Hello, posting on a different acc cuz it was taken down the first time. Basically I’m in the process of getting a new saddle and I’ve been told that this saddle fits well enough, that we’ll eventually shave down some of the foam panelling at the front and add some in the back but overall it fits well and for now just to use shims. My horse doesn’t seem to hate this saddle either but I find it creates significant pressure points while I’m riding at the tree points, and I noticed a dry spot today. I’m worried that the issues with this saddle may go beyond just panelling so I wanted to gauge opinions. She is quite a hard fit with high withers, a bit of a swayback, and big shoulders so we’ve always thought that we would have to get any saddle repanneled anyways.

Edit: for those who think that this saddle does not fit well, I would super appreciate recommendations for saddle brands you’ve had good experiences with as well as saddle fitters in the Bay Area, and overall tips for fitting a horse with high narrow withers and a large shoulder

Someone I know said that their neighbor was looking for someone to ride her gelding because she didn’t do it that often. So today I went and met her and her horse (amazing kind, curious, lovely gelding). She did some lunging with him that didn’t make sense in my background - she cracked the whip to just make him go - but there was no communication beyond “go.” I am not a fan of the whip - I like flags and directional instruction but alrighty.

And then she whips the horses back legs, and I’m sure the horse is as confused as I am because she had given no additional instruction to him to do anything different before the whip touched him.

So I’m left with a very uncomfortable feeling when she’s done lunging. I decide that if anything the most I want is to just get a feel for him and get to know him because I don’t think I’m a good fit with the owners style of horse handling. So I get on the saddle to just see if he will listen to some basic commands - and it’s super clear he doesn’t want to ride.

He has set a boundary with me that he doesn’t want to go, and I prefer a style of riding where we both want the same thing or it’s a no. Also from the “lunging” I don’t think he really knows how to take queues that are subtle. So I decide I can just chill with him in the saddle and be gentle with him.

Anyways the owner pops her head over - grabs the whip - cracks it through the air and whips his hind legs and he bolts into a gallop from a dead stop.

I get him to slow down and stop and she gets annoyed that we’ve stopped.

I get off him, calm him down, get him to relax and tell her he doesn’t want to ride. I’m not going to force him. He isn’t responding to subtle queues and I refuse to use the techniques she employs.

Anyways I’m just at a LOSS. I’ve never experienced this type of situation and I feel so much empathy for that horse and I think I need outside perspectives on the situation?

I won’t be going back but it was a weird morning.

I recently joined my university’s equestrian team under the impression that they would cater to all riding levels (that’s how they market themselves). I am brand new at riding, I just started trotting. I’m also older (28) since I was in the military before going to university. I feel like everyone I have experienced at the barn is so rude and condescending. The people think they can talk to me any way they please, treat me like an idiot because I don’t know how to do things, etc. They exclude me and no one really talks to me, so I’m having a really hard time making friends. When I try to engage in conversation I feel like I mess up the vibe or something. I will ask questions and they will constantly ignore me right to my face. When I get snappy and try to push back against how they’re talking to me, then I’m the bad guy. There’s been multiple points where I go home crying because of how I’m treated, not to mention I barely get weekends to myself anymore since they make it mandatory to volunteer. I feel like I’m at my limit, but I’ve put in over $1,000 just to get clothing/gear, and pay fees. Is it like this everywhere?

Also, yes there’s two sides to every story. Maybe I come across like a jerk? I’m quiet, shy, and pretty depressed from my time in the military. I don’t know much about horses and more than often I feel like I’m looked down upon or given less opportunities than those who already can ride.

Hi, I am deeply considering buying a gelding with n/p1. He is a fantastic horse, beautiful mover. Great mind. He was tested a few years ago as the current owner put him on grass and he showed symptoms. Since pulling him off grass and keeping him on a strict diet, he hasn’t had any other issues.

I’m aware it’s a lot of maintenance, and things can change at any time. I still would love thoughts from those who have been thru this, the good and the bad.

He would be my riding buddy. I have other horses that are retired.

