Horse riding! *progress journal!!*

[Isa7182]

Hey everyone!

I decided to make a progress journal on my riding lessons, so I can look back at how far I've came and get help without making 20 other threads.

This is was probably my 17th/18th lesson which I had on Sarge. This horse is the laziest animal ever! He's gotten a bit perkier now though, he's been on "race horse" food, which has woken him up XD.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03KRpzg0r9I

And these are some photos from a free riding time I had. I couldn't even get him to walk first few times I rode him, but I could get him to canter in this time! Which was pretty cool!.

 

[AmieeT]

Its fun to look back at how much you've learned. I found a photo of my first ever rising lesson on Red (first lesson EVER- 18m ago lol!) And it made me chuckle- high arms, awful legs, slouch.

Looks like you're having fun and Sargr is very handsome

Ax

 

[be positive]

You look as if you are really enjoying yourself and I know that you are not in the UK so riding schools may be very different but Sarge is extremely lame in the video and that would explain why he seems to be so lazy, it is not down to you obviously but please mention it to his owner, he really should not be ridden while he is that lame, he hops on his front leg if you look, you should be able to feel this when you ride, it is not normal for a horse to do this.

 

[Isa7182]

@be positive

Yes he is having a lameness issue and it was actually affecting one of his hind legs I think, not a front one. He is having bone radial and light work is actually need to stop it form calcifying! It sounds really bad, but he is only ridden probably 3 times a week and for about 6 hours each week and it's nothing too drastic. Its not as bad as it was before. I rode him today and he felt so much better.

 

[DiNozzo]

He is lame, and your stirrups look like they are too long to give you any balance on that big horse!

 

[Isa7182]

He is lame, and your stirrups look like they are too long to give you any balance on that big horse!

Nope, they aren't! I have one longer leg and one shorter, so it looks off to people but it's fine for me XD If they are both even or short, I'll pull the saddle to my right side.

 

[LessThanPerfect]

Nope, they aren't! I have one longer leg and one shorter, so it looks off to people but it's fine for me XD If they are both even or short, I'll pull the saddle to my right side.

Haha, I have the same problem, only actually noticed recently when working without stirrups in the school which has mirrors. Should have twigged really as couldn't work out for weeks why I needed a different hole on one stirrup than the other even though they haven't stretched and holes line up exactly!

Left leg about 2-3 inches longer than right. (Several instructors came to look and confirmed I was sitting straight and leg definitely longer). So much for osteopaths etc who never noticed.

 

[Isa7182]

Haha, I have the same problem, only actually noticed recently when working without stirrups in the school which has mirrors. Should have twigged really as couldn't work out for weeks why I needed a different hole on one stirrup than the other even though they haven't stretched and holes line up exactly!

Left leg about 2-3 inches longer than right. (Several instructors came to look and confirmed I was sitting straight and leg definitely longer). So much for osteopaths etc who never noticed.

Wow really? Your physio etc should know first. My instructor said for my physio to check it out, because I was pulling the saddle over a few inches, so when I went for a check up he found that I was about an inch longer on the left, but I've stopped growing now, so it isn't as bad as it could have been!

 

[LessThanPerfect]

Wow really? Your physio etc should know first. My instructor said for my physio to check it out, because I was pulling the saddle over a few inches, so when I went for a check up he found that I was about an inch longer on the left, but I've stopped growing now, so it isn't as bad as it could have been!

Best thing is, my physios kept telling me off when assessing my walking recently that I was walking with my left knee bent and heel up! No wonder if that leg is 2 inches longer!

 

[TrasaM]

Great idea .. It really helps to document your progress
However horse is lame on front left as well as the back left which you've already mentioned.

 

[vickyb]

It's really great that you are enjoying your riding. As others have said though, your horse is very lame. I have looked at a couple of your other vids in which he is also noticeably lame even at a slow walk. Apart from the rights and wrongs of riding a lame horse, I would be concerned for your safety as a horse that lame is far more likely to stumble and deposit you on the ground. Can you speak to your instructor about this? Sorry, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but is there another horse you can ride?

 

[Isa7182]

It's really great that you are enjoying your riding. As others have said though, your horse is very lame. I have looked at a couple of your other vids in which he is also noticeably lame even at a slow walk. Apart from the rights and wrongs of riding a lame horse, I would be concerned for your safety as a horse that lame is far more likely to stumble and deposit you on the ground. Can you speak to your instructor about this? Sorry, I don't mean to rain on your parade, but is there another horse you can ride?

