# Introducing...my new ride! :P



## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 18, 2010)

I thought I would introduce you guys all to my new mount, Sonny. He is my boss's horse, and part of my job is to ride & groom him. He's approx 17 yrs. old, and is a Chestnut QH/Appy cross. About 15.2 hands. 

I went out to see him today, and gave him a quick ride. He hasn't been ridden in over a year, so we're just going slow with him and getting him used to being ridden again. I let him lope today at the end of the ride, and I was VERY surprised at how smooth it was; especially since he has a slight swayback. He's definitely a very comfortable bareback mount.  I've ridden horses before at a lope & gallop in saddle and almostlost my seat, but with him I only started slipping when he started slowing as his strides became choppier. He'llbe a nice mount with a saddle for loping & galloping. My plan is to turn him into a barrel horse, which is going to be a feat because he's an English horse...so we might end up just sticking with English instead. All depends. I am riding Western/Bareback for now as his owners don't have any English tack...yet. 

He has a lot of things that need to be worked on - like listening to his rider 100% of the time, turning right, stopping on command, and just getting used to being undersaddle again. 

Here are some pictures of him today; I will have riding pictures hopefully the next time I go out...either tomorrow, or Sunday. 

























I like this pic of him, even though his head is cut off, and he's shakin'. lol. 

Emily


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## Nancy McClelland (Nov 18, 2010)

cool!


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## hartleybun (Nov 19, 2010)

just love the expression on his face in that first pic - "me? listen to my rider?? dont make me laugh"

good luck with him. i rode for years in my younger days - english and bareback - and still miss it


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 19, 2010)

Donna, haha that's probably exactly what he's thinking. I tried riding him in the roundpen, but he wasn't having any of it, so I ended up taking him out into the pasture. He still gave me a hard time, but we were actually moving forward, instead of spinning & sidestepping. :rollseyes

Thanks.  I'm hoping he improves enough that I might be able to take him to a couple 4-H shows, or playdays.  

Emily


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## hartleybun (Nov 20, 2010)

*BlueCamasRabbitry wrote: *


> . He still gave me a hard time, but we were actually moving forward, instead of spinning & sidestepping. :rollseyes
> 
> Emily



tell him if he continues you will plait his mane, varnish his hooves and enter him in dressage:biggrin: 

sounds like he's had things his own way for a while! tho nimbleness would be useful if he's to be a barrel horse (that is riding around barrels in events isnt it? or am i that out of touch!)


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## wordstoasong (Nov 21, 2010)

Congrats on your "new ride"! Totally awesome! I got my 2nd this October 2nd. Now I have two "rides".

And boy, he is a beautiful boy! And love his name!


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Nov 22, 2010)

He is gorgeous. my mom is a barrel trainer so If you need help at anytime just let me know you can call or text 208-249-1752 at anytime, my mom gotto compete against and learn fom martha josey and charmaynejames. what kind of barrel bit do you use?

Hartleybun barrels are a rodeo event. It is also called a cloveleaf patter (so if you've seen a clover leaf you can imagine the pattern). It is a timed event. So the person with the lowest time and no faults wins (a fault for barrels is knocking over a barrel adding 5 seconds to the time for each barrel knocked over)

this vid has some great training tips, click on her channel for great training vids

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25yLgL168CA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25yLgL168CA[/ame]

Charmayne James and Scamper= 11 time world champions

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqdU-8f5Uco&feature=related]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqdU-8f5Uco&feature=related[/ame]


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## hartleybun (Nov 22, 2010)

*Oh My Darlin Rabbitry wrote: *


> Hartleybun barrels are a rodeo event. It is also called a cloveleaf patter (so if you've seen a clover leaf you can imagine the pattern). It is a timed event. So the person with the lowest time and no faults wins (a fault for barrels is knocking over a barrel adding 5 seconds to the time for each barrel knocked over)


:thanks::biggrin2:


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## Momto3boys (Nov 22, 2010)

Now that's my kind of ride!!

I used to ride alot but now I barely get the chance. My best friend owns a horse and she boards it at her cousins who has 3 horses so we get out sometimes....it's nice cause I just get to enjoy them, I don' have to clean up, feed or do barn chores, LOL


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Nov 22, 2010)

*hartleybun wrote: *


> *Oh My Darlin Rabbitry wrote: *
> 
> 
> > Hartleybun barrels are a rodeo event. It is also called a cloveleaf patter (so if you've seen a clover leaf you can imagine the pattern). It is a timed event. So the person with the lowest time and no faults wins (a fault for barrels is knocking over a barrel adding 5 seconds to the time for each barrel knocked over)
> ...



your welcome.

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 24, 2010)

Haha isn't he the perfect type of transportation?  

