Where to start? Horse lovers??

banjosmom
banjosmom Posts: 2
edited September 20 in Motivation and Support
I am lost here. There are so many posts. Should I start a new, newbie thread? I will gladly.

I am used to itty bitty forums (mostly horse related). I even have a fat horse people blog.
Unfortunately it is all about me and not much feedback there. Boy ti keeps you honest though, knowing people are reading about you.

My stats. Have lost 8 of the 50 pounds I want to lose (although I could lose more and not be gaunt)
I am (gasp) 56. I don't know what happened. One day I was 30 and kerpow!! I am 56. Shoot.

This weight is retred weight. I tend to lose and then gain most of it back.

Last time, I dropped 16 pounds, my mom was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer - so there went that diet. The surgeon who diagnosed her was wrong according to her cancer doc. Mom had a tumor that was new (luckily discovered by accident and that usually happened to nonsmoking women)
so she has a much better chance than 5% survival - whoohoo.

Anyway, I am ready to try again.
Any tips which of you to join?
Are there any fat horsepeople here??

Thanks, Kathy:flowerforyou:
«13

Replies

  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Well, keep logging your food and you will see results. The food diary keeps you honest with yourself and keeps you on target for your weight loss.

    Oh, and I am a horse lover. :tongue: I own an APHA paint horse which I adopted from a horse rescue. :happy:
  • equinegirl200
    equinegirl200 Posts: 35 Member
    Im a horse person:)
  • cwvanek
    cwvanek Posts: 111
    I am a horsey person! I don't own any at the moment but I have before.

    Riding is GREAT exercise :)
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Riding is GREAT exercise :)

    Hehe, I wish it were for me! I have trained my horse to be vocal cue command. So trotting I cluck at him, and to canter, I kiss at him. :laugh: So, i still have to work out the day I go riding. :tongue:
  • HeatherMN
    HeatherMN Posts: 3,821 Member
    First of all, congrats on making the decision to lose the weight.

    I am also a fat horse person who is working on losing about 50 lbs. myself. I have a Mustang/Percheron cross who frustrates me to no end because she hates being caught in the pasture....though, once caught she's a doll. Go figure. I also coach a Special Olympics equestrian team and am currently working on becoming a certified therapeutic riding instructor; I've been volunteering with therapeutic riding for 13 years. With as active as I am, I would think I'd be skinny, but apparently the 8 hours a day at a desk job undo everything I do outside of work!

    If you ever need someone to chat with, feel free to message me!

    Heather
  • cwvanek
    cwvanek Posts: 111
    Riding is GREAT exercise :)

    Hehe, I wish it were for me! I have trained my horse to be vocal cue command. So trotting I cluck at him, and to canter, I kiss at him. :laugh: So, i still have to work out the day I go riding. :tongue:

    hehe must be nice! I had on OTT Thoroughbred that I retrained for hunter/jumper... lets just say I felt it when I got off ;)

    Apparently yellow jump posts eat horses and you must avoid them at all costs and flower boxes have teeth and need to be given an extra few feet than necessary to get over. haha.
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Riding is GREAT exercise :)

    Hehe, I wish it were for me! I have trained my horse to be vocal cue command. So trotting I cluck at him, and to canter, I kiss at him. :laugh: So, i still have to work out the day I go riding. :tongue:

    hehe must be nice! I had on OTT Thoroughbred that I retrained for hunter/jumper... lets just say I felt it when I got off ;)

    Apparently yellow jump posts eat horses and you must avoid them at all costs and flower boxes have teeth and need to be given an extra few feet than necessary to get over. haha.

    Aw, I have worked with horses like that.

    My horse wasn't always done by vocal cues - that's something I trained him to do. :tongue: He doesn't like orange construction signs on the road. Or puddles / pot holes. Walks as far as he can get from them. I need to work on that with him. (Get a shiny tarp and get him to walk over it when I ask him to). :tongue:
  • cwvanek
    cwvanek Posts: 111
    Riding is GREAT exercise :)

    Hehe, I wish it were for me! I have trained my horse to be vocal cue command. So trotting I cluck at him, and to canter, I kiss at him. :laugh: So, i still have to work out the day I go riding. :tongue:

    hehe must be nice! I had on OTT Thoroughbred that I retrained for hunter/jumper... lets just say I felt it when I got off ;)

    Apparently yellow jump posts eat horses and you must avoid them at all costs and flower boxes have teeth and need to be given an extra few feet than necessary to get over. haha.

    Aw, I have worked with horses like that.

