2021 Hacking and Riding

It happens more than one would like - I've had people go off cantering over narrow bridges, galloping (literally!) downhill and so on. I've stopped being polite about it, and with Hogan being a bit of a numpty anyway, it's safer to go out alone.

This riding off from someone else seems to be a thing at boarding barns everywhere, as I’ve read about this poor etiquette many times.:(

I am a retired die hard trail rider and that is all I have done my entire life. Even when I had to board my horses (divorces seem to make that happen), I never rode with anyone who rode off. Riding away from someone was considered very poor manners and if someone did join us that insisted on showing off in that manner, they weren’t invited back, and were told “no” if they asked to join.

That is all riding off is —- showing off. That’s how people get hurt, regardless if you‘re on a horse, a dirt bike, a snowmobile, etc. Our rule was we all stick together.

@horseandgoatmom I just love your horse, lollol. I am not surprised he rode off like his last ride was the day before. Even though you don’t have time to ride, I suspect you spend a lot of time with him.

Horses stay broke if they’re handled and played with a lot because we are constantly reminding them of their manner. After my last go-round with my back in 2011, I had to give up sliding down river embankments and digging up the other side. Its been nothing for me to go a few years then get on one of the horses for five-ten minutes. They always stand perfectly for me to get on, then walk off like the last ride was yesterday. Going down the road, however, would mean getting some spook out of them but their riding manners at home are impeccable- I just put a bridle on and get on; it’s a lot easier sliding off bareback, than trying to get over the that low rise cantle that doesn’t seem very low rise at the end of ten minutes, lol
 
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@horseandgoatmom :

1. Sonny — that was my Arab/saddlebred’s name that was born on my parents farm 8n 1960. He was my first horse to raise and train for myself, under my grandfather’s kind & watchful ”horse eye” :). My Sonny was a sorrel, no wonder I like your fella:)

2. I have watched Steve Lantvitt a few times:). I agree with using natural things for training when possible. Whenever any of us brought home a green horse, which was often and often exciting, lol, Long as horse knew “go & whoa” fairly well, we taught them the other basics out on the trail.

Nothing teaches neck reining better than weaving in/out of trees and nothing teaches a horse to move its hind quarters better than a crooked narrow passage through big rocks, lol

3. Ditch the saddle for quick rides and buy a fanny pack to store the 🥕 😎😎
 
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I had such a fantastic ride today!

My livery mate Uta asked me if I'd like to go out with her. She is German and terribly disciplined and her Thursday ride is 1 hour with lots of trot and canter around her usual Thursday course. But Sid didn't know it and nor did I so we went along.

Uta's horse Finn prefers to be behind, he can't lead, so Sid had to. Did he turn a hair? He did not, he marched happily off with his ears pricked and Uta called out directions from behind. I asked for trot, he said, "Fast or slow?" I asked for canter, he said "Yippee!" I asked for walk, he said, "No problem, lady." (I'm not Mom yet, though I think I'm getting there).

After our last canter 45 minutes in my knees had given up so I jumped off and on the way home Uta rode and I led, but it was lovely having Sid's daft handsome face next to me.

He was perfect. I couldn't have been happier.
 
I had such a fantastic ride today!

My livery mate Uta asked me if I'd like to go out with her. She is German and terribly disciplined and her Thursday ride is 1 hour with lots of trot and canter around her usual Thursday course. But Sid didn't know it and nor did I so we went along.

Uta's horse Finn prefers to be behind, he can't lead, so Sid had to. Did he turn a hair? He did not, he marched happily off with his ears pricked and Uta called out directions from behind. I asked for trot, he said, "Fast or slow?" I asked for canter, he said "Yippee!" I asked for walk, he said, "No problem, lady." (I'm not Mom yet, though I think I'm getting there).

After our last canter 45 minutes in my knees had given up so I jumped off and on the way home Uta rode and I led, but it was lovely having Sid's daft handsome face next to me.

He was perfect. I couldn't have been happier.
Perfect!
 
That sounds a perfect hack.
But what is it with your knees? Are you sitting in canter? Are your stirrups too short after all that time with no stirrups? If you have lost some winter weight and changes into summer clothes, that also means stirrups need to be longer, I find.
YM wouldnt let me ride with them any longer, but next week I definitely will. She says the mare is too bouncy but I dont find that.
 
Woo hoo i just rode again.
I've really never ridden in the evening.
It's lovely out here.
I played w the ball agsin but ill have to just put that one the back burner.
It lost quite a bit of air from this am.

Then I rode my cowboy curtain.
Then my very narrow bridge.


