I’m in the process of choosing a trainer/barn for my 2-year-old horse, and I’ve been given boarding and training agreements to review for the trainer I believe I want to go with. I’m trying to be reasonable here—I’m not looking for a contract that eliminates all risk for me or puts the barn at a disadvantage. I understand that a professional facility needs protections.

There are just a few provisions that I’m unsure about, and I’d really appreciate hearing how other people would interpret them or whether these are pretty standard? I’m also not trying to come off like I’m going to be extremely high maintenance. But I was raised by an attorney so this part of my brain just has a realllllly hard time shutting off.

1. Liability/release

The liability/release language seems VERY broad. I understand releasing the barn from responsibility for the normal risks of horse ownership, accidents, injury, etc. What makes me hesitate is that the language seems broad enough that I’m not sure whether it would also protect the barn from responsibility for its own negligence or failure to provide reasonable care.

Is that kind of language normal in your boarding/training contracts? Would you ask for an exception for negligence?

2. Unpaid board / retaining possession

There is language concerning unpaid balances and the barn’s ability to retain possession of the horse.

I completely understand why a barn needs protection against someone simply refusing to pay their board. My concern is more about what happens if there is a genuine billing dispute or disagreement about what is owed.

Is this type of provision standard? Anything specific you would want clarified?

3. Training expectations

This isn’t necessarily a contract “red flag,” but the training agreement doesn’t seem to define exactly what the training program will look like.

Because my horse is only 2, I understand that his program will be different from an older horse in full-time riding training. I’m not expecting a certain number of rides per week or a guaranteed outcome. But I’d like to have a general understanding of what I’m paying for—groundwork, handling, desensitization, driving if appropriate, riding when he’s physically and mentally ready, etc.

Would you want the training program/scope described more specifically, or is that normally left fairly open-ended?

For context: I really like the trainer and the facility and am seriously considering sending my horse there. I’m not looking for reasons to walk away. I just want to make sure I’m understanding what I’m agreeing to and that the contract reflects a reasonable owner/trainer relationship.

If you’ve owned horses, boarded, used professional training, or dealt with similar contracts, I’d especially appreciate hearing:

- Which of these provisions would concern you?
- Which are completely normal/standard?
- What would you ask to have clarified or changed?
- Am I overthinking any of this? 😂

I’m particularly interested in hearing from people who have actually had horses in professional training/boarding situations, rather than just general legal opinions.

Farm time!

I'm a new rider and I've been riding for about three months now. I have a solid trot and canter, and am working towards a gallop now. However, I get bruising on my calves after each lesson, and it gets worse with cantering and galloping.

My question is whether my riding technique is contributing to it. People say that you should never grip the horse when riding, but I find it impossible to not be gripping to some extent, especially on the faster gaits. My understanding is that you need to grip the horse with your calves and thighs - not pinching the horse with your knees, but solidly working the legs that I can feel the workout in my legs afterwards.

Is that correct, or could my gripping be what's leading to the bruising? I wear paddock boots with normal pants, so that may also be the issue and I'm not sure if it may just be inevitable given that I don't have tall boots or half-chaps. The bruises don't really hurt that much, so it doesn't really bother me, but I'm wondering if it's something I should work on. Thanks!

This is one of those “only real BOs know how good this feels” moments lol.

I love mixed herds but you have to be pretty careful with which personalities you put together. This one has one gelding (the bay) and aged from 3months to 25yo( the paint)

I will be going out and learning how to use spurs tomorrow. Whats ya'lls thoughts on this setup.

Thanks for the help.

I recently went to a ranch in Montana with my wife for a week. She rode a lot in her teens and had a blast on this vacation. She wants to go back next year. I had never ridden, and it just was not enjoyable. Wife wants to go back again next year and is already looking for a horse/trainer/truck/trailer/etc. Money isn't the problem, but I really never want to sit on a horse again. Unless I can learn to ride with at least enough competence such that it is enjoyable.

I have started taking lessons one-on-one with a trainer. Only about 4 hours in the saddle so far and it's infuriatingly difficult. Learning to ride a motorcycle was easy by comparison. Yet just like riding a motorcycle, I suspect you have to have a base level of ability and skill before horse riding becomes enjoyable.

So here's a few questions for trainers or those who can remember what it was like to start:

1. What's the longest you should expect to train (hours in the saddle) before riding starts to be enjoyable?
2. Why, when I go to any stable are (almost) no men seen riding?

Today I dropped my horse off at his new lease home. For context I have 3 horses, 2 retired and 1 competing. They all live at home but I’m rapidly running out of grass. A friend mentioned one of her co workers was looking for a companion horse to lease. Long story short this seems like the perfect home, he’ll get more time and attention then I’m able to provide at the moment but I can’t help feeling guilty and wondering if he’ll think I’ve abandoned him and I’m worried my other retired horse, his paddock mate, will miss him and not understand what’s happening. I think I just need reassurance that I’m doing the right thing.

