Icelandic Horse Connection

I'm on the hunt for a pair of new breeches, and as I've never in my life been able to find a pair/style/brand that fits me well, I'm going to ask what your favorite pair/style/brand is. If you don't mind, if you could also include your body type so I can rather figure out if that would fit me well. Just so it's fair, my butt and thighs are a little bigger proportionally to my stomach, and I'm on the small size of average (~120 at 5'5"ish). You don't need to include numbers, BTW.

 

http://www.barefootsaddles.com/

I just heard about these and was curious... sounds good. I am such an 'old school' rider though. I love my Prix de Nations and ancient western saddle. I mean just because it's new materials and doesn't weight 30 lbs doesn't mean it isn't good... (laugh).
I think my only concern is w/ the stirrups. I wonder if it's easier to get caught up. That has always been my fears w/ bareback pads that have stirrups. I was scared silly by my trainer and mom long ago and won't touch the things, so now it's just a default position I guess.

Just curious what others think.

Am I imagining things, or was there a list of 'things to take with you to a show' posted here a while ago? I've looked through all the likely tags, and back a fair bit, but can't see it anywhere.

If I was imagining it, what are the essentials you people take when you're showing? Polly and I are doing a few classes this weekend (in-hand, ridden, and sj), and I'm putting the list together now. We don't have to drive there as the show ground is on the grounds of the stables (lucky, lucky me), so it's just the things we'll need to keep ourselves clean and comfortable until we can revert back to our usual messy selves! 


In other updates, thanks for the answers to last question posed (admittedly a while ago) about questions to ask before trying new horse. I'm now working with a beautiful chestnut Arab, and he's lovely.

this post is trite but whatever, i'm excited! i'm buying this mare but am not, however, sold on her name: molly. so, i might change it. i need opinions! oh, and for reference, she is 5 years old, 14.2-14.3, and green broke but a sweet thing.

(  what should i name her?!  )

hey everyone I have not posted here in awhiiillle...

I hope some of you will be able to help me out. I have to do a musical freestyle for a pony club rally, and im trying to decide on the music.
I want something upbeat, more current music, and unlike most freestyle music. My horse is upbeat, and can be kinda sassy (chestnut mare thoroughbred) soo im thinking like techno kind of music. Most of you might think im crazy or that im not following the traditional standards of freestyle, but I dont mind breaking the rules. Its also a first level/maybe second level freestyle, so I have some movements to play with.

some ideas....
Darude- Sandstorm....so far my top pick!
Madonna- 4 minutes
HELP ME THINK OF MORE!

Hello, everyone!

I know there have been several posts about horsehair jewelry and whanot in the past, but I am looking for something slightly different. I want a present for my dad with my horse's hair, so necklaces and bracelets are out. I don't need anything big or fancy as I hope to make it entirely myself. So my question is:

Has anyone made anything besides jewelry from their horsehair? I've heard of keychains, bookmarks, etc. but I've never personally seen them or discovered how to make them. I'd appreciate any suggestions you could give me.

Thanks so much!

I just got a new suit for this show season but I am in need of a vest, which is very hard to find now since one piece suits were made. Haha. I can easily find every other thing that I need, but I need some vests. Besides show stopper tack (online catalog) and Macy's, does anyone know where to find cute ones?

Here is a link to a picture of my horse and I wanted to get your folk's opinion on his conformation!
He's an Arabian-Paint, and we are guessing between the ages of 15-17. ^^ Enjoy!

Desert Wind

I posted about three or four weeks ago about potentially getting a new mare from a friend of mine. Shes a TB, 6 years old, and is only green broke.
Heres my old post...http://community.livejournal.com/equestrian/4901567.html

Well I went ahead and agreed to take her on, and she arrived on Wednesday. :)
Her name is Saving Grace, aka Gracie, and shes a doll.
So far things have gone really well, and I couldnt be happier with my decision to get her.
More info and pics of her under the cut...
( Read more... )

So, I was a moron and bought two new saddles a few months back and waited too long to have the saddle fitter check them and so I was unable to return them. Yeah, I know totally bassackwards. Lesson learned.

My mare needs a hoop shaped tree and these saddles are better for horses that go best in an A-frame type tree. I really do not want to sell them, but I can't ride in saddles that don't work for her, obviously.

Behind the cut you'll find:

- Collegiate Convertible Intellect dressage saddle
- Collegiate Convertible close contact Diploma saddle
- Collegiate nylon lined leathers
- Collegiate black browband

for sale, plus lots of information and photos.

( For sale )

A little but of a Rogan update to share

I have moved him to Todds (The man I board my horse with) dads place to let his field at Todds grow up and we now have access to some trails which Rogan has been doing great on.

