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Post by luvmymorgan on Apr 10, 2014 7:27:57 GMT -5
Risty used to get buddy sour when I had him home with one other horse. Now that we are boarding again he is much calmer & doesn't miss the other horses when just the two of us head out on the trail. I love that!
I just keep thinking "heels down, toes in" and don't let the horse get so close to the fence that you can get caught. I used to worry about that more (still do a little bit), but have gotten better at "placing" the horse where I want him. I learned that from the JL trainer I used to board with.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 10, 2014 12:06:08 GMT -5
Doing a lot better today. Had my hand x-rayed just in case but if it is broken, it's probably hair-line
fractures. Glad I didn't hurt my back, I've seen what people go through with back injuries.
Anyway, thanks for all the well wishes. My hand looks a bit like Popeye's hand but it doesn't hurt really
and all the fingers move. Can't wait to get riding again but takin' it easy for a bit.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 10, 2014 14:17:31 GMT -5
Glad to hear that everything seems to be in order with your hand, Kirk! I fell off Fanny in 2010 and that one took me a few minutes to get up from. I think that is when I fractured a vertebra. I have a hairline crack on the same side of the bone, both upper and lower. Doesn't bother me for the most part, but it does contribute to issues with my back and hips. Thankful that it isn't worse, though. LMM, Fanny is like Risty in that she's pretty good about leaving her herd. It may have something to do with the fact that I've always done things with her alone, we've rarely had 'buddies' to do things with. But it will be nice to have someone else to ride with at our barn now  |
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 10, 2014 23:15:26 GMT -5
Neither Buddy nor Boomer really care if they ride alone or with another horse. Frisco and Chip were the same way but we always rode alone as well as together so from the time I adopted them they were exposed to both solo rides and companion rides. The only time I see any reaction is when I take Buddy out and Boomer will holler in between eating. My parents comment that he hollers off and on the whole time we're gone but he doesn't run the fence or even get his pulse up he just hollers while grazing. I guess Buddy isn't high on his "give a hoot" list.
Glad nothing's broke kirk. Sorry it's swollen and you're going to have to take it easy for a few days. What type of employment are you in? are you off work till it's better?
I've always been great at toes in because I'm pigeon toed.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 11, 2014 7:18:58 GMT -5
Amazing, my hand was not broken. The horse was only 850 lbs. not 1000. My lucky day...kinda
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 12, 2014 16:58:12 GMT -5
Kirk, Buddy weighs 1800 lbs. The vet last year did the tape measure thing but said he was not the typical measurement because it doesn't measure his big bone structure but she said she agrees with my old vet, he's about 1800 lbs. When I worm him I have to buy two tubes for him alone and throw part of it out. When he accidentally hits me with his head or steps on my toes it HURTS. Last year he kicked me (my fault) and I can tell you he knocked me to the ground, took me a minute to assess the damage before I got back up. I think even if he weighed 850 lbs it would probably still hurt the same.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 12, 2014 19:15:14 GMT -5
Kirk, I don't know if you saw my other message in the 'general' section, but I did the assessment on Valeroso and started a new discussion. Or maybe you did see it already. Just wanted to mention it in case you hadn't seen it.
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Post by horsespoiler on Apr 14, 2014 19:10:40 GMT -5
I got a ride in today. The weather is still warm, but a little overcast and muggy. We rode on the old roads for almost an hour, making a long loop out and back. I thought we were just going to do a quick ride on the road here but the girls really wanted to go. We held them down to a fast trot. I wasn't quite ready for Whitey to canter since she is so fast and strong. There were a few really big puddles on the road and sometimes they are very reluctant to cross water. Not today. They plunged right in and Winnie stopped in the middle to play! She stands there with her head down and paws at the water, splashing everything around her. Whitey thought that looked fun and tried it too. I think they hit every puddle. Finally I just made Whitey walk faster through them. I was very pleased with how she behaved today. There were a couple of differences of opinion but she did see things my way in the end. I had her in a loose ring snaffle today. We did have to practice the one rein stop a few times but she caught on pretty quick. She hates those tight circles.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 14, 2014 19:30:26 GMT -5
Sounds like an awesome ride horsespoiler. It's great to see horses at play.
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 14, 2014 22:46:53 GMT -5
I'm glad you had a good ride, it must be nice to have a spouse who likes to ride as well. None of my horses have ever played in puddles but they also never avoided them lucky for them.
I made Sarah practice the one rein stop a couple times before riding last Sunday too just in case Boomer was a pain. He actually loves those tight circles, it's the big circles that put's him behind Buddy he hates.
