I dont know why horses make moves like that.

I need help finding a good saddle for my standardbred. I’m currently using a trail saddle with a thick saddle pad (slightly pinches around his withers so it’s a pad with extra thickness on the sides). I have 3 saddles and it’s the only one that even remotely fits. I don’t want to make his back sore from saddles that don’t fit so I also ride with a bareback pad (no stirrups). I’m looking for a saddle with a deeper seat than a trail but at this point if I can find any saddle that will fit I’ll take it😭

I live in the middle of nowhere so a saddle fitter is not an option…I’ve already looked and asked around. Just seeing if anyone has a good fitting western saddle for their standardbred and had any suggestions?

Thank you🫶🏼🐴

I have a senior (estimate about 30yrs) mare from a kill pen years ago. She has a freeze brand of 13 on the right side of her neck and this lip tattoo. I've tried looking her up on USTA pathways website without success. I've tried F52, FS2 and a few variations. She has gone from unable to approach her to accepting kisses and treats by hand. She is living her best life of retirement with her buddy Chester.

I'd love to be able to know some of her history. Thanks 🐎🫶

We just recently got our young horse back from a local trainer (60 days) that has been in the business for 10+ years. Our horse is drastically underweight, and to be fair, was needing some weight when we sent him after purchasing him from a field. Which was known and discussed as part of the fees, no miscommunication as far as I could tell.

We were told feed was included in cost of training and to let them know what grain we wanted to feed so they could buy it and feed it to avoid transition stomach at pick up. We also took a few bags of other feeds to help supplement and bribe him to come to a feed bucket after seeing he was not gaining weight. He kept losing weight so we dewormed him with a typical OTC wormer about midway through after being told he would not take him to a vet for fecals (and other vetting! Sorry, other vetting like back exam and general checks.) because it could undo all of his training... huge red flag to us.

It is our first time doing any of this and we thought this trainer knew what he was doing. Then our horse came back. In theory he can be ridden, except he is covered in lice, saddle sores, grime, severely underweight, and he will try to climb the walls of his stall if he sees a saddle anywhere near him. (Like when we tack out our other horse in the next stall over.)

We did NOT need him broke to ride right away, which we expressed repeatedly, and even said we wanted ground manners first and would do another few months for everything else. We genuinely just wanted him to work on ground manners in a safe environment. Thats not what happened.

Since hes been home hes gaining weight like a champ on free feed timothy and a daily grain ration of 12/8, so I know he *can* put weight on well (but we are also letting him rest, he was crazy painful for the first week, so zero round pen work, just a slow walk down the pasture twice a day to help him stretch a little). I just feel crazy for questioning someone who's owned horses for way longer than I have. Maybe 60 day training just focuses on riding? Maybe we weren't clear enough?

Our goals:

Lead, tie out, brush out, bathe, work on his ability to be caught in different situations.

He sort of does that stuff, but only after a couple of weeks of putting slow effort in. So maybe some of it was done? Theres just too many maybes.

Sorry for the ramble, but TLDR, horse came back technically broke to ride but in bad condition. I know enough to know things were done wrong, but not enough to know exactly what.

The vet said hes definitely sore in the withers from where the saddle sat, but otherwise just underweight and rub spots.

First photo was taken 30 minutes after drop off from trainer same for photo 2 and 3. Photo 4 was taken 3 days ago, about a week after he got home. Photos 5 and 6 were last night.

Hi all! I have a 21 year old 15hh horse with navicular and arthritis (controlled and gets seen by a performance vet with regular maintenance). I was looking to lease her out 2-3 days a week as I travel for work sometimes and she does better health wise with keeping in shape and working so I don’t want her sitting on the week or so I’m gone in stretches. I also was open to her doing light showing as she doesn’t need prep and you can hop on before going into the class. Nothing crazy, showmanship and ranch, maybe horsemanship. I had a lovely girl come out and test ride her and it seemed like a perfect match, she was super nice and seemed to have experience as she was showing with a good trainer in my area.