Yesterday we rode him into Hanover and aside from the expected spooking at loose dogs and kids yelling HORSEY!! ITS A HORSEY!! he was wonderful.

Becky and I are planning and taking him and her horse Ghost to Henryville horse park for some real trails and to get him used to other things.

His mane problem right now is being a little buddy sour but we are getting over it.

There is a short video under the cut.




( video under here )

Hey everyone! I am new to the community but will try to make a long story short...

I just got a new 4-year old mustang. Though I am a fairly seasoned rider, I have never owned a horse this young or had to break a green horse. That being said, I put her in training with a professional. My concern is that when I visit her she has huge bridle and saddle sores. My trainer says that once she learns to obey the girth and bit they will heal and go away. Now I trust my trainer completely, but freak out when I see them. Is this normal?

Quick history on her--she was caught by BLM when she was a year and a half. Then put into a huge pasture with at least 10 other horses by a lady who owned many other horses. Needless to say, my horse did not get much personal attention. The lady was getting rid of her because she is severely herd bound and would kick "high and hard" everytime she was ridden alone. Anyone have any advice on breaking herd boundness?

Any help is really appreciated!!

We had the truly unfortunate occur at our barn yesterday afternoon - one of the boarders was killed. Now, there's her horse to take care of (which is turning into a community effort) and find a good home for/train/sell/etc. Accidents aside, how many of you have made any sort of official or unofficial arrangements for the care/ownership of your horse in the event of your death?

I had an unofficial verbal thing with a friend when I was back in California (it was rather understood that we'd both inherit each others' cats/horses/etc and also set up each other as beneficiaries of IRAs/life insurance). But now that I've moved, things have changed and I realized I have NO idea what I'd want. Course, what does it matter, I'll be DEAD, right? Morbid as that is, the thoughts (among others) are plaguing my mind right now. I suspect I'd want Denali to go to my jumping trainer (who both needs a good horse and REALLY understands Denali's way of thinking) but I've never stated it before or made it anything official. Course, most likely cause of my death via horses would be through said trainer, so I wouldn't want her to know in case of suspicion, etc etc. *I* trust her (see icon for the dumb things she's talked us into) but.. yeah.

So what steps have YOU taken?

Hey everyone,
I just had a few questions about some products I am thinking about buying, and wanted to know if anyone had experience with them, Thanks!

Hey all,

So, my barn has a schooling Combined Training event that I was originally going to try and show in, but then I decided that I would want die if I had to come home from finals and try and get myself and my mare into any sort of shape to compete in something we've never done before 10 days after I get home. Yeah.

So the BO sent out the volunteer list today, and I thought that might be a really good way to still get in on the action. I know some of you have had really good experiences with volunteering before, and I'm looking for a way to still see what's going on without competing. However, because of the nature of the event, I don't want to get tied down to one spot (though it might be inevitable).

So here are my ideas of volunteering positions to take:

Parking (though it says it might take all morning)
Runner
Warm-up Arena steward
Jump Crew

Yeah... I don't feel like I have enough experience yet with the sport or the barn to do much more than that.

Any ideas?

Hi all!  I need help!  I'm having a major tick problem.  Libby is totally infested.  I pull anywhere from 5-25 ticks off her every time I go to the barn, no matter whether I'm out there a couple days in a row or out of town for 4 days.  I bet I've pulled at least 75-80 ticks off of her in the past few weeks.  I have never pulled a tick off a horse before this!  And she's the only horse at the barn that is this infested.  It's insane.  

Her tail is the most popular spot.  It is so thick that nothing I spray on it actually reaches her skin.  One boarder at the barn brought up the possiblitiy that they are actually breeding in her tail hair.  Is that possible??  I can't tell you how much that thought grosses me out.  I think I'm going to try the Cheval Inside Out that's been recommended here before.  But is there anything safe and effective I can just totally drench her tail in to kill the little MF's?    I'm literally going to have to soak her tail in it to get to her skin.   And could there actually be eggs in her tail waiting to hatch?  Any and all suggestions appreciated!

A little background on my problem.... So I'm in the process of helping my family build our barn, and it hasn't been the most ideal of situations... we're getting toward the last few steps of trying to get the barn as finished as possible so we can move the horses (which means we can quit paying for board and gas to get to them!), but...

We have a major drainage issue - the barn and mainly one stall is what's called "below grade"? And the ground is basically clay. We've tilled it, but how would you prepare the ground to put interlocking mats? My understanding was that you have to mix sand and gravel into the current dirt for drainage. We'll of course have shavings on top of the mats, but should I still be worried about run off from the stalls when the horses urinate? I've never been in the situation to worry about where it's all going to go before...

Any hints/help on preparing stalls/barn  would be GREATLY appreciated! It's been a very frustrating process for me.

Has anyone ever used shoe studs before? What did you use them for?