by June Bug » Thu Feb 13, 2014 4:41 pm
@wib
That's true, he does have a nice shoulder. If only he knew how to extend at more than the canter. xD It's also why he's so quick at the canter, he's got a big, ground-covering stride.
I'm hoping to do some competing in dressage, but nowhere near Grand Prix level. xD Maybe a little light jumping for fun every now and then too.
I think the same thing every time you post about Sully! They sound like long-lost brothers or something, haha.
It's a good feeling, right? :'D Everyone knows people have favorite horses and it makes you feel good when a horse obviously has a favorite and it's you~
I generally prefer darker reds both on him and in general (hence my wanting to use burgundy), but I do really love how it looks. I was worried it'd look a little tomato-y, but it's just pretty <3
Haha, omg, are you sure you and Sully aren't Grande and me? xD That's been exactly my experience, right down to the puffing up like a fancy stallion every time I've ridden in the past week since I'm essentially the only one who's been riding Grande (the one upside to winter weather!).
He even stands like Grande! xD I see he's doing that "Let me go mom, I want the food!" thing. I'll bet he acts like he hasn't seen food in weeks every time he's around it, no?
I'm not very confident in my ability to judge conformation unless I've got a lot of pictures+videos, but I agree that his back does look a tad long. Not drastically so, but a bit.
@monchelle
Yep, I stretch them before, during, and after every ride. xD Mine never really hurt anymore, I just physically cannot get any more of an angle. Some of my joints have less mobility than normal (the only parts of me with any considerable flexibility are my hands) so I've suspected for a while that something about my ankle joints are in the way. One of my old trainers (who teaches hunter-jumpers mostly, so she would really get mad about ankle angles) tried to 'fix' my ankle for me once (after spending the whole lesson yelling at me about how terrible they are) and even with her puling down on my ankle, they went nowhere, lol.
They used to be worse and would hurt and the stretching did help at first, but then I reached a point, where it doesn't do anything anymore except maintain their strength, haha.
Ah, I always forget who rides how around here, haha.
Inorite? And it's double wonderful when you don't like the person they're being a butt to. :'D
I'm seriously considering getting one for me and converting it into a blankie. 8] They're so comfy! I wanted to get the purple, but the purple they have is so light. I've seen him in lavender before (which is really close to that purple) and it makes him look like a mare, haha.
Shame shame! No tickets! I hope it wasn't for too much. xD I haven't had any yet, but my sister's gotten quite a few that where pretty nasty on the wallet.
Have fun at Dover though! I live almost an hour away, so I've never gone. Instead, I send my friend who lives much closer and give her the money for whatever she picks up for me. I'd like to go and browse sometime though, they have awesome stuff. 8]
@toucan
Tacking/untacking, grooming, and cooling out are definitely great ways to bond and get to know your partner! And they're fun too, I don't know why some people are so eager to skip those steps. D: I personally believe that if you're only there to get on, go, get off, and leave, you're doing things for the wrong reasons. Horses aren't tools and shouldn't be treated that way.
I wanted to get pics tonight, but I was in a bit of a rush to get going before the snow trapped me there, so I sort of forgot to get them before putting him away.
@How I started
Oh gosh, I don't even remember my first lessons very well. I was about 6, maybe 5? I started out doing semi-private lessons with my sister, then a few private lessons when she fell off and decided to quit. It was a little place that went out of business about 10 years ago or so and I don't remember it all that well, but the few pictures I have of the place and the horses always make me happy. I mostly remember little things, like lessons on really hot days when we'd just walk around in circles ("practicing our steering") while my trainer quizzed us on horse-related trivia, that Bo (a sweet appaloosa who died at only 10 due to complications with his combination of asthma and severe allergies) would always need about ten minutes of walking after a warmup so he could cough and get his breathing together, that my lesson pony (Hilda, aka: Hilda Mae Snoops) would sit at the trough and take marathon drinks before every lesson and pee for almost as long once we get her back to her stall, and that there were always other animals around (Phoebe the cat who insisted on constant attention, Lynx the tailless cat who only let certain people touch him, and her two huskies who's names I don't remember where the most common). I was devastated when they closed. I still pass it every day and try to sneak peeks down the drive to see if I can see the barn <3
@Sin
Oh wow! Younger than I expected!
