# Hardest part of trail riding,,,,



## bubba13 (Jan 6, 2007)

Ur doin it wrong.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Going to the bathroom!
JK, but I've walked out of the woods COVERED in seed ticks, made for a miserable ride, forgot my duct tape! Did have my TP though!


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

I agree the hardest part is the ground. Biggest lesson I have learned, don't canter/gallop up a hill if there are gopher holes.... your horse WILL go down. Looking back it was pretty funny (mostly because we both came out fine) but my horse tripped in a gopher hole, fell and rolled onto me. How I got out of that one without a bruise, I have no clue. I felt so bad to my horse that I got off and hand walked her the 10 miles home.


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## Sahara (Jul 23, 2010)

Lugging around 300# for hours.


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Yeah, but did you pack your baby wipes? =/


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Corporal said:


> Yeah, but did you pack your baby wipes? =/


Those are for sissies! :rofl:


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## AQHSam (Nov 23, 2011)

The hardest part about trail riding.....


Getting to the trail! I don't have a trailer (or the truck to pull it) so I am at the mercy of local riding friends and their schedules!


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## Tianimalz (Jan 6, 2009)

LOL! 
The hardest part about trail riding (to me..); getting up early enough to get ready :lol:


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Remounting. The trail I usually ride at has _really_ nice mounting blocks that are just perfect for old, short, heavy people like me - I can just swing a leg over and slip into the saddle, no muss, no fuss, no straining for either me or my horse. Unfortunately, they are only at the trail head. The trails themselves are kept clear of debris, so there are no convenient tree stumps I can use. I tried using the side of a ravine...that turned out to be a disaster!


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## nuisance (Sep 8, 2011)

Dee, yesterday, i saw on one of the sites, posted in the tack section, about your favorite online tack shop. There was a portable mounting block. It was a little 3 legged stool, with a cord, step up, pull it up, collapse it, put in saddle bags! I thought...i need that... Lol


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## nuisance (Sep 8, 2011)

corporal said:


> yeah, but did you pack your baby wipes? =/





flygap said:


> those are for sissies! :rofl:


 
that's what all those leaves, bark, pine needles are for huh?! 



Not! Lol


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## Corporal (Jul 29, 2010)

Dee, better ditch-train your horse! LOL


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Hee,Hee!!
I pack my TP, bung fodder, crevice paper! I like a good scrubbin if I need it!
I have a t-shirt that my friends gave me: Roll of TP = Friend.....Ivy leaves = Foe
They got it for me after an incident, TRUE STORY! TMI I know.... 

Dee I was going to suggest that too, have a chain so you can pull it up when done, which it probably already has.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Sorry, I just had to!


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Dancer was a perfect angel when I tried to remount her from the ravine bank. The ground gave way - and I fell underneath her - right in front of about 20 people - talk about embarassing! I also broke my left foot and sprained my right knee. With so many people around, I didn't dare cry, although it hurt like H%[email protected]! 

The little step stools and mounting blocks you can buy are way to short for me - I'm only 5'1" on a good day, and Dancer is 15HH. Even if I were strong enough to climb up from using a too short mounting block, my stupid belly fat and humongous thighs get in the way! 

I did call my daughter this afternoon - I'm going to start on my New Year's resolution a little early. I've GOT to get this excess weight off - I really want to ride without worrying myself silly about hurting my horse!


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

FlyGap said:


> Sorry, I just had to!


I have a friend who didn't realize what leaves she was using to clean herself with one time. She spent nearly a month in the hospital between the poison ivy and the subsequent staph infection!


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## nuisance (Sep 8, 2011)

Easy-Mount


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

nuisance said:


> Easy-Mount


LOL, I could just IMAGINE what Cinny would do if I pulled one of those up off the ground by the cord while in the saddle....


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Cinnys Whinny said:


> LOL, I could just IMAGINE what Cinny would do if I pulled one of those up off the ground by the cord while in the saddle....


Dancer wouldn't care - she's pretty good about not being spooky or nervous (she never moved when I fell underneath her feet). Sadly, that little easy mount wouldn't work for me - it's way too short - I need a mounting block at least 36" high, and that's still a bit too short.


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## Cinnys Whinny (Apr 10, 2010)

Cinny isn't spooky persay... he just loves any reason to pretend to spook!


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

...the end of the trail! I want to keep going!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

getting in the parking lot an hour later than you planned and realizing there is not enough space for your truck and trailer there bc all the spots are taken by normal pedestrians who like to go running or dog walking :?


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

So True Kait 

In fact one of my favorites has been over run by the mountain bike crowd. There just never is a parking spot big enough for a horse trailer any more.

Hardest part is fnding friends willing to come along and fill saddles. I don't mind riding alone, But it is more fun to share the outing with others.


