# The Everyday Adventures of New Trail Riders



## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Decided to go ahead and start my journal today. Nothing new to share today, horsey-wise. Good news riding schedule-wise, though. I talked to the higher ups at work about me doing flex scheduling through the winter so that I can leave work during daylight to ride my horses and then come back after dark to finish up at work. They're fine with it whenever meetings etc don't get in the way. Wish I could ride today but we've got a bunch of stuff going on at work and I have to work all day and stay late. Maybe I'll take a whole day off next week to make up for it.

So these are my three horses. The white (cremello) quarter horse is Ona, the one I got started off with. Got scheistered into buying a 6 month old filly as my first horse. I didn't know any better. She'll be six in April and I've managed to spoil her. She's already been broke and had a lot of professional training but I managed to un-break her, so she's out for more training. The day we dropped her off for training we picked up the new guy, "Joe" (formerly known as TJ). He's an 18-yo Missouri Fox Trotter. He's the sorrel without a stripe. PJ is the sorrel quarter horse with the stripe. He's 18 or 19. Both PJ and Joe have tons of trail miles on them and were owned by long distance trail riders so I think they'll be great for hubby and I to learn on.

Ultimate dream: endurance riding, on Ona. Yea she's a quarter horse but she's my young one so . . . . hopefully it works out? Plan: Hubby and I to start trail riding with PJ and Joe, get them and us in shape and get better at riding. When Ona comes home she'll hopefully be easier for me to handle and I'll try to ride her every day, with hubby switching out between PJ and Joe and some nice long relaxing riding weekends with Joe and PJ. Build up to competitive trail riding and then maybe endurance.

Edited to add: We are no longer tying horses to the gate


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Looking forward to seeing your posts! I know this may have been said before but my hubby learned to ride by "riding" and had some not so great experiences. He started taking lessons a couple of years ago and LOVES it! If you could find a place to take lessons I think you and Ona will be on your way in no time.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

subbing to follow your adventures. I'm also a trail rider and fairly new.
Looking forward to your updates and pictures.
Martha


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Thanks Carshon! I have taken some lessons and I’m already enjoying riding much more after learning a few things. I definitely plan to take more lessons! Just got a big raise at work today and planning to put most of that toward horse related stuff every month


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

Congrats on the raise!


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## codyandelmer11 (Apr 15, 2016)

Beautiful horses! I to am more of a newbie. Married a guy that had been riding horses since he was ten and that’s how I finally got my own horse  My husband doesn’t ride anymore so I’m on my own. The palomino, Cody, I have is bomb proof and before him I rode my father in laws mare who was also bomb proof. I’ve “rode” for 10 years but only on super broke horses. So not to experienced with riding really. Nice to meet you!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

weedlady said:


> subbing to follow your adventures. I'm also a trail rider and fairly new.
> Looking forward to your updates and pictures.
> Martha





codyandelmer11 said:


> Beautiful horses! I to am more of a newbie. Married a guy that had been riding horses since he was ten and that’s how I finally got my own horse  My husband doesn’t ride anymore so I’m on my own. The palomino, Cody, I have is bomb proof and before him I rode my father in laws mare who was also bomb proof. I’ve “rode” for 10 years but only on super broke horses. So not to experienced with riding really. Nice to meet you!


I hope to hear about both of your adventures, too! Hopefully we can laugh and cry together - with lots more laughing than crying.

I was kind of excited about the prospect of going riding today at Shawnee Mission Park. It's supposed to be about 7 miles of pleasant, easy riding. The trail goes around the outside of the park. I'm learning not to ever get my hopes up too much when it comes to riding, because more often than not something goes wrong and we can't go. Today we absolutely could not find the designated parking area for horse trailers. We drove around and around that blasted park looking for trailer parking and I swear - I got claustrophobia seeing all the cars and thinking about how many people were in that park. I bet there were 1000 people there. Oh my goodness - city people don't have many choices of places to go to get "close to nature." They had hammocks strung up in trees right next to the park roads. I can't imagine going through the trouble to string up a hammock in a "nature" area that's less natural than our back yard LOL

We finally just gave up and came back home. I found out where the parking is and how to get on the trail and we'll try again on Tuesday. I just want to get used to riding the horses in a place that's not steep rocky hills and washouts. Hopefully it won't be so busy on a weekday because I imagine cyclists and disc golfers would be just as nervewracking as a more difficult trail would be. That's something the horses should probablyl get used to though.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

I always take my Honda Civic and find the trailer parking area before I take my truck and trailer. That way I can plan my route and know exactly where I'm going and that I can get in and out. If I didn't do that, I would be a nervous wreck.
Hope your ride on Tuesday goes well. Riding during the week is always better..fewer people, less traffic, more fun.


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## laffysapphy (Sep 25, 2017)

All three of your horses are gorgeous, I'm excited to follow this!


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## evilamc (Sep 22, 2011)

weedlady said:


> I always take my Honda Civic and find the trailer parking area before I take my truck and trailer. That way I can plan my route and know exactly where I'm going and that I can get in and out. If I didn't do that, I would be a nervous wreck.
> Hope your ride on Tuesday goes well. Riding during the week is always better..fewer people, less traffic, more fun.


Pfft thats what google maps and satellite view is for! I always check out where I'm going on google maps first LOL! Gives me a good idea of what I'm getting into parking wise.

Can't wait to read about your adventures!


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

evilamc said:


> Pfft thats what google maps and satellite view is for! I always check out where I'm going on google maps first LOL! Gives me a good idea of what I'm getting into parking wise.
> 
> Can't wait to read about your adventures!


^^ I am old and technologically challenged. :wink:


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Google Maps was no help with this one! Will have to check things out with the Prius in the future!


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## horseylover1_1 (Feb 13, 2008)

Subbing to read about your adventures. Btw, Ona is beautiful! I've always loved cremellos.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

horseylover1_1 said:


> Subbing to read about your adventures. Btw, Ona is beautiful! I've always loved cremellos.


Thanks! I feel that she's beautiful DESPITE being a cremello LOL. I'm not partial to them but fell in love with her when she was a baby. She was such a cute little affectionate curious thing.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Yay we did it. We loaded up both the geldings, found the trail parking and went for a great ride! Yes we accidentally ended up on the dog walking trail and rode into the dog park, but we met nice people! Hubby did get his face scratched by thorns but it gives him a nice rustic cowboy look. He rode Joe for the first time and loves him, and I love PJ. Hubby is sold on riding again ASAP


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Just three miles yesterday after the ten we rode on Sunday. PJ seemed a little more stubborn and I didn’t know if maybe he was a little sore. I picked 5 engorged ticks off him yesterday, 3 on Sunday. The vet said the risks of the Lyme vaccine outweigh the benefits so I didn’t get it for hIm. I hope that was the best decision.

Hubby is having a blast and is addicted. He’s planning to ride Joe while I’m at work tomorrow. Joe gaited more for him yesterday which of course meant more trotting and cantering on PJ. I do not like cantering on PJ yet. The transition from trot to canter scares me. I’m afraid I will get bounced off. Joe cantered a little and of course it was super smooth.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We had such a fun ride today. Still only went 5 miles, but did more hills and went a little faster. The horses were more energetic and wanted to go faster today so we went with it. We put Joe (the foxtrotter) in front of PJ (quarter horse) so that picked up the average pace a bit. I was a little scared when PJ decided he wanted to gallop full speed up a couple of steep hills but I figured I'd just go with it and learn how to ride better. I didn't fall off and I guess it can't get much rougher than that so I'll be OK on him no matter what, hopefully. Both horses jumped a ditch and nobody fell off. Joe did quite a bit of cantering and DH enjoyed it. By the end of the ride I noticed I wasn't holdng onto anything when he was going at a fst trot, there wasn't much weight in my stirrups, and I was hving fun and not feeling like I was going to fall off. So I guess that means I'm balancing better.

Ona will be coming back either the 26th or New Years Day. I must confess I'm not really that excited about her coming home. It's been kind of nice without her. PJ and Joe aren't the slightest bit buddy sour and there's no drama at all. Now she's going to be back and I hope she and PJ don't get as sour as they were before, and that PJ and Joe won't start fighting. Plus once she gets back I'll have to ride her to keep her from getting unbroke again . . . . and the days are so short and we can already only go riding twice week . . . . ugh. I've enjoyed riding without being afraid.


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## mmshiro (May 3, 2017)

newtrailriders said:


> I didn't fall off and I guess it can't get much rougher than that so I'll be OK on him no matter what, hopefully.


It's those sudden lateral moves you need to watch out for, like when there is a discoloration in the ground. I have had a mule going around a patch of differently colored grass once...at the canter. There is also a dirt road that got washed out during the rain storms this year, so while the horse is finding the best way to get up, you get the one or other left-right-left hop...in mid-canter.

Horses can also stop surprisingly quickly, like when you get around a turn and there is some brushwork blocking the trail. 

Jussayin...


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

I love how honest you were in your description about Ona coming back. Do you think the people who have been working with her, or your friend who got you in touch with them, could help you find a new home for her? I totally understand what you mean about finding riding fun when it's not scary! So why put yourself back in that place?


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@newtrailriders so exciting to hear of your new adventures and love for riding. Not bashing here but maybe Ona should find a new home so you can continue to work on your riding skills and become more comfortable. Having a mare around 2 geldings can be the issue as even though they are geldings they still have male hormones and 1 wants to "have the woman"

I know this all too well as I had 1 gelding with 3 mares and he was a nightmare if anyone got near his girls when we were out riding.


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I currently have 1 mare and two geldings and I'm the only one who rides - so, although the one I'm riding usually doesn't give me too much of a fight going out, the two remaining home have fits, especially if I take out the mare.

And I completely understand you loving Ona but also having misgivings about bringing her home. And it isn't all just about the sourness that might ensure in the herd. Having a horse you are comfortable with riding and enjoying but having the responsibility of riding the green horse is not something I'd encourage in a relatively new rider. Stay with the comfortable one. Don't feel guilty if you decide to rehome her. You, and she, need to be with partners you can trust and learn with.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

My first mare was very spooky and I never was able to relax riding her. I could ride her past something like the garbage can 1000 times and every time she saw it she acted like it was going to jump out and kill her and would react violently. (Note she was 12 years old so it wasn't a green horse problem, this was just her personality) I ended up breaking my collar bone this summer and I realized that I wanted to have a horse I could enjoy riding and it wasn't worth keeping her if it was "work" to ride her. I felt guilty like I was giving up and that I would never be able to handle a challenge but I decided it was more worth it to enjoy my horses. I sold her back to her old owners who love her and I got the worlds most mellow 7 year old Foundation Bred Quarter Horse who reminded me how fun it is to ride. 

I decided I wanted to do more long distance and competitive riding and my big muscled quarter horse wasn't going to be great at that so I ended up with a 3 year old Fox Trotter who I adore (I still have my quarter horse too, we're going to try out cattle sorting this summer). My husband told me he's never seen me ride her without a giant smile. She's still go a lot of learning to do (so do I!) but we have fun together.

It's not worth keeping a horse you dread riding, especially when you're starting out. Don't feel guilty about finding Ona a new home!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

You all are awesome. Seriously.

@mmshiro Gee thanks for the reassurance LOL I guess the faster we go, the more likely it is I'll get to experience some of those exciting lateral moves.

@egrogan, @carshon, @Change, @QueenofFrance08, Thank you all so much for the reassurance and for helping me to not feel too guilty (hopefully) if I do rehome her. I just have this terrible sense of obligation - like, I did a very stupid thing by getting a 6 month old as my first horse. I was warned I would ruin her but thought if I just put enough time and $ into making sure she got the proper training and taking lessons myself etc. that I'd be able to make it work. By the time I find a new home for her I will have had her for SIX YEARS, none of which I have been able to spend riding her. I've put thousands in to training!!!

She does well for experienced people and she's just truly gorgeous - the most perfect conformation - she's truly stunning. Her movement is absolutely gorgeous. Super smooth trot and canter....not that I've ever got to canter on her, but trainers grin ear to ear on her. She's going to come back buggy trained, and I guess she hasn't reared or given the people training her any problems. They said her only problem is she's lazy. She'd be a great Western Pleasure horse. I bet you she'd win right and left. My farrier does the Christmas buggy rides here in town and also at the Plaza in Kansas City....she'd look so nice pulling a Christmas carriage.....maybe I could get him to take her.

Honestly - I would GIVE her to someone if I knew for sure she'd never be sold to a bad home. I have terrible visions of her being mistreated and feel like it would be my fault if she went somewhere and was abused. But then the logical side of my brain tells me that PJ or Joe also could have ended up in bad hands if I hadn't bought them. When I get more experience and feel comfortable with a faster horse and if I ever do make it to the point where I could do endurance, I'll need an arab or something gaited.....maybe a nice young foxtrotter like you got, @QueenofFrance08! Whatever horse I end up with, I will give it a good home so why not give a good home to one I can enjoy?


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ugh. I am not looking forward to this year of horse riding. At all. What have I done? Why do we have 3 horses and a pony? Why did I get my husband into riding? Now he loves his horse and OMG we're stuck.

Ona is coming back from the Amish tomorrow. Thursday PJ (Mr. Calm, Quiet, and Gentle Old Gelding) threw me up in the air and somehow kicked me before I hit the ground. You should see the bruise - definitely the biggest bruise I've ever had in my life. And I still hurt all over.

I have ZERO horse sense! And somehow my husband has even less than zero horse sense! And we have horses and we spent all that money on tack and trailers and trucks - just to get killed?!

What have I done what have I done what have I done?!!!!!!!!

So I'm looking back at Thursday and why does it have to take hindsight to see what a stupid decision we made? Why didn't we know better? When my husband made the suggestion, this teeny tiny little voice in my head very briefly said "Ummmmmm....uuuhhhh." It was a tiny little voice and I paid it no mind. And I just smiled and saddled up PJ while DH saddled up Joe, to ride in the pasture with that little Shetland hussie running loose. I don't think I even need to tell you all what happened - because you all have horse sense. Which I have none of. None. 

And now Ona is coming back and we're going to have TWO mares in the pasture. Yeah she's broke - for now. Until I look at her and she becomes magically unbroken just because of my horse senseless presence.

Hi again by the way. I know I disappeared from the forum all winter. I got a new job as director of nursing and wasn't doing any riding....and now I have an assistant and I'll have more time to get killed....


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Well, she's back. They rode her every day for 3 months and they say she crosses water fine and never gave them any trouble at all, riding. They tried to train her to drive, though, and she just layed on the ground and threw a tantrum. They were afraid she'd get hurt so they didn't push it. She gets hurt very easily. Ms Accident Prone. She did cut her right rear foot 3 weeks ago, they said. It must have been a heck of a cut because it's still pretty swollen but she's getting around fine. She lost a little weight but I don't think she looks bad at all. I love this video I took when she got home. She really prances around.
http://https://drive.google.com/fil...b1RiXzJETGNBSnJScWVoODZhWUxF/view?usp=sharing

https://www.facebook.com/stacey.bichelmeyeranderson/videos/10203905695878158/


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I am going to comment on your post from Feb 18 - and I am going to say please don't take this personally although I know that is impossible. 

It is time to find Ona a new home and a new home for your darling pony. Not because you do not have Horse Sense - but because it will make life with horses a lot less stressful. You have found out (the hard way) why a lot of boarding facilities have geldings and mares in separate pens. 

You have done a lot of the right things in getting 2 fairly mellow geldings. Those 2 will be great partners for you and your husband, but the extra horses that need work will be a frustration and a distraction.

I am saying all of this from experience - I grew up with horses but married a "city boy" and paired him with the wrong horse many times and ended up with a herd that was not compatible or enjoyable for any of us. Once we made some hard (and realistic) decisions and wittled our herd down to the best matches for us things bloomed for my husband and I and our riding. We are now riding a few times a week and really enjoying ourselves. The stress of the "herd boss" acting up , the mare being sassy and moody and the herd bound idiot are gone.

Find your joy with the horses again. You deserve it.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> I am going to comment on your post from Feb 18 - and I am going to say please don't take this personally although I know that is impossible.
> 
> It is time to find Ona a new home and a new home for your darling pony. Not because you do not have Horse Sense - but because it will make life with horses a lot less stressful. You have found out (the hard way) why a lot of boarding facilities have geldings and mares in separate pens.
> 
> ...


I do believe you are right. 

It's going to take some time, of course, to find good homes. Especially since the little pony officially isn't ours - she belongs to my parents next door and they have to be in agreement before we rehome her.

Today is the first day I'm going to have any time at all with the horses since Ona came home. Hubby has been doing the horse chores. He says she's at the bottom of the herd right now. It's cold and wet and nasty. I was considering taking her for a ride anyway - she hasn't become barn sour or herd bound again yet. She was ridden every day for 90 days so I'm hoping she's broke. She's got special shoes on (borium, is it?) that the Amish use for the horses they ride daily in the winter. My farrier says they make it better for riding on wet or slippery roads. I'm just thinking of putting my hitair vest and helmet on and going up and down our road a few times. Maybe if everything goes OK I'll ride her a little further.

So with this mare and gelding bad herd mix - will our boys still do OK trail riding away from home with the girls at home? Or maybe take out Ona with one of the geldings?


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> @*newtrailriders* so exciting to hear of your new adventures and love for riding. Not bashing here but maybe Ona should find a new home so you can continue to work on your riding skills and become more comfortable. Having a mare around 2 geldings can be the issue as even though they are geldings they still have male hormones and 1 wants to "have the woman"
> 
> I know this all too well as I had 1 gelding with 3 mares and he was a nightmare if anyone got near his girls when we were out riding.


Carshon you posted this a while back and IDK why I just saw it. Maybe I read it but it didn't sink in until I'd "been there, done that."

So - I'm just wondering if you could give me a little bit more info on how this works with geldings and mares. My husband would really like to keep all the horses but put the mares and geldings in separate pastures. IDK if this would work out or not and the rational part of my brain is saying that it would be better to just go ahead and rehome Ona, at least temporarily. She's got the conformation and movement and bloodlines to be a great broodmare and my friend would like a foal from her so maybe we could temporarily rehome her and board one of his geldings.....but now I've got off track.

IF we decided to keep Ona and the pony (which I'd rather not do), would 12 feet between pastures, the girls in one pasture and the boys in the other, work? If Ona stays broke, I'd kind of like to be able to use her as she's young and has a few years left on her. Plus I'm attached to her and not in a huge hurry to make her my main ride.

We've got the two geldings, PJ the quarter horse "herd boss," and the low man on the totem pole, the foxtrotter Joe. Joe does not fight PJ for the girls. It sounds like it would not EVER be safe to ride PJ and Ona together on a group trail ride but what about Ona and Joe? And would this continue to be an issue if they were in separate pastures? How long would they have to be in separate pastures before PJ stopped thinking Ona belonged to him?

Please tell me if my line of thinking is rational - I'm thinking we'll continue to take PJ and Joe out for long trail rides until we get more experienced. PJ slows Joe down and Joe speeds PJ up which is a good thing because it gets PJ nice and fit. My previous plan was to then start riding PJ and Ona together - maybe we could still do this, just not in groups. Ona's younger and fitter and PJ would keep her somewhat slowed down until I got used to riding her. Then in a year or two we'd start riding Ona on the long trail rides with Joe? For faster longer trail rides....then when PJ and Joe are too old for the long trail rides Ona will be broke in nicely and ready to go for my ultimate dream of using her for endurance (not to win of course).


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## Change (Jul 19, 2014)

I have a mare and a gelding pastured together, and I'm the only one who rides. Whichever horse I ride, the other pitches a fit, neighing and pacing around in the field until we return. If I'm on the gelding, he'll whinny once in awhile but seems to like to go out exploring. He doesn't fight if I turn away from homeward trails, although he might slow down for a bit. He's 5 and only has about 65 lifetime miles.

The mare? She's the best trail horse ever, if you're riding through tough areas, over downed trees, etc. She's fairly easy going out, and steady alongside busy highways. She doesn't even flinch at the semis or a dozen loud Harleys passing by. But get her close to home and then turn away again, and the fight is on. She's 10 years old and has hundreds of miles under her hooves. 

I've taken the two out together - ponying one, riding one - and they're fine. 

The other gelding I had here was only temporary, and kept separate from my two. Both of mine would fuss as I rode the other out, but would quickly settle once we were out of sight. The temporary boy never gave me any trouble heading out or returning. If I were to have kept him, I probably would have chosen to separate my mare from the boys. 

