# Another German on board...



## farahmay (Sep 2, 2013)

PHOTOS! the mare sounds gorgeous.
Haha go on, I love reading about everyones horses, since I don't own any of my own (I use lesson horses)
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## PaintHorseMares (Apr 19, 2008)

Welcome from all our Paints in NC! We are also pleasure riders with horses that go anywhere across the fields and through the woods without trails.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Welcome to the forum

I'm so excited... finally somebody who can help me explain Penquitt, lol
You might look into Buck Brannaman if you haven't yet.

Where in Germany are you?


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh, deserthorsewoman, I wished I knew more about Penquitt, I'm just at the beginning of getting into his teachings... but I feel like his way of riding comes pretty close to what I strive for...
I heard about Buck Brannaman and yes, he is also one I'd like to learn more about. In the last year, I focussed on Rashid, he has such a great attitude towards horses. 
I'm in the very West, close to France, in a beautiful, fairly rough region called the Hunsrueck. We have awsome trails here, at least for an overpopulated country like Germany, plenty of forest, fields, little villages... and it's a mountainous area, great to build good muscles and condition in a horse!
PaintHorseMares, your horses look beautiful! I wasn't into colorful horses until one fell in my lap, but now I'm hooked!
farahmay, I'll see if I can figure out how to post pics. I must say, I don't think Cheyenne is the most beautiful horse ever, I know I would not have bought her. Not saying she's ugly, just not that outstanding, from the outside. I knew her for years before working with her, and she was always just another horse to me. Only when she revealed her great character did I fall in love with her...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

CheyRider said:


> Oh, deserthorsewoman, I wished I knew more about Penquitt, I'm just at the beginning of getting into his teachings... but I feel like his way of riding comes pretty close to what I strive for...
> I heard about Buck Brannaman and yes, he is also one I'd like to learn more about. In the last year, I focussed on Rashid, he has such a great attitude towards horses.
> I'm in the very West, close to France, in a beautiful, fairly rough region called the Hunsrueck. We have awsome trails here, at least for an overpopulated country like Germany, plenty of forest, fields, little villages... and it's a mountainous area, great to build good muscles and condition in a horse!
> PaintHorseMares, your horses look beautiful! I wasn't into colorful horses until one fell in my lap, but now I'm hooked!
> farahmay, I'll see if I can figure out how to post pics. I must say, I don't think Cheyenne is the most beautiful horse ever, I know I would not have bought her. Not saying she's ugly, just not that outstanding, from the outside. I knew her for years before working with her, and she was always just another horse to me. Only when she revealed her great character did I fall in love with her...


We used to live in Allenbach and Horbruch 
Penquitt...get at least his book, Freizeitreiter Akademie. I brought it with me, one of the few things I brought. You can, literally, ride with the book in hand.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

No sh..., really? My pony was bred in Allenbach, my horses live only three towns away! Today I rode through the forest to Wirschweiler...
The Penquitt book is in my amazon shopping basket, has been there for months, only the fairly high price is keeping me back. I know I should get it, everyone says it's so useful.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

By the way, I put some pics in a forum album (goodbye, anonymity!)


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

CheyRider said:


> No sh..., really? My pony was bred in Allenbach, my horses live only three towns away! Today I rode through the forest to Wirschweiler...
> The Penquitt book is in my amazon shopping basket, has been there for months, only the fairly high price is keeping me back. I know I should get it, everyone says it's so useful.


Schaupeter?
We used to board there when we first got there from up north... 
Get the book, that's all I say lol.

Geez..... the world is small......


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Yes, he's a Hunria, the last son of Turkdean Jon! Bought him as a three-year-old in 1993. When were you there?
Crazy, considering how small that village is, hah!


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

'92 
He told us the whole story about the stallions fighting and all that. I think I've at least seen your boy.....


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Oh, the mare...Lewitzer?


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## Zexious (Aug 2, 2013)

Welcome to the forum ^^


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## HorseLovinLady (Jul 18, 2011)

Welcome!!


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Cheyenne, lewitzer? Nah, her daddy's a paint (Black Sonny Bar, I have no idea if he's registered but he sure is pretty), mom's a quarter with some thoroughbred in her (not sure how much, still planning on asking the breeder for more infos). She looks a lot like her mother, except for the color, of course.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Oh. I was just thinking local, since Lindenhof is not far from you;-). She's cute!


