Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[╱╲╳Unique╱╲╳]

So Hugo and I went good at our first horse trials (1 day eventing) and we came 10th out of 25 people so im so proud of him <3

[.:shiver:.]

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted here (kinda let things slid with CS,whoops) and I'm wondering if you folks have any tips with picking hooves. One of the ponies I ride isn't a fan of getting his hooves handled and swings his butt towards me, although it's only happened once I'm kinda antsy about it, yay anxiety issues -_- and hey, figured I'd ask here for some pointers.

So, my horse used to get really ansty when I picked his feet out, to the point where I had to get my dad to do it for me because I was scared. However, I moved to a new yard and my yard owner forced me to go in there and do his feet. The one thing she told me- act confident and authoritative. Go in there and approach the pony confidently but not threateningly. As you ask for one foot and ask clearly and directly. It worked for me- I went into that stable and he was as good as gold with every one of his feet.
However, as always, this is just my opinion and I'm sure some of the very knowledgable people on this thread will have some more ideas as well.

[Limestone]

Hey guys! It's been a while since I've posted here (kinda let things slid with CS,whoops) and I'm wondering if you folks have any tips with picking hooves. One of the ponies I ride isn't a fan of getting his hooves handled and swings his butt towards me, although it's only happened once I'm kinda antsy about it, yay anxiety issues -_- and hey, figured I'd ask here for some pointers.

So, my horse used to get really ansty when I picked his feet out, to the point where I had to get my dad to do it for me because I was scared. However, I moved to a new yard and my yard owner forced me to go in there and do his feet. The one thing she told me- act confident and authoritative. Go in there and approach the pony confidently but not threateningly. As you ask for one foot and ask clearly and directly. It worked for me- I went into that stable and he was as good as gold with every one of his feet.
However, as always, this is just my opinion and I'm sure some of the very knowledgable people on this thread will have some more ideas as well.

I work at a barn and have to groom and tack all 8 of the horses for lessons as well as give lessons. my favorite horse Dakota use to do the same thing but now he picks his hoof up for me. My instructor told me a horse swinging his butt on you is a sign of disrespect and can escalate to kicking. (Dakota is a kicker. however, i have never had this problem after riding him for 10 years. tho,i know people who have been kicked.) I was told to pop him right below his hip point with the back of my hand. my instructor said it's equal to a nip from another horse trying to say "leave me alone or stop". after doing this twice i have had very little problems with him. he tries me some times (he is stubborn and bossy) but it makes me a better person and rider. i love him for that. He is gold to me.

i don't mind helping anyone if i can.

[theblackmeadows]

I would do a half- halt. Since my stallion used too do that i used half- halts all the time and he got fed up and started listening again.

[neonfrozen]

Hi people c: This is the first time I've posted in this particular riding thread so I thought I'd give an introduction because why not c:

So I'm Stunning (oh yes, I'm hot c;), well my name is not actually Stunning but it's my CS username obviously so you can call me that, and I am an equestrian! I started riding 10 years ago on a little grey pony and every since then, I've been hooked. I ride multiple different discplines, have many training horses, but I technically only 1 horse, and I lease another.

I currently barrel race my horse that I own. His name is Cody, and hes registered in the PtHA under 'Rebel Cody Sundance.' He is a 15.2 sorrel Pintabian (Paint/Arabian) and he is absolutely fantastic! He will be 14 next month (April). I've owned him for almost 3 years now and I owe him so much, he is a great horse.

The horse I lease is a 14 year old American Paint Horse that is sweet as can be. His name is Moses and I'm not aware of his registered name at the moment. He is my cousins husbands horse and he originally did lots and lots of trail riding, never really did any showing or anything, and now I'm working with him to become a wonderful huntseat and western pleasure horse. He's still really green, and we have had to go back to the basics lately, so I've been doing lots of engaging the hind end, half halts, re teaching leg commands, etc and he's been such a good boy.

So yup! I mainly barrel race, but I also do some eventing (jumping/XC/dressage), show hunter/jumper, pleasure, and I've even done some reining!