I've not had the chance to ride with anyone else on my gelding, and I only got to ride out with the temp. gelding and my mare once. She showed a little attitude at first, then just settled. He didn't act any different than when ridden alone. Some horses don't mind, others do.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@Change I think the difference between your experience with a mare and a gelding is different because of your horse experience

@newtrailrider is new to horses and already had some confidence shaking experiences.

I would not say you can "never" ride Ona with the top gelding or the other gelding but it really depends on where you are riding. I am a life long rider and my gelding did not like anyone between his "girls" and him when we rode in large groups. Did we do it - yes - was it fun - no. And because we did not do it enough it was always a challenge. So much so that I got bucked off once on a group trail ride and he rushed at a gelding that was unfortunate to stand by one of "his" mares after I was tossed. At that point in time I said never again- not because I could get hurt but because someone else could get hurt. We could ride and pass other horses on the trail with no issues at all. We could ride on an organized ride if we stuck together and no one got between us. If someone did my gelding would toss his head, get rushy and eventually buck. And I know everyone says do circles, do this do that - but I live in NW IL and our organized rides are up and down ravines on single file trails and circles are not always possible and switching places in line is not always easy either.

For a new horse owner/rider I would say that being harshly practical (selling/rehoming the least compatible horse) is the best advice any one can give you. Will it be hard? Yes, is there a home out there for her? Yes, one that will ride her and help her to mature into the best horse she can be. 90 days of training can be undone - are you willing to send her out for training every year until your riding skill matches her needs? She is young and green - you are new to horses. As much as you love her she may not be the best fit for you at this time in your riding life.

Can you keep them all - sure - set up separate pens? Yep- I have 4 pens. Can they still get attached? yes- It may be better if you trailer off of the property to ride but riding at home may be more difficult.

I am sorry to sound harsh but there is a reason for that old saying "Green on Green = Black and Blue"


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

There was an article in Equus magazine about mares and geldings together. The article said that the most untenable combination was two geldings and a mare together in one pasture. Unfortunately, the article came out AFTER I had gotten another gelding to put in with my mare and gelding (who got along just fine).

Having two geldings and a mare in one pasture was not a good situation for me. The Equus article said that it (of course) depends on the mares and geldings, and it CAN work, but often does not. In my case, it did not. We could ride the horses together in any combination, but out in the pasture, the geldings fought over the mare. They often would not let me catch the mare. They would herd her away when I would try to halter her. It was ugly.

Only a few months later, the mare died of colic, and when I finally decided to get another horse, I thought I could only look at geldings. Currently I have two mares and two geldings in our pasture, and they get along just fine . . . and we ride them in every combination you can imagine. Equus said two mares and two geldings would be OK, as well as two mares and a gelding.

I think putting your horses in separate pastures would solve your problems if you wanted to keep Ona. It kind of just depends on the horse. I have two geldings and a mare in a sacrifice pen temporarily, and they are doing fine. Mainly because the mare does not like geldings and ignores them. Some manage it well, others not.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Yesterday I was working in the garden, which is right next to the pasture. The horses were all curious and came over by me to hang out, so I got to watch some of the "herd dynamics." I think I learned a few things about horse language. PJ had to keep himself between me and "his" girls all the time. If they came near me he drove them away, then he stood there with one eye on me. So I just looked him in the eye until he looked away a few times, then stood up and used body language to move him away from me. Ona kept nickering to me for some attention so I went and opened the gate to let her into the work area and he tried to cut her off. I drove him away from her and let her in, and left him out in the pasture. She stood untied, as still as a statue, while I groomed her head to toe. She was so relaxed and enjoyed it thoroughly, then I fed her and let her out. I guess I don't have to ride her to enjoy her - there's no hurry to find her a home. I can keep riding PJ until I get my confidence up and just stay off of her until I know that I won't let her get away with anything.

The farrier came today. I brought Ona, Joe, and Honey the Pony into the work area and left PJ outside to be trimmed, since PJ thinks he's the boss now. PJ was not at all happy when we tied Honey far away from him, so we kept her tied until he calmed down. She's a bit of a brat and very hard to catch so I worked on training her to catch me today. She had to come to me if she wanted grain, and she could only have a bite if she let me touch her halter. I think she'll be a lot of fun.

I took some pictures for fun. The farrier had a heck of a time getting those Amish shoes off of Ona. They really know how to make a shoe stay on. I had him leave them off - I have front boots for her. I'm also not going to shoe PJ anymore and just ordered him some boots. Joe got shoes, as he's always been shoed - but he's next for boots. Honey's hooves were a mess, her former owners couldn't catch her to shoe her. We didn't have much trouble.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I had fun playing with the pony today, trying to teach her to be caught. At feeding time I tied up the 3 horses and fed them inside the pen and then went out in the pasture and sat on a stool with some feed and hand-fed the pony a bite whenever she let me touch her halter, or if she reached out and touched the clip on the lead rope. We didn't get any further than we got the other day but it was fun and let me feel like I was doing something with the horses. It's too cold and windy to ride.

I don't like leaving the halter on Honey, and as soon as she starts letting me hook up her lead rope I'll take the halter off and start training her to put her nose in it.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We took PJ and Joe for a short ride down the road today - only about 2 miles. It was PJ's first time wearing his new boots (Cavallo Simple Boots) and they worked out great - no more pain walking on gravel. We had no problem whatsoever getting the boys to leave the girls behind in the pasture, and they behaved fine for us. Our little horse family is settling in nicely and I no longer feel pressured to give up Ona. I will trail ride PJ for now and only ride Ona for lessons until I get more confidence. She's got plenty of years left on her and we have time to take things as slowly as we need to take them.

I'm so excited about those boots. They're just so easy to put on and off and he took to them right away, no problem. Ona already has a pair and I did ride her a couple times in them but she was going through her "I'm not broke" stage then. I'm thinking about getting some for Joe, too. 

One thing I noticed about Joes hooves is that his frogs have grown to touch the ground with shoes on. So I'm wondering if his frogs will be painful when we transition to barefoot.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I'm sitting here drinking my coffee and wondering how much I'll get accomplished today. So many plans - so little motivation LOL. I need to get my potatoes planted soon and transplant my strawberries, and would really like to ride.

I have all these dreams of eventual endurance riding - and this job....... I accepted the Director of Nursing 2 months ago and I'm seriously hoping I won't have to do it for long. It takes so much of my time that I only have time to ride on weekends now and I'm on call every 3rd weekend. My mom is a resident at the nursing home where I'm director, and I can't leave this position while she's there. It was all we could do to get her to accept nursing home placement and she only agreed to it because I'm there. She's absolutely not capable of taking care of herself and it's impossible for one person to take care of her. My sister was her primary caregiver and my sister just got diagnosed with cervical cancer. My brother, who is an addict, had got clean for well over a year and we think he's using again. I love him to pieces. He has a very soft heart and my sister has always been like a mother to him. I think he started using again when she got diagnosed......

So I guess I'll just take my horsey time where I can get it for now, and be grateful for the time I get. Mom doesn't have much time left and the nursing home is going through a lot of stuff right now, and my poor family..... I just thank God for these horses because they're my sanity right now. When things get bad I can go spend time with them and everything gets easier.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Can't "like" your post, but I can sympathize. You've got a lot on your plate to deal with. Hoping things get better for you soon. 

Horses help me maintain my sanity,


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I got off of work in time for a ride today woohoo. Boy were the horses spooky! There's a corner where a new house is being built right across the street from a place that has a bunch of pet potbelly pigs. I guess the piles of dirt and the pigs were just too much for PJ and Joe LOL.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Some fire trucks went past a couple of hours ago - apparently there was a fire at the corner where the horses were spooking. Maybe they knew something we didn't know.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Once again, I got off work in time for a ride . I love daylight savings time. We just went our regular route but a little further this time. It was maybe 3 miles round trip. The horses weren't nearly as spooky this time but when we got to "scary corner," both horses planted their feet and refused to budge as a very strange kid came out of the place that has all the pet pigs. He had to have been at least 10 years old and he stood at the fence and barked at the horses for a very long time. Of course his dog was standing there barking too, getting fiercer and fiercer looking. I had to get off PJ and walk him past the barkers. I didn't think I was ever going to get him to walk past. I got back on and went a little further and they balked at a black trash bag sitting by the side of the road but at least I didn't have to get off. No spooks. We waited until they were behaving themselves a little further down the road and then decided to stop while we were ahead.

When we got home I saw that PJ's boot had given him a sore so I sprayed some vetericin on it and I'm getting ready to order him some pastern wraps. The boots seem a tad loose on him. They don't rotate but they'll probably be more comfortable with pastern wraps. We tried them on Joe and they do fit Joe, so if they don't work out they won't go to waste.

Ona gave me a nice big hug when we got back. The pony is getting more friendly. We love our little horsey family.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I got PJ a swayback pad. It seems to be keeping the saddle more level and up off his shoulders. I put my fingers under the front of the tree while we were riding and it did not feel like his shoulders were going under the tree at all. These pics are before and after a short ride and the last one was taken a few months ago after riding in that saddle and a regular pad. My husband actually rode Ona today for a very short ride. During the ride a lady slowed down in her truck to talk to us. She asked if we'd been out riding yesterday and apologized for her grandson barking at us. She said she was trying to "break him of that," but not having much luck. What can you say? I just said "Oh, that's OK. Don't worry about it."......awkward......


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Oh - also, the pony let me catch her today


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I was kind of hoping someone might see the pics of the saddle and tell me whether or not it looks alright.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I am going to make a couple of comments on the saddle.

1. It still looks downhill to me in the front. I had a sway backed mare and had a sway pack pad (Cavallo) and still had to go to the fabric store and buy memory foam and put it under the seat of the saddle. (not the shoulders)

2. If you plan on riding in this saddle you need stirrup hobbles. Not having hobbles can be dangerous for you and the horse. These keep your stirrups from sliding "up" the fender. You need this especially with cloth fenders.

My mare had lordosis from being a brood mare and having come from a neglect situation where they bred her yearly and underfed her. We did belly lift stretches that did help her top line some. I would suggest you look for "belly lift" stretches for horses on youtube. They really do help the topline.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> I am going to make a couple of comments on the saddle.
> 
> 1. It still looks downhill to me in the front. I had a sway backed mare and had a sway pack pad (Cavallo) and still had to go to the fabric store and buy memory foam and put it under the seat of the saddle. (not the shoulders)
> 
> ...


Thank you, Carshon. What shape did you cut the memory foam into and where exactly did you place it? 

I will order hobbles (yay one more thing to buy I love shopping) and maybe while I'm at it I'll get black stirrups. Excuse my ignorance but how can stirrups slide up and what's the danger in it?

I have had "better" saddles - leather, more expensive etc. but I do like using this one because it's lightweight and actually seems to fit better. I don't think it will last long - when it wears out maybe I'll get one of the Abettas.

I watched two videos on belly lift exercises. Neither of them told home many repititions to do of the stretches.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Actually, maybe I should get some suggestions from members on what type of LIGHTWEIGHT saddle I can get that would work for him.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

The pony let me catch her very quickly today and I was able to tie her and feed her. While she was tied, eating, I walked toward her with a brush and she turned to kick me so we're going to work on that. I haven't taken her halter off yet because I wouldn't be able to get it back on. I'm going to start having her put her nose in another halter for treats and once she'll let me put it on, I'll finally be able to take hers off. Once she's caught, she leads well.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

If you are riding with no hobbles on your stirrups and your stirrup slides up your foot can go between the fender and the straps in the back. Hobbles also give your stirrups more stability.

Not to be a Debbie Downer but I had a saddle fitter tell me in no uncertain terms that the Cordura saddles were terrible for my horses back. I don't know anything about the brand of your saddle but if you have a fitter in your area out - they can check it out. Something about the fiberglass trees flexing over time etc. That being said my daughter has a Fabtron cordura saddle and her mare always rode really well in it!

Glad the pony is behaving. They can be real stinkers. We had one growing up that learned to crawl under our fence (our goat taught her that) and would terrorize the neighbors dogs.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> If you are riding with no hobbles on your stirrups and your stirrup slides up your foot can go between the fender and the straps in the back. Hobbles also give your stirrups more stability.
> 
> Not to be a Debbie Downer but I had a saddle fitter tell me in no uncertain terms that the Cordura saddles were terrible for my horses back. I don't know anything about the brand of your saddle but if you have a fitter in your area out - they can check it out. Something about the fiberglass trees flexing over time etc. That being said my daughter has a Fabtron cordura saddle and her mare always rode really well in it!
> 
> Glad the pony is behaving. They can be real stinkers. We had one growing up that learned to crawl under our fence (our goat taught her that) and would terrorize the neighbors dogs.


That is a cheaply-made cordura saddle. I bought my husband one by Big Horn and it sure does seem nice.....might have to get one of those. I'll see how it goes. 

Thanks for the clarification on the hobbles. Mine arrived in the mail and I have them sitting here with my new stirrups. 

That is hilarious about your pony. I'd like to see her crawling under the fence! Mine is getting easier to catch and I finally removed her halter yesterday. She sure is mean to Ona, though. Ona doesn't know she's bigger than the pony. The pony kicks the crap out of her.


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## bsms (Dec 31, 2010)

I've never tried to fit a swayback horse, so I cannot offer advice there. However, I just switched my horse from an $1800 semi-custom leather saddle to the bottom-of-the-line Abetta. I haven't had the time to go out on a 2+ hour ride yet, but based on the short rides I've gotten in, I plan on selling my two good leather saddles.

Ralide trees used in Big Horn, Fabtron & Abetta saddles (and many others) are strong enough:






However, I've read they won't hold a screw as well. Some comments from my journal as I've been trying out the Abetta:



bsms said:


> ...Got a 15 minute ride in this morning. It was about 30 degrees colder than the other day and the wind was still blowing, but a ride before church seemed like my best bet - however short.
> 
> Forgot to take out the cleaning brushes, but I knew I'd be lucky to get in a 20 minute ride and Bandit was relatively clean. Still, he hopped sideways twice in the 3-4 minutes it took to saddle him up. Once for someone walking their German Shepherd past, and once for...????? But I certainly didn't have time to lunge him, nor would I choose to do so anyways.
> 
> ...





bsms said:


> ...I think this Abetta is going to be my saddle for life. I'm a saddle snob, but this $400 saddle is the first western saddle that just lets my leg flow around my horse. The seat is grippy, I can feel my leg beside my horse, and it just fits my butt. You cannot get more low-brow in a saddle. And I've never felt more comfortable and secure.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I had previously ridden him a number of times in our 15" Abetta, which is a little too small for me. With it, I used the front half of a Wintec foam pad to lift the front:








​ 
I've tried it once with the 16" saddle, and several times without. Still debating if it is better for Bandit with or without.

Good luck with your saddle search. It is always hard to find what really works best for you and your horse. But I wouldn't feel a need to avoid cordura saddles. My new one is 23 inches long, which is 2.5" shorter than my shortest leather one - and a smaller footprint might make it easier to fit your horse's back. We've had the 15" one for years. It has plenty of hours on it, and no sign it ever harmed any of our horses.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We've been back in the saddles the past two days and loving it. I was wondering if we'd ever get to ride again! My mom came to live at the nursing home where I work and I got to enjoy 3 weeks with her before she passed away. My sister got diagnosed with cervical cancer and had a hysterectomy. Thank goodness it looks like they got all the cancer and she won't need more treatment. Work got super busy. We had three graduations to attend and buy for. Two of them were in the UP, almost 800 miles away, so we had to take a UP vacation. Our tow vehicle broke down and we had to put $4000 into repairs. We couldn't get it back before we went up North so couldn't bring the horses with us. 



It felt like an absolute miracle when we were finally able to get back out with the horses! Yesterday we went to a despooking and parade certification clinic just to go. The boys did great, went through all of the scary obstacles without either of them spooking even once. So today we took them to a trail we haven't been to before and absolutely loved it. They behaved great. There's a beautiful horse campground at the trailhead and 35 miles of trails so now we know where we're going to be every free weekend until winter.


Joe is pretty forward and with him being gaited PJ has to work hard to keep up when Joe's in front. That should get PJ into shape quickly.


Poor Ona looked so sad standing in the pasture watching us leave, and she was so happy when we brought her boyfriends back. We need a 3-horse trailer and a third rider!


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

@newtrailriders I'm sorry for the loss of you mother and your sisters illness.

A UP Vacation sounds wonderful. I will be moving to the UP as soon as we can manage to get a house built. We are outside of Munising. Where in the UP did you visit? I've been traveling back and forth for many years and have yet to take my horses. It seems like an awfully long drive for the horses to deal with. I'll probably only take them up there when we move.

It's a wonderful feeling when you have a good ride, isn't it? Enjpy your summer!


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

So sorry for the loss of your Mom. Glad that you have been able to spend some time on the horses. The clinic sounds like fun! And BOO to large truck repairs.


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Sorry to hear about all your family's endured recently- it's always nice to have horses waiting for you at the end of a rough period!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

weedlady said:


> @*newtrailriders* I'm sorry for the loss of you mother and your sisters illness.
> 
> A UP Vacation sounds wonderful. I will be moving to the UP as soon as we can manage to get a house built. We are outside of Munising. Where in the UP did you visit? I've been traveling back and forth for many years and have yet to take my horses. It seems like an awfully long drive for the horses to deal with. I'll probably only take them up there when we move.
> 
> It's a wonderful feeling when you have a good ride, isn't it? Enjpy your summer!



Where do you live now? Do you have family up there? The Munising area is beautiful. I love Munising Falls and Miner's Falls, Pictured Rocks, and just driving along Lake Superior. The campgrounds are amazing.



I lived in the UP for 23 years - split about equally between Gladstone and Rapid River. I worked at the hospital in Marquette (67 mile drive one way) and then did home health in Delta and Schoolcraft counties. 



One place I've been dreaming of riding horses is on the Rapid River Ski Trail. I believe they're allowed. I used to cross country ski there and the views on the back loops are beautiful. A wolf pack has moved in there, though. Wolves are beautiful but not as afraid of humans as some people believe. I don't know how my horses would do with them around. The only way to survive life in the UP without losing my mind was to get into winter sports and the Rapid River Ski Trail was a big part of my life. I started seeing the tracks, then saw the wolves, then they treed a forest service officer and wouldn't let him out of the tree. You should have seen that alpha wolf. I had no idea they could get so big!! When I first saw him/her I thought it was a deer it was so big!! 

I didn't feel safe skiing alone there anymore (what if I broke my leg and had to lay there helpless waiting for help to come?) and didn't have anybody to ski with me. So I started just skiing in the woods near my house.....and immediately our house became part of the territory of another wolf pack (or maybe it was the same pack?). I never saw the wolves but still have the photos of their tracks. Larger than my hands and DEEP. There went my winter activities. I didn't have good horses yet and was a beginner so couldn't do much riding. Seven months a year of winter got to be too much when I couldn't spend hours at a time outside. That plus the scarcity of employment led to us moving back to my home state of KS.

I have to confess I miss the UP, though! My husband's family make bonfires all year long and everybody just sits around the fire drinking beer. When the snow gets deep, they make a room in their yard in it with snow walls to block out the wind and it's actually comfortable! I remember one year we went out to their camp for the annual Christmas Tree Burning Party. It was -30 and we were still all outside around the campfire. My beer froze to slush while I was drinking it. Good times.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

@newtrailriders so fun to find another UP lover!

we live in Akron Ohio now. I retire in 33 more days!!!!! so hope to break ground for a house maybe this fall and get moved next summer? it's all kind of up in the air, but I really love it there.

I have not yet encountered a wolf, but I've seen tracks and our neighbors have seen them. Coyotes yes and bears. We've seen cougar tracks in the Hiawatha.

I don't know about horse riding on the ski trails (i've often had the same thought) but I do know there is a horse trail that runs all the way from Rapid River up to M94 just outside of Munising. It's on my bucket list!

My husband has a few cousins in the UP, but we don't really visit them much. We very much enjoy the solitude.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

weedlady said:


> @*newtrailriders* so fun to find another UP lover!
> 
> we live in Akron Ohio now. I retire in 33 more days!!!!! so hope to break ground for a house maybe this fall and get moved next summer? it's all kind of up in the air, but I really love it there.
> 
> ...



Yea there aren't a lot of people who know where the UP is LOL. It's not even on a lot of the US maps. I always thought it would be funny to just put up a sign that says "Canada" at the Marinette/Menominee line.