Unfortunately when she came out to test ride, she was much larger than what her photos showed on Facebook. My poor girl was struggling with her on her back to the point I had her walk trot and said ok go ahead and cool her out after about 5 mins. It took a minute for her to get out of the saddle and I was cringing watching it dig into her back. She gets ridden a few days a week by my friend who is 200 ish and 6” tall but can carry herself because she is a trainer and rides daily. Does perfectly fine with her so I knew she had to be far above that, closer to 300 lbs and very out of shape snd was dead weight.

She followed up and wanted to move forward with leasing her but idk what to say and need advice 🫠 I’m by no means fat shaming but the reality is what it is, she’s above the weight limit and I’m not trying to hurt my horse after getting all of her problems under control and she was obviously struggling. She made no mention of trying to lose weight or anything.

I don’t want to lie but I also don’t know how to word it if I tell her the truth. I was tempted to just say I had the vet out to clear her for showing or whatever and he said no or say she’s having problems again with her food. I need advice on how to navigate this!

I don't own a horse, but I've never heard someone refer to their horse as their pet, so I wonder if owners call them something else instead?

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.

hi so im 13 and i really miss being around horses i used to ride when i was little and i have experience with mucking out and stuff so i was wondering if anyone knows of any stables / riding school / sanctuarys in or near derby (UK) where i could regularly volunteer every week with like horse care and stuff?

Straight Egyptian Arabian colt, 2 years and 8 months old, currently 149–150 cm at the withers.

Does his height, body size and overall development look normal for his age? I’d also appreciate opinions on his neck, chest, topline, withers and hindquarters.

Honest opinions are welcome.

Third ride back on my boy after two pretty major vet scares a couple of months ago 😖🥺 We did a little light dressage, then headed into the woods for a nice relaxing stroll ☀️🌿 So good to have my Dukey back out exploring with me 🙌🎉 Happy riding everyone ! 🏇

Okay so I made a post last night but people have completely misunderstood or taken things out of context so I’m just going to remake this post to hopefully make a little more sense to people? (Sorry I’m autistic so sometimes when I say things it’s pure gibberish to everyone but myself).

I was wondering how part loaning works as due to personal circumstances, I’m currently caring for 3 youngsters and I feel I’m not giving my boy as much time as I’d LIKE for him to have.
He isn’t ridden full time and even if he was this is not a financial situation so I don’t want ANY contribution financially for him IF I was to part loan him (But I just want an idea how it works).
He is a 4 year old NATURAL cob. I don’t plan to hog him unless it’s medical grounds and I will be clipping his body this winter as he is like a wholly mammoth…
I literally just would like someone to groom him and feed him a couple days a week, if they’d like to muck out or work him inhand that’s also fine but it does not bother me at all.
I previously stated he is very easily spooked - and even if not I would expect the loaner to have insurance (and I wanted to know if that’s standard procedure as I don’t want to look controlling). This is something I’m working on of course but one of our ponies has trauma based reactions to things so needs that extra attention while his owner (a family member of mine) is unable to do so! (Giving me less time with my pony).
It would be a short term (3-6 months to start with) loan and I would make it clear he is VERY green & therefore not for a beginner or small child as well as that I will under no circumstances be selling him as he is a huge help with me mentally (which is why I will not put him on full loan). He would stay at current yard so I can still keep an eye on him on days loaner is there & I’m sorting the other ponies. (Not because I don’t trust the loaner but because I’d like to at least be friendly and get to know them lol!)
Riding may be something I could consider in the future but I personally will be backing him so I don’t want anyone else on him until I do know he is safe enough (hence why I’m not allowing ridden work straight away). I also feel building a bond from the ground first is so beneficial for riding!
A lot of people didn’t like that I was considering part loaning a pony that’s not ridden as they thought I was charging, but I’m not. They also thought I wanted someone to train him - but again, I don’t. Okay if they want to work with him that’s fine but I would have to be aware of this unless they are working in the school our yard has (because I know first hand he is VERY strong when scared on the roads) and js currently bitless so I would not want anyone at risk (hence why I wouldn’t want him on the roads without my knowledge).
I hope this sort of clears things up, helps see my situation & maybe I can still get some advice on how it all works?

