Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[molly.]

removed

[BlingBling]

i have been riding for 8 years and age and my mom and dad still think am not ready to have a horse of my own but i totaly am. i ride 1 time every week. i ride western and some English but mostly western. i don't compete but i want to. i ride cruiser he is a 15.6 hand horse and wow does he have an attitude he will bite and kick when you try to get him out of his stall and he hates being tack up, but the only problem is he a dream to ride. so ya my aunt who has too horses goes riding with me there names are zip and sally and there amazing but again there english and i manly ride western and they both spook really bad. we ride by this electric fence like really close to it an if they spook i could get buck into it so that kinda freaks me out. LOVE HORSES

Considering your attitude, lack of info on equines (15.6 hands??), and the fact that you can't get basic ground rules right yet (a horse should NEVER be so disrecpectful to you that they would even think about biting or kicking!), I'd say no. AND no parent should be subjected to having to pay THOUSANDS yearly for something they were hesitant on in the first place. Wait till you move out, then you can get yourself a horse but for now stick to your lesson mounts because I'm over 18 and I'm still learning something new about horses every single day. I'm on the vet track but I'm still nowhere near a perfect horseman

[ξƞçɧαƞtєđ]

AnkhaCrossing: Aww...he is the cutest little thing. I saw a horse with a marking belly spot like that and since it was larger than a half-dollar, he was registered as a pinto, even though the rest of him was completely solid. I know what it's like to take care of horses that gain a pound just standing still. XD Does he get regular exercise to slim him down or is he just 'one of those'? XD

ya'll um 4002: Firstly- I'm going to halt a pet peeve of mine. 15.6hh is not a height. The rule is that anything past .4 moves onto the next highest digit. For example, a horse classed as 15.5hh, would actually be 16hh. So 15.6hh is actually 16.1hh. That is basic knowledge.

Secondly- I'm going to agree with everything AnkhaCrossing said. I think you need to wait a lot longer before considering getting a horse. I started working with horses around 6 years old, and I got my first gelding at the beginning of my freshman year of high school (around 15 years old). I've been working with horses for 12 years and still, I learn things every day and still, I don't know everything and regularly consult my old trainer over the phone and my vet. You need to understand a horse isn't something that you can get, get bored with, and throw away. I've seen this happened to so many good horses and it breaks my heart to no end. 1 ride every week isn't even close enough to learn everything. I took 1 lesson I paid for, and the rest I worked for in chores around the barn- whether it be cleaning stalls, grooming horses, exercising them, feeding + watering, giving medications, etc. Horses aren't just about riding and getting off and handing them to the groom. I spent as much time as I could with my nose in horse encyclopedias and I'm sure I drove my trainer up the wall with all the questions I had for her every lesson.

Horses cost thousands every year (not including unexpected vet bills...which really...should be expected as horses tend to hurt themselves in a room full of bubble wrap). And it is not fair to your parents to have to pay that much for something you seem you'd get bored with within the few months. They are a responsibility and they are a soul that rely completely on their owner and if you are not able to step up to the plate and do all the 'gross' things along with the good things, then you aren't ready. Just the fact you think you are ready to own a horse after riding for 8 years gives me the impression you think you already know everything there is to know and the fact you think riding a horse that has that much disrespect for you is an accomplishment, just backs up my original statement. I'd say wait a while- and when I say a while, I mean years, not just a few months. Stick with your lessons and learn as much as you can from any source you can get your hands on, ask questions, and be modest with your own knowledge. Nobody knows everything.

[Nocte Luna]

I'll have to agree with Enchanted and AnkhaCrossing.

I share leased a horse when I graduated 8th grade, and I leased him for only 3 months. I had been riding consistently for the past 5 years. In that three months, I rode twice a week. I learned the most I had ever learned during those three months, even though I wasn't doing that much horse care. Horse care is so much more than just feeding, grooming, and possibly riding every day. Horses are very delicate animals and making a mistake could cost you- in vet bills or your horse's life.