I bet you'll see lots of wolves once you get up there. I haven't seen a cougar myself, but we did find a dead deer on top of our shed one day so we know they're there. Somebody watched a cougar take a baby deer right in front of our house one day and there's a black cougar on Stonington Peninsula. 



Are you talking about the Grand Island Trail? I'd like to do that one some day.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

newtrailriders said:


> Are you talking about the Grand Island Trail? I'd like to do that one some day.


yes the Grand Island-Bay de Noc trail, that's what it's called! I've walked part of it and pretended I was on my horse. lol.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Another successful trail ride today woooooooooohoooooooooo! I think maybe......just maybe......we're ready to start cantering. Since I'm riding a quarter horse behind DH, who is on a gaited horse, we have to do a lot of trotting to keep up. I remember this time last year I still wasn't over all the fear from my accident and trotting would scare me enough to make me cry. I'd started getting my courage back and then got thrown a couple more times and lost it again. I let him break into a canter very briefly a couple of times today, just when we were going up hills, and it was not at all scary. Moving on up!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

The horses were so cute today - all standing at the gait waiting for me to go feed them. They don't usually do that - usually I have to call them. I don't feed them at the same time every day, so I'm sure that's why. Anyway when I saw them all at the gait I went out with their halters and they were fighting to see who could get their face in the halter the fastest. I brought them in, fed and fly sprayed them, and greased their hooves. 



I poopooed greasing hooves and every time my ferrier came he would tell me "their hooves are too dry, you need to put something on them. Anything." Finally I gave in and yeah - he's right. It works. He has big buckets of hoof flex but he says "Axel grease does the same thing and costs a lot less." Axel grease LOL.


Ona has been unbelievably good since we got her back from the Amish this winter. She had been ridden for hours every day there and had lost weight and got injured. We only planned on them having her a month and she ended up staying for 3 months "because it was too cold to ride." It honestly was very cold but I suspect the real reason was really they kept her so long was because she got hurt. I still haven't got the story about how she got injured and I'm sure I never will. They did say she was the only horse they've ever not been able to buggy train. She threw a huge fit every time they tried, rearing over backward, throwing herself on the ground like a toddler..... but they rode her everywhere, through water etc and she never gave them any trouble whatsoever with riding. She somehow cut her heal/ankle very badly and it's just now almost completely healed. She has a deep ring on each hoof and they've started flaring out below the rings, which are growing out. The hooves are chipping badly below the rings where they're flared. Ferrier says they're "just dry" but I'm not sure about that. Above the rings they're nice and tight and healthy looking so I think she'll be fine when they grow out.



We got her back after Christmas. Half of her tail is gone, and we just now got all of her weight back on her. BUT - she's is extraordinarily well-behaved. Totally changed. She'll stand tied indefinitely, she's super calm, great with her feet.....still extremely affectionate (Ona the hugging horse!) and we're planning to take her for a trail ride some time soon. We might only take her out a few yards, will see. Our friend took her for a ride when he went to pick her up for us and she did great for him. Hubby rode her once, after she got home, but not far because we wanted her to heal.She behaved very well for him. Hubby is a beginner rider and before we sent her to the Amish she was impossible for even our very experienced friend to control. She'd rear the second anybody sat on her back. I got on her for a little bit but all the bad memories of her past behavior made me nervous and I got off before my fear rubbed off on her.



When we took the boys out yesterday, Ona didn't even throw a fit. She was in the pasture by herself and she was quiet the entire time we were gone. Lets hope she's calm under saddle....


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We’re horse camping for the first time ever. The horses are so well behaved. They’re in a paddock. we’re camping in a two horse gooseneck with a bed over the gooseneck and enough room inside for the dogs, an air conditioner and a bit of storage. Generator, water. Sitting outside enjoying the night air, feeding watermelon rinds to the horsies in the dark. This is great.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Our boys at the camp ground. We don’t need the generator or the water., they have water and electric


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I started riding Joe today because he’s started testing Lance and Lance can’t handle him. He’s really not that hard to handle and O.M.G. he’s so much fun to ride!! I never want to give him back to Lance. PJ is much more Lance’s speed but Lance gets bounced around on PJ’s trot as he tries to keep up with Joe. 

If I ever buy another horse it’s going to have to be another fox trotter.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Going home from the camping trip today  But reserved a spot for next weekend 


We learned a lot of lessons on our first camping trip:


0) We have wifi out here and my hotspot works!

1) We looked at everybody else's equipment and ordered some heavy duty hard plastic hanging flake feeders (I think they're called EZ Feeders or something like that).
2) Bringing water from home and mixing it with the campground water until the horses get used to the campground water works, but we can't switch buckets after that, have to keep using the same buckets. We ordered some to hang on the paddock for next time.
3) We spend more time at camp than out riding so we need some comfortable chairs. Ordered.
4) Can't order anything else this payday.
5) Joe is so much more fun for me to ride than PJ, and Lance is more comfortable on PJ. Riding is much more fun now.

6) We don't need a porta-potty/shower tent. We put the portapotty in the back of the horse trailer and it worked fine. Just need to get some tarps so we can shower back there too.
7) It is actually possible for us to come out here even when I'm on call. I had to drive in to work to take care of something but was able to get on my computer for most issues, and it didn't interfere with our riding.
8) There is a reason the most beautiful spots in the campground weren't already occupied. They're under hedge trees. Right now the immature hedge apples dropping aren't too dangerous, just noisy. When they are full-size they could really cause some damage.
9) I can handle more horse "naughtiness" comfortably than I could handle this time last year. I had no problem at all riding Joe, and that gives me the confidence that I CAN learn and I think I will be able to handle Ona sooner than I thought.
10) the little portable air conditioner in the "LQ" (really a dressing room with a bed) works great as long as we have a fan going.


OK. Now - I think I might go learn some more lessons. DH had to work this morning and I'm here alone with the horses. I think I'll try to take Joe out alone on a short ride and see how he does. Or not. Oh it's so tempting but why tempt fate? Things have gone so well so far....


I guess I'll wait. I'll just clean up the camp so we're ready to head out as soon as DH gets back and we get one more ride in.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

Yeah for new found confidence! The camping sounds like a lot of fun!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We're excited and planning for this coming weekend. We were unable to get reservations for a spot in the shade and it's going to be sunny and in the high '90s. The horses will be in the shade but not us. How does everybody decide if it's too hot to ride? I read that if the temp in F + the % humidity = 150, we have to ride with caution and if it = 180, riding could be fatal for the horses. It was close to 150 all last weekend and it will be the same for this weekend. I bought electrolytes and will start feeding them today to get the horses used to them. We've been keeping the rides short - just 3-4 miles. The horses get pretty sweaty but they don't sweat for long so I don't think we need to worry too much about electrolytes. We'll just give them a little so they can start getting used to it for when we decide to go on longer rides. I did find a recipe for homemade electrolytes used by a lot of endurance riders - it's just salt and NoSalt (sodium chloride and potassium chloride) in a specific proportion. Sounds less expensive, wonder if the horses will like it. I'll try it when when we run out of the stuff I bought. It's only June and it's this hot....I hate to think what July and August are going to be like. I'm so glad all the camp sites have hoses and we can cool the horses down easily.


The weekend after, our trail riding club is camping and riding at the place where we've been going. We found out about it too late and weren't able to get a camping reservation but we're going to go on the long ride anyway. I'm hoping there will be others with gaited horses there and I can ride ahead with them while Lance hangs out in the back with the quarter horses.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Grrrr I had to cancel our reservations for this weekend and couldn't even get a refund. The state inspectors showed up on Tuesday for our annual nursing home survey. They were there Tues, Wed., and Thurs and all three days were spent answering questions and running back and forth getting information from them and basically feeling like a criminal under interrogation just for being the director of nursing. I worked 14 hours yesterday and 14 hours today. My assistant was crying and she says she's going to quit. This is my first survey and everybody keeps telling me we're doing great. If this is great, I can't imagine what a bad survey is like. I wasn't crying, but I was a major witch. My bosses both agree on that. When I'm panicking I get mean. It's a better survival mechanism than crying, right?


Anyway - they're not done and they're off Fri. Sat. Sun. and coming back Monday so we have to spend all weekend getting ready for their return. 



Does anybody have a job that is fun and relaxing and you get enough time off work and make enough money? If so please tell me about it and I'll consider a career change.


On the bright side, the forecast says it's going to be 99 degrees all three days. If it was going to be in the 80s I'd be much more disappointed.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We did well at survey - thank God! But the 4 days with surveyors there got me 4 days behind on my regular work and we had rescheduled our camping trip for Tues and Wed but had to cancel it so I could catch up at work. I actually got off on time today but I'm much too tired to do anything. Will have to hit the sack very very early tonight.


This weekend - crossing my fingers and knocking on wood - we will ride.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

sounds like you more than deserve a relaxing weekend!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Life is good again! 7 mike ride with the group. First group ride DH and I have gone on together and longest ride he’s ever done. Great confidence builder.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Know what I love about trail riding/horse camping? The people. It is so refreshing to hang out with other women who aren’t scared of everything. No squealing about spiders. We all have dogs and nobody gets their panties in a bundle or freaks out crying if a dog runs up to them to say “hi.” OF COURSE we have a porta pottie in the horse trailer. Plus people don’t stay up late partying and drinking because everyone wants to head out for early morning rides. TOTALLY my type of people.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

GREAT 7-8 mile ride this morning with 3 ladies. We were on one fox trotter, one arab, one quarter horse and one walker. It worked out well because the arab and the quarter horse were young and spunky. It was fun to go on a ride where we could go almost as fast as Joe wants to go. Joe was the oldest horse by far but we took the lead and had to stop occasionally for people to catch up. He gets a little crabby when he has to go slow so this was great.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Guess who I rode on the trail today!


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

She looks [email protected]! Hope you had a fantastic ride on her.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

It was a good ride. She has all of her weight back on and her foot is healed. It had been months since she'd been ridden, and I didn't lunge her first. Of course it was about 95 degrees out so she wasn't feeling too feisty. We only rode half an hour so, on an easy trail. She had one hard spook sideways but it was otherwise uneventful. No shenanigans whatsoever. She wanted to be in front, so I let her. She didn't try to jump over anything and listened really well. 



I've had her back for 6 months and waited until now to ride her. I felt like I needed to give her time to completely heal and I also had to wait to ride her until I was more confident and sure that I would not ruin her again.


Her time with the Amish was difficult for her. She came back thinner and missing half her tail (chewed off by another animal probably) and with an injury that took months to heal. She had bald patches from the breast collar and bridle - no sores, but it was obvious she'd been used as transportation. Her hooves have grooves in them and they're flared below the grooves which have been growing out since she got back. Before she left, even my experienced horseman friend who rides just about anything and everything could not ride her. The trainer I was getting lessons from could ride her, but she didn't have time to put all the hours on her that she needed. She was spoiled and crazy and reared up constantly and really did need a ton of time under saddle. She's broke again now and all healed up. I think I've learned enough in the meantime that I won't spoil her again. 



I'm not sure I'd recommend such drastic measures to others, and I'm grateful things turned out alright. If I hadn't sent her, she would have been nothing but a pasture pet or a brood mare and who knows what the distant future would have brought her. I feel like a well-broke horse has a brighter future than one who can't be ridden. If I had it to do over again I might have searched high and low until I found a trainer who could ride her hours per day every day, and paid whatever it cost. It only cost me $300 to do it this way but it was rough on her and I feel like we're lucky she wasn't hurt worse.


Well I sure have droned on.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We've been riding a lot and enjoying it very much. We found a "new" trail (Kill Creek) that has everything! Lots of ups and downs, lots of rocks, through woods and through open fields, and two river crossings. YYYYAAAAYYYY The first time we went out, DH and I were both too scared to cross the water so we turned around and rode back. The second time, we did the crossings. Our very first water crossings woooooohooooo. We were on the geldings and they did great, of course. They were probably wondering what we were so nervous about. We've been riding faster - averaging about 4 mph on the boys and going about 6 miles or so at a time. I would love to go on some much longer rides but DH doesn't want to. On the 18th we're planning on going on a group ride again and those are generally quite a bit longer so I'm looking forward to it.


Today I rode Ona and DH rode PJ at Perry Lake. This is the longest ride I've gone on with Ona - only 5 miles. She did great though. I think I'm going to feel OK taking her out to Kill Creek. I don't know how she'll do with the water. We shall see.


Ona's a quarter horse but I'm very hopeful she'll do OK in endurance. She's only 6 and I still have the crazy dream of doing Tevis on her when I get more experienced. Of course then I'll be even older than I am now....


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

An 80 year old man completed the Tevis. You can do it!


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Stitch is registered as a Paint but her parent's are both Quarter Horses so I could register her as Quarter Horse and she finished her 3rd 25 mile LD ride in July and will be doing a 30 mile LD in 2 weeks. I'm not necessarily sure she could do a 50 (she's pretty slow, we are usually last) but she sure loves endurance! It looks like your mare is not as stocky as she is so I'm sure she will do fine!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

@knightrider I'm trying to get my husband to do it with me. He's just now really learning to ride and he's 18 years older than I am. He's 66 now, so he might be close to 80 by the time we make it to Tevis 

@QueenofFrance08, Stitch is beautiful! Does she have small feet? Ona is definitely not as stocky as most quarter horses. She has tiny feet, which is a concern - but mules have tiny feet and they do great at Tevis so maybe it won't be a big deal.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

@newtrailriders Stitch does have tiny feet! Our farrier always makes fun of her and her tiny feet. Although I will say my Arabian (who finished his first novice CTR ride last month and is doing his first LD) only wears one shoe size larger than Stitch does. I will admit Tevis probably isn't my goal (I'm terrified of heights and those cliffs..... YIKES) I think my dream is the OD 100.... Although I watched a ton of the live cast last weekend and it's hard not to want to be a part of it. I was rooting for the Quarter Horse to finish but he got pulled pretty close to the end. My husband and I joked that we should get his gelding (who is now 18) to try to break the record for the oldest horse since that 27 year old was able to finish it. We are planning to do a few 50's next year, Chico will be 19 (Jake, my gelding is only 8 so he'll be 9 next year)!

Maybe if you get your husband to do a few of the shorter rides he will decide he likes it and be willing to do more! My DH started out not wanting to do much except support me at rides (he's more into cattle sorting) but he agreed to do the first novice ride with me so I wouldn't be so nervous. He had so much fun he said he'd be willing to do 25's someday but probably not more. He's now done 3: 10-15 mile intro rides and a 25 mile LD! He's doing the 30 with me one day next weekend (I'm a little crazy and riding Stitch in an LD one day and Jake the second day in an LD) and now he's even planning on training with me for 50's next year! The more he does the more he loves it!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> @*newtrailriders* Stitch does have tiny feet! Our farrier always makes fun of her and her tiny feet. Although I will say my Arabian (who finished his first novice CTR ride last month and is doing his first LD) only wears one shoe size larger than Stitch does. I will admit Tevis probably isn't my goal (I'm terrified of heights and those cliffs..... YIKES) I think my dream is the OD 100.... Although I watched a ton of the live cast last weekend and it's hard not to want to be a part of it. I was rooting for the Quarter Horse to finish but he got pulled pretty close to the end. My husband and I joked that we should get his gelding (who is now 18) to try to break the record for the oldest horse since that 27 year old was able to finish it. We are planning to do a few 50's next year, Chico will be 19 (Jake, my gelding is only 8 so he'll be 9 next year)!
> 
> Maybe if you get your husband to do a few of the shorter rides he will decide he likes it and be willing to do more! My DH started out not wanting to do much except support me at rides (he's more into cattle sorting) but he agreed to do the first novice ride with me so I wouldn't be so nervous. He had so much fun he said he'd be willing to do 25's someday but probably not more. He's now done 3: 10-15 mile intro rides and a 25 mile LD! He's doing the 30 with me one day next weekend (I'm a little crazy and riding Stitch in an LD one day and Jake the second day in an LD) and now he's even planning on training with me for 50's next year! The more he does the more he loves it!



Do Stitch's tiny feet cause any trouble during your long distance rides? How do her hooves hold up?


I'm scared of heights too - and love the adrenaline rush I get from doing things I'm scared of LOL! I'm going to jump out of an airplane soon - next year if not this year.


I bought DH a gel pad to put on his saddle and he has promised me he'll go on slightly longer rides with me now (10 miles or so). I'm seriously hoping he'll love it as much as your husband does now.


In a couple of hours we're hopefully going to be loading ONA and PJ up for a camping trip. It will be Ona's first camping trip, if I don't get called in to work. I should know by six whether or not the night nurse is going to show up for her shift and if she shows up we'll leave. I can't wait to take Ona for some longer rides. Her hooves aren't in the greatest shape. They had big flares (from when I sent her out for training and IDK what happened) that have been growing out since December and now they're chipping off big time. The new growth is nice and tight but she still has an inch or two of flare left. The trail is not too terribly rocky and I'm hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ona’s first camping trip is going well. She did well on our evening ride and I didn’t freak out when she spooked or misbehaved a little. She had her first taste of beer. She’s undecided but PJ can’t get enough of it.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Cowboy bathroom


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

9 miles. Only 3mph but that’s ok


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

@newtrailriders No Stitch's feet haven't been a problem at all *knock on wood*. She does have ouchy feet so she's had shoes all summer (actually since February on her front because a blown abcess took out half of her hoof and the farrier said time for shoes). She's about as close to perfect with her shoes as a horse can be, she's thrown one (on the bad hoof of course) despite logging roughly 100 miles between resets. Our farrier loves her since she keeps her shoes on so well (her first set this year she actually ended up with having on for 10 weeks due to scheduling problems with our farrier).

DH's horse (who's done about 75 competition miles this year) has bad hooves. He's a purebred Arabian who spent the first 15 years of his life in a pasture with no hoof care/vet care. A lady bought him and trained him and we got him from her but his hooves have never been completely perfect due to the years of neglect. We chose to keep him barefoot this year and he has a full set of Renegade boots that work with his flared hooves. His feet are getting pretty good (we have a great farrier) so I'm thinking we will switch to shoes just for ease next year. 

I have a gel seat on my saddle and love it! I actually bought the Toklat Matrix T3 memory foam with shims pad this week in hopes I could fix some of our saddle fit issues with that and while I know it's not the main purpose it is WAY more comfortable for me! Not to mention Stitch had almost perfect sweat marks after 3 hours of obstacle work yesterday.... They're spendy but I think we're going to get a second one for DH. 

Jealous of your camping trip, looks fun! We have a ride this weekend (I'm doing a 30 mile LD both days!!!) so I'll get my camping fix in!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> @*newtrailriders* No Stitch's feet haven't been a problem at all *knock on wood*. She does have ouchy feet so she's had shoes all summer (actually since February on her front because a blown abcess took out half of her hoof and the farrier said time for shoes). She's about as close to perfect with her shoes as a horse can be, she's thrown one (on the bad hoof of course) despite logging roughly 100 miles between resets. Our farrier loves her since she keeps her shoes on so well (her first set this year she actually ended up with having on for 10 weeks due to scheduling problems with our farrier).
> 
> DH's horse (who's done about 75 competition miles this year) has bad hooves. He's a purebred Arabian who spent the first 15 years of his life in a pasture with no hoof care/vet care. A lady bought him and trained him and we got him from her but his hooves have never been completely perfect due to the years of neglect. We chose to keep him barefoot this year and he has a full set of Renegade boots that work with his flared hooves. His feet are getting pretty good (we have a great farrier) so I'm thinking we will switch to shoes just for ease next year.
> 
> ...



That's very good to hear about Stitch's feet. Ona HAD really good feet until I sent her to the Amish for training and they shod her. The bad hoof is almost grown out though and what's behind it looks good. I don't think I'll ever shoe her again. I have EZ boots for her and they wouldn't fit even after trimming due to the flaring she had, but I think they'll fit again soon. PJ's feet also got worse after shoeing - he got two abscesses. He'd never been shod before but DH felt so nervous when he tripped on gravel that I caved and agreed to shoe him. Bad idea for PJ. Joe, on the other hand, has been shod all his life. I continued with shoes after buying him and his feet are perfect with shoes so I'm thinking "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." 



I hope your husband's horse's feet will be in great shape after a while with good care and nutrition.


