Do You Ride Horses? V.4

[Luzien]

@ Hime:
thats a cute Baby, sweet pics hope there will be soon more, cant wait to see the first Clips of them^^
how is her caugh and legs (all bether?9

cant wait to see if she will become also so dark as her sire^^

do they already stay outside on the pasture all day, together with other mares and foal, is Heta still all Baby crazy? ?

What about names for the Baby girl do you have one? maybe like some help


@ to all the other for foal waiting rider here...please Show Pictures when your foal are there


@ Soul of Winter:
im unsure about the Thing with your new horse Misty...
she did not settle fast enough for you so you did send her to get bred...why...?
that does also not really help...you may only need to work with her, do groundwork and such,...let her run with other horses on the pasture to calm down...but a foal does not really calm a mare...some maybe but only when its there....

and what about the thing with the saddle and riding... why do you want to ride her when she is not calm and ground trained enough, or not settled as you did write...and why not use a shetland or other horse-pony for the kid?
how large and sturdy is she...how old...i hope over 4-5 years????

normaly miniature horses should not be ridden; Shows, tricks and light driving or companion Pony...i understand ...., a shetland i understand but a real miniature....no...or is she more like a mini shtland?

when she is reasonable size ones who look like shetlands, with heavier bones, and parents holding the kid, and only for 5-1%mins max, it could work,
dont put more than 50lbs or so on that 36 inch thing but smaller than that a pony should not be riden(when they are Little heavy trucks with enough power like a shetland maybe a little bit bigger kid could still ride but only when grown up Pony (70ibs-the American Miniature Horse Registry show rules say, kid must be 7 years and under, size of the rider must fit the size of their mount-)....or do you ride your large dog...


@ Kecko:
its nice that you like your boarding stable and the people as it seems.^^
but they really should tell you when they want to try to bring your horse together with other horses than usual....
and even more when it was hurt....that was not really right! you should talk with them about it!
a large lump...how big, warm to the touch, soft or hard?
how long is it already like this...more than a week?
Did they do x-ray or ultrasound? what did it Show, anything right...? And i hope they did pay the vet too!! what did the vet say...can he still walk and run?
i know that it always can happen, but not to tell you if it was alright with you to put him together with other horses than the usual, and that he was hurt....they should tell you about new things or hurt horse. as you like them, tell them that they should tell you the next time when something happens, even when they did not want to worry you.^^
but its nice that they aleady took care of the hurt. hope he is fully well already^^

@ Enchanted:
great to see you again and your Babys, so grown up the Little donkeys, and Buck looks well already, great that the riding also works bether now how goes your plan with teaching some riders?

great that you found a good farrier who takes good care of your little ones, hold to him, chain him down if need to...maybe let him teach you how you can work on little things on your own^^

[Albino_]

@Luzien
I don't ride her, she is 7 years old and we bought her for 1200 and bred her for another 700 and she didn't settle so we took her back to get bred again for free, and t classes I registered in is only for Miniatures, for the show is only or miniature horse shows, and I'm leading her in all the classes, not riding her, I know she can't be ridden, but I only cart and show her. she is 33" and I don't use her, I only show her in halter, you can do all the things I posted that I'm registered in just by halter, they are all timed events and you run with the horse not ride it. And as it states in my last post at the end, I said a"all these classes are halter leading"

And I'm training her to take a miniature horse saddle, so when we go to birthday parties we can give rides to kids 60 ibs and under, that's what I meant, we dot ide miniatures, the only horses I ride are riding horses, I only use Misty as a show and carting horse and a overall best friend

[Kecko]

@ Kecko:
its nice that you like your boarding stable and the people as it seems.^^
but they really should tell you when they want to try to bring your horse together with other horses than usual....
and even more when it was hurt....that was not really right! you should talk with them about it!
a large lump...how big, warm to the touch, soft or hard?
how long is it already like this...more than a week?
Did they do x-ray or ultrasound? what did it Show, anything right...? And i hope they did pay the vet too!! what did the vet say...can he still walk and run?
i know that it always can happen, but not to tell you if it was alright with you to put him together with other horses than the usual, and that he was hurt....they should tell you about new things or hurt horse. as you like them, tell them that they should tell you the next time when something happens, even when they did not want to worry you.^^
but its nice that they already took care of the hurt. hope he is fully well already^^

They didn't have the vet come out to check him, they looked at him personally and he was moving alright so they thought he was all set (my friend who is a horse trainer and another friend who is a barrel racer). The day after it happened it was hard and hot to the touch but it has been about a week and it is just a little warm and squishy now. The lump is about he size of a baseball, maybe slightly smaller. He can canter, but after about 30 minutes of working him (not at a Canter the whole time, only like 5-10 minutes of the workout. Also he had a week off because of being kicked and then had the workout/short ride to see how he was doing) he felt a little off but is fine now. Haven't called in a vet yet because he has been getting better and has no signs of limping etc unless worked extensively. I've heard it can take about a month to heal so he will still be worked but not really extensive work for a bit. Hopefully this all makes sense! I will be emailing the owner of the farm shortly

[Hime]

@RunningRace: Tý is assumingly doing well. Him and other boys were let into their summer pasture recently, so they are probably quite happy with their life at the moment. I do plan to go see him sometime in June/July, before he's off to training in late August.

