Krissy

I just picked up this endurance saddle for 100 dollars and it fits my hard to fit mare great.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&c...

My problem is finding a pad to fit it. As you can see in the picture the D-Ring hangs super low and none of my saddle pads cover the entire D-Ring area on the saddle.

What kind of pad do I need to get? Thanks.

Our pasture goes along our neighbors driveway and out neighbors keep giving the horses treats and petting them. The petting them doesn't bother me but the feeding does. They are giving them junk. Sugar cubes, bread, they even tried to give them beer. One of our geldings gets nippy with food and isn't even allowed treats to be hand-fed only in his bucket.

If I see them come over to the fence I try and keep an eye and I've asked politely for them to stop feeding them explaining the geldings nippyness and unhealthiness of the treats.But they got pissed at me and said its there right to feed the horses. So I put up the signs that said Do Not Feed the horses" And they are still doing it.

Is there anything I can do? I'm worried for my horses health not to mention a lawsuit if my gelding takes a chunk out of them.

Thanks

I have an HP Pavilion DV7 laptop. I got it as a replacement a few months ago when my other laptop fried its motherboard and today was the first time I tried to use the DVD drive and it won't work.

I try and put a disk it and it sounds like it spins but then nothing pops up. I check the drive and it says there is no disk inserted. I tried a brand new DVD, a CD, and a PC game and none will read.

Any solutions? I'm a total idiot when it comes to computers so dumbed down answers would be nice. Thanks.

I have a ten gallon fish tank housing just my male betta Ady.

I stupidly listened to the pet store when I bought him and I only recently found out that he needs a heater in his tank after researching why he's been lethargic lately that I found he needed warm water.

Can anyone recommend a decent heater for my little guy?

Thanks

I have a 9 year old Paint gelding Harley that is toed in on his front hooves. Six months ago he was diagnosed with arthritis. He is on and off lame. I currently have two options and I'm trying to seek some other opinions and experiences to help me decide. My vet and farrier both disagree on the treatment so I'm not sure which way to go.

Background on the horse:

9 year old registered Paint.

Was used as a barrel racer until his legs became to bad for work and was going to be put down until I took him on. Now used as a light trail horse. But if he's ridden out of walk he is lame for about a week. Lame on and off in Winter. l.

Currently barefoot. Either on pasture or in a paddock except for bad weather then he's stalled.

The horse actually belongs to my grandparents who will pay whatever to help Harley but since I'm his caretaker/rider/ owner in everything but paperwork they have left the choices up to me. So other suggestions are welcome.

Option One recommended by my vet. Cortisone shots. He'd get 1 shot in each leg. And then a month later the shots would be repeated. After that they'd be dragged out to 3 months and after a few more rounds every 6 months.

My worry is this is just masking up the pain as his arthritis gets worse and worse until the shots won't work anymore. But my vet swears by this approach. My farrier says all this will do is make him feel good so he does more damage to his legs and he'll be ruined by 15.The farrier says my vets trying to make money on the shots and he knows nothing about hooves.

Option 2: Shoeing him. My farrier wants to build up his hooves slowly with glue on shoes. He would add support and then using some kind of acrylic glue he'd slowly fix the hoof. This would be shoes being changed every 6 weeks This would be fixing the foot according to my farrier. But my vet says he doesn't think this will work and that my farrier is just trying to make money. In 3 or 4 years my farrier thinks he'd be able to go barefoot again.

I'm totally torn. I trust my farrier and I trust my vet. Normally they agree on everything but this they are at each others throats about. I want what's best for my horse. I want him to be able to trail ride and to not be in pain.

Does anyone have any experience? Or advice?

Thanks

I have a ten gallon fish tank that has my male betta fish in it and some fake plants and a few caves. I run the filter all day and night and replace the filter monthly like recommended. I do weekly 25% water changes and I make sure my betta eats all his food and I skim the top if he leaves any to pick it up.

The tank is about 4 months old. Yet in the last 3 weeks or so its gotten super cloudy. I did a 75% water change and that didn't help.

