Was I in for a huge lesson.  I was so green and so dumb that I told the farmer who owned the land that his mare pony had an infection and needed to call a vet because she had all this discharge under her tail!!  Imagine the laugh he had after I left!  Well I kept my horse for a few years, but sold him after I had my daughter.  I had owned him a few months when I found out I was pregnant for the third time and decided he was too much to care for with an infant and two  boys that needed me more.   I wish I had someone who took the time to tell me how much there was to caring for a horse when I bought him and had outlined it for me.  I wouldn’t have changed my mind, but I would have had something in which to refer.  And I probably would have picked out a better horse.  There were so many books out there I could have thumbed through hundreds before I found the right one to go by. 

Here’s what I wish I had known.

1.  How to judge the temperament of a horse.  I loved all horses and if I could catch them I thought they would be fine. I didn’t know to look for signs of sourness, distress, submissiveness or what-have-you.  I didn’t know that ears flat back meant, beware, or that flared nostrils could mean the horse is ready to bolt, a swishing tail could mean, anger, not just swatting flys.  There is a lot of body language I know now, that I had no idea even existed then. 

2.  I would have given anything to have known a horse has a one track mind and if you keep it busy doing something it knows well your chances are greater at having a safe ride.  Especially if you horse hates to leave its buddy or the barn. 

3.  Knowing what type of grain, hay and wormer to give and when would have helped.  My poor horse had to survive on what grass he could find.  There was plenty of it, but he would probably have been healthier if he had been limited to his intake of rich pasture grass and wormed more often. 

4.  Realizing (not just knowing) horses are herd animals and feel safer in groups would have helped me understand my horses reluctance to be separated from his pasture buddy.  Looking back I am thankful he had a pasture buddy.

5.  Knowing the signs of colic and how to take a pulse, respiration and what is a normal temp would have been helpful.  All these things should be kept on record for future reference.

6.  Signs of lameness and what the common causes are, like laminitis and abscesses. 

7.  My most recent challenge was to have a horse choke.  Never had that happen before and didn’t know what had happened at first.  It’s nice to know that they can choke and still breath, but do need to see a vet immediately when this happens. 

I could go on and on, but I would end up writing a book and there are already enough books on the market about horses.  My best advice is, that if you love horses, but aren’t that familiar with them, then don’t be afraid to ask for help.  There is no need to go out and hire a trainer, but you can learn a lot through riding lessons, videos and there is always RFD TV.  There is lots and lots of practical advice on that program. 

But if you have a question and need a fairly quick answer just email me.  I’ll do what Ican to answer your questions and give my best advice.  You can find me on Facebook under Baymount Farm or Twitter.

I have several trail horses of my own.  Some of them are field trial horses, some are pleasure horses.  Most of them are familiar with the gates being opened while I am on their backs, but a few aren’t familiar with side passing over logs, turning on the forehand with their feet in a square, etc.  So, I set up a trail course in my ring.  It has most of the obstacles they need to practice on.  It always amazes me how quickly the horses pick up these new “tricks”.  Horses are so smart and willing, especially if you are having fun and letting them adjust at their pace to anything new you want them to learn.

Here is a tip:  when introducing a new obstacle, calmly walk your horse up to it first, if they seem apprehensive about it, let them stand and face it, smell it, paw at it (as long as they don’t tear it up – pawing allows them to see that it isn’t something that will jump up and attack them), then walk them around it until they are comfortable with it.  Look for signs of submission like, sighing, licking and chewing, dropping their head, looks of boredom and just standing there.  Once they are comfortable ask them to perform the task at hand, one step at a time.  Please don’t force your horse or you will find that training will quickly become frustrating for YOU and the horse will likely balk and become defensive every time you ask it to do something.  Remember your goal is to get your horse relaxed and willing.  You are the leader and must set the attitude from the beginning.   If you are relaxed they are likely to relax much more quickly.  Take your time, there is no rule that says your horse has to learn a new trick in one minute, one hour, one day or even one week.  If you feel you are going backwards or not making any progress, then stop, re-evaluate what you are asking and break it up into little steps.