Yes, I know . He doesn't stumble very much actually, only if you ask for faster gait at a corner, which is probably understandable, he doesn;t hesitate rolling into a canter though...

I am going to be riding my instructor's horse a bit more as well, once she's been worked a bit more and we have a green anglo who is a big quiet baby being broken in soon too

 

[Isa7182]

So, I had my extra lesson with another girl on Tuesday and Im having another on Thursday. I was up there to watch Sarge have his first lesson of the day and although he was revved up and running around like a foal, my instructor reckons he was stiff for her but when I was on him, he was alot smoother and flowing nicer. He really respects me now, I can feel like we're a team now!

Good news! We're getting the bone radial in the next few days!!! So, with that, his leg will heal up faster. My instructor reckons that he was worked too hard too young, resulting in that being a problem. He was a showjumping, dressage and trick horse in his earlier days!

We did more canter work and some more jumping, plus working on suppleness and bending.

 

[Isa7182]

So one thursday, my insructor had the Bone Radiol arrive and it stinks like hell! But it'll fix his feet. It's only his front left that is lame so it's 3 days on, 3 days off for a year with work! He gets his days off but he worked super hard on thursday! We went into the top of the paddock after riding a bit in the arena and we were trotting circles in the warm sun for about 10 minutes and he was sweated from his neck to his saddle! We did some jumping and I'm jumping about 30cm now! Which is great!
He wasn't sore either, which was really good! And we did a canter and because the gate was open, he decided to run out the gate, but I was told i handled him well and pointed him away! Phew!

 

[dogatemysalad]

He's a lovely horse and you look as though you care about him. Please do not ride while he is so lame, it's doing him a disservice. Besides, you will find it difficult to progress with your riding if you do not learn how a sound horse moves.

 

[Isa7182]

He was sound on Thursday and he's getting much better. The stuff says to keep them in light work anyway, to stop the bone from calcifying and to help it work.

 

[HeresHoping]

Great to keep a diary but I'm another who is very concerned about just how lame your horse is. Seemingly in front and behind.

Was he really sound the last time you rode him? From what you are saying, it could be concluded that your mount has side bone or ring bone. It can take side bone up to a year to ossify and many ringbone cases never really come sound. Horses are lame because it hurts. If he protects one leg because it hurts he could do all sorts of damage to the other one. Actually watching the video I think there is more going on. His foot placement is very odd on the near fore.

I'm a big advocate of bone radiol in these instances but nowhere on the bottle or box I have sitting in front of me does it say light exercise is advocated. Also, it's not a magic cure-all, it just assists by increasing the blood flow to the injured part and helping either to remove the debris or stimulate the healing. I had a mare who had fairly significant sidebone in both fronts. She was sound as it was quite old. However, one day she trod on herself and cracked the sidebone. It was six months before I could confirm that she was sound on hard and soft surfaces. Then I did nothing but walk for 6 weeks to build up the strength and be really sure.

 

[MerrySherryRider]

He is a really nice horse and you look as though you enjoy riding him. As others have said, he is lame. Has the vet seen him recently and advised the level of work he's doing ? His owner should assess his progress daily, as we all do with lame horses and decide whether the work is helping or hindering his recovery.
Bone Radiol can be useful but it doesn't work magic otherwise we'd all be buying buckets of the stuff.

Sorry, I didn't want to put a downer on your riding, just wanted to caution against accepting good practice and bad practice from an RS.

 

[TrasaM]

OP.. Put aside for one minute your love and desire to ride and ask yourself why you'd walk with a limp. Then try imagining being made to run about despite the limp ( and pain) and carrying someone on your back
And really .. It's not -just-his -front that's causing him problems. A horse will try very very hard to continue on despite being in pain BUT it does not mean that given a choice that this is what they'd chose. Is there no other horse you could ride instead?

 

[ropa]

Sorry but I agree with everyone on here. The extra weight of you riding and the horse not being able to control his own movement is going to only exacerbate the horses pain. There are many people who will make excuses saying the horse needs to be in light work but I too believe these are excuses as they want the horse to work. This guy should be retired and left to chose the level of activity depending on how he feels. Horses are very stoical and brave and don't show pain as they are prey animals and so showing pain and lameness makes them a good target for predators as they will pick off the weakest not the strongest. There are many lessons in riding, not just the skill of sitting on board a horse and I think this lesson you are learning now is fundamental - whether you out the horses interests first or your own. If it was me I would move riding stables immediately and explain why as this place is not ethical in my book letting a horse in pain being ridden. Sorry!