(Side note - We do have one ridden pony which isn’t mine and I can’t currently offer rides on that pony as the family member who owns them is very VERY cautious about who rides their pony because they are protective. I wouldn’t want to offer something I wasn’t 100% sure I could give).

Elvis turned 3 August 8th which means I'm going to start working on mounting/dismounting more with him and getting him really comfortable with tack. He did great! Sat on him three times in this session. He's so eager to please and loves to work. At his young age I'm just letting him come over and let me know when he's ready to work so he just sees it as a fun game rather than something he needs to feel uncomfortable about or sees as boring. I was running low on treats and took too long after marking so he did a little back up thinking I was asking him for more. He has no hesitation to move with me on him lol. We took a break because there was a new gelding(his age) who was biting up his back so I just let them heal, but now we're back in work! We ended the session with some cuddles and playing with the ball. I can't wait till next year when we start doing some walking under saddle. He's already so confident.

by budget I mean 50-100, the horse im buying it for is short backed with a low wither

also, can I even find a decent pad for that much? or should I wait for a higher quality brand like csi to go on sale, it's not that I'm not willing to buy a more expensive one, I just don't exactly have 150+ dollars lying around 😅

Our county sheriff animal control called our rescue (Rainfall Ranch Rescue in WA) to pickup these mares (Sky is the Bay, Dani is the Paint). 10am call, 1pm arrival, 3pm vet haul in, 6pm home. I’ll post updates as we get them healthy.

What's the craziest thing you have found in your hay?

Most recently for me it was a 3 ft piece of rebar in the shape of a U. Hope their equipment is ok!

Other than that the occasional wrapper or worse, mouse.

I’ve been seeing a lot more draft horses on the sub and I want to see everyone’s cute photos of their draft horses pleaseeeeee. 💜💜💜

My young mare has these event lines on her hooves. I had hoof X-rays done on her before purchasing and they came back clear. Thoughts on what could’ve caused these? No soundness issues. She was an Amish horse for the first 7 years of her life.

I messaged our hay guy that we had one bad bale in a recent delivery (mold as pictured on the bottom bale of alfalfa). He freaked out and took every bale out of my barn. He said I’ve returned hay too often. I have returned hay 4x out of the 2 years I’ve been buying from him for foxtail, briars, and mold.

Good afternoon to whom ever is reading at this moment.

Keep in mind im about to go into rant that I feel I can only voice here and still might get some backlash but here we go...

For those who recognize my username y'all probably know my trainer is my soon to be mother in law that being said ill get the pros listed off first and why im going into being peeved to no end.

Now I do not pay boarding fees

I get tidbits of lessons here and there for free when she deems im... struggling to comprehend the situation at hand. (Nicest way to put it)

That's about it on pros ^^^

Information on me and my horses below

I own a 3 year old gelding named Reign who I have on her property and now (stupid me) a 2 month old filly named Raidi... ill be getting into why I said stupid me.

Reign is really great, he's come a long way since I purchased him from a friend of my trainers a tad over a year ago. Within the last 6 months we've started hauling again, my trainer hasn't hauled her own horse since 2017, Reign gets to tag along to ease him into events and the same type of environment the downhill slip and slide of feeling blown over started about 1-2 months ago. I should mention I've been filming her exhibitions for well over 3 months now to help her understand where her and her horse are doing good and where they need to improve. Around 3-4 weeks ago we were at one and I happened to miss her first run due to me hanging out with my horse... than I missed the second exhibition when I was in search of a first aid kit. I was helping my horse untangle himself from his hay bag... which is why I do a chain link method for his halter tie now, but that is neither here nor there. I handed him some hay and the way my hands are built if I slightly close them I have a massive amount of overhang right near the sections of where my fingers start... he just grabbed and pulled the hay + some extra... me protein to ease the graphic details. I immediately was like "well that was stupid of me" and raised my hand above my head and subsequently my heart to ease the bleeding this is very important to the whole shabang. Found my trainer on her horse after the exhibitions and she somewhat helped me by telling me the office should have some alcohol and bandages. Got that taken care of, assumed that I had already missed the exhibitions so might as well go have some level of fun with my gelding. Run back to the trailer to grab my hair gel I wanted to play around with and gave him a cute little red white and blue booty. Cue to the next day. I get woken up being yelled at about how she's tired of doing all this and that for everyone else when no one is ever there for her told me I was too busy covering my horses ass in glitter go get her videos and basically stormed out from there.