I'm jealous of your 30 mile LD!! I'm crossing my fingers that we'll be there by next year. DH loves his gel pad that I got him and didn't complain at all about going 10 miles so maybe he'll be up for it. I was actually complaining more than him this time. Something about the way Ona is shaped makes my hips hurt. Maybe I'm just using different muscles when I ride her, but Joe seems to be much more comfortable.


I may have to cave and get a memory foam pad with shims. I know Ona should widen out and don't want to buy a narrower saddle that we won't be using permanently.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@newtrailriders about the hip thing. Be careful. I bought a saddle last year to fit my TWH and the saddle messed up my hips so bad I have been seeing a chiro for about a year (the twist was too wide making me sit oddly) my pelvic bones would hurt after every ride - something I had never had happen before and I have ridden my entire life.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

I'm not a huge fan of the Amish shoeing practices either. Stitch was at a trainer last year that got all of their horses shod at the Amish and they told us she needed shoes and offered to take her there with their horses. Obviously I didn't see it get done but she refused to let us touch her back feet for months after that. She wouldn't let us replace her back shoes even with our good farrier either once she got over us even trying to pick out her back hooves. This year she's happily let our farrier put shoes on all 4 and she actually seems to enjoy having the shoes put on. I hope the Easy Boots work for you but if not I wouldn't be afraid to let your farrier shoe her because you might have very different results....

Even if your husband doesn't want to do rides with you next year you should still give it a shot and he can be your crew! My DH crews for us the first day (My friend and I ride our "good horses" Stitch and her TWH Major) and then he rides his "good horse" with us the second day to babysit us on our newbies (My Arab Jake and my friend's Arab Karenna) It's so nice to have a crew! 

Join Green Beans next year through AERC if you can. It's a great group of really supportive newbies and they have their own competition so you get to compete against other new people! 

I agree with @carshon, it's likely your saddle that's causing your hip pain. You probably need something with a more narrow twist. You might need to switch to a more english style as those usually have narrower twists or there's a few western brands that are designed for women that might help. Saddle fitting is just as fun for people as it is for horses!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

@QueenofFrance08, I'm glad your mare's doing better with shoeing now. Mine came back from the Amish behaving perfectly well about her feet - they definitely got her trained to let us handle them - but dang they were in bad shape! We're talking about joining the fox hunting club this winter, just to have something to do with the horses. IDK if we should shoe them for riding in t he winter when it might be slippery. I don't want to transition Joe to barefoot just yet and would really rather not put shoes on PJ....


My husband would love to be my crew, I'm sure! He could sit and read his kindle which is his favorite pastime. IDK if Joe or Ona would behave for me if Lance wasn't there with PJ. I guess I need to start riding them alone once in a while...


How old is Jake? Are Arabs very much different than quarter horses? I know they're hotter.


Green Beans sounds like exactly what I need. I'm going to google it!


@carshon thanks for the advice regarding the hip pain - I didn't have any pain when I rode Ona in a different saddle before. I have this el cheapo saddle that I believe you can actually buy at Walmart. I got it at a used saddle place because it was lightweight. That thing is so dang comfortable. I just wish the twist on it wasn't too wide for Ona. She's going to be hard to fit. She is wide at the withers and not wide throughout the rest of her back. Someone said she should still fill in some more. She's 6. Maybe shimming will help and I can use my comfy saddle until I find the perfect saddle if I shim it.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Fox hunting sounds exciting! I work too much in the winter to do much but DH is going to join a cattle sorting league that our farrier's dad runs at their barn which is 5 minutes down the road. I think he plans on using Stitch so at least that should keep her in halfway decent shape over the winter. I do try to get out and ride Saturday afternoons and Sundays if the weather is decent, but that isn't always the case. 

My husband is a great crew, if he's awake!:icon_rolleyes: He's not really a morning person so he napped through both of our vet checks at the last ride! My horses don't go out alone either, one of the downsides of training with my husband. Well, they will go out alone if I trailer them out but they defiantly wont go out from home alone. I'm lucky and last winter when I was trying to get into endurance I met another lady who also wanted to start doing rides with her TWH this year on the MN endurance Facebook page. We became friends and have shared campsites at all the rides, go camping on weekends when we don't have rides, and our horses are best buddies now! On Saturdays (or I guess the first day of the ride since a few of ours will be Friday/Saturday) of the rides her and I take out our "good" horses (Stitch and her TWH Major) while DH crews for us. On Sundays (or the second ride day) we ride our green horses (Jake and her Arabian Karenna) and DH rides Chico as the babysitter. We've also met more friends and will have another friend riding with us both days this weekend (also riding her "good" horse on Saturday and her "greenie" on Sunday). We've all pretty much come to the conclusion we might have to pull all of our green horses at the hold (I think Jake is ready for the ride except for the water crossings, hopefully he'll follow his buddies but if not I'll pull him) so that day will be interesting!

Jake is 8. He's had an interesting life, he was bred by a fairly local Arabian breeder who shows halter horses. He's actually a grandson of Marwan Al Shaqab who is supposedly the most famous Arabian on the planet (according to Google!). When he was 3 he was sent to an auction because he was apparently a failure at being a halter horse because he has a crooked tail. He was bought by a family for $200 and sent to 60 days of training to break him. They tried to turn him into a horse for their daughter but he was too spooky so they traded him to the lady I bought him from a few years ago. Apparently they weren't used to having such a small built horse so they tried to use regular horse sized bridles on him and the bits would fall out of his mouth and slam him in the teeth so he has trouble to this day with anything but bitless bridles. The lady I brought him from did a lot of groundwork with him and rode him in an arena some but she had a disability that prevented them from doing much together. We brought him home in February as a very spooky, somewhat spoiled horse. He hadn't been ridden outside in years and was terrified of everything. He also was living a glorified pasture puff life which is hard on an Arabian brain. They're too smart to sit and they get in trouble if they're not used a lot. We've spent a lot of time working with him to get him used to trails and the outdoors. He's on 100% pasture turnout (they can go in the barn if they want for shelter) which has done wonders for his spookiness. He still is a little silly (every single night he dumps his grain bucket when he's done and spooks at it) but he seems happy to have a job. He is a lot more fearful of things than Stitch (hence the reason for my worries about the water this weekend) but he also is my energizer bunny. I will admit I'm spoiled with Stitch who at 6 years old isn't afraid of anything (well at least very little). I've never seen Jake tired (although 30 miles will be a good test!) and he loves going out on the trails. He's a lot faster than Stitch (her trot is about 5.5-6mph so we often cut it close on ride times) which is kind of nice! He does get a little race brained and wants to chase any horse that passes him which I wasn't used to. He's also built completely different. He's very narrow (Egyptian Arabian, DH's Arabian is Polish and much thicker) while Stitch is very stocky. I have to raise my stirrups up to ride him even though he's a hand taller because he's so narrow. He's got a ton of heart though and loves to please (Stitch, not so much. She's very much a mare and likes having a job but everything is on her terms). He's also very loving and the first to come up to you in the pasture (I need a grain bucket to catch Stitch because she thinks it's funny to run away from you). 

Anyway now that I've written my novel.... LOL! If your on Facebook there's several Green Bean pages too that are great to join. North American Endurance Green Beans is a great one! There's also a non-typical endurance horse group and a Stock Horse Endurance group that I'm in that are great for those of us who ride non Arabians! I've learned a lot from those pages that is hard to learn even talking to experienced riders because riding a non Arab is VERY different. My friend's TWH has had a lot of electrolyte issues and doesn't pulse down well(doesn't help that he's very dark colored too) and we have to watch them very carefully in the heat. Somehow, once again, I ended up very lucky with Stitch. She pulses down fairly quickly (slightly slower than DH's Arabian but faster than all of the other non arab's we ride with) and I've had several vets say she looks better than the Arabians at some rides! She also trots out perfectly with no encouragement. It has definitely helped to learn the tricks from some of those groups with much more experienced riders who have done 50's and more on their stocky horses!


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Oops forgot pictures!

Chico and Jake vs Chico and Stitch!


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Forgot my pictures! Chico and Jake vs Chico and Stitch!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

@QueenofFrance08 Wow - a husband doing a horse-related activity without the wife present and making him do it! Amazing! That's funny that he slept through two vet checks, though. I could see my husband being caught up in a book and letting it slip his mind LOL.


That's awesome that you found a friend to ride with who's as into it as you are. I think DH might be starting to get as interested in it as I am but my friends who ride seem to be pretty content just doing the group trail rides or going out for rides less than 10 miles long.


Have you tried any water crossings with Jake yet? I looked up Marwan Al Shaqab - how beautiful! And his stud fee is $24,000! Does Jake have that beautiful head? Jake sounds like quite a challenge right now but I bet he'll be a total blast to ride soon. Imagine the miles you'll put on him! It stinks that some dumb butt put the wrong size tack on him and ruined him to bits but I'm sure you can do just fine bitless. That's hilarious about him knocking over his grain bucket and spooking at it.


Your horses are beautiful in the photos - can definitely see the difference in musculature between the arab and the quarter horse and it's good to know that Stitch pulses down quickly with all that nice quarter horse muscle.



Ona is also 6 and very brave, like Stitch. I was so very proud of her today - my heart was swelling like a proud mama. We went on her first real group ride. It was 8.5 miles of the toughest terrain I've ever had the chance to ride. Steep rocky hills, big rocks, large steps up and down. There was a loud train, several cyclists, several hikers, some runners, a helicopter, a small water crossing, a metal bridge, a very narrow wooden bridge....you name it, this trail had it. My little Ona took it all like a champ! Not one single spook. She did get a little nervous when two runners came up behind her very quickly as if they were chasing her but she still listened and behaved herself. At one point we all had to stop to let the horses catch their breath. Ona's been a pasture puff for a while and I felt bad for her. She was very out of breath. She recovered and kept on keeping on, though. She seems to want to please, which is a pleasant surprise. I'm looking forward to seeing what she'll be like once she's in shape.



I'm going to look up those Facebook groups you mentioned. What are the names of the non-arab endurance groups?


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Poor exhausted baby girl! Hubby was even more exhausted - dropping tack everywhere on his way to get himself some water.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Motorcycle and runner behind us on part of our ride today


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

She's looking awesome!

Yes Jake has a beautiful head! He needs a little more manners knocked into it though!!!

I would give anything to have another Stitch. I'm thinking about seeing if I can buy one of her siblings someday (not that I need more horses). Otherwise my ultimate plan is to breed her to an Arab stud so I can hopefully get my dream endurance horse with an Arab stamina and her brain. I'm sure it wont work out that way but I would love it!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> She's looking awesome!
> 
> Yes Jake has a beautiful head! He needs a little more manners knocked into it though!!!
> 
> I would give anything to have another Stitch. I'm thinking about seeing if I can buy one of her siblings someday (not that I need more horses). Otherwise my ultimate plan is to breed her to an Arab stud so I can hopefully get my dream endurance horse with an Arab stamina and her brain. I'm sure it wont work out that way but I would love it!



Funny, I've been dreaming of breeding Ona to an Arab stud as well - one who has done well at endurance, of course. Maybe I'll wait until we finish Tevis and then breed her to an Arab stud who has won endurance races and . . . . oh wait I'm dreaming again LOL


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

I'm not sure Stitch has 50's in her although my DH keeps telling me I'm selling her short so I figure I'll wait until I have another horse going pretty well and then look into breeding her. I know she could go faster if I let her canter more but I still get a little nervous with that and I'm trying to get her to extend her trot a little so we are pretty slow.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

Have you thought about looking for a ride to volunteer at? I volunteered at the first 2 rides I went to and learned more than I ever would riding. I know @egrogan has volunteered at several rides in her area too. There's a calendar on the AERC page and you can search by state or region to see if there's anything near you. There will be a ride manager listed and an email and phone number for them. They love volunteers and it's a lot of fun. I'm volunteering this weekend at the WI ride I'm going to since I'm not riding the first day!


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## egrogan (Jun 1, 2011)

Yes, I would highly recommend volunteering at a ride! I have been a timer, pulse/respiration taker, a vet control judge, a trail unmarker, and next weekend will get to vet scribe for the first time, which I'm super excited about. Oh, and I also have crewed for the wonderful @phantomhorse13 and her friends a couple of time- by far the most fun AND educational experience I've had. I can't say enough about how much you learn just hanging around people who have been doing this forever. And ditto using the AERC website to find events. I can't remember where you're located, but there are also regional competitive trail ride organizations that have similar volunteer needs. Facebook is a great way to get connected.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

@QueenofFrance08, @egrogan I will head over there right now to see if I can find some to volunteer at!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Oh look! I found my old journal!

I disappeared from the forum for a while, while a lot of things were going on in life. Since my last journal post we've moved to a 20-acre property in NE KS, near the MO border. We won the neighbor lottery. All our neighbors have horses, and ride. The ladies do a lot of horse camping. Everybody (including my husband) is retired, except me. I was about ready to give up on the idea of ever being able to do any serious riding, because my career was so time consuming. It was very depressing. Fortunately, this past winter I got a great promotion and have much more work life balance! I can actually do something with Ona every night after work, and I'm off every weekend and get to use my PTO! 

Ona became a totally different horse practically overnight. She turned 10 in April and everybody tells me that's the magic age for a horse. She is so much more pleasant and easy to work with and seems to actually enjoy being with me. She's amazing on group rides, and I've been able to start riding her solo. I still have to trailer her to a trail, though. She won't ride out from home solo (barn sour), so I'm working on that with her now. 

I've finally found what works for both of us, for training. It's not what most people do but I tried to follow suggestions for years without much success. I've realized I can't "make" her do anything and I'm not going to try. She's stronger than me and doesn't respond well to negative reinforcement. She's too strong, and I'm too timid, for me to force her out too far of her comfort zone. I bring her to the edge of her comfort zone and we stop there until she feels calm and puts her head down, and then I take her back to where she's very comfortable. Then I bring her to the edge of her zone again, let her get nice and calm, and take her back. Do that a few times and then the lesson is over. The next time I take her out, I find her comfort zone has expanded. I haven't had to fight with her and it's a win/win. I think by fall I'll be able to ride her out from home to a trail head about a mile away. It's a beautiful privately-owned trail and if we can start going there 2-3 times a week I'll be able to get her in condition to do some of the longer NATRC rides. For now we're just going to do the leisure rides, which are 8-12 miles (or maybe it's 8-15 I don't remember).

Sometimes she tries to refuse to do something just because she doesn't like doing it - like walking through mud. I can tell she's not anxious about it, she just doesn't want to do it. I know she's not going to lose her cool and that she's just being stubborn, so I accept that it's probably going to take a while to get her through it and settle myself down and prepare to take my time. I nag her by kicking her lightly (no spurs) and spanking her lightly on the butt with a lead rope. No pain, no fear, no forcing - just mild annoyance for her. Pretty soon she just sighs and puts her head down and walks calmly through the mud. Usually if I'm ready for it to take 15 minutes, she does it in 2 minutes. She's getting more cooperative now.

Sometimes she starts to get really antsy for one reason or another. The other day it was because I forgot to use fly spray and the horse flies were vicious. She wanted very badly to get out of the woods so I agreed we should get back into the sun and we went back - at a controlled pace. I didn't just take her back to to the trailer and load her up to go home. We worked on opening and closing gaits until she started getting prancy out of nowhere - no idea why. I didn't feel like fighting her but didn't want to go home so I brought her to the mounting block and we spent half an hour practicing mounting and dismounting.

Yesterday I worked on leading her down the road toward the trail I want to start riding with her. I've been working on that with her 2-3 times per week and we're getting further every time. On the way home she started wanting to walk faster than me and whenever she got ahead of me I stopped her, and we worked on yielding front and hind quarters. We need to learn to side pass for NATRC, anyway, and this is the first step of it. I've tried to work on it with her in prior years but we both just ended up getting frustrated. She's getting it now. It took us forever to get home because she kept getting excited and wanting to run home and we had to stop at least 10 times. Finally I learned that when it was time to start walking toward home again I needed to just take one step and stop. Then another step and stop. I kept doing that with her, and making her do side passing lessons when she got ahead of me, until she finally realized we'd get home a lot faster if she would just walk and not try to trot. Then she walked the rest of the way home with me very slowly and calmly, and it was so relaxing!

Today I worked on cleaning the trailer and getting tack and stuff organized for our first ever NATRC ride, which is next weekend in Essex, IA. She got her toes trimmed. Here's a funny picture of her with the ferrier.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I love your journal! It is wonderful. That photo is amazing. Ona is saying, "Do you see what she is making me do?! I don't believe this!!!!"


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> I love your journal! It is wonderful. That photo is amazing. Ona is saying, "Do you see what she is making me do?! I don't believe this!!!!"


She thinks it's absurd - BUT she's going along with it! It's the New Ona!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Just got back from bringing Ona for her coggins and health certificate. That was quick and easy! I wanted to get a 6-month health certificate but my vet had never done one of those before. That surprises me because we live on the KS MO border. She's going to see if she can do one and then just charge me the difference if she figures it out. If not, I'll have to bring Ona back for a new health certificate monthly until October because most of the NATRC rides aren't in KS.

I hope it won't rain next weekend. I don't have riding-specific rain gear.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Today we figured out how to set things up so Ona can stay safely tied to the trailer while we camp for the rides. We've done lots of camping but she's always been in a corral or tied to a pole, never to the trailer. She's tied to it now, getting used to it. In a while I'll go work on side passing and mounting with her and then tie her back up again. I want her to get used to it and for the trailer to become her home away from home.

I've rounded up just about everything we'll need next weekend. Need to get it all organized and hopefully it will be much easier for the rest of the season. A lot of work is going into these preparations. I feel like a little girl heading off to horse camp.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

That's pretty well how I have always done it. A couple times I've used a picket line and sometimes traveling I've called ahead to fair grounds on long trips and arranged to kick them out in fair ground pens. Where is the first one at your participating in?


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> That's pretty well how I have always done it. A couple times I've used a picket line and sometimes traveling I've called ahead to fair grounds on long trips and arranged to kick them out in fair ground pens. Where is the first one at your participating in?


We're going to Pierce Creek in Essex IA. Last weekend we went to Marysville MO and I volunteered. Lance still had his IV in so he stayed in the camper most of the time. He has his IV out now and his amputation site is pretty well healed so maybe he'll volunteer for pulse and respiration checks or help out with setup this weekend!

I kept Ona tied most of the day and took her off to work with her more on side passing. Gave her a bath. Led her down the road half a mile - which is the furthest she's walked from here. Half a mile further, and we'll be at the trail head where I want to start riding her! I didn't even realize she was in heat until two geldings came running toward of us and that tail of hers went straight up in the air LOL. Once I'm able to lead her all the way to the trailhead and back without any shenanigans, then I'll ride her down there. There are lots of challenges along the way - lots of traffic, horses, dogs. Today we had fireworks and she didn't give a rip.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> That's pretty well how I have always done it. A couple times I've used a picket line and sometimes traveling I've called ahead to fair grounds on long trips and arranged to kick them out in fair ground pens. Where is the first one at your participating in?


Ben, have you done a lot of horse camping, then? Has Shirley done much riding? Does she like to camp?


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

Yes, but it has been years ago. I took the horses to Colorado 3 times and we took them several places around here and to southern Missouri. Those horses are dead now so the horses we have now will have a learning curve. Shirley used to ride quite a bit and liked it but, since she is down to one kidney she doesn't want to take a chance riding and injuring it. She likes to camp and that is why we went ahead and bought a trailer with living quarters. Our plans are to start going places and camping with the horses as soon as her health improves. What your doing sounds like fun and I'd like to try it. I didn't know there was a trail down by your house. After you do the first ride we need to talk so you can fill me in on what to expect.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> Yes, but it has been years ago. I took the horses to Colorado 3 times and we took them several places around here and to southern Missouri. Those horses are dead now so the horses we have now will have a learning curve. Shirley used to ride quite a bit and liked it but, since she is down to one kidney she doesn't want to take a chance riding and injuring it. She likes to camp and that is why we went ahead and bought a trailer with living quarters. Our plans are to start going places and camping with the horses as soon as her health improves. What your doing sounds like fun and I'd like to try it. I didn't know there was a trail down by your house. After you do the first ride we need to talk so you can fill me in on what to expect.


NATRC needs new members! They're afraid they're going to fizzle out! 