@Kecko: I think they should have told you your horse was kicked, even if it seems like just a bad bruise and nothing more serious. Especially if they knew you won't be around everyday and possibly treat/observe the lump. Changing a paddock is not a big deal, but I feel like if your horse was put in together with new strange horses they should have asked if this was okay with you exactly due the risk of injury being there when sorting out the new picking order.
Glad he's doing little better already though. But I would have some profesional with muscle experience to have a look at it(vet or some massage/physiotherapy person as they often are quite knowledgable too), just to make sure it's healing as it should and there's not bigger damage such as tear on the muscle. I know one horse who had some sort of muscle tear and in the end it never really recovered fully so he could be worked normally.

@Soul Of Winter: Sounds like fun and I'm suprised it's possible to do those things in halter class as well. Though sounds like there's awfully lot of running involved, which would not be my piece of cake. XD

@Luzien: (didn't settle=didn't get pregnant)
Luckily it was only one time caugh it seems. Though she was feeling little down yesterday, but had no fever luckily. Hoping she was just tired as she was running a lot the previous evening and has bit of diarrhea, so probably not feeling too good about that too. Legs are much much better, though still occasionally I see the toes go up when she's inside, but when she moves and is outside they stay where they should.
They are still not out in the pasture. We were supposed to turn them out yesterday for the first time, but then L had to leave early for dog thing and the filly wasn't feeling too great anyway, so I only had them out on the yard for short time as I did not want to tire out the filly too much.
Heta's settled some and I can actually focus little on the filly and taking pictures while out with them now. XD She still fusses over her filly when we are moving away and filly doesn't follow straight away, so that is a good thing. But she no longer tries to run after her so much.
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Filly is now called Feykja. It means she who runs fast or fast moving. Suites her pretty well as she basically has had no stop button while outside since day 2. She mainly gallops and occasionally walks. Both gaits are actually very good and clean in beat, which is pretty great. She also has slightly re-found her pace gear last two days and the little she's shown now is looking pretty good too.
Still not outside for the day due busy people schedules... And then yesterday when we were supposed to put them in the pasture, she was looking bit off her usual. She did bounce and run around a little when I took them out on the yard, but no where near her usual spunkyness. No fever or anything and ate well, so hoping she was just tired and not feeling so great due having small case of diarrhea as well.





Big brother Tý also had his 3rd birthday yesterday. <3

[the dreamer.]

Theres a bunch of new tack sites popping up on facebook for random tack deals and its really cool. Its like raffle sites where you pay like 4 dollars and get your name put in a drawing to win tack. Currently I am trying to win this

[Albino_]

@Hime.

How are Icelandic Horses Personalities? I have been looking into getting a Icelandic Horse. What should I look for in one? I have been looking up information on them but I would like to know from a person who owns Icelandic's. You can PM me if you want or answer it on here.

@Showing
4 more days till my miniature horse show! Someone will be showing my grandfather's colt against the colts father, But Larry(the colt) has a better chance at winning, for his sire has been loosing weight to mares getting bred by him and him pacing in his stall, the sire's owner is going to be getting some grain that will put weight onto him. But overall I cant wait for the show, and hope to bring a ribbon home, and Misty is a very good jumper, when you jump; over it with her and when she jumps it herself on a lead rope

[trees |-/]

@hime;
how is feykja's back legs? from the photos they look better, she's so cute, breed? what was the sire's color exactly? didnt you say it didnt turn out the color you hoped?

[Mercury.Muses]

@Hime

Yay for Ty! Close birthdays with him and the baby? Also the filly's muzzle looks more white? just the photos or is the heart shaped snip bigger actually?

[Hime]

Late, tired, hopefully I make some sense... >_<

@Soul Of Winter: They can be very calm and slow or very sensitive and hot, and everything in between. XD In Iceland they prefer their horses on the hotter and sensitive side and the aim is to compete, while elsewhere people tend to value more easy going personality with little less go go go attitute as they are more commonly just pleasure horses. Over the years, now that I think about it, I don't think I've encoutered more than one or two truely spooky ones(and that's out a lot of Icelandics). Like rarely will they flat out bolt out of frear. They might do a side jump, tense up and prance few steps, but rarely will they run off. Stupid behavior like bucking or rearing is not tolerated in Iceland at least and generally the breeding selection in Iceland is pretty strict(see they have no issue putting down and eating a horse that acts stupid even after they've worked with it). Overall though even if the horse is hot to ride, they are usually very easy and well manered on ground(if they've taught and trained correctly). They learn really quick(so you don't really need to do a lot with them before they pick it up, in both good and bad sense) and usually are pretty curious and social. Never ever ever keep them without other horses, preferably Icelandic as I've heard of more than few cases where they have not let another breed horses into the herd. Some are not the most human social though, but out of the ones I've come across they were bit older horses originally from Iceland. Sometimes the problem is they can get bit rude, stubborn and pushy, if they have strong personality and the rules are not set straight from the start. So basically there's wide range of personalities, but they are mostly all nice on ground(some more sensitive, some more hard headed ofcourse), but vary greatly under saddle. Also another funny thing I've come to notice, most Icelandics I've encoutered prefer trail riding over arena work on most days. Like they may be just fine on arena and be great, but they really spark up on trails.

