Sooooo.... I know it's dead as a doornail around here, but most of my equestrian friends are no longer on LJ, and I miss having other horse folk to chat with on here... Are there any other equestrians with an active LJ out there? Let's connect!

I'm rehabbing some tack - it's all in really great shape, and has been fully conditioned with Leather Therapy, but I'd like to get a nice polish on it. Usually I would just use old-fashioned saddle soap, but I'm wondering if there's anything new out there that might be better/easier - what you got for me, fellow equestrians?

So I have been thinking about putting together a few videos on some training and general horsemanship topics. I know there's already tons of videos out there already on YouTube, quality varying both on information and presentation. I doubt I have anything new to add under the sun, but I'd like to be able to point my students to it and I think the process of getting it put together will help me solidify and think through my own process as well.

Anyway! I want to touch on various subjects and I see this as a long-term project. Some subjects I'm thinking about already include the following list:

Emergency dismount, reasons to use, demonstration from halt to walk and trot from both sides, how NOT to do it and why.

Moving the fore and hindquarters from the ground, both away and towards the handler, building towards asking the horse to "park" next to a mounting block or as an introduction to whip aids in driving applications and in-hand work.

Use of the reins (direct, indirect, leading, etc.) and their effect.

Driving training related subjects, like how to introduce pressure from the traces and breeching, rein and whip handling, etc.

Turn on forehand and haunches under saddle, etc.

I have a place to start, but am happy to hear more ideas. If you could request a subject to be covered on a video (I'm thinking segments anywhere from 5-20 minutes), what would you want it to be about? What process, subject, technique, etc. would you be interested in? Would you be more interested in step-by-step training things, theory, or a bit of both?

I'd be happy to share what I come up with here if there is interest too.

Thanks!

There is this Kickstarter campaign for a new type of equine hoof protection:Kickstarter Campaign



I've already thrown my hat in and the project is funded so I am super curious to see how these actually work through personal experience once they ship out next year!

Any thoughts on these? The people behind them also started the Easywalker shoes (those yellow and green plastic shoes) and have been working towards hoof protection innovation for a long time.

I like the fact that after the initial set-up they are easy on-off and have less bulk than your typical boot. I do like my Renegade hoof boots, but my Arab gelding does brush them with his right fore (wings in just enough to hit the heel captivator/top portion of the boot with them on, but not enough to hit himself completely bare). My main concerns are durability and how the tape holds up in our summer heat, but I'm willing to give it a shot!

So again, what do you all think?

What type of footwear do you currently use on your horse(s)?

My personal herd have four barefoot, one who wears boots when he's ridden, and two with front shoes, though I would like to transition them to barefoot with boots (or maybe horserunners...) eventually.

Today marked yet another milestone for our HaflingerxBelgian filly Tru-D. This summer I acquired some more harness bits so I could advance her driving training without having to buy a full one before she has finished growing. She'll be three in April so she has close to a year to grow height wise and then another two to three to fully fill out. This Spring her body was too short for my Fjord's harness, which is why I picked up a breastcollar and kicking strap to double as a trace holder to use with my training surcingle set up. I also found some rope traces, which I used as her first thing to drag this Summer and introduce the feel of drag and more things touching around her side and haunches.



Here she is sporting all of her training gear. She's currently working bitless (has worn one a few times, but don't plan on working in one until she has a full mouth). The breastcollar is secured to the surcingle by some large spring snaps so it doesn't slide forward and the traces snap into the buckles on the breastcollar with panic snaps. The other end of the rope traces have 2" rings so you can attach them to whatever you're pulling.

So today I had an extra set of hands with one of my working students and took the opportunity to hook her to the tire for the first time.

I started with my student dragging a singeltree around for noise while I ground drove Tru-D. She had dragged the singletree well previously. I also put some weight in the traces so she could feel some drag before we hooked her up. We then dragged the tire for some noise before hooking her to it. The tire has a large U-bolt with a heavy duty spring snap and a panic snap. The panic snap has a small eyehook on it that I tied a long string to so it can be released either by pulling (in this case I had my student holding the string) or stepping on it.

I asked her to walk on and she initially bounced off of the pressure on the breastcollar. She tried stepping sideways to find less resistance, but with a little vocal encouragement she stepped into it and pulled the tire. I stopped her after about ten feet and gave her lots of verbal praise and repeating.

I had my students take some pictures.





I took her around our small ring once in each direction before calling it a day. Other than the initial "are you sure I can pull this?" question she was awesome. I couldn't have asked for a nicer first pull.

Plans going forward include more tire pulling in small doses, ground driving, ponying, and trailering out places.

So what are you all up to? Any fun projects or goals you're working on?

NBC's network of Olympic Equestrian coverage

Do you plan on watching the Olympics? Anyone or country in particular you're rooting for?

The USA is a bit of a barren wasteland when it comes to coverage of equestrian events so I try to soak up as much as I can during times like this, especially since my internet is too slow to stream.

I plan on watching as much as I can and don't realy have a specific horse or rider I'm rooting for because I'm just cheering the fact that there are horses on TV!

Hey guys! So I am very new to LiveJournal and to this community so please bare with me as I am confused on how exactly this works, but I'm willing to give it a try!

I am wondering what everyone does with their horses when they go off to college? I'll be attending college starting next fall and my dad wants to sell my horse. I'm pretty upset about it because I wanted her to come with me and stay at the university's stable, but they didn't have any room for her, as they gave priority to the Equine majors. I'm currently trying to convince him to just lease her out instead, but I'm worried about either situation. I'm upset that I have to let go of her, and I want to know how other people have handled similar situations with their horses and college.
Thank you in advance!

Danielle

Last year I had mentioned the BelgianxHaflinger filly my husband and I picked up as a project in this post and figured I'd share some progress and pictures.

Here Tru-D is as she turned two!



I admit, part of me is really anxious to get on and feel her gaits. I've had the Western saddle on her a couple times to introduce it and the stirrups barely move when she trots or canters.

In the last year she has learned how to:
-load in a trailer
-be caught and lead nicely
-fly mask and spraying
-have her feet trimmed and cleaned
-work both in a roundpen and on a lunge line (briefly!)
-long line a half dozen times with a halter
-Introduced the (bitless) bridle
-Worn a bit (because if my Grand Plan of doing some competitive Dressage and Driving happens she'll have to use one eventually ... unless rules change before then ... one can hope!)
-Introduced whip aids
-Accept vaccinations and deworming
-Taken walks off-property with traffic (also very brief right now)
-Worn and briefly lunged in a full harness

I didn't think we had accomplished all that much, but writing it out like that definitely puts into perspective how much this former wild child has learned in the last year!

We also discovered she is related to our full Haflinger mare through her sire, which is cool.

( More pictures under hereCollapse )

Any of you have some fun things coming up or progress and accomplishments you're proud of?

I'm not sure if ya'll remember this sad little filly that I posted about a couple of years ago now:

( But I wanted to give an unpdate!Collapse )

A story too good not to share. Les Vogt relating an experience he had with three horses in a finals competition.