John, awesome to hear from you. The whether down your way certainly sounds challenging but how great to know you still persevere. Yes, the riding for me continues in ernest and I swear I learn every moment that I am on Winchester. Yes, he is a school horse, but he is a wise old man, and his challenges to me have been a great education in learning how to 'learn' with him. I can't believe how much I enjoy this and live for the few precious moments I can get to the barn and we with my buddy. I hope to make it down your way some time in the Spring in order to attend a conference. I'll surely be checking out riding opportunities when I am there. Best to you and yours for the new year John. Chris
I am sorry you feel you and your mount are too weathered, I myself ride a 25 year old and one of our latest members is a bit older than yourself and just purchased a 22 year old that is trained to cowboy shooting. Also our president is in his 70’s and just last year trained a new young horse for this hobby.
All the best and if you or anyone you know would like to join in a saber charge, feel free to contact me.
I came across your page , and if you would like to try something different with your horse or any member of your stable I wanted to introduce myself and my hobby. My name is Gary Glaser and I am the mounted commander of the 9th New York Cavalry and live in Binbrook, Ont. I belong to a group of equine enthusiasts that enjoy living historians and American civil war, we are the 9th NY cavalry. The Ninth New York Cavalry has been reactivated by ain the portrayal of the life of the Federal Horse Soldier. As a group, we participate in living history encampments, re-enactments, and giving informative lectures throughout the year in both Ontario and the U.S. Visit use on the web atwww.9thnycavalry.com .
I would like to forward you 2 you tube sites dealing with Civil War re enacting, , the first is well put together, and it is from this past year at a large event in Gettysburg, unfortunately none of our members were at this event, but do know a large number of the riders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCgFdTWLx4 The second one is a smaller event held at Upper Canada village, the 9th was the mounted cav. at this event, and this would be a typical small event .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCx3Xkn9Wuc If you have any one in your stable that would interest in becoming involved in our group , do not hesitate to contact me at sgtgaryglaser@hotmail.com . We are not a stable and are not associated with any stable. We are a not for profit group. Thank You Gary Glaser
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Barnmice Equestrian Social Community <mail@barnmice.com>
To: Christopher Hyams <cbhyams@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Wed, October 26, 2011 3:50:28 PM
Subject: John Freeman added a comment to your profile on Barnmice Equestrian Social Community
John Freeman added a comment to your profile on Barnmice Equestrian Social Community
------------
Hi Chris,
I am also glad we are in touch and I apologize that this message has been so long in coming. We just had my brother and his wife visiting from the UK so its been very hectic. Neither of them drives! No, not ever so they are completely dependent on us when they are here. It was a little easier when we lived in the city as they could take themselves out and about.
Actually, I don;t blame them. When I'm in England, I won't drive, sure that I'd be ticketed or killed on the wrong side of the road. But I must tell you that I, too, have been doing a bit of motoring about. I logged 310 miles in order to ride and instruct at 3 locations since 4:30am yesterday. Which did permit me to avoid the Baseball madness transpiring 40 blocks from my house here in St Louis City. WHen I arrived home, my neighbors told me they were awake all night, not participating in, but listening to the street celebrations that continued after the game until dawn. Although I did sleep well, in a client's guest room 90 mile north, pretty well whooped at this moment. But already looking forward to tomorrow's rides. The best day of their visit (for me) was when I took them with me to visit the stud farm where my horse was born. The farm is in a beautiful area and so the drive itself was quite lovely, and the farm is spectacular - gorgeous pastures and the largest barn I've ever been in. They breed Hanoverians and Standardbreds and we met a group of absolutely gorgeous yearlings, one of which is sold to the UK and soon be be shipped there. Hmmmm, I wonder what you would get by crossing a trotting Standardbred with Hanoverian with a recent dose of Thoroughbred? Seems that if you really knew both gene pools well, you could nick one amazing dressage horse. Or, more likely a complete dud. Another, who is most likely UK bound also was the richest possible liver chestnut - a colour I've never seen on a Standardbred. 