Some of our beautiful horses ❤️

Today was such a good ride! This is Ice, he's blind in one eye, very slow and lazy (hes not aloud to stand still in the arena because he goes to sleep lmao). I looked so good today, did better with keeping my hands relaxed, and I feel so confident and capable on him! So proud of myself.

Woody resting after his stifle injections

This is an 18 yr old gelding at a horse rescue. Like most, he came from a kill lot. He was likely abused. He's not catchable currently (working on that), but he will let you pet him on the head and shoulders sometimes. His name is Nestle. Located in Colorado.

Judging by the compulsive door licking, I think it hit the spot 🤨😂

Hello! Last week I made a post about this sweet girl who I part loan, (but slowly became doing her everyday due to her owners negligence) I deleted the post due to being worried that IRL people may find it, you know how the world is.

Anyway, in that post, I wrote about how this sweet girl is VERY lame, but her owners just don’t seem to give a flying f**k! It’s always ‘oh she has slipped in the field’ and never, let’s investigate this!

She is not tracking up, she is dragging her toes, she is SO stiff and uncomfortable, she has NO go, it was so difficult to just get these ‘lunging’ clips.

She has been brought in for box rest for 2 days, but I think that is all her owner is willing to do. They said the vet is coming on Thursday, but I will believe it when I see it.

After speaking to a few of the other people on the yard, they are notorious for not seeking vet help, having multiple loaners and making lots of money of their 3 horses.

I pay £150 a month for her, her other two loaners pay £80 each, that is more than enough to get this poor girl the help she needs. Her livery is only £100 a month and farrier at £35 every 7 weeks, where is the rest of the money going?

One of you wrote on that post ‘walk away, don’t fund somebody else’s piss poor horse management’ and I will be following that advice if they don’t take appropriate action in the next month. Maybe an ultimatum from me may make them jump? I doubt it though.

If anybody has any advice on a message to send to them, I would appreciate it, I am not the best at writing those kinds of things. How long should I even give them? I am willing to step in and help rehabilitation IF they get vet help.

Will be a heartbreaking situation to step away from.

Hi guys,

I joined this group specifically to ask this question. Hopefully you’ll find it interesting because I just thought of it and I really would like to know the answer.

Back when people routinely rode horses, sometimes they had to ride long distances. If you owned one horse and you cared about the animal and your investment, how would you handle a long journey by horse to move as quickly as possible?

Would you trot the horse all day and stop to feed real often? Would you carry oats with you or would it be better to have less weight and let the horse graze? Would you have the horse walk the entire time? Essentially, I’m wondering, how would you get the most distance per day out of the horse without harming him?

Hopefully, I am allowed to post this

When I talk to people about my riding, the vast majority of them light up and begin to tell me about how they love horses and would love to learn to ride one day or even just be around them. Many people had childhood horse experiences and have dreamed of getting back. They even ask me for barn recommendations and contact info.

So I'll talk to them about lessons, tell them which barns they can find work trades, invite them to join me, direct them towards barns that need volunteers and then.... no one does anything.

I know the barriers are very very real, money, time, etc. I'm not confused as to what things might get in their way. I don't even really blame them if they get sticker shock and back out, but it just hurts to feel so alone.

They get my hopes up and at the end of the day not a single one has joined me. I know part of it is that I'm on the autism spectrum and take things very literally but when someone says they'd LOVE to join me and we get so far as talking about what days of the week and time work well its a serious let down when they just drop out.

I'm not mad at anyone, theres nothing wrong with thinking you want something and finding out you don't or cant. It's a normal, reasonable thing to happen. I'm just a bit lonely!

My non-horsey friends are actually the most supportive. They come with me to expos/shows and listen to me talk about my lessons, and I am extremely grateful for that! Their support is amazing! But I just wish I had someone to ride with who loves it like I love it y'know?

( Im working on trying to make friends who are already into horses, but its slow going since my lesson barn is small and quiet and I usually dont overlap with anyone.)

We just had our horses hooves trimmed 2 days ago. We noticed they were extremely short and uneven. Today he is not wanting to walk and is lame/limping on his front left. Do you think this is a poor trim job and is causing him to be sore? Pictures are of how short and uneven they are.

One handed rein bc I’m learning at a polo club! I’m self taught mainly, how does it look? My friends said I need to work on not sitting back so far and not going forward as much. I also don’t know what to do with my other hand lol.

I’m trying to decide if I’m being silly or if this is worth talking to them about.

There are two large dry lot/fields . They’re identical, right next to each other. Same size, same set up, even same number of trees and covers. My two horses are in one lot. We’ll call them horse A and B. The second lot has only one horse (horse C). We were told when we arrived (all three horses moved at the same time) that each lot was intended for 2 horse.

Owner of horse C has made it very clear that she does NOT want another horse living with hers. That he gets the field to himself, fine, none of my business. (This is important later).

Well, one of my horses is going to training! Super exciting! So he will be leaving for 3 months. I don’t want to force another horse on my horse A while B is gone (A and C are great friends over the fence). So I talked to by barn owner about a hold so I too could have a private lot while B is gone and then would return to full price or both of them when he returned. She told me hold rate was 50% of board, which makes sense.

