Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[sunny*days*ahead]

If riding without stirrups doesn't help, it might be your heels not staying down that's making your leg swing a bit?
My coach had us all keep a little plastic hoop on our toes while riding, because we (including myself!) used to have a hard time with loosing our stirrups at the canter transition too!
It helped a lot, because when you flex the leg muscles to keep your heels way down/toes pointed up, it stabilizes your leg quite a bit! I always thought I was good about keeping my heels down until I realized how many times I dropped my hoops since doing that a good number of times, it's gotten way better and I don't lose my stirrups anymore! (on accident anyway lol)

[Deku_is_best_boi]

OK-

SO I JUST GOT A NEW HORSE TODAY!

She is a 5 year old paint mare, her previous names were pandora then nelly, but i love dakota for her name. (Currently dont have pics, will post some here when i have my phone) she has a bald face, one blue eye, one brown with some blue in it. She is a rescue and quite skittish but such a sweet bby. She loads into the trailer pretty well, and she rides pretty well. She is buddy sour but it happens and hopefully she will get along with my other two horses.

I was told she was a quick learner (and she is). I am only a minor so if anyone has tips for training a horse that would be highly appreciated. She just needs ground manners and i cnt really work her until her feet get done and i cant ride her till her teeth get done. I cant take her to shows until she gets coggins done too.

I am most likely gonna do barrels with her and liberty work since she is young so she will be easier to teach. Any tricks i could teach her possibly?

[sunny*days*ahead]

^Congratulations!! She sounds beautiful!! <33
Something easy and handy to do would be to teach her to lower her head when you ask. If she needs her teeth worked on, she's likely a bit weary of people's hands near her mouth, but regardless, having her lower her head when you ask will be SO handy in the long run for things like bridling, haltering, de-worming, and etc. (: if you need some tips how to do that you can ask here or look up youtube videos. It's just some pressure and release with good timing, and since she's young (and smart!) she'll pick it up fast! Starting with pressure and release on small things makes it an easy transition into bigger things like pressure of the leg means move off of it, pressure on the rein means give to the bit, etc! (:
Good luck with your newbie and post pics when you have a chance! <3

[Deku_is_best_boi]

^Congratulations!! She sounds beautiful!! <33
Something easy and handy to do would be to teach her to lower her head when you ask. If she needs her teeth worked on, she's likely a bit weary of people's hands near her mouth, but regardless, having her lower her head when you ask will be SO handy in the long run for things like bridling, haltering, de-worming, and etc. (: if you need some tips how to do that you can ask here or look up youtube videos. It's just some pressure and release with good timing, and since she's young (and smart!) she'll pick it up fast! Starting with pressure and release on small things makes it an easy transition into bigger things like pressure of the leg means move off of it, pressure on the rein means give to the bit, etc! (:
Good luck with your newbie and post pics when you have a chance! <3

Thank you for the advice! I think teaching her that would help so much! She does have a tiedown so hopefully this will help so i dont have to use it! And she actually isnt to bad with people touching her mouth.

One thing tho is that she doesnt stand still for tack but it is something that will be worked on, she is just skittish about it.

And im going to get full body pictures of her today. Or at least try too.

I cant remember if i mention she has sunburn on her face. What sunscreen would you suggest i use for her? (We are planning to get a fly mask that covers her nose)
Here she is!

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[sunny*days*ahead]

She's beautiful! <3 <3
And that's good that she's not shy about her mouth!
I agree, the skittishness will likely disappear once you are working with her regularly. When I first got my gelding, he was the same way about being tacked up, and I thought I was doing him a favor by going eeeextra sloooow tacking him up, but one day I just tried doing it at a normal speed like I do with my other horses, and it really helped! I had to remind myself that horses can sense anxiety and work themselves up over it, so it was better for him and he felt more at ease when I quit "walking on eggshells" ;P (not that you have/will have this problem, just thought I'd share!)

^Oh, that gelding I have is a Paint with a lot of white on his face as well (it dodged his eyes tho lol) but I just use the cheapest sunscreen lotion available at Walmart. ^^' But other people might use other brands/types! *shrug*

[toskurra]

Hey all! <3

It's so cool to see how many people there are on here who also ride/work with horses!

I've been riding for about four years now, and recently moved up to showing First level. My mare and I have been schooling 2nd-3rd level, but I have never had a ton of time (or money ) to show that often. A bit more nervous for this show coming up since it feels more serious compared to past ones which have just been at training level. Funny thing is, it isn't even the new elements such as the leg yield and lengthenings that I'm worried about(we've been schooling those forever). It's more that my horse can get very strong in the canter and really push her shoulders against my inside leg. She's an ISH, so a draft x, so she has very large and strong shoulders. Fortunately, my trainer is super and making you feel confident and giving good exercises in the warm up. My horse is also a star at shows- in fact, more often than not she's more focused off property than at home

If anyone wants to chat dressage, I'm always up for it love it more than anything else honestly x

[amarok.]

I've always wanted to, but it's extremely expensive and i've never had the money for it. if anybody's got tips on finding volunteer positions or something i'd love to hear them c:

[acronymm]

So I rescued a 4 year old from a kill pen about 3 months ago! I love her so much and couldn't imagine my life without her ❤️ I named her Aspen, her previous names being Merry (kill pen name) and Angel (named by the rescue). She's gotten so muscular and shiny, she's a red dun with a dorsal of course. We believe she's a Quarter Horse/Arabian/Thoroughbred (I would post pictures but I don't know how to! c":). My other horse is a dun Kiger Mustang named Chai, he's a 9 year old gelding who acts like a stallion.

Anyways! I'm working on Aspen's cantering. She gets very excited, I don't use my legs on her much since we believe she was severely neglected before being sent to the kill pen. She has a scar from a wire, maybe from the last owners trying to pick her feet up or just being cruel. She's come so far! When we first got her, she'd flinch away. She has a sarcoid scar on her shoulder too (possibly her last owners didn't treat it and it got infected). She's very well trained though, and often gets in mischief. She loves picking up sawdust bags and throwing them around. She's also very gentle and sweet, we actually used her for pony camp last week! She's jumpy, as young horses are, and easily gets hives (where we have to inject her with a steroid). She doesn't like the mounting block, so we've been mounting her from the ground too. I plan to do Cross Country with her too, if we can get over the fact she loves to hop around after jumping and cantering! ❤️ Anyways, just wanted to share some history and what I'm doing with my filly! ^^

I was wondering if anyone has tips for introducing leg (ie squeezing)? I'm told I'm babying her, but I want to earn her trust. She does have an attitude though lol!

[acronymm]

I think I figured out how to show pictures ^^ ❤️

xx
Sensitive/upsetting image of when she first was saved (before and after)
xx

[paleosuchus]

I've always wanted to, but it's extremely expensive and i've never had the money for it. if anybody's got tips on finding volunteer positions or something i'd love to hear them c:

I work at a barn as a manager and the best advice is to look for places in your area and just ask if they will take volunteers. Most of them will say yes. You can even be upfront and ask if you can get riding lessons in exchange for volunteering.