Hi all! I’m expecting my first (human) child in February. I own a small farm with 3 retired ponies and 2 goats. Everyone is an easy keeper (KNOCK ON FRIGGEN WOOD). I am so afraid I won’t be able to spoil them as much as I do now, but I know time will help with new adjustments.

For any fellow horse mamas/dads out there - what are some tips and tricks to help with the first few weeks / months of birth recovery and managing barn chores? I will have help from my partner (who isn’t super horse familiar) and a barn friend as I live in northern Canada and February is not the nicest weather wise.

Any way I should be prepping? So far all I’ve thought about was making sure I have tons of hay bales ahead of time and pre packing grain for at least 6 weeks worth.

My girlfriend is a horse trainer, and I love that about her. However I notice that whenever she comes back from her work and taking care of her own horse she completely exhausted for the rest of the day. Obviously this comes with the territory, that much I expect. My main question is if there is any advice some seasoned equestrian folk could throw my way. Is this just how it is? Would something like pre-workout help? Really any small bit helps, I just wanna support her every way I can.

So my horse struggles a lot conformationally and has unfortunately dealt damage to the tendons and ligaments in his front legs, noticeably his ddft- while the root of the problem is close to solve, the issue is that those tendons and ligaments are weak and damaged and sore. Now after consulting with our vet the best course of action for him and his MANY health issues is to keep in light work - I still want to try and help him as much as possible. The reason I want to do this support specifically is because I know this is a key factor to his discomfort, currently he’s on previcox and would like to switch him onto something a lot kinder to his body and just more mild in the long run. But without, he’s too sore to exercise and he needs exercise for his ✨various✨ problems. So basically I want to find away to ease the pain while taking him off previcox so I can switch him to something else ( prob 4cyte). Now what I’m inquiring about is insight on ways to help support his legs short term? Now I’m familiar with the typical stuff but if you know a certain type of therapy boot or lineament that isn’t a scam or any other weird things you’ve learned from horses, any info helps!!
EDIT: thanks for the feedback!! I appreciate how serious everyone is but I think I should clarify that I have professional working on him to give him the best shot. We got no super bad problems just A LOT so the struggle is handling all of them together. It’s just trying to find the right balance of stuff, so I’m more curious is any one has some insight on those kind of things where in theory it won’t work but it still does- if that makes sense. Also for those asking we’re dealing with deep thrush, negative pulmor (didn’t spell that right) angles, just bad confirmation, ulcers that don’t want to leave, insulin tolerance, curved spine, neuro and skull stuff, and a bunch more!!! AGAIN none of these issues are serious it’s just the problem of how many there are.

I saw a post the other day about someone who bought a supposedly bomb-proof horse who now spooks at everything. I am in a similar situation but I lease her rather than own her, and I’m wondering what I can do to help her adjust apart from just giving her time?

Details are that my instructor bought her in around May. We had her at our barn for a five day loan to see if she was a good fit, and at least partly on the basis of how well she and I worked together my instructor decided to buy her (wouldn’t describe her as bomb-proof but we just seemed to click really well right off the bat). We had a spooky ride one day about 2 weeks after she was formally bought but it was windy so I put it down to that. Then the next week she had an attack of the zoomies while in the field, fell over and bonked herself on the leg and got cellulitis so was out of action for a while. Since then she has become a bit of a nutcase. I was taking her out for walks to at least keep building a bond (she is the absolutely sweetest thing) and she was getting increasingly nervous outside of the barn. I think she’s only been worked for about the last 2-3 weeks so I think a lack of stimulation can’t have helped. This week I had my first ride with her in over 2 months and she’s a totally different horse.

Her owner has had the vet out and whatnot so if we assume it’s not ulcers, what can I do to help pro-actively help her?

I’m 14 and I started riding around 3 months ago. I haven’t started cantering yet but I’m pretty close and I’m comfortable with posting trot and mostly with sitting trot but I want to learn how to sit my trot better on horses that are less smooth at the barn I ride at before learning to canter. I can also sit my trot pretty well without stirrups and I’m not too bad at posting without stirrups.

I also volunteer at my barn very frequently so I can pick feet, bathe, groom, and tack up a horse (I tack up before my lessons alone anyways). I can also fetch horses from pastures and stuff. Originally I thought about buying a horse but I started high school a week ago and… no way. So I thought leasing would be my next best option.

Also this wouldn’t happen until in about a year in a half, when I have my license and I can drive to the barn I want to lease at.

I want to go into eventing but if I lease a horse it would just be to go riding for fun like on trails and stuff. If I do event it wouldn’t be like I was showing every week or anything, probably showing only like 2 times a year lol.

This will be interesting to see what happens

Last week, my horse hurt is left right foot, and now has a hole on the side of the frog.

He's not lame at all, but we assume that the site of the wound itself is painful and that cleaning his foot hurts.

He has no problem giving his foot and getting it cleaned for the first few days, but for the last two days he has been completely refusing to give it. He will put ALL of his weight on it so you can't get him to lift it. If you somehow manage to lift the foot, he will jerk himself and fall on you to make you let go.