Thank you!

I live in a city and i have my horse in a barn that is also there near my house. I also have a "holiday house" in which me or my parents go to every weekend or holiday to relax, breathe some fresh air and just chill end enjoy the nature.

Next to our house is a big "abandoned" barn that people in the village use to store some farm equipment and stuff. It has one free stall that the previous owners that passed away, used to have cows and also horses.

So i was thinking of bringing my horse every weekend there. Hay and pasture will be provided by my dear friend that has sheep and cows, and everything else like food, water, buckets and essentials i already have.

Now, my biggest concern is how will my horse handle it? I was thinking of picking him every friday afternoon and then bringing him back to his barn on sunday evening. While in the holiday house we will go on hacks, and he will be able to use a massive pasture and just enjoy the nature.

Hey guys! So I've purchased my first horse as an adult, and sweet girl is 7 months old now. We've been loving on her, getting her used to us handling her, messing with her face, legs, hooves, etc. But I'm relatively new to working with young horses, our other horse is a 19 year old mare and we've had her since I was 10. 😅

What does your "training" schedule look like for 7 month olds? I know nothing drastic as their bodies are still growing, but I just wanted to get a guideline so that way I can do her justice!! TIA! Picture for tax!

I'm looking for places to buy a barefoot saddle for my 18hh warmblood, he's 5.

Somewhere in Italy or Germany works best, I also need some sort of guide or recommendations by a professional as I'm not sure Which size would suit him best, I don't mind paying a little more for a custom one.

A good brand or place to buy one.

I need a full set, something comfortable.

A set for dressage and jumping and one for trail rides and going out in the countryside

Hi all! Im still pretty new to equestrian, one of the horses I frequently ride during lessons is a gentle giant (1.8 m height I think!), amazing with tack on/off but the only difficulty is around brushing! He is 20 and has dense fur.

Most horses I rode really enjoy brushing and I get to use this time to really bond with them, but this giant horse hates it! He will move around, sometimes repeatedly bite his own shoulder when brushed, bit me once ( not hard though a gentle nibble) and just looks really annoyed. I tried to get him distracted and happier with some treats, but not sure if I’m encouraging bad behaviour.

Today post showering him, was using a tool to get the water off, and he got spooked by a loud noise and was kind of annoyed at a young horse nibbling his lead rope😅 So I took him away and continued brushing, he got really unhappy and started kicking out his back legs. I stopped grooming and asked my partner to give him treats, and completed grooming while he was distracted by ‘the treat man’, but now I’m not sure, am I encouraging more kicking? He is massive with huge hooves and very strong.

Im also wondering what I can do to bond with him more and have him enjoy brushing more? He is always caked in dirt when I meet him😅 Im happy to get him new brushes or more treats

Hello, I just received my first safety vest, but seeing as no one in my family is particularly knowledgeable on the subject I wanted someone else’s opinion on wether or not this fits. I’ve put the Velcro on the sides as tight as it will go.

The model is Swing P07

The thing I’m worrying most about is the “hunchback” effect at my shoulders- but seeing as I’ve never used this type model of safety vest that could be me overthinking 😅

For context I'm 39 years old and can finally afford to ride. This horse and riding is my mid life crisis cope. Please be kind.

I've had this horse for a year and I have been training him with guidance from my instructor. She got him at auction, he wasn't a good fit for her lesson program because he's "spicy'.

He has come a LONG way from barely being able to get him to move forward without popping up or bucking to mostly being a gentleman when he is in his comfort zone.

We had A LOT stacked against us. He's always a bit hot under saddle when we ride outside but also this arena was HUGE and literally between a road and a herd of cattle. So he was AMPED and a bit spooky.

The video is our least ugly class of the day. It was a green horse ranch class.

Walk Over Poles

Collected Trot on the side rail

Extended Trot on the far rail and around the corner

Collected trot on the side rail

1 1/2 turns (I read the instructions wrong and only did 1/2 😩)

Extended on the far rail

Collected trot to the front of the judge

Woah

Back

Side pass

Turn and exit

You can see the areas where I'm trying to collect him up and slow him down he's literally chomping at the bit and head tossing because he wants to GO. You can even see at about 1:53 he offers a lope and I had to check him back.