The trail down here is privately owned and a well kept secret - I bet if we volunteered to help maintain it we'd be welcome to ride any time! I've been on it with my neighbors and it's lovely. Beautiful.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

@newtrailriders Can I ask where you ride in KS or IA? My daughter goes to Vet School at K-State in Manhattan. In a year or two she will need to think about jobs and where to live and she really loves Manhattan and the people in her area. The biggest NO is that there is no place to ride a horse (as in state parks etc with equestrian trails) Where we live in very NW IL there are a ton of state parks within a couple hour drive and WI is very close so we can also ride there with a short drive. She would really like to live more South of where we are now though


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

I'll step in since I live in Kansas too. Right there at Manhattan , Randolf state park has an equestrian trail at Tuttle creek lake. Kanopolis about 60 miles or so south west of Manhattan has a lot of riding trails at the state park there. The Rails to trails has many, many miles of trails and there is a trail head at Topeka about 50 miles away. If she does a little research there are many more around her.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> @newtrailriders Can I ask where you ride in KS or IA? My daughter goes to Vet School at K-State in Manhattan. In a year or two she will need to think about jobs and where to live and she really loves Manhattan and the people in her area. The biggest NO is that there is no place to ride a horse (as in state parks etc with equestrian trails) Where we live in very NW IL there are a ton of state parks within a couple hour drive and WI is very close so we can also ride there with a short drive. She would really like to live more South of where we are now though


In addition to the ones ksbowman mentioned, I've heard there are beautiful trails in the Flint Hills. I enjoy Perry Lake in Perry (near Topeka) a lot. We live near Paola KS (near Kansas City) and there are a lot of trails out this direction. Kansas is a great place for equestrians!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We completed our first competitive trail ride yesterday! There were 17 riders. It was leisure division, only nine miles, and an excellent learning experience. Ona is generally not a buddy sour type horse but the new environment must have caused her some anxiety. She fell in love with her neighbor, Concho, overnight. It took me a while to figure out why she was so hard to handle at the beginning of the ride. Turns out Concho was not far ahead of us and Ona was just dying to be with her. Fortunately Conchos owner is a veteran CTR rider and didn’t mind us tagging along. 

Another first timer was riding with us and her horse spooked and Ona reacted. That was the only time during the ride that i thought i might come off.

It was hot and humid, and Ona was absolutely drenched with sweat and panting when we got to the P&R. Her heart rate was only 11 (in 15 seconds) but her respirations were 17, then on recheck 15. she seemed miserable and i considered pulling her but Concho’s owner encouraged us to continue and the rest of the ride went great. Ona was so sweet and happy the rest of the ride and she enjoyed being up front a lot. we did a bit of trotting.

We completed within the time frame. At the post ride check, she was sore in the right flank. The judge suggested applying a raw egg poultice to the area and walking her. i gave her electrolytes last night and this morning. she was still sore at the pre ride check this morning and they gave me the option to ride or pull. i decided to pull. now i’m in our air conditioned camper waiting to go volunteer at the P&R.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

She was quite a hand full so i didn’t get any photos during the ride.


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

Sounds like you did great! Pity you didn't get to ride today. Did you have trouble with any of the obstacles along the way?


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> Sounds like you did great! Pity you didn't get to ride today. Did you have trouble with any of the obstacles along the way?


Well….. she wouldn’t back down the hill through flags, and she wouldn’t do an off side mount!


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

The important thing is that you did it . . . and that was great. The next one will go even better, and the next one better than that. And then, one day, you'll have a rotten one, but after that, another good one, and so on. You've gotten your feet wet. You succeeded! Yay!


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

Those are easy fixes. How did she do on the side pass and how was the gate set up? Especially the latch mechanism. How many water crossings and how did you do on time? I know they set an ideal time and you have to try to hit it.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> Those are easy fixes. How did she do on the side pass and how was the gate set up? Especially the latch mechanism. How many water crossings and how did you do on time? I know they set an ideal time and you have to try to hit it.


They did the side pass today so I didn't see it. I know they try to use obstacles that are already on the trails instead of setting things up, so I imagine they try to use gates that are on the trails. No water crossings this time. 

We had to trot around a corner a certain distance and they watched to see if we broke gait, and they watched us going up a kind of muddy/rocky hill with roots on it (watching to make sure we didn't allow our upper bodies to sway back and forth but making sure we did move our hips appropriately). 

I did fine on time but that's because I was with an experienced rider. I would have been horribly lost without her because I had some problems with my map. I didn't have the map protector set to where I could read my map (tied it too tight) then I ended up crumpling it, and Ona was acting up so badly the first part of the ride that I would have been very lost by the time I could even see the map. It doesn't help being over 50 and squinting at small print. I learned that I have to write the instructions out in larger print on a different sheet of paper.

We just got home a while ago and I found PJ and Joe in a stall in the barn with the door shut. It wasn't even latched but they must have gone in there shortly after we left and thought they were locked in, because the water tank was still filled to the brim when we got home. They look OK - they're calm and don't appear dehydrated or anything. We leave the barn door open so they can stand in the aisle to get out of the sun and keep the stall doors locked open or closed. Lance went out and fixed the stall door so that won't happen again.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

What brand of electrolytes are you using? As I've learned some are much better than others!

Pick up a bottle of CMPK from your farm/fleet/tractor supply store if you can (usually in the cattle section). That can help with muscle cramps and in the heat a syringe of it really helps the thicker bodied horses.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> What brand of electrolytes are you using? As I've learned some are much better than others!
> 
> Pick up a bottle of CMPK from your farm/fleet/tractor supply store if you can (usually in the cattle section). That can help with muscle cramps and in the heat a syringe of it really helps the thicker bodied horses.


I just googled CMPK and it looks like it's an injection?

I actually borrowed electrolytes from someone at the ride - I didn't think we'd need them for such a short ride but she got so sweaty.


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

No It's a 500ml bottle. We give a 60cc syringe squirted in their mouth whenever we give electrolytes. You can also use calcium gluconate but apparently the cmpk isn't as harsh tasting.

The thicker muscled horses need more electrolytes/calcium. I use way more with Stitch than the Arabs.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> No It's a 500ml bottle. We give a 60cc syringe squirted in their mouth whenever we give electrolytes. You can also use calcium gluconate but apparently the cmpk isn't as harsh tasting.
> 
> The thicker muscled horses need more electrolytes/calcium. I use way more with Stitch than the Arabs.


I'm a little nervous about squirting it in her mouth at a P&R. What if I give it to her and then she doesn't drink after? Will it make her uncomfortably thirsty?


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## QueenofFrance08 (May 16, 2017)

I think the electrolytes taste worse than the CMPK. You can rinse their mouth out afterwards to get the taste out with a syringe of water as well. I've never had a horse quit drinking because of it. You could put it on a mash too if you don't want to syringe it if she's not a picky eater. For 9 miles you're probably fine without but if you start doing longer distances I would definitely recommend it.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

QueenofFrance08 said:


> I think the electrolytes taste worse than the CMPK. You can rinse their mouth out afterwards to get the taste out with a syringe of water as well. I've never had a horse quit drinking because of it. You could put it on a mash too if you don't want to syringe it if she's not a picky eater. For 9 miles you're probably fine without but if you start doing longer distances I would definitely recommend it.


Thank you! I don't know why I didn't see your response before - I apologize! I will try the CMPK. I haven't bought any electrolytes yet so now's a good time!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Today we practiced off side mounting a few times and I worked with her on moving her front quarters and hind quarters. I tried Joe's saddle on her to see if it would fit since she's filled out a lot. I got some videos longeing her in it without the blanket on and one from behind while I was walking her, to see if the saddle fits and also if she's moving normally. I haven't looked at them yet. 

Without the pad on I mounted a few times and the saddle immediately slid way back. I think that probably means it doesn't fit. She's never been cinchy but she definitely was when I was cinching that saddle up.

She's still sore on the right. I put her regular saddle on her without a pad and the sore spot on her side is exactly where the back of the tree ends.

I could swear she's downhill again. I've been noticing it for a week or two. Is it even remotely possible that a 10 year old could be having another growth spurt? 


I still don't feel safe riding her at home and don't have a lot of time after work to drive her to a trail. I hand walked her a whole mile down the road and back - so I think she's over being barn sour. That's the furthest I've ever been able to get her to walk out from home. PJ and Joe were calling loudly for her and she didn't pay any attention at all. We're getting closer to being able to ride out from home. I'm still nervous though. She got very prancy riding past some horses and I had trouble controlling her from the ground. Then she really wouldn't listen when we were passing by some dogs that are always out. I can guarantee those dogs will be out whenever we ride and we can't get to the trail I want to go to without riding past them. They're in a yard with an invisible fence and they bark and run along the fenceline back and forth nonstop. She's not scared of dogs but those dogs are nerve wracking. When I got her as close to them as I felt like she would tolerate, I let her graze there for a while, with them barking, so she'd realize they can't come out. Then, I led her away from them and as I was leading her she kept pinning her ears at me. They were continuing to bark and lunge like they were going to chase us. She never pins her ears at me - and she snapped her teeth at me! She's never done that before either. I got after her - not touching her but swinging the crop and backing her away. Maybe she was trying to drive me away from the dogs, IDK.

Nothing exciting on the way home. A bunch of cows came to the fence to check her out and she looked at them. A few cars drove by. We walked by our cowboy neighbor's. He thinks I'm crazy for hand walking her. Maybe I am! He'd just show her who's boss and be done with it. I would, too, if I wasn't scared.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)




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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

She would have been done with all skeletal growth by 6 at the latest and usually at 5. The saddle could or could not fit the sore back is probably the cause of the cinchyness.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

newtrailriders said:


> I would, too, if I wasn't scared.


You are doing a super job and have come such a long way. Being scared and keeping on trying is quite impressive. I have walked in your shoes. Here is a pat on the back from me ✋


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

The picture does make her look downhill. Some horses are naturally downhill unfortunately. I don't blame you for walking her around. My friend always tells me to do whatever I need to do so I can Live to Ride Another Day! I think you have come so far with her and if what you have been doing got you there, then keep doing it! I wonder if the front of the saddle and back could be built up more to help even the bar of the saddle out?


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

knightrider said:


> You are doing a super job and have come such a long way. Being scared and keeping on trying is quite impressive. I have walked in your shoes. Here is a pat on the back from me ✋


From me too! Pursuing our dreams can be scary, but conquering those challenges is a large part of the fun and sense of accomplishment!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> You are doing a super job and have come such a long way. Being scared and keeping on trying is quite impressive. I have walked in your shoes. Here is a pat on the back from me ✋


Thank you - I needed to hear this because I'm always questioning whether I should be doing this at all, when I see others doing it differently!




carshon said:


> The picture does make her look downhill. Some horses are naturally downhill unfortunately. I don't blame you for walking her around. My friend always tells me to do whatever I need to do so I can Live to Ride Another Day! I think you have come so far with her and if what you have been doing got you there, then keep doing it! I wonder if the front of the saddle and back could be built up more to help even the bar of the saddle out?


At first I said "she wasn't downhill before," but now I'm going back through all the photos and I guess she always has been, a little bit, at least whenever she's had a little bit of extra weight or butt muscles!



weeedlady said:


> From me too! Pursuing our dreams can be scary, but conquering those challenges is a large part of the fun and sense of accomplishment!


Thank you!

I did make a chiropractic appointment for her tomorrow. Maybe I'll bring the saddle and get the vet's opinion.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We're back from the chiro! She was a doll  She had a floating rib out, right where the pain was. When I was grooming her before we left a bunch of dried skin peeled off that area and some hair fell out. The vet said she may have been tensing up the muscle over the rib, guarding, and that would have been enough to chafe it a little. She wasn't really out anywhere else. Her spine was good. The tip (cap?) of her sternum was off a little which might have explained why she was cinchy but maybe not.

The vet said to let her rest tomorrow and be ready to only do a short ride on Sunday because she might be sore.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

What did the vet say about the saddle fit?


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

Great! I really figured something was out. Doc Brianna is great isn't she. She is so calming with them and patient with them. Ki really enjoyed her adjustment and was very relaxed afterward.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> What did the vet say about the saddle fit?


She said she thinks the saddle fits, but that she only knows enough to be dangerous and that if we have this problem again she might recommend a saddle fitter.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

ksbowman said:


> Great! I really figured something was out. Doc Brianna is great isn't she. She is so calming with them and patient with them. Ki really enjoyed her adjustment and was very relaxed afterward.


She really was great with her and Ona loved it!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Today was definitely not an "every day" adventure - it was a heck of a day!

First, I had made arrangements to ride with Stacie (the girl I bought PJ from), her sister, and @ksbowman . Stacie cancelled on me and I didn't think DH would appreciate me riding alone with a man so I cancelled on ksbowman. Shortly after that I got a message from my sister about my other sister and her son's baptism today! I can not believe I had forgotten about that!!!! I am the world's worst sister, I swear. This was a really big deal because my sister had been addicted to drugs and homeless for 15 years. She'd lost custody of all four of her children. A couple of years ago she got clean and moved home, and this summer she had her son for the summer - it was a really big deal. I'd bought a present for her and my nephew and everything and was excited to attend - I'd just forgotten it was THIS Sunday!

So I went to the baptism and then went to eat with my 3 sisters and nephew, then to my sister's to visit and my brother was there. It's so rare for all five of us to be together. My dad would have been there too but he has Covid.

So then I decided to take Ona for a solo ride when I got home. It was the best ride we've had yet! We rode five miles and there was a lot of good communication and cooperation between the two of us. I feel like I really got to know and understand her better. She understands so much more, and communicates so much more, than I ever realized. At one point she told me pretty clearly that she didn't want to go down a treacherous-looking portion of the trail. I said "tell you what - I'll walk down in front of you and you can follow me." We got about half way down and she was like "nope. No more." So I said "I'll just go ahead and look and see what's around the bend." I tied her to a tree and went and looked - came up and said "you're right. We totally do not want to go there. Good calll!" Then we got to another part of the trail that didn't look treacherous but there were some branches hanging down and Ona was pretty sure we'd be bushwacking if we went back there. I said "It's not dangerous. Let's just go have a look," and she was like "Fine. Whatever." But we went and looked and definitely would have been bushwacking. So I said "OK - good call again," and we turned around.

Then on the way back to camp I said "You're going to the beach today, and I'm not going to take "no" for an answer. You'll love it." Here's the road to the beach:









Ona said "No way Jose, absolutely no way in HECK I'm going there!" I said "There's no way you're NOT going there! You'll LOVE it! You can learn how to swim!" She was pretty adamant so I decided to hand walk her. There was no rearing but there was a lot of running in circles and at one point she pinned her ears and pretended to bite me. I made sure she knew without a doubt that was not acceptable. Here she is not wanting to go to the beach:









It took me a good half hour to get her down there. One we got there it took me at least another 15 minutes to get her within a couple feet of the water.

While I was allowing her to take her time sniffing the waves from the boats and jet skis, and taking her tack off, a woman in a bikini came to visit her. The woman was clearly high and I got the impression she was an addict (I've spent a lot of time with addicts), and the timing just after my sister's baptism seemed meaningful.

Ona can be a pretty reactive horse and this was her first time getting this close to the water at the beach. She's done some water crossings but they were quick and she's never spent much time in the water. She's never been swimming. So I was expecting this to be a lesson that would take a good long while.

Before I knew what was happening, Ona had just fallen head over heels in love with the woman in the bikini. She was super calm, and I just could not make myself object as the woman (who knew absolutely nothing about horses) led Ona into the water! She led her in and out of the water, up and down the beach. Ona kept an eye on where her feet were and was very gentle with her. I learned the woman's family has recently disowned her and she has no friends. She mentioned something about having children but rapidly changed the subject (giving me the impression she may have lost custody). At one point she put her nose on Ona's nose and looked into her eyes and said something like - "I hope this means what I think it means," and something maybe about having asked God for a sign?

She led Ona in to about half way up Ona's body. There was no rearing, no squealing, no sudden movements from Ona. She was just perfectly at peace and enamored with the woman!


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

What a story! That is amazing! Something told you to let that stranger lead Ona. I'm sure you would not have done it ordinarily, but something told you it would be the good thing to do. I loved reading that story . . . from beginning to end.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> What a story! That is amazing! Something told you to let that stranger lead Ona. I'm sure you would not have done it ordinarily, but something told you it would be the good thing to do. I loved reading that story . . . from beginning to end.


Oh there's no way I would ever have done that ordinarily, and I've decided not to go back to the beach when it's open anymore. People can be a bit impulsive.... There's a secret way to get down there when it's closed though 

I still can't believe what happened. She was being a real pill until the woman showed up and then it was like somebody flipped a switch. Head down, soft eyes. She was so kind! And now Ona will be fine with the beach, and I know she'll be OK with deep water.

The forest ranger showed up to close the beach after we were finished and I was tacking Ona back up. He said "Lady, I don't know what trail you rode in on but you need to get back on it."


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

This story made my heart happy today. Ona was someone's angel and that is such a beautiful gift to give. Animals truly are amazing. Thank you for sharing.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I haven't been posting in my journal! I've been posting everything in other threads instead. Dang it - now I won't have it all detailed in here. Oh well.

Today was a good day. A while back, I started a Facebook long distance trail riders group to find people to hook up with for rides  So today I met up with a lady I met for the first time when we rode together two weeks ago, and she brought a friend I haven't met before. We got up at the crack of dawn and drove through Kansas City traffic to go to ride at a trail we're going to be doing a leisure division NATRC ride at in 2 weeks. We were planning to start our ride at 8:30 and be done before it got hot but there was a road closed and some other things happened and we didn't end up getting started until almost 10:00.

It was super hot. We rode about 8 miles and averaged 3.2 mph but that included stopping a lot to eat grass and drink out of a stream. We did a decent amount of trotting. If it was cooler we would have done more. My friends were riding Arabs and I can really see the difference between how Arabs do in the heat vs quarter horses. Ona was drenched with sweat - their horses were not. Ona was breathing pretty fast, their horses were not. One of the Arabs was very fit but the other wasn't and he was still much less sweaty than Ona.

I enjoyed some happy surprises. Ona has no problem at all drinking on the trail, and she's the calm, cool and collected horse of the group now. It's so weird to hear someone say they appreciate Ona's stability. She has turned out to be such a great horse! I have a feeling she's going to be a great horse for beginners soon. 

I think when the weather cools down I'll get a better feel for how she can do on longer rides. I'm pretty sure we could do the 20 mile NATRC rides this fall but IDK if we will. Maybe next year she'll be able to do the longer rides. We'll just have to keep to the short rides when it's hot, unless I can figure out how to help her with the heat.

Edited to add: I forgot to mention what PJ did this morning! He's such a smart boy. When I went out to the barn to feed everybody, he came running in without the others which was odd. Then he turned around and went back outside again. I heard the thundering of hooves and looked to see all 3 horses running along the fence line on the other side of the pasture, with PJ in the lead. He lead the other 2 horses all around the parameter of the pasture, to the gate near where I was standing. I saw that Ona was actually outside the fence! She'd squeezed through the electric fence (which was not turned on) during the night. PJ knew to go get her and lead her to the gate so I could let her in - and he was willing to delay his own meal to do so! And Joe waited with her (Joe inside the fence) and didn't come to the barn to eat when I called him, but waited until Ona was safely inside. It gave me warm fuzzies.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Major anxiety attack this evening. I had such a great day and then decided to try to teach Ona to do some stuff we'll have to do for the NATRC obstacles. Ona is an angel on the trails and a devil at home. She's at her absolute worst in a round pen or an arena - any arena. She had some bad experiences being free lunged in a round pen when she was young, and when I took her to be "broke" the trainer did all the training in an arena. The trainer eventually said Ona would never be rideable for me, but Ona's great out of the arena. Maybe she didn't like her trainer and arenas/round pens are triggers for her.

Anyway - she was OK in the round pen for about 10 minutes today and then started acting up. I did have her yielding her front quarters before she started acting up, but she's learned that before, a long time ago. We did a little bit of side passing in the past too I think. I need to be able to practice this with her somewhere and I can't be driving to the trail every time I want to do anything with her.

Maybe I should have just called it good when she was good for 10 minutes, instead of pushing it? Would it be a good idea to keep the lessons a little shorter until she gets over hating the round pen? Any suggestions are welcome.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

newtrailriders said:


> Maybe I should have just called it good when she was good for 10 minutes, instead of pushing it? Would it be a good idea to keep the lessons a little shorter until she gets over hating the round pen?