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## frlsgirl (Aug 6, 2013)

Herzlich Willkommen


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

She is a local horse, from the Heidehof in Gimbweiler (near Baumholder). Probably didn't exist in the 90's. Nowadays, there are western horses on every other field here, especially appis and paints. Yours are Arabians? Have you ever seen the Black Smoke Arabians in Idar-Oberstein? Before I met the horses there, I was under the false impression that all Arabians are a little crazy, but theirs are so relaxed, and good enough to be sold into the whole world it seems (I don't know a good Arabian from a bad one, to be honest, they always seem a bit fragile to me even though I know they are so tough).
And thanks for the nice welcome to the other recent posters!


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Yeah, visited them when they were fairly new. They had two Bask sons, which got me totally hooked on Bask bred Arabians, but they just were so rare in Europe at the time. My little grey in the avatar is 5x Bask...so it took some time but I finally did it lol.
Heidehof Gimbweiler does ring a bell. 
And I never got around to get a QH or a Paint, rode my Arabs and TB western. Now I do have one, finally . I did play a little with breeding, mare belonged to a friend, stallion to my instructor, and filly was futurity champion in '95. Was fun.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Awsome, the forum ate my reply. Start all over again.
Anyway, deserthorsewoman, that sounds like quite a success with your breeding experiment. So what exactly was your role in that, since it wasn't your own horses? Did you pick them as parents for the foal?
Now that I have a sweet mare of my own, the thought of having a foal one day crossed my mind, but there are just so many wonderful young horses out there for little money (especially since I don't need a high-class breed or anything), I know it would be smarter to just go horse-shopping for a three-year-old when the time comes - which will be when I retire Cheyenne, hopefully no sooner than 15 years from now...
How many horses have you got at the moment? I'm always a little jealous of people in the US/Canada/Australia for having so much space to keep plenty of horses and never having to worry about their basic exercise, mine are in the paddock now, fields are closed until everything is frozen, it's a constant struggle to give them enough exercise over the wet seasons...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

There you are;-) I was wondering...

The mare belonged to my neighbor, I was feeding her horses for boarding mine, basically. She had a colt from one of Steffen Breug's stallions( Is he still around?), which was..  hm.. okay. I looked at her papers and remembered my instructors stallion being pretty close, but not too close, related, and he had sired a few futurity winners before, so I talked
her into trying him. What came out was a heart- shaped butt with legs in 4 corners , a little tank, with the cutest face and personality to boot...I saw her when she was 20 minutes old and knew she had to go to Aachen(QH championships were held in Aachen then). Took a little convincing, but she finally agreed. 
little one sure turned heads....

I currently have 3, working on 4, since I want an even number lol
we have 2 ha paddock with Offenstall, and also had 4ha pasture, but have that up, 3 horses can't eat all that, especially one who shouldn't have pasture at all, and getting somebody to make hay off it was impossible... they start haying at about 20ha here, due to the big equipment.... dimensions are sooooo different from what we are used to in Europe. 
And Cali... well, rarely frost, no snow, very little rain. Lots of wind and dust, tho, and in my part here, dairy smell..... even the dairies are huge...1000 cows are normal....


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh, you have so much space, that's so cool... grass is probably pretty dry there, closer to hay, isn't it? Does that still make it problematic for a "no-pasture"-horse (laminitis?)? It's crazy you can't find someone to make hay from several ha of pasture... no small tractors around there, hah?
We lived in El Paso, TX, for a little while, it was pretty similar to how you describe your climate. Windy, dusty, rain was a rare thing (and I was the only one that would go for walks then, being so happy to see overcast skies and breathing humid air for once). And we saw some of those big cattle places, it was impressive, sooo many cows in one spot. I liked that they seemed to have quite a bit of room, even when they were in paddocks. There are still too many cows in Germany that spend most of their life tied up in the barn, especially the dairy cows... but it's getting better, at least from what I see.
Steffen Breug still seems to be around, I don't know him but just googled his name, he's in Reichweiler... hm, perhaps the beautiful horses on that one field near Kusel are his, I have been secretly in love with a buckskin I always see there, haha!
Did you keep track of that filly? 
Yeah, having an even number of horses is always good, we have three in the barn as well, and my mom's little mare is the poor low-ranking girl that always gets nipped and driven away from the food. But at least they move while eating, always from one pile of hay to the next... and to the next... and back to the first...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

The pasture here is irrigated, so no dry grass lol. That's why they can't eat it all. Towards the foothills and in the hills all is yellow come May. When it's green,, it sure is pretty, tho.
I found myself not liking the rain anymore... I've had way too much mud to deal with, lost a fair share of boots stuck in it, now, a week of rain and I'm getting in a serious state of panic lol.