 

[Isa7182]

Okay, I'm gonna ask to ride someone else then. I'll be riding Scarlett more anyway, even if she scares me, haha. And i can't ride Pally, because we normally do lessons with 2 people.

 

[ropa]

You can always find somewhere else!

 

[Isa7182]

You can always find somewhere else!

No way. I'm not gonna find another place just to ride with until Sarge gets better! I'll get over my fears of Scarlett and ride her.

 

[Fides]

No way. I'm not gonna find another place just to ride with until Sarge gets better! I'll get over my fears of Scarlett and ride her.

To be honest I wouldn't ride at a place that cares so little about their horses as to put beginners on lame horses. Their standard of care is bad and you would be better elsewhere. Also the school isn't really suitable for learning in - it's a bit weird really, very narrow - there's no way you'd be able to have a lunge lesson in there. It looks like quite an unprofessional setup - you could do tons better!

 

[Isa7182]

To be honest I wouldn't ride at a place that cares so little about their horses as to put beginners on lame horses. Their standard of care is bad and you would be better elsewhere. Also the school isn't really suitable for learning in - it's a bit weird really, very narrow - there's no way you'd be able to have a lunge lesson in there. It looks like quite an unprofessional setup - you could do tons better!

She actually cares very well for her horses and even though that arena isn't very wide, their paddock is massive, like, huge, so they're getting the top part of that turned into a giant arena. People need to realize that it isn't an actual school, it's someone who gives their own time to give others lessons on their OWN horses.

I wouldn't have found any other place here because every school I rang never got back to me. She also has had horses since she was born. She's done everything western and english too, I mean, her german cousins are on the olympic riding team! I'd only move if I needed too, but I don't. The horse's get fed well, they aren't skinny at all, they get rugged, groomed, loved, their feet are always up to date and if they need any medicine, whatever, they get it. the only one who's looking a bit scraggly is max and that's because he wasn't really looked after well before she took him in.

 

[Fides]

She actually cares very well for her horses and even though that arena isn't very wide, their paddock is massive, like, huge, so they're getting the top part of that turned into a giant arena. People need to realize that it isn't an actual school, it's someone who gives their own time to give others lessons on their OWN horses.

I wouldn't have found any other place here because every school I rang never got back to me. She also has had horses since she was born. She's done everything western and english too, I mean, her german cousins are on the olympic riding team! I'd only move if I needed too, but I don't. The horse's get fed well, they aren't skinny at all, they get rugged, groomed, loved, their feet are always up to date and if they need any medicine, whatever, they get it. the only one who's looking a bit scraggly is max and that's because he wasn't really looked after well before she took him in.

But she is using a really lame horse for lessons - that's really bad...

When you say we need to realize it isn't a school and she uses her own horses - that is a school... It just sounds like an unregistered one

 

[Isa7182]

But she is using a really lame horse for lessons - that's really bad...

When you say we need to realize it isn't a school and she uses her own horses - that is a school... It just sounds like an unregistered one

I wouldn't call it a school though. Lots of people here do this because the schools here are really expensive. My parent's pay 50 dollars for a 1 hour lesson once a week but we normally ride for about 1hr 30 mins and we spend about 40 mins on the horses, getting them ready etc.

 

[Fides]

I wouldn't call it a school though. Lots of people here do this because the schools here are really expensive. My parent's pay 50 dollars for a 1 hour lesson once a week but we normally ride for about 1hr 30 mins and we spend about 40 mins on the horses, getting them ready etc.

it isn't a good way to learn. I wouldn't want to recommend somewhere to a novice that teaches novices that it is OK to ride a lame horse. A novice needs to learn what lameness feels like under saddle and to know that if a horse is lame it is box/field rested and a vet called - not ridden. You would learn far more somewhere reputable with horses that are suitable for being ridden by novices - not one that is lame and one that makes novices nervous...

 

[Sarah W]

She actually cares very well for her horses

Then why does she allow anyone to ride a horse that is horribly lame? You don't seem to care....

 

[ropa]

I was so proud of you for saying that you weren't going to ride sarge anymore. I would seriously question the ethics of someone making money from a horse in pain, and taking the money from you. Just because they have family in the Olympics means nothing. Do you know that some top riders at top international level have been temporarily banned because they rap their horses over jumps and the hypersensitivity test shows this up ore comp. just because someone gad got to the top does not mean they have ethics. Sadly when you invest money in horses it sometimes means you push them harder and do things that are morally reprehensible. Not all just some. But holding a rosette means nothing. These are tough lessons for yu and I am sorry. It takes some people 10 years before they realise these issues so in a way I am glad that you are learning them young. X