There are a few ladies that I taken for rides that feel some of the narrows I lead them through are Hard


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

Painted Horse, where is that? It looks awesome to ride.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

not killing the non-horsey idiots who honk the horn at you...I can always wish them a flat tire down the road.


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

seriously painted horse where are you riding??? i want to go with


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## Painted Horse (Dec 29, 2006)

San Rafael Swell area of Central Utah Close to Goblin Valley State Park










I enjoy exploring the slot canyons that Butch Cassidy and Wild Bunch used to travel









It's neat country to ride in the spring









If you don't like riding in the slots, You can always travel over the top and look at the crack in the earth


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## MyBoyPuck (Mar 27, 2009)

Remounting for sure. 16.2 horse. Luckily he's a saint about standing while I attempt to jump for my life from a low tree stump or rock. I swear he finds it entertaining to watch me try to get up there.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

DrumRunner said:


> not killing the non-horsey idiots who honk the horn at you...I can always wish them a flat tire down the road.


:evil: flat tire? :shock: that is too nice!!! :twisted: I prefer to wish they they will have bad &3x for a very long time :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


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## DrumRunner (Jan 26, 2011)

QOS said:


> :evil: flat tire? :shock: that is too nice!!! :twisted: I prefer to wish they they will have bad &3x for a very long time :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:


LOL Or that! My horses aren't scared of cars and won't do anything but I know tons of horses that will spook at a horn and it makes me SOO angry when people honk!


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## danastark (Jul 17, 2008)

.... being stuck behind slow horses on a narrow trail....... having someone in your group get bucked off and injured and your cellphone not working!!


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## MHFoundation Quarters (Feb 23, 2011)

Going home. I don't get to trail ride near enough, always hate when it's over.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Dana, my sister's name is Dana Stark!!! That is a hoot!


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## MySissyGirl (Dec 12, 2011)

Joe4d said:


> The ground :rofl:


So true!


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## MySissyGirl (Dec 12, 2011)

danastark said:


> .... being stuck behind slow horses on a narrow trail....... having someone in your group get bucked off and injured and your cellphone not working!!


My aunt lives in Riverside....her last name is Stark too


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## Kashmere (Nov 30, 2009)

That it's not my own horse!
Don't get me wrong, but I think it'd be a gorgeous experience to have with your own horse!

Also, not having your saddle being tight enough .. I slipped and fell right off!


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## kiwigirl (Sep 30, 2009)

There just never being enough time to trail ride the way I would like to!


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## kait18 (Oct 11, 2011)

i encountered a new one this weekend... not sure if anyone else has mentioned it before...

getting hit in the face with a branch you didn't even realize was infront of you while you were half frozen riding down a new trail... err let me tell you it hurt


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## SoBe (Dec 11, 2011)

Worse thing for me..... Spiders!! yuuuck! 

Those huge ones with the greenish yellowish looking spider webs... gross!










They just happen to be on every single trail multiple times!! That's why I like to ride in the winter!


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

Thats why I ride a short horse, and not first.


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## SoBe (Dec 11, 2011)

Joe4d said:


> Thats why I ride a short horse, and not first.


I use to make the boys go first. Then the boys moved off with their new wives and I'm left to fend for myself!

I usually carry a long stick with me. Only thing is.. gotta get a new stick every 5 minutes! haha!


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Throwing a front shoe, two hours from camp, three hours from town, on Memorial Day weekend! On a sissy horse who refused to be ridden without shoes. Then having to pay $300 for ONE shoe to a good good man who drove out to fix it cause he was the only one who would come out during the rodeos going on in two of the nearest towns. Especially when the shoes HAD JUST been put on prior to going out.
All mine now don't need shoes, hard feet are 1,000% necessary before I buy!


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

SoBe - ever hear of Spider Polo? We ride in a park that is loaded with "Banana Spiders" (Golden Orb is what they actually are) and they are HUGE and stretch across the trails and ugh...I got a head full of spider web and reached up with left hand to pull webs off, looked at my hand and a huge spider was dangling from it. GAAAAAA :shock: I didn't have my crop with me.

My other horse, Red, was better as turning on the haunches, turning on the forequarters and side passing than Biscuit it. If you horse is handy at that, get a crop and whap them out of the webs...PLUNK...on the ground. I am the Spider Polo chick of our group. I ended up one ride with a totally golden crop that was black! One spider was hanging on for dear life to my crop, I was swinging it back and forth to get spider off and omg, I flung it on my cousin, Kellie, who screamed like a girl and got spider guts on her. GAAAAA!!!!!! 

Now a friend of mine insists that if you just unhitch their webs on one side they WILL build up higher - high enough to ride under than through. Maybe that works...she says it does!


