High Bridge Horse Farm

We went to high bridge horse farm this weekend, this is where me and my sister take lessons, we had a fun day thing out there for people to come out and have fun and see the horses, and we had lots of fun, we even to to try vaulting! I don't have any pictures of the vaulting sadly but there is a picture of someone else vaulting. Vaulting is a sport that involved gymnastics on horseback. If you want to see advanced vaulting just go to youtube and search "equestrian vaulting".

 I got to groom and ride Mavrick! I call him Mav for short.

 Another picture of Mav.

 Kallie (my step sister) vaulting on Cinamon

 Another of Kallie on Cinny.

 Me waiting so I can use the mounting block.

 Same as the above one.

 Kallie riding her horse Pete.

Me riding Mavrick. I don't know who is behind us but she is ridding Banner.

Chuck's lesson 2-28-13

Well, Blogger isn't working again for uploading videos so another of them went to youtube for you to watch. So Chucks lesson this past Thursday, as I said in the video he is doing really good for not being worked for so long! 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vRbaC53IH_k

This is the link to the video, I hope you can learn something from the commentary throughout the video I explain what is going on and the goals of the training. 

How to Clean a Saddle Part 2

How to Clean a Saddle Part 1

Quiz!

I am going to put out a list of quizes, they will be sorted out for people who have horses, and people who dont.

Have:
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/safety/blsafetyquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/trail_riding_quiz/bl_trail_riding_quiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/wintercare/bl_quiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/hoofquiz/bl_hoofcare_quiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/whatcomesnext/blwhatcomesnext.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/DiseaseQuiz/bl_disease_quiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/saddlefitquiz/bl_breedsquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/bitsquiz/blbitquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/equipusecare/blequipquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/horsetrainingquiz/bl_training_quiz.htm

Want:
http://horses.about.com/library/ownershipquiz/blownquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/reallyready/blreadyquiz.htm

Horse Lovers:
http://horses.about.com/library/quizes/horseterms/blwordquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/FeedingQuiz/blfeedingquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/partsofthehorse/blpartofhorsequiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/breedquiz/bl_breedsquiz.htm
http://horses.about.com/library/horse_crazy_quiz/bl_quiz.htm

This is not all of the ones i found, but this took me a long time to put togeather and each section is just a general refrence the want ones are for people who want to own a horse, and these are all for anyone who loves horses.

Dangerous?

        I was reading today and found out that in the U. S. that on a scale of people animals kill horses are 3rd on the list. Did you know in the U.S. alone 20 people each year are killed by our equine friends, 31 by dogs, but the most is 53 by bees/wasps. I was amazed that that many people are killed. It makes you wonder; How did they die? Some of the first things I think of is bucked off and landing on your head, trampled, and kicked. I have been thrown and kicked, and bit, but never seriously injured. Whats the worst thing that has happened to you and a horse and what are some things you use to keep yourself safe? I personally use a helmet and safe riding clothes. A closed toe shoe with a 1 inch heal is the best type of boot to wear. If you are participating in jumping events then you should also wear a chest protector to prevent you from hard landings if you or your horse fall. Let me know what you wear to keep yourself safe below!

Wind Turbines?

Hello Again! Today I want to have you consider something. Wind energy is good right? I think it can be good, but when doing some research for science today it turns out many people report their animals being affected when wind turbines are turned on within a mile or two of their house. Some animals may become restless and stressed out, some people report that their chickens stop laying eggs, this is called molting, when they never did before. Others reported that their livestock had more stillborn animals. Another incident is that a farmer who usually loses no cattle lost 7 more cows than he usually does. Some farmers reported having more sick animals too. If you have had anything like this happen to you comment on it below. I would love to learn more about the effects on animals that wind turbines have, and see if there is some way energy companies could solve it. Any info and questions are welcome, I will try my best to find answers!

Hackamore or Bit?

Hello! Today I want to know your thoughts on using bits, some people think they are good, some think they are bad, and some don't know or don't really care. I think that bits can be good if they are used correctly. To do that the rider needs to be light on the hands, and gentle with the horses mouth, when horses are ridden with new riders who yank the reins they can become hard mouthed, and will
not respond to the light touches anymore. This is bad, because then when an experienced person rides this horse, they have to use the cues forcefully. This is a problem with bits, but when used in the right way they can cue your horse to do many different things, and not hurt the horse, but give pressure and direction. We use bits on 1 of our horses, and I would like to train my stud in a bit. All of our other horses are ridden in halters, and my gelding is ridden in a hackamore, he does not like a bit in his mouth. He threw my step dad the only time he was rode in a bit. He has been ridden in a halter  or hack ever since then. 

A good page to read is http://www.thinklikeahorse.org/index-7.html I agree with some things and i disagree with some things, but I think he has the right things in mind. Please check out the page it really lets you know about hackamores and there benefits.

Trust

Ok posting on a few issues a friend of mine has told me. Horses are big and scary, and they roll around in poop. I know all horse people would have to dissagree, but I can see how that would happen. She was once thrown off a horse, and hasn't come to terms with it. I am going to try to have her face her fears, and come over and meet Chuck personaly. Chuck is a very nice horse, who loves to be loved, groomed, and petted. I had had a similar problem when I was about 7 years old. My grandparents for my 6th birthday got me a very green 2 year old, who I rode with some problems for a year. One day she got fed up and threw me. I didn't ride hardly at all for almost 2 years. I finally got back on a horse for more than a few minutes, after we moved to our new farm, our friends started boarding our horses at our house and I met O'ryan He was about 13 hands, and was very sweet. I rode him more and more offten until O'ryan had to leave. I still miss him. After that we eventualy ended up with our own horses. I picked out the first 2 we bought and Chuck was one of them. He trusted me from the begining. Chuck built up my trust in horses again. I hope I can help my friend trust them again too.

Welcome

Hello! Welcome to the new blog! I have another blog called horsing around. That is about my everyday life and how my horses and friends are involved. This blog is as the name says pure horse only horses and horse related things. So, I will answer any questions you have that includes me and my horses, you horses, and anything horse related in general, I will give advice. I am NOT an expert, I can only give you my oppinion from personal experience, and all of my reading and time being with the horses. I have been around horses from before I was even born. My mother rode horse, while she was pregnant, and I have ridden for my whole life. To give you a little more info on my back story, I grew up riding 2 wonderfully broke horses. Buttons and Candy, they made me the horse lover I am today, although I probably would have ended up loving horses anyway. I rode western up until a few days ago! I was super excited, and was actualy not as good as I hoped I would be. The posting is what got me. I was riding a horse named Snickers. The horse in front of us was Mavrick, Snickers didn't like being behind Mavrick so he would try to bite him if we got any faster than a walk. The problem was, that he was so sensitive in the mouth that whenever I tried to slow him down, he would stop instead, and I would go forward and end up grabbing his mane/neck. I still love him though, We dont have a lesson with Mav next week, or at least not if the boy who is coming rides him, so I hope Snickers wont have anybody in front of him. So back to riding western, I have a lovely gelding named Chuck, who is going on 10 this year, we met a few years ago when we moved to a farm, and got horses. I have a bond with him that I have never had with any other horse. He can be a HUGE pain in the butt sometimes, but its amazing that feeling I get when were having a good day. I also have a yearling (but not for much longer) Stud named Jet. He turns 2 in April, as many people use 2-2.5 as a good time to start riding, I have done that too. I wont start riding him until about May. We have 4 other horses and a donkey. Our other horses are Jack, Pearl, Duchas, Wildfire, Navajo (who is actually boarding with us for a while) and our donkey's name is Lucky. So comment, ask questions, tell me about you and your horses, and have fun.