All the Creatures

If you are a certified horse nut like me then you did watch the royal wedding of Cathrine and William just to see the horses. The big story of the procession was the horse running loose. The first comments from the announcers was that a rider got thrown and that the horse got loose. THAT WAS WRONG. The horse slipped on the roadway and fell and was spooked by the crowd. Here is a photo of the incident:

After the horse fell, it stayed with the other horses until it saw its way home, the stables, and galloped through the procession until it reached the stables. Both the horse and rider are fine except for being bruised and sore. Falling on pavement is never a small accident when riding a horse.

What I don’t understand is why so many non-riding writers have swamped the internet with false stories of the rider being thrown or that the horse was being disruptive of the event. I say a picture IS worth a thousand words.

Give this post a thumbs up

You can now get All the Creatures delivered to your Kindle FREE for 14 days. Try it out.

When I got my first horse over 20 years ago, I was at a boarding stable. It was mostly adult women who were “getting into” horses for the first time in their lives. Most of them had no clue as to what to expect from horse ownership or horses in general. I was lucky enough to have a dad that was a former jockey, so I had some experience with horses prior to me getting involved with horses. I boarded my horse at the stable for 7 years and during that time I saw plenty of people that should have never gotten involved with horses.

Those that should have never owned a horse were people who were easily intimidated by their own horse. They were unaware that horses have a hierarchy system in their minds when it comes to other horses and people. Some of the other people, mostly women, would listen to everyone’s advice about health or training problems and follow the wrong advice. They would also never take riding lessons or have a horse trainer. They learned from books or videos.

One woman, who I was quite fond of, was only a horse owner for less than a year. She bought a buckskin gelding named “Buck” and seemed to know what she was doing. I liked Buck, he was a short stout horse, with a mellow mind, great for a beginner. She had him for less than a month and changed his name to Sferra. Somehow the name Sierra did not fit him. To me Sierra was a female sounding name. As the months passed, she took Sierra on trail rides and rode around the boarding stable grounds. One day she asked me to take a look at Sierra. She thought his gait was “off.” She was right, he was paddling. Since he had not done it before, I told her it was that he needed a good trim and to switch horse shoers (her farrier was terrible). She did not mind my advice but had one of the worse horse vets in the area look at her horse. The verdict was that the horse had navicular and the vet wanted the woman to have the horse put down. Thankfully she did not heed the vets advice either and looked for a pasture home for the horse, she found one. She said goodbye to Sierra and left horse ownership for good. I thought that was the end of the story, it wasn’t. Several months later I was at a team penning. I was riding my horse and my hubby was riding his. I then spotted a horse that looked like Sierra. I rode over to the the horse and owner and asked the owner if the horse was the Sierra that was owned by the woman I knew. The answer was yes, it was Sierra but now they call him Buck…….and he was no longer lame. Sure enough, they saw the same thing I saw, a bad shoer had made poor Buck lame.They got Buck and used the same shoer I had for my horse. Buck was now back to being that great beginners horse, except this time he had a knowledgeable owner who had years of horse experience.

Give this post a thumbs up

You can now get All the Creatures delivered to your Kindle FREE for 14 days. Try it out.

I am picky about what I wear on my feet. Shoes have to be comfortable and riding boots had better fit correctly. I can’t tell you how many times I have shopped for English style riding boots and never find a pair that have fit me. My problem is that my calf muscles are too big. Even the extra wide tops don’t fit. I have had to settle for either short boots or the lace up type.

That being said, I have found one maker of riding boots that was founded by women and their first boots were designed for women. They are Ariat. They have since moved into mainstream shoes womens that is. My favorite boot made by them the Terrain a cross between a sneaker and a lace up western riding boot. It is the most comfortable boot or shoe I have. I must remind myself to get a new pair soon ’cause the pair I have are about 6 years old and worn almost out from constant use.

One thing I have found out about riding boots is never to buy a pair with a terrain or hiking boot sole. The bottom of the boot/shoe should be smooth, if not they get stuck in the stirrup and can cause your foot to hang at the dismount. Unfortunately many so called riding boot makers still make horseback riding boots that have soles on them that are made for hiking and not riding……..stay away from them. I have a pair of them sitting in my closet, they are great for hiking in the snow but I would never ride in them. They are made by Mountain Horse.

Give this post a thumbs up

You can now get All the Creatures delivered to your Kindle FREE for 14 days. Try it out.