What should you look for depends on what you want. As much as I love the breed, it's not a breed I'd recommend to everyone. It's has an 'easy breed' reputation, but I think it's as hard as any other breed and it's in someways special imo. Their extra gaits for starters make riding lot more complicated. So the minimum I'd wish for a person considering the breed is understanding the gaits, how they effect the riding in general and how to ride tolt. Honestly if you are not into tolt, you might get off much easier and cheaper by going for different breed. Behavior can be an issue on Icelandics from certain backrounds. It's also slowly growing and maturing breed, so a 5-6 year old Icelandic can actually still grow little taller. But it's also long living and durable if kept right, so don't shy away from 15-18 year olds when this breed can easily be ridden well into their 20-ties. It does have two major health concerns; summer itch and bone spavin. Both the horse will have all it's life, but only summer itch will bother it long term. I'd personally have a spavin horse over summer itch one. If you live in a climate with bugs year round, I would not get a summer itch horse even if one was given me free...

@# Phan: Hind legs are better, but not yet perfect. If she sort of focuses on standing or moves, they are correct. But as soon as she relaxes more or goes to drink for example, the toes still creep up.
Breed would be Icelandic horse. Sire is flaxen chestnut with star and short hind socks. I had hoped little more white on her, since mom has a nice blaze(big brother has a blaze too, but not as wide) and sire has foal or two with blaze/socks out of very little white marked mare. So getting just a larger side snip and little white hairs on forehead was bit of dissapointment color vise. But hey, it's just color, the least important part. c;

@RunningRace: Yup, they are just 9 days(and 3 years) apart. XD She's had meanly muzzle from day one, but the color has varied little and the snip was not so visible first few days. When she was born and wet you could see it, then when she was dry not so much. That lasted until past few days, when it has been more visible again(guessing it has something to do with her coat developing/starting to change slowly). It's pretty big snip though, nostril to nostril pretty much and down to her lip. She also had little white dot on her bottom lip(just like Tý actually). :3 I really need to get a better close up pic of it...
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Heta and Feykja had their first outing in the pasture yesterday(so many pics and video, yet so little...) as she was feeling more like herself again. All went well(Heta was sooooo excited to be free and in the pasture), except baby was super sweaty afterwards(she runs way too much considering the heat(near/over 25C and sunny, so really hot for us this time of the year) and her coat, I've never seen a foal sweat really) and Heta got really antsy with the bugs. And they were only out maybe 45 minutes... :\ Heta's been somehow super sensitive to bugs lately(even though she's rugged, so her body itchyness is almost purely pshycological), or then we just have ton of them now. Like today when I took them out on the yard late evening, she got antsy really fast and basically run back to inside and even forgot to make sure Feykja followed. Heta also has really forgotten most of her ground manners for somereason. She's in heat though, so maybe something to do with that, I hope...
Feykja has learned new game outside called exploring. So instead of running around like crazy, she bounces around and sprints randomly and then goes sniffing about places. Today she started to follow L, first when she took trash bag out, then tried to follow her in the upper stable and then the most hilarious part; she actually walked up half way the steps leading into the cabin. Me and L were both like o_o Luckily she followed L right back down the steps as well. Shame I missed the picture for that as my phone's camera was too slow. Based on this I think loading into trailer at somepoint should be piece of cake.

[[Braveheart]]

Update time!

So, I posted a little while back. I doubt you all remember me though.
Forget everything I said. Let's start over.
So I got a job at a stable eight months ago. In exchange for riding lessons I work there. I ride Adagio, a chestnut thoroughbred mare who used to be a racehorse. She's twenty. And we've bonded so much I'm her official mother now and unofficial owner, and will be calling her my horse.
I have been riding western.
Anyway, it's gotten to the point where I am ALMOST in control enough to ride in the pasture. And by that, I mean the weather is almost warm enough. Woo! I can NOT wait to get out of that tiny arena! :')
Anywho, I've been taking Adagio at a lope, since I'm skilled enough to move past walking and trotting. I know all the basics by now. So any tips to stop bouncing in the saddle? I already know (heels down are a given) and to keep my legs underneath me, and where to position my legs on her barrel, but any other tips would be much appreciated. Thanks! ~