I don't know if y'all generally did introductions on here but I thought maybe it would be nice to put my expertise out here haha c:

Here are some pictures of Cody:





I'll have to get some pictures of Moses! I don't really have any on me c:

[Hime]

Tired, for some weird reason... So I might try to keep this short(lol, try is the key word). Kinda lot of things have happened, yet nothing has really happened. Also adding some pictures probably tomorrow...
Not directly Heta related: Went to a horse expo last Saturday as I got free ticket there. Was quite dissapointed with the shopping options. I had made a major shopping list(fleece lined outdoor rug, (full neck) fleece cooler, full neck rain rug, supplements...) with max prices I could pay for such items, and I only walked out with 1kg bag of treats and summer itch treatment and shampoo pair(which I had forgotten from my list and it was a good package deal too). And then sugary things for people(some killer delicious fugde)... >_< All the people that had saddles(whooping 2 or 3) only had their super expensive models/brands and they were also large seat sizes mainly and I don't think you could even test sit them. The shows they had weren't that interesting to me, I only watched the short Icelandic introduction(I felt so bad for the riders(who were very good junior riders) as the ground was absolutely horrible and as they weren't in the main arena, it was tiny arena, sand box would be very accurate to describe it), saddle fitting demo(but as the horse refused to stand(=they couldn't saddle him and show how the different saddles sat on him, not to mention he was so antsy the rider didn't want to ride him), it was pretty plain and lot of things I already knew), police horse show and short western meets dressage thing(saddly the western rider wasn't very good...). So bit boring, but I kinda like the general expo feel and the shopping(even if I don't find what I'm looking for). Oh well, bigger expo coming up in April. Maybe better luck then and definetly Icelandic show to look forward to.
The weather has been pretty amazing this week. Lots of sun and warm temps. It still drops to freezing during the night, making the mornings bit cold, and we've had nasty cold wind. But in the sun it's really nice and warm during the day. Which means places are melting and currently our arena is half melted. :3 One corner was a lake for little while, but it drained/dried fairly quick. One corner, in the shade, is in pretty bad shape though.

Lately Heta hasn't been super great(okay sometimes she has been, but not as great as in January and February). Few times on trails she's been bit rushing and not listening that well. Then once while cantering, I leaned forward to avoid one branch and she did something that felt like it could have been a baby buck as she tucked her head down. Passed that on as her just being annoyed about me leaning forward, which may have caused the saddle to press on to her too much at front or something as I did put little pressure on my hands(how/why I actually don't know). Then another time I asked her to tolt after we turned at one cross road(in which she always tries to go towards home) and she did some weird head toss thing. Okay, attitude issues maybe?
Last Sunday I checked out the saddle fit more closely(as it's been bugging me ever since Heta gained weight) and it really doesn't sit too bad as far as I can tell, but there's also something about it that sticks to my eye to wrong way somehow. :\ I do know the panels at the back make too much contact and the front might be tad narrow, but yet the saddle somehow looks like it's sunk at the front... Anyway went out for short ride, with nothing under the saddle. But Heta felt like she was mildly off even after sometime, so made just semi-short trail ride. Which involved going down pretty steep down hill. At one point Heta started speeding up and I was like whaat? and then noticed the saddle had slid forward a lot. Got down right away, walked her down the hill and checked why it did that. Turns out the girth was 1 hole too loose. XD So my pony has lost little weight after all(thanks to free hay going away for a week maybe, though it came back yesterday XP ). Though still pretty major saddle sliding, so I'll definetly stick to riding with gel pad... One boarder is having saddler come up in couple weeks and asked if I'm still interested in new saddle as well. I said I'd think about it and now I'm thinking I might have to take that offer... Though I'll probably have to check if the saddler has any saddles to offer us this time as last time she really didn't have any....