I went riding on Sunday and actually got him to work in the roundpen. He was doing very well. Still hopping & bucking a bit, but I was able to get him going in a circle and he responded to my leg cues nicely when asking for a trot & a lope.  He responds easy to clicking of the tongue as well. Just two clicks and he automatically goes into the next gait.  

His trot is insanely choppy though. :/ I kept asking him to go straight to the lope because his lope is much smoother. 
No pics from riding. Will be going back out this weekend though.  

ETA: Crystal that's really cool! Right now we're just doing refresher work, so no barrel training just yet. I'm not exactly sure what bit he has, but it looks like some type of snaffle bit to me? Lol. Once we start, I might try him in a hackamore, as that seems very popular on the barrel circuit right now, but it all depends on how he responds in one.  He needs a new western saddle first, but since I'm not his owner, I can't really decide that, hah. 

Emily


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Nov 24, 2010)

Try dif. barrel bits on him an see what he responds to. for the crow cropping and bucking you could try a buck stop, it was made by monty roberts and works really well. you could always try posting while he trots lots of reigner and barrel racers ect use it, it saves on their back and legs wich is essential tobarrel horses, martha josey uses this technique.

could you send me pics of the bit? my phone is a pic phone if you want todo itway.

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 26, 2010)

Yup, I'll get pictures of the bit next time I'm out.  

I can only post to his trot, but for the most part I find myself trying to stay in the saddle! lol. When I do finally get a secure seat, I post. I'm used to posting while riding English, so haven't yet learned how to sit to the trot. It's painful to try to do so right now. Hah.

Emily


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## Wabbitdad12 (Nov 27, 2010)

Beautiful horse, definitely a nice ride.


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## missyscove (Nov 27, 2010)

I ride for PE credit at school. Cornell has about 25 different PE horses and I've ridden maybe 10 of them over the last 5 semesters (I definitely have my favorites). Some of them have really comfortable trots to sit and others are just impossible; even if I can get them pretty collected it's still super bouncy.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 27, 2010)

*missyscove wrote: *


> I ride for PE credit at school. Cornell has about 25 different PE horses and I've ridden maybe 10 of them over the last 5 semesters (I definitely have my favorites). Some of them have really comfortable trots to sit and others are just impossible; even if I can get them pretty collected it's still super bouncy.



That must be a dream to ride for PE credit! I would definitely do that! I'm guessing Cornell is a vet school? 

Emily


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## missyscove (Nov 27, 2010)

I'm an undergraduate Animal Science student. Cornell also has a vet school (arguably the best in the country) but I'm not in it (at least not yet).

We have to do two semesters of PE to graduate. I'm well over that requirement now but I love it so I've been keeping it up. We also have varsity equestrian and polo teams.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 28, 2010)

That sounds like the ultimate college. Haha. Very cool. 
I would look into it, but my career plans are kind of fluxuating at the moment. 

Emily


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## otnorot (Nov 28, 2010)

He's a nice looking guy and I love horses.Thanks for bringing back memories as a 10 year old kid riding my neighbors pacers bareback,such a smooth ride.I cant believe that was 74 years ago.

Bill


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Nov 30, 2010)

^^Thank you Bill! And your welcome, too! 

I made another post on my local CL for horse work in exchange for pay & one or two lessons a month, but someone offered stall cleaning/turnout/feeding in exchange for riding & drill team, and they're right down the road, so I jumped at the offer.  I'll still be able to get a part-time job, too, which must be done soon if I plan on doing drill team. 

Anyway, I got to go out on Sunday, cleaned stalls, etc. and then the lady put me on her QH stallion. He was extremely well behaved, as he's been trained to respect his handlers/riders. Very nice horse. Then I went out yesterday, and rode the horse I'll be using for drill team. He's a Chestnut Pinto Arab/Paint cross, or so we think. Haha. He's very gorgeous. His name is Jake. I'll have to get some pictures of him soon. He has one blue eye, which is just the neatest thing.  

More pics coming soon! I might be going out to the barn tomorrow to work with Jake, so I'll take some pics of him. 

Emily


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

Here are the Jake pictures!  I went out to the barn today and gave him a good lesson.  He was doing pretty well; wouldonly go to the right around the pen, so next time I'll work him around the left. I almost fell off of him a couple times because he started trotting around a corner, so he would go one way, and I would slip in the other direction because it caught me off guard. Luckily, though, I am a good enough rider to keep my seat!  

I had him responding easily to leg cues, (although at first he thoughtI was asking for the next gait :rollseyes) as well as slight pressure on the reins, which made me happy. It's only the 3rd time I've been on him, so I was letting myself get use to how he responds, which is very important. I have to keepthe reins short with him, as one, they're split reins, and I'm still getting used to riding with those, and two, if I give him too much rein, he'll take advantage of it. I give him enough to allow him to give me his head, and when we're walking, he gets more rein. He was having fun taking the bit up in his mouth, so I had to get on him about that several times. :rollseyes

When I finished riding him, I jumped off, and had him follow me all over the riding ring.  I'd run a bit, and he'd trot, then I'd stop, and he'd halt right next to me.  It was very cute. At one point we were walking along a fence, and he stopped walking to look over a fence, and I turned around, saw him and said "Jake! Come on!" And he looked at me with this cute expression, and came over to me. :biggrin:He definitely knows his name very well.  Okay, okay, enough of my rambling! Here are the pictures! 





