Baby Greenie Support Group now open: Share Your Pain!

[JumperEq]

Beezer-
I feel for ya. My last horse was topped out and I wanted to go higher. After 6 and a half years of owning her and going through some difficult times, I made the decision to sell her. I had her sold and then I told the family they couldn’t have her. I didn’t trust them. I wasn’t in that big of a hurry to sell. (You can always be picky ) Anyways, Sweets kinda made the decision for me when she colicked…we had to put her down. Okay…maybe this is a bad example. Yes, forget what I said. Point being this: It sounds like you have a lot of choices to choose from. When I’m put in this kind of position, I usually have my gut feeling on what I should do. Go with it. It’s usually the right decision in the end.

As for my greenie, she was such a good girl! First time riding her in the snow and the first time I could get out in 2 weeks. Weee! She was very “forward” but nothing too uncontrollable. She doesn’t get hot or up at all. I like that. We did mostly trot work (circle circle circle) and a tiny bit of cantering. Nothing major as we’re both way too out of shape. Plan is to ride her again tomorrow. Woohoo!

.:Erin B #2:.
Won’t you let me take you for a ride.
You can stop the world try to change my mind.
Won’t you let me show you how it feels.
You can stop the world but you won’t change me.
~~Cold~~“Bleed”~*~

[Merry]

First off, to Buster’s Mom, congrats on making improvements! Remember: “One step forward (into the abyss of the show arena), two steps backward.”

Buster says, “You know, it ain’t easy being green!”

Okay, yes, I do sew, but only as a creative outlet. I constructed made-to-order pony dolls, complete with dresses and pantaloons, or huntcoats and trousers. One year, that’s all I did from Halloween to Dec. 22. I made tons of $, but I haven’t looked at the pattern since, LOL!

As for the saddle pads, caps and sweatshirts… me thinks I could make use of the embroidery shop in town, but what do I do about the picture? Or how about caps that just say, “Member of the Baby Greenie Support Group of North America”?

“Charter Member of the Baby Greenie Support Group of North America”

[LaurieB]

I hope Tigger gets a diagnosis you can live with.

And wouldn’t it be nice if tomorrow’s horse turned out to be the one? We’ll need to hear a full report.

[LaurieB]

Merry, that fleece lined girth is the Millers Roma Girth, tres inexpensive, so easy to take care of, and Tess loves it.

Lord Helpus, it has taken years of training (human, not equine ) to get them to this point. It’s nice to finally reap the benefits.

By the way, it wasn’t the size of the pictures I ordered that was embarrassing, it was the quantity. As in one for every room of the house.

[wtywmn4]

CONGRATULATIONS Bumpkin. The “over the hill gang” has a new member, oh and welcome

[Bumpkin]

My normal “Ploddy” trusty perfect ladies ammie horse Elliot, became a raging TB last night!!!
(hmmm thought I bought a Warmblood so I would not have that hot TB mentality to ride in my olde age)

I swear he read what I wrote and the rest of you wrote after me!! hahaha

Twice he bolted down the long side of the arena while cantering along, head up, ears pricked and that thin tail up over his back!! woohoo

I was so happy that my trainer was there the second, and worse one to talk me through it, because I was real ready to do a mid ride lunge.

We worked on lots of circles, and yielding from side to side, after I cantered him around about fifty times, haha telling myself the whole way that I was suppose to stay on and work it out.

I also learned, “The Wall Is My Friend”! haha

When we started our gymnastics I also felt he had this fire I had never experienced with my dear Elliot.
When we did some bigger jumps, for us, at the end of the lesson he was so good.
Got our leads and he really listened to ME!!
I love it when he bows his neck and does his horsey purrrpurrrpurrr.

I left the lesson on a good note, and feeling Elliot and I coud do anything!!

Love my horse and trainer, and wouldn’t be here without them.

[Duffy]

Thanks, Bumpkin!!! And YES, I hugged BOTH of my trainers today!!!

[Bumpkin]

Oh Elliot loves to bow his neck and canter around doing the breezing sound.
I love it and call it purrrring, now you are going to tell me it is not allowed???

The only problem with the purring is I tend to think it as striding and he will lengthen his stride without changing the purr so it can be troublesome at times!! haha

But I still love the sound and find it relaxing.