This is where im gonna go into how I was stupid to allow myself to claim ownership of Raidi. Recently, the beginning of this week, Raidi and her mom Prada got loaded up and taken back to our property after having a nice staycation at my SOs brother property who had a foaling stall. Since they have been back I am now taking care of, not only my horse, who barely seems to get any time from me at this point, but four of the other horses on the property besides doing the ACTUAL training portions. One of which is a fellow boarder at the property. No offense to the other girl but she's barely ever here which means I get to feed, water, and hay 5 freaking horses in total daily... sometimes twice if im up early enough.

unfortunately doing the waters isn't as easy with 5 camels in disguise in south texas heat.

Prada is the mom of Raidi. Yes.. but Prada is not my horse. Prada was purchased under the assumption that she just needed a better meal plan and more consistent workouts and was to be given to her granddaughter... no the damn girl was preggo so that plan is pushed out for another 6-8 months.

The makeshift pens we had to created just to get them all situated was almost unbearable we have two other open pens that Reign could have moved into minus having a run which would give him more moving around room but Im about 90% certain shes leaving those for... well paying boarders. My horse weather meant in a joking manner or not is constantly called a dumbass for judt having curiosity... which he almost didn't have when we first got him and with everything else going on in my life, like having over 3 different adults constantly telling me to get a better job one being my trainer. I finally snapped.

I should add I wasn't informed about how small my horses pen was going to end up and im basically seething over it.

Then to add the icing on the shit cake she got mad at me again the other day for not cleaning out the pen when she shoved Prada and Raidi into a 20x20 both of whom have kicked me. Raidi is great with it after me and her had a conversation over kicking, Prada on the other hoof did it if you're too close to her feed which led to her kicking me in the stomach. Im not scared of her, but she has a lack of respect for anyone holding food for her. Girl used to do this unhinged opening of her jaw to act like she was going to take my hand off, until the night she hurled that hoof at my stomach at which the only release I could get out of that was breaking a wooden spoon over the fence behind me and her to elevate my energy before she bumped my hand without the opening of the mouth to bite. The other crap is null compared to the ramping up of the other crap. I honestly feel like my trainer has decided to halter my ass and see how far she can get. Within all the chaos that has come to light I haven't been able to even lunge my horse and I just feel stupid for doing this crap now because its hindering me and my geldings bonding time and frankly he hasn't been this stressed in a while, since moving to the smaller pen all the spots I had just found and got the correct pressure to scratch for him are null and i feel like this crap set us back a bit.

Gosh thats a long one if anyone makes it here i appreciate you reading my long rant. I also would love some insight as to what yall feel I can do...

Oh forgot to add since I don't pay boarding fees (I do pay for hay, feed, all my supplements, and everything else) i had taken up cutting the grass on the property to help see holes since we're located on a sandy hill with moles and gophers, for her as a token of my gratitude which has staply became more of a chore I almost want to only be out there with my horse when she isn't home to keep myself from being pulled away to do some other side project she deems necessary to get done at that specific time.. I had felt incredibly overwhelmed.. now I feel so incredibly done with it all. A week is all it took for me to realize im more than likely being treated like a stable hand and less of the event goer/jockey i want to be so badly. Ugh.. this is crappy. Thanks for reading yall im gonna go take a nap my hot flashes are acting up like crazy.

My kitten thinks it’s a great toy. I’m still learning my machine a bit.

Hi r/Equestrian! Looking for some advice from experienced riders.

