New to horses and have a few questions. (Warning a lot of reading)

[lorieMN]

just from the one pic..STOP what you are doing...that saddle is a youth saddle,not rigged correctly,cinch is wrong size,cinch strap isnt even a cinch strap,,not sure what it is..and people are wearing tennis shoes...someone is going to get hurt..please find a trainer..BTW its called a bridle not brittle.

 

[reveriereptile]

Sorry, if I misspelled bridle. Don't know why I was thinking it was called brittle. The saddle is real old. I don't know if my FIL knows it is a kids saddle. I'll let him know about it. He had it for a small horse he had 15 years ago which mostly his kids rode. I know on one side the strap on the cinch had been broke so it is shorter. My FIL usually has steel toe barn boots on when leading her around and my SIL (other side of the horse) came over to visit and didn't know we had the horse out. We got the horses on short notice. My FIL's friend came over to see if we wanted them that she needed to get rid of them (think it was due to money problems) and could get a trailer to bring them over the next day. She said she would rather have us take them than sale the big one to the Amish. The Amish kept trying to buy her and wanted to borrow her for a couple weeks to test her out or trade furniture for her. The Amish around here have to travel long distances and I think she didn't want the horse overworked since she cares about her animals. My FIL is planning on asking her once the grass has time to grow if she wants them back since they will be less expensive to feed hay due to grazing. They don't live far from us so if she does take them back I could go there to ride them or maybe get another horse. I'll try to get my FIL's BIL to come over to look at them and see if maybe he knows of a place to get a nice saddle and bridle from with a snaffle bit. Also to have him help us trim their hooves. I don't know how much riding experience he has though but it is definitely more than me. Maybe he would know of someone to help train us. He has been busy lately so I haven't asked him yet. The only expierence I've had with horses before these were petting some on the other side of the fence when I was a kid. I'd rather learn everything I can now to start doing the right stuff than to wait and be doing the wrong things. Like with the saddle I didn't even know it was a kids. First saddle I've actually seen up close. Is there a way I can measure her to find out what size of saddle and cinch I need? What's the best type of cinch to use that would be comfortable for the horse? Also any pictures anyone has of their horses that are saddled up would be nice. After reading about the snaffle bit I'm still stumped on how I know I got the right type for her and how thick of one I need. A picture would be helpful. I know I'll have to check the horse's mouth to know the size and where it needs to be before buying one.

 

[babyblue]

Quote:
I 100% agree. Beginner riders DO NOT belong riding or trying to retrain exrace horses. This is the harsh but very real truth, you are not experienced enough to ride and train these horses. You either need to employee a very experienced trainer to actually properly break your horses and to teach you how to ride. This could be a very expensive endeavor. It would be more cost efficient to sell both these horses to someone with the time and experience to train them and to take lessons for a while to gain experience. After that with your trainers help purchasing a safer and more suitable horse would be far better.

I have ridden all my life, worked as a groom on thoroughbred farms and raised and trained my own horses. I am not saying any of the above to be cruel. I simply do not want you or your family injured and in your current situation that is an eventuality, not a possibility.


EDIT TO ADD

Your sulky horse is a standardbred most likely exrace horse. The training these horses have is all in a cart, nothing under saddle. Even then time and experence and thus money is not poured into their training, as long as they can get the horse in the cart or saddle and get them to race forward thats the end of the training. The reason she is giving you trouble is because she is not trained or broke to ride. The horse is simply trying to be pacient with you and you are lucky to get on her back at all. It can take years with a skilled ridder to retrain these horses. I know, I have done it and my family has done it for years.

 

[patandchickens]

Riding horses, especially horses that are likely to have little if any saddle (as opposed to driving) training, IS NOT SOMETHING YOU CAN TEACH YOURSELF FROM VIDEOS AND BOOKS.

And there are about five million ways to quite-innocently get yourself killed AND get the horse so messed up that it is unlikely to have any future other than a bullet through the brain.

Very seriously, please PLEASE get a riding instructor and take some LESSONS, a lot of lessons, before trying to get on this horse again. At all in any way. Ideally you can find someone who will come to your property and teach you on this horse (once she has gotten your tack sorted out and correctly installed and has evaluated whether this horse is even *rideable* by a beginner).

I am not just ocncerned for you and your family, I am concerned for the *horses* -- the fact that you have good intentions is no insurance whatsoever against your really getting them into serious trouble if you keep foolin' around with them without an instructor supervising.

Please give this SERIOUS consideration, as you are in WAY over your (and your horses') head,

Pat

 

[HEChicken]

Quote:
Please don't try to trim their hooves yourself. This needs to be done by a farrier. There is so much that can go wrong with a horse's hooves and the horse could end up lame either short-term or permanently. I've been around horses on and off for most of my life. I'll pick hooves all day long - but I get a farrier to trim and shoe the horse.

 

[hunterjumper999]

I was going to try to not reply because it is going to be hard to do so with restraint.


BUT

that is what a properly fitted saddle should look like. This is not my horse and i do not ride western so forgive me if anything is slightly wrong.


Are you all feeding the horses or just tossing them out on pasture? what are you doing in regards to that because i know you are new to this and im concerned that they are being cared for properly. Pasture is not great in MOST of the country right now. So you should be using a minimum of a bale of hay a day in addition to grain if you are not ankle deep in grass yet. Just my .02. My gelding is currently eating a bale and a half a day and that was in addition to winter grain.