For instance,  if you are asking your horse to turn on the forehand and he has no idea what you want, try these steps.

1.  Teach him to stand still first.

2.  Teach him to move one foot over at a time by tapping him on the side just behind the girth.  Ask for one movement, let him rest, ask for another movement, let him rest, repeat, repeat, repeat and soon he will be moving over until you ask him to stop.

3.  Next apply this to the bit.  I use a full check snaffle bit with a bit keeper to keep the bit from moving around so much in his mouth.  Pick up the rein and just take the slack out, when he moves over, let the rein pressure off immediately and pet him for being right.  Do this until he is moving over everytime you ask.

4.  Apply the two aids together.  Stand at his side, pick up the rein and tap him behind the girth as he moves his hindquarters over.  If he moves forward, stop, ask him to stand still, then apply the aids again.  Soon he will be moving his hindquarters over and then;

5.  Mount up, pick up your reins and ask him to stand, apply the reins by picking up one rein and taking the slack out, apply the leg aid behind the girth (you may have to use an active leg at first) and he should move his haunches over.  The idea is for him not to move forward.  He may get slightly confused at first and this is ok.  He will be thinking he is supposed to move forward since that is what he is usually asked to do.  Just gently stop him and apply the aids again.  Soon enough he will pick it up.

I have never come upon a horse that did not pick this up quickly and sufficiently when I took my time and made sure the horse understood what I was asking.  Rewarding for getting the right answer and practicing until he is 100% always works.

You can apply the same theory to whatever you are teaching and have fun doing it.  Make learning simple, rewarding and relaxing for you an your horse.  You will be amazed at how quickly you will be teaching new things and enjoying your ride much more.

Riding lessons are a wonderful way to shed a few extra pounds.  You will have fun, learn better balance, feel great, build muscle all while you are loosing weight and you won’t even realize it.  I lost 15 pounds this summer riding horses.  I sat for years on my, well you know, and gained more pounds than I cared to.  I picked up running and ran a few half-marathons for a few years and lost weight just to have it come right back.  I bought an elliptical machine and still have yet to use it religiously in order to keep my weight down.  Then I picked up riding.  I loved it, loved the horses, loved being outside, loved the activity and lost pounds….and I am talking serious pounds.  Pounds off my stomach, thighs, hips, back.  All where it counts for a female!  Guys, you will lose weight too.  Feel better and treat yourself right.  There is nothing like learning a new skill to make you feel exhilarated and confident.

What style of riding do you pick up?  Depends on what your interests are.  Trail riding is relaxing and fun and can be ridden in any discipline; western or english.   The basic skills are the same.   Most people just starting out are more comfortable in a western saddle or endurance saddle.  But don’t stop there, learn hunt seat and increase your skills.  Equitation is another step up, as in dressage, saddle seat.  You decide what makes you the most comfortable and where you are having the most fun.  Exercise should be fun, otherwise, we just won’t keep up with it.

Need a lesson barn?  A great place to look is NewHorse.com where you can search by state and zip code to find your nearest stables.    Have fun, go out and shed those holiday pounds!

Recently I purchased a Haggis Saddle made in Canada by Jack Haggis.  Awesome saddles, but I wasn’t sure how it was supposed to fit my horses.  Each horse should have it’s own custom fitted saddle, but like me most of us have more than one horse and less than a few dollars,  so several horses have to share a saddle.  That’s one of the things I like about the Haggis Saddle.  With a little padding it can fit more than one horse comfortably.

Notice that the saddle is sitting  just behind the large muscle over the scapula.  This saddle could be moved back slightly to give a more comfortable and secure fit.  The bars at the withers are tapered out upwards to the withers to allow more freedom of movement of this large muscle.  Gaited horses have a longer stride and therefore, that particular muscle has a longer length of movement and needs more room to avoid pinching.  That is why the bars are tapered on gaited saddles, unlike english or western saddles.  The withers on gaited horses, particularly TWH are usually higher and narrower.   Some gaited horses like Kentucky Mountain horses have withers more like the quarter horse, but still need a gaited saddle.    The gullet at the withers is higher allowing for the height of the withers.

