you are justifying your snark by saying it is in response to what you are perceiving as snark? correct?
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No - I was saying that I brought up my double hip surgeries after she asked if I had ever shown in more that a W/T class. Which I have, and that particular class I did because I was 3 months off of said double hip surgeries and felt safe enough on my (obviously ill bred puke of a saddlebred) to ride him in the class.
No snark existed for my part. Then I was told my double hip surgeries were irrelevant to the issue at hand, as were the Arabians that I trained that were also brought up in the post.
So weird, am I in an alternate universe?
Let me clear up a few things - just like everyone else, I chimed in with experiences.
What made my experience a bit different was that I had specific experiences with a saddlebred that made me seek out saddlebred-specific trainers to try to figure out why 4 “well qualified” trainers couldn’t or wouldn’t work with mine.
I went to multiple saddlebred trainers and shows to try to get my head around what was going on, and learned a ton. Things that I found absolutely shocking from a hunter/jumper perspective were explained and translated, sometimes well, sometimes poorly.
While I would never say my experience is the end all be all, of course differing perspectives exist, which is the one truth about horsemanship - it’s crazy how horses, no matter how much you learn, can continue to challenge you - it is a valid perspective of a perception coming from another space.
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What are you and your two Saddlebreds doing now? Do you show dressage with them or jump them? Or are you focused mainly on breed shows?
I’ve known a few really nice all around sport horse types that were Saddlebreds. Not necessarily successful show horses at dressage or hunters, but good mounts for kids and good horses in terms of getting out of the arena and doing stuff. The ones I have known in real life are VERY different than what I have seen represented in videos of Saddleseat riding and breed shows. Honestly, I’ve always assumed they are a breed which can often be retrained for different disciplines. But, sometimes their conformation limits them when it comes to dressage and jumping. It depends on the individual though - much like other things.
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I said I’d trained Saddlebreds and National Show Horses. I didn’t mention Arabs otherwise, except to say they are considered “hot bloods” along with Saddlebreds and Thoroughbreds. ???
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One of mine is still being unscrewed up (he actually came with a terrible balking issue, which is very dangerous) the second one does a little of everything!
He does dressage, I just jumped him the other day, I’ve done some ranch horse work with him, thrown a rope, dragged logs and he is absolutely killer at obstacle courses. His conformation is not limiting except that he would probably never make a “normal” hunter because of his motion (knee action). Which is why a saddlebred hunter class is actually quite fun!
He is the one that set me on this course. Initially I was told that he was not rideable at all, by a presumably well qualified eventing trainer who I had employed because I had taken several years off of riding, gained a bunch of weight, and developed some PTSD from a bad fall (not off of him). I hired her because I didn’t feel great about riding a 5 year old in that condition.
It wasn’t true. Not in the least.
Then I took him to other trainers, all of which had varying reasons for not working with him. Finally, out of desperation, I took saddleseat lessons to understand so that I could work with him myself. That worked. 
Of course they can be retrained into different disciplines - I’m not sure I suggested that they couldn’t - in fact, I have added multiple posts showing saddlebreds having success in multiple disciplines including dressage, eventing, and ranch work!
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She is so pretty… that eye… 
I’m so sorry to hear about the choking - hopefully all ends up ok! Is she on a pelleted feed? 
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The NSH is a Saddlebred Arabian cross. Then you brought them up again later.shrug
It’s fine.
You’ve had one set of experiences, I’ve had another. That’s what makes the world go round!
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Thank you!
Yes thankfully I’m told she’s past the choke and is taking in water and everything normally. She is on pelleted grain that we will soak for the next few days.
They will be letting her back out in a bit to be with her herd bc she’s stressing inside right now.
The vet thinks that if she has ulcers (which we are treating) maybe that is causing acid reflux and making her cough/not swallow. It’s a theory!
Here she is just looking sad to be inside.
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In an effort to get ahead of it: this is a makeshift stall. We got some flooding the other day and the barn owner put two of hers in there that were closest to the flood. That’s not a standard stall at all and is for temporary purposes. Honey had eyes on her the whole time she was in the barn.
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I used to know one who was an awesome amatuer jumper.
As well as being an absolute ham personality-wise.
.
My Saddlebred breeding freind/client had both 5-gaited horses and a pair of full brothers whom she had competing in combined driving.
And she’d regularly trail ride her showhorses, and sometimes take them out around the neighborhood hitched to a cart.
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Yep - I forgot to mention that I also trail ride mine and we broke him to cart as well.
I don’t feel confident doing so at home just because I only took a handful of driving lessons and he is still technically green at driving. I have a cart and harness with breeching, and I’ve driven him in the harness not hitched a good few times and he’s stellar, I just feel like I need to be a bit handier with the lines to feel confident enough to not make a mistake.
The borked up balking one reportedly drives, but I’m not sure I want to test that theory until I get him reliably forward and turn off freeze mode.