The filly was sold to Holland, I salt lost track. She had an offer for 27000 right there in Aachen for both, mom and baby, refused, and sold her as a yearling for 5 grand. duh. We moved, she tried four more times with that combination, but somehow overlooked, that raising youngsters has a lot to do with what they eat, too. Beetpulp and oats didn't really cut it...

Breug.... he saw the filly in Aachen, not knowing she was out of the mare he had sold and was in awe... until he heard who mom was.... severely PO'd lol. 

Have you heard of slowfeeder hay nets? That might be a solution to your mom's horse's problem. A net for each horse, hung on fence posts, spread out, does wonders. And saves hay, too.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Yes, I've heard of those nets, thought about getting them for my pony as well, he's way too fat and could use more effort to eat his hay. I don't know if my mom would want to stuff hay nets though, it's her barn and she does most of the feeding. She already goes through quite a bit of trouble for Jon, since he has COB and needs all hay watered, can't have any straw for a bedding, needs a special herb mix... and Cheyenne needs to eat more hay, she tends to get a bit skinny in the winter, so I don't know if it would be good if she ate less hay... My perfect solution would be to board Cheyenne at a different barn, with more room and more horses rather than 2 elderly ponies for only company, I think she'd love that. I just haven't found the perfect barn yet, but I'm looking. 
Yeah, I've had enough rain for a while, as well, everything here is soaked (November weather). Today when I rode, some of the paths were more like creeks, and I had to get off the horse at some points going downhill because she slipped on the mudd. In 2 weeks, I'll get her nailed-on shoes off for the winter, then it will be better. I ride with Equine Fusion Shoes in the winter season, I have not lost one shoe yet, I'm not even sure it's possible to lose one of those things.


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

oh, nets are not the only slow feeder possibility. Google it. I'm filling nets, and soak, currently, which is actually easier when in net. I found that they regulate their intake with these nets/ feeders, most amazing thing. My easy keeper lost weight, my harder keepers maintained, another gained what was needed. seems like once it sinks in that the hay doesn't go away, they slow down. Walk away and do other things. move around, checking every feeder, and actually share. it's fun to watch them lol, two boys from this side, another on the other side, then off to the next net. Now, even when fed"loose", in the ground, they take tiny little bites. 
If you'd choose nets, you can fill several, so all your mom would have to do is hang them up. And who knows, if hay quality is good, Jon might not need it soaked anymore, since he can't stuff his nose in a pile of hay, inhaling all the dust. it took me a while to decide, but now I wouldn't trade. Aside from all the benefits for the horses, my benefit is around 40% less hay cost and no more waste. Btw, I make my own nets. Baling twine. So I can adjust the size of the holes and the size of the net, as needed.


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## WSArabians (Apr 14, 2008)

Welcome to the forum!


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## Chokolate (Nov 24, 2012)

By the way CheyRider, you have insanely good English


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

deserthorsewoman, you make your own nets? Wow, that sounds like work, it takes me weeks to even raise the energy to fix a button on a shirt, haha! I'd definitely buy, the ones with the tiny holes would work best I think, to minimize the risk of having a horse get stuck in it somehow (big worry in my family since our first horse managed to get her front foot up in the haynet somehow in the horse trailer and almost strangled herself). I'd prefer one of those boxes with the grid on top, they're so expensive though. Maybe I can talk my husband into making me one, it doesn't look too hard.
I got the Penquitt-book, by the way. So far it looks like a really useful book, just what I was hoping for, very detailed descriptions of how to ride and why. And the style is just what I thought it would be, very classic, not English and not Western, very horse-friendly and still advanced. I wished there were classes around here in exactly this style of riding, but I think I can do a lot with just the book as well. A lot of it I'm doing already (a lot of what he says about the seat and how to work the reins), and I found some stuff that I feel I need to change just a little (I stick my legs off western-style when riding Cheyenne - it's the saddle's fault, haha)... but then there's also things that are totally new, like this big emphasis on sideway-riding. Anyway, I'm glad I finally got the book, thanks for giving me the little push I needed .
Chokolate, thank you, I went to university for German and English and married an American to top it off... where in Australia are you, I studied at the University of Newcastle back in 2001 and LOVED the country. If it wasn't so far away, I'd seriously consider moving there, but I love Germany, too, and I'm not too fond of airplanes...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