What else can I do? Its white cloudy not green like algae.

This is the kit I got

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aquaculture-Home-Starter...

Thank you.

I ride on a lot of hilly terrain and my mare needs a breast collar or her saddle slips down. My problem is that her saddle doesn't have breast collar rings and it keeps slipping to far down her shoulders to the point it annoys her. I had it fitted by a saddler who told me it fits fine and I can get 4 fingers between the collar and her chest like your suppose to be able to.

She has another saddle with breast collar rings that it stays in place with fine. But that saddle has to big of a seat for me. So I'm stuck using the D-rings on my saddle.

Is there something I can buy to help keep the breast collar from slipping down?

Thank you

My two year old Mustang/paint is driving me crazy with his coat color.

I got him as a 9 month old and he was chestnut with a dark mane and tail. '

He's wearing the blue halter.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-...

As he's gotten older his mane and tail are getting darker and darker. And I've noticed now that he's older that he is starting to get a dorsal stripe. It starts at his hip and is going down into his tail. But none on his back.

Here is a pic today of him in saddle training. Don't worry he's not being ridden just saddled then unsaddled.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-h-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-...

This is a pic of him next to my Chestnut Arab.

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/602962...

His sire is a overo bay and his mother is a chestnut BLM mustang.

Could he be a red dun? Or a chestnut with a oddly dark mane? Or a really light bay?

Thanks

I take my Lab/Newfoundland cross Noah with me to work. I live in Florida so its hot most of the year.

I usually stop in the morning to grab a coffee and bagel and leave my car idling with the AC on for Noah while I just pop inside and get them then go back outside with him. I do the same thing at lunch. I leave Noah in the idling car while I run inside order and bring it back out.

I never thought it was a big deal because Noah has the AC and I'm never inside for more then ten minutes or so. But I was wondering if this is okay to do?

Living in Florida we have horrible heat and humidity and the horses just stand under the trees in the pasture or in their stalls sweating. I'm always looking for new ways of helping them stay cool.

My guys can't be turned out at night because we have a coyote problem and the pasture is pretty far from the house and I worry. So they are in paddocks attached to the barn at night. Three horses together in one paddock and two in the other. But there isn't a ton of shade in my pastures so I only turn out in the morning and evening. So they are fed their morning grain at about 6:30am and turned out at 7am til about noon. Then they are brought to their paddocks where they can go in the barn and hang out under the fans. And then they are fed their evening grain at 5pm and turned back out till about 8:30pm and brought back up.

For my afternoon grain I add cold water to it and wait a bit so it becomes a mash and feed that. So its a nice cool treat.

I change my water troughs about noon when I bring the horses up so they have cold water and the area around the trough is coolder from the dumped water. I also around 3pm go out and take gallon jugs of water that I freeze in the freezer and put them in the water so they melt and keep the water nice and cold. And then I just refreeze them for the next day.

Is there anything you do to help the horses in the heat?

My Noah is a 110lbs Lab/Newfoundland that is all muscle. He isn't a chronic puller but he gets very hyper when he sees another dog and has on more then on occasion dragged me. And he's also bad for about the first mile of his walk when he's very hyper. We walk four miles so after that he's fine its just when he's hyper.

I've worked with a trainer using a Gentle leader which worked great but I didn't like how it would snap his head around when he tried to pull. So my trainer switched to a choker which does not work at all with Noah. He will lower his head and choke himself by fighting it.

So now I'm thinking of trying a harness. He's done some weight pulling and as soon as his pulling harness goes on he stops his pulling

I was thinking of trying a No Pull Harness. Does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks

Star is a 5 year old Quarab mare that I have spent the last two years slowly breaking her to saddle. Recently she's progressed to taking her out on the trail which is what she is going to be used for. She is to be ridden bitless and bitless only. So please don't suggest a bit. This mare is incredible. She is so sweet and smart and tries to understand so hard. The trainer I'm working with says in 35 years of training she hasn't seen a horse like Star.