[Bumpkin]

Elliot is great to get on, he stands and waits for his mommy

But yesterday after getting him exactly half clipped it was time for my lesson on him.
I checked the girth, as he does like to blow a bit, and when I got on the saddle slipped a tad bit too much

Haha I forgot I had put alot of Show Sheen on him to clip him and getting that saddle to stay in place was funny!!!

[SquishTheBunny]

I am thinking about buying another! Sigh.

Well before I get on about her, I will tell you that my very baby green is doign AMAZING! The umbilical cord (aka lunge line) has been cut and we were stearing on our own. We even left the sacred round pen and went for a walk around the field! Good baby green!

Anyway. I found another. Please stop me. Please. I have no money left! I think I need help. Or another support group. “People who cant stop buying baby greens”.

[Bumpkin]

I think Elliot and I would stumble all over ourselves to have the honour of showing in the same arena!!

Elliot is a sweetie, of course unless our trainer is there speaking with us we shuffle along like a pair of goons trying to look like we know what we are doing, while everyone else is busy and working away at shoulder ins etc…

Otherwise he is the most wonderful greenie that any ammy could ask for.
He is sensitive, yet very forgiving of any rider errors and will gleefully go over the jump with some mixed messages from me

Hammie is as well suited for your personality as Elliot is for mine.
I think you would be quickly bored with my little fat bay horse
Where Hammie gives you hours of pleasure figuring him out and strutting your stuff, i.e. what you two have accomplished that day!!

DAILY INSPIRATION

Reach high, for stars lie hidden in your soul.
Dream deep, for every dream precedes the goal.

-Pamela Vault Starr

[LaurieB]

Elliot looks wonderful, Bumpkin!

When are we going to see you jumping him like that?

[Cactuskate]

I have such a willing greenie, but alas, I have no trainer within 200 miles for work over fences. I just can’t get myself to do the “do-it-yourself” program.

So we keep going round and round on our 20 meter circle…he is broke to death on the flat though. Well execpt for that right lead canter issue, but I think that might just be a bit ME.

Bumpkin, I am so jealous of you and your wonderul trainer.

“The older I get, the better I used to be.”

[AAJumper]

Another thumbs down for Vicodin! I took it once at work in the morning after getting a tooth pulled, on an empty stomach (dumb!). I felt like I was drunk! I don’t like the way it makes me feel…like, well, drugged!

Bumpkin, I’ve seen people wear the GPA’s in the hunters. I think you’ll see that more and more. Just make sure you get the approved titanium one!

visit www.victorianfarms.com

[Paddys_Mom]

<BLOCKQUOTE class=“ip-ubbcode-quote”><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Merry:

As for the cantering issue: Don’t get me started, don’t even get me started…sigh. Barbie, the Hanoverian Cow Beast (aka “The Flying Couch”) is just now getting the idea of cantering in somewhat of a straight line, at somewhat of a steady pace. I no longer have to pop her with the crop at the instant I ask for the canter with my leg. Finally, we’re passed the “leg/whack/cluck, canter… strung out/balance/break… leg/whack/cluck, canter… crooked/straighten/break… leg/whack/cluck, canter…” You get the idea.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I have just started riding my stable owner’s 4 year old QH mare and you just described us! Her walk makes her look lame - long stride right leg, short stride left leg. The owner asked me if she was off, but I explained that if I constantly give her leg at every step she walks with rhythm.

She actually trots beautifully…well okay JOGS beautifully - she was started Western Pleasure. When I post, she does the giraffe thing until she relaxes again. Anytime we come off the rail at a trot, she reverts to her jog.

Cantering is as you described. Cue with leg, ignore, cue with crop, lunge forward onto forehand, fall inside, fall outside (what’s straight?), break to trot. Sometimes, for variety, gallop like mad - who needs balance when you’re going fast??!!

Oddly enough, she can sidepass, leg yield, turn on the forehand, turn on the haunches, and whoa like a champ.

[Cinnybren]

Awww Beezer, no worries, that’s what we’re all here for.