His gorgeous half blue/half brown eye! 




Left side markings.




Right side markings. 




His little spot that looks like overo. He's a Chestnut Pinto.  




Wondering what I'm doing. Hehe. Please ignore the dirty neck/head. His back is clean'cause hehadon his pretty purple blankie.  




Standing, and being impatient. Look at that narrow chest! Teehee. He's a lot narrower than Sonny is.  Although I think Sonny is about 15.1 and Jake is about 15.2 or 15.3. He's a lot bigger than I thought he was. 

Hope ya guys like!  I know I do! Lol. This is the horse I'll be riding for drill team.  

Emily


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

He's a cutie. Which drill team will you be riding on? If you can get the NFR on TV finals night will be our local drill team THE SNAKE RIVER STAMPEDERS!!!! I love them. They ride in the dark the only lights areon them and their horses. my sis and I have friends that ride on the team and my sis is gonna try out. 

Good luck, have fun, and most of all be safe. Drill can be dangerous

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

Thanks! 
I think it's called the Equi Stars Drill Team? I'll have to go look it up real fast and see. That was the name that was on the mounting block at the arena on Monday where we ride...so I assume that's us. lol. 

Oh wow. That sounds like it would be a cool drill team to watch! 

Thank you! One thing I need to invest in, is a good sturdy helmet, that's for sure.  

Emily


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

cool. I think I might have heard of them.

They are awesome to watch. When the olympics were in Salt Lake City they participated and they have been to the NFR several times.

A helmet would be a great idea. lol

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

*Oh My Darlin Rabbitry wrote: *


> cool. I think I might have heard of them.
> 
> They are awesome to watch. When the olympics were in Salt Lake City they participated and they have been to the NFR several times.
> 
> ...



Haha. I don't think it's that^ same drill team. I google searched, and came up with some with the same name.  I could be wrong though. lol. 

Yes, it would be. lol. 

Emily


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## otnorot (Dec 1, 2010)

With so many horse lovers I thought you might like these pictures.I dont remember the full story but this horse lost his front right leg but his owner didnt want to put him down so he had a new leg made for him.Heres the horse and the hoof.


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

I have heard of them.

sorry I was talking about the SRS I guess I should have clarified that lol. 

Have fun

Crystal


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

*otnorot wrote: *


> With so many horse lovers I thought you might like these pictures.I dont remember the full story but this horse lost his front right leg but his owner didnt want to put him down so he had a new leg made for him.Heres the horse and the hoof.



How cool He's a beauty I'm glad he wasn't PTS.

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

Crystal - What's SRS? 

Bill - That's really cool! I think I've seen that before, over on the horse forum. Gorgeous horse too! I wouldn't want to put him to sleep either! 

Emily


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## Purple Mountain Rabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

SRS is Snake River Stampede or for this case Snake River Stampeders

Crystal


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 1, 2010)

*Oh My Darlin Rabbitry wrote: *


> SRS is Snake River Stampede or for this case Snake River Stampeders
> 
> Crystal



Oh!! I see what you were talking about now.  lol. 

Emily


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Dec 6, 2010)

I have some pictures of me riding Jake.  I will try and get them up tomorrow.  My computer has a virus on it, so now I have to use my mom's computer.  

While riding yesterday, I asked Jake to lope around a corner, and he must have slipped, as he went down on his right side. I was quick enough, despite not knowing exactly what was happening, to pull my leg backwards, and my upper torso out, and we both are fine! The saddle horn only nudged me, thankfully; as that could have resulted in several internal injuries. Jake also rolled up just as soon as he went down, so had my leg been pinned, it wouldn't have been for long. 

Emily


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## Blaze_Amita (Dec 16, 2010)

*otnorot wrote: *


> With so many horse lovers I thought you might like these pictures.I dont remember the full story but this horse lost his front right leg but his owner didnt want to put him down so he had a new leg made for him.Heres the horse and the hoof.


I have the story of this pony somewhere. Her name was Molly and it had something to do with Hurricane Catrina and a pitbull attacking her and destroying her leg. I'll post it when I find it again


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## Blaze_Amita (Dec 16, 2010)

Here's a bit of the story:

http://www.hoax-slayer.com/prosthetic-leg-pony.shtml



There is more in the book "Horses of the Storm" 



anyway, congrats on the *new* ride. I have four rides like that, two of which I'm trying to find homes for, I don't have the room for 4 of them.


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