Recent content by nianya

I have a mare and pony I keep on grazing livery north of Cambridge, but my job is south so I'm looking to move them nearer to work to make DIY/part livery possible for me. Does anyone know of places between Babraham Rd and the A14 (Fulbourn area I suppose) that may have grazing, hacking, and a...

We kept ours with a group of about 30 (mixed) for years. The geldings playfight more, but my mare used to get the entire herd galloping around the place. I think it was around 50 acres. Used to be quite the trek to bring them up to ride too :) Winter was a smaller sacrifice area where they'd...

I ride in my normal glasses and have for over a decade (totally blind otherwise). Fallen off and not lost or broken them. The best ones I ever had though, were these nice flexible titanium frames. The only accident I've ever been in where I broke my glasses was a crash in a small aircraft (not...

I like to lunge with driving reins as my mare responds more willingly that way than with the lunge line over her poll. Easiest with a surcingle and the bridle and that's all. She clearly responds to it more as if I was riding. If I don't have enough time to do that much, I use a rope halter...

I was looking for this when I moved here. Back in the NW US where the climate is similar and the ground is constantly saturated in winter the most common thing I found was a winter "sacrifice" paddock that was built for drainage or had been gravelled. At the very minimum horses were given a...

Old wives tale. Yes, the red gene *in humans* is related to poor pain killer and anaesthesia tolerance but that gene is not at all related to the chestnut genes in horses. Anecdotally, my chestnut mare is the sweetest girl I've ever met, a total contrast to my crazy grey mare. If the red gene...

I haven't shown much as the few shows I went to were terrible experiences. However, that said I think the worst is the level at which riders have some knowledge but not enough to know how much they still don't know. The amateur who thinks they know more than they do. And I've met these in...

I aim for the gentlest bit that works for the horse in the circumstances. I had a mare who'd been pretty badly abused and was terribly clever about getting away from bits (martingales, tiedowns, you name it). I finally started riding her in a jointed pelham and she was much better. I...

Nearly anything surgical really, though I would make an individual determination. I started with surgical colic and then realized that in general I haven't seen good results from surgeries for ligaments, stifles, or anything else. Any progressive neurological deterioration, lost my first mare...

'merican here... I was taught to never ever tie up using the reins. So you'll see that in movies of the "old west", but no good rider ties with reins. Most Western riders that trail ride you'll see ride with a halter under their bridle. We always carried one on trails with us and took the...

Bolding to emphasize! One of the major downsides of horse as a food animal is that they are even less efficient forage->meat production than cows so we'd increase the load overall on agriculture for what would ultimately be an expensive niche food. And in regards to welfare, since many drugs...

I loved my EasyBoots and used them for years on two different horses in very wet muddy trail conditions, but also on roads. I was using the EB Bares, and found them to be easy to put on/take off after I got the hang of it. My older mare used to get a bit sore so I added sole pads to the inside...

Since the marine ropes are nylon you can just melt the end to prevent it from fraying. Usually when you buy it both ends will already be melted nicely. I generally get 1/2" to 3/4" diameter. There's a bunch of videos on how to add poppers if you want them. This was the easiest video I...

I'd work out the cost of flea treatments (1x per 4-8wks depending on treatment) and vaccines (that's 1x per year) and yearly vet check. Microchip is a one time thing, as is neutering so whatever the cost of that is without the discount. And medications are only if the cat is sick, so by...

Agreeing with SpringArising. Sounds like you need a more secure seat and no stirrup work in the trot especially will be very beneficial. It would help your confidence to not feel dependent on your stirrups for balance (as you shouldn't be). Someone else mentioned doing more core strengthening...