The back of the saddle should still fit at the 18th rib and not past it.  The bars  angles upward on these saddle to take pressure off the kidneys.  The bars do not sit on the horses back at this point.

The saddles come in standard tree with pretty much fits the TWH or mountain horse tree for the wider or flatter withers like quarter horses.

At any rate, the fitting is the same as for other saddles, you just need to understand that the bars on the Haggis Saddles will not make contact at the 18th rib.   The rigging come in english or western and is adjustable.  Wonderful!  This allows a proper fit and less chance for rub behind the elbow.  On these saddles you don’t have to worry about the width of the gullet on the spine or if it is sitting to close to the spine.   Gaited horse saddles come in the western style or endurance style also.   But that doesn’t mean that any english, endurance or western saddle will fit the gaited horse.  You must remember that the gaited horse needs a saddle with a gaited tree or flex tree.  Also, there are Tarpin Hill Saddles which are field trial saddles that are made similar to these.   Other than that, Tucker makes a good gaited horse saddle.   Hope this helps clear up any questions you have about fitting the gaited horse.  Happy riding!

Standardbreds can trot and pace which makes them very valuable horses for many who are looking for multi-talented mounts.  Watch the video on Sir Alex and see for yourself.

This is the only reason I was lucky enough to have the honor of working with Boot Scootin Boogie.  Boogie will go well with a snaffle or a hackamore.  However he tends to trot with these types of headgear and mouthpieces.  So, back to the shank bit which worked wonders on him.  All he needed was a little reminder of what it is to do that perfect and smooth 4 beat gait that gaited people like so well.  So, Boogie and I went trail riding every day for two weeks in the woods, open fields and the nearby neighborhood at his perfectly smooth gait which greatly improved his stamina and muscle development.  I used half-halts each time he decided to break over into a trot and he immediately went right back to that comfortable four-beat gait these horses as so well known for doing.  Boogie needs very little bit contact and actually stays in his gait better with no contact.  By the way, the pics are just one of the training techniques I use to get horses exposed to different “scary” stimuli.  This beautiful chocolate roan had no problem leading from pasture to pasture on the ATV or with bikes being ridden around him.   FYI, I don’t tie the lead to the ATV, I just run it under the rack and hold it with my hand.  NEVER tie a horse to an ATV, they can flip it and get hurt should they spook.  AND, don’t go any faster than they can walk, always checking for their safety first.

We had wonderful rides and were exposed to lots of interesting things on the trail like bicycles, boys playing football, barking dogs, lawnmowers, and even an inflatable bouncy thingy that kids jump in and play.  Boogie loved it!  What a great horse.  But alas, Boogie has to go home.  That is one horse I will truly miss riding.

So, just what type of gait does a Kentucky Mountain horse have anyway?  Would you call this a rack?  It certainly isn’t a running walk like the Tennessee Walkers perform.    Or is it called an amble?  It all depends on your horse and how he moves.  Most people use the same definition for the rack and the amble.  I tend to think of the rack as more animated and faster than the running walk or the amble.  Amble to me means a little slower motion with less animation in picking up the forelegs.  Whatever you call it, it sure is comfortable to ride.

Go here to read the article on Boot Scootin Boogie:   http://www.examiner.com/x-2984-Charlotte-Equine-Examiner~y2009m4d21-Take-your-trail-riding-to-the-next-level-with-NATRC

Actually, I went to the field trail in Danville, Virginia and had a pretty good time.  The property was quite level with lots of open fields and completely fenced off.   The dogs were mostly taken well care of and only barked occassionally, the horses were either in pens, or staked out, the people were nice and very down to earth and they had a cabin where they served a noon day meal.  I was actually impressed.  I can’t really tell you how a field trial is setup since I was only there for one day, and to be honest when my husband tells me, I usually tune out.  But I do know they are held in braces with two dogs running at the same time.  Then the dogs have their owners on horse back, each owner has a scout that is supposed to help with the dog and there are judges, then the gallery, who are people that ride behind just for the ride.  I, of course, was in the gallery.