I would say "yes" and "yes". You are the one who taught me that less is more. Also, since things are kind of iffy with your confidence, why not just enjoy trails on Ona and skip the challenges until just enjoying a ride is no challenge? Or is that already the case for you? I know Ona has been doing super great on the trails. So maybe you are ready for a harder challenge?

I'm not. Windy is doing super great, and I am so thrilled and pleased that I don't try anything challenging with her. Maybe someday I will, but not this year.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Do you have to practice your stuff in the arena or round pen?
Can you practice in your pasture or your yard? 
I also think 10 minutes at a time is probably good if it's new stuff and challenging for her.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> I would say "yes" and "yes". You are the one who taught me that less is more. Also, since things are kind of iffy with your confidence, why not just enjoy trails on Ona and skip the challenges until just enjoying a ride is no challenge? Or is that already the case for you? I know Ona has been doing super great on the trails. So maybe you are ready for a harder challenge?
> 
> I'm not. Windy is doing super great, and I am so thrilled and pleased that I don't try anything challenging with her. Maybe someday I will, but not this year.





weeedlady said:


> Do you have to practice your stuff in the arena or round pen?
> Can you practice in your pasture or your yard?
> I also think 10 minutes at a time is probably good if it's new stuff and challenging for her.


Thank you both! I really appreciate your help.

The trail riding is going great and there are always things to work on with that - such as getting her in better condition, doing more trotting.  

It's not that I'm ready for a harder challenge, it's that NATRC has these obstacles we're supposed to do on the trail rides and I'd like to learn how to do them. They sent out a challenge to learn 3 new things and send a video, to be graded. It includes doing a square of walking forward 5 steps, sidepassing left 5 steps, back 5 steps and sidepass right five steps. Then there's a challenge of walking over logs set up llike the spokes of a wagon wheel, and a challenge of having hte horse stand directly over an object and turn in circles using hips and shoulders while remaining over the object.

Ona has done some side passing in the past (just a little - barely got her started on it) and she is a fast learner but she's very resistant to doing it. She just truly doesn't like doing it. She's at her worst in the round pen of course but even if I try to work with her out on the trail she just wants to go down the trail, she doesn't want to stop and work on these things.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

To teach the side pass I used a gate and a buggy whip to start out. I would start with my horse facing the gate and then take the butt of the buggy whip and press into his side about where my heel would go. When he moved off of the pressure I would release and praise. I only did 5-10 reps per side and the lesson was done. My gelding caught on really fast and it translated to the saddle really well using the gate at first and then moving to open areas where I had to use my hands to help him keep his head in the correct postion.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We went to the NATRC Jesse James Rideout this weekend, to do the Leisure division rides Saturday and Sunday. I headed up with my trailer with my halfway finished DIY weekender Friday afternoon after we got our health certificate updated. Lance wanted to come too but he had a late afternoon MD appointment so he waited until Saturday morning and then drove up with the camper.









I backed my trailer in and got camp set up all by myself! Pretty proud of backing that trailer in! That's my 2003 Dodge Ram dually with over 300,000 miles on it. Still going strong but I have to disconnect the batteries when it's parked because there's a phantom load somewhere and the batteries will run out otherwise. Also the air conditioning no longer works. The only thing we use it for is hauling the horse trailer. I don't want to spend the $ to have the air conditioner fixed or check out the electric thing just yet. Maybe this winter. NATRC, gasoline, and horse care are my main expenses this summer.

Saturday we did a 9 mile at 3.5 mph with my friend Althea. There were 17 leisure riders registered. 3 didn't make it past the start (one rider got thrown and then there were 2 sisters riding together and one of their horses had a medical issues so they both had to leave).

Ona was a dragon when I first mounted. She scared me a little - trotting around not listening to me and playing with her bit, shaking her head. I thought maybe she was uncomfortable. When she settled down enough to be safely approached, Althea checked her gear. Her cinch was a little lose so she tightened it but I think Ona was just antsy to get going. She'd been watching horses from other divisions leaving without her all morning.

Althea has done a lot of MODTRA and endurance over the decades and it was such a blessing to have her there to show me the ropes. This was her first NATRC ride. She's nearing retirement from riding and doesn't like to do the longer rides anymore so she's sticking with leisure for now. If it hadn't been for her I would have been hopelessly lost. 

I wear bifocals and decided to get multifocal contacts. Those did not work for me at all on the ride. One of my contacts got something under it right away and it was bothering me the whole ride. I couldn't focus well enough to see the map. I just went on Amazon and bought some bifocal sunglasses and straps for them. 3 pairs of bifocal sunglasses for $16! I won't feel bad if something happens to them and I'll hopefully be all set for at least the next 3 rides.

It was in the 90s and very humid. Ona and I were both dripping with sweat. She was super sweaty and everybody else had removed their saddles so I removed hers, too, against my better judgment. Her P&R were 12 & 10. I was silly and asked for a recount and then they got 12 and 12. The pulse was great but the respirations should have been 9 or lower so we got docked a point. I hadn't had breakfast and the heat and humidity were getting to me. Her saddle is lightweight but I had saddle bags with 2 large gatorades and 2 bottles of water, and all the gear NATRC says you should bring on a ride. Plus a heavy breast collar, heavy wool pad.....it took me FIFTEEN MINUTES to resaddle her! That put us behind on time. Althea was much smarter and was able to saddle back up in less than 5 minutes. Lesson learned - in this kind of heat there will be no more horn bags and no more unnecessary gear. I'll bring a cantle bag with 2 16-oz gatorades or waters (because I drink a ton of fluid), a hoof pick, and the map in the map holder. I may try to find a lighter-weight breast collar, as well. For now I'm keeping the wool pad because I paid a lot for it and it has custom shims. Plus I'm going to try not to unsaddle her in the future.










That's Althea with her bay Arabian, and Ona's butt.










The obstacles were fairly easy (probably since it was leisure division). As we were heading out we had to go in a circle keeping some ribbons on our right, then there was a rocky downhill we were judged on and a sidepass and mount. I got full points for the first and second ones, but of course we can't sidepass very well so I lost 4/8 points there and got 6/8 for mounting. The judge said Ona took a step forward while I was mounting and I landed slightly hard. I didn't notice she took a step and thought I landed lightly but will be even more careful next time.

We had to trot about half of the way back to make it in on time since I wasted so much time saddling up. Ona and I got 6th on Saturday and she was sound at the end so we planned to go on the 2nd ride this morning.

Ona was tied to the trailer and I wanted to be able to hear her so I slept in the trailer instead of in the camper with Lance. We'd heard we might get a thunderstorm. I think it was around 2 am that I woke up to pouring rain. Too late to get Ona's rain coat on her - I didn't put it on earlier because of the heat. We ended up getting 2 inches of rain and today's ride was cancelled.

















We loaded up and came home - will try again next weekend!


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

You made it! I was thinking about you all week-end and really looking forward to reading about your adventure. Sixth out of 17 is NO SLOUCH!!! Yay! I would have been happy for you if you hadn't won anything. I'm just thrilled you went and tried. And Ona did well. That muck from the rain looks horrendous. I'll bet you were glad it was canceled. Who wants to ride in that? I am so pleased you succeeded!


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Yay! good job!


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## SueC (Feb 22, 2014)

newtrailriders said:


> Today was definitely not an "every day" adventure - it was a heck of a day!
> 
> First, I had made arrangements to ride with Stacie (the girl I bought PJ from), her sister, and @ksbowman . Stacie cancelled on me and I didn't think DH would appreciate me riding alone with a man so I cancelled on ksbowman. Shortly after that I got a message from my sister about my other sister and her son's baptism today! I can not believe I had forgotten about that!!!! I am the world's worst sister, I swear. This was a really big deal because my sister had been addicted to drugs and homeless for 15 years. She'd lost custody of all four of her children. A couple of years ago she got clean and moved home, and this summer she had her son for the summer - it was a really big deal. I'd bought a present for her and my nephew and everything and was excited to attend - I'd just forgotten it was THIS Sunday!
> 
> ...


I just loved this story, and the photos!

I'm sure it did good things both for your horse and the lady, but imagine that - it's so left field!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Today was day 1 of the leisure division NATRC ride at Big River Ranch in Lexington, MO. I'm planning to ride tomorrow - God willing. If we actually end up riding this will be our first time doing 2 days in a row. The first time, Ona was too sore. The second time, we got rained out.

































Today was hot and humid. Ona woke up in a bad mood this morning and did not become any more cheerful throughout the day. She's cinchy now and she knows I won't let her bite me. I had asked Lance to come hold her while I mounted and he was, unfortunately, standing on the other side of her while I cinched her up so she bit him instead. Right in the belly - pretty hard. Broke skin just a little. He's on blood thinners so it left a bruise.

Maybe she's still sore from our ride last weekend. I know I had a sore neck from it and took Aleve before we rode out today. Too bad we can't give horses anything before a ride. The judge who checked her over before the ride started said she seemed a little stiff in her back - not sore. Same area where she was sore after our first ride. She seems fine now. I'll check her one more time before bed. Someone said it looks like I was riding a little off center at one point - and I was leaning to the right. 

We rode with Althea and Magic again.









Magic was a show horse and Althea just started him out on NATRC. He's 19 and had a side bone injury in the past so she's riding him very carefully.

It was a 9 mile ride and the pace was supposed to be 3.5 mph. We were going to try to get ahead on time during the first half because we almost came in over time, last time. Unfortunately we missed a turn and put on some extra distance, then the trail was pretty challenging so we couldn't go very fast. Then we missed another turn when we came to a corn field - we went left and were supposed to go right. Two others made the same mistake.










We did OK at most of the obstacles but there was one where we had to stop at the top of a hill, dismount, then back our horses between two trees, in hand and then use a log to remount. Nobody thought to take our reins off and hook them to our halters. Everybody tried to back our horses using the bit. Only one person succeeded. Ona and I probably failed the worst - the only one who scored lower than us was someone who didn't try. Ona got mad and reared up. The soil around the log was soft and Ona was in absolutely no mood to put up with any shenanigans so someone had to hold her while I mounted. Lots of points lost there.

Then we got to the P&R and Ona's heart rate was 48 which was great but her respirations were 68. 68 is the cuttoff point for being held. They said they were holding us for ten minutes and that ten minutes would be added to my ride but if Althea chose to wait for me, she'd lose that 10 minutes. There's no way Ona or Magic would have done well the rest of the ride without one another. They were already buddied up. The judges ended up having pity on us and letting us go after about 5 minutes when Ona's respirations got down to 64, but we didn't get that added to our time at the end.

The second half of the trail was a lot easier, but Ona was walking slowly and I had to keep cueing her to catch up to Magic. Althea didn't want to trot Magic because of Magic's injury and because he was lathered up. We might have accidentally taken the long way home - we're not sure. Either way, we put on 9.62 miles instead of 9 miles and we were 16 minutes late getting in.

If this was a real CTR we would have been disqualified for being over time but since it's just leisure division they only docked points. I came in 5th out of 6. Althea is an advanced rider so she wasn't scored with the rest of us.

I keep reminding myself that the reason I wanted to get into CTR was so that I could go on long horse rides, not so I could win anything. I told myself before I started that I wouldn't even mind getting disqualified for time. So why am I feeling dejected? That's just silly.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

It sounds like you had quite an adventure and a learning experience @newtrailriders . When you look back in a few weeks you will realize how much fun it actually was, even though you think you didn't place well. Remember you are brand new at this, and so is Ona, right?

I enjoy reading your descriptions. This actually sounds like something Tucker and I might be willing to do. I may look into it.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

You completed! That's what counts. And Ona was grumpy the whole time. Yet, you did it! I did 3 endurance rides on Acicate because I thought he'd be good. He was only OK, but after doing 3 of them, I agreed with my friend--we really have more fun just going on long trail rides together and doing whatever pace we felt like . . . and it is a whole lot cheaper. So I didn't go on anymore of them. My hat is off to you for just doing it!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

@weeedlady and @knightrider thank you for the encouragement! You're right. It is an accomplishment regardless of where we placed! @knightrider, if I could find enough friends to have someone to go on a long trail ride with twice a month, that's probably what I would do to! It's hard to find people who want to ride that far but I'm gradually meeting them! The more you ride the more people you meet.

@weeedlady, it really is a very interesting sport and I love that you can start small by doing the leisure division. In leisure you only go 8-12 miles per ride at about 3-3.5 mph. Then the next level is novice and I think they usually do 15-20 at 3.75-4.5 or something like that. Then the ones who do open go 25-30 milesish at 5 mphish? So there's something for everyone and you can do the ride two days in a row or just one. Great sport in itself or a great way to prepare for endurance.

I checked Ona again. She's sore. Both sides of her back. If she's sore tomorrow morning we'll skip the second day.

Since it's a symmetrical soreness, I'm wondering if it's just the kind of sore you get after pushing it exercising - like how I would feel if I pushed it hard at the gym - or if it's a dysfunctional type of soreness that means we need to consider a new saddle.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Thanks for the info. I like the idea of "leisure division" since we regularly ride that far at just about that pace. Tucker could probably handle the 15=20 miles without issue, but I would be getting tired by that time.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Well, Ona's definitely got a sore back. Last night I watched some youtube videos on how to check because running your hands down their back can sometimes give a false positive. To test for lumbar soreness you find the last rib and follow the contour up to the spine and then press straight down with your fingers in that area on either side of the spine. She flinched away pretty hard. So - I cancelled my ride for today and will start the search for a new saddle.

Ugh - I know this is part of the process but I have been dreading the day when we would have to find a new saddle. I was so happy with the old one and so was she before her shape changed. It's so comfortable for me. Plus I've heard so many horror stories of spending thousands of dollars and trying saddle after saddle before finding the right one.

It's two weeks before the next NATRC ride. I doubt we'll have it figured out by then 

But - I do have Joe's saddle. It was too wide for her before but she's bulked up so much in the past year and I think the current saddle is too narrow. I'm praying his will fit! Maybe if her back is feeling better next weekend I can take her out and test it.

This explains why she was such a pill yesterday. And I had an epiphone! Lance was being a pill this morning so I asked "are you in pain?" and he said yes. His hips were hurting. Since he can talk, I assumed he'd tell me if he was in pain but apparently not. 

Now we're going to pack up and get her loaded before our group heads out for their ride. Then hopefully not get lost and accidentally end up in Kansas City on the way home like we did on the way here - that was not fun!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Saddle Fit How-To Guide -







outwestsaddlery.com
 




I'm leaving this link on my journal so I can find it later. It's how to measure a horse for saddle fit so it's like bringing your horse into the store!


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

I'm sorry she was so sore. Saddle fit is the bane of almost every riders existance. If you were closer to Manhattan I would tell you to contact my daughter to ride with you if you have an extra horse. Thats the thing she misses most at school is horses. 

Just keep trying- you are already doing the hard part (getting out of your comfort zone)


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> I'm sorry she was so sore. Saddle fit is the bane of almost every riders existance. If you were closer to Manhattan I would tell you to contact my daughter to ride with you if you have an extra horse. Thats the thing she misses most at school is horses.
> 
> Just keep trying- you are already doing the hard part (getting out of your comfort zone)


I wish she was closer! I have 2 that aren't being ridden!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I decided to go back to square one on some things. I think Ona is "cold backed" because her back has been sore. She's become hard to mount, cinchy, more anxious, and acts a bit crazy when I first get on her. Plus also she doesn't like the round pen, and I want her to sidepass.

So today I brought Joe's old saddle (which is a higher quality one than Ona's but was too wide for her before) and the saddle pad out to the round pen along with a bag of apple slices. I set my watch for 15 minutes and told myself I wouldn't keep her out any longer than that. I tied her to the outside of the round pen and rubbed her all over and gave her an apple slice. When she was very calm I tied her inside the round pen and did the same thing. She was super calm so I led her in hand around the round pen and then tied her again and rubbed her and gave her an apple. Then I had her yield her hind quarters one step one way, petted her, had her do one step the other way, petted her and gave her an apple slice. Then repeated one more step each way and she stayed very relaxed and I rubbed her and gave her more apple.

Then I put Joe's saddle on her without the pad and without cinching it and checked the fit. I think it might fit. It's a little wider than her saddle, and she's definitely bulked up since we got her saddle fit tested a couple years ago. I do have clearance all the way down the middle, but in the center, halfway down, there's only just enough clearance for my hand, and the saddle touches my hand when my hand is flat on her back. I'm not sure it won't touch when I get on her and I'm not sure it's 100% even pressure because it's lower in the middle. 

Then I petted her some more (she was practically asleep) and put the pad on with the saddle over it and checked it again. Then time was up and I walked her calmly back to the barn and gave the rest of the apples to her and the geldings. She was happy and sweet the entire time.

Tomorrow I'm going to bring her out and start out the same way with lots of pets and some apples, but set my timer for half an hour. I'll do all the same things - have her yield her butt a couple times etc. with lots of pets and relaxing, but when I put the saddle on I'll cinch it loosely, take her for a walk around the round pen, pet and love on her, then tighten it a little more and walk her around again then tighten it one more time, pet her etc. Then if she's still calm (if not we won't go any further) I'll have DH hold the lead rope (from the other side of the pen so he won't hurt his bad foot) and I'll just slowly mount and get off, mount and get off, over and over, from both sides. Each time I mount, I'll rub her and let her relax, have her reach back for an apple slice and then get off. I'll go slowly and make sure not to do anything unless she's very calm. We won't walk off at all. Maybe I'll repeat that lesson for a few days and just sit on her every time and never have her take a step, and then one day just have DH lead us around the round pen slowly from the outside.

I think we've lost some ground the last couple rides because it's all new to her, she was sore, etc. I have been asking too much of her, too soon. So I'll just baby her a little bit and not go for a ride this weekend. Our next ride is in a couple of weeks. Hopefully by then I'll have her calmly doing a few figure 8s around the trees with me here at home and she'll have less to be anxious about at the beginning of the ride.

For the rest of the riding season this year, I'm going to just take things slowly and easily. If she gets used to the round pen and doesn't hate it anymore, I'd like to set some obstacles up in there and practice some things but never pressure her or work when she's not relaxed. I'd just really prefer the round pen because it's got crushed rock footing and never any mud, no gopher holes hiding in the grass, and if we use obstacles in there we won't have to put them away so DH can mow.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We started out our lesson according to plan today. We got all the way to the mounting part as planned. I didn't put a bridle on her. Lance held the lead rope from outside the round pen. I didn't cinch the saddle very tightly because I want to get her over being cinchy. I put my foot in the stirrup and gave her a carrot with my foot in the stirrup. Of course, the saddle slid off when I went to mount. This saddle might be too wide for her. Her regular saddle would have stayed on if it was cinched that loosely. She just stood there quietly, though, so I rubbed her and gave her a piece of carrot. Then I put the saddle back on and cinched it just a little tighter and she snapped her teeth at Lance so I didn't go any tighter. I put my foot in the stirrup and gave her another carrot from the stirrup, mounted and gave her a carrot from the saddle with her neck flexed left. I then tried to get her to flex right for a carrot but she didn't notice it and I didn't have reins so couldn't pull her head back to flex. I tried over and over again but couldn't get her attention so I got off and walked around to the right, put my foot in the right stirrup and she was looking at me so saw me when I held the carrot out.

The saddle was loose enough that I didn't want to mount again, and I didn't want to tighten it all the way today so I decided to see if I could just get her to stand correctly for mounting. I had her doing that pretty well last year and the beginning of this year but she seems to have forgotten how. Lance helped get her into position a few times and each time she got in position I put my foot in the stirrup and gave her a carrot. She didn't really understand that it was my foot being in the stirrup that led to the treat and started getting pushy for carrots. I haven't used food to train her before. I hope this works out because my goal is to start having her flex each direction for a carrot after I mount each time for a while.

I was feeling kind of anxious. We've had too many bad experiences when I've worked with her at home in the past, and my hands were kind of shaky, so I decided to just end the lesson on a good note. I think I'll just keep this up and hopefully we'll both get calmer and calmer with it. Hopefully.

I'm not sure this saddle's going to work out. Maybe I'll put the breast collar on it and see if that helps. I want to check while I'm on and see if it still has good spinal clearance.

What a boring journal LOL.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Not boring. Don't stop.