I also take lessons only once a week, but I still don't feel as if I'm ready to own a horse. Riding lessons teach you basic skills: tacking up, grooming, riding, and basic horse handling. However, as it has been stated, horses are delicate and are a lot more than just riding and grooming. Even if you have people helping you with the work, it's still a lot of work.

Also, keep in mind school will constantly keep you busy. I'm not sure if you've hit a point where school work has taken you more than an hour or two, but believe me, you will have to do a lot of work. I've spent many nights up late doing homework with no free time, and I'm glad I don't have a horse because that's not fair to a horse if I'm not able to take care of him/her because of my workload. Horses can't just be taken care of when you have the free time, they need constant care, and that means you'll be busy trying balance your life between your horse, friends, and schoolwork.

[ξƞçɧαƞtєđ]

I'll have to agree with Enchanted and AnkhaCrossing.

I share leased a horse when I graduated 8th grade, and I leased him for only 3 months. I had been riding consistently for the past 5 years. In that three months, I rode twice a week. I learned the most I had ever learned during those three months, even though I wasn't doing that much horse care. Horse care is so much more than just feeding, grooming, and possibly riding every day. Horses are very delicate animals and making a mistake could cost you- in vet bills or your horse's life.

I also take lessons only once a week, but I still don't feel as if I'm ready to own a horse. Riding lessons teach you basic skills: tacking up, grooming, riding, and basic horse handling. However, as it has been stated, horses are delicate and are a lot more than just riding and grooming. Even if you have people helping you with the work, it's still a lot of work.

Also, keep in mind school will constantly keep you busy. I'm not sure if you've hit a point where school work has taken you more than an hour or two, but believe me, you will have to do a lot of work. I've spent many nights up late doing homework with no free time, and I'm glad I don't have a horse because that's not fair to a horse if I'm not able to take care of him/her because of my workload. Horses can't just be taken care of when you have the free time, they need constant care, and that means you'll be busy trying balance your life between your horse, friends, and schoolwork.

Well said ^^^. And it doesn't just have to be school- if you are apart of any clubs, groups, or when you get older and get a job like I have, it can be strenuous and you need to be very flexible. Luckily, I found a job that understands what I do on the side when it comes to training and rehabilitating animals, and they are more than happy to let me take some unexpected days off to nurture some of my animals if they need it after a particular vet visit. I am also a part of a 4-H horse club, and luckily, that allows me to even spend more time with my boy in us being in drill team- but my point is, not everyone has that luxury and I acknowledge I am surrounded by some very kind people (especially at my waitress job to help pay for feed, shavings, and vet bills) who are willing to work with my hectic life, but when you get older and decide that Lucy's birthday party is more important than going out to the barn, or that going to the movies with Bob is more exciting than doing a day of barn chores, or that you'd rather go to cheer practice than take a trail ride- those are signs to not get a horse all together and maybe you'd be better off just taking lessons or doing a half-lease. Horses are like giant babies and require very close monitoring and care, and if you are unable to provide it for whatever reason, it is more fair to the horse and to yourself to just stick to lessons.

[Hime]

@Enchanted: Yeah... Flysprays don't work for more than like hour or so. : P I've heard feeding garlic might repel some bugs, but I've also heard it should be fresh garlic(it's the oils etc. that help really). Or at least with Heta I've noticed that feeding her dry garlic doesn't do anything in terms of bugs. Diy stuffs I've seen usually contain lemon/citrus and lavender, some have garlic.
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lol I funny though, my mom liked the black one, but then again what does she know. XD Red one in action few year ago in Iceland.

Long day yesterday, drove on probably the worst road I've ever driven on thanks to the navigator. XP But I got to see Tý and it didn't start raining until I was about to leave the pasture. Then it didn't rain when I got to Heta's stable. How ever it did pour while I was doing the exam, nice and cosy indoors. XD Lucky me.