CheyRider said:


> deserthorsewoman, you make your own nets? Wow, that sounds like work, it takes me weeks to even raise the energy to fix a button on a shirt, haha! I'd definitely buy, the ones with the tiny holes would work best I think, to minimize the risk of having a horse get stuck in it somehow (big worry in my family since our first horse managed to get her front foot up in the haynet somehow in the horse trailer and almost strangled herself). I'd prefer one of those boxes with the grid on top, they're so expensive though. Maybe I can talk my husband into making me one, it doesn't look too hard.
> I got the Penquitt-book, by the way. So far it looks like a really useful book, just what I was hoping for, very detailed descriptions of how to ride and why. And the style is just what I thought it would be, very classic, not English and not Western, very horse-friendly and still advanced. I wished there were classes around here in exactly this style of riding, but I think I can do a lot with just the book as well. A lot of it I'm doing already (a lot of what he says about the seat and how to work the reins), and I found some stuff that I feel I need to change just a little (I stick my legs off western-style when riding Cheyenne - it's the saddle's fault, haha)... but then there's also things that are totally new, like this big emphasis on sideway-riding. Anyway, I'm glad I finally got the book, thanks for giving me the little push I needed .
> Chokolate, thank you, I went to university for German and English and married an American to top it off... where in Australia are you, I studied at the University of Newcastle back in 2001 and LOVED the country. If it wasn't so far away, I'd seriously consider moving there, but I love Germany, too, and I'm not too fond of airplanes...


... sooooo.... you're eventually coming here then?;-)
Glad you like the book... it's literally book in one hand, reins in the other, isn't it? And the two tracking and travers,/ renvers does wonders for collection, btw. My big ex jumper TB, converted to western, 7m long neck, who refused to collect and two track for years, gave me the most beautiful trot traversale when I tried it this way lol. I do wish somebody would translate it in English and market it here. Have you checked if you have a certified trainer in your area? Another one to watch is Pete Kreinberg. I met him when he started out riding his Arabian California style. Sure a sight to see.
What kind of sale do you have? I had a Big Horn when I switched to western, found it quite close to a deep seat dressage saddle. Try one, if you get a chance.
The nets...I make sure the empty net doesn't come lower than slightly above knee height when I hang it. Mine don't paw since I have the nets, but better safe than sorry.


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## Chokolate (Nov 24, 2012)

Haha I'm only a little way from Newcastle, I'm in Sydney  so about 2 hours away.

It's funny, you want to move here and when I'm older I want to live in Germany  it just strikes me as a really nice place, and right among a bunch of other countries which is way more interesting than being in a place where the whole CONTINENT is one country. I've visited once before and the people are so friendly and welcoming and lovely. That's one of the reasons I'm learning German, actually. I do know I definitely want to go to university there. Going to the Uni of Goettingen would be nice (sorry I'm not too good at getting umlauts on the net lol)


