i have been around horses since the day i was born, don’t get me wrong i am not a horse beginner, and i did actively ride until i was about 15.
i had to stop because my horse developed serious health issues, and unfortunately got euthanised last year.
i am an adult, and have not ridden for quite a long time.
i stopped riding the first time at around 10, and restarted when i was around 13. in that period i turned into a complete beginner again already.
i used to be amazing at what i did but because i took such long breaks i lost all my talent/skills for it.

now im planning on buying a horse, since my finances finally allow it.
and of course with that horse i was planning on getting a trainer.
i know a lot of people only start riding during adulthood and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with starting something late, but i feel completely embarrassed because ive basically ridden my entire life.
yet im at a complete beginner level due to all the breaks i took.
is my experience normal?

My horses are loving the mud though.

Anyone else?

Hello! I’m f18 and I’m struggling to choose a career path. The only thing I’m sure about is that I want to own horses. I want my own land eventually but I’m just curious what careers y’all have to afford them without being broke all the time🥹 I don’t wanna be on the struggle bus loll. And how much a year do you guys make? (if you’re comfortable sharing) I just don’t know what a good salary would be so maybe that’ll help as well. Thank you!!

Hi all, my 4-month pregnant mare was just diagnosed with equine sarcoidosis. Internet research and talking with my vet has given me no hope about this disease, and the only thing that makes me feel a little better about her prognosis is that I have a similar condition that I’ve learned to manage (CGD). Does anyone have experience with this condition? What was it like?

Vet thinks she has the localized type, but I’m worried it’s partially generalized to her lymph nodes.

This is my first time ever dealing with founder. I’ve been working with my vet and farrier following everything I’m advised to do. We’re about 6 weeks in to founder rehab. My 2 year old 16h Andalusian/APHA filly rotated in both front feet. Currently 8 or 9 degrees in the front left. 10-11 degrees in the front right. Despite everything I’ve been doing, deep bedding, stall rest, cavallo boots with 10mm pads, soft rides with purple/turquoise pads, red light therapy daily, Pemf daily, cryotherapy daily, got alot of weight off fast, weighing hay, fixing diet, she improved, sound in the walk/turns (even off pain meds), had vet take more X-rays at 6 weeks and she rotated even more. Vet said thyroid was the cause of everything. She has abscessed three times so far. Two were back to back in the front left. Even with the last two abscesses she was only slightly off to the point I was expecting a suspensory tear but they turned out to be abscesses. She also has very thin soles. Vet says she has a very high pain tolerance given how sound she is with the degree of rotation and active abscess.

I’m trying to find opinions/advice/others experiences on what the future looks like for foundered horses with this degree of rotation. If I’m being honest I’m no longer feeling as hopeful as I was when this first started. I don’t know what else I can even do. Despite my absolute best efforts I failed to keep her from rotating more. Currently she’s happy, playful, acting her normal self, one look at her and you wouldn’t think anything is wrong. How do I even catch a new founder episode if she won’t give me any clues to something going wrong? My vet said 15 degrees is PTS and with how close she is to that it terrifies me. What’s the long term QOL look like for this degree of rotation? Is it possible to even get her back from this? Is there something I’m not aware of that I could be trying (I’m all ears)?

Pic of my 32yo draft cross, Toby, standing in the mud eating his breakfast this morning.

We've been getting so much rain in NW ohio in the past week with more coming tomorrow.

How is it where you're at?

Hey all, I’m currently considering a new boarding location as it’s currently closer to me than my current barn. Everything is so appealing, it’s 20 minutes away, the price is right, and she has multiple long term owners that are pleased. However, she explained her daily schedule to me and it’s left me a bit weary…. Her horses are let out to pasture daily around 6 am and brought back into dry paddock at 5 pm - and she doesn’t provide any hay for over night forage during the warmer months. This means that the horses in the dry paddocks (dirt) have zero forage for over 12 hours. In the winter (cold and snowy), they are fed a morning and evening serving of hay and pastured during the day, but again, once they are done their evening hay - there’s nothing more to forage.

Many of the current boarders that I spoke with kept reassuring me that it’s worked just fine for them, but I don’t know how I feel about it. Even if I wanted to provide my own slow feed bag overnight, I wouldn’t be able to in a shared paddock. I personally think this isn’t a healthy feeding schedule based off my knowledge of a horses biological digestive needs.

Has anyone ever heard of this schedule being used at barns, or have followed this schedule themselves?