Tý's doing well, enjoying the summer in the pasture with other boys. He also has a new bestie as one recently gelded older horse(checked out, he's 7 years old). He actually walked to me when I got closer to them(they have pretty big pasture) and then rest of the boys followed shortly after when they noticed a person came and offers scratches. Some still had warts on their faces, so I didn't give them as much scratches as I did for others. I did get bit crowded few times, but all the boys moved off if waved my hands a little. <3 I only yesterday realised how big Tý is. ;_; He's clearly bigger than Heta and just about fits under my arm. Took out measuring tape at home as I though he may have grown some again, but it says about 135cm, just like the breeding show measurement. Which would kinda mean Heta is probably only about 130cm...

Heta on other hand had pretty bad start at our ride, she took some seriously lame steps, but then suddenly was not lame at all. Not sure what to think of that, but rest of the ride she really didn't indicate any issues with the legs in any gait, so I just rode as usual. Though I left the ride bit short, only half hour. That left lead has dissappeared again though. XP But I can get really good feeling canter if I tolt first, then drop her to trot for little bit and then ask for canter. It feels really good and uphill.

Called for vet appointment and turns out the vet I want is really busy because of the breeding season going on and she doesn't do the x-rays... The x-rays would have cost 100e and then 20e/per image, plus the usual vet appointment fees. So not that much cheaper than x-rays at clinic really. : P At the clinic I paid little over 200e, which was covered party with insurance, and they took I think 3 images per hock plus all the other lameness check up work they did. So that would be 120e for the images, yeah not that cheap after all considering vet visit cost about the same as trailer rent... Oh and they'd want to sedate the horse for the x-rays, which they didn't do at the clinic as Heta was so chill about it.

[ξƞçɧαƞtєđ]

Hime: Oh my gosh, Ty is so handsome! He is going to make you a fine mount one day! As for Heta's lameness steps...is it possible she might have tripped or was probably stiff and just needed to stretch a little? Since she didn't display any other signs after those first few awkward steps, that's either telling me it was a freak thing, or maybe something's beginning to come back. Were any of her tendons warm after the ride? Has founder or laminitis been considered either as with the overweight problem you keep bringing up, it wouldn't throw me for a look if her canon bone is beginning to try and press through her hoof wall- leading to mild discomfort at first, but it a problem that grows heavily over time. I think the x-rays would pick that up though, and if you notice her hoof wall beginning to come outwards to the point it is matching with or past the length of the hoof wall, then laminitis might be your culprit. Prayers for you and your ponies. <3

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Interesting vet visit today. Buck got his teeth floated after getting drugged XD Drunk Buck is a silly Buck- the poor guy tripping while standing still and when I led him to his stall afterwards, he was walking in zigzags and crossing his legs left and right. lol But during our vet visit, the vet checked out his mouth for the wolf teeth I mentioned earlier and he said on one side, he has no wolf tooth, but on the other side, he barely has one popping though- too deep to take out unless we wanted to take out a whole bunch of gum, so we decided to leave it and I thought everything was fine until I brought up his bucking and was wondering if that tooth might be a reason for it. He told me to go get his bit and we'd try it out and so placing it in his mouth and pulling back a little, turns out the end of the left-piece of my three piece snaffle, when told to back or put any pressure on, tapped the one little itty bitty piece of wolf tooth Buck had. So, I went out and got a lightly curved, 4" shank bit I had hanging around and tried that, and the vet said that fit perfectly- didn't touch any of his teeth or anything, so I guess we'll be trying out a new bit tomorrow in the round pen if the weather holds as today was beautiful.