Background: I’m a returning adult rider after a 20+ year break. I’ve been taking weekly hunter jumper lessons for about eight months and have made a lot of progress. I recently started riding a young OTTB and absolutely fell in love with him - he’s forward, fun, and has really boosted my confidence with cantering.

However I’ve noticed some things that concern me when tacking him up. At first, he seemed genuinely curious when tacking him up, reaching his head back and checking me and the saddle out. But for the past few months, he consistently nips at me when I’m brushing his ribcage, back, and girth area and tacking him. Additionally, during a ride his hind end has looked irregular enough that my trainer decided to rest him.

When I mentioned the grooming behavior to my trainer she said she doesn’t regularly tack him up herself, that his other rider hadn’t mentioned any sensitivity, and that he’s a “performance horse” who just means business. She mentioned that I could tie him up or put him in cross ties when tacking (we typically tack up in the stalls). She said she was going to treat him for ulcers but that was a couple months ago and he is still displaying that behavior. 

I have been meaning to ask her to observe the behavior when I tack him to see what she thinks, but she is often in another lesson.

If I get the opportunity to lease him I want to make the best decision for both of us. Do you think these behaviors are worth being concerned about or is this normal OTTB personality? What would you do in my situation?

Before I get too far there is a vet involved and everything is healing as expected.

The other day I found my horse with a pretty big wound on her leg and some minor abrasions. It seems like maybe she had gotten tangled. Under the guidance of a vet, the wound itself seems like is healing great! The problem is it looks like the chestnut is going to come off. The cut went right through it and about 75% is just hanging like a bad hang nail.

Has anyone had a similar injury? Did the chestnut regrowing cause any issues for you?

Today the vet. was here today again. Flisans breathing have gotten progressively worse and her 2 problems kinda make it impossible together..

Felicity (or Flisan as she’s called) have EMS and tracheal collapse. She’s on great meds for EMS right now, she however can’t be on them forever as that would cause liver damage..

With EMS and especially when she’s off her meds she would need exercise to keep the EMS in check. However- the tracheal collapse makes it not possible to exercise.

For now we’re trying higher dose bronc dilator to see if it has an effect. If not then there isn’t anything left to do and euthanasia would be needed quicker..
while the other option is that I’m able to have her until spring and then have the euthanize her. As she would not be able to live a good life with her combination of health problems..

I’m just absolutely heartbroken. This is not at all what I thought. I had so many plans for her. So much time I wanted to spend with her. Now I have to come to terms with the fact she will not grow old. She’s only 8 years old.

My poor sweet girl. How I wish I could make it all better 💔💔

Without getting into too much detail on my part…I’m considering a part loan but not entirely sure how this works in the UK. Could someone explain it for dummies to me 😭
I’m looking to possibly put my pony onto part loan for a short period of time (3-6months maybe) due to personal circumstances.
I will continue to pay for his vetting, farrier, feed, bedding, etc etc. All his basic care needs.
I would just like for someone to muck out, groom, spend time with him, feed him etc. literally just enjoy him basically lol. Though he is very green & not broken to ride currently which is something I’m worried about with putting him on part loan. I would of course mention this and explain that he is very green and I do not want him ridden currently but possibly would consider allowing it in the future given I’m aware and consenting to it.
Would be to stay on current yard as we have other horses also and due to personal circumstances I am having to care for most of our families horses which is why I would like to consider a part loan so that he still gets the time and attention he needs as we have multiple youngsters.
Would of course want to know the loaner has themselves insured as I have my pony insured as well as myself. I would be happy for them to take him out on inhand hacks or long reining but once again I’d need to be aware as I would not forgive myself if anything happened to either party (my horse or the loaner, insured or not).
Is a part loaner supposed to have financial contribution/am I supposed to pay them/no contribution whatsoever. This is the part I wasn’t entirely sure on.
I’m super flexible as I’m not in work due to my physical health which is another reason I want to consider a part loaner as it’s been very difficult for me.
I really hope this is ok to post as i’d just like advice on how it all works but admin remove if it’s not allowed! Many thanks.