60 years ago Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds were bred in the Foxhunting country in which I was raised. And the breeders would hunt both the Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds after racing them. The country had lots of "cut and come agains" (giant multiflora rose hedges that were pruned and tied to make thick, thorny walls. Before I rode, I used to bicycle out to"hilltop" during school holiddays. It was an amazing spectacle!The owners were very welcoming, toured us around and then invited us into the house for coffee and apple fritters. My brother was super impressed as such a visit would not have been so warm in the UK...oh, maybe times and manners have changed in England, but when, on the way to Badminton in the late 80's, I had my driver stop at Goodwood that I might glimpse the Dressage Courts and Racecourse, her stable worker put me on the phone to Lady March, who instructed her Course Keeper to open the gate for me, and to then direct me to her office for tea! It was as if I had simply arrived at the appointed time of an invitation previously accepted. You bet I took another couple of hours to see Goodwood! I am next to raid my refrigerator, and don a cassock for a costume cocktail party which precedes the outbreak of Halloween street party tonight. Costume judging accompanied by live bands on a stage spanning an intersection two blocks from here.
OH, frm Nancy's I posted to DressageUnderground this morning. Let me know what you think about it, if you will, John. More later, Chris - duty calls...
John
You have opened many topics we may discuss, and while I have a few minutes between rides, start in.
It actually does surprise me that of 256 members of barnmice, only 7 joined your Men's group. But I am even more surprised that barnmice, an offshoot of Eurodressage, which touts a MILLION hits a day, has only 256 members. I would have thought more like 10% of that MILLION (if that is a real number) would be barnmice, and that 10% of barnmice would join a men's group. But I am also noticing that communication among my friends through other social networking channels has diminished recently. Instead they are simply posting photos, or GPS through those channels. Maybe they are texting each other, I am not, and I hope they are not. (Inspired by Steve Jobs, I am actually practicing my handwriting.)
I understand your frustration with being an only male in a 'barn aisle culture.' The stable in which my schoolmaster is kept has a barn aisle culture so offputting to me, I simply do not participate. I tend and exercise the horse daily, am focused on his well-being only, get in and out quickly. Visiting my clients as their instructor/rider/trainer at private and commercial equestrian facilities in this area, I arrive on time, provide services, and leave. No socializing. If someone wants to book my time, they can open an account.
I am not interested or involved local horse shows, in any way. My riding clients are adults, who like you, enjoy mature relationships with their horses and are rewarded by knowing they are progressing their own skills and horses' developments. We don't need ribbons, or the accompanying bullshit to know we are accomplished and are continuing to learn. If my clients have competitive urges, I encourage them to be subjected only to highly qualified judges at venues of commensurate quality...which is to spend a LOT of money beyond a horses needs and an engaging training program for horse and rider. You would probably think me, too, unfriendly, and unapproachable at a horse show. I am there only to earn my salt by serving my clients, that they achieve the highest possible test scores.
I envy you that you have time for trail riding. It is a pleasure, I agree. And I have been promising my schoolmaster a trailride soon. One morning I'll put him on the lorry and take him to a park. Unfortunately the yard in which he lives has no adjoining trails. He lives there because it is the nearest to my house in the city, and there is always good enough footing someplace onsite, either indoors or outdoors, so that I can exercise him before or after servicing a client site. He is an aged thoroughbred, whom I bought from his breeder after his racing phase, schooled for a year before showing him a short season of AA shows as a green hunter, then took another year to develop his dressage and cross-country abilities before completing 8 USEF Novice Horse Trials. And am now riding him only on the flat, and loving it. And he does, too, I am sure.
Gotta get going...rider ready for my attention. Glad we are in touch, Chris
Thanks for your extension of friendship. ANd thanks for forming a men's group. I lookforward to knowing you. I've been playing with a blog that you may enjoy browsing. If you find anything there interesting enough, I'd love to see your comments there on http://DressageUnderground.wordpress.com.