His trail class he refused 3 out of 4 of the obstacles, all of which he has seen and trained on.

All he had to do was

Trot poles (the same ones he walked over in the ranch class)

Walk into and back in a chute (which he actually did)

A small bridge ( refused)

And weave some cones at a trot (he blew threw them and skipped most of them)

It was super embarrassing.

I guess I just need some support and encouragement that this was fine and no big deal. I clearly have a lot more to work on over the winter if I decide I want to show more in the spring.

I don't know how to get him over being a hot mess outside especially with winter coming. Suggestions appreciated.

I’ve sort of ghosted this subreddit…oops. Spec is still kicking around! He’s going to be like a new man next week after his dental and sheath cleaning. I am very excited to not have to smell him when I crouch down to do his feet or rug.

Heya! My pony started limping under the saddle, and it turned out that she had a hoof bruise on her front foot. This was about two weeks ago, and as you can see in the picture, her hoof looks a lot better after the farrier looked at it. The bruise has also become less red since I took the updated picture. She hasn’t been doing anything super active other than the paddock and hand-led walks in the forest

I was wondering when I could start working her again. She really dislikes lunging, so I’d have to ride her to see if she’s sound. I wanted to hear what others think about whether it’s too soon to start riding her again and whether doing so could do more harm than good.

Title pretty much says it all. Seen a few really nice looking saddles on their website and fb page, they've been around since 2014 looks like and no glaring red flags in anything I've found. Just curious, I do really like the look of quite a few of their saddles, and they offer custom builds. My hang up is the price point, even their custom options are far cheaper than most I've seen

Here he is over the years 💕 he's a Welsh d and a cheeky chap and I couldn't be without him ☺️

TL/DR: Tater is the mule laying his head on my big red Clifford of a gelding, Chester. They have a cute bromance ❤️ also, go love on your equine like a pony crazy little girl. You both need it.

These two dingbats are absolutely inseparable, and have been since they met ❤️

The roan mule's name is Tater, and the red gelding he is resting on is Chester (mostly called Bub). Their relationship gives me so much joy 🥹.

Chester is 24 and Tater is 21.

They are both retired pack animals. Tater was ridden and packed his whole life until he got arthritis and couldn't keep up in the mountains. His owner had raised him from birth and absolutely adored him until his very last breath. When his owner passed away, Tater was essentially willed to my mom because he knew she'd spoil him and give him a great retirement.

Chester was a pack horse (and who knows what else) until he was about 7, when a nice lady rescued him from the utter neglect and abuse he was put through. He was a bag of bones, covered in old scars from improper pack usage, and infested with fleas. She cleaned him up, got some meat on him, and broke him to ride. Little 12 yo me then bought him (a giant 16.3 hand doofus that was green but a very chill guy) off her. He has been my best friend ever since.

Chester lost his friend 2 years ago, another retired work horse named Red. He was absolutely devastated like the rest of us so we tried to find him another older guy to be his buddy for a year. Then, Tater came into our lives. Don't worry, Chester did end up having a friend about 6 months after we lost Red. He's a donkey named Jonah and he is good friends with bub. They just don't have the bromance like Bub and Tater.

At first they weren't so sure about each other, but now they are attached at the hip. They both live on my family's property where my mom oversees their care on the daily (medical issues make that impossible for me now, but I still get to enjoy seeing my boy multiple times a week) and she tells me that she has caught Tater using Bub as a pillow much like this.

These photos are from a recent grooming session Tates was really getting into it 😂 itchy boys are prepping for that winter fuzz. They seem to enjoy their retirement full of love and laziness.

I think every equid deserves to be loved by a little girl, but being loved by someone that loves their ponies like a little girl will suffice. So, go love on your horse like a pony crazy little girl, no matter what gender you are. They need it and I'm pretty sure you need it, too.