I'm actually going through the same thing myself. ^^; Even though Grande's not mine yet, I have those nagging doubts too, that I might not be a good mommy to him and I might not know enough about ownership to care for him well enough. However! I'm sure that, like me, there are people willing and eager to help you. As long as there's someone you can call on when you're unsure or feel that you need help, you'll do fine. You know enough about horses that I highly doubt you'll mess him up. Just love him and know that even when you do have a bad day, it's only going to make the good days that much better. He's young so the two of you can learn together. :]
@Cincinatti
I have a similar leasing situation, only the people who ride my boy don't have to be approved and they don't regulate his work very well. I also have no actual priority as a leaser and have to fight for his time. Honestly, I really only do it because I love him so much and want as much of his time to myself as possible before we buy him in April/May.
I'd say to try out the situation for a bit. If you still have some concerns, talk to whoever it is that's in charge of the leasing situation about them. If you really don't like the direction it's taking ask yourself if you think it's worth sticking with.
@equine
I'd love to see the place (as long as the location isn't obvious and your face isn't shown)! I love seeing other people's barns and it honestly can't be worse than mine, haha. xD
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Yey! Another day of Grande having energy! 8D I took a peek at his schedule and aside from one other lesson on Sunday, no one else has ridden him since Thursday lat week, haha. It's bad for his ground manners (he's terrible at channeling that energy into anything other than begging for food or trying to drag me to every pile of hay sitting in the isle), but excellent for his motivation in lessons. Today we achieved a wonderful stretchy trot and he was actually reaching for contact! We did quite a bit of cantering and the only trouble we had was getting cut off by the other people in the class (For some reason they were doing a lot of trotting while we were supposed to be cantering and figured it'd be cool to get right in front of me forcing me to pull up. :/ ). After a couple times getting cut off, he got a little frazzled and tried to rush the canter, but I did manage to re-gather him and he did fine after that.
My trainer was fawning over him a lot since he was making himself look so pretty and was moving so nicely. She said I was making it look easy, and I told her it was easy. It was all him, feeling good, I was just encouraging the good stuff. xD
We did run into that saddle issue again. :/ She told me I was exaggerating my posting too much and I told her that that is literally the only way I can post in that saddle. In most saddles, my contact is on the seat of my bum, but in that one, it's . . . not. >> The pommel of the saddle is pressed against me, even at rest and is high. In order to go forward, I have to come up pretty high out of the saddle first. The sitting trot is even worse because I'm either forced to sit too far back, or I end up with a very sore crotch. I feel like I complain about it a lot, but dear lord do I hate that thing.
And, of course, Grande had to be an idiot after our ride. TWO DAYS I've had that cooler and he's already managed to rip a hole in it. 8U
It technically wasn't his fault, the corner of it caught on one of the metal casings (I don't even know what it was originally for, it's useless now) on the side of the isle and when my friend walked past with a treat in her hand, he pulled. Considering how hard he pulled on it, it actually held up pretty well. It's a pretty small hole, only an inch or two and the fabric bounced back without stretching. I'll probably do a quick fix at some point, but since it's down in one of the hind corners, right by the seam, there's no rush.
My avatar was made by me, please don't use it.
I have been reading all the posts and I'll do replies for you guys tomorrow! You all sound like you've been good though which is awesome! And welcome to any new members of the thread!
I managed to get her focused again and she went back to being a superstar. We did a lot of position work which was really good for me; I really needed someone to nit pick my position. It really helped and showed too! It just an awesome lesson all round. 