My friend has an arena sour horse and she keeps getting disqualified at horse shows. Can some one help me and her with her horse?
My friend horse does gaming. We try leading him in backing him in horse going behind him horses going in frint of him and horses beside him nothing is working!

She needs to ride him outside of the arena..go on trails, work cattle, do something with him to get him totally away from the arena. He may already be to the point that he will never work for her in the arena again, he is sick of it. He could also have an old injury that he got running that is hurting him and he doesn't want to run any more and that's what he does in the arena. She needs to forget running him and the arena for a long long time. She needs to ride in some pretty rough country so that he has something real on his mind instead of chasing cans.

I would like to know how to saddle a horse and take care of one?
What are some concerns that a horse needs?
Is there a website for horse help?

It sounds like you need to get lessons before you consider owning a horse.
You must be very prepared to take on the responsibilities.
Have a look at

http://www.frontrangefrenzy.com/horsecare/saddlinghorse.html

If you are prepared and ready to own a horse, find one that is good for your height.
Although you might want a beginners horse that perhaps doesnt get too worked up.
A well trained horse in the area of your riding skills would match you very well, as the horse is trained and can learn with it!!!

Taking care of a horse involves lots of experience. Maybe you should lease or even just excersize a horse before having one of your own.

It depends on where your horse lives too.
Keeping a horse in a stable means changing the bedding twice a day, which is alot of hard work, changing water twice a day, feeding- depending on how much work the horse does and much more.
Keeping a horse at grass means checking the paddock everyday for holes, possible threats such as poisonous plants, wire sticking out and other small harmful things like sharp rocks.
That is just a tiny insight into the care required.

http://www.rspcasa.asn.au/page?pg=409

It is a HUGE responsibility.
Get some lessons, learn how to care for the riding school horse and learn what is involved in keeping a horse.
There is alot more to owning a horse than just riding.

http://www.frontrangefrenzy.com/horsecare/saddlinghorse.html

– saddling a horse

http://www.rspcasa.asn.au/page?pg=409

- horse care and help
Goodluck!
I hope you find the Perfect Horse!

My question is not a joke.
How do you overtake a horse?…..Pass slow and wide with minimal noise and disturbance for the horse. This is the realistic answer, correct? Drivers have respect for the horses and riders because the horse may spook and cause and accident, correct?

So, the point of the question is now as follows…..

Why dont people treat learners with the same amount of respect and courtesy? If a learner driver gets spooked are they not a danger? Could they not steer erratically or brake to stop suddenly and unpredictably, thus causing a crash? It is impossible to stop a learner from braking harshly in a situation of panic!

So, why do people allow themselves to antagonise and intimidate the learners? Why drive so close? Why overtake dangerously? Why sound the horn if they stall?

You wouldn't to a horse would you? Or would you? Think about it.

(I am NOT having a dig at horse riders at all, just painting a picture and creating a scenario)

very true porse, people tend to forget that they once were learner drivers and maybe a bit more nervous on the street than what they are now, but people are always in such a rush nowdays and some not all have no consideration for other drivers.

this also happens outside of driving, maybe its the cashiers first day on the local supermarket, and is not whizzing your shopping through her magic eye at the speed of light, or the guy behind the desk is not typing your train ticket details fast enough, people should put their brains in gear before they put their gobs in motion

My horse is a little to chubby! I dont want to over work her but I would like her to be skinnier. I also want her to be able to go out to pasture with all the other horses. She is 15.2 hands and is a registered quarter horse. How many pounds should she be?

The best thing to do is ask your vet. He or she can tell you how close your mare is to her ideal weight and make some recommendations on how to adjust diet and exercise.

I'm looking for leasing a horse in Maryland. Actually I have the riding lessons at my horseback riding club and they have a indoor/outdoor facility, it is pretty clean and nice place. They offered to me $425 for half lease per month (3 times riding in per week), but it seems kind expensive. Off course, depends on that horse's level and other condition, but I think that horse is not really special (10 years old, TB, schooling level, little bit hunter/dressage) How much is the reasonable price for leasing horse at riding club?