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## SoBe (Dec 11, 2011)

QOS good to know! I usually do just unattach their web from one side and watch them faaalll to the ground!  NASTY little boogers. and That is a Golden Orb up there and that is exatcly what they are on my trails. HUGE, nasty, ugly, annoying things. If I get one on me... everyone in a mile radius can probably hear me! 
I don't carry a crop, but I usually get a bamboo stick or something. 

I _usually_ can ride under them, but then I heard a horror story that one jumped off it's web onto a rider... that is scary! so I don't ride under them anymore. I make those suckers get out of my path!


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Ha! Ha!
I wish we had more of those big ones! You can spot them... Ours are evil looking small black ones with thorny backs. Usually only have one stranded webs that are about head height on horseback. So I try to send my hub in front but my gelding is the trail blazer so I'm usually going in front waving a stick in front of my face hollering "DIE MOTHA ......!!!!"
I think the noise helps keeps the bears at bay! Have yet to see one while riding 
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

hahaha that is too funny. There was a giant web in the back of the park that we counted 30 spiders in. OMG that is disgusting. Big ones and little ones. UGH.... Thank God it wasn't across the trail. My cousin and I have had a time riding with the spiders...I go first and sometimes Biscuit would refuse to go as he was more of a "follower". Hahaha.....I would get off and walk him forward whapping spiders. One ride I got off 6 times to remove spiders so they wouldn't get on Kellie and because Biscuit wasn't cooperating!


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

What's even worse is wearing glasses and spider webs. There's been plenty of times I've had to finish up a ride with webbing stuck to my lenses, hate it.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

Darrin said:


> What's even worse is wearing glasses and spider webs. There's been plenty of times I've had to finish up a ride with webbing stuck to my lenses, hate it.


Mosquito headnet?


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

mildot said:


> Mosquito headnet?


Unfortunatly no, those little ******s find out how to bite me no matter what I do. Guess it's due to all my sweetness.


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## mildot (Oct 18, 2011)

At least it would keep the webs off your face.


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

SoBe said:


> Worse thing for me..... Spiders!! yuuuck!
> 
> Those huge ones with the greenish yellowish looking spider webs... gross!
> 
> ...


Sounds like a good reason to ride in the back of the pack........


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## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

I also need a mounting block to mount now 
I never used to unless I was riding bareback


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## Brighteyes (Mar 8, 2009)

Hardest part? Not losing my mind when my horse starts trying to jig back home. :twisted:


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## Country Woman (Dec 14, 2011)

I see your point there


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## soenjer55 (Dec 4, 2011)

Getting lost comes second. I can't find my way out of a paper bag... much less a huge expanse of desert. Neither can my sisters or my mother (we're all blondes.) 

And my brother, who's the one with the fancy iPhone/GPS thing, doesn't ride horses...


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

soenjer55 said:


> Getting lost comes second. I can't find my way out of a paper bag... much less a huge expanse of desert. Neither can my sisters or my mother (we're all blondes.)
> 
> And my brother, who's the one with the fancy iPhone/GPS thing, doesn't ride horses...


Getting lost is what we like to do, lol. Usually we don't stay lost too long because we ride in the same general area.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Joe4d (Sep 1, 2011)

follow the foot prints back, or just turn around and ride a loose rein. Mine always seems to know where the trailer it.


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## BellaMFT (Nov 15, 2011)

I think the hardest part is not being able to control the people your friends bring along on the ride. Especially when they bring a woman who spends the entire ride screaming and yanking on the horse then gets bucked off and breaks her arm. The is drama queen and make the ambulance come get her.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Clothing malfunctions.
I was riding alone, dismounted to check my horses girth. In mid mount my horse heard a whinny and spun sending me on my backside. She took off towards home and when I got up my ENTIRE rear of my jeans was split and flapping open. I hauled after her, rounded a corner and there was a local heartthrob standing by the road holding my mare!! TMI would have to be included to state my underthings, or lack thereof!! He got an eyeful, but we did go on a few dates afterwards!!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

Looks like you planned that perfectly!


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

I think she did! The fact that he could catch her makes me wonder....
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## CCinSC (Dec 23, 2011)

Eventually the trail ends or I have to go home.


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

Flygap that is too funny - I am sure you were red faced for awhile. Good story though!!!


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## soenjer55 (Dec 4, 2011)

SoBe said:


> QOS good to know! I usually do just unattach their web from one side and watch them faaalll to the ground!  NASTY little boogers. and That is a Golden Orb up there and that is exatcly what they are on my trails. HUGE, nasty, ugly, annoying things. If I get one on me... everyone in a mile radius can probably hear me!
> I don't carry a crop, but I usually get a bamboo stick or something.
> 
> I _usually_ can ride under them, but then I heard a horror story that one jumped off it's web onto a rider... that is scary! so I don't ride under them anymore. I make those suckers get out of my path!


reading about these makes me sooo glad I live in AZ. Tarantulas can't get me when I'm on a horse... But it's the rattlers that make me nervous. Luckily horses sense them before it's dangerous. They know what to do.


