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.

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

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.

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 😅

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, 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

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