Now, I have to admit that the Tennessee Walking Horse is not my favorite choice in a mount.  They are fun to ride, and if you get one that is very smooth at any gait then I have a good time riding.  However, I just happen to like the three gaited horse because I like to post to the trot and use my body more when I ride.  With that being said, my first ride out was on my husbands TWH mare.  She is smooth at a slower gait, but when she speeds up she gets very bouncy.  By the time we got done with the first brace I had such a headache I wanted to go home!   Alright, he said I wasn’t riding her right and maybe he is right.    She has to be set up in the bridle more to keep her smooth and I was a little nervous.  Regardless, I still has a good ride.   The second brace was a lot better as I rode Bossman.  What a smooth ride.  It was actually really cool.   We rode behind the rest of the riders and he did exactly what I asked of him.  Regardless of what speed we were going, he was perfect.  The dogs ran well, except for my husbands puppy, (who is actually almost year old),  and she ran so large that he had to hunt her down.   But she loved it.

A little about training a field trial horse.   They need to stand perfectly still when tacking and mounting.  They need to ground tie, so you can drop the reins while the rider is handling the dog.  They need to be used to gun fire.  They don’t have to neck rein, but it is a real plus if they do.  They need to be trained to stake out(see our stake out video on www.baymountfarm.com).  It’s nice for them to know leg yields and be consistent.  They need to be able to stay any where in line you put them, up front, behind, in the middle and be happy about it.  Responsiveness to the bit is probably the #1 requirement in my opinion.  All our horses are trained to this, but it isn’t something that happens overnight.  It takes time for them to be consistent and a horse that has these qualities is well worth their weight in gold.

does your saddle fit?

I have done a lot of searching on saddles and saddle fitting.  I have been trying to purchase the right saddle for my new horse, mainly because I decided to take up hunt seat to improve my riding abilities.   There is a lot of information to go thru and can be confusing.  But I am one to keep going, taking things a step at a time.    I will try to make this easier for those of you who are interested in learning saddle fitting.  Look at the saddle above.  See how the deepest part the seat (the area where your seat bones will sit squarely on the saddle) is at its lowest point.  Start there in evaluating whether or not your saddle fits your horse. This will show you that the saddle is sitting level on your horse.   Next, drop your stirrup leathers and measure the distance from the stirrup bar and the center of the seat.  There should be 6 to 7 inches in distance.   Make sure your horse is standing square when you do this.  An improper fitting saddle can bridge causing soreness in your horses back or causing you to tilt throwing you off balance.   Bridging is when the panel is not contoured to fit the shape of the horses back.

Make sure your saddle is level

Now, run your hand along the gusset of the saddle feeling for gaps or pressure points.  You want your saddle to be level and sitting smoothly on your horses back.    This is one way to also check for bridging in case you can’t see it right away.   You can always have flocking added to your saddle.  Wool flocking is best to use and lasts longer, whereas foam flocking has a tendency to wear out quicker.

Saddle is far enough back.

It may be difficult to see here, but look for and feel for the large muscle at the withers over the scapula.    Your saddle bars need to be directly behind this muscle to allow for freedom of movement.    Putting the saddle on this muscle can cause your horse to be sore and restrict his performance.   Check for the movement range in this muscle by marking where the muscle ends when your horse is standing square and where it ends when you stretch your horse’s leg out in front of him.  This will give you the best indication of how far back to put the saddle.

