Maurizia Cruz

My 7 year old appendix mare had a equine sports massage yesterday and the therapist reported that she had exceptionally tight hindquarter muscles. she said she wasnt tying up though. my mare is somewhat cold backed in the winter but is being ridden regularly and isnt too bad this winter. shes ridden lightly on the flat 3 days a week and jumped over crossrails 1 time a week. i also do alot of slow work with her to keep her loose, like trotting and walking, both mounted and on the lunge line. are there any specific exercises i can do to loosen her up and make her more comfortable. any advice about your past experiences with this or anything at all will help. thanks ahead of time!

i am showing in walk/trot over poles in a show in may. I am trying to figure out what i need to buy. I have a really good, expensive square saddle pad that is hunter green with white piping, and i am riding a bay mare in the show. Would this be ok? Also I was wondering can you wear a different color show shirt under your coat. I've seen alot of people in plaid and some brighter colors like peach and light blue... are these all acceptable?

My horse's male trainer is one of my very best friends (a very platonic relationship). I am married to a non-horsey guy and i love him and our marriage is wonderful, we are very happy. My question is...lets say.. If we are at a huge crowded horse show would it be ok for me to loop my arm around my trainer's so i dont lose him in the crowd? It sounds like a dumb question but i have asked some people and i get mixed answers. Looping my arm around his isnt saying that we are in a romantic relationship is it?

i am selling an english saddle on ebay and someone asked if it was wool or foam flocked... i dont know what this means and i dont know how to find out if my saddle has it or not. It is a HDR Pro A/O saddle.... someone help?

My hair doesnt stay in my helmet... I have long hair... probably 3 inches past my shoulders and its very thick full hair. I've seen women at shows that have their hair in their net and its barely visable out the back of the helmet. I do wear a net but the net falls out the back of my helmet and starts looking like a little sack with my hair in it ... How do I get my hair to stay in my helmet and still look great and professional?

I was wondering if anyone had seen a bigfoot and could actually tell what happened in detail?... please only answer if you were 100% sure what you saw ... not if you just saw a brown thing behind a bush. I am starrting to believe he might exist but i want to hear some more good stories.. please be serious also...

Just a question cause I was wondering. What different kinds of nationalities do you have at your barn and what disciplines do they specialize in?

example: I've had a South African family that did jumpers, and a french lady that spoke no english and took dressage lessons at my barn!

I recently took some time off riding due to being very busy and wanting to give my horse a vacation. (She was exercised and taken care of the whole time, so dont worry). This Monday I am going to begin riding her again and for some reason I am just a tad nervous, really for no reason at all... I am really bad about holding my breath when I ride and making my horse get nervous . I am an advanced rider that has been riding for 12 years but I am still a little on edge, because I had a riding accident( my first one ever) back this summer with another horse. Any good suggestions, advice, or quotes that can help me along in this rough, nerve crazy period?!

I am interested in finding out more info on bigfoot sightings and such ... I've watched all of monsterquest on history channel and i have heard of several other good shows such as Bigfootville and Legend Hunters but i cannot find any site where i can watch full episodes can anyone help ???

Magic Mare only has one ingredient in it compared to some of the other mare calming supplements, and its way cheaper.. I was wondering if anyone had any luck with it ? thanks in advance for answers....

i asked this question the other day but i didnt specify what kind of horse i had or what kind of western saddle i was buyihng so here it is again....I am ordering a western saddle off State Line Tack ...its the Wintec Trail Saddle http://www.statelinetack.com/itemdy00.asp?T1=SLT73... My horse is an appendix mare who's features lean more to the throughbred side ( she isnt as round as a regular quarter horse).... I dont know what tree to get or what any of them are... The reviews on the product say that the saddle fits almost any horse regardless of size ... they only come in 14, 15, 16, and 17 ... i was told before to buy a half size as i am a 16.5 in an english saddle... so give me any advice you can on all this... thanks in advance..

What size western saddle will i use if i am a 16 1/2 in an english saddle? And what size cinch will i need if my horse uses a 50" english girth? I am buying western trail tack online tomarrow so i need to know ASAP thanks in advance for your answers....