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

soenjer55 said:


> reading about these makes me sooo glad I live in AZ. Tarantulas can't get me when I'm on a horse... But it's the rattlers that make me nervous. Luckily horses sense them before it's dangerous. They know what to do.


Not those like mine that we call valley horses. Not a single rattler in sight so they don't have a clue when we get around them. To my horses, it's just another garden snake. It goes to show how much of their behavior is learned from momma and other horses around them.


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## gunslinger (Sep 17, 2011)

We got our share or rattlers here in E. TN.

I read an article a few days ago that mentioned the most common place for a horse to get bit was on the muzzle which makes me think its more a matter of grazing than riding?

That said, we don't enjoy riding as much when the weather is hot.


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## PaintMare (Nov 23, 2011)

Used to be rivers for me and my horse....now she loves them! But now its bridges! And people in the metropark bridle trails lol


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## soenjer55 (Dec 4, 2011)

Darrin, that's interesting, because I've only run across a few horses that didn't know what the heck he was doing around a rattler-- I'm interested in finding out if that's a learned behavior now, because I always thought they just knew!


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## dee (Jul 30, 2009)

Horses tend to get bitten on the muzzle more often than any other place because they are curious about, rather than afraid of, the rattle snake. I've never seen a horse that reacted in a fearful way about _any_ snake. My little filly has been known to chase water moccasins down by our pond. (Now that is a nasty tempered snake!) I keep expecting to find her dead one morning from a snake bite, but so far she hasn't been bitten.

I've seen them walk so close to a rattler that there was barely half an inch between the horse's foot and the snake (I just knew my horse was a goner!).


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## Darrin (Jul 11, 2011)

soenjer55 said:


> Darrin, that's interesting, because I've only run across a few horses that didn't know what the heck he was doing around a rattler-- I'm interested in finding out if that's a learned behavior now, because I always thought they just knew!


Just my observation but would definatly say it's learned. Part of the state I'm in, finding a rattler is rare (there are a few). We go ride in central and eastern part of the state where we run across rattlers. Horses don't even flick an ear in their direction as the snake coils up and cranks up the rattles. Actually caught me by surprise the first time because I too was expecting them to shy out of the way.


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## usandpets (Jan 1, 2011)

We were riding in the western part of ND and had a rattler strike out between one of the horse's front and back legs. We were told that even if the horse had been bit that it wouldn't likely be fatal because of their size. It would just make them really sick. Also being bit by a young one is worse than an adult one because the young ones produce a stronger venom
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Elessar (Dec 28, 2011)

QOS said:


> ...the end of the trail! I want to keep going!


I'm new here, but this one struck a chord with me. I'm always ready to go.


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## FlyGap (Sep 25, 2011)

Do you mean rattlesnakes like these? Terrified of em! When we bought our new farm we had them EVERYWHERE! These we killed in the barn. The blonde female had a nest in the corner and the dark ones are the males coming to court her. I was in the barn WITH MY DAUGHTER feeding the new barn kittens (How they survived a week in there with them I'll never know!?!) and looked over and there she was! Snatched my kid out and hollered "HONEY GRAB YER GUN!!!" After we shot the female the males started swarming the barn to protect her and we picked em off! Threat to the livestock we say around here! Killed two more out in the pasture later, and hopefully will never encounter many more. Had a good friend who's kids horse got bit and they all but lost him. He only weighs 500 lbs. still and used to weigh 1,000. It was a terrible ordeal, but he made it through. He was bit while grazing. The only "good" thing about rattlers is that they at least give a warning. Some of our copperheads around here *were* around 4-6 ft. long and they are moody and bite for spite. I use a shovel on them!


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## QOS (Dec 8, 2008)

You go girl!!! Hubby is not a fan of snakes. They don't particularly bother me except the venomous ones...saw a colt that was snake bit on the leg. Ugh...nasty wound that I hope my horses never have to go through.


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## lubylol (Aug 8, 2011)

I'm glad I live in maryland!!! The only snakes I've *ever* seen were a garden snake or two in my yard. I'm glad none are around the horses. 

Sike, besides the pink bellies, I think they're harmless though c:
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## SueNH (Nov 7, 2011)

Something to be said about living in the frozen north. Eeek!


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## Celeste (Jul 3, 2011)

One of my clients lost a horse to a rattlesnake bite. It bit the horse on the neck and it died right away. I suspect that it hit the jugular vein or the carotid. The horse died before they could call me. Most horses do fine if they are bitten since they are so big. I rode up on a snake that raised up and rattled at my horse. She did a 180 degree turn and galloped uncontrollably for a mile. Pretty wild little ride.....


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## sapphiresrider (Dec 19, 2011)

The hardest part is ... coming home after a great ride!


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