Would it be cheaper to just get a loan horse and pay for the bills yourself? I would compare the price to what it would cost to actually keep your own and divide it by 2 if it is a half lease. In England we have more loaners than lease, it costs about £200 per month to keep a horse here if you do everything yourself. Hope this helps! (loaners are usually people who are going to college, or have financial problems, but don't want to sell the horse)

I have had a horse before but this is the first time I’m going through the adoption process. I do have a boarding pasture that I want to take my horse to (whenever I find one) but I don’t really know what to ask them to make sure he/she’s being cared for properly.

As for getting the horse, I am looking at rescue organizations as well as newspaper ads/online ads. What questions should I ask about the horse so I know what I’m getting and what to expect?

Does the boarding pasture you have include a shelter for the horses? Are the horses ever brought in to a stall?

My knee-jerk reflex feeling is that if you’re getting a rescue horse, you don’t want to have it pasture boarded. You want it in a stall. The reasons for this:

1. Many rescue horses have physical issues relating to their previous care and need close oversight to assure they recover from neglect or abuse. It’s hard to provide that kind of oversight in a pasture.

2. If your rescue horse has a history of abuse, you’e going to have a heck of a time catching her in pasture.

3. The rescue organization you work with, whichever one you choose, is undoubtedly going to want to see the physical facility where you intend to keep the horse before they let you have one. You may have trouble finding an organization that would let you have a horse if all you can provide is pasture board.

If I were you, before you go any further or waste time spinning your wheels, I’d contact some of the rescue organizations you’re thinking of getting a horse from and ask them what kind of facilities they require/recommend for adopters.

That said, the things I would consider when looking at a pasture board situation:

1. What kind of fences do they have? I’d want to look at the fences myself and if any of the fences were wire, I’d go somewhere else. Are the fences in good condition?

2. Will your horse have the pasture to himself? Or are there other horses in the pasture? How will your horse be integrated in with any existing herd? What will be done to assure that other horses don’t pick on him?

3. What are the sources of water? How frequently does whoever is in charge check the waterers? Is the water source clean, and in winter is it kept from freezing?

4. What is the condition of the pasture grass? Is it scanty and obviously overgrazed, is it long and lush? Are there a lot of weedy-looking plants growing in it? Is it harrowed frequently to spread the manure? Is it ever mowed?

5. Are there trees in/around it, and if so, what kind? Some kinds of trees are toxic to horses. Do any of the trees look like they’ve been blasted by lightning? Is the area where the pasture is located an area where there are thunderstorms? If so, what is done to protect the horses from lightning strikes?

6. Here in Southern California, brush fires during the summer (and spring and fall and winter, nowadays) are a problem. Is the area where the pasture is located susceptible to fires? If so, what are the evacuation plans for horses?

7. How often will someone be out to check on your horse, and how closely will they check? I know of someone whose mare lost an eye because the “oversight” provided by the farm where she was boarded was just to count the horses at night when they gave supplemental feeding and to quickly eyeball the horses for problems from a distance of 20-100 feet. This mare was shy about approaching the fence, so nobody got close enough to see her eye was infected until it was too late to save it.

8. Will supplemental feeding be provided, and if so, what will be provided and in what way? If hay is provided, is it just thrown down for horses to duke it out over, or is some provision made to assure that all horses in the same pasture have access to feed?

9. Are there any problems with packs of feral dogs? At Texas A&M while I was there, every year at the end of term the horse center (and the other livestock centers, too) had problems with packs of feral dogs that formed when students leaving for the summer or at graduation would dump their dogs out in the countryside. One year while I was there one of the weanlings had to be destroyed when dogs chased her through a fence and she broke her shoulder.

These are the questions I would start with. But before I would start with those, I would verify with the rescue organizations that pasture board is acceptable.

I was just wondering what you'd have to do to stop such a horse. I saw one recently and the rider was screaming and shouting for help and the horse was just bolting towards on-coming traffic as fast as it could and I've no idea what happened because horse and rider were out of sight in no time at all. So, how would a runaway horse be stopped?

To stop a runaway horse you sit back in the saddle and turn the horse sharply to one side. Hold the rein of choice short and hang on. By shortening the rein on one side you are very effectively making the horse turn in a tight circle. They HAVE to slow down. If you can't get them slowed that way you had better know how to make an emergency dismount. Also, if you are on the ground and a runaway is fast approaching , wave your arms vigorously. This will turn the horse away from you and hopefully keep you from being run over. Horses cannot see directly in front of or behind them.

