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Post by pepper on Sept 19, 2009 19:05:40 GMT -5
Hey Kim,I don't log on here much these days.Very busy with racing this time of year.I only had Amigo listed for 1 month last year.I keep going back & forth about what I "should" do with him.No hurry as we're all happy & doing fine but finding him a perfect person who could bring out his best would be ideal.Contact me @ pepperja@yahoo.com if your friends would like to discuss Amigo.p
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Post by kristi on Sept 22, 2009 13:09:09 GMT -5
Kigerfan (wish I knew your name but I've been away from the board for a while so I'm sorry I don't) first, kudos to you for putting your picture on the board and asking for feedback. You have taken criticism and helpful tips like they were meant so good for you!! I don't know anything about the head gear - I ride with a broken mouth snaffle. But, saddles are more my "thing" and of course it is very difficult to tell how well the saddle fits from the pictures. The first thing that comes to mind is whether or not the saddle is pressing down on your mare's withers. Once mounted make sure you can get fingers in between your mare's withers and saddle. With some of these quarter horse saddles we all ride our Kigers in I sometimes find the quarter horse bars are too wide. Besides that, as you suggested invest in a trainer. You don't have to send your mare off for training but get a reputable trainer to come over check out your tack and give you some lessons. I LOVE riding lessons and can never get enough!!! There's so much to learn. With that being said, be sure you have a VERY knowledgable trainer. I have a dear friend who had a trainer who let her get on her mare with a saddle that did not fit well and my friend ended up on the ground and her confidence has been shaken ever since. That trainer stinks in my opinion because she knew the saddle would pinch but she put my green friend on her horse anyway. The other thing I have to add is a quick story about my VERY favorite horse named Steens Eleana. Eleana had never bucked with us and one day I decided to ride her in my pasture. I realized I had on hiking boots so off to the house to get appropriate footwear (ONLY BOOTS!). I almost always wear a riding helmet too, ony have to bump your head once to decide that is a good investment. It was a good thing I did these things because I no more than had my butt in the saddle and she started into a bucking fit. I used a different saddle pad that day and I'm thinking that pad may have irritated her skin. I'm not sure, never will I know. I asked my trainer about it and she told me all the things to check out just like the folks here have done for you. Then her advice to me was to try to put that out of my mind and just ride her like it had never happened - especially since she did not have a history of being a bronc. If I thought she was going to buck every time I got on her I would have been a bundle of nerves and she would have felt that in my body. If due to your back condition cannot get on her to check this out go ahead and pay a trainer to come ride her a few times to see how she is going to respond. She may never buck again, Eleana did not!!!
Good luck to you!!!
Kristi
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Post by kigerfan on Sept 23, 2009 10:53:01 GMT -5
Thank you Kristi, my name is Shelley by the way  |
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Post by nrly on Oct 1, 2009 16:00:25 GMT -5
stormy is also the oh me oh my I will give a hop here and a kick out there nothing big, just showing off...but when I came off her it was all my fault not her's,she fell, flicked her hips and sent me away from her and got up stood there till I was up, and came to me and nuzzled me, I ended up with two ruptured disks in my lower back, so I have chosen not to ride for a while, but what I am doing now is spending good quality time with her,maybe one day I will ride, but for now nope...hang in there don't give up, but as Tiffany said work with her on the ground and spend time with her just the two of you, it does seem to help me with the decision not to ride for now...
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Post by kigerfan on Oct 15, 2009 2:05:58 GMT -5
Wow, seems like you went for a pretty rough tumble yourself. I'm doing much better, my shoulder is still grumpy but everything else seems to feel much much better. I'm spending a LOT of time with her and I'm really not afraid of riding her. The mistake was mine. I do get a bit concerned about the lack of health insurance though, just in case.
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Post by fantasykiger on Oct 15, 2009 22:27:13 GMT -5
Health insurance, what's that? ...I know what you mean though, I worry myself sometimes.
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