Anyone with an Irish Draft?

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showaddy1

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Hi all, bought myself an Id last summer when she was 3 1/2. After years of riding tb's I am finding the transition a little difficult, even contemplated selling her at one point!
Just a few questions which I'm sure ppl with Id's/ maxi cobs could help answer...
1) how on earth to you get used to the width of the animal?... a year on I'm still finding that when I have done more than half hours ride I'm sore getting off....
2) the saddle, we are now on our third, the second fitted by a saddler, and was good for about 3 months. I am currently using a T4 cob saddle, which still doesnt sit quite right because of her enormous shoulders. Would I be better with a straight cut panel, which do you use?
3) feather care... she is a x with gypsy vanner so has masses of feathers, using pig oil but still find they always look grubby... any tricks?
4) are they always laid back? I quite often have to shake my mare awake, she falls asleep when being brushed
thanks Bec
 
Mine has 1/8 tb, but I never found her width a problem. She had a Wintec VSD which fitted her perfectly. She doesn't have feather so can't help there!

And yes, laid back to the point of being horizontal - except for the very odd occasion when she goes nuts. Hence why she is no longer ridden :D
 
I have an ID mare but she fits in a normal medium wide saddle, I have a Jeffries Elite dressage saddle and a GFS VSD saddle. She doesn't really ride any wider than my TB who also wears a medium wide so I don't have a issue with her width.
IDs don't usually have a lot of feather so don't have that issue either.
Mine is far from laid back!! She has her calm moments but is very light to ride, can be spooky, quite forward and is nice and responsive to the leg. She is quite nervy and like sychnant's has the occasional nutty moments.
So sorry I can't help much either other than to say my friend has a very wide Cleveland Bay and she used a treeless saddle for a while and then got a saddle made by The Saddle Company to accommodate her horses big shoulders and flat wither.
 
I also have an Irish draught, have had him since he was 3 and have only ever had 2 saddles, first one was a medium width ideal event saddle and the one we are now using is a medium wide, exselle jumping saddle so very forward cut and doesn't restrict his shoulders at all, the width of him i dont tend to notice unless i have been riding my friends TB and then I notice it, but am much happier and comfier on taz than I am riding anything else, I also clip his feathers out as think he looks ridiculous with them, and yes most of the irish draughts I have ever met have always been laid back, but taz also has a excitable side, just need to find their buttons
 
So time to get the saddler back out... I suspect the only way to get Daisy excited is to dangle a carrot infront of her!.. shes very food motivated!
I was wondering if i could sew an all in one for her to stop her getting dirty, I'm quite handy with the sewing machine, but my friends have said she'll have the p##s taken out of her by the other horses!... maybe it was a stupid idea:o
 
I use this saddle on ly id x Connie, they may he worth looking at for your girl. You probably are finding her hard going on your legs partially from her gypsy cob side but also if the saddle does fit.

Have you tried lateral work with her? This revved up my girl. Also take her cubbing in the autumn, she will soon get going! I've found my pony very late to mature, she's 8 now and finally stopped growing, she lacked the muscle and framework until she was 7 to work forward and properly in the school as well as the mental capacity. This is apparently common to id x native breeds. Good luck with your girl, keep going and I'm sure one day after all the battles you will suddenly smile like I did, and realise she's not so bad after all!
 
Thankyou for your reply, I'm going to win the lottery tonight, when I do I'll have a traditional and the dressage one!!
I must take some pics of how she is now, you need to see her to appreciate how wide she is!
 
First of all, hooray for finding yourself a lovely IDxcob!

And I think in answer to your questions:

#1 This is due to believing bouncing around on a washing line is fun, in reality, barrels are much more comfortable
#2 Use a saddle that is as straight cut as possible to avoid interferring with the big shoulder movement
#3 Clip 'em all off!
#4 Don't understand what your issue is

Oh and if you simply cannot do with this quiet, wide, furry beast, send her to me and I will be eternally grateful!!! :D

PS any photos I can drool over?
 
I have a rising 5 year old Irish Draft x Cleveland Bay. Completely bombproof in traffic and not fazed by anything, absolute angel to handle and a real sweetheart. Almost like owning a giant puppy. I just rode mine on a bridge over the M25 today and he was a star. Not bothered in the slightest.
He tends to be on the lazy side and will only get a bit keen galloping on the downs but responds very well and will pull up no problem and I ride him in a snaffle.
Mine is still growing up and out. He currently stands at 18.2hh and will more than likely make 19 hands. He gets wider by the day and I must admit I feel quite sore after riding him as he is so wide. I just got back from a 2 1/2 hour hack and can barely move. Like sitting on a barrel and feel like I've spent my afternoon doing the splits.
I've cut off his feathers as he looks much better without them and I couldn't be dealing with mud and the like on them.
I bought an adjustable Keiffer general purpose saddle as he is currently medium wide but no doubt will make wide or extra wide when he finishes filling out. Very comfortable saddle with almost shock absorbing feel which helps no end as his canter and gallop tend to be rather bouncy to say the least. Also the Keiffers are not as forward cut as regular general purpose so gives him plenty of shoulder room. They are no cheap but worth every penny in my opinion.
 
Mine is an idxcob she's 2yrs 3 mths atm and already has a huge solid neck and shoulders.in a 6'6 rug and 15.1hh :0
I can already see the trouble I'm going to have with saddles etc.
Also she fits a cob bridle but the nosebands are too small.
 
I only know one ID , and he is a perfect gent on the ground, infact trust him far more than the smaller horses, he has little to no feathers, and is far from laid back when being ridden.

I suppose it is down to each individual horse how they behave :)
 
I have 3 purebred IDs, one is in a medium lovatt& ricketts GP the other two are in a wide gullet wintec, which are good for flat backs I have found anyway, and they have a prolite numnah underneath. None have any feather to speak of and none are laid back ! one of them is spooky, one is spooky and sharp, the other is nervous but getting better. Maybe its the gypsey cob bit that is proving wide/lazy
 
Tonibird83 said:
First of all, hooray for finding yourself a lovely IDxcob!

And I think in answer to your questions:

#1 This is due to believing bouncing around on a washing line is fun, in reality, barrels are much more comfortable
#2 Use a saddle that is as straight cut as possible to avoid interferring with the big shoulder movement
#3 Clip 'em all off!
#4 Don't understand what your issue is

Oh and if you simply cannot do with this quiet, wide, furry beast, send her to me and I will be eternally grateful!!! :D

PS any photos I can drool over?
Click to expand...

I will let you drool over mine. Yearling filly by Avanti Amorous Archie RID out of gypsy vanner also pictured.

Aliceoneyearold003.jpg


440.jpg
 
Very nice, how big is she? she looks heavier than daisy, I will take photos of mine tomorrow...
Cant believe how much Daisy has grown in the past year, she's grown out rugs/ tack and even my trailer! but I adore her... When she comes bombing down the field, making the ground shake and heads turn I am one proud mummy!!
 
She is 14.2 at the moment and is one next week. There are some lovely pictures of her as a foal on Archies website. The dam is only 15h but has Shire in her. Archie is 16.3hh. I have no idea how big she will make, but if the Shire has any influence she could be a biggish girl.

The hope is a top class maxi cob, I like a bit of showing, but just a pleasant kind hack will do just fine for my old age.
 
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