My mare is a little bit strong and canters better off a slightly stronger bit. I am going to buy a pelham for jumper classes and cross country. I was wondering which one is the most moderate on a horses mouth 1) Rubber Mullen Mouth Pelham...2) Jointed Rubber Pelham...3) Plain Mullen Mouth Pelham... or 4) A regular jointed pelham ???

My horse is english trained and we are going to start doing western also. Just western pleasure riding and trail riding. She is in an oval dee ring now and also uses some other moderate bits, i know some people ride western with loose ring snaffles... i am not sure what kind of bit i should use on her. She will continue to be ridden double handed, i am not teaching her to rein or anything so is a regular bit fine, what about a western training bit, is the action the same because of the long rings the reins are attached to ???

My mare bucks alot in the winter, sometimes because shes been cooped up in which i always lunge her until she is relaxed and her muscles are supple and warm. But even still she will buck the first couple of times i canter usually within the first 5 strides and then she quits. Its not that big a deal for me, im an advanced rider but i am used to riding thoroughbreds and warmbloods that dont have that high Quarter horse buck she has. She hasnt thrown me yet but it really does throw me off balance and sometimes hurts my back. Is there any way to sit to avoid the brunt of it, i've seen one of the senior trainers at my barn ride a high bucking horse as if the horse wasnt doing anything at all.. how do you avoid getting thrown off balance, give me any thing you got!?

My Appendix mare is very marish .... not dangerously marish but enough so that its hard to get things done with her spring- fall when she goes into heat... I was wondering if any of those herbal supplments help like mare magic or herbal mare ...i have heard that they do ...she is also quite nervous and edgy i have heard of several supplements that take care of everything all in one... i have a vet supply magazine and can get any supplement pretty cheap, any ideas???

I've had my horse for about 2 months now and not long after i got her she started this thing where she decides she doesnt want to work at the beginning of our session. At first we thought it was tack or back problem had both of those checked out and am sure its not either of those things. I notice it mostly when we've been working in the same ring (we have 3 arenas) for 2 to 3 days in row which is why i think she has some kind of vendetta against that ring. But whenever and wherever she does it this is what happens.... she tries to stop at the gate no matter what we are doing and if you squeeze or kick she stops dead like shes mad then when you smack her on the rump with the crop she bucks then moves forward. I always make sure that I come out winning the battle but sometimes it takes 10 to 15 minutes to win it because she will keep on doing it until I smack her pretty hard with the whip and say "Move On"! My trainer got on her and fought her and got her working in like 5 minutes and once shes past it she loves to go to work, its so weird... so we think shes just doing it to see what she can get away with...my problem is that we only work about 25 to 30 minutes in each session and we spend 10 to 15 working out the sourness and jitters, is there anyway i can get her to stop doing this or at least cut the fight time in half, any ideas? (this horse is an absolute pleasure to ride when she is being good)

I just bought my first pair of spurs and am confused because they dont go on easily, maybe i am not putting the strap on right can someone explain or send me a link to a video where they show you how ?

I've had my horse for about two months now and we are doing pretty good.... We've been working alot with the trot and some canter..somedays her canter is good others its not... and she almost always breaks out of it at least once during a lap even if you wear spurs or carry a whip ande everyonce and a while she will throw a good buck at the canter too which isnt much fun... does anybody have any good advice about cantering? And I mean everything ..the departure into the canter, keeping her going, teaching her to balance, and things like that?

I've had my 6 year old QH mare for almost two months now and we've decided to body clip her for the winter... problem is apparently she's never had a blanket on...and shes terrified of having her new heavy turnout on her back.... my trainer tried to put it on her in her stall and she whirled around and stuck her head in the corner and then she tried two times in crossties and she broke out of them both times... I've never seen a horse that is afraid of a blanket and i have to blanket her tomarrow morning... what do i do to acustom her to the blanket..i have a few ideas but need more incase those dont work ??? HELP PLEASE!!!