    My horse wasn't always done by vocal cues - that's something I trained him to do. :tongue: He doesn't like orange construction signs on the road. Or puddles / pot holes. Walks as far as he can get from them. I need to work on that with him. (Get a shiny tarp and get him to walk over it when I ask him to). :tongue:
    Haha. Good job on training him with vocal cues! :smile:
  • HeatherMN
    HeatherMN Posts: 3,821 Member
    When I can catch my horse, she's trained to ride with verbal cues. Luckily, she's not afraid of much, especially when trail riding. Must be the mustang in her.
  • tabbydog
    tabbydog Posts: 4,925 Member
    Yay horses! My horses are my mental therapy! I have a Belgian TB cross, who has the size of the Belgian and the nit-wittedness of the TB (bad combination sometimes). Actually, the horse prior to him was an off the track TB and was much more reasonable than he is. Anyway, I ride him mostly in the dressage ring, and on the trail when I am feeling suicidal.

    I also have a little QH type grade mare who is a doll. When I first got her she didn't like to be caught, but when she wouldn't let me catch her I would make her run more and not let her stop. Now she lets me catch her. The first time was awful, and I thought it was going to kill us both, but now when she thinks about going away from me, I just growl "don't you dare," and she decides to stay. It helps that when she gives me no hassles about catching her I give her a treat. It is a double incentive! I mostly trail ride her, but I try to persuade her that dressage is fun. She is not convinced.

    The horse in my profile pic is my mom's Belgian who I am training for dressage. She is built more like a warmblood than a draft, and has gaits to die for.

    Steph, I adore your paint. I love brightly colored horses. My current ones are all one shade or another of brown!
  • Ressia
    Ressia Posts: 5
    I have 2 horses no special breed but gentle as can be can't ride much because of an accident that I had but when I walk over to the fence they come running. I have to have someone saddle them, then I have to have help getting on and off the horse. But hope to be able to be able to this for myself one day.
  • Iwkido
    Iwkido Posts: 53 Member
    Hi ! I have a horse too : he's a half arabian and very, very kind. But he's just 3 years, so I don't ride him for the moment. ;)
  • banjosmom
    banjosmom Posts: 2
    Oh this is cool /kewl?
    Anyway, I am glad to see so many horse folk on here.
    I have 2 horses, ride neither - fear issues. A bowling ball body on a horse is not well balanced Once I get on I can ride - but getting on is a chore.
    I am short too which helps quite a lot - haha.
    Anyway, my 2. Belle is a Kentucky Mountain mare with a nontypical atitude. Usually these horses are sensible. She is a big baby on the ground, but in the saddle she wants to be the boss.
    Hubby is working with her and a trainer. but I don't know if I will ever be able to ride her. She hates ring work, but loves going out on the trail with other horses.
    2nd horse is the one in the photo. He is Banjo and I raised him from 5 weeks after his mamma died. He is almost 3 and will go to a trainer in February. I have saved a year for him to get a good trainer.
    He is a lot more sensible than Belle so far. We will see how the trainer makes out with him.
    Right now I feel I am too heavy for him since he is a short stocky boy (he takes after me).
    I have lost 8 1/2 pounds in 16 days by counting calories and limiting carbs. Would love to lose 50 pounds by next year at this time. Have failed many times before - sigh. I need to take it one day at a time.

    Nice to meet you all!:blushing:
    Kathy
  • Ressia
    Ressia Posts: 5
    some are showing there horses so thought I would show mine This is Gray
  • Ressia
    Ressia Posts: 5
    trying again
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Yay horses! My horses are my mental therapy! I have a Belgian TB cross, who has the size of the Belgian and the nit-wittedness of the TB (bad combination sometimes). Actually, the horse prior to him was an off the track TB and was much more reasonable than he is. Anyway, I ride him mostly in the dressage ring, and on the trail when I am feeling suicidal.

    I also have a little QH type grade mare who is a doll. When I first got her she didn't like to be caught, but when she wouldn't let me catch her I would make her run more and not let her stop. Now she lets me catch her. The first time was awful, and I thought it was going to kill us both, but now when she thinks about going away from me, I just growl "don't you dare," and she decides to stay. It helps that when she gives me no hassles about catching her I give her a treat. It is a double incentive! I mostly trail ride her, but I try to persuade her that dressage is fun. She is not convinced.

    The horse in my profile pic is my mom's Belgian who I am training for dressage. She is built more like a warmblood than a draft, and has gaits to die for.

    Steph, I adore your paint. I love brightly colored horses. My current ones are all one shade or another of brown!

    Thanks Tabby! I love flashy horses. :tongue:

    Great job on training your QH! That is definitely the way to do it. If they need to work more then they will quit the behavior because horses are lazy. :laugh:
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Kathy - You can do this girl! Just stick with this community and it will help. Keep tracking your food and exercise and you will lose weight. I never thought I could and I am down 17 lbs! So now there is no reason for me to not be able to make it down to my goal weight. :)

    Ressia - Your horse is beautiful!
  • HeatherMN
    HeatherMN Posts: 3,821 Member
    Good morning!