Next look at how the gullet fits at the withers.  You should be able to get three fingers in between the gullet and your horses withers.  If you can’t chances are the saddle is too wide for the horse.  However, if the gullet is too high, as in four or more fingers the saddle could be too narrow.  Most english saddles for women should have a narrow twist, for men a wide twist.  However, if, like my horse who has very high withers,  I will need a half pad or theraputic pad to raise the gullet off the withers.  The saddle is a good fit everywhere  else, she just has exceptionally high withers.   As you can see with an added pad I get the correct distance in the gullet for this particular horse.  By the way,  we can’t all buy a saddle for each horse we own and many times have to use the same saddle on different horses.  So adding a half pad can help tremendously in this situation.   Another detail to look for when checking out saddles is to make sure that the tree has not been twisted.  Put the saddle on your knee looking at it from the front and see if you can detect a twist.  If the nails on the outside are parallel then it probably isn’t twisted.

Although it may be difficult to see from this pic, you want to look at your saddle from the back and be able to see light all the way through.  This is a good way to check for the gullet width and thickness.  You want the gullet to be wide enough to NOT sit on the horses spine or to be touching it at all.  You should be able to get at least three fingers between the narrowest part of the gullet.  Turn your saddle over and look at it from beneath.   Some saddle gullets will be wider at the pommel and narrow slightly through the middle then get wider again at the cantle.  Some won’t, depending on the brand.   Pressure on your horses spine and ligament that runs down his back next to the spine can cause soreness.

One you are sure your saddle fits your horse, go out and take a ride to see how the saddle fits you.  You should be able to stand up in the saddle and balance without  feeling you are tilting forward or back.  This means your saddle is balanced.    There is a little more to it than this and you can always hire a saddle fitter to be sure you have the right saddle for you and your horse.  But these are the basics and I think will help you a great deal if you are unsure.

Why is it so important to have a properly fitting saddle?  Comfort, soundness and performance.  You want to get the best out of your horse and not be riding wondering why your horses ears are back, why he/she doesn’t move forward, etc.  Sore back horses are never much fun to ride.  Remember, just because a saddle fits one horse doesn’t mean it fits all horses.  Be sure to check the saddle bars also so they aren’t pinching his back.  Have a pleasant ride and watch for more blogs on fitting western and gaited horses.

Here is what I have learned this year.  The OTT (off track thoroughbreds) have lived a very exclusive life in a stall only to be let out to train for races.  They are pampered, blanketed and never let out to pasture to just play.  In other words, they do not know what it is like to be a horse.  Then, unfortunately,  if they do not race well, come out of the gate, or have some other “quirk” detrimental to their career, not to mention fractures, they are sold at auction, given away, or destroyed.    There are several rescue and adoption facilities to help these animals.  Anyway, back to my story about Serenade.

We have been looking for such a horse as this all summer, but just looking casually.  I had no intention of every getting one until spring of 2010 at least.  Then as I was searching horses online looking for something I could retrain and sell as a trail horse I thought, why not run through the thoroughbred section.  And then I saw this ad for this horse being sold for $500.  I thought something surely must be wrong with it and out of curiosity read the ad.   The mare sounded ok, so I emailed the owner.  Turns out there is nothing wrong with this horse.  She was just unwanted.  So I bought her for half the asking price.  That is the first time in my life I have ever bought a horse for $250.o0 that turned out the be about the best horse I own.  She is absolutely awesome and I am thrilled to have her.  She is beautiful, although slightly underweight and in need of developing back her muscle tone.  She is intelligent, easy to ride, very well trained, willing and a good trail horse, plus she does very well in the ring.  She is twelve years old, has a strong mothering instinct with the younger horses and gets along well with everyone.   Longed legged! good golly, this horse can easily keep up with the Tennessee Walkers my husband owns.

Serenade came from Leighton Farms in Maryland.   She had raced 76 time and won around $60,000 which isn’t much, but must have been enough to have kept her going.  Finally she was sold, re-habbed and from what I could find out, was at one time a hunter-jumper and lower leverl dressage horse.  I am pretty sure she was bred at least once.  She was found in a draft horse auction barn waiting to be auctioned off for slaughter when the people at Leighton found her.  Thank goodness they saved her.