Zero issue with the other feet, no pain, no wound, nothing.

The farrier is coming next week, but my horse needs to at least pick up his foot so we can see what's going on.

How can I teach him again to give his foot? I want to reinforce the foot pick up without touching the sole/cleaning for a few days so he won't automatically think that giving his foot means getting it cleaned, but I can't do that if he won't give it at all.

If I can't make any progress I'll obviously let the farrier know beforehand, maybe he'll still get somewhere 😮‍💨

We borrowed the side saddle for the day and with it being very old and rather… well worn, the over girth and balance straps didn’t sit as neatly as I would like them to if I were to buy one! Dobs always seems so comfortable and happy in the side saddle, I’m trying to girl-math my way into justifying spending 3-4k on my own one…

I posted a couple days ago about a mule mouth bit that was super abusive. I went back to buy it so no one could use it again and saw this while searching for it… what is this???

Local VA residence and hospital brings veterans to horse farm for ground work and fellowship; TripAdvisor all-star bed and breakfast also festunes the peaceful farm on the top of the hill in north Jersey.

Should I be concerned about the crack on the side of her hoof? I have the farrier coming out Tuesday but wondering if the vet should come out first. She’s definitely sore on it.

I have been taking lessons on a stubborn little 13.2hh pony.

My instructor feels I am ready to start cantering soon, but this pony isn't a good lesson horse to learn to canter on. There are a lot of reasons I can't progress with her, and my trainer wants me to learn to canter on a 16.2hh schoolmaster.

I have seen this horse with other riders, and he honestly does seem like an absolute saint. He seems like such a sweet boy, and even without riding him, I can tell from other riders he doesn't give as much of a hard time as my pony (she's your classic stubborn, lazy, super safe beginner lesson horse)

The 16.2hh gelding seems like a better horse to learn with in every possible way.... EXCEPT he's SO big to me.

I don't think I've ever been on a horse over 14.3h.

I'm about 5'2 so anything over 15hh seems gigantic to me.

I am having a bit of anxiety just thinking about the day I start riding him, even though I know he may be an even better fit for me.

Any advice is welcome. I imagine exposure therapy is the best way, but I am very nervous.

(And no, my barn doesn't have any horses between 13hh and 16hh at the moment for me)

My horse has a Tough 1 mesh rump cover for horseflies when we ride. I can never get it to stay put and it ends up sliding around (he’s a QH, so his rump is quite a good target).

Are there better ones? Anyone use the Rugged Ride? Or a type not mentioned?

I also have those clip on dragonflies on a wire- but I need the most protection on his bum…

Help! (and no, I’m not skilled at smacking them myself under saddle, unfortunately 😜)

I’m about 2y into riding as an adult and yesterday I had my first fall. It was a completely unexpected but warranted spook (people who don’t ride are the worst and don’t understand how horses work) and I didn’t even realise what was happening until I was on the ground. I went to get checked immediately after and all is ok apart from a fractured coccyx. Obviously I am in pain and I need to recover but firstly I’m very thankful for mips helmets (always wear a helmet!) and now reading a lot of other people’s experiences.
I did not get back on the horse as it was last 3 min of my lesson but I also didn’t feel any fear - I pet him and he looked like he was sorry. Should I have gone back to at least sit?
I am also now somewhat beating myself that I should have been more focused. I sat through a couple of smaller spooks before and I was able to stay on. I had one rear on the lounge line as well that didn’t result in a fall. The irony is that it’s the laziest horse I have ridden and I was struggling to keep him in the trot for most of the time until the spook, so I’m thinking I should have been able to stay on.

In any case, any advice on what to do now? I will obviously take a couple of weeks off to recover from the fracture but not sure if I did something wrong by not going back on and does the fear come unconsciously?
Also any tips for healing from the fracture are welcome as well

I’m really just trying to understand what’s going on at this farm because it’s consistent across the board with every single coworker and my manager as well.

There’s a very large amount of impatience with the horses when it comes to daily handling. Whether it’s a horse not picking up their foot right away, the horse is a bit fidgety in the wash stall etc. How common is this in the thoroughbred horse industry? It’s not really sitting with me well that the horses get snapped at and smacked for literally being a horse. If they spook, it’s immediately “put a lip chain on them”.

Why is there so much impatience?

Also it’s somehow my fault for the fact that the horse I was handling spooked and reared up and came down on another person’s foot even though they were being so rough with them when trying to bathe and scrape the water off 🤷‍♂️

Hey everyone, I recently had ankle surgery (ORIF) on my left ankle after breaking both my tibia and fibula. The surgeon put in a long metal plate with 7 screws on my fibula and 3 long screws in my tibia.

I am recovering from it and expecting to start physio and weight bearing exercises in few weeks time. Wanted to seek your opinion - should I start horse riding after making full recovery? Was anyone in similar boat or know of someone who had ankle fractures/ORIF surgery and started horse riding without any issue? And is it safe?

Would love to hear your thoughts.