Then yesterday... Just horrible. Like in walk she was actually pretty nice and listened wonderfully. Felt maybe bit powerless. Trot was, I don't even know how to describe it. Blaah? She'd trot, okay, but it felt so blaah and I could do all I could and there would be no umph to it. Tolt was kinda the same, even though I originally thought about having tolt free day. Then canter was decent(not great though) and we worked on walk-canter transitions, which to my delight she's starting to get really nice to right. But the problem became keeping the canter after the transitions. Like she'd pick it up, go few strides and drop it. Okay then I noticed the saddle had slid some again and I know Heta can be quite picky about it, so took it off and rode bareback.
Bit better, but the trot still felt way too easy to sit and she didn't even go very bouncy through puddles. Tried couple canters, didn't get very long ones, and then once I think she did two small bucks. Threw me at least forward and made me loose balance for bit, but didn't fall or anything so I don't think they were big, if they even were bucks... After I got myself together asked her to tolt and she didn't protest in anyway. So I'm not really sure what was those bucks about. But it certainly is very un-Heta like to buck. Maybe the canter transitions were bugging her leg or something? She's going to have some time off now anyway as she got her shots today, so we'll see if rest helps. And if it does then it's definetly the leg.
If not, then massage and saddle fitter probably. Though R and L messed up a bit and Heta was shod again this week(as there's a horse with similar name as Heta, who was supposed to be shod instead), even though she was only shod last week or the week before that(lol I really can't keep up the time) and I'm supposed to pay up some part of the recent one anyway(not that I've payed the last one yet either, oops). *sigh* Have to go whine more money from mom I guess...

Breeding show entries opened up this week. This year you could enter older horse to just conformation evaluation, but it's expensive(140e), so no point in taking Heta for fun. Tý how ever is most likely going as planned. Though I have to go see little monster before the final entry date(April 20th), before I make the final call. I will probably have to take a curry comb with me when I go see him as at least the two fillies we have at the stable are shedding like crazy. XD I brushed both of them little today and at first it took just three strokes before I had to 'empty' the curry comb. lol You could brush the two probably forever and the hair would just keep falling off...

//Edit: The terribly slipped saddle...
Cute fat pony, enjoying the sun.
In her all shiny glory, really liking how her coat is at the moment. Also detangling the mane and tail made them very pretty. :3
Odd shoulder...

[inkyy]

@ Hime perhaps with the bucking and stuff she might be in season? im not sure, im not very experinced with mares and stuff but my hacking out buddy has been pretty grumpy recently c: cute pictures though! <3
@enchanted omg those donkeys are so adorable! theres none around here so im super jealous xDD

So guess who messed up again..
theres a bit of drama at the stables atm but im too tired to write it all out so ill focus on the positve stuff. One of the girls at the stables is away for the weekend and has asked me to ride her horse! He's a sweetheart but can be very strong (hes a clydesdale cross) so im looking forward to trying him out. hopefully it wont go terribly wrong <3

onto my own pony, his numnahs arrived and they're perfect! they fit really well and look good on him too. I meant to take pictures but I keep forgetting. I entered him in a dressage test a month or so back and completely forgot its next weekend ;u; guess whos going to be schooling after school this week xDD the test itself if ok but i havent really memoriesed it because of one move. if any dressage-y people could explain it to me? itll be really helpful if you could draw it out in oeakaki or whatever because I just cant visualise it.
Reading straight off the sheet


(@ B) Half circle right 10 metres diameter to X
Half circle left 10 metres diameter to B


Ive been told this looks like a S but im just really confused. I dont have a trainer or anything but its just for fun!! (i say as i stress too much)

[Hime]

@Inky: I thought about her going into season as well, but she's not the type to act up during one, so I usually don't even notice when she's in season... :\ Either way, hopefully it's something that will pass with little time off.
Was it from E to X to B? If so then here you go. c: If this is done in posting trot, you have to remember to switch the diagonal at the X, as it's basically change of rein.

curvedline.jpg (16.43 KiB) Viewed 117 times

[spring.]

I always thought x was in the center of the arena? I guess not, obviously.

[wickedbvnes]

i also thought x was dead center?
actually im 99% certain x is in the center.