    Looks like I need to get a pic of my Sadie on here, too! She's also a gray.

    This weekend I'll be doing some more training in the pasture with her in hopes of gaining back her trust, which I lost by moving her to a different boarding stable. She had to leave her friends and the home she was at for four years...when she was there I could catch her 98% of the time and the other 2% I could cheat and offer grain to get her to come to me. With six horses in the pasture with her, I can't do that right now, so I'm doing the training I should have done when I bought her five years ago. Talk about teaching me a lesson! I have faith that we'll eventually get there, though.

    It's so nice that there are so many horse people on here...I'm also glad I'm not the only horsey gal that struggles with weight, especially seeing all of those stick thin barrel racers out there!

    Keep up the great work, everyone!
    Heather
  • tabbydog
    tabbydog Posts: 4,925 Member
    My childhood horse was a grey arabian. She was awesome! I put a lot of miles on that girl! When I went away to college she taught another girl to ride, and then another one after that. She died in her sleep one night at the age of 26. She was the best!
  • eponya
    eponya Posts: 7
    Just dropping in to see if anyone is around? I am new here.
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Just dropping in to see if anyone is around? I am new here.

    Hi there! Welcome to MFP! Horse lovers are lurking, that is for sure. :smile:
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,247 Member
    I'm a horse lover too!

    My current profile pic is of my daughter and her Morgan mare, Valentine (who will turn 18 this coming Valentine's Day). My girl has kind of grown out of her horse phase, so Valentine is for sale, but I've been spending a lot more time with her lately and may decide to change my mind about that! She is exquisitely trained. Me, not so much, but I'm learning. The woman who owns the farm where we board her is amazing, and she has been teaching me a lot about horses in general and Valentine specifically. (We bought Valentine from her, so she knows her very well.)
  • KatrinaCaroline
    KatrinaCaroline Posts: 8 Member
    Definately a horse lover here! I have 2 Foundation bred Quarter Horses- one of which is all 'get it get it get it'. Talk about work-outs. There are going on three this year and we trained them last year. My husband is really a great trainer and I'm just... well, "no guts, no glory". I have all of the patience and work with them on fine-tuning verbal cues or leg cues, neck reining and things like that.

    No matter what the cues are- riding really is a work out for both you and your horse. Just try riding bareback a few times and you'll know what I'm talking about. Either that or don't use your stirrups- yeah, you know what I mean. It's all balance... or atleast "should" be balance and not relying on your feet.

    It's great to have other horse people here.
  • HeatherMN
    HeatherMN Posts: 3,821 Member
    I'm a horse lover too!

    My current profile pic is of my daughter and her Morgan mare, Valentine (who will turn 18 this coming Valentine's Day). My girl has kind of grown out of her horse phase, so Valentine is for sale, but I've been spending a lot more time with her lately and may decide to change my mind about that! She is exquisitely trained. Me, not so much, but I'm learning. The woman who owns the farm where we board her is amazing, and she has been teaching me a lot about horses in general and Valentine specifically. (We bought Valentine from her, so she knows her very well.)

    I'm so glad you decided not to sell the horse and that you're learning. My mom just decided about six months ago that she likes horses and wants to learn how to ride this spring/summer. Yay!

    I've done almost no riding this winter, but have instead been working on getting my horse to trust me more and doing ground work. We're down to 20 minutes to catch her instead of the previous 1-2 hours, so we're making progress. I can only get out to see her about 1-2 times per week right now with my schedule, even though she's only 13 miles from my house. I can't wait until trail riding this spring!!
  • maddiebabe
    maddiebabe Posts: 193 Member
    Hello Horse Lovers :)

    I love how many of us there are on here. I was wondering if it would be ok for me to join on this thead as well. I actually had a riding lesson today and wore my heart rate monitor and burned 481 calories in about 50 minutes...how awesome is that. I love riding! I used to ride every day until i went off to univeristy in 2000 and while I still have horses at my parents farm I am lucky if I get up there once a month and there is no real trails on the farm to ride on when winter comes :(

    Im actually loving the riding lessons I am taking now. I took them for years whenI was yonger (from 14-21) and then I stopped and I am actually taking them again with my fiance who wanted to better understand why I love the horses and how passionate I am about them...turns out he loves it sooo much too!

    I cannot wait to hear more abot you guys and your successes :)
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Definately a horse lover here! I have 2 Foundation bred Quarter Horses- one of which is all 'get it get it get it'. Talk about work-outs. There are going on three this year and we trained them last year. My husband is really a great trainer and I'm just... well, "no guts, no glory". I have all of the patience and work with them on fine-tuning verbal cues or leg cues, neck reining and things like that.