I would like to know how to train a horse so it does not spook at traffic, cars driving by, etc. I know how to do basic desensitization, but beyond that I am at a loss. There are many amish families in my area and they drive their horse and buggies down the highway; semi trucks do not even startle the horses, how is this possible? Please explain.

You need to distract him, or to keep his mind on you more than the
traffic. I was riding someone else's horse once outside for the first
time. When rush hour kicked in on our way back to the barn, I could feel
we were in deep shit. I got off and began drilling him on "get up" and
"whoa." Every time he stopped for me, he got a bit of carrot and some
stroking. He soon got so engrossed with this profitable little game that
he tuned out the traffic. An added benefit was that he stopped on a dime
the next day when I said "whoa." John Lyons recommends that you get your
horse to reliably give to the bit–ie, bend his neck to one side when you
pick up on one rein. This gets his mind on you, not on other things. It
also disengages him from the position he needs to get into before he
rears, bucks, or runs off. Giving to the bit also lowers his head, which
for some reason puts him in a mellower frame of mind. He says that trail
riding is like a giant vacuum cleaner that sucks all the training out of
your horse–if pursued as just moseying along the trail and not giving him
constant direction. Riding with precision–picking specific spots for him
to step on, and insisting that he do it precisely–is one way to keep his
mind on you instead of everything else. Riding with precision is more
important out on trail than in the arena, because you must have your
horse's attention at all times when you are in more dangerous
circumstances. If you do not seem to have a game plan–he can wander
wherever he wants and it's ok–then he thinks you are asleep at the wheel,
and it will be his responsibility to look out for your mutual welfare. If
he gets the feeling that you have definite plans and that you are alert,
and he gets this feeling from being steered with precision–he will be
able to relax more, amd not be so afraid of other things out there,
because he feels he has a real leader up on his back whom he can trust.

It seems that a horse can only keep his mind on one thing at a time. If
his mind is on you, it is not on the boogeyman behind every tree, rock,
mailbox and car. But you have to keep steering with precision, or asking
for specific gaits or movments, to keep his mind occupied. Dressage out
on trail will save your skin.

Also, is there such a thing as a pasture horse where they do not need riding but can just stay out in the fields in the day and come back in at night and they would keep the other horse/s company?

A companion horse is what you are describing at the end there.

If you have good horse people that are knowledgeable to ask questions to, you are doing good.

I have been riding horses since June. When I canter my trainer tells me that I need to sqeeze with my legs in order to stay on. I am fine until the horse starts going a little too fast for me. I have read that you are only supposed to sqeeze when you want to go faster. Am I confusing the horse and making her speed up by trying to sqeeze or am I supposed to do that? I am confused, I just want to know how to stay on comfortably without getting all discombobulated (sp?)! Thanks!

To stay on, you shouldn't be squeezing that much with your legs. Squeezing with your lower leg is the aid for the horse to speed up, while pressure in the upper thigh (which the horse can feel and a well trained one would respond to) means to slow down. But these aren't the basis for staying on. You need to keep the weight down in your heels, legs and seat.

You should keep your heels down (different from just lifting your toe and forcing your heel down). Pretend that someone is pulling down on your heel. And put the weight down through your knees as if you were abut to kneel on the ground. And keep the weight in your seat by keeping your upper body tall. Sit up straight, let your shoulders drop, feel like there's a taughtness, but not tighness, in your core, and follow the horses's motion with your seat, but keep you upper body still. Pretend that you have a string coming out of the top of your head that's holding you up like a puppet; it keeps you upright and tall, but you can feel like the rest of your body is just dangling from it. Another good image is to think of your legs like a wet towel draped over the horse's back. So your base of support stays with the horse, but it has to come through balance rather than gripping. It's very important not to grip with your knees.

I know some of those images seem very abstract, maybe weird, but they're from Sally Swift's book Centered Riding, and can be very effective. You should look into maybe purchasing the book. It's great!

Respnse to comment below: No, I said DON'T squeeze with your knees! That'll act like a pivot, causing your lower leg to slide back too far and you'll be unbalanced.