I have recently started hunt seat lessons to improve my riding ability.  I am a very good rider for western and equitation, but hunt seat is something I have never done before.  Wow, what a difference.  My daughter has ridden hunt seat for several years and loves it.  She wants to do eventing eventually.  I doubt seriously we will use Serenade for that, but she will be a practice horse for both of us for some time.  Right now, however, we are just enjoying having her with us as well as feeding, grooming and looking at her.  I would say both horse and riders are lucky in this case.  And just in case you have been misinformed about thoroughbreds  like I was, take the time to research, talk and investigate.  They truly are remarkable animals and highly intelligent.

resting after a ride

Talk about beautiful.  And what a nice ride!  Jazzy, now called Jazz, (because Jazz music is relaxing to me) came to me to become a super duper trail horse and she is it, baby!  I have ridden almost every day since she came to me.  The owners have not been able to afford the time, due to demands of work, to ride her daily and get her in shape for trail riding.  So they brought her to me.   She had a few quirks they wanted worked out, like not spooking and throwing a temper tantrum.  Piece o’ cake!  After all she is only four.  They werent quite sure they wanted to keep her as they haven’t the time to ride through the week and they have children that will eventually be riding her.   Her previous trainers had done a very good job with her in de-spooking her, teaching her the basics of riding, etc.  She just needed experience.   The first time I took her out she was a bit of a handful, but she did well.

You see, we have this wooded trail that has a creek and we have a small lake, large pond depending on how you look at it that borders our property.   There is also plenty of fields to ride around and a neighborhood where we can ride.  Lots and lots of pleasant distractions for any horse.  We have deer, dogs, kids playing, cars whizzing by, lawn mowers and most anything you can think of is there.  Did Jazz mind any of this?  Of course she did.  Are you kidding?  She nearly jumped right out of her skin!  But what a ride!  OMG!  This horse has the best little rack I have been on.  After jumping at everything in sight she racked as fast as she could all the way home.    Oh wait!  Before we went on the trail, I had to coax her down the drive way.  Anyhow,  after several rides on the trail and down the driveway she did fine.

Since then, she has been on short trips.  But due to weather, rain, wind, ect. we rode in the riding arena several days instead of on the trail.  Today we went back to the trail.  First thing we saw were six deer running through the pasture jumping over the fence and scooting away.  Did Jazzy spook at this?  Actually not.  She stopped and looked, smelled and just stood there.  Good for her!  So we walked on into the wooded trail and did fine until we rounded the corner and she smelled where the deer went through.  Oh boy, I thought, here we go!  But she just “jazzed” up a bit and walked on.  We continued on into the deeper part of the woods in the direction of the deer and the neighbors farm and then she decided to act like her world was coming to an end.  But MAN what a ride!  I loved it.  She racked and tried to canter, hopped over logs, bucked out a litte and zoomed up the hill, but stayed on the trail and conceded to having a rider on her back.  The only time I felt I had to get off was when we were going through a narrow opening in the trail and Jazzy got a whiff of the seventh deer that shot out behind us.  I thought she was going to loose her dinner!!!  I decided I needed a break and hopped off.  Then we just stood there.

After that the trail was fine, until……  Those dreaded rocks and flowerbeds my neighbor has.  They must have looked like monsters to Jazz.  She did not want to go forward.  Afterall,  her buddies were behind us, why did she have to be the brave one?   So, I guess I lied.  I got off again.  (Better safe than sorry)  And I hand walked her, back and forth, (how boring) until she felt safer.  At this point, my neighbor had brought out her trash can and my husband drove by with his truck and stock trailer on his way to run dogs in training for a field trial.   Jazz went to meet each ’spooky’ obstacle with anxiety, but I am very proud of her.  She did quite well and learned that nothing was going to eat her.  I remounted and we went up and down the road looking at everything with renewed assurance that it wasn’t going to gobble us up.    We also went back to the wooded trail two more times where the deer were and decided there was nothing there to worry about either.  By the time we got back to the barn we were all relaxed and chilled out.

Personally,  I can’t wait til tomorrow to ride again.  Why?  Because this mare has one heck of a nice gait and is a pleasure to ride, especially when she canters.  And OH BOY, can she flat out run.  But that is another story.