Comment

Comment by Elaine Flintoff on June 2, 2010 at 8:54pm

Some mornings I get up, take 2 extra-strength Tylenol, and then my Pug and I trek out to the barn where we're happily greeted by the barn cat and the 4 horses. It's then that I realize that I will ride as long as humanly possible. In this heat I try to ride one of the mares before 7:30, and then if its not too hot, I'll ride the other mare at night, before those dreadful mosquitos come out!!!! If I can't do both that day, I will alternate them. There's just something about the smell of them and the saddle leather that I love. Thinking about my next lesson or show, and working hard towards them is rewarding......it's what keeps me going! I always use some kind of mounting block - have to save the horse's back.....

Comment by Tracy McDermott on June 1, 2010 at 12:16pm

At the stable we had this really clever disabled Vietnam vet who had a prosthesis on his mounting leg (he had been blown up and put back together), he would let down the stirrup leather, step into the stirrup and lay over the horse, swing his leg over and tighten up the leather. He could get up and down anywhere on the trail that way, I am proud to have known him, he would say 'Riding erases all history when I'm in the saddle', I keep that saying.

Comment by Linda White on May 31, 2010 at 8:04pm

An old fellow I knew was still riding at 79 and he needed two people to put him into the saddle. Another rider, 86 and with two artificial hips, uses a huge mounting block. Who cares? As long as we can get onto the horse, just carry on. There are more trails to explore and fun to be had. Never give up!

Comment by Tracy McDermott on May 31, 2010 at 7:59pm

I haven't jumped on a horse since I had my children, the youngest is 38. I did have a short horse for a while and I could step right into the stirrup from the ground but once up he felt it was his job to buck me off. So I have a quiet and taller horse now.

Comment by vickie lawson on May 31, 2010 at 6:46pm

i always use a step to protect the horses back from the saddle being pulled down.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 31, 2010 at 6:24pm

Me too! I am still riding and need to use a mounting block, stump, put horse on the downhill side, whatever I can find to get on. Certainly have to be inventive. Flying out to Alberta June 23-28th to get recertified with CHA, getting excited.

Comment by Gail Morse on May 31, 2010 at 1:44pm

We don't seem to have kept this group going lately. Seems like a lot of the posts are from late 09. I am still alive and riding. Still have trouble with the mounting part. Need a group of hand maidens to load me up. Then there is no stopping me when I get up.

Comment by Cindy Jeffery on May 17, 2010 at 1:46pm

Very well said Tracy....you gave us the black and white of breeding horses and raising them. I am now 59 and have horses that will out live me, it's kind of sad because I am now making plans for them ie training, making them good citizens, where they will go when I'm gone, etc. As a responsible horse keeper I'm making plans for them in my will. Currently, they will be donated to a local riding program, some will stay with my youngest daughter.

Comment by Veronica Delagard on May 16, 2010 at 8:46am

Tracy very nicely said, I have bred my first Morgan as part of my duty to save the foundation bloodlines to carry on where others have started the work , I am firm but also a gentle handler. I will know when it is time to get a professional if this little guy becomes a handful for me.

Right now I as a wife have to trust my husband and give him the benefit of doing what he feels is the right way to train this little guy. But with that said I no longer go out there with the expectation that he is just so cute and will not hurt me.

One day at a time.

Comment by Tracy McDermott on May 15, 2010 at 8:16pm

I've bred and raised my own for 45 yrs and I am always surprised at the things colts will do. Really and truly colts are just acting like baby horses NOT baby people! It is the mothers (mare) job to teach a colt how to act in a herd, what is appropriate and what is dangerous. They teach from a position of survival. If there isn't a balanced herd for the youngster to be in and the only choice is a one man training mommy then get very strong and a lot of education because horses learn very differently than people and a nudge for a person feels like an invitation to play kick-bite. It is not in their head the amount of damage they can do to themselves or others. Just tossing their head at the wrong moment can brain a human.
If anyone chooses to raise and train their own creation it is a minimum of 10 yrs till you have a riding horse. I have heard 'I want to raise my own horse' so many times and so many of those times it is a dream with no educational background except riding. Riding is not training, it is the end result of years of training.
My advise is buy a started horse about 4 yrs old from a breeder or trainer that has a good reputation for good sound horses. Buy the breed, color, size, conformation, personality. Shop especially for the personality, don't be over-mounted or you will just end up in a fight you can't win with the result everyone is hurt. If you breed to get your "own" horse that is roulette, there are people who have been carefully breeding horses for generations and they will tell you horses don't all turn out the way you want. Some do and some don't but there is a 3 - 4 year time period before you will know if the horse you bred for is going to click with you, so that investment of emotion-dreams-money will evaporate if the horse just isn't for you, be realistic we have all ridden or owned one, a horse that just isn't right for us. If you bred for and raised one of these it is one of the hardest things in the world to sell or give them to someone else and hope they won't just sell them again.
I rode a horse for 17 years because I know he would just be sold over and over again (he is 26 now). He was bred for the show ring from a long line of show horses. Kept a stallion because of his 'Presents'. He was one of the most ornery horses I have ever ridden, it was always work, he looked great, compliments up the wazoo but work. I was stupid.
There are so many really great horses being given away right now, horseflesh is cheap. So when you decide you want to make your own it should be a very informed and careful decision, they can live for 30 years, will this horse outlive you?

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