Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sue VInyard on December 8, 2010 at 11:41am

Wow, beautiful horses and great pictures.

Permalink Reply by joy maldonado on December 7, 2010 at 7:01pm

Hi , had to reply last spring we went to Amish country Indiana, which was the first time I had seen the horses and the buggys..I was so amazed at the beauty and dicipiline the horses had at trotting all through the town..I loved llistening to the clop clop rythym the horses had and such a beautiful pace..it did look like it would be a beautiful ride, riding through the trails in the woods in a buggy must be a real joy...

Permalink Reply by joy maldonado on December 7, 2010 at 7:07pm

beautiful horses and scenery in Washington!! The view from atop of the mountain,,looks like you can ride forever,,

Permalink Reply by joy maldonado on August 10, 2011 at 7:41pm

hi sue, this is joy..we all survived the winter to endure this horrid heat! now its too hot to ride..here in michigan the horse flys have been out since july..their usual is august, soo the horses have been miserable..it constant to keep the repellent on them to help them as much as possible..I used the hoof dressing and extra hoof supplement all winter, and was soo pleased at the results in the spring,,,but as the the dry hot air came in her hoofs are showing chips and cracks again..shoes going on the front to protect them from cracking severly..I was wondering if you are going out to horsemans camp yet? today its been soo nice. going out to ride tomorrow..still practicing the trot..seems I can't get it right..still afraid to canter.. happy trails

Permalink Reply by Sue VInyard on August 11, 2011 at 12:57pm

I haven't ridden since the first of July, way too hot. I am going Sunday to ride with some friends. The weather here has cooled down and is much more comfortable. Everyone has been talking about how bad the horse flies are this year. I have been spraying her every morning and wiping her face with fly spray. It has just been too hot for even a fly mask. I started putting Rainmaker on her hoofs when it got so dry around here and they are looking good. She has shoes on until winter and then I have them taken off. I have Easy Boots for riding in the winter. She is kind of flat footed and doesn't do well in rough ground or rocks with bare feet. She is also on a hoof supplement recommended by my farrier. She injured both front one summer (each at a different time) and had to have surgery on one. So I am pretty careful about her feet.

Before it got so hot, we did lots of trail riding. Went to Lake Between the Lakes in Kentucky in June and just loved riding there. We are planning on going back next year. July 4th weekend, some of us went down to southern Indiana and rode. That is another one of our favorite places to ride. Next month I have several rides planned, I will be gone the first two weekends in Sept and then 5 days from Sept 19 to the 23. In Oct I will be down in Mammoth Cave, KY for 4 days and then on Halloween weekend, I go back down to Midwest Trails Ride which is next to Hoosier National Forest. It is south of Bloomington, IN.

Got to get these good rides in before winter. I am hoping winter won't be so bad this year, so I can ride more. The older I get the less I can deal with the cold. I have all the gear for winter riding, it is just getting my butt out there. I usually manage to get a couple small rides in a month during winter, but last year it was so cold and icy, I didn't get her out hardly at all.

In southern Indiana when 3 of us were out riding, we went down this steep ravine and when we started up, where it had rained so much there was a deep rut in the middle of the trail up. (Which wasn't very wide  to begin with). I was very nervous about how we were going to get up it. ( It wasn't easy getting down the ravine, but it looked worse going up.)One of the horses didn't want to go up at first and was slipping around. So either way we went wasn't going to be easy. Now these are three seasoned trail horse and my mare is usually pretty good about going any where I take her. But I was worried about her slipping in the deep rut going up. The trail down was steep but not quite so rutted. Now these ladies I ride with are older than me and we usually go out for a long distance. They didn't want to turn around and go back so I decide to let Brenna just have her head and try to get up the hill. We made it with alot of hard work on the horses behalf. When we all got to the top, Nancy (who is 70 and no bigger than a minute) said "Damn that was fun". Here I am praying we would just make it and she is loving it. I informed them that we had better find a different way back, because there was no way I was going back down that hill, especially with the ruts. We did find a better way back and ended up having a great ride. So glad we didn't have young or inexperienced horses. Brenna is 13 and the other two are about the same age. Although it was SCARY, it made a good campfire story. 

Permalink Reply by joy maldonado on August 11, 2011 at 8:24pm

Sure is a good story..I'm picturing the westerns we watch, with the cowboys hunkering up those steep hills. one of my favorite movies is Man from snowy river, that has alot of good riding in it..I love hearing of your adventures!  I just had shoes put on  Stars front feet only and began again the hoofmaster . the farrier said the crack wasn't that bad, but I wanted to catch it before it was so it wouldn't  stop my riding since its as you were saying finally cool enough to get out there..have you ever been in the water with Brenna? One year we went to Cancun trail riding and went into the Caribean sea with one of the horses swimming..that was a thrill. the horse was actually swimming while I was on her back..listening to your stories of your friends and their ages still gives, gives me a glimmer of hope I'll have time to get this right and go on some adventures too..I also can't take the really cold weather we get..I tried a heated vest under my coat that was advertised in this website..and it worked!! felt alot better and warmer..still can't get my hands warm enough in thin gloves that I can move my fingers and feel the ropes and open gates..and leather I don't feel is that warm..I haven't tried winter riding outside, only in the  barn...soon as I can canter 5 times around the arena   and we go off to trails..

Permalink Reply by joy maldonado on October 27, 2011 at 9:27pm

hi sue, the last time we spoke the spring was just begining, and you told me of the plans you had with your horse..anxious to hear of your adventures with your group...glad to finally say that I am advancing..I can finally sit the trot and ;post..and I love the feeling..I conquered my fear..now having a steering problems, but I know that will change with more experience..I think Star is shocked that I am finally encouraging her to go faster than stopping her when she just gets started trotting..my balance I feel is very good and I can finally think about leg cues, hand cues, looking where I'm going instead of  at her head, finally things are moving along..now she has a coughing issue, calling the vet tomorrow..reading your adventures has given me a goals..we have had horrible hot hot days, horrible horse flies last summer..glad that has passed..welcoming the cooler weather...joy

• ‹ Previous
• 1
• 2
• 3
• Next ›
• Page