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Ah, finally some time to write again...
deserthorsewoman, I started reading the book front to back now, and can't wait to get to the practical part after all the introductory basics. He keeps promising it's easy and everyone can do it, but I doubt my horse will do any effortless sidewalk (hope I will be proven wrong). I'd like for Cheyenne to learn better collection, she was a real giraffe when I started riding her, now she's found a nice natural balance, carries her head higher than the average Western horse but not too high, and I can sit her trot now, at least most of the time. I don't believe even a Mr. Penquitt would have been able to sit that horse during her first months under the saddle, it was "head up and race". But her lope was wonderful from the start... Anyway, now that she found her balance, I think it will be really beneficial to work on her flexibility. 
I have one of Kreinberg's books, it's the best one I've read on Western riding so far!
Doesn't seem there's a Penquitt-trainer close by, I found one in the Westerwald, but it's still two hours away (nothing in American terms, I know, but quite a journey in German terms). I'll keep looking, and maybe I can participate in a riding clinic at least.
I bought my saddle at Wippi's Sattelkammer, I'd say it's a "bear flex", pretty flat seat compared to Jon's saddle, low horn and cantle (reining style? I'm really not that informed about Western saddles, I buy whatever fits both the horse and my budget best and deal with it, haha). I can sit well in it, but I think all Western saddles put the leg a little bit more to the front than other saddle types, and further away from the horse.
Chokolate, Sydney is a beautiful city (and I don't usually like cities at all). I went there a few times and really enjoyed it. What I liked best about Australia, apart from the very decent weather (heat and salty sea air, ah, nice!), was that I was able to get on a bus and be at the beach in 30 minutes, so awsome! I think I went there almost every day, even when it was stormy, just to sit there and listen to the waves. I haven't been to the ocean ever since, and I really miss it. Oh, and the space when you get out in the country! I will never forget standing on the porch and watching the herd of horses running at the other end of the valley... or riding right into a group of big red roos! Or picking big, juicy lemons from a tree! Wild possums on the street at night! A cockaburra on my balcony! Thousands of bats covering the sky at dusk... I'll be back one day...
Yes, in Germany you are very close to all kinds of cultures from modern to ancient, and it is kinda nice. I've never had much money to travel on, but I did go to Hungary, Rome, Spain, London, and Austria. I also love checking out the less spectacular cultural artefacts around where I live, little castles, Celtic settlements, stuff from Roman times...
What do you want to study in Goettingen, German? I'm glad the Germans have made such a good impression on you, I can only say the same is true for the Australians...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Big Horn Flex Tree Butterfly Skirt Saddles
that's mine. Love it. If you look at a saddle make sure the stirrups hang right under the deepest point in the seat and there is as little build up in the front as possible. High cantle is really nice and keeps you in the right spot. 

Oh, the Penquitt method works, you'll be surprised 
For sliding down the trot to a jog, my first instructor told me to keep checking the horse to slow down, and better to fall in the walk than being too fast. And to just nudge horse enough that it will go into the trot juuuuusta bit faster than the walk... stop the leg pressure once you feel the rhythm change.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Ah, what a nice saddle you have there, and so cheap! I paid almost double for mine, and that was low price class... yeah, my cantle is definitely a lot lower, like all saddles sold by Wippi's. I noticed the difference to Jon's saddle when I first rode uphill, and I felt myself sliding backwards - woops! I love the saddle I have for Jon, it's just some no-name youth saddle, the only thing I was able to find that fit his short back, but of course it's way too small for Cheyenne (I tried - looks like a toy saddle on her). Now his back has started to lower (he's going on 24), and I'm afraid it doesn't fit him properly any more... saddles, it's so much trouble with those things!
What you describe is pretty much how I taught Jon to jog, he loves it and can go forever this way, even with his bad lungs (I let him go only as fast as he wants to because of his health, except when he's showing me he's having a too-much-energy-day). Cheyenne is just starting to show a jog-speed with long reins sometimes, I think she really had to learn first that trot is not just the thing between walk and lope, but can be an actual travelling speed... it's hard to just let her go a little faster than walk, since she loooves to go fast and kicks on the turbo every time I give the slightest signal for a faster speed, haha! Anyway, I think a fast trot will come in very handy when we go on endurance rides, so I'm glad she does it - as long as she can do both and without that stiff back she had in the beginning, that will be fine with me.
I think I found the solution for my hurrying-horse-problems in the Penquitt-book. The last two days, I tried what he recommends with both horses: I stopped immediately whenever they changed gear without me asking and loosened the reins right away (which I do anyway), then started walking again, stopped again every time, even if it was after two seconds. With Jon, he's pretty hard to stop (but super-easy to turn), I can do it, but he has this thing where he works himself up more and more and I really have to keep the reins short and keep checking him with more force than I really want. I hope with the stop-and-go method I can teach him to stay calm and quit rushing without constant rein pressure. He reacted okay today, didn't get worked up, but I had to stop him about 20 times on a 50 meter stretch. 
Funny thing is, I knew that a lot of people use this technique to stop rushing, but somehow it took this book for it to click in my head. When I tried it before, I attempted to prevent the horse from rushing in the first place by keeping the reins short (alternatively, getting rid of the extra energy by some fast riding, preferably uphill), but since I want to end up riding a relaxed horse with slack reins, it never really satisfied me (and in Jon's case, he gets all riled up and plays wild stallion, okay with me (looks impressive), but I would like my kids to be able to ride him, too). We'll see how long it takes him to pick it up for good, he's a bit age-stubborn and often has the attitude of "leave me alone with those silly things and let me do my job" when I try something new with him. 
Anyway, this is my first practical attempt with the book, many more to follow...
Ugh, now I wrote way too much again... can you tell I don't have enough friends that are not bored by horse-talk  ?


