10 week horseback riding challenge

Shoebacha1

I have been riding lots, I finally have a pretty good horsey network in my area. There is always someone riding near me. I go as often as I can, but have had to ride around the house mostly due to holiday money confines. Now that the holidays are over, and my budget is looking good, Spring you wont be able to stop me. Havent been posting much because I moved and do not have internet. For some reason, I cant get MFP on my phone. Glad you were able to rescue! I want to so bad, but with my adopted senior (26 yrs) I cant afford it. He eats 6 scoops of senior a day, 2 scoops of stabalized rice bran and 10 pounds of alfalfa cubes a day. He has no teeth and cant eat hay, so he is eating me out of house and home. I will continue to give him a good retirement, and when he passes I will have enough saved to buy any horse I want. Hoping for a haflinger, mule or mammoth donkey!

Shoebacha1

Excited to ride in the snow this weekend!

Shoebacha1

Got my ride in yesterday in the cold wind. Most of the snow had melted, but we still had fun. Was a good ride.

lkirchner82

Good for you for adopting a senior! Old folks are the best, and they have such a hard time finding homes. I had NO intention of getting another horse, but a friend of my barn owner dropped off this sweet boy to her because he knows she's a sucker, and then she quickly presented him to me because she knows I'm a sucker. He was in horrible shape and was terrified of everyone at first, but he has made so much progress and I absolutely adore him.
Glad that you got to ride this weekend! You are tougher than I am to ride in the snow.

Shoebacha1

Being a sucker is not a bad thing. Trust me, I know all about people taking advantage of not being able to say not to an animal in need. That is how I got my new cat Ollie. When i worked at Pet Smart I had all kinds of animals dumped on me. I never had a hedgehog before, but I figured it out. LOL

Reaverie

I miss my horse. She was stolen. Never saw her again.

Shoebacha1

I would murder someone if they hurt or stole my horse. So *kitten*. There are so many horses out there who need homes, why steal one that already has one?

Shoebacha1

Wish me luck. Might have some kiddos to help keep horses ridden soon. Have a foster care worker coming out tonight to start us on getting certified and assess our house.

Shoebacha1

Not sure I will get a ride in this weekend. If the ice storm is as bad as they claim it will be, both me and the horses will be trying to stay warm and out of the weather as much as possible.

lkirchner82

I hope you were able to stay safe. We missed the ice, but it has not stopped raining for over a week. The pastures and the ponies are a muddy mess!

Shoebacha1

Yep, we missed most of the ice, too. Lots of rain here, too. I could have gone riding yesterday, but my horse is a muddy mess and I wanted to get some house work done. Had nice clean mopped floors for about 3 hours, and then I let the dogs in. LOL Just blared some music and organized cabinets and shelves and did lots of dusting, vacuuming, sweeping and mopping. I love having a huge house, but it can be a lot of work with 3 dogs, two cats a and a bird. Not to mention we keep the feed and alfalfa cubes in the house...

Moshimum01

Hi, I've got an elderly arthritic Irish Draft. Would have him again in a heartbeat. Why can't we buy a new body for them?!
Will be riding a friend's Welsh cob next month whilst she's away - he's beautiful, but a bit green. At least I'll be able to get out for some good rides.
Hope you are getting out over the winter!

XxBecksxX91

I'm in on this! In the UK, I show jump, work full time and have 5(!!) thankfully only 3 ridden and a broodmare and foal. Trying to ride as much as possible (each horse 4-5 times a week), need somewhere to keep me motivated when its dark cold and raining!

Shoebacha1

I get out as often as weather allows. I need an indoor arena. Been doing good braving the cold, but I wimp out in the cold and windy days. Which happen to be during the weekend. Ugh. The weekdays have been beautiful, but the weekend gets here and I am in the cold wet or wind. Worth it though. This past weekend is the first time I didnt ride at all in a while. Will be out of town on a business trip this coming weekend, but off and home some weekdays, going to try to not only ride, but haul to a trail somewhere.

Shoebacha1

Going to get at least a short ride in today. I fly out tomorrow and won't be back til we'd night. Gonna miss all my babies!

lkirchner82

I fell off the horse today- and I sincerely wish I meant that figuratively. I see a hot bath and some Tylenol in my near future!

Shoebacha1

Falling sucks! Hope it was a short horse. LOL Feel better and get back on!

Shoebacha1

Got an excellent 90 minute ride in today. We explored the cattle lease and hung out with cows for a bit

Shoebacha1

My poor Avalanche is sore today. Went to feed this morning and the usual aggressive and fast eater was a slow walk to the bowl and slow large bites. Will check on him when I get home. If he still seems off I will give him some pain releif.

Shoebacha1

Avalanche is feeling back to normal, but me....holy crap! My legs are still recovering.

Shoebacha1

Hope the weather improves for the weekend. Would be so nice if it was like it was yesterday. 70 and sunny with light winds. I hate I had to be at work.

Shoebacha1

Got a ride in on my old man. On Saturday, my husband jumped on him bareback with just a halter. BAD IDEA. They ran circles around the house until my husband fell off. So, on Sunday, I rode him with a saddle and bit. For a 26 year old, he is spunky. He got 2 minor bucks in, and then on the third he went to put his head down and bronc me! Ok old man with rice crispy joints, how about you snap crackle and pop your head out of your *kitten* and act like you know how to be good? I was so mad. Laughed the first two times, but that third pissed me off. He is TOO BIG and TOO OLD to be acting like that. We have some major work to do. I will be focusing on him for a while.

lkirchner82

Could it be a pain reaction? You are right, most old ponies aren't going to waste energy on those shenanigans unless they are avoiding.

Dreamcrusher16

Is it cheating if I ride at work?

lkirchner82

Question for you all - I want a western saddle for trail riding and I found this one on Craigslist for a good price. It looked great until I asked her to send a picture of the underside. Can the torn leather be replaced? Or is it not even worth it? Thanks a bunch! (I don't know much about western saddles, obviously.)

Shoebacha1

I wouldnt bother with it. Too much of a risk in my opinion.

Shoebacha1

Did a 5 hour ride Saturday. My husband actually got to go, and he rode Sky, who has been on rest for an injury. Both did great and no sign of injury! YAY! Did not ride the old guy Quincy. My knee is hurt and it was wet and slick out. Maybe next week.

Shoebacha1

lkirchner82 wrote: »

Could it be a pain reaction? You are right, most old ponies aren't going to waste energy on those shenanigans unless they are avoiding.

I really think it is just that he is eating 6 scoops of senior grain, a pound of rice bran, and two buckets of alfalfa cubes a day. He is just hot. He is spooking at everything.

lkirchner82

Shoebacha1 wrote: »

lkirchner82 wrote: »

Could it be a pain reaction? You are right, most old ponies aren't going to waste energy on those shenanigans unless they are avoiding.

I really think it is just that he is eating 6 scoops of senior grain, a pound of rice bran, and two buckets of alfalfa cubes a day. He is just hot. He is spooking at everything.

Ah, that's right, the fun puzzle of keeping weight on the old folks without them getting goofy!
And that's what I figured about the saddle- I am normally pretty paranoid about my horses, so sometimes I just need to check to ensure my paranoia is justified.
It has been beautiful here and I've been on the rescue pony several times (after recovering from a bruised/broken tailbone - me, not him!)

Shoebacha1

We took the boys out to Prague Lake on Wednesday for a 3 hour ride. Their trails are beautiful and perfectly marked. Such a peaceful perfect day. My favorite day with my husband so far. Both horses were perfect gentlemen. Hoping to ride the old guy this Sunday. My knee is feeling much better.