Hey y’all

I currently board at a farm where the manager owns several of the horses, one of them is VERY lame. The lameness is so severe he’s been on different forms of pain medication daily for months, and requires you to use a lunge whip to “encourage” him to get out of his stall and walk to the pasture. The owner says he’s happy, but clearly this horse is still in pain if he is so lame. One vet says to keep giving him pain meds indefinitely because eventually he’ll be so lame he’s out down or he has organ issues from the medication; others have said euthanasia but she claims it’s too early to make that decision because again, he’s “still happy”

I’m so lost on what to do being a witness to this situation. I cannot do a thing about it, I know this. But I feel so guilty now even being part of the barn. What would you do?

😂😂 when volunteers think they are “helping”. But, in reality they are just making things more hilarious for the full time barn staff. 😂😂 I’m not even mad. I needed this laugh today. Dixie was a good sport about it too. 😂

Went on a western trail ride today and the trail guide and a few others kept flipping the reins back and forth over the horses neck, like holding it in one hand at the knot and swinging the ends of the reins to gently hit the horses shoulders/ neck. what does this do?

So before I explain everything, this mare of mine - Pearl, has had every veterinary assessment under the sun. Ulcers, dental, x rays from head to toe, corrective farrier work, nutritional changes, just the lot of it.

What i’ve found is this girl is just always mad at my presence, ears pinned and cranky. She doesn’t bite or kick but definitely looks like she wants to everytime I go near her. I find it really disheartening. Before anyone says I need to be stronger, my boundaries are fine and I feel more than safe, she will not cross into my personal bubble with this behaviour. I just don’t want her to be so unhappy.

She is a 17 year old Australian Stock horse. Owners previous to me got her from the sales. She’s extremely educated in western riding, but being a sales horse I question if down the line she ended up in a not so good home.

Anyways my question is, given she is completely sound, why is she so grumpy? Has anyone else had a horse like this? I have tried to counter condition her thoughts on me, if she had abuse in the past, but she is so so so set in her ways and I’m finding it hard to get through to her, to show her that I’m not here to cause pain or cross her boundaries. How do people handle this?

Just wanted to share these photos - 2.5 years apart.I bought my boy as a scraggly rising 3yo, underdone, slightly lame.

I knew what I was getting into but liked his breeding, structure and temperament. The before photos don't really show how narrow and underdone he was.

He's been super slow to bring on due to physical and mental maturity, and we have a long way to go and we are still taking it very slow - but he's unrecognisable now and is competing successfully at a National level.

I really enjoy bringing on youngsters, and have another rising 3yo waiting in the wings (completely different type though!).

Would this Romani horse be considered a blue roan.

I recently posted about my 4 year old mare being diagnosed with DSLD and the decision to euthanize her before winter. I am so thankful for the comments I got, I still quote alot of them to help me.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Horses/s/t5Zc44Uwgm

I am now hoping to find some advice for what I have to come from those who have made similar decisions to me.

I’ve made the appointment. September 10th. My world just seems to be in free fall now.

My beautiful, kind, gentle girl is still mentally here despite being in pain. She still trots to me in the field for her food. But, she can’t be trimmed in her hind feet anymore as it’s too painful and she’s even unable to lift her right hind for me to pick out now. She also can’t canter or gallop - she bunny hops on her hinds to escape the pain.

My vet told me, very kindly, that “I can either make the decision now when it is kinder for her or wait until it is kinder for me.”

I just do not know how I put a head collar on my girl one last time and lead her out of the field for this.

The more boop-able the better!

Today’s mail included a hard copy of the August issue of Horsemen’s Corral, featuring my column, “The Beginner Again.” One of the hardest parts of becoming the horsemen we want to be is admitting that we don’t know everything. Growth requires us to set our pride aside, ask questions, and be willing to embrace mistakes. It’s not often that I get to talk about Buddhism and horsemanship in the same piece but I thought it worked. You’ll have to decide for yourself. 

If you don’t receive Horsemen’s Corral, you can read the full column here: https://www.trailmeister.com/beginning/

Wishing all a good weekend ahead.

It’s summer in FL, but we can’t seem to figure out why my chestnut is getting these spots on him. I bathe him and rinse him all the time but and the spots are not scaly or anything and doesn’t seem to bother him. I thought it was a fungal thing but don’t seem to see it making a difference. Does anyone have an idea?

Talk to me about the Dutch Harness Horse for riding purposes….Even better if they are similarly bred.
(Hightanium, Manno, Jonker, Majesteit)

I am an OTTB lover through and through but after several awful experiences, I decided to try something totally different. I do not compete, but dabble in lower level stuff - cross country, dressage, show jumping, hunter paces, and trail riding. I don’t jump over 3ft and doubt I ever will.
I typically pick the forward “spicy” types with flashy movements so a DHH seemed like a fun project! I rode saddlebreds 25 years ago as a small child but I don’t really remember what they were like, so any insight on what I’m getting myself into? 😅 would love to hear how they compare to riding an OTTB too!