Hi John, Forward Seat was developed by Capt. Caprilli in the last decade of the nineteenth century. The main influence on greater equitation is that riders now get out of the saddle when their horses are jumping and try not to yank the horse in the mouth while jumping.
I wrote 4 blogs just on the FS, Oct. 11,2009 "The Forward Seat Position for Slow Equitation", Oct. 18, 2009,"The Forward Seat Position for Fast Equitation", Oct. 25, "The Forward Seat Position for Jumping", all from Vladimir Littauer's books, and on Nov. 1, 2009 "32 Faults to Avoid While Jumping" from Jane Dillon's "Form Over Fences". Most of my blogs are about riding FS because that is the most secure way for me to ride even if I can no longer go fast or jump.
To find them, go to my page, and under the box with my avatar and some other stuff you will see BLOGS (50), click on this to go to my blogs and keep on going back in time until you hit them.
Very few people ride in the FS system any more, if you are interested in more go to the www.anrc.org site where there is more information.
Well, very few people ride forward seat EXCEPT in the air over jumps, even if current day riders ignore everything else in this excellent system of riding, they have never been able to deny that horses jump better when the rider gets off their back over the jump and when the rider allows them to stretch their head and neck as much as the horse needs to to jump safely.
Zuckie sounds delightful, but you already know that!!!
Regarding talking to horses, I started out Forward Seat in which voice commands are taught at lunging, or even before.
I now use my voice alot, ESPECIALLY when I ride a horse for the first time. Since my MS can really mess up my hands (tremors), I praise at the first sign of obedience so that the horse realizes that, yes, it was a command, and that he or she is such a clever horsie to figure it all out. Arabs, at least, love being praised, and I suspect that Zuckie might like it too. Due to the fact of all the confusing signals my body inadvertently gives I think it is very sharp of them to figure out which movement of my body to react to!
Your horse looks so HONEST!!! I think you may have a real gem there.
Zuckie sounds like the Arab gelding I sort of thought of as a Brainiac, the only horse I knew that I was pretty sure understood English. I got to ride him in spite of my MS because of my previous experience, with the goal of trying to get him to agree to be a lesson horse (didn't work, too sensitive.) One thing he could not stand was the rider making ANY noise, so I decided to get him used to me talking. Since I though he understood basic English I started explaining the theory, practice, and anticipated results of what I wanted us to do before I introduced something new. After several months, sometimes, he would just go ahead and do what I described while I was still getting my aids properly coordinated.
The Nurtural worked REALLY well on this horse, I could get a little stronger when I repeated my aids without upsetting him, and this horse upset real easily. It made the transition to good contact with the bit a lot easier, I'd introduce a new thing in the Nurtural, then change to the bit.
I have never cared what my doctors thought about me riding, for instance I rode all the way through both pregnancies, riding a few minutes the day before labor started. Luckily the MS doctors know riding is good therapy for us, but even if they didn't, I know its good for me.
Enjoy your rides. Your flies sound worse than our flies, though we do suffer from inch long buzz-bombers in the late summer.
He does have lots of hair, but I would think it is cryo. You can tell for sure when his summer coat is in, as there will be bigger rounder dots of scar tissue for cryo. Cryo has less, but larger dots, and pin fireing has a huge number of small dots. The scar tissue is deeper in cryo, but seems to cause less overall damage. Pin fireing is very harsh on the skin, and can have all kinds of reprocusions with little possitive results in my experience.
His hocks from this photo look fine to me, I would think it was a wear and tear injury and likely wasn't what stopped him from racing, more likely 'maintanance work' if you will, to prevent a slight tear from becoming a bigger problem.
