Men Riding English

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This group is established to offer friendship, support, advice and encouragement to what seems to be a minority - men riding in the English disciplines.

Members: 10
Latest Activity: Jan 28, 2014

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Comment by John Freeman on July 26, 2010 at 8:37am: I'd love to know where my reply to Jackie's post went to. I wrote back the same day and it isn't anywhere that I can find, and I'm not technically challenged.
Anyway, its so much better here - less humid and more breezy, but still sunny. I would have loved to ride this weekend but I was away visiting the friends I got my horse from. They had a big bbq for their boarders which was secretly turned into an early birthday party for me.
It shows the power of the horse as their trainer, whom I had never met, made me a birthday cake in the shape of a horse. She didn't know me, but had worked with Zuckie in the past and loves him, so I'm OK by extension. Now that's something i never expected him to do for me. It was very special, as was boating on the spectacular Ottawa River.

Comment by Michael Matson on July 25, 2010 at 11:42pm: Hot and humid in Maryland, but just broke today. I still worked both my horses about 30 minutes just about each day (including warmup) just to keep them and me cardio fit in this type of weather.

Comment by Ward Edwards on July 23, 2010 at 11:01am: It's been hot and humid up here in Ontario as well. The last few days have been better. At least it is starting to cool down in the evenings at least.

Comment by Jackie Cochran on July 23, 2010 at 9:53am: Hey guys, whats up? HOT and humid down here in NC. Definitely walking weather.

Comment by John Freeman on June 1, 2010 at 3:06pm: Good advice, as always, Ward.
He is super impatient, so I'm sure the length of the process contributed, but it was mostly that mare. He almost never calls when I ride him alone, but that might change now that Reba has come into his life.

Comment by Ward Edwards on June 1, 2010 at 2:56pm: When I was first riding Nikki, she was quite herd bound and always calling. When she did this, I would say a loud NO and make sure she was paying attention to me (ears pointed at me). It didn't take long for her to figure out the rules.

I have had a couple of horses that were absolute asses about shoes. The best thing is probably to use a light hammer to get him used to the tapping and also hold his foot the way the farrier does while you are doing it. You might also what to get him used to holding his foot up longer, as some horses just get antsy when you are shoeing because the process takes longer than just a trim.

Comment by John Freeman on June 1, 2010 at 11:19am: I wanted to add that I realized - after the fact, of course, that I should have just brought her in so she could see him and everything would have been OK.
Next time, I'll know better, but I'm not happy with this dependence. This mare is never used and is completely herd bound. I don't want her to make my horse the same way. At this point I wish the mares and geldings were separated.

Comment by John Freeman on May 31, 2010 at 3:33pm: Sorry, Ward I didn't respond to your question regarding Zuckie's shoes.
He just got them today. The poor farrier. It was very hot and Zuckie was totally uncooperative. He's usually rock solid during trims, but not for shoes, it seems. It didn't help that his favorite mare was screaming for him the whole time.

Comment by John Freeman on May 29, 2010 at 1:50pm: That's a good idea, Ward.
I also thought of pinning a rolled Bounce sheet to his nose band. They help me, so maybe they'd help Zuckie. So long as the smell doesn't put him off. He has such an efficient nose.
A colleague of mine found out about this when she and her husband went to an outdoor concert and saw many people in the audience with Bounce drier sheets pinned to their collars. I use them when I'm gardening, but my partner gets upset saying it looks like I drool! (Well, it depends on who is at the country store across the road, lol.)

Comment by Ward Edwards on May 29, 2010 at 8:43am: One of the boarders at my barn has added an extension just by sewing a piece of cloth to the bottom of the fly mask. This was done more because this horse has a wide blaze and is prone to sunburn, but the same thing should work for the bugs.

How is Zuckie with his new shoes?