Sonny was awesome and I had never actually ridden thru that cowboy curtain.
We played last year but not this year yet.
I did have one at the old house we rode.

Hmm I NEED TO ride more in the evening its soooo nice out but I get up really early and I fall asleep quite early...
Thank God for being able to record evening shows..

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Your either an early bird or a night owl.
Im a night owl generally but I do like getting up in winter and riding before work just as its getting light. At the moment im doing evenings as its too hot during the day and Billys headshaking is at its worse in the daytime.
Must sort myself out a curtain to try.
Im not sure what Billy would make of the ball. He'd get it with some treats but ive a suspicion he might throw a wobbly first when it moved. On the ground hed probably back leg it to. He thinks the dog is fair game. I took her out to the field with me yesterday to change rugs. There was that evil look in his eye that said stand there and I'll have you. I had to get Floss out the way quick.
 
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I need to sort out a happy medium.
It was glorious out there last nite

The last 2 days have been lovely but heat an humidity is coming back.

The curtain is made w straps used to secure loads on flatbeds.
They are printed w the allowable weight strength but no matter how good the strap still is if you can't read the printing anymore you can't use it.
If you know someone that drives or even if there is a trucking company around if you asked they probably have some they could give you.
There are a couple widths and legnths.
My husband uses 4 inch. And we got several from each one.
I'D really like to have another one on the side yard but there are not that many trees and don't have a configuration that
Cooperates.

Ive seen them made w slicing a tarp into strips. And pool noodles
With a pvc pipe frame.

Play w a ball on the ground first I'm sure
Carrots will win him over.
 
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Yep ive got some straps already. Think the ones we have are all still decent. I just need to make something up.
I did make up a frame with bamboo and used some plastic feed sacks slit when i broke chunky for driving, years ago. It wasnt 100% but it did the job for him. But id want something a bit more substantial for Billy to play with. If i used what i had for chunky hed crash onto it and have it down and id be on the floor. I probably sound like im talking rubbish, but i know what i mean. Billy is such a different horse and set up something wrong could be dangerous.
 
Chunky...
My avatar shows us going thru a cowboy curtain at a versatility competition made with a tarp on a pvc frame.

They had sandbags on the feet securing it.

I will have to start programming myself....


I was on top of the world after riding last night..

I have to keep reminding myself...

Night is nice
Night is nice
Night is nice.

Actually evening.

I've always been afraid of the dark.
I do fine in the am knowing light is coming.
All my life I had asked my parents did something happen????
They didn't know of anything.
It wasn't til a few years ago I saw something on a show that brought back a horrible memory.
I was put in a windowless bathroom in a classroom by a nasty old teacher in
kindergarten for talking.
All of a sudden ugh I remembered that classroom the horrible old teacher the bathroom w coat hooks inside being in there in the dark terrified.
Now I know WHY but the damages were done thats lasted my whole life.
Even realizing I still hate the dark.
 
I totally understand needing different things for different horses.

There are a couple clinicians I dislike one in particular I won't name that that thinks his method and gear Is the only one on the planet.
SONNY TOTALLY HATED IT.

I don't go with any one person I pick and choose what works for us..

They all plug their stuff to some extent but when they act like theirs is the only one that works....

But honestly I think its his wife I dislike
more.
And hardly anyone ever wore helmets...
People clearly on horses they could not control with no helmets.



Lollykay... do you know of Scott Purdum
advantage ???

I mostly ride with His bitless bridle and did versatility in it.

I did come upon one snitty woman at Borderland Park years ago.

YOU DON'T HAVE A BIT...
like it was a bloody crime...

NO I DON'T NEED ONE...

POOR HORSE she had heavy hands and he was tossing his head all over the place.
 
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I totally understand needing different things for different horses.

There are a couple clinicians I dislike one in particular I won't name that that thinks his method and gear Is the only one on the planet.
SONNY TOTALLY HATED IT.

I don't go with any one person I pick and choose what works for us..

They all plug their stuff to some extent but when they act like theirs is the only one that works....

But honestly I think its his wife I dislike
more.
And hardly anyone ever wore helmets...
People clearly on horses they could not control with no helmets.



Lollykay... do you know of Scott Purdum
advantage ???

I mostly ride with His bitless bridle and did versatility in it.

I did come upon one snitty woman at Borderland Park years ago.

YOU DON'T HAVE A BIT...
like it was a bloody crime...

NO I DON'T NEED ONE...

POOR HORSE she had heavy hands and he was tossing his head all over the place.
@horseandgoatmom , no I can’t believe I haven’t heard of Scott Purdham, lol.