The winter hair is likely more due to his breeding, as some stb's have huge winter coats and are slow to shed, and some like my horse have almost no hair all year. I would think that your horse would also be hardier and take more abuse from virusus etc. than a horse like mine... it seems to be the case from what I have seen over the years. take care, deb
We don't have the black flies fortunately. Down here people do not even screen their porches, usually.
One thing I work on with the horses I ride is stabilization, that once you set a speed the horse keeps it until you say different, on contact, off contact, no matter what. I also brush up some on their voice commands. The way the MS affects my hands, I often drop a rein, and my horses usually keep the same speed, except for the super fast one, he I trained to slow down when I dropped the reins and went SHHHH.
Have fun riding.
Hi Not sure on Topnotcher, I would have to look that up, I was out of touch with racing and as such breeding since 1998. But Topnotcher was from my era as a stud and a race horse (or the horse I am familar with lol), and he might well have gone down under. The curb area is a problem for a lot of standardbreds mostly as you say because of the stress of racing, but also due to the track conditions, and the fact that they run in the winter (train, race). The tracks can be slippery. But mostly I would say that as far as pacers go horses put a lot of stress on the curb area more becuase of the lack of stiffle development-- this is a hard track/poor training issue... not an issue of breed. Trotter's also suffer from this due to the scattered motion that some of them have, but pacers seem more prone since they have the shuffle under themselves gait. And some like any other breed are just not made right, in these cases speed brings the conformation issues to the open.
As you have found this does not bother him, and if the curbs are not large or pronounced they were not likely what stopped him from racing... also a really curby horse would have trouble over fences, as you know weak rear ends/hind joints can cause a lot of trouble for collection and jumping in general. When looking at a stb, I am seldom troubled by curbs as long as they are tight, and the horse doesn't stand too much under himself... this goes for racing and for riding. I had a really good horse of ours that hurt himself on ice (as a three-year-old) years ago that I fixed the curbs on with cryo. Although an injury and not conformation, this could have finished him as they were really, really bad... but he went on to be a really good horse (raced until he was 10) and the curbs tightened up so well that they were only slight bumps. I like cryo so much I bought my own gun about 17 years ago! Anyway, off to bed... take care deb
Hi, I like the Nurturals too, I've got 4 of them and have gotten 5 others for the stables I ride at. While I do have a leather Dr. Cook's and like it all right it just seemed to me that the Nurtural was the most idiot-proof of the bunch. With my MS I can get really incapable in the heat, and I wanted something I wouldn't have to worry about messing up the horse.
The horses aren't mine, I don't have any horses any more. But I'll tell the ladies who own them and let me ride them that you like them. I like them too.
Yes, the one with MAT.
He sounds and looks real brainy.
It looks like Zuckie might appreciate a bigger brow band. I once rode a real brainy 14.3 hand Arab who took a Warmblood size browband, his bridle was cob cheeks, horse crown piece, and a Warmblood browband. At least your horse looks like he just needs the browband changed.
I like your horse.
Hi You are right, as long as both of you are happy it does not matter. Are the white hairs in the curb area? As this is very, very common on standardbreds trained for racing. It is usually fixed and does not trouble them again as long as their conformation isn't too seriously flawed, in your horses case this is not the case as he stands right from the pic I saw. I would know if it was pin fired or cryoed if I saw it (I am used to both methods and see a lot of them, now adays thankfully it is almost always cryo-- it is far less cruel and is far more succesful), but as it does not bother him it is likely an injury that they thought might, and that was repaired simply. Take care. deb
John Freeman's Comments
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Thank You John
If you ever have free time and would like to try something new please keep us in mind.
Again thank you and all the best in the saddle
John, awesome to hear from you. The whether down your way certainly sounds challenging but how great to know you still persevere. Yes, the riding for me continues in ernest and I swear I learn every moment that I am on Winchester. Yes, he is a school horse, but he is a wise old man, and his challenges to me have been a great education in learning how to 'learn' with him. I can't believe how much I enjoy this and live for the few precious moments I can get to the barn and we with my buddy. I hope to make it down your way some time in the Spring in order to attend a conference. I'll surely be checking out riding opportunities when I am there. Best to you and yours for the new year John. Chris
Thank You for your reply John
I am sorry you feel you and your mount are too weathered, I myself ride a 25 year old and one of our latest members is a bit older than yourself and just purchased a 22 year old that is trained to cowboy shooting. Also our president is in his 70’s and just last year trained a new young horse for this hobby.