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## gottatrot (Jan 9, 2011)

I think your journal is interesting too.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

OK - more "interesting" stuff LOL

Today I
-Brought her out to the round pen, tied her, gave her scratches and a treat, and walked her TWICE around inside the round pen, tied her back up and brushed and gave a treat.
-Made her yield her hind quarters THREE steps each way with a treat each time,
-tied her alone in the round pen while I went to get her saddle and breast collar, came back and scratch & treat.
-Saddled her up without cinching and gave scratches & treat.
-cinched loosely, scratch & treat
-Lance held the lead rope while I jiggled my foot in the left stirrup and had her bend her head back to my foot in the stirrup for a treat
-jiggled my foot in the right stirrup, had her bend her head back to my foot for a treat
-cinched her up more tightly. She snapped her teeth like she thought it was going to hurt so I stopped and gave her a scratch & treat
-mounted, showed her I had a treat and had her bend her head to the left stirrup and give it to her
-tried to get her to notice I had a treat on her right. She didn't notice right away but after I tapped her neck on the right and said "Ona" a few times she turned her head toward me and saw it so I put it down by the stirrup for her to eat
(I think she's going to learn to flex when I tap her neck now)
-sat on her back quietly, wiggled around a little, rubbed her neck
-decided it would be great if I could get her to let me remove a lead rope while I was on her (because sometimes when we're riding alone I lead her to a stump or whatever to get on and she always stands better with the lead rope than the reins but then when I'm on her back she won't let me take the lead rope off). So I just reached forward and rubbed the halter a couple times, touching the ring where the lead rope connects
-walked her over to the mounting block and she did much better today. I want to be able to mount from both sides all the time so I had her turn both ways and let me put my foot in the stirrup, then stood there wiggling my foot in the stirrup and gave her treats. She did that about 3 times then got impatient and just started trying to mug me for treats
- I had three treats left so Lance came in and helped her get in position 3 times and each time I wiggled my foot in the stirrup while giving her a treat.

It feels so simple and elementary, and formerly I would have pushed it further until we both got frustrated but that's the old me. We stopped, and I brought her back to the barn on a good note.

Accomplishments so far:
1) She's less nervous in the round pen
2) She's maybe slightly less cinchy
3) I figured out Joe's saddle will stay on with the breast collar while mounting, even if she's loosely cinched. Still have to check and make sure it has spinal clearance.
4) She's learning to turn her head when I tap her on the neck. I think that might come in handy but IDK
5) She's starting to learn to position herself better for mounting
6) She's learning to flex right and left when I mount so hopefully she won't trot off as soon as I get on in the future
7) She's yielding her hind quarters better
8) She's learning to let me mess with the bottom of her halter while I'm on her back

Oh - forgot to mention one more thing. She's always got jiggy when I'm leading her out of the barn. Just this year I've got her to calm down quickly (at first by whacking her in the chest with the training crop when she starts to get in my space or ahead of me, then by just tapping her with it or holding it like I'm going to tap her) but she's always jiggy and not paying attention when we first walk out. So today, right before we walked out, I stopped her and tapped her chest very lightly with the crop and just had her stand still and look around before we slowly walked out. I kept the crop in front of her chest and stopped again as soon as we were out in the spot where she usually misbehaves and just stood there until she was nice and calm. Then we had a peaceful walk to the round pen with zero shenanigans.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

All this stuff I'm doing with Ona now has me thinking....maybe in a couple years if everything is going OK with her and it looks like I'll stick with CTR, and if it looks like I might want to try endurance one day....maybe I'll buy an Arabian colt. A weanling. 

I got Ona as a weanling. She was my first horse and I made so many mistakes with her and learned so many lessons. I think I could do a lot better job with another baby, and end up with a saner horse by the time he's old enough to ride. I could take it very slowly with him and not even plan to do endurance on him until he's around 8 or so. That would put me at about 60. Ona will be 18 by then. PJ and Joe would be 33 if they make it that long.

That sounds like a really nice idea.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Another successful day!

Today we
1) walked from the barn to the round pen perfectly calmly, with Ona's head down all the way and I did not have to slow her down once
2) skipped tying her up in the round pen right away for treats
3) moved straight to leading her twice around the pen and then tying her and treating her. She was perfectly calm.
4) had her yield her hind quarters both ways once - she yielded a semicircle each way, with barely any pressure ate all (I just had to touch her, didn't have to press with my thumb)
5) saddled her up and cinched a little snugly
6) without Lance holding her I brought her to the mounting block where she immediately got into position for mounting. The second my foot touched the stirrup, she touched her nose to the stirrup for a treat
67turned her around and got her into position to mount from the other side, quickly and easily. Foot in stirrup, nose to stirrup, treat
8) repeated steps 5 & 6 quickly and easily with zero hesitation
9) snugged the cinch up all the way - no cinchiness whatsoever. Treat
10) brought her to the side of the round pen for Lance to hold her while I mounted from the wrong side (once again treating as soon as my foot was in the stirrup) and then had her flex back and forth both ways twice, for a treat each time
11) Lance checked the saddle for spinal clearance while I was sitting in it - YAHOO the saddle fits!

Plan for tomorrow -
I'll walk her around the round pen a couple times and treat, then saddle her up with her bridle on this time, walk her around again. Mount and have her flex for treats a few times, then I'll have her walk a step or two, stop for treats - and if she's calm enough we'll keep walking a few steps at a time and halting for flexing and treats.

From now on I'll keep treats in a saddle bag and use them for teaching opportunities. Over time I'll treat less often when I mount but still treat for that occasionally, and move on to other things. Hopefully this way she'll be more willing to engage in lessons.

When we're ready, I'll work on yielding her hind quarters from the saddle. To avoid frustration I might start off with touching her with my heel while Lance cues her from the ground simultaneously, until I'm able to cue her from the saddle without help. Once we have hind quarters down, we'll work on forequarters then on side passing.

No....wait! Instead of moving straight to doing it from the saddle I'm going to start saddling her up and, from the ground, I'll touch her side with the stirrup to get her to yield her hindquarters. Then maybe we won't need any help.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

This is great!


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

When I first got my mare she would immediately gait when a foot touched the stirrup and never would stand still for mounting. I did almost exactly what you are doing and even used the tap on the shoulder cue for Tille to turn her head for a treat. We also used a small handful of feed on the fender of the trailer while she was tied to have her stand still for me to mount. 6 years later I still give her a handful of feed on the fender, not because she won't stand because she will at the trailer or on the trail but simply because she enjoys it. And I still carry treats and give her one occasionally to reinforce the tap on the shoulder cue. It has helped us when she gets jittery or nervous and I ask her to stand still - Good Job!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> When I first got my mare she would immediately gait when a foot touched the stirrup and never would stand still for mounting. I did almost exactly what you are doing and even used the tap on the shoulder cue for Tille to turn her head for a treat. We also used a small handful of feed on the fender of the trailer while she was tied to have her stand still for me to mount. 6 years later I still give her a handful of feed on the fender, not because she won't stand because she will at the trailer or on the trail but simply because she enjoys it. And I still carry treats and give her one occasionally to reinforce the tap on the shoulder cue. It has helped us when she gets jittery or nervous and I ask her to stand still - Good Job!


I'm SO glad to hear this! Great minds think alike, I guess  

The feed on the fender is a great idea - I'm going to start doing this at the NATRC rides. I'm thinking the tap on the shoulder and treat may help at the beginning of the rides when she's antsy to get going. That plus practicing going a few steps then stopping for a treat. The beginnings of the rides are pretty exciting for her and I don't anticipate this will totally take care of her jitters but it might make ME a little less jittery if I can get her to stop occasionally!

I'm praying she won't turn back into a dragon today when I put her bridle on and try to actually ride her in the round pen. I'm going to keep those lessons very short and sweet.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I worked from home today so I could take care of Ona's eyes. She looks like Sid T















he Sloth from Ice Age. 

Just so I remember, these are the wipes not to use:









I'd already paid entry fees and camping for this weekend's MODTRA ride. Obviously that's a no go, so I cancelled my PTO and will be working (likely from home again so I can take care of Ona) tomorrow. I gave my camping spot to a friend and I'm out the $ for the ride. I think Ona's going to be OK but that had to have been horribly painful and I feel like an awful horse mama. I'd used those wipes on her face on SUNDAY and didn't ride her Monday or Tuesday so she had to have been suffering for almost 3 whole days before I noticed on Wednesday. I looked at the horses out in the pasture, of course, but didn't get close enough to see her eyes.

Something has happened every single CTR this year. The first one, her back was sore so we couldn't do the 2nd day. The 2nd one, second day got rained out. The 3rd one, her back was sore again and couldn't do 2nd day. And this one we can't go to. I'm starting to wonder if I want to do this CTR thing at all! It's a lot of $ to just ride 10 miles on a horse (or zero miles!)

Lance suggested I keep Joe ready as a "spare" and maybe even bring both horses to the rides in the future. Joe's a nice horse. 23-year-old foxtrotter. His back is great. He's huge. About 16 hands and very "stocky" (AKA fat). I think he can probably still do 8-10 miles pretty easily. I haven't ridden him since last year. We've had him 5 years. His previous rider used him for long gaited trail groups and traded him in for a younger model when he wasn't staying in the lead anymore, but falling back with the quarter horses when he got tired.

We haven't ridden Joe nearly as much as we've ridden PJ & Ona. PJ is more of a husband horse so Lance always rode him, and I alternated between Joe and Ona until Lance couldn't ride anymore. Then I didn't have the time to build close enough relationships to be able to ride both Joe and Ona solo so I concentrated on Ona. PJ is showing his age and I don't think he'd like CTR but I could be wrong. Joe seems like the more likely candidate. 

Of the three horses, Joe's the spookiest and the one I trust the least. He's never bucked or reared or anything like that but he's kind of high strung. He did bolt with me once and he's panicked when tied twice. The first time, he broke a supporting pole for our barn! If there's one horse I think I might want to use a stronger bit on it's him. He gets right up in other horses' butts with his fast walk and I have a hard time holding him back. He's very forward and prefers to be in front. Althea has a Tennessee Walker she can ride with us. Maybe we can practice.

Tonight I'm going to see if I can get him to come out to the round pen and I'll "start him over" like I've been doing with Ona, get an idea if I want to ride him or not. He's just soooo big. Smooth as glass though!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I'm back! Things with Joe went about as I should have expected. He spooked and ran back to the barn before we made it all the way to the round pen. We almost got there though. Good thing nobody was on him 

His personality is so different from Ona's, it's going to take a while for me to learn to work with him. Joe will go wherever you lead him, without putting up a fight, even if he's scared - until "out of the blue" he spooks. Ona will put up a fight immediately if she's scared. She'll just refuse to move forward and if you try to push it she'll rear, threaten to strike, snap her teeth at you! Ona has an opinion and an attitude about everything.

Joe just wants to be a fly on the wall, go along to get along. He hides his feelings and tries to be a gentleman.

I didn't fight him when he spooked, i just let go of the rope and let him go. It was my fault for pushing him too far. When I got back to the barn I groomed him and then did some ground work with him halfway down the barn aisle. Tomorrow maybe I'll do ground work with him in the doorway. 

It might be nice to work with a "normal" horse for a while.

Ona sure was jealous though! When I was doing groundwork with him in the barn she was calling out to me nonstop!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

This evening I decided to play with both Ona and Joe, after I took care of Ona's eyes. Her eyes are still swollen but the swelling has gone down a lot and they're not draining anymore.

First I took Joe to the barn door and he didn't seem too nervous so I took him just outside the door to work on teaching him to yield his front. It seems easier to teach forequarters when I'm holding the lead rope and hindquarters when I have them tied to something. I bet when I get on their backs I'll have to reinforce that they can't take a step forward or backward when yielding.

I got him to do a step a few times and treated him each time and tried getting him a little further from the barn and working with him for a while. Then when he started breathing fast we went back to his comfort zone. We went back and forth like that a couple times, and I walked him in a figure 8 around a couple stumps just outside his comfort zone and that's all we did. 

I don't think Joe's prior owner taught him anything except go, stop, right, left, and back. That's pretty much all they had to do on their trail rides and I never really saw any reason to learn more until I joined NATRC.

Ona seems to have forgotten some things after being off for 4 days. She was jiggy leaving the barn again so I brought her back inside and led her out again a few times until she walked out calmly. The second I got her into the round pen she was mugging me for treats so I had to stop that several times and remind her she only gets a treat when she earns it. I put the saddle on her and used the stirrup (in my hand) to signal her to yield her hind and she understood that immediately. She's doing it with very light pressure so I hope that means she'll do it when I'm in the saddle. Then I brought her to the mounting block and she had totally forgotten how to position herself. I tried a few times without Lance's help, with no success, then he came and helped until she did it 3 times on each side. All she cared about were the treats.

We haven't signed up for our next CTR yet. In two weeks we have one of the two girls rides we do every year, with my horsey friends who like to go on a couple short rides a day and socialize the rest of the time. IDK when the next CTR after that will be - I'll have to check.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Tonight Joe came out to the round pen and walked around inside of it with me without issue. Maybe I'll start saddling him and getting him to stand still for mounting soon. Ona caught up to where she was before her 4 days off, and today I had her stand still for much longer, wiggling my foot around and taking a long time like I would if I was having trouble mounting. Tomorrow maybe I'll put a bridle on her in the round pen and get her to take a few steps. Her eyes are almost back to normal. If I didn't know there was something wrong, I might not notice. I'm going to keep washing them and putting the antibiotic ointment in them until it's gone, just to be safe.

Maybe I'll work on getting both of them to ride around the property better. I could actually do quite a bit of conditioning right here, if I rode around the whole 20 acres a few times. I've also got Ona to the point that I could get her to the trail nearby, if we didn't have to go by those crazy dogs. Our neighbors have offered to let us go through their pasture to get there so that might work. AND my neighbor, April, is recovered from her surgery and ready to start riding again. She's been off of riding all summer. Maybe I can ride to her house and then we can ride to the trail together.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ugh it was hot today. I'm so sick of this heat. 

I waited until it cooled down a bit then still wanted to work both horses. I brought Joe out and he was such a sweetheart. I'd been putting so much effort into Ona that I'd forgotten what a joy Joe is. He positions himself perfectly for mounting, except he doesn't know how to off-side mount. I'll keep working on that with him. We're working on yielding the hind from the ground using the stirrups and he's improving on that. Soon I'll start riding him around the property and work on yielding from the saddle. 

By the time I brought Ona out, the sun had already set. She was in a mood tonight. When I was adjusting the cinch she tried to cow kick me, and I wasn't even tightening it - just hooking it up for her since I'd had to go a couple holes looser for Joe. I yelled at her and shook the crop at her, made her back a couple steps. She got this defiant look on her face.....I swear ...this horse! I was planning to put the bridle on her and actually get on her back in the round pen for longer today, just making her stand still while I messed with the halter and played with my phone and then getting off. After our previous round pen experiences, and with the mood she was in, I decided not to try that today. I put her bridle on and had her practice mounting and yielding her hinds and then brought her back to the barn. Her left eye is all better. The right is still a little swollen.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We had a couple good rides this weekend. 8 people showed up today for the group ride I organized, and yesterday we camped and one of the ladies (D.) was camping also so we rode yesterday. D. has a little dog that rides on a buddy seat behind her saddle and stays on quite well!

Joe's saddle seems to be working out well for Ona. It's not quite as comfortable for me, but I can live with it. I'm a little more sore today than usual but she's not sore and she moved more freely.

Everybody I rode with has had horses since they were children - and most of them are in their 50s or 60s now. So, things that I don't understand are just common sense for them. I've realized it's best for me to just not mount until I'm with the group and we're getting ready to ride off. I thought that meant there was something wrong with Ona and I for having to do it that way, but I noticed that we're not the only ones who have to do it that way. Other people's horses act up before the ride, too, if they mount early.

The youngest rider was in her 30s and grew up on a ranch where her family bred quarter horses. D's dad was a rodeo guy and she's been riding since she could walk. She and her daughter barrel raced together for years. One lady raises gypsy vanners and she and her daughter give lessons. One raises arabs. Several ride in NATRC or endurance. I feel fortunate to have found experienced people to ride with. I'm the least experienced of all of them.

There was one time yesterday and one time today when Ona balked at going over a log and I got off and led her over instead of making her go forward. I just didn't want to make the group wait while I convinced her to go forward but they pointed out it takes just as long for me to re-mount as it would have taken to be patient until she went forward. The first time it was just a big log laying over the trail - I have no idea why she didn't want to go over it. It was a nice clean log on a wide, well-maintained area of trail. No branches sticking out or anything. The second time I kind of understand - the trail in that area wasn't maintained and the log was gnarly, with branches sticking out, right in front of two trees that were really close together, and there were lots of saplings and tangly undergrowth. She probably would have gone over if I hadn't been nervous because I was remembering a time I forced her to go over an area like that and when we got back to camp I found a stick imbedded in her chest. Anyway - I was a little embarassed for getting off but she was pretty well behaved other than that. She seemed happy to be on the trail.

Next weekend is one of the two annual girls rides/campouts put on by my neighbors. There will probably be about 20 ladies camping out from Thursday through Sunday. It's more about the socializing than the riding, but they ride out twice a day for 1-2 hours and sometimes smaller groups will go out for longer. 

Oh - off topic...when I caught the horses yesterday morning, before we headed out to the campground, PJ and Joe actually went into the same stall and ate together. We've had them for five years and they've never done that before - PJ has always bullied Joe. When we're ready to leave for a ride, I always put all the horses in stalls, then load Ona in the trailer, then go let the boys out. PJ usually goes ape poop, calling out for her and galloping around acting crazy. Yesterday there was none of that! PJ was content with Joe's company and didn't seem bothered by Ona leaving. Totally weird.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

It takes a bit for the horses to figure out the lead horse is coming back. Glad Ona has healed from her scald.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ona's eyes are looking a little worse again today. I couldn't tell for sure if they looked swollen again but I think they are a little bit, and I noticed she doesn't seem to want to open them all the way and there's a little bit of drainage again. Lance is going to try to get her an appointment tomorrow afternoon and I'll try to make it home to bring her. Otherwise he's going to try to load her up himself - which makes me a little nervous. She hasn't been loading the greatest lately.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I took off work early to get her to the vet today. Not looking so hot. She's got abrasions on both cornias - not in the area that affects vision. The vet thinks it probably happened when her cunjunctivae were so swollen but maybe it happened from rubbing her eyes. She says it's not ulcers, it's abrasions. I sure hope she's right. We got some antibiotic drops and the vet drew blood and spun it down to make eye drops from the plasma. I have to flush her eyes with saline then do both drops 2-3 times per day, and the vet says she's hoping we won't need a referral to an opthalmologist for conjunctival tubes.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Double posting some of what I posted in the other thread - so I'll have this in my journal.

This morning I managed to get a drop inside Ona's eye totally for the first time (instead of just on the conjunctiva) and it must have burned. She panicked and we had a wreck. She pulled back hard and bent the metal fence panel I had her tied to. After that I knew she'd never let me put drops in again so I called the vet and asked her to refer us to the opthalmologist for the tubes. On the way to the opthalmologist, the brakes went out on our truck. Fortunately it's a stick shift and we have brakes on the trailer so we made it there and back, but we're going to have to have the truck fixed before we bring her for her recheck. I'd just got our credit card almost paid off dangit.

The tubes are in and we're out about $2,300 so far for the tubes and meds and the special mask with metal baskets to protect her eyes. Even with all this the vet says most horses only have a 50% or less chance of recovering completely. She says we really did get her in early so she's hopeful our chances should be a lot better. Ona does have infected ulcers in both eyes but they're mild. They cultured her eyes and also looked under the microscope. So far only bacteria, no fungus. When they get the culture results back we might need to change her antibiotics.

It's going to be hard to get to work on time in the mornings. We have to instill medications 5 times per day. 2 different antibiotic drops, the serum drops, a dilating drop, banamine (orally) for the pain, and a medication to prevent ulcers from the banamine. My husband is going to give the 10 am and 2 pm meds while I'm at work.

We're going to keep her in her stall during the day since her eyes will be dilated, and that will be easier for Lance. I'm letting her graze at night. It's cleaner outside in the pastures than in a stall, and she's less likely to rub against things.

I wanted to protect those tubes! She has the special mask on with the metal baskets and I put her regular fly mask on over that and then one of those neck sleezy things that also goes over the face with openings for the eyes and ears and fastens around her check and between her legs. If she tried she could still break or dislodge the tubes but this seems to be a pretty secure, comfortable setup for her.

