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Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Having ridden a lot as a kid I got back into the saddle a year and a half ago and have just started loaning a horse rather than just using a riding school's horses.

I don't really have the knowledge or experience to put together a proper Op for a horse-megathread, but am wondering if there are other horse-goons about?

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ButWhatIf
Jun 24, 2009

HA HA HA
It's been a long while since I rode regularly, but I used to have a half-QH half-Mustang mare named Duchess. She was a little bitch, but I miss her. Funnily enough I was looking at horses for lease on craigslist this very evening, just to taunt myself since I live right in the city now. Oh well...someday.

Supercondescending
Jul 4, 2007

ok frankies now lets get in formation
I like horseys but barely know how to ride and would gently caress one up if I had one. I want to get a mini one day so I can pet it and put ribbons in its mane though. That's all

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR
No. No horse people. Down that path lies madness, even we know that.

:iit:

Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 02:55 on Mar 20, 2015

Ferryll
Sep 16, 2013

<3

I use to be an avid hunter/jumper on school horses but quit 15 year ago and never went back due to college/marriage/house/bills. drat, I feel old now. My old barn closed a long time ago but I have a new one in mind. I'm thinking about trying dressage, since groundwork has less chance of being injured compared to flying over jumps. I want to at least take one lesson this year. I'm slightly terrified of doing so though, because every time a patient comes in fresh from the barn I become a sneeze-fest even on my normal allergy meds. I don't exactly want to take Benadryl right before a ride. I mostly want to take this lesson to see if I just can't be around horses anymore or if.. umm.. the horsie people were all wearing heavy perfume that I couldn't smell ... or something. *crosses fingers* I never use to be allergic to horses. :(

So.. I'm at least a horsie person at heart!

Silver Nitrate
Oct 17, 2005

WHAT
I used to be a warm up rider for an FEI certified dressage trainer, barrel raced on my own, and also did first 30 days training on several horses. I can probably answer some questions, but I don't ride anymore.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Something that seems to happen a lot here is parents buying unsuitable horses for their kids - most recently amongst the horses I know , Murphy a 19 year old ex-hunter who despite being a riding school horse these days seems to have devoted the remainder of his life to growing old disgracefully; he's great fun when given the chance, but is really not suitable for a 10 year old as their first horse. All his actual owners do with him now is buy him cheap and nasty tack and toys.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
I rode hunter/jumper for years, then was on the equestrian team in college for a little while before I was kicked off because I had a real major and GASP had actual schoolwork to do and couldn't devote 110% of my time to the team (not even NCAA) so I brought my horse to college with me the next year and boarded him nearby and just did my own thing. Then I moved halfway across the country for a job and couldn't afford to take my horse with me and since he's an old fart now my mom took him and is learning how to ride on him :)

I want to start riding again but having a full time job kinda makes that hard :(

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Have some horse-pics

These three are Boyse, the horse I'm loaning atm.




This beautiful chap is Tinker, looking amazingly clean for once. In winter they tend to let his fur grow out and he looks like a proper cob.


The aforementioned Murphy

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
My horsey came to my wedding :3:



Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

My horsey came to my wedding :3:





Awesome :3:

Abutiu
Oct 21, 2013
So this is a weird question that I've always been too embarrassed to ask in person, but do any of you with gray horses notice that other horses react to them differently? My old horse was gray and I never noticed it, and I managed a farm with a few grays and also never noticed it, but I have had a bunch of people tell me that their horse was more spooky/aggressive/whatever around grays. The only real difference I noticed was that with the young horses at the farm, they'd sometimes freak out if you put a dark blanket on a gray which was always hilarious. We had this old gray mare we'd turn out with the weanlings because she was a good nanny and I always loved the first day it got cold enough to put a blanket on her and watching all the babies flee in terror from the pod pony.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Had a spooky not much fun hack today :(

First Boyse didn't like going past children, then a big flappy bag in a field gave him a start, then we encountered trailbikes coming towards us; they throttled down, but he turned and cantered off a bit at that point. I got him back under control and started heading home, at which point we passed the man with two small dogs. Boyse at this point had had enough and took off at a canter again, this time on an actual road rather than a byway. I tried to turn him into a field, but he wasn't having any of it, and I didn't want to steer him into a hedge because of the possibility of hidden ditches and not knowing if there was barbed wire or wooden posts in the hedge, and I didn't want to force him into a tight circle in case he slipped on the road. He did calm down and start listening to me again, but it wasn't pleasent.