All the best and if you or anyone you know would like to join in a saber charge, feel free to contact me.
Again Thank You
Gary Glaser
Mounted commander 9th NY Cavalry.
I came across your page , and if you would like to try something different with your horse or any member of your stable I wanted to introduce myself and my hobby. My name is Gary Glaser and I am the mounted commander of the 9th New York Cavalry and live in Binbrook, Ont. I belong to a group of equine enthusiasts that enjoy living historians and American civil war, we are the 9th NY cavalry. The Ninth New York Cavalry has been reactivated by ain the portrayal of the life of the Federal Horse Soldier. As a group, we participate in living history encampments, re-enactments, and giving informative lectures throughout the year in both Ontario and the U.S. Visit use on the web atwww.9thnycavalry.com .
I would like to forward you 2 you tube sites dealing with Civil War re enacting, , the first is well put together, and it is from this past year at a large event in Gettysburg, unfortunately none of our members were at this event, but do know a large number of the riders. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBCgFdTWLx4 The second one is a smaller event held at Upper Canada village, the 9th was the mounted cav. at this event, and this would be a typical small event .http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCx3Xkn9Wuc If you have any one in your stable that would interest in becoming involved in our group , do not hesitate to contact me at sgtgaryglaser@hotmail.com . We are not a stable and are not associated with any stable. We are a not for profit group. Thank You Gary Glaser
John, I just couldn't agree with you more! Thanks for being a 'friend'.
Best,
Chris
response inserted below
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Barnmice Equestrian Social Community <mail@barnmice.com>
To: Christopher Hyams <cbhyams@sbcglobal.net>
Sent: Wed, October 26, 2011 3:50:28 PM
Subject: John Freeman added a comment to your profile on Barnmice Equestrian Social Community
John Freeman added a comment to your profile on Barnmice Equestrian Social Community
------------
Hi Chris,
I am also glad we are in touch and I apologize that this message has been so long in coming. We just had my brother and his wife visiting from the UK so its been very hectic. Neither of them drives! No, not ever so they are completely dependent on us when they are here. It was a little easier when we lived in the city as they could take themselves out and about.
Actually, I don;t blame them. When I'm in England, I won't drive, sure that I'd be ticketed or killed on the wrong side of the road. But I must tell you that I, too, have been doing a bit of motoring about. I logged 310 miles in order to ride and instruct at 3 locations since 4:30am yesterday. Which did permit me to avoid the Baseball madness transpiring 40 blocks from my house here in St Louis City. WHen I arrived home, my neighbors told me they were awake all night, not participating in, but listening to the street celebrations that continued after the game until dawn. Although I did sleep well, in a client's guest room 90 mile north, pretty well whooped at this moment. But already looking forward to tomorrow's rides.