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Well, don't worry about writing too much... it's a horse forum after all;-)

I'm sure you have in-laws or other relatives over here who could send you a nice BigHorn saddle. I've seen mine advertised over there(Europe) for 1700 Euro. Ridiculous! I know how much they mark it up once it hits Europe, used to help bringing BigS western store in Fohren-Linden on its feet. at a time when all other stores got their stuff from two importers only, we always had different stuff. You can also order directly, without relatives in between, just be prepared for extra cost due to customs. And to possibly pick it up in Simmern at the Zollamt. And for Jon, there are sway back pads who level out the declining top line. 

Speedy Jon Gonzales should do little circles and voltes, combined with stops, and maybe stop and back. He will soon understand that hauling butt will just bring on more work lol


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Oh, I could even ship directly from the States without going through customs, we have an APO address, but what would be the use if I ordered a saddle and it didn't fit... I'll have to check the sway back pads, though. It's just really hard to get good stuff in his size, a regular pad covers him pretty much to the tail. For right now, I got him a used Mattes lambskin pad, round shape and five cm smaller than the ones I have for Cheyenne, but it's still a bit long.
Yeah, circles and voltes, stops and backups is what I do with him when he gets that way, also a lot of leg-yielding if there's no room to ride circles (which he'll do trotting and with rounded neck and lots of chewing and blowing like a steam locomotive), it's like he's asking to be put to work when he gets that way. He usually does it when something upsets him, like we meet another horse or he has to walk by a field of cows (of course on another day he can walk by just fine!) - sometimes we're almost back home, and he seems to realize he still has too much energy left over and starts working himself up. 
It just makes him an unreliable horse for other people to ride, because if you don't work him like that or you react too late, he just takes the bit from you and takes off running. I know him well enough to where he can't do what he wants, but I wouldn't trust anyone else to read his stubborn little pony mind. Five times he'll be the easiest and sweetest pony to ride, and the sixth time he gets his crazy-spell and then you'd better know what you're doing... but we'll see how the new approach with consequential stopping and continuing with slack reins works. I got the feeling I got him thinking last time...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Now that's good. The thinking 
For the saddle... the link I have you. These folks would work with you. trace withers and back( wire coat hanger works just fine), transfer on paper and mail to them, and they can check if the model you like will fit. I'd contact them and see what they can figure out with you. The sake I have has flex tree also, and several other models have that too. I also found their semi QH tree fits a wide variety of horses. I had it on two trotters, two Arabs and a TB . The only horse it didn't fit was a Hafi-New Forest. But he had a hole where the withers are lol. Too much upholstery at the shoulders.


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## CheyRider (Nov 3, 2013)

Hey there, sorry it took me FOREVER to get back on, things are a bit crazy at work and at home with Christmas coming up...
Thanks for the offer, deserthorsewoman, I wished I had known you before I bought my saddle, but at the moment I can't afford a new one... and I mean, it's not like I don't like the one I have, it's a good saddle, I just don't love it the way I love my pony's saddle (and that took me a while to get used to, as well, coming from English saddles, I bumped into front and back a few times before I learned to stay in the seat, haha). But I'd like to come back to you if I'm in need of a new saddle again, if I may.
It's quite a mud pit over here, so the horses can't go on the pasture, I hate it, especially with me working so much and not having enough time to exercise them. Cheyenne even did a few happy-bucks with me two days ago, that was the first time ever that she did that! But I can't blame her, not having been able to really stretch her legs for two days (they have the paddock, of course, but they can't really do more than wander around in that, especially with the mud). I hope it snows soon, so we can open the pasture...


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## deserthorsewoman (Sep 13, 2011)

Oh how well I remember the muddy season there..... if you would d ig, you'd find a few rubber boots the mud ate and never gave back lol.
Looking back,I don't miss that part... Here it's the opposite... dust. lots of dust. And we have night frost right now. Citrus farmers are freaking out, they have almost the entire harvest still on the trees.
A little rain and maybe a couple of flakes of snow coming tonight, they say. Last winter we had a week of rain. I freaked out 
And of course you can take me up on my offer anytime!


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