Tack

Used to be when you bought a saddle all you had to worry about was if it fit your butt and if it cleared the horse's withers. No special padding and adjusting needed. In fact, when I was first riding we didn't even use a saddle pad. You just made sure it didn't give the horse a saddle sore and went on you merry way. I must say I can't ever remember any of my horses developing a sore. I must have been very lucky because I rode everyday. Although I did at one point in my riding history, pretty much ride bareback most of the time. Ignorance is bliss, they say. I did see many a horse with an old sore mark (white hair) over the withers, so not everyone was as lucky.

Bridles were easy too. If it didn't rub the ears and the noseband was large enough to go around the horse's nose, it fit. Flashes were unknown and obviously not needed. Everyone I knew used a fat, plain snaffle or Pelham bit if the horse was "tough". The only "gadgets" we used were running martingales. Standing ones were frowned upon. Side reins were only for longeing, young horses under training. My first set I made out of inner tubes. I've never used draw reins, even with the showhorses. These days  there are so many "training aids" out there they could fill a book. Everyone wants a short cut.

Now it seems you need an expert fitter and special padding. Many a saddle cost 3 times as much as I have ever paid for a horse. Even some pads cost more than $200! I still can't figure out why a dressage saddle would need to cost $5,000 and a bridle $600 or a pad $200. We all want our horses to be comfortable and happy but the hunt for a saddle can ruin the joy of horses for some riders because they become so afraid to ride on a saddle that isn't perfect. I know of some that have searched for months and months and still never found the right one. Then they finally do and the horse gains or loses muscle and it's not perfect anymore.

I have gone to treeless which some people hate and will tell you are bad for the horse's back. Whatever. I like mine. First, because I have an Arab and a TB/TWH cross. Two horses that I don't think could be any more different in their body types. I have two saddles, a FreeMax dressage which I bought used and love.

Freemax dressage

Not to be confused with a FreeForm. I'd get another one in a second but they don't sell them in the USA. Second, I grew up riding bareback and like a wide twist with I haven't been able to find in any treed saddle I can afford. I mean, I might LOVE a $4,000 saddle but I don't think I'll ever know. My other saddle is a $100 made in India, suede number I use for trail riding. Yeah, under the leathers started wearing after the first couple of rides but it is comfy and works just fine.

When I use one of these on the Arab, who is built slightly down hill, I do put a western type half pad under it so it sits level in the deepest part of the seat like all the saddle fitting websites tell you it must. I do own a couple of pads with built in foam on either side of the spine area that I like too. I've even made a few pads and my sister who is a fabulous seamstress (I'll add a link to her website when it's up and running)  made me such a pretty one I'm saving it for some special occasion. 

 Rocky with homemade pad

As far as the bridles I am the synthetic queen. Old, arthritic, fingers don't clean tack so much anymore. The synthetic leather is supple and can be hosed off whenever I remember to do so. It looks just like leather. Same for synthetic girths. Hose 'em off after a sweaty ride and you're done.

On my Arab (TJ) I use a Boucher (named for the famous French horseman) single break snaffle. 

The theory is that it creates more poll pressure. Some engineer types will tell you that's not possible but he was quite the stargazer

A stargazer is constantly above the bit with the head held high to avoid contact. 

when he came and he likes it and responds well in it. Rocky (the TB/TWH) goes in french link

I keep it as simple as possible. No flashes. No full bridles (since I don't do Saddlebreds anymore). With tack less is certainly more.

Of course with the Saddlebreds they were required to show in a full bridle as are upper level dressage horses. These consist of a bridoon which is a thin snaffle and a curb with is a bit with a shaft and a curved, upside down U which goes over the tongue.

These have two sets of reins and are for more advanced riders and horses.

Sometimes  it's a matter of trial and error but I always advise to err on the side of less. 

I'll stop here since I hit "publish" instead of "edit". (Now I have to write a whole new piece for next month). 

"Dust 'em"

How to clean a stall

Why should someone need to be shown how to clean a stall? It's not rocket surgery. Well, I have seen some people attempt it without an ounce of clue. 

I guess I should tell you a bit about my stall cleaning credentials. In my past I have been a racehorse/show horse/assistant trainer/foreman/groom/staff/barn manager/riding instructor/and all-a-round peon. I've also trained a few of my own horses. 50 years of mucking. Over the course of this blog you'll hear all about it.

So. First. If you are lucky enough to have stall mats or some kind of floor, you are ahead of the game. Dirt floors are the worst. Clay slightly better. Wood will last a while but eventually it's gonna rot. You can slow the rot with lime and a cellar so the pee will drain between the boards. If you MUST have cement I suggest getting some kind of stall mat and bed really, really deeply until you can jack hammer it out. I've seen horses end up with capped hocks from not enough bedding. 