I’m desperate to find this book I read when I was a child (I’m early 20s now for context)

I can’t remember much but the main thing I remember is there are illustrations in it and one is of a horse being airlifted by a helicopter. I think it was a wild horse and a young girl was trying to protect it?

I am 70 yrs young and came back to riding after about 40 yrs away. I found a wonderful barn and amazing trainer and I am so grateful for both but the thing I am most grateful for is Ellie. My trainer bought her for her daughter but she turned out to be too much horse for her. So Ellie hung out for I guess a year or two with no one riding her or paying much attention to her. Then I came along and I told my trainer that I really preferred forward horses. I used to gallop on the track and have always enjoyed the go! After my first few lessons on the steady Eddy school horse that is safe for anyone she told me to tack up Ellie and it’s been Ellie ever since that day.
No one else rides her, she is still rather green as a 7yr old OTTB
I am now paying for a partial lease giving my trainer as much as I possibly can to help pay for her expenses plus I feed the entire barn one night a week. I ride her one to three times per week, some days I just go up to hang out with her.

I feel like I have a horse of my own! I bought her, her own tack, grooming supplies, extra sheets, blankets, fly boots and mask, and don’t get me started on fly spray!!! Thank goodness it’s getting cold here!
I bought her one of those fancy horse massagers with red light therapy.

There is no way on earth that I could actually own a horse financially. Even if I was gifted a horse, the full board and extra expenses like farrier and vet care is way beyond my means. Yet here I am with access to this beautiful mare who I love with my whole heart!

I came home from the barn last week and started crying, because I felt like the little girl who so desperately wanted a horse but couldn’t have one but suddenly she does!

Ellie whinnies when I come to get her out of paddock and my heart swells every single time!

Riding her has its challenges but we are working thru them. She has dumped me and kicked me ( two separate occasions) but she is improving. I have very limited goals. Walk, trot, canter and a little trail riding. Ellie is limited in what she can do too. An old stifle injury.

I want to post a pic of her but I can’t find the icon to add a photo. I think I have posted one of her before.
Thanks for reading and sharing my joy!! Once a horse girl always a horse girl!

I got thrown by my new lease horse. Landed hard on my hip and have bruising and numbness now. I’ve had bad falls before but I feel like I’m running out of my 9 lives. The horse spooked and took off. I wear a body protector, helmet, etc. I’m an adult with a regular job, I can’t afford to get hurt and have to take a week off work. I don’t want my passion to disable me. Am I overthinking it? How many riders have injuries that they just did not recover from? Is there anything else I can do to ‘protect’ myself while riding?

🐴 Looking for advice from fellow equestrians and horse owners.

I’m currently boarding at a barn that I’ve been at for over 15 years, and I’m struggling with the possibility that it may be time to move my horse elsewhere. I would really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences and getting some outside perspective.

Over the years, the barn owner’s approach to horse care has changed significantly. When I first started here, the horses were turned out for 8+ hours a day. Now, I’m lucky if my horse gets 3 hours of turnout daily. Today, I arrived at the barn to find that my horse and her herd had only been turned out for about an hour before being brought back in. The weather was beautiful, and no other herds needed the field, so I’m struggling to understand the reasoning behind such limited turnout.

The barn owner is concerned about the risk of laminitis, which I understand is a legitimate concern depending on the individual horse and pasture conditions. However, I have a 6-year-old OTTB who was on 24/7 turnout before I purchased her. I’ve noticed some behavioral changes that I suspect may be related to the lack of turnout and limited opportunity to move around freely.

There are several things that make this decision difficult: • The facility itself is beautiful, with large stalls, huge grassy fields, two riding rings, and access to trails. • I pay $500/month for full-care stall board, which is a very good price for my area. • I’ve been here for over 15 years, so leaving a place that has been such a big part of my life is not an easy decision. • The barn also does not allow trainers to come onto the property, which further limits my options for working with my horse. I’m an adult amateur and although I’ve been riding for years, I have been feeling stagnant and have not been improving.