Part of the problem I think is that I was having a look down a new route and it might have been new to him too, so he was nervy about that as well as all the stuff we encountered.

re: Greys, no idea, sorry. Not noticed any horses react oddly to them before, but I'm not super experienced.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.

Abutiu posted:

So this is a weird question that I've always been too embarrassed to ask in person, but do any of you with gray horses notice that other horses react to them differently? My old horse was gray and I never noticed it, and I managed a farm with a few grays and also never noticed it, but I have had a bunch of people tell me that their horse was more spooky/aggressive/whatever around grays. The only real difference I noticed was that with the young horses at the farm, they'd sometimes freak out if you put a dark blanket on a gray which was always hilarious. We had this old gray mare we'd turn out with the weanlings because she was a good nanny and I always loved the first day it got cold enough to put a blanket on her and watching all the babies flee in terror from the pod pony.

I've noticed the grays always hang out together in their own weird socially awkward clique out in the field.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Abutiu posted:

We had this old gray mare we'd turn out with the weanlings because she was a good nanny and I always loved the first day it got cold enough to put a blanket on her and watching all the babies flee in terror from the pod pony.

Poor babby horses. There's going to be new foals at the place where Boyse lives - I saw a two day old one last week. Both cute and funny looking with those incredibly out of proportion legs.

Explosions!
Sep 30, 2008
Here's my horse looking scrubby as gently caress after rolling in mud all winter. There's a barn, just none of them use it.


The whole group of them minus one. She's separated so she can get fattened up a little because these jackasses pick on her.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Today's lesson in horse was that the girth can always be done up one more hole.

I landed right on my tailbone when the saddle slipped. This is the closest I've come to actually hurting myself when falling off a horse. :(

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.

Angrymog posted:

Today's lesson in horse was that the girth can always be done up one more hole.

I landed right on my tailbone when the saddle slipped. This is the closest I've come to actually hurting myself when falling off a horse. :(

I have good balance. I know this because my instructor made me stop and then stuck her entire arm through the girth once :downs:

I have many chronic injuries, all but one were caused by horses. I personally made sure my doctor's daughter never got riding lessons by accident.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

I have good balance. I know this because my instructor made me stop and then stuck her entire arm through the girth once :downs:

Oof, lucky. Horse spooked and it slipped when I was doing the ever-decreasing circles thing (we were in the school). I was putting a lot of weight on one leg and that slipped it over. :(

Glad I'm just loaning this guy - he's a little bit spookier than his owner described him as. It doesn't help that there's all sorts of wierd stuff at one end of the school - deer, squirrels, birds and I've been told foxes or badgers too.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Angrymog posted:

Today's lesson in horse was that the girth can always be done up one more hole.

I landed right on my tailbone when the saddle slipped. This is the closest I've come to actually hurting myself when falling off a horse. :(

The most valuable lesson I ever learned from horse books. Do up the saddle and girth a pop or two loose high on the shoulders, then the bridle. THEN slide the saddle back, do the girth again. Adjust stirrups, check everything, lead to mounting block. Do girth again. Sit on horse and feel like a loving idiot.

Thank you, pre-teen horse books. You taught me how to muck, groom and tack by association. Pity i'm such poo poo at the riding bit. But that's fine, I never have the opportunity to ride anyway! But I do get to muck and groom nowadays. Yay!

Suspect Bucket fucked around with this message at 01:33 on Apr 3, 2015

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.

Angrymog posted:

Oof, lucky. Horse spooked and it slipped when I was doing the ever-decreasing circles thing (we were in the school). I was putting a lot of weight on one leg and that slipped it over. :(

I saw so many people wipe out every summer due to a combination of sweaty horse + loose girth + reaching for a water bottle.

Ferryll
Sep 16, 2013

<3

Some of the horses at my school were smart. They would seemingly puff themselves up, so that the girth would be loose when they relaxed. We were taught to gear them up, walk them into the arena, then tighten the girth again. If they tried puffing again, we would walk them in a circle, then try again. Seemed to do the trick. Not certain if this is common occurrence or not. The ponies especially were notorious for this.

Fluffy Bunnies
Jan 10, 2009

Knee horses in the gut all day every day to make them puff out all that stupid wind they do that poo poo with.