I asked if the eye drops would be painful and they said they didn't think they would be.....I guess we'll find out. She didn't act like she was in pain tonight when i did it but she still might have been feeling a little sedated. 

I'd taken today and tomorrow off because I'm supposed to be at the girls ride with my friends and neighbors, for 4 days. Not going to make it to that.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We did the treatments as ordered all week and brought Ona back to the vet on Thursday - the two ulcers were healed very well but somehow she developed a new ulcer on her right eye, and this one is a melting ulcer. It's larger and more serious than the previous two were but it was caught early - she'd really started looking a lot better. Then, on Wednesday, she was holding that right eye shut again. It may have started on Tuesday and we started treatment Thursday so hopefully it will heal OK? But now, between Lance and I, we're literally spending over 6 hours per day treating her eyes and setting up meds. We have to wait 15 minutes between each med so most of that time is spent in the barn, waiting. Today she's opening her right eye again. I could see the ulcer for the first time. 

Some of the meds are 5 times a day, some six, some 4, one every other day in 1 eye and every day in the other. Some have to be given at least 1/2 hour apart from one another - and they're all cycling through the tube, which stays loaded at all time. So when we're pushing one med into the tube, a med that was pushed in earlier is going into the eye. 

We've developed a system that works for us. We have a spreadsheet showing what time each med is due for each eye (she's still getting a couple drops in her left eye just to completely finish up the healing). I ordered enough extra syringes from Amazon so I can set 24 hours worth of meds up at once. We have a baggie for each eye, for each time of the day. So there's a baggie for the right eye and one for the left eye to be given at 6-8 am, 10 am, 2pm, 4pm, 6 pm and 8 pm. The syringes for the meds that have to be given 1/2 hour apart are tagged with tape and we make sure we always start with a flagged med, use a med in between the flagged meds, and end with a non-flagged med. Sometimes we have to use a dose of normal saline in between so we never end up giving the two meds one right after another. Then we give all medications 15 minutes apart. This guarantees the ones that need to be 1/2 hour apart are never given too close together. After all the meds are given for the day, I rinse each syringe out with saline and set them up for the next day. This takes me about an hour.

I have friends who've done this and heard a lot of stories about their horses rubbing their tubes and breaking them so I decided to prevent that right off the bat. Ona wears the mask from the vet with the metal baskets over the eyes to prevent rubbing. A piece of hay got through that one day (it might have poked her eye and caused the new ulcer) so I put a fly mask over that mask. The tubes are woven through her mane so, over the two masks, she's wearing a sleazy to cover her mane. I have 2 sleazies and extra fly masks so when they get wet from drainage from her eye I can wash them and this helps me keep an eye on how much she's draining. One sleazy has a part that goes between the front legs and I like that one a lot better than the one that doesn't. This morning I found her in the pasture with the sleazy (without the thing between the legs) somehow pulled up over her head and hanging down to the ground covering her face and eyes. Of course she couldn't see anything. I put it on tighter today and will switch it out for the other one when the other one is dry. Maybe I can rig something up for between her legs on the one that doesn't have it.

















PJ was spending all day standing outside her stall keeping an eye on her, not eating. He even learned to open the door to let her out, so now we're keeping all 3 horses stalled during the day and letting them out at night. We tried leaving Joe out but the other two horses resented him being free in the barn aisle and pasture while they were in their stalls so now he's locked up too.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

It sounds like you are doing a good job taking care of her. poor girl.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ona's keeping her eye open more, which I think means it's not hurting so badly. I got a really good look at both ulcers today for the first time. The one the vet said was 100% healed looks red. I think that's the vascularization though and not the ulcer? IDK. The melting ulcer - I can't tell if it's better or worse but it must be better if she's opening her eye.

She's resenting the drops more every time we go in there. I'm trying to alleviate her anxiety by letting her know exactly when the medicine is going to go in, so she won't be surprised. I wait for her to take the carrot so she's kind of saying "OK I'm ready."


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

She’s getting kicky and Lance doesn’t have the confidence to handle that while i’m at work so we rigged up a safer system.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Boy it's a good thing we had that in place - she would have cow kicked me very hard a few minutes ago otherwise. If I'd had my crop with me I would have whacked her back but I didn't....I'm kind of scared to go out there for her last treatment in 40 minutes.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

She was calmer this morning - maybe because we've started instilling the medications very slowly, and she knows when it's going to happen, and she can't get away from us. She seemed tired though, and not holding her eye open as well as yesterday. She bumped into a gate so I think she was walking with it shut. She did open it a bit when I had her masks off to wash around it, but I couldn't see much. I think she's tired of being sick.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

She only kicked out for Lance once today and he said it wasn't hard at all, or aimed at him or anywhere near him. She was an angel for me and she seemed to be feeling better this evening. I didn't look at her eyes - I'll look again tomorrow morning. 

She doesn't try to keep us from getting the needle into the port anymore, because she knows we won't push the medication in until she takes the carrot. We put the needle in and then hold the carrot out and wait for her to take it before slowly pushing the meds in. Sometimes it does burn and she rubs her mask on the wall after. I pressure washed the walls of the stall and sprayed them down with bleach yesterday! Don't want dirt and germs falling into her eyes when she rubs against the walls.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I took Joe out of the pasture for a ride today! It had been about a year since I'd ridden him, and last year I only rode him a handful of times. He's become a pasture puff! It took at least half an hour to get him loaded - he wasn't giving up retirement without a fight! He was super great on the trail, though. He is such a sweet heart. I've neglected Joe and PJ because I spend so much time with Ona - I've really been missing out! Joe isn't half as opinionated as Ona. He sure is wide, though - I really feel it in my hips. On the bright side, he makes my butt look smaller.

We rode with a new friend I met on Facebook and her new mustang, Tonka. Susan has done such an amazing job with Tonka. She got him from the prison program. He was taken from the wild and a prisoner put 60 days on him, then Susan brought him home and continued his training. She's only had him a little over a year and he was really great on the trail. 

I didn't realize it until today, but Susan is a very accomplished artist! She and an area musician created a collaborative celebration of the Flint Hills which is just beautiful: 



 Here's a llink to the rest of her paintings: Susan Rose - Portfolio of Works.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

So glad you had a chance to have some fun and everything went well!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Time for an Ona eye update. She's been a lot more comfortable and keeping her eyes open. Yesterday was the first time I've been home when the lighting was good and she was able to keep her eyes open for photos. We're doing two meds four times a day now plus atropine to dilate her right eye every other day. Gradually titrating down on everything! We're thinking it will probably be 3 more weeks before we're done? Maybe? If we're lucky? IDK it's hard to tell.

Her left eye is doing much better than the right.
























Tomorrow I'm going out for another group ride on Joe.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Super fun group ride today. About 5-6 miles on Joe (foxtrotter) with Althea on her walker, Jason. We were the only gaited riders so we were out front the whole time, but a great big paint actually kept up with us and was even in the lead part of the time! Boy - Joe is an entirely different horse than Ona. So much easier, no stress, no worries - and he's a lot faster and just generally seems to enjoy the ride. The only problem we have is getting him loaded but we'll worok on that. I think he may do better than Ona at CTR even though he's 23 or 24.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

More photos of today's ride.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

What fun! I have a friend that rides a horse that looks exactly like your friends TWH and Copper is a walker too. I'm glad you had fun, Joe looks fabulous.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

carshon said:


> What fun! I have a friend that rides a horse that looks exactly like your friends TWH and Copper is a walker too. I'm glad you had fun, Joe looks fabulous.


Thank you! You'd never guess he was 24!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Bad day today. I brought Ona back to the opthalmologist and her eyes still aren't healing right. The Dr. says, while the initial injury was caused by the wipes, if that was the only problem they should have been healed by now. She thinks Ona may have some sort of ocular immune disease. She prescribed a topical and an oral antiinflammatory and we see her again in 2 weeks.

As we were driving away, something happened with the truck again. Maybe transmission? I had to call a friend to go all the way there to tow Ona home with her truck and Lance came with his truck, to tow my truck home. It was running a little better without being hooked to the horse trailer so we decided it would be safer for Lance to drive it home rather than towing through interstate traffic. It made it home - barely.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

Wow You did have a bad day! So sorry to hear Ona is still having troubles. Hoping she heals soon.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Will it never end? I am so sorry


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We're still doing treatments 3 times a day and Ona's next appointment is on Tuesday. The vet is thinking she'll have to remove the tubes then. I guess they can't stay in too long, so the vet made it clear to me I need to work on getting Ona to let me put the drops in. Ona's healing has pretty much stalled. Every night I've been working with her using syringes of saline and trying to get some in her eye. I guess she's making some progress. It takes forever - just a lot of patience and head tossing before she finally decides to hold her head still and let me put the syringe on her closed eye and put a drop on the closed lids. Yesterday and today I did manage to get one drop in, and when that happened I stopped messing with her and let her eat some grain. I really hope I'll be able to do what I need to do for her when we have to take the tubes out. I'm not sure I will. 

My truck's not back from the repair shop yet. It sounds like it's not the transmission. The guy thinks maybe it's a wiring problem. I'm borrowing our neighbor's bumper pull trailer and using my husband's truck to take her to the vet Tuesday. I really hope my truck can be fixed. It's got 305,000 miles on it. It's a 20-year-old Doge Ram 3500, paid off, and I love it. I don't want to buy a new truck. My husband's truck is almost paid off so we could afford it but it seems a a bit ridiculous to buy a new truck just for my horse hobby. I've suggested my husband give me his truck to use and get himself a new one but he's not sold on that idea. He has other things he'd rather buy. Ugh. First world problems  I guess I can just get a cheap bumper pull.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I've been thinking a whole lot about Ona and hoping for an update. Unfortunately, your update is not an encouraging one. I feel so sad that you are going through this.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

I too am sorry to hear that Ona is not progressing as hoped. I had to put drops in Tucker's eye and give him banamine for 3 days last week. It was nothing but an argument every single time. I feel for you. I don't think I would be able to do it.
My truck is also broken so I feel your pain in that regard also. Mine is a 1993 Chevy C3500. I also love it and very much hope that Husband can get it running for me again. I very much dislike being grounded.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

weeedlady said:


> I too am sorry to hear that Ona is not progressing as hoped. I had to put drops in Tucker's eye and give him banamine for 3 days last week. It was nothing but an argument every single time. I feel for you. I don't think I would be able to do it.
> My truck is also broken so I feel your pain in that regard also. Mine is a 1993 Chevy C3500. I also love it and very much hope that Husband can get it running for me again. I very much dislike being grounded.


What happened with Tucker's eye? Is it OK now? I sure hate arguing with horses. 

Let's hope and pray your husband gets your truck running! You live in the UP right? What's the weather like there now?

If I have to actually put the drops in Ona's eyes without the tubes, it's not going to happen.


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## weeedlady (Jul 19, 2014)

We don't know what Tucker did....I went out to ride Raven and saw that Tucker's left top eyelid was almost completely swollen shut. Sent pics to the vet and she agreed it was worth an emergency, after hours call, so when she was done with her day she came to look at him. She couldn't find anything- no scratches, no infection. So gave me so eye drops and told me to give him banamine. All I can say is I tried. The swelling was gone the next morning so who knows what he had done? I was lucky.
Yes, we are in the UP weather has not been bad at all (yet). We got our second snowfall of the season on Sunday, a bit more last night, but the sun came out and most of it is gone already.
I hope you get your truck back soon also! 

Sending good thoughts for both you and Ona.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I'm missing work again to bring her to the vet tomorrow morning. I'm missing a big mandatory leadership event. I've missed a lot of work and I'm not willing to sacrifice my career if her eyes aren't going to get better anyway. It would be different if they were improving.

I think tomorrow I'm going to tell the vet we're done treating her, unless she keeps her tubes in and we can do her appointments first thing in the mornings so I can help my husband load her up and he can bring her. Then the assistants will have to help get her loaded up again to go home. Otherwise we're pulling the tubes and stopping the treatments.

I guess we'll have to wean her off the atropine so maybe the vet will keep the tubes another couple weeks but this is it.

The vet said they can't keep the tubes in much longer and I can't get the drops in her eyes. I've tried and I can't get her to let me do it. So now what happens? Will her eyes get infected? Then what? 

This sucks so bad.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

newtrailriders said:


> This sucks so bad.


I am so so so so sorry. You have worked so hard to make Ona into a dandy riding horse, only to have it ripped away. I will pray for a miracle.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> I am so so so so sorry. You have worked so hard to make Ona into a dandy riding horse, only to have it ripped away. I will pray for a miracle.


Thank you. A miracle is needed. 😢


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Well.....I guess we got the miracle! Her eyes weren't looking any better to me but the vet says the ulcers are 100% healed! She says what I'm still seeing is just the blood vessels and those will start going away now! The tubes are out and we don't have to do any more eye treatments!!! God is soooo good!!!


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## ksbowman (Oct 30, 2018)

Great news Stacy! I was beginning to wonder if all your work had been in vain. Couldn't be any happier for you guys, you've been thru so much.


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## carshon (Apr 7, 2015)

What a miracle!


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

Thank you, God! I prayed fervently. I am so grateful. I hope you have many more happy years riding Ona.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

knightrider said:


> Thank you, God! I prayed fervently. I am so grateful. I hope you have many more happy years riding Ona.


Thank you so much for praying! I actually posted the request on a prayer page too. I had given up hope, so when they told me today that the ulcers were healed I just burst into tears. I'm praying for many more happy years riding her too! I'm so glad she doesn't have to endure any more treatments. I can't believe she doesn't hate me.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

We've been through a lot since May. I thought I was going to lose my husband when he got so sick in May. He's only just now back to his normal self, after six months. Then all the stuff with Ona, and my truck. I really had given up hope that she would be OK. And I wasn't at all ready to buy a new truck but thought the transmission was gone on it.

Lance is totally OK now (he just finished the flooring project he started before he got sick), and Ona's going to be OK. Fortunately I had taken out accident insurance on both myself and Lance, and his sepsis was caused by an open toe fracture. We got the insurance money and were able to use half of it to pay off Ona's vet bill and I gave the rest to Lance to use as he pleases. The truck issue turned out to be a very cheap fix - just a wiring issue! We went ahead and got oil and filter changes etc.all done on it and everything is OK. We're better off than we were before! 

I can't believe everything is OK!

We've been through hard times before. When it rains, it pours. I did make a conscious decision to form one new good habit or make one permanent change every time I have to go through something very difficult. It started when I had a bad accident & got diagnosed with breast cancer after I'd just resigned my job and was getting ready to start another one, nearly went bankrupt, Lance had a stroke, my mom died, and my son disowned me all within 2 years. If I survive something awful I want to come out of it a better person. 

When Lance was so sick I decided to be nicer and more patient with him, and I have stuck with it. Not that I was bad to him before but I need to cherish him.

I'm pampering all the animals now - better food, more time with them, more grooming. Supplements. Everybody's getting a vet checkup soon. I'm cooking for the dogs.

And I'm going to go clean the heck out of that truck, take it and the trailer to the truck wash, & get new windshield wipers for it. 

God is good.


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## phantomhorse13 (Feb 18, 2011)

I am very behind on HF so was THRILLED to read to the end and hear all the good updates. Woohoo!!


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

I have a thread going about Joe's loading issues lately but decided to write in my diary today because I want to be able to find stuff when I look back later. I've been reading back through my old entries. This is the first time we've ever had any issues at all with Joe - but that's because we've always really taken it easy with him. I've never tried to do anything more than trail ride him with PJ or Ona. All this pressure is new to him! Taking him on rides without the others is a brand new thing.

I fed Ona and PJ today and gave Joe his handful of feed. When they were done eating, Lance came out to help me work on Joe's loading problems. We're going to load him into the trailer often, and then just turn him back out. He gets so upset and panicky about loading now (not on the way home, of course. After a ride, he just hopes right in.) Until the past few weeks, he was always the last horse in the trailer. So we literally just had to open the door and he hopped in. I don't know if his previous owner always had him in the trailer with other horses or not.

I've had some suggestions to use a stud chain but I really have no clue how he'd respond to that kind of pressure. He's a pretty sensitive horse. I put a rope halter and lunge rope on him, anticipating he'd pull back hard again like he's been doing. He tried that twice but hubby got behind him with a crop and that stopped him in his tracks. He is afraid of crops/whips. Just seeing one worries him - we have to be careful and not wave it around. He just needs the very lightest of taps to get him moving back forward. He backed out of the trailer twice but with hubby behind him with a crop he didn't run all the way back down the barn aisle. The third time, I was able to shut the divider and then I let him out right away and turned him loose. We'll just keep doing this. When he gets calmer about it, I'll start offering him some treats in the trailer then maybe groom him in there. He doesn't really enjoy grooming much, though. Not like Ona.

It has take so much to build trust with Ona. I wonder how long it will take to get to that point with Joe - if we ever get there.

Ona's eyes seem to be continuing to improve. She still has the glob of blood vessels partially blocking her vision on the right but they're getting less red. I asked the vets office about it and they say that is part of the healing process so it sounds like everything is going well with that.

Joe is looking good. He's an air fern, and fox trotters don't have the nicely defined muscles quarter horses have. He's pretty much been a shapeless barrel but now he's getting some definition and getting glossy.

PJ is showing his age. I guess I've felt like that about him every winter since we got him. He puts on weight rapidly in the Spring but it doesn't take long for him to start to show ribs if I don't feed him well when the grass stops growing. I'm giving him the Active Senior feed. He's not that active - maybe I should look for Lazy Senior feed. He's a good weight but just not an air fern like Joe. Also, he had a lameness episode a few weeks before we started having the problems with Ona's eyes. I had the ferrier check him out and he was slightly tender in one of his rear feet but the ferrier couldn't figure out why he was so lame. I was getting ready to bring him to the vet but he rapidly improved, so I thought maybe it was just an abscess that ruptured, that we couldn't find, or something. So I didn't bring him to the vet and then Ona's eyes happened. He never got all the way better. He doesn't gallop across the pasture anymore and I can see he's a little off. I'm starting to wonder if maybe he's got a problem with his hip, or some arthritis. He's next to go to the vet. I'll have his teeth floated and get his shots and a lameness exam. Maybe he needs an adjustment, IDK.


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## knightrider (Jun 27, 2014)

I've continued to pray for Ona . . . and for your family. I am delighted to learn that she is still improving.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ona's looking great. I think her left eye might be all the way healed - I couldn't see anything today but there might still be a tiny little bit of something there. The right eye is slowly improving.

I posted this part in my "loading issues" thread but want to keep in here for my own records:

We loaded Joe twice today, once after each feeding. The first time, I asked hubby to stay out of sight until/unless we needed him because Joe is really very responsive to having Lance behind him, especially if he has a crop in his hand. (and no - Lance has never hit him or threatened to). As I was leading him out, he started to hesitate and back up so Lance stepped out of the tack room and that's all it took - Joe jumped right in the trailer and let me close the divider. I let him out right away and he ran out to the pasture.

The second time, Lance stayed in the tack room. I led Joe right down the aisle and he jumped into the trailer with zero hesitation and no help from Lance. Lance stayed out of sight.

I think I'll load him once per day until I can get him loaded without Lance in the barn, and then continue to do it every other day or so for a while.


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## newtrailriders (Apr 2, 2017)

Ona's coming along. There is still a white area about the size of a dime on her right cornea but it seems to be getting more transparent along the edges.

Today was the first day practicing loading Joe, since my last entry. Eight of us got sick after Thanksgiving. I was sick for about 5 days, and Joint Commission finally showed up at work. After months of us being prepared, going in early etc. they finally showed up and I was too sick to leave the house the first day they were there! They started on Tuesday and finished Friday. We had the best survey our hospital has had in many years and the surveyors mentioned my work specifically when they were complimenting us. They said they were impressed with our hospital, in general, and especially with Infection Prevention  It was a busy and stressful week, though, and I didn't do anything with the horses during the week.

This afternoon after we fed the horses I haltered Joe up and led him toward the trailer. He did the sudden stopping and backing up thing while I was leading him, then hubby came out of the tack room and Joe hopped right in the trailer. So I shut the door and then went in the other side and treated him then took him out to the pasture and lunged him a while. He didn't give me any trouble lunging. Then I brought him back in the barn and loaded him up again. He led well, jumped in no problem and I closed the door and treated him. Then I led him up and down the barn aisle a few times, and around the pasture - periodically stopping or backing and having him yield his hind once in a while and loaded him again, treated him, and turned him out.


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