Hopefully, your horses know that stalls are only for eating, getting out of the rain and, of course, pooping and like mine, can come and go in and out at will. When we built our little barn after we dug down a bit we did a layer of pea gravel, sand and then mats over all of that. I was told not to use the gravel, use crushed stone instead, but the pea gravel was available, not as expensive and we had no budget to speak of. In almost 5 years we've had no problems. Just slight indents in front of the feed buckets. Knock on wood.

Two of the mats I got for free. My friend (who also gave me one of the horses I have now) moved and had her house back here for sale. In exchange for cleaning her house and keeping it tidy for the real estate agent she gave me her mats. I love the barter system! I paid around $250 for a third mat. I love 'em and they are worth every cent. They have paid for themselves in time and shavings.

OK. Now we start. The first thing I do is pick up the piles. Use a manure fork. For newbies or helpful husbands, there is a fork made just for manure. It's not a pitchfork, which has tines further apart and would allow the manure to fall right through. That's used for straw. It's not a shovel which will take shavings along with the poop and when you can pay almost $7 a bag they ain't to be wasted! They even have a mini horse fork now with the tines close together for mini poop. When I was a kid I used to help an old timer who used straw. He would spread the wet stuff out in the sun and let it dry and reuse it. A guy after my own heart. Thrifty. We used it at the track too when I first started. Then the mushroom growers, who would take it from the track, decided they wanted shavings.....but, I digress.....back to the stalls. 

You will also need a wheelbarrow. Buy a good one. Chances are, unless you have plenty of storage or a center aisle barn where it can stay without being in the way it will stay outside in the weather near the barn. There's nothing more frustrating than having the handles break while you have a full load. 

Pick up the piles that are still together first. If your horses stay in for part of the day you will have quite a few. Some horses will poop 10-12 times a day. It's one of their favorite activities. After you have the piles picked up you can start "flinging and rolling". Take a fork full of shavings and throw it at the wall. The balls of manure that you missed will roll down the slant you create (kinda like an avalanche) and you can pick them up without taking too much shavings. After some time flinging and rolling you will get to the bottom of the stall and find the wet spot. If you have good drainage all you have to do is remove the wet shavings and let the spot dry. Since you have already banked most of the shavings against the wall it should be open to the air. Some people sprinkle lime at this point.

If you can only do stalls once a day you would have to comb some shavings back down and make a bed. The best thing is to come back at night feeding and make the bed then. The wet places should have had time to dry and any more poop piles the horses have left are easily picked up. When you comb down the sides to make the bed leave some banked (kinda like a bowl) to help prevent the horse from becoming "cast" in his stall. This is when they roll and get their legs too close to the wall and basically get stuck. The horse will panic and struggle. This is very scary and thankfully doesn't happen often. 

There's all sorts of bedding out there and you will find one that you like. I prefer flake shavings. They fluff up nicely. Saw dust can be just that. Dusty. The new pellets, I have to admit, I haven't used but I would imagine it would be expensive to use enough to bank the side.

Being basically lazy and having a real job I find it's easier and more time saving to "run the stalls" whenever I'm at the barn and because my horses are out pretty much 24/7 I pickup near the barn too in order to keep as many flies away as possible. On that note let me add that it's a good idea to keep you manure pile as far away as practical (remember you will have to slog through all kinds of weather so not too far). It's best to pick up the paddock everyday too to limit the horses re-infesting themselves but let's be real. Do the best you can.

Have fun and be sure to compost!

The horse gene

I was born with the horse gene. My cousin Debbie Has it too. No one else in the family seemed to get it. My sisters like cats.

I'm sure other little girls played and still play "horses". I really hope they haven't all gotten too worldly wise. First you have to describe yourself. "I'm a bay (we were very proud of the fact that we knew what a bay was) with a white blaze (not a snip or a star.... a blaze) and four white stockings (no, not socks. you know what stockings are, they  go further up the leg). We studied these things and knew our stuff even at 5 or 6. Sometimes we were very exotic. "I'm from Pluto and I'm purple with a silver mane and tail, and, er, I can fly". 

We were usually the horses and had pretend riders and grooms who would tack us up and ride us over a cross country course of sticks between lawn chairs and sideways trash cans. If you were playing horse and rider, you would tie a rope around the horse's waist and canter around the yard always being careful to be on the correct lead and to make sure the rope cleared the "jumps". I always preferred being the horse.

When I was 9, she 8, we would ride our bikes across town (you could do things like that back then) and sit for hours observing horses. I can now say over 50 years later that I did learn a lot about the way horses communicate. I saw how horses would mutually groom each other. Science has recently discovered a spot near the withers that activates the amygdala part of the brain. This is the where memory and emotions are controlled. Horses, it seems, have the largest of all domesticated animals. We horse people always knew they were special and even as a kid I realized that the horses seemed to like to scratch and nuzzle each other there.

When you have the horse gene you have no choice as to whether you will ride or not. You are obsessed. Everyone tells you that you will outgrow it. You don't. 

Me in front.  Debbie behind.  1963

I hope to share some things I've learned and a few laughs. Thanks for looking.