The best day of their visit (for me) was when I took them with me to visit the stud farm where my horse was born. The farm is in a beautiful area and so the drive itself was quite lovely, and the farm is spectacular - gorgeous pastures and the largest barn I've ever been in. They breed Hanoverians and Standardbreds and we met a group of absolutely gorgeous yearlings, one of which is sold to the UK and soon be be shipped there. Hmmmm, I wonder what you would get by crossing a trotting Standardbred with Hanoverian with a recent dose of Thoroughbred? Seems that if you really knew both gene pools well, you could nick one amazing dressage horse. Or, more likely a complete dud. Another, who is most likely UK bound also was the richest possible liver chestnut - a colour I've never seen on a Standardbred. 60 years ago Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds were bred in the Foxhunting country in which I was raised. And the breeders would hunt both the Thoroughbreds and Standardbreds after racing them. The country had lots of "cut and come agains" (giant multiflora rose hedges that were pruned and tied to make thick, thorny walls. Before I rode, I used to bicycle out to"hilltop" during school holiddays. It was an amazing spectacle!The owners were very welcoming, toured us around and then invited us into the house for coffee and apple fritters. My brother was super impressed as such a visit would not have been so warm in the UK...oh, maybe times and manners have changed in England, but when, on the way to Badminton in the late 80's, I had my driver stop at Goodwood that I might glimpse the Dressage Courts and Racecourse, her stable worker put me on the phone to Lady March, who instructed her Course Keeper to open the gate for me, and to then direct me to her office for tea! It was as if I had simply arrived at the appointed time of an invitation previously accepted. You bet I took another couple of hours to see Goodwood! I am next to raid my refrigerator, and don a cassock for a costume cocktail party which precedes the outbreak of Halloween street party tonight. Costume judging accompanied by live bands on a stage spanning an intersection two blocks from here.
OH, frm Nancy's I posted to DressageUnderground this morning. Let me know what you think about it, if you will, John.
More later, Chris - duty calls...
John
Hi, John.
You have opened many topics we may discuss, and while I have a few minutes between rides, start in.
It actually does surprise me that of 256 members of barnmice, only 7 joined your Men's group. But I am even more surprised that barnmice, an offshoot of Eurodressage, which touts a MILLION hits a day, has only 256 members. I would have thought more like 10% of that MILLION (if that is a real number) would be barnmice, and that 10% of barnmice would join a men's group. But I am also noticing that communication among my friends through other social networking channels has diminished recently. Instead they are simply posting photos, or GPS through those channels. Maybe they are texting each other, I am not, and I hope they are not. (Inspired by Steve Jobs, I am actually practicing my handwriting.)
I understand your frustration with being an only male in a 'barn aisle culture.' The stable in which my schoolmaster is kept has a barn aisle culture so offputting to me, I simply do not participate. I tend and exercise the horse daily, am focused on his well-being only, get in and out quickly. Visiting my clients as their instructor/rider/trainer at private and commercial equestrian facilities in this area, I arrive on time, provide services, and leave. No socializing. If someone wants to book my time, they can open an account.
I am not interested or involved local horse shows, in any way. My riding clients are adults, who like you, enjoy mature relationships with their horses and are rewarded by knowing they are progressing their own skills and horses' developments. We don't need ribbons, or the accompanying bullshit to know we are accomplished and are continuing to learn. If my clients have competitive urges, I encourage them to be subjected only to highly qualified judges at venues of commensurate quality...which is to spend a LOT of money beyond a horses needs and an engaging training program for horse and rider. You would probably think me, too, unfriendly, and unapproachable at a horse show. I am there only to earn my salt by serving my clients, that they achieve the highest possible test scores.
I envy you that you have time for trail riding. It is a pleasure, I agree. And I have been promising my schoolmaster a trailride soon. One morning I'll put him on the lorry and take him to a park. Unfortunately the yard in which he lives has no adjoining trails. He lives there because it is the nearest to my house in the city, and there is always good enough footing someplace onsite, either indoors or outdoors, so that I can exercise him before or after servicing a client site. He is an aged thoroughbred, whom I bought from his breeder after his racing phase, schooled for a year before showing him a short season of AA shows as a green hunter, then took another year to develop his dressage and cross-country abilities before completing 8 USEF Novice Horse Trials. And am now riding him only on the flat, and loving it. And he does, too, I am sure.
Gotta get going...rider ready for my attention. Glad we are in touch, Chris
I wrote 4 blogs just on the FS, Oct. 11,2009 "The Forward Seat Position for Slow Equitation", Oct. 18, 2009,"The Forward Seat Position for Fast Equitation", Oct. 25, "The Forward Seat Position for Jumping", all from Vladimir Littauer's books, and on Nov. 1, 2009 "32 Faults to Avoid While Jumping" from Jane Dillon's "Form Over Fences". Most of my blogs are about riding FS because that is the most secure way for me to ride even if I can no longer go fast or jump.