I am also not even a little fan of the so called NH trainers. I am so thankful my grandfather was the horse wings under me when I was growing up. We had a very small dairy operation, he raised beef and Welsh/Morgan’s.

When he first started “training” my cousin and I to train his ponies, the first thing out of his mouth was “treat those horses the way you want to be treated, or you will find yourselves sitting on the porch the rest of the summer”.

I took so much for granted that I learned from him, including how to trim my horses hooves. I am 74 and still regret I never told him how very much I appreciated him. Granddad was about half a generation older than Ray Hunt and the Dorrance Brothers; I’m pretty sure he could have taught them “a thing or three” :)

Regarding that lady in your long ago riding past — wonder how she would have liked that my rescued Arab was a lesson horse for small children and rode bitless his entire life. He was great with voice commands when the BO or myself were standing in the center of the ring.

And to add insult to that woman’s injury, lollol. My 27 yr old TWH has also never had a bit in his mouth —- He has been with me since he was 2-1/2. I tried several different bits, including a three ounce sweet bit and he was having none of it. He has been on some pretty rough trails and in places where there weren’t any trails. He never offered to misbehave - well except for the lake — imagine my surprise when he saw that big body of water and ran right into it - polar opposite of what most horses do, lollol
 
@horseandgoatmom I love your Sonny - it’s a good thing we live on opposite sides of the Great Divide, lollol

This was my Sonny when he was five and I was 18 - 1965. I had raised him from birth and he was with me his entire 29 years. I was 42 when I laid him to rest. It Was the one of the worst days of my life.

Sonny was a hot cross, with a huge motor, but he didn’t have a mean bone in him. I was a pretty busy kid so all that motor suited me just fine:)

This was taken at my grandfather’s farm. All horses had to learn to pose on that cement stump before they could go to pasture or in the barn, lol. The Arab & the Saddlebred are hard to miss in him:)
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Lollykay you were so lucky to grow up around those people.

This was my
Sunny the first.
He was a palomino. Tb /qh.
So he was Sunny...already named

Bucky was his best pal.

They have both been gone many many
Years.


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Sonny. Has.. some Sonny ..in his lineage. Father.. grandfather
His more notable going back are Three Bars and Leo

Thank God no IMPRESSIVE...

He Is the only registered horse I have ever owned.

Its misty rainy here so no riding.
I did get another 3 step block this am.
I put it on the side yard. Im motivated to reset my cavaletti Out there and the flower pots etc etc.

I got a tractor supply member perk
Free same day delivery..
So I went for it
I ordered 2 more same day..
Different Tractor S. the next closest had 2

Those will go onto the 2 big rd pens.
I need mounting etc easier and more convenient.
Their price was really good.

No climbing the fence or stone wall.
Cause the block is way on the other side.

I used to use fire hydrants riding the neighborhood at the old house.

I even used a frisby golf thing at Borderland Park.
Thankfully Sonny is rock solid to standing.

It was a,challenge to myself..if i choose to get off I can ALWAYS find something to use..
Here I want easy and convenient.

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@horseandgoatmom Your outfit is beautiful! Did you sew a lot back then?

I used to think I was fat; now I look at my old pictures and wish I could be that fat again, lollol

Your saddle - that is a prize possession. Do you still have the whole outfit? I always wanted a silver mounted parade saddle but they were unheard of in my farming area, and would have cost much more than my Sonny’s mom cost, lol
 
Lol sew as in clothes ... cloth..No.. never

Its not a silver saddle its all hand carved
W horse heads.
And I hand stitch the leather.
The trick to hand stitching is use a gouge to make a groove mark it with a stitching wheel.
Then take a dremel motor tool with the most tiny of drill bits and drill the holes
I have a small stitching pony that goes on a chair .
I never found one of the old antique free standing ones.

I used to prepare some pieces for stitching they were all fully lined. . Then take one to work with the little stitching pony and stitch it on my
Lunch hour.
I worked 2 years on it.
I made the same shapes as the drops and sewed them on the chaps.

I still have it all.

The saddle is a really old antique that had crappy leather so i re did it.
The seat is TINY... sigh that would not fit me anymore either.

I patterned the breastcollar and hip drops etc like a silver saddle.

I love seeing the lovely silver saddles
In the rose parade.
 
The xtra mounting blocks will be a godsend.

I just rode out front in the side yard
That area gets shady later in the afternoon which was good.

Funny boy offered the tire... he knows thats a guaranteed carrot.
The state of the cavaletti are not that horrendous mostly its the flower pots that
Are not filled with heavy enough material.only one set had the pots blocking riding them.

It was a really good ride.

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