Hmmmm Pt. 2

These past few days while riding/lunging Harry i can feel something is off with his stride, especially when he gets trotting. I don't know what is wrong, so maybe you all can help??

Whatever is wrong I can feel it more than i can see it, but i will try to explain both.

First the feel-i can't feel the "hitch" until after we have been working for at least 10 min (excluding warmup) and i can only really feel it at the trot. After we have been trotting and working for at least 10 min. it starts to feel like one of his back legs (i think back right) is dropping, maybe like the back right is spending more time of the ground then the back left?

The look- I think my mom described how it looks the best, it's almost like he isn't fully using (range of motion) his back right, kinda like it is stiff.

So what do you think it could be? I am riding him in a different saddle then he is used to (dressage instead of western) and i think that the saddle is too narrow for him because it sits a good 3-4 fingers off of his withers. Could a saddle problem cause this?

Also he is old (27) could it just be arthritis? If so, how do i help him?

He did have a tendon injury in one of his legs (i don't know which one) from a trail ride, but the vet passed him off as good and he should be ridden so i don't think that could be the problem, but if it is how do i help him get stronger?

He isn't used to being worked with (hasn't been ridden in 3-4 years) and i did canter him last week or the week before, could that have hurt him? Should i more slowly break him into being ridden?

Any other ideas?

Thanks so much for your input!!! :)

<3 horse_girl

Hmmm...

First of all, sorry i haven't posted at all this week, i haven't had computer access until now...

Now for the horse stuff :)

First thing i did this morning was work with Sunny.  We practiced backing up, disengaging, and moving the front end over which all went fabulous, the trouble started when we started lunging. She went around a few time, then when i signaled her to pick up a faster pace (flick of the whip) she kicked out from behind, turned in and almost ran me over. This totally confused me because she had never kicked out before, and i didn't even touch her with the whip. I cautiously approached her and rubbed her all over with the whip and she was fine with it; not skittish at all, so i sent her around again.

Sunny has this nasty habit of turning in and running right past me while we were lunging and i had gotten some advice-when she doesn't listen to the "wave" of the whip near her shoulder to get her away, hit (not in a violent way) her in the shoulder. Well after i sent her around again she started to cut in so i first waved the whip at her shoulder and when she didn't respond i tapped her with it. She did pretty much the same thing as last time, also almost running me over...

After that Sunny was pretty much unmanageable, even when i stopped lunging and just lead her she was skittish and jumped at everything so i put her back in her stall....

Was it something i did or could it be she isn't used to being lunged??

Well until next time,
its just me
learning about them

<3 horse_girl

Riding Bareback

This week was my first time riding bareback, and to tell you the truth, I love it! Its awesome because you can actually feel the horse move instead of feeling the saddle move with the horse, which I would assume would improve your riding incredibly (let me know if i'm wrong).  Before I start with my story, let me help you visualize the setting. I ride in an big indoor arena (but only in half of it because the other half has farming equipment and is sectioned off with barrels). I am usually in the barn by myself when i ride because the owners work during the day so i work their horses when they are gone (for the most part).  

Since this was my first time riding bareback i wasn't quite sure how to get on the horse because i had never gotten on a horse without stirrups or a mounting block (the place i was riding at doesn't have mounting blocks)...I was going to ride Harry so i was really excited :) As i tried numerous ways to get up onto him (he is about 15.3hh tall) he stood there patiently waiting for me to figure out how i was going to get up there, and finally i took him over to a barrel, which i proceeded to climb up onto, then i climbed from the barrel to Harry.

Because i am not accustomed to riding bareback, as soon as i got on i almost fell off the other side, but quickly grabbed onto his mane and as soon as i retained my balance i cued him to move forward. The feeling of riding bareback is like none other; you can feel his spine move back and forth and his skin moving across his muscles.

The next day i also rode without a saddle and was determined to get on the horse from the ground without help.  After a series of gymnastics (putting my leg almost over my head) of trying to get on and failing i placed one hand on his withers and one hand on his hindquarters and jumped up. I lay there straddling the horse with my head hanging down on one side of the horse and my feet hanging down on the other side...i was stuck, i couldn't get the rest of the way up so i slid back down. The second try was successful! I tried getting up the same way, but this time i was able to maneuver myself to get on the horse!! After I finally got on we had a wonderful ride :)

I believe the hardest thing about riding bareback (besides getting on) is keeping your leg in the correct position and not letting it slip down. But anyway overall it was a good experience for me and my horse!

If you have any suggestions about how to get on the horse bareback or any other stories let me know!!!

until next time
it's just me
learning about them

<3 horse_girl

me learning about them :)

I love horses. Ever since I was little I have liked horses, but in the past few months I have gotten horse fever, just can't get enough of them! Because my love of horses came a little bit later in life, I don't know as much as I would like to about them and I am trying to learn as much as possible by reading, but somethings are just hard to look up...but before i get into any of that here is some background about the horses i am working with.

I am currently working with/training 4 quarter horses; one 27 year old dark gelding (Harry, the one i will call my horse), a 15 1/2 hand high, huge gelding who is 4 or 5 years old and knows he is big and can throw his weight around (Wally), an athletic mare (idk how old she is probably 15?) who loves to just canter and gallop (Fergie), and a smaller mare who loves to bite and to cut in when I am trying to lunge her but is as sweet as can be when I come out in the morning (Sunny).

So anyway, I want to learn as much as possible, and I know that hands on experience is the best way to learn but I need advice from others more experienced than I. I am going to share my adventures, trials and questions as I learn about horses and how to handle them so please please please give me advice about what i should do differently and any suggestions/helpful hints that you might have would be a huge help!

thanks so much!

until next time,
this is me
learning about them :)

<3 horse_girl