There was a mare I rode who was more round than any other horse I have ever seen and it didn't matter how tight you had that saddle. That mare had 0 withers. It was amazing how round she was and you were going to slide around a little no matter what your balance was like.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

The worst part is that I'd already done the girth up a couple of times and then got concerned it was too tight. (Horse is a bit overweight atm due to not being ridden much). I should be experienced enough not to trust the blighters when it comes to matters of the saddle.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Harvey was my bro

He's not mine because we poor and I stopped riding about a year ago after 18 years after a huge fight with my mum because we always went to the stables together and :qq: gently caress you mum I never want to see you again :qq: dumbest thing I ever did. Thinking about going back because me and mum are chill now.

He's chucked me off so many times, the most memorable being in the middle of a hack for literally no reason anyone could see, because some twat was shooting pheasants nearby and I missed a wheelbarrow full of manure by about 3 inches and just because he's a spooky fraidy cat baby who can't walk past a hedge. The big grey lady in the back is Nancy his bff, he won't go anywhere without her and now she's semi-retired she has to be kept in the loose area beside the manège where he can see her or he won't do anything. My sister rode her a lot while she was still doing little jumps and stuff but she just goes in chill circles now with one of the nervous girls and basically just danders about.

This big dude was Warrior (lol) and he has sadly passed (he was p badly treated in his previous life, he was massive so big dudes just pulled him about and wrecked his mouth and his back legs were hosed so he was euthed but he was spoiled rotten for his last year) he was the biggest horse I've ever been on and the biggest sweetheart. I miss him a lot.
Also lol at my stupid feet and lovely seat because I couldn't keep my rear end on the saddle, we eventually fixed that mental block.


I don't have any more pictures because I suck

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

After Boyse spooked agin in the menage (at a rabbit this time) and threw me badly I've decided to part company with him before I get badly hurt or get scared of horses :( He also did it with his actually owner when she got on him (though she stayed on) so it's not just me.

I'm going to go back to the riding school whilst I continue to look for another loaner.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

teenytinymouse posted:

Harvey was my bro

He's not mine because we poor and I stopped riding about a year ago after 18 years after a huge fight with my mum because we always went to the stables together and :qq: gently caress you mum I never want to see you again :qq: dumbest thing I ever did. Thinking about going back because me and mum are chill now.

Go back to riding.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

I miss it so much :gonk: I'll field the idea this weekend and see if she even has a horse for me!

That's disappointing news about Boyse :( it's v sensible to get out before you get yourself worked up and nervous tbh I've been there before with my instructors insane show pony, I had a few really scary moments and I just had to quit him before I gave myself a complex.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
I did a lot of training of green horses when I was a teenager and go thrown so many times.

Now that I'm older I can't believe some of the stuff I did as a kid with horses that somehow didn't get me killed or seriously injured.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

I did a lot of training of green horses when I was a teenager and go thrown so many times.

Now that I'm older I can't believe some of the stuff I did as a kid with horses that somehow didn't get me killed or seriously injured.

I think if I were younger, or the horse were younger so I knew he was stupid I'd be okay. I've been thrown from Murphy a few times and it hasn't scared me because I could either tell he was having issues, or it was something silly like him managing to cough upon landing, and most importantly, it wasn't every time I got on the horse.

I used to ride this insane apaloosa at a riding school when I was a kid - there were a couple of motorway bridges that we had to cross on the main hack route out of the yard, and the only way to get him over them was backwards with some use of the whip - he wouldn't go forwards, he wouldn't follow other horses across, he wouldn't lead other horses across. You'd get him to the half way point and then he'd stop loving around, but looking back at it now, and given how jumpy he was generally, it's a wonder that he never decided 'Sod this' and either bolted or leapt the rail.

I am always amused at horsey people telling me motorbikes are dangerous though; I've never had a bike get terrified of squirrels, or look at me and think, 'You're going down.'

Angrymog fucked around with this message at 11:01 on Apr 14, 2015

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

I would say that motorbikes are dangerous because of how cars don't take proper precautions with them but hah that's even more true for horses. "Slow" doesn't mean go from 70-60 :(

I'm a bit sad that I got so nervous sensible when I got older, there was a little barrel of a rescue pony I was riding a lot 6-7 years ago and the cross country jumps I was putting her over were huge and scary and oh god what was I doing. She was about 13h I think and had just weaned her foal so she was having a great time.

teenytinymouse fucked around with this message at 11:39 on Apr 14, 2015

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
We got shot at by a hunter once because obviously an animal making noise in the woods = deer.