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Do you work with a trainer of your own now to help with stuff you want to do that’s discipline specific, like dressage or driving? Or are you having a good time and success just working with your horses on your own?
I do!
I strongly believe that all riders and trainers should seek out training. We do not only regular lessons with a dressage trainer (who was a painstaking find - again, hence my comments about dressage trainers - I did finally find a great one who works well with him and I, although she does not ride him), I take regular jumping lessons from a great gal who is fantastic as eyes on the ground (she has ridden him), and I still on occasion take saddleseat lessons (not on him) because I find it sharpens my balance and my hand sensitivity and keeps me from under-riding, which is a bad habit I have from hunter-land. I have not yet found a driving trainer who is close enough, so we don’t drive at present. But when he was learning, I absolutely took lessons and it was not me in the lines. I’m NOT that brave. Driving, of all the things I’ve ever done, I find the scariest.
We’ve cliniced with western trainers, and I’m about to go to a working equitation clinic with one in a few weeks. That will encompass a lot of what he enjoys.
I’m not anti-trainer in the least. I LOVE to learn
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That’s awesome.
And I hear you about driving. I am in awe of people who do Combined Driving. Serious skills and seriously brave.
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No kidding.
I’ll admit, my fear probably comes from my earliest exposure to driving, which was standing on a cross-country field on my mount when a shetland pony who had dumped it’s drivers came careening across the field, cart bouncing, pony galloping hell-for-leather out of fear. It cemented the “driving is really cool, but when it goes sideways it REALLY goes sideways” impression. My heart was in my throat the whole time, and while everyone walked away from the incident without injury, I’m not sure if the pony ever drove again (nor the people for that matter).
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If her ulcers are that bad, that could cause a LOT of the behaviors you’re seeing too. So glad that you’re getting them treated. That ulcer thing is a beast.
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I’m terrified to drive. It’s hard enough getting a bolting/spooking horse to stop when you’re on their back, let alone in a cart.
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So very happy to hear Honey is doing better. For what it’s worth I always add water to all my horses’ feed. It’s just an easy way to avoid choke. And it really doesn’t have to soak very long. Just a couple of minutes.
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I th,ink the shift in focus towards WBs (and Iberians, for some trainers) is getting stronger, at least in dressage programs where showing is the goal.
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That is what I have noticed. It’s probably not all areas, and of course, not all trainers, just like not all horses (of whatever breed) but that was definitely eye opening. I would also not take a saddlebred to a hunter trainer without immense care.
But as for my experiences - One gal who I interviewed (who rides regularly with Betsy Steiner so in theory she’s good) told me that saddlebreds couldn’t canter, and that they were all gaited. I knew that particular trainer wasn’t going to work. Another trainer who has her medals and so I presumed her to be competent, we got to the point where she worked my horse, and when he didn’t immediately understand her “move away” cues in hand, aggressively whipped him calling him “not submissive” which is…my eyeballs just about popped out of my head and I grabbed him back from her. Thankfully, he did not become whip shy but he was anxious in hand for awhile after that. I had watched oodles of her lessons before deciding to let her work my horse, and was NOT expecting that.
The dressage trainer that I had luck with actually attended William Woods University, where they had a lot of saddlebreds, before heading to her dressage apprenticeships. She loves my guy and we’ve often talked about how well he could do if we focused solely on dressage. We finally settled on doing working equitation because it keeps him (and me) interested. And of course, we dabble in lots of other things!
The eventing trainer that I mentioned before - I had told her that he wiggled in the cross ties (again, when I got him he tap danced, he now stands quietly) and in order to “fix” it she tied him to the wall in his stall in the barn, alone, and when he climbed the wall and had to be cut down she deemed him a problem to tie. Well then he very much became more anxious about tying. That was fantastic.
I taught him to ground tie, and then once he was totally comfortable with his feet staying still, we did a tiny patience tie (not even a true western style patience tie) post-ride with me within eyesight and now finally he’s solid and golden. Took much longer than expected but I imagine if he hadn’t been left to climb a wall perhaps we wouldn’t have had that problem. Hence my comment about when he finally cocked a foot on the cross ties I was almost brought to tears.
I’ve been fairly upset with a lot of professionals, and I’ve worked with many, through the years. From leaving a horse with known buddy-issues out in the pasture to last and being crabby about the horse being a pain to bring in, to the issues I have described in this thread, the lack of true horsemanship is rampant (and I’m sure it is in other countries as well). While most horses can and do recover from these incidents, it just causes so much heartache.
The ONLY thing this has to do with Honey is my great care in wanting her to find a trainer who can work with her and her horse, and advise her well if the horse becomes not a great match. I’ve also noticed that the best matches often also come from the trainer picking the specific horse for the client, which I think has as much to do with the suitability of the particular horse to the client as the suitability of the particular horse’s temperament to the way the trainer likes to train. A mismatch in the latter is every bit as devastating to the pair as a mismatch to the former much of the time.
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