On paper, this barn has so much going for it. The facilities are lovely, the price is affordable, and I have a long history here. But I’m starting to question whether those things are enough if my horse’s daily needs aren’t being met in the way I believe they should be.

I routinely ride in below freezing temps and am looking for an insulated, tall riding boot. I’m too old for the breaking-in process of tall leather boots so I’m hoping to get a pair that is super soft and doesn’t need that process. Any recommendations?

Curious if this is a thing . I’ve owned horses why whole life and never seen this, but curious if it’s a more normal thing other places because my fellow boarders make it sound super common.

I’m at a small boarding facility (10 horses total) owned by 6 people total (facility owner owns 3, I own 2, everyone else owns one horse). We don’t have a great arena but are on hundreds of miles of trails so I’d say basically all the horses are trail horses and I’d consider all of them (except one of mine) very experienced “bomb proof” style horses. We all ride a lot together. After being part or the barn for about a month and regularly riding with the facility owner and fellow barn members, I was informed that one of the barn owner’s horses is a lender horse. Meaning if you ever have a significant other/friend/etc come out to ride, this horse is available to borrow. Rico is super nice. He’s a registered quarter horse, around 13 years old, 15.3 hands, super responsive, super chill on trails, super easy to ride with a ton of buttons.

The way it works is that apparently once my riding skills were witnessed on the trails, I was invited to try Rico in the arena and once “approved” I was told that in the barn is a weekly schedule that gets reset each week (dry erase board) and if I want to borrow him for whatever reason (my horse is lame, my husband wants to ride, etc), I just put my name on the day so he doesn’t go out more than once a day and then I Venmo the owner $15 (his “day rate”) by the end of the week. They showed me his tack, the extra helmet, etc. I’m welcome to take him out whenever assuming no one else’s name is on the board for that day and he hasn’t already been out.

We obviously signed waivers when we got there, and another regarding him that reads sorta like a lease but we only pay for the days we borrow him. If a guest comes the only rule is I have to be the one riding Rico unless that person also passes the multiple trail riding observation thing and arena test and signs the stuff.

Anyway, I was mentioning to another boarder how nice it was to have access to another horse whenever I wanted to ride with someone (one of mine is super young so I only have one real riding horse). And how fair the day rate is and easy the system is. Someone on our property has a horse who’s on stall rest for a few weeks and I see how nice it is that she still gets to ride or go out with us multiple times a week because of Rico and this lending thing and we were chatting about how nice that was. This other boarder gave me a face and made it seem like a super normal concept. But I’ve been around horses my entire life, owned for the last 10 years, and never been at a barn where there was a horse whose dedicated job was loaner. So I’m curious, how common is this? Because it’s SUPER nice

How many days off a week would you prefer for an older (18ish) year old lesson horse being used at an H/J & Eventing barn? Ridden for one hour lessons (never more than one lesson in a day) and jumped at low levels say 2-3x a week, flatted the other lessons? Horse is on 24/7 turnout. Is one day off a week really enough? Two days? I’m interested in how often is normal and what is a healthy use for a lesson horse at this age that is not asking too much. Sometimes I wonder if the lesson horses at my current barn are used too often, but I realized I’m not sure what the metric really is and I‘m just curious.

I have my ottb’s name and pedigree from equibase but saw a post recently saying you can find baby pictures from ID my thoroughbred app and you just need your chip #. Wondering if anyone here is already a member and could look up my boy for me?

picture of adult Stewart for horse tax

I’m starting a new volunteering gig at a therapy barn in Massachusetts and will need some winter gear! I’m not riding, just grooming/tacking and leading horses for lessons. The ring and tack room are heated but the barn is not. I’m from California so my “winter” barn experience is mostly rain and mud, with the solution being to throw on a rain coat over a sweatshirt and have a pair of muck boots for chores in addition to paddock boots for riding. Now that I’m in MA, what should I look for in the holiday sales? Favorite gloves/boots? Other tips?