Am I Weather Shy?

[Laya]

I've recently noticed that I don't like riding any horses in slippery weather. Or even when it's nice out, and where I ride has water in it and the ground is slippery.

Today, it was the perfect day to go riding after school. So, as I was being driven to the stable, we pulled up, and I said,"Never mind, it's too wet out there!" Justin and the other horses had been waiting for me, but I didn't want to ride when the ground was like that. From where I was, it looked like large puddles.

I even get nervous and/or anxious when I'm out riding on a slippery ground.

Is this normal or am I just weird??? :(

[cynthia]

no way, you should be extreeeemely careful about riding on slippery footing! i've heard horror stories about horses slipping and falling on their riders on *normal* footing, no less in mud, so it's perfectly wise to not take any chances as far as this is concerned. i mean, perhaps in the future you might wanna get out of the car and walk around your paddock a bit just to make sure your eyes aren't deceiving you, but hey, as they say, it's better to be safe than sorry.

if you need to excercise Justin when it's not actually raining out, maybe try finding a drier spot out in the middle of the field somewhere where you might be able to lunge him for a bit? then at least you wouldn't risk having a horse fall on you... yikes. often the muddier parts of the paddock are right around the barn, anyway.

in any case, though, i don't think you can be too paranoid when it comes to safe footing for riding, so don't fret! :cool:

[Ta]

I understand that it can be scary to ride in mud but I've ridden in rain, just as long as there is no thunder, outside. On both grass and in a sand arena. Grass tends to be more slippery so I do not recommend cantering on it, actually it's very dangerous. But if you have a sand arena on which you ride, and if it is not raining, you can walk on the puddles the sand seems to hide the water making the arena "non-puddley" and not as dangerous. ( I once rode an Arabian mare who would not under any circumstance step in water, so your horse may not be ok with working in water either).

But if you think that you shouldn't ride, don't! I just wanted to tell you that it can be alright to ride in the rain sometimes.

[Rick]

Laya,

Your topic hit home. The other day I was riding in kinda wet/muddy conditions. My horse kept slipping on his hind quarters about every 10 steps. This was very nerve racking as I thought that He was going to go down one of those times with me on top.

He slipped so much that I was afraid to do no more than walking. The only thing was that he was also slipping on the road. He was just shod a couple weeks ago, so I know that it was not because of his toes being to long.

The day b4 we rode on the road and in some fields and he did not slip once.

I have been told that his slipping may be due to him being lazy and not picking up his feet, along with the wet conditions.

Never the less I was not happy to be riding while he was slipping.

[Laya]

Cynthia, Ta, and Rick. :P

Thanks for replying to my post. I worried that I'd sound stupid or something. But, I never like it even on a nice, sunshiny day when I'm out on a trail ride and I have to walk a horse through mud. It's very nerve racking, because a slight little mis-step could send you down!!! Man oh man!!! :(

Well, also, I'm more paranoid with Justin, because he's still growing into himself and he tends to be a bit clumsy. Even on firm ground, just not as much. Well, I'm also a little nervous with the show horses, but they're used to it, and Justin's not.

I'm just worried that during a show and it's cross-country time, it'll be muddy out or whatever. Hopefully the mount I'd be riding will be used to those types of stuff.

Well, thanks everyone for replying, just so I know I'm not dumb. Well, I'd best be going now. :)

[olympicprincess]

Laya- you mentioned cross-country... I also event. If you do, then you need to practice in the rain. Just remember- slow down when it's slick. Trot if you have to, time faults are better than the penalty points you get when the horse falls. Good Luck in your events- maybe I'll see you there.

[Sarah]

I you really are worried about your horse slipping, and will be riding on soft ground only, you could ask the farrier to put some stud holes in your horse's shoes and get some studs.

Never ride a horse on a road or very hard ground with soft ground studs as the horse will end up walking on his toes and slipping a lot more!

bye!