To find them, go to my page, and under the box with my avatar and some other stuff you will see BLOGS (50), click on this to go to my blogs and keep on going back in time until you hit them.
Very few people ride in the FS system any more, if you are interested in more go to the www.anrc.org site where there is more information.
Well, very few people ride forward seat EXCEPT in the air over jumps, even if current day riders ignore everything else in this excellent system of riding, they have never been able to deny that horses jump better when the rider gets off their back over the jump and when the rider allows them to stretch their head and neck as much as the horse needs to to jump safely.
Zuckie sounds delightful, but you already know that!!!
I now use my voice alot, ESPECIALLY when I ride a horse for the first time. Since my MS can really mess up my hands (tremors), I praise at the first sign of obedience so that the horse realizes that, yes, it was a command, and that he or she is such a clever horsie to figure it all out. Arabs, at least, love being praised, and I suspect that Zuckie might like it too. Due to the fact of all the confusing signals my body inadvertently gives I think it is very sharp of them to figure out which movement of my body to react to!
Your horse looks so HONEST!!! I think you may have a real gem there.
The Nurtural worked REALLY well on this horse, I could get a little stronger when I repeated my aids without upsetting him, and this horse upset real easily. It made the transition to good contact with the bit a lot easier, I'd introduce a new thing in the Nurtural, then change to the bit.
I have never cared what my doctors thought about me riding, for instance I rode all the way through both pregnancies, riding a few minutes the day before labor started. Luckily the MS doctors know riding is good therapy for us, but even if they didn't, I know its good for me.
Enjoy your rides. Your flies sound worse than our flies, though we do suffer from inch long buzz-bombers in the late summer.
His hocks from this photo look fine to me, I would think it was a wear and tear injury and likely wasn't what stopped him from racing, more likely 'maintanance work' if you will, to prevent a slight tear from becoming a bigger problem.
The winter hair is likely more due to his breeding, as some stb's have huge winter coats and are slow to shed, and some like my horse have almost no hair all year. I would think that your horse would also be hardier and take more abuse from virusus etc. than a horse like mine... it seems to be the case from what I have seen over the years. take care, deb
One thing I work on with the horses I ride is stabilization, that once you set a speed the horse keeps it until you say different, on contact, off contact, no matter what. I also brush up some on their voice commands. The way the MS affects my hands, I often drop a rein, and my horses usually keep the same speed, except for the super fast one, he I trained to slow down when I dropped the reins and went SHHHH.
Have fun riding.
As you have found this does not bother him, and if the curbs are not large or pronounced they were not likely what stopped him from racing... also a really curby horse would have trouble over fences, as you know weak rear ends/hind joints can cause a lot of trouble for collection and jumping in general. When looking at a stb, I am seldom troubled by curbs as long as they are tight, and the horse doesn't stand too much under himself... this goes for racing and for riding. I had a really good horse of ours that hurt himself on ice (as a three-year-old) years ago that I fixed the curbs on with cryo. Although an injury and not conformation, this could have finished him as they were really, really bad... but he went on to be a really good horse (raced until he was 10) and the curbs tightened up so well that they were only slight bumps. I like cryo so much I bought my own gun about 17 years ago! Anyway, off to bed... take care deb
The horses aren't mine, I don't have any horses any more. But I'll tell the ladies who own them and let me ride them that you like them. I like them too.
He sounds and looks real brainy.
It looks like Zuckie might appreciate a bigger brow band. I once rode a real brainy 14.3 hand Arab who took a Warmblood size browband, his bridle was cob cheeks, horse crown piece, and a Warmblood browband. At least your horse looks like he just needs the browband changed.
I like your horse.
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