Ottakee Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Just wondering how many horse people we have here on the boards. We have had horses now for 2 1/2 years. Currently I have a 16 year old QH/Arab gelding. My 13dd has a 31 year old 16hh QH gelding and 12dd has a 20+ year old POA mare. We trail ride almost exclusively. We have done a very few fun shows and might take them to a very low key FUN speed show (as in the local draft horse teams are saddled and run speed type show). Other than that we ride out from our house almost every day. We ride on the gravel roads, through fields, paths in the woods, etc. We trailer to local trails once in a while and go to my friend's to ride there on the trails by her house. We are all beginning riders. I had only ridden a horse 2 or 3 times (and those were the nose to tail horses) before I bought my first horse 2 1/2 years ago. My girls have been riding since they were preschoolers but due to their special needs, are still beginners. We can walk, trot, and lope but it isn't always pretty. We have our horses here at home now on our 5 1/2 acres. We just brought them home in May after we bought the 3 1/2 acres behind our house to add to our 2 acres, cleared the land, built the barn, put up the fences, planted pasture, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm one for the current time being... I got my first ponies when I was 8... and it all began. I started formal lessons and showing at 11. I was training by 14. I showed intercollegiately, then quit to finish college, got married, moved around a bit, then got this farm and got back into equines 13 years ago. This later time with horses I started training again, then decided breeding and raising was more my speed now. Since there's a glut of horses (even then) we opted for a smaller niche - ponies. We raise English show ponies. Years ago we were getting them going under saddle ourselves, but time and weight gain later (along with my boys NOT inheriting my equine gene) means we now send any pony not sold by 3 - 4 years of age out to be trained and sold. We currently have 25 here... but that number should go down to 18 or so by winter as this year's 'graduates' head out to get a job along with one of our broodmares. My younguns (aka stablehands) will be starting to leave home in the fall of 2010, so we're going to be selling down and out as they end up leaving. Hubby and I want to live on the road in retirement... and probably not on the road in a saddle (unless oil goes up THAT much). Hence, we're cutting back on broodmares gradually. Unless an additional one sells that we've got advertised, we'll just have 4 foal next year. Our biggest year we had 6. This year we have 5. Watching babies run and play has to be one of the best stress relief methods ever invented... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We have had our gelding since 2003 and he and I have great memories from our riding days. He is a gaited horse and is suffering from DSLD now - we don't ride out anymore. He still comes out of his corral a lot because he is so good staying within the bounds of our property. He lives right next to the chicken coop and watches them as if it were TV because we have a crazy bunch of chicken. I hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement and I dread the day when he is no more. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 GOOD ponies are hard to find. We are having trouble locating a GOOD, very well broke/trained trail pony for my 13dd. Her big old guy isn't going to go forever and she will need another horse. I would love to find her one in the 13-14hh range but they are so hard to find----esp. ones that aren't little brats. Too bad you don't train trail ponies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetfeet Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I'm a horse woman on a hiatus. I started riding when I was 8 and fell head over heels with anything involving horses. I started taking lessons at 12 and joined 4-H at 13. I would ride my friend's horses a few times a week. I was lucky enough to have several friends with horses. I leased a few horses and started showing on the hunter/jumper circuit. I also did horse bowl, judging and hippology through 4-H and traveled to state and national competitions. When I turned 16 I started working and bought myself a horse without asking my parents for my 17th birthday.:lol: I paid for her board, vet and upkeep. She was a beautiful foundation qh mare named Lucy. I bought a paint weanling with my graduation money two years later with the intention of training her to replace Lucy as my show horse. I met my now dh and gave Lucy and Baylee to friends of mine. Our 5 year plan has us owning a few acres and owning a few horses. I want to teach my kids how to ride. So for now I keep up with the horse world by going to Equine Affair and the QH Congress here in Ohio and reading magazines and books. It seems like things have changed so much in the last 6 years, but it all feels like exactly where I belong at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in Florida Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I had a horse as a child and loved riding (mostly 4H stuff and trail riding). I bought a sweet QH filly for my daughter a year and half ago. Mocha is now 3 years old and we are moving her to an English stable to continue her training. My daughter loves to ride English and has competed in 4H shows. She has done all the early ground work training with Mocha and will do most the new training with the coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amy g. Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We have a Thoroughbred and a pony. My girls ride, and have a teacher/trainer who comes to the house to work with them. I like to feed the horses and brush them, but I'm not crazy about riding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracy in Ky Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We have one pony. He is half quarter horse and half pony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 I have been to Equine Affaire in Ohio for the past 2 years. LOTS of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We have had our gelding since 2003 and he and I have great memories from our riding days. He is a gaited horse and is suffering from DSLD now - we don't ride out anymore. He still comes out of his corral a lot because he is so good staying within the bounds of our property. He lives right next to the chicken coop and watches them as if it were TV because we have a crazy bunch of chicken. I hope he enjoys his well-deserved retirement and I dread the day when he is no more. Lucky boy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karen sn Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 Count me in. The most gorgeous Appaloosa who made me a cowgirl died last July. Would love it if she came back to me again as another horse! Either way, plan to have a few one day in the not so distant future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We are a horse family here. At our ranch we have 15 horses and a donkey. All our horses are quarter horses (and one paint). We are all riders and we exclusively ride western. My twins are very competitive barrel racers. Starting in spring we will also do some showing in the QH halter classes. Geldings, mares, a stallion, yearlings, foals...you name it, we have it around here. This year was our first foal crop. We generally ride about 4 days per week, but it is so hot here right now that we've not been riding nearly as often as normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 GOOD ponies are hard to find. We are having trouble locating a GOOD, very well broke/trained trail pony for my 13dd. Her big old guy isn't going to go forever and she will need another horse. I would love to find her one in the 13-14hh range but they are so hard to find----esp. ones that aren't little brats. Too bad you don't train trail ponies. The major problem with raising/training trail ponies is there's no money in it... :( While I'd like to say we totally do this for fun, in reality, we want our pony sales to offset the upkeep of all of ours. Overall, it does (some years better than others of course). People will pay a couple thousand for an untrained English pony prospect and around $4 - 5000+ for a green trained one. One just doesn't get those prices for trail ponies - nor can we pay expenses selling at the lower trail pony prices... This is also why those ponies are difficult to find. I have a 15 year old purebred Welsh 13hh chestnut roan mare with palomino filly that is super beginner safe on trails and otherwise that I am selling this year ($5000). Once back under saddle this fall she'll fetch that pretty easily (and without the filly being included in the price). I doubt I would ever get that marketing her as a trail pony. I have one 2009 pinto filly that I swear wants to be a game pony - she is superb in the pasture, runs, spins, you name it - but again - to get the $$, she'll have to learn to like dressage, hunters or pony club... When we get some that aren't quite up to par for showing, we do sell those for quite a bit less, but generally still when they are young and not yet trained under saddle... Obviously we take losses on those, but such is breeding. The really talented ones make up for it. Bratty ponies tend to come from inexperienced training... the pony learns they don't have to behave, then they test everyone (new) later - just to check to see if they have to behave or not. We don't have any brats here. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 We 'took over' the horse next door when our neighbors moved after a nasty divorce--leaving him behind. I offered to feed him--but eventually they cut back so far on the food that he was starving... only letting me give him one small flake of hay and a handful of grain each day.... I used to give him 4-5 flakes per day and 2 big scoops of grain/sweet-feed... so I knew something was not right. He was NOT on an improved pasture--just a /5 acre lot with trees and weeds... When his hips and pelvis started sticking way DH told me that we were taking him over. I called the 'owners' and they happily agreed... we spent lots of money on that 'free' horse! We had to have an area cleared and a shelter/barn/fence built. We've had Jack for 1.5 years now. It took nearly one year to get him back in shape. We HAPPILY found out that this old black quarter horse (25 yrs) had been HIGHLY trained--and was ready to go! My oldest and youngest dds ride him--western--for pleasure/trail around our property. We recently added our own 60ft round pen--we were using one next door. This summer we had to fence in another acre of our property (12 acres total) because our dogs kept visiting a neighbor... we are now set for a second horse--but will have to wait until my back heals after my surgery in a few weeks as I'm the chief horse caretaker! I must say I LOVE HORSIE KISSES and am a sucker for their VELVET noses! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 yes, it is hard to find a good trained pony for the price we are looking. Bigger horses (in the 15-16hh range) are going for very little in our area, many free if they are in their late teens or early 20s. My dd is only 4'9" tall and weighs about 85 pounds at almost 14 years old. She will only grow 1-2 more inches so we would like one she could tack up on her own. Her "big old guy" is almost 16hh (was in his younger days but might have shrunk a little) so she needs help with bridling him and getting the saddle in the right spot. I can see there is a market for show ponies. When we go to shows we see some very nice horses and ponies out there. We are more the back yard type people. While there isn't money in trail horses, we want one with lots of trail miles as we have seen horses that do awesome in the show ring only to loose it when they come across a rock, log, heavy brush to push through, water to cross, deer, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 3, 2009 Author Share Posted July 3, 2009 I remember when you took over his care. Glad to hear he is working out so well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 I don't know if you all will accept me as a horse person or not. I don't do any riding, except for once every 2 years I get taken under a tree...but maybe I can be an honorary member of your club since I finance my daughters' horses. And I can haul 9 bales of hay in my Honda Odyssey! We have a horse and a pony. I call them both mutts since they don't look much like one specific breed or another. They have both had good training and are great for the kids. (My daughter just told me I can't be an honorary member if I call horses mutts. She says the horse is a quarab. Excuuuuuuse me! ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 3, 2009 Share Posted July 3, 2009 yes, it is hard to find a good trained pony for the price we are looking. Bigger horses (in the 15-16hh range) are going for very little in our area, many free if they are in their late teens or early 20s. And this would be why we didn't get into breeding horses. Even among show horses, there is quite the supply compared to the demand. Show horses with good breeding can be gotten for very little right now - at least - among the stock breeds. We are more the back yard type people. While there isn't money in trail horses, we want one with lots of trail miles as we have seen horses that do awesome in the show ring only to loose it when they come across a rock, log, heavy brush to push through, water to cross, deer, etc. We're definitely back yard types now too. I love a good trail ride and can't imagine doing all the things I did when I was younger to get ready for a show. I agree with you about the ring vs trail trained... We had to be careful with our own mounts (generally our broodmares - babies run alongside prior to weaning) to be sure they were ok on trails since most came from a ring background. But, even once we have them trail trained for our needs, it still helps financially when we resell to put them back on a show/pony club or lesson track. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
creekland Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 I don't know if you all will accept me as a horse person or not. I don't do any riding, except for once every 2 years I get taken under a tree...but maybe I can be an honorary member of your club since I finance my daughters' horses. And I can haul 9 bales of hay in my Honda Odyssey! We have a horse and a pony. I call them both mutts since they don't look much like one specific breed or another. They have both had good training and are great for the kids. (My daughter just told me I can't be an honorary member if I call horses mutts. She says the horse is a quarab. Excuuuuuuse me! ;) I'll vote for you to be on the island (so to speak), but the proper term is 'crossbred' :) . (Most of our ponies are crossbred since we aim for type and movement more than breed standards.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamaof2andtwins Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) We lease our horse. My dd rides, so I am a horse momma. The horse my dd rides is a 19 yo Arab mare named Serene Amira. She has done 2 4H shows this year with another 2-3 coming up plus the county fair. We will probably discontinue our lease in the fall for a few months until more money comes in. I have hockey bills due for the other kids in the fall. I am hoping we can pick up again with the lease after Christmas. You can see some pics in my profile. ETA: I just added pictures of Natalie's last horse show to my blog. Jennie Edited July 4, 2009 by mamaof2andtwins Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 You are welcome to join us..............as long as you recognize a Quarab for the wonderful horses they are. :-) My gelding is one---actually about 3/4 Quarter Horse 1/4 Arab (best we can tell). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmurphy Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 (edited) Can we join--We are MULE people :) My daughter has been taking English riding lessons for about 2 years and wanted her own horse. Instead we bought the sweetest mule around. Esther (the mule) is 14 years old, 14 hands, rides English or Western, jumps, and will give the neighbor kids rides up and down the driveway all day. I'm city girl living the country life now. Boy have I learned a lot :) Tricia Edited July 4, 2009 by pmurphy grammar correction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cindyg Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 Me! Me! Me! Ivan is a 21 year old Andalusian. I got him when I was pregnant, and my son is almost 12 now. I do hope to get another horse when Ivan retires. Meanwhile, I remain obsessed with this horse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Remudamom Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 How come I'm not on here yet? Seven horses here, two AQHA Sugar Bar mares, two SE Arabians, one Welsh pony and two of her babies, who are a quarter cross and a Welara. I ride and drive. And don't bounce as well as I used to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 We were actually considering a mule for my 13dd but honestly, we don't know anything about mules and were afraid we would not be able to handle a mule well. We know horses some, donkeys a little but no experience with mules. I hear that they think differently than a horse. Can we join--We are MULE people :) My daughter has been taking English riding lessons for about 2 years and wanted her own horse. Instead we bought the sweetest mule around. Esther (the mule) is 14 years old, 14 hands, rides English or Western, jumps, and will give the neighbor kids rides up and down the driveway all day. I'm city girl living the country life now. Boy have I learned a lot :)Tricia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soph the vet Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 There is a horse gene and I have it and my dd10 has it. No one else in our family has it.:glare: Therefore I gaze longingly at every horse I pass and wonder how I could make it work on my 1/3 acre:lol:. My first horse was a QHX, then I had a registered QH mare....I will never own a mare again;). Then I had two great Thoroughbreds, off the track, taught them to jump and went all the way up to "A" level shows in Junior Hunters and Amateur-Owner Hunters. I sold them before moving out here for vet school. I exercised racehorses when I was in school and I was a horse vet the first five years I was out. Since dc I am a horse vet who only works on dogs and cats:glare::glare::glare:. Now I get to pet a horse once a week at my dd riding lesson.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ottakee Posted July 4, 2009 Author Share Posted July 4, 2009 Is there anyway you could get some "horse" time for yourself by trading your vet skills? Maybe doing the shots (they pay the cost of the shot, you administer) or pulling coggins or ???? My husband and son have the horse gene as well----but they require 50 horse power or more---as in BIG dirtbikes that go over 100mph, etc. The girls and I are happy with our horse and pony power here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TwinMominTX Posted July 4, 2009 Share Posted July 4, 2009 We are anxiously awaiting the birth of our first hinny. I can't wait! It should be about 13-14hh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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