses, barbed wire wouldn't be my first choice, but with over 60,000 acres and given my location, it's the only choice. Some of our home corrals have the sheep fence though, and we have some stallion fence, so it's not all too bad. You learn to live with it I guess haha.

[Old_HorseShoes]

wibeke: Yeah, That's one of my babies. He's my boy, His name is Creme. And the babies behind him, I dont remember because I cant see and I dont remember half of my horses until I look at them for about 8 seconds lol. I have 21 so It's a little difficult.

~CresentMoon~ lol. I have found horses with tails missing before. Because their friends like to rip them out. Some horse shows I have to put in a fake tail because the judges are like WHERE IS HIS TAIL.