I then had him check Willy- he has indeed dropped one, but the other is just barely poking it's head through. I also had a very troubling experience today before the vet came. I was cleaning the stalls before I happened to look out and I saw Willy mounting Willow- and he had everything out to put it as pg 13 as possible. And to make it worse, something did come out of him, which I didn't think was possible since he hadn't dropped both testicles yet. I broke it up as quickly as I could and I told my vet about this, and he did seem a little troubled. He said even though the chances are very slim, now that one has dropped and he's beginning to produce semen, there is a possibility he can or may already have bred Willow, which scared me to no end. He assured me though, that even though she's young and a baby isn't the best thing for a donkey this age, she would more than likely give birth without problems, though the foal would be very small and almost like a 'premature' baby to humans who give birth too early, even if she went through all of the trimesters. I asked about birth control for her and he said just 1 bottle costs $300 last time he checked and that it may have likely risen since then- so I guess Buck's chiropractor money is going to go towards something else. I already have $107 stored after hay, shavings, etc. I'm going to try and get some extra shifts at work and see if I can't store up enough to hopefully buy the bottle and hopefully by that time, Willy behaves himself and doesn't try anything that will get me another little him. I also asked if there were any pregnancy tests available for donkeys, and he said none exist to his knowledge that are reliable enough to go by unless they created something recently since donkeys are too small, so any rectal exams could tear or rip something. I don't want to start giving her birth control if there is even a slight possibility of a baby being in there as I'd hate to cause an abortion or something worse, but I'm just out of ideas as there is no separating them...we only have two stalls and the donkeys are room mates since Buck arrived- my father had kept telling me he'd get to building another stall, but he's a huge procrastinator and I can't remind him without getting my head chewed off. I'm ripping my hair out at this point...

[Hime]

@Enchanted: I'm pretty sure the lameness was from hind leg/s=hocks. It's just that she's been pretty good with them lately, so I was really suprised of that sudden lameness and the fact that she walked it off so easy and fast as that was probably the worst I've felt her be lame. Usually when she's been bad at start, she's usually not too happy to trot corners etc., but now nothing.

Oh yikes. o_o Hopefully Willy is still 'testing' things out and nothing that could actually cause pregnancy comes out. I do however think it's possible to be able to breed with just one testicle. But hopefully he hasn't... Youngest horse colt I've heard to succesfully breed was 2 years old and the mare it bred with was only a yearling. Due their ages people didn't think it would be possible, so they were together in the paddock, obviously people were wrong... The mare had a healthy foal though.
If Willow shows her heats well, then you could try monitor them and if they keep coming regularry, it means she's not pregnant and it's safe to put her on birthcontrol(personally I've never heard there is one for horses, other than a procedure where they implant small ball inside the uterus to mimic the embryo). Though I think it should be possible to check out hormone levels from blood or possibly urine sample? Out of heat I don't think she'll allow Willy to actually do anything. If you want to try minimize the breeding chances, section of small part of the paddock and keep Willow there when she's in heat, or Willy depending which one tolerates it better. As for you dad, try nicely saying "Do you want a third donkey?", might get him to pick up that hammer. XD Or could Willow or Willy possibly stay in same stall as Buck? Though I do get Buck is fairly large, so it might get bit cramped... :\
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Oh right, forgot this. Can mud fever show up when it's pretty much dry and only on the very heel part of the leg(like just above the hoof on the heel)? I've never personally had to deal with mud fevers and all the pics I've seen of it have show much larger scabby areas and usually higher on the pastern area. See, I just noticed few days ago that Heta has few small scabs on the said area(on 3 legs), I think that was day or two after they had been let out to the pasture. She has never had a mud fever, even though the paddocks been pretty bad sometimes for long time, so I'm bit confused. They also look too small to be caused my her biting the legs(she had those first year she had the itch)... So I'm pretty clueless of what is it and why.(and of course forgot to ask the vet about them >_<). I'm probably washing them today with some anti-bacterial stuff and showing them to L or R possibly as well, if they happen to be around.

[Luzien]

only jumping in fast, try to answer later a bit longer


@ Enchanted: how old is Willy now?
some horses and donkey can impregnat with 10-11 month
when the first testicle dropes(by a late bloomer) it sometimes can be already to late, when he is old enough he can be already fertile(he does not have to drop them to get mare pregnant...some Colts-stallion have Trouble droping them and need them cut out) ....there are cases where a colt did impregnates his own mother.