I've been riding her in a standard rope halter (2 knots) with reins clipped to the bottom loops were the lead rope would normally tie. She stops from the walk and trot and backs just find that way. I have yet to canter her on the trail but she stops fine with it at a canter in the arena but we only recently started cantering about a month ago.

My problem is turning. My other horses already knew how to neck rein when I trained them for bitless so this is a little bit of a problem and the trainer I'm working with just wants to stick a bit in her mouth. Star doesn't know how to neck rein and she's getting confused by trying to direct rein with the halter. She thinks I'm asking her to back up and does that while trying to turn her nose in. She reins fine if I put a nylon on her and clip the reins to the cheek pieces but I don't want to just have a nylon on her it just doesn't look comfy with the clips digging in.

So I'm looking for another option to work with her.

Hackamores and bosols I don't have experience with. But I'm interested in learning I just can't find a trainer that can teach me. Everyone around here swears by tom thumb bits and I get looked at like I'm crazy for riding even my dead broke 34 year old gelding with a halter.

Side pull rope halter I've seen these in catalogs but I can't find one with good reviews.

Bitless bridles. Like the Dr Cook. They are a little out of my price range right now but I would love to hear so opinions on them for later on.

Anything I'm forgetting and what do you suggest for Star? Thanks

After a nearly three month break from riding I've been bringing Harley my 9 year old paint back into work. For the last month we did lots of walking and trotting until he could easily do his old 5 mile trail rides without nearly keeling over from exhaustion. He's been riding again for a month 5 days a week. 2 hours a day.

Yesterday when I took him out I decided to let him lope a little. The instant I asked for the canter he lowered his head so his nose was nearly touching the ground and decided to run like that. I pulled his head up and he decided that was a cue to slow down. So I nudged him to start cantering again and he decided a little buck would be fine. I told him to quit and made him canter again. Head went back down and when I corrected it he decided to buck again. This went on for about ten minutes and he finally after tiring out a bit lifted his head back up. But later in the ride when I asked for it again he did the same thing.

He's not in pain. Vet cleared him for riding again.

He got so fat on pasture that I just had to get him a new saddle so I know its not that.

He rides bitless so I doubt it his mouth but his teeth were just done 4 months ago.

He was with another horse which was being a bit of a brat but not at the canter like Harley

He normally carries his head a bit low since his previous rider rode him in a real short tie down but this was ridiculous. I was afraid he was going to smack his nose into the ground.

And he has never done this before.

Any idea what is causing this? And am I correcting him right? He's very sensitive to being able to stop. so the instant he feels any pressure on his nose even just to pull his head up he takes that as his cue to take a break. He's a lazy boy.

I saw this Mustang on Facebook and I fell in love.

What year and model is she? Is she custom or something because I've been looking for over an hour and I haven't been able to find another one like her.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/V2nx7kdIEyhaU-Hl...

I thought she was 2007 GT but that doesn't seem to be it.

Thanks

I am working on writing a story and I was looking around at pictures trying to decide what color horse I wanted to use when I came across this picture.

http://i158.photobucket.com/albums/t93/coolhorses_...

Its a gray Arab I know. A youngster I'd guess by the color. But what about the mane and tail? Is it just caused by the fact the horse is young?

I'm trying to find a bit to work my paint gelding in. He rides in a rope halter for trail work but I find he likes to have something to 'play' with in his mouth. Even with the bridle perfectly adjusted he likes to sit there and chomp on it especially sweet iron.. I also find it keeps him calmer if he has something to nibble on.

Suggestions?

Harley my 8 going on 9 year old paint who toes in had been on and off lame and finally the X-rays confirmed arthritis in his left front fetlock. My vet is going to be injecting him in a few weeks and he's off work right now. But hopefully with injections he's going to be able to go back to being a light trail horse. I'm only a 140lbs and he is a 1200lb 16.1 stocky old boy so I'm not going to be a heavy rider for him. But I'm looking at all my options on things to help him.