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Post by Kirk Martin on Apr 15, 2014 7:18:42 GMT -5
I know what you mean GR. I think I'm the really rare guy whose wife doesn't like to ride. I'm guessing she doesn't
care for the unpredictableness of a living creature and can find many other ways she'd rather spend her time.
Fortunately, my daughter loves it.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 15, 2014 9:38:42 GMT -5
Fun ride, HS!!! Fanny likes to play in water, and lately when I walk her down the road, she will purposely head toward puddles to walk through them. My husband would ride with me if we had another horse. At one time he thought he'd like to get a horse of his own, but then saw how much work goes into them - groundwork, etc. - and didn't think he'd have time for all that. I told him I'd take care of that for him He's used to going on paid trail rides where the work is all done and you can just enjoy the ride. He needs a 'husband horse' that he can just get on whenever he wants. I'd happily ride both horses to keep them in shape |
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 15, 2014 13:27:03 GMT -5
Glenn got a horse, rode twice and after that he'd lead him around and let him hand graze once in awhile but in all truth Frisco was mine by default.
He preferred his Harley.
Matt would ride on occasion and even rode alone when he lived here. I would say he enjoys riding but doesn't LOVE it.
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Post by cyndi on Apr 19, 2014 15:09:06 GMT -5
Despite having a busy morning, and sore feet, DH came along to the barn with me so that I could ride Fanny!! We walked down the road and she did pretty well. She still likes to drift over to where she wants to go, but between me giving cues, and DH holding the lead rope, we kept her on the road well. There was a truck coming down the road, so we stood in the driveway until it went by. Fanny flinched a bit, but that was it. She didn't spook or jig at all while we walked. We went about a mile total. On our way back, while walking through the ravine, a 'big' delivery truck came up from behind us. To be honest, I was nervous, but DH, the calm man that he is, reassured me that Fanny would be fine. I rested my fingertips on the saddle, for stability, and relaxed as much as I could. There was really no place to get off the road, so we turned so that Fanny was facing the truck. It frightened her a bit, but she didn't do much more than prance a couple of steps. I am so thankful that DH was there, and that Fanny did so well The delivery truck continued on and ended up going to M and B's place. It delivered a load of oak fence boards. They smelled so good!! The truck was backed up between the barns when we got back, so I got off Fanny at the road and walked her to the barn. I wanted to take her tack off while she was outside, so we waited until the truck was gone before I started unfastening the breast collar and cinch. I didn't want to tie her to the hitching post, in case she got nervous, I felt better with DH holding onto the rope in case she felt that she needed to move and was allowed to. She did make a couple of circles around DH when the truck dumped the boards on the ground, but other than that she was very sensible. M was cleaning stalls right then, and even she commented on how sensible Fanny is. Proud mommy moment I have ALWAYS dreamed of taking a photo like these, from Fanny's back. Even though I am kind of cheating because DH is walking beside us, I am thrilled to have been able to take them This is on our way back. You can see the ravine area in the distance, in the first picture, where the trees are.   |
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Post by ghostrider on Apr 19, 2014 19:18:49 GMT -5
I am very proud of how far you have come since we met you cyndi! and Fanny is such a good girl too. One of our JL members rides her horse beside her DH who rides his bike, any chance your DH likes to ride bicycles? it may be a good fix to not having a second horse.
I got home at 4:30 and it was in the mid 70's. I didn't ride right away and wasn't going to since the 4.5 hours of sleep I got last night was catching up to me but 1/2 an hour later I was bored and antsy to see how the riding ring would work. I gotta say I can't see it working. From the ground it looks BIG but from the saddle I think it's too small so I'll have to look again and see where to put it. I either have more slope or have to put a couple trees in the middle of it. And Jim drug another big tree up for me so I'm at 2 now!!! only 6 more to go. LOL
What do you all think of putting the wheel barrows of manure in the ring and let it build up? the manure here composts really fast and turns to a nice dark soil in about 6 months so I'm wondering if I put the manure in the middle and just let it compost if I'd have the soft soil the arena's have come next year. Our old barn used to spread the manure in the arena and the ground was great.
Anyway decided to ride up the road and turned down the next road to the pavement about 2 miles. Buddy would NOT trot, he was doing this really fast walk and bobbing his head like "Oh yeah I'm trotting mom!!!" I don't know what to make of him. But coming home he trotted a bit but then kept going back to the bobbing walk. Going home he should have been trotting since he left a pile of hay to go ride. I'm thinking with as few rides as we've done the past 6 months he's just needing to build up his muscles again. He was pretty sweaty when we got back. I am determined to ride two times a week, each day I'm off at least 1/2 an hour unless it's raining.
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