Mr. Murphy is getting better since we got the new saddle. (Thanks to Bumpkin!) However, previous to the poor saddle fit, he was Mr. easy-going, laid back, W/T/C being fairly round and jumping some small courses. Now, he’s not as calm, seems quite “worried” (my new trainer who didn’t see him “before” thinks he’s “hot”) and HATES trotting, still wants to giraffe and not relax, cantering is MUCH better and we can stay fairly round most of the time… Could it be that he’s still thinking that “it’s going to hurt”? I can feel how tense he gets through his withers and neck… I just want him to feel better and back to his happy-boy self. Any thoughts?

[Lord_Helpus]

DCM – several important things you need to know about OTTB’s:

1. They have never been crosstied. They are brushed in their stalls, tied to a rope in the center of the back wall. Introduce crosstieing slowly (I tie the far side and then hold the lead rope in my hand, switching crossties as I switch sides.) NOW is the time where you can teach him that crossties are either OK or to be feared for life. Go Slowly and do not let him feel constrained!

2. At the track all horses wear girth covers (so any skin fungus is not spread from one horse to another.) So he probably has rarely, if ever, had a girth put directly on him.

3. Grooms at the track use stiff brushes and it is a OTTB thing that they are very wary of being groomed. Start slowly and use only soft brushes, very gently. On my recent OTTB’s, if I cannot get dirt off with a soft brush, I hose the horse to clean him. It often takes about 6 months before they learn that grooming is not a painful experience.

Also, in case you do not know: an OTTB will be VERY territorial about his stall. That has been his one place of refuge in a crazy world called “the backside”. Respect his space. He might try to nip (or at least pin his ears) if you try to do things to him in his stall. Take him out and work on him out of his stall – let his stall be HIS space until he settles in.

If you are new to the world of OTTB’s, please feel free to ask questions. It is important that you know where they are coming from so you can understand their behavoir.

[wtywmn4]

Prayers and jangling curbs for you Merry.

[Lord_Helpus]

TOTT – That is NOT a warm up ring – That is an oasis of sand into which you and your horse have been dropped for photographic effect…

Now a REAL Warm Up Ring – has at least 15 people in it (1 for every 3 square yards of space), All going in different directions (I used to think that clockwise and Counter-clockwise were the only 2 options – NOT TRUE!). Most of the horses are of different sizes and carrying riders of different ability (ALL poor at steering).

Where do you come from that warm up rings look like that?

[Pocket_Pony]

I just love your stories (and Merry’s) about life at El Ranchito!!! I can just picture Hammie’s escape and the ensuing pandemonium!

Sounds like Sam is a real keeper - I can’t wait to hear more stories about him!

On my personal baby greenie note…Mickey was so lazy and pokey on Friday that I was cantering him ON THE BUCKLE! There are a couple of hunters on the property who will go around on the buckle and I’ve always been jealous that I couldn’t do that too. So Friday, he was soooooo quiet that I just let my reins slip, held the buckle in one hand and waved to my friend with the other hand…ah, yes, he was so relaxed that I thought there could be hope for him yet as a hunter.

Cut to Saturday’s lesson - a whole 'nuther story indeed! Earlier in the day I had a fitting for a ReactorPanel saddle and tried a couple of them on Mickey. He seemed very happy - stretchy and bouncy and easily on the bit. He was very obliging while we rode outside in the rain (which we don’t ususally do because the footing isn’t great but there was a clinic in the indoor).
I came back for my lesson at 2:30, and when we went into the ring it was being groomed. We’ve been in the ring with the tractor before, no problem. BUT someone drove a pick-up into the ring to dismantle the jumps that had been set for the clinic. This entirely freaked Mickey out - he wouldn’t stand still and he just wanted to hop, skip and buck his way around the arena. Mr. Giraffe-man wouldn’t trot, so we cantered (if you could call it that) around and around and around and then just walked and let him settle. We actually finished up with a good jumping lesson, so I guess I can’t complain too much…it was just so typical. I think I’m making a quiet hunter (Friday) to deciding we’re going to have to go the jumper route because they don’t take too kindly to giraffes in the hunter ring.

So yesterday I get to the barn and one of the girls who was in the ring at the time of our explosions commented to me “I just wanted to let you know that you’re riding really well. Your horse looks difficult”. Is that a back-handed compliment or what?! Well, gee - I’m glad you think I’m riding well, but please don’t insult my horse, he’s a baby greenie after all!!!
(I did have to explain to her that we were cantering on the buckle on Friday!!)

~ batgirl - formerly known as splendid ~