NEXT

"the only expierence I've had with horses before these were petting some on the other side of the fence"

you need to stay on that side of the fence. . . At least in regards to THESE PARTICULAR horses.

you don't need these horses at all. nor do the people who gave them to you. they will take them back and then they will not get enough to eat once they mow down the grass again.

sorry to be mean but either way they need SUITABLE homes.

The harness horse may be better off being an amish buggy horse than being tested tested tested by inexperienced horse people till she becomes so frusturated she hurts one of you or till she becomes so dangerous to work with that she'll be useless for anything but auction for the rest of her life. The amish actually ( in what ive seen here and in Pennsylvania) care deeply for their animals that they use in work and day to day and care for the far better than 'mainstream' society. the blind horse, which noone has any business trying to ride in a strange , new place away from her companion btw . . . should be found a companion home with safe fencing and people willing to leave her alone and just enjoy her being a horse. Horses are not toys. if you all want to ride, rehome these horses and take some lessons with the money you are spending currently. After you ride a while invest in safe tack, not bargain old broken stuff that you have laying around.


There are tonssssss of horse trainers in the world. and many many many of them keep the few and far between good ones in business fixing their mistakes.

 

[arabianequine]

Quote:
I have an yearling arab and she does act really crazy on bad weather days windy, raining, and hailing etc. May not be an excuse for her to act that way but it is a fact and her breed is another issue and she is young still but I notice it so we just do easier stuff those days or nothing. So still work with your horse on those days but don't go out and ride. Just ride in a round pen or do some other work with you horse on those days that is safer for the two of you until you are more comfortable and she respects you more.

I do make my little filly work a lot if she is being rude and/or pushy. If she wants to run and turn her butt toward me and act crazy then she can work instead and that can very but usually run in circles until she holds still and does what is asked ....should not see any white in the eye if you do they are bugging out and not safe at that time. Ears should not be pinned back. It is not acceptable to turn their butt to you at all puts you in a position to get hurt and she knows it. Make her move if she don't wanna face you she will instead of working in circles after a while.

I suggest watching some Clint Anderson videos also. I record them on my tv from the cable...channel is probably different for you. I have dish network so I can record and keep on there and go back and reference them. He is a really good trainer.

Here is his website...he has videos you can buy but kinda spendy.

http://www.downunderhorsemanship.com/

Good luck!

 

[txredneckmedic]

I dont recommend videos. From everything I have read you need to take the horses, put them in a trailer and take them to a trainer. You are missing alot of items on your saddle setup, the saddle is too far forward also. You never ride in tennis shoes....they get stuck in the stirrups and you get hurt worse.

 

[reveriereptile]

Thanks for all the replies and concerns. My FIL and I talked with the woman we got them from today to get more information on them. They were both sulkie horses. Charlette (non blind one) has won a few races she was in but got a injury to her back foot. She was then sold to a Amish and they kept using her and didn't let her foot have time to heal till it got worse. She was then bought by the owners we got her from and they had a vet treat her foot and it healed up nicely. That is why she doesn't want the horse to go back to the Amish was cause they kept running her without treating her injury. She is 11 years old. The blind one is 7 years old and was sold to the Amish. She got an eye infection that was left untreated and went blind. Then the woman bought her we got her from. Both horses have been saddle trained by someone that works with horses but the blind one needs a lot of voice commands. The woman has two daughters that rode them every summer that she had them till winter time. She got rid of them cause she needed more room due to some of her other horses being due to have their babies soon and just had a bunch of sheep that gave birth. As far as feed we give them a organic round bale that isn't moldy or dusty that my FIL's BIL said was safe. They get organic grain along with supplements and salt block. I give them fresh clean water daily. The grass they eat is all organic since my FIL owns an organic dairy farm. I told my FIL about the saddle and bit and for us to get new ones. My FIL's BIL said for us to use a farrier since the blind horse has a crack that needs attention. He did some trimming and has trimmed horses lots of times over 30 years but wanted an actual farrier to fix the crack. We do clean the frog (is that the right term?) to remove any manure or other dirt under the hoof. His granddaughter is taking lessons and I might see where she goes at and maybe go with her or if it isn't close maybe get a couple other cousins that want to ride horses to go take lessons with me. I'm going to see if my FIL's BIL has a friend that has training experience to come over to show us how to handle the horses and make sure they are safe to ride. Also have him check the horses for the right type of saddle and bit for what we want to use her for. For right now we will wait till we get some help before riding. Thanks for the saddle picture. I did look up how to do the measurements for the saddle but I will wait to have someone that knows more of how to do the measuring so I don't get a wrong saddle.

 

[patandchickens]

Quote:
They really shouldn't be getting grain unless there is some real deficiency in your hay. Mature idle horses (yours are) DO NOT need grain, and it exposes them to unnecessary health risks (and sometimes makes them goofier than they need to be). I don't know what supplements you are giving them, but the money would almost certainly be better spent on RIDING LESSONS.

For right now we will wait till we get some help before riding.

That is a very good idea. And the lessons thing shouldn't be a "maybe" or "will think about", it is something you ABSOLUTELY NEED. Having a friend help you is not lessons

Good lcuk, have fun, please be careful (for the horses' sake too),

Pat​