Scroll up this thread and look at my horse. Does it look like a deer?!

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

We got shot at by a hunter once because obviously an animal making noise in the woods = deer.

Scroll up this thread and look at my horse. Does it look like a deer?!

Four legs?

My brother's cat got shot by some fuckwit farmer's son because 'it looked like a rabbit'. This is the UK were guns are rare-ish, and cats are allowed out. The cat was a massive black creature, in no-way simillar to a rabbit.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

We got shot at by a hunter once because obviously an animal making noise in the woods = deer.

Scroll up this thread and look at my horse. Does it look like a deer?!

Ooh! I know what they were thinking!

"Hey, giant albino deer. Dem slants in chinkatown pay good money for white deer dick an gallblubber or whatever. SHOOTY SHOOTY BANG BOOM YEE HAW"

Not every hunter is as refined or educated as we would wish.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
A friend and his lab partner were out in the woods one time collecting specimens for a lab in college and they got shot by a hunter. Like, actually shot. He lost part of his hand and his lab partner was killed.

Hunter got all of his guns and licenses taken away for life and charged with manslaughter, but it doesn't change the fact he shot someone for making noise in the woods because it might be a deer. I'm all for responsible hunting but some assholes should not be trusted.

Suspect Bucket
Jan 15, 2012

SHRIMPDOR WAS A MAN
I mean, HE WAS A SHRIMP MAN
er, maybe also A DRAGON
or possibly
A MINOR LEAGUE BASEBALL TEAM
BUT HE WAS STILL
SHRIMPDOR

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

A friend and his lab partner were out in the woods one time collecting specimens for a lab in college and they got shot by a hunter. Like, actually shot. He lost part of his hand and his lab partner was killed.

Hunter got all of his guns and licenses taken away for life and charged with manslaughter, but it doesn't change the fact he shot someone for making noise in the woods because it might be a deer. I'm all for responsible hunting but some assholes should not be trusted.

Yep. Some are criminally stupid. Or have zero control over their emotions and actions. Yes, hunting can be super boring interspersed with moments of extreme excitement, but you can not let that buck fever take over.

What i'm saying is, let me have all the guns. I will take good care of them.

teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Aquatic Giraffe posted:

A friend and his lab partner were out in the woods one time collecting specimens for a lab in college and they got shot by a hunter. Like, actually shot. He lost part of his hand and his lab partner was killed.

Hunter got all of his guns and licenses taken away for life and charged with manslaughter, but it doesn't change the fact he shot someone for making noise in the woods because it might be a deer. I'm all for responsible hunting but some assholes should not be trusted.

That is incredibly sad :( And how can you just shoot at anything that moves and call it hunting, that's ridiculous.

Ferryll
Sep 16, 2013

<3

According to my relatives a state over, at least a few times a deer hunting season (usually more), cattle grazing in a pasture will be shot by drunk hunter's driving down the road. Kids are even shot in the fields, so are kept away from them during deer season.
IMO there should be a no-tolerance law regarding alcohol when carrying guns. Alcohol impairs judgement and there will always be the stupid ones that don't have much judgement to start out with.

Problem!
Jan 1, 2007

I am the queen of France.
While we're on the subject of idiots shooting livestock:

The barn I rode at as a teen used to be in a really rural area then it got engulfed by suburbia, so the idiot kids from the surrounding houses would come in to the horse fields and be idiots, doing things including but not limited to shooting the horses with paintball guns and setting off firecrackers in the field to make them run. Paintball assholes actually managed to shoot a horse in just the right spot to cause severe neurological damage and it had to be put down (listening to a horse have a seizure is horrible).

They put up three fences, one of which was electric, with an excessive number of "no trespassing" signs. Someone still managed to haul their stroller and small children through three fences that are clearly telling you to gently caress off to pet the ponies :psyduck:

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teenytinymouse
Aug 3, 2005

I'm Shannon and I'm the biggest Idiot Ever!

Some people deserve to be bitten. Except those first kids, they need to be arrested.

Also in response to your earlier post Aquatic Giraffe your horse does not look like a deer s/he looks like a total dream :swoon:

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