    No matter what the cues are- riding really is a work out for both you and your horse. Just try riding bareback a few times and you'll know what I'm talking about. Either that or don't use your stirrups- yeah, you know what I mean. It's all balance... or atleast "should" be balance and not relying on your feet.

    It's great to have other horse people here.

    Bareback is a definite work for you to keep balance. However, I swear I DO NOT get a work out from riding my horse (in saddle, won't say bareback). Maybe the pre-riding works - doing natural horsemanship training with him before I get on his back before I ride, but once I am up there it is all neck reining and vocal cues. No squeezing for me. :tongue: Just cluck, he trots, kiss, and he is off into a canter. When he is in a riding mood, I just have to think and he does it - the beauty of a natural horsemanship connection. :smile:

    Carrie - SO AWESOME about the fiance loving them too! I hope to end up with a man who can appreciate horses and my love for them. :smile: Someone who also likes mild farm work too, because I plan on having horses in my back yard at the house of my dreams. :bigsmile: I am glad you are taking lessons again. Depending on where I end up going to graduate school will depend if I have to lease my horse out for a couple years or not. So, that decision will have to be made over the summer..

    Anyway, enough rambling - I am glad this topic is getting some more posts!

    Question for horse people here - do any of you practice Natural Horsemanship? That is all I do with horses I work with. I learned it from volunteering at a horse rescue for multiple years while in college. It is now my way of life with the animals and it works wonders. Also, any horse I will have will NOT wear horse shoes - and go barefoot. I am completely a supporter of barefoot horses (I trim my horses feet also, so I don't have a farrier - just myself).

    Okay.. well, I can really go on and on about horses. :laugh: Hope to hear more about your horse adventures!
  • maddiebabe
    maddiebabe Posts: 193 Member
    Awww I love that everyone on here is so in love with the horses :)

    Steph thats so cool about the natural horsemanship ... sounds very exciting! Tell us more about it :)
  • PJilly
    PJilly Posts: 22,247 Member
    I'd like to know more too. I googled it last night and did some reading. I liked what I read.
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Awww I love that everyone on here is so in love with the horses :)

    Steph thats so cool about the natural horsemanship ... sounds very exciting! Tell us more about it :)

    Well, one of the things with natural horsemanship I use is a round pen - a big 60' pen. I bring a horse in there, take off all of their equipment (halter, etc) and let them roam it for a while. I take my rope halter and lead rope and use that to add pressure, but mostly tell horses with my body language. You can tell them which direction to go in, what pace to take, when to turn, when to stop - all with body language. The natural horsemanship philosophy is mostly about pressure and release. Horses take very well to releasing of pressure. When you ask something from a horse - you put on a slight amount of pressure - with round penning if I want a horse to change directions, I tilt my head. If that doesn't work you ad a little more pressure - i tilt my shoulders. If that doesn't work, I put my arm out.. and if that doesn't work, I throw the rope in front of the horse to make them turn and have no option of going straight. Eventually the horse will turn just at the tilt of your head. The pressure and release goes to all aspects of it. It's hard to explain in just a little paragraph on a message board. :laugh: But I could go on forever about it.

    My horse, I have trained him vocal cues by pairing it with different paces in the round pen - which translates to me riding him. I cluck until he trots then stop immediately when I get it. Therefore he is rewarded with no more pressure. A lot of it is to make their listening to the pressure and easier approach then not listening - because when they don't listen - they have to work harder, making them want to listen.

    All in all, basically you teach the horse that you are the leader of the herd - the alpha. And that you are capable of being their leader. Talking to a horse in their own language. It is a beautiful thing. :smile: But, I will go on in more detail in other aspects of it if anyone really wants to know. I mix and match natural horsemanship trainers - like Frank Bell, Silivia Scott, Gawani Pony Boy.. those are my favorites so far. There are a lot of Parelli followers - but I don't like some of his equipment (having a metal hook at the bottom of his rope halters one, because it could break horse jaws if used incorrectly.) There is no correct way of doing anything, it's just a matter of learning and gaining the horse's respect, support, and trust. Everything should be worked on the ground first before you attempt scary things in the saddle. It is a much safer way to ride and be with horse horse.

    So.. if you have any questions about it, I can do my best to answer. I don't even ride with a bit in my horse's mouth anymore - I just have a bitless bridle rope halter. Sometimes I just ride with a plain old halter too. Depends on how my horse is feeling that day. :smile:
  • savvystephy
    savvystephy Posts: 4,151 Member
    Here is a decent website to get you started on reading too: http://www.naturalhorsesupply.com/training.shtml

    :smile: Ground tying is awesome. I love that my horse ground ties (I have trained him that too). I just plop the rope on the ground and he stays. He is so good. :bigsmile:
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