You need to get him away from willow put him together with Buck or set him in the roundpen till he is a gelding. you can operate the second testicle out, ist sometimes a must do for Colts and ist not dangerous or complicated...one will be cut out normaly and the other will be pulled out of his Body with two cuts or so....that does not take much longer as the normal castration. you only need to Keep the wound clean and put ointment on or blue or silver spray.


thats really bad, did you let your vet take an blood test maybe Urine test...this can Show if she is already....
and ultrasound. that can Show you if you are going to be donkey mother.....
im not sure about the spattering of the fetuses....when ist over middle to end of the 2nd to 3 month that she is pregnant...as you dont know if he mounted her already fully bevor...when it 4 days or some weeks it is ok, but when ist later it could have side effects...like hormonal fluctuations...ask your vet and ask for test...and ist an injection that is around 20 dollar-pound...whatever, that works the best...atleast some horse owner in the net did writ about this...it is an hormonal injection that you give her, but this really does not work good when over 3month.

---> but the best where...to let her get it and look already for an new owner for the donkey foal its the easyest way when over 3month pregnant.but im not sure, maybe ist different with donkeys and when she really is pregnant you can still make it away....it depends what the vet thinks.

----> but mostlikely she is not pregnant, she is still young, most Mares are only ready to be breed with 2years and other with 3...so its still all open and you can hope that she is not pregnant, but i wish that she is not to spare you both the stress

but put Willy away asap, and dont put them together on the pasture or stall till he is gelded and then wait for some days...weeks to be save...as some of his s.... can still life for some days....
you have the roundpen, and when you build an shelter with a tent for him he can stay there till he is gelded for someday afte,r then he an get back, but really dont put him back with her after castrating him as he still can be fertile for some day/hours
---when this is not a good reason to build a new stall for willy then i dont know any^^



@ Hime it could be grass mites....this Little buggers can hurt like hell your horse can go lame, small to big wounds,and scab that hurt like a bitch for the horse...some think first that ist mudd fever , but its often this grass mites,it could best is ask the vet and ask if it could be grass mites....you have to wash the legs nd use ointment, wound healing ointment, ....but i dont know what we once used...you need to ask your vet what to wash the legs with...we did it three times a day or four for my Girl some year back.

[ξƞçɧαƞtєđ]

Hime: I'm going to go with Luzien's explanation...I would try and get your vet out there as I have some grass mite issues over here at well- they love to get into Willow and Willy's ears and cause havoc, but usually a simple mix of fly spray and vinegar keep them at bay.

Hime & Luzien: Our stalls are 10 x 20', and though Buck and Willow get along, I don't think Buck would be too pleased to have to share his food with a diva donkey (Willow can be...what do you call it...an ass when it comes to food). And Willy will definitely try and start a fight with Buck- the two tolerate each other, not much else. Willy and Willow are stall mates and until I can get my dad to start building something...and trust me...I've tried the 'third donkey' trick many times...he doesn't seem to think this is as serious as I am making it out to be and he thinks the odds are in our favor at this point since the vet said at his age (Willy is 8-9 months old right now and Willow is 1 year and 2 months) the chances of him not getting her pregnant outweigh the slim chance of him actually making a third donkey, but since he is beginning to produce semen, there is still that slim 10-15% chance he can impregnate her and I'm not necessarily a lucky person, so I probably will end up landing in the 10-15% odds. I talked to my mom about getting her birth control and she says it's wrong to use drugs to prevent any form of life... So, I guess now I'm getting told how to spend the money I MAKE. I'll have to call my vet and see if she could possibly get spayed...I know it's a rare surgery and I've only heard of a few mares that have had this done, but I am out of options since my dad doesn't think they need to be separated- plus, last time Willow was alone, she fell into severe depression, which is why I got Willy in the first place. The vet has since moved his estimated gelding date to fall now...which is pissing me off too since the date to geld him has been moved from April, to June, and now to sometime in fall. I'm seriously considering his chances of being a crypt as I've never heard of any equine to hold his testicles this long unless he was indeed a crypt. I just wish my parents would just listen to me...they both think I'm overreacting and their answer is 'if she gets pregnant, then she gets pregnant- it's not a (place censored word here) big deal'. We do have two open pastures as of right now, but I'm terrified Willy or Willow will try and charge the wire to get to each other- this whole thing is just a mess.