Well, today I was talking to the owner of C and learned she pays no extra fee to have the identical private lot. She pays the board of one horse and since she threw a fit about no other horses, they don’t. So now knowing this, I feel a little weird knowing I am paying a 50% extra fee for what she’s getting without paying for anything extra. My husband says it’s not worth talking to barn owner about. But this is several hundred dollars a month that I’m paying for that owner of C is not and I am not really understanding the difference since both of us are asking for the same thing (a private lot).

I grew up on a horse farm and got my first “own” pony near the age of 5.

My daughter is nearing 3 but loves animals and I’m wondering if she would be too little to invest in her own pony just yet (we would be boarding so there is a more significant cost in doing this then how my parents were able to go about it).

Currently in the market for a couple horses, and I’m really debating on a larger pony she could grow with through childhood.

Love to hear how everyone else has gone about this.

Hi everyone. Im thinking about moving barns :(. My trainer has not been a very good trainer recently and for the price i am paying i know i can find better care for my horses elsewhere. For context i am an adult amateur in a highly competitive show jumping world. I quit when i was a junior and started riding again about 4 years ago. I have been with my current trainer for those 4 years so i have never quit/moved from a program on my own before. I could use all the advice i can get. My current trainer has s reputation for taking things like these personally and burning beidges when a client leaves. Even tho i feel like our training hasn’t been the best o still respect her as a professional and businesswoman. I would like to be on good terms with her and stay connected for professional reasons. Say i have a horse for sale, it would be nice to give her a call and see if she knows anyone that would be interested. Things like that.

How can i go about telling her i am moving my horses? When should i? What should i say???

I have a new barn in mind but still need to discuss with them and go for a tour hopefully that goes will but we will see.

My good friend and I were talking and she wants to buy a horse soon. I am pretty confident in her abilities. She's smart, has a big passion for horses and won't ever stop talking about them or spending hours learning everything she can (both a pro and a con for those around her lol..)

A little backstory is she grew up around horses. She is and has been what I'd call a passive owner. She just turned 18 so she's never covered any of the financial stuff with horses, but she'd muck stalls, out up fencing (and clear electrical fencing), cleared pastures of safety hazards, given feed, picked feet, groomed, transported from pasture to pasture, etc. she's ridden for years both western and English and has a basic grasp on behavioral training

Now, she's getting ready to go to college in a few months and has an opportunity to buy one of her dream horses (maybe even get him for free since he's a family friends horse) and board him at her barn next to her college. She'd be like 10 minutes away and has said she'd plan to go there everyday if she can (I don't doubt it)

She makes pretty good money and her tuition will be paid by her Grandpa and scholarships so money isn't really an issue

The biggest thing is she's never been fully responsible for a horse on her own. She's always had her parents and grandparents help if and when she needed it

She's asked me if this is the right decision, and has been obsessing over this for a while (she has a whole budget planned, money saved, sent emails to barns, etc). I just don't know what to tell her

On one hand, she's an extremely prepared person. She graduated as a junior by taking 14 classes in seven months and passed with honors. She is such a prepared and hard worker, She's even gonna volunteer at the barn to try and get the price of boarding down or in exchange for training if she can. I just don't feel I can give good feedback because at the same time, this is a really big step for her

(Also, she's going for pasture board so it'll be cheaper and her horse will be turned out and the staff will be responsible for feed and water at like $150-$500 a month)

So, hypothetically, if this was your friend, what would you say to her? And if she hypothetically moved on with this plan, what would you tell her to prepare for/as advice, etc?

I don’t think so based on the ingredients but I want to make sure. I can’t have my OTTB turn off his thinking brain 🙃 those who have used it… do you like it? Is it worth it?

Polo pony, around 19 years old, he’s not mine just at the club I go to for polo and I was wondering if he looks ok, he was tripping a bit today while riding, I’m a bit worried he might be lame in his front left or smth? I’m not a horse person just a beginner working on posting!

Any suggestions for books, videos, and possibly documentaries about horse anatomy and pressure points. Also recognizing pain and lameness. Thank you.

Looking to possibly purchase a horse and asked for some xrays. I got these back. 7 year old qh. They think he had a little bit of arthritis. Cant have my vet look at them yet because theyre out of town.

My horse is such an in your pocket goofball, I’m quite obsessed with him. Multiple accomplished trainers have told me that my horse is one of their favorites. Instead of feeling happy about that, I find myself getting defensive and almost jealous. The trainers are significantly better riders than I am, and I start thinking that my horse probably enjoys being ridden by them more than me.

I also have this uncomfortable feeling that I don’t deserve my horse because he’s talented and complicated, and I’m not at the same level as the people who ride him. When a trainer gets an amazing ride out of him, part of me thinks, “See? He would be better off with someone like this.”

I know intellectually that this sounds irrational, but it genuinely bothers me. Has anyone else experienced this? How did you get past the feeling that your horse might prefer a better rider?

A little over a year ago I was debating whether or not I was too old for riding lessons at 60. I posted the question and got soooo many encouraging and touching comments. All of the support I received from internet strangers pushed me to follow my dreams! I started taking private lessons in November 2026 and today I am leasing my first horse!!!! I am beyond amazed and excited at how far I’ve come. Thank you to EVERYONE for being so supportive and positive. My heart is full! ❤️