He is on pasture 6 hours a day and the rest of the time in a 1/2 acre paddock with access to his stall right now. Though he normally sits in front of his round bail instead of moving like he should. *sigh* he's a lazy boy.

Right now I'm looking for boots and a joint supplement. I have my 33 year old on Dumor joint for his age and I'm putting Harley on it if I don't find a better one.

When he starts work again hopefully I'm looking for boots that will help support him. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks guys

I found Noah my 18 month old Lab/Newfie mutt at the most a 4 week old puppy in a dumpster and I took him in and hand-raised him. He's blind in his left eye and is extremely timid of men to the point up until recently if a man went to pet him he'd pee himself despite me taking him everywhere with me. After a lot of work I've got him to the point as long as the man goes slow and talks to him and gives him a treat they can pet him without a problem. Women and children he's their best friend gives kisses and is the happiest thing.

I'm 16 with a job and homeschooled and my parents can't really afford to help me care for my horse or my dog so I'm on my own with them expect they pay for food. Vet care is up to me.

At about 6 month of age Noah started chewing like crazy to the point he was leaving sores on his body. He had no fleas. At first the vet thought it was a food allergy so he's on Taste of the Wild Pacific Stream. No grain, no chicken. The sores continued as did the scratching. So the vet tested him allergies. No luck. Then he put him on steroids. Which actually seemed to work. It lasted all Winter where he wasn't inching and then as soon as the heat hit he started itching again like crazy. More test and still the vet can't figure it out. Winter came again and Noah stopped scratching once again. So the vet took him off all meds and he was perfectly fine until a few weeks ago when it hit 80 for a few days then the scratching started and he's already getting bald patches and a sore has popped up.

He is outside for his 2 hour walks. One hour in the morning and one at night and to go out a few times. Other then that he's in the house in AC. I live in Florida so yeah it does get very hot. But he's only out a few minutes to potty in the heat of the day. He does go with me to work and stays in the Air conditioned barn with me since I work as a groom at a local stable. My boss loves him and she is great about having him at work with be because she loves how he teaches the horses not to be afraid of dogs and he's so well behaved.

The vet is baffled and wants to do more test but I can't afford them. I have spent about a thousand dollars on his care already and I have an 800 dollar bill at the vet right now making 200 dollar a month payments on. The vet won't do any more money on treatment until I'm paid off which I can't blame him for. Which will be awhile since my car broke last week and needs a new transmission and I can't keep borrowing my Dad's car so I have to get it fixed so I can get to work.

I was talking on another forum about how I don't know what I will do until I can pay the vet off and someone got very nasty with me. They said I should give Noah away or bring him to the shelter if I can't afford his care.

I'm very upset. I'm doing my best for Noah and its not like he's not getting good care. He's fixed, he gets great food, he's up to date on shots and tags and all that. He has tons of toys and he's with my 24/7 pretty much.

I have depression and Noah has helped me so much with it. He acts almost as a therapy dog in that respect. Everyone who knows me has seen a huge improvement in my depression since I found Noah. I don't know what I would do without him. But I want what's best for him and I crying just thinking of having to give him up and he's sitting with his head on my lap licking my arm as I type this.

I don't want to be a bad owner but I feel so bad I can't afford to do more test for awhile. Should I give him up? Or what?

I was nosing around on some Arabian horse site and I saw this mare.

http://www.khartoonkhlassic.com/WA%20Outrageous.ht...

I thought it was impossible for a purebred Arab to be a pinto? Is it just extreme sabino markings? Or was I misinformed?

My two purebred Arabs Misty and Ty are shedding out a ton right now but they are getting bald patches. There hair is just comping out in clumps and there is only a little new growth underneath. Ty's whole left flank is bald right now and Misty has bald areas around her withers. The skin looks nice and healthy and there is a touch of fuzz.

They are up to date on shots and worming. They have a great diet. Ty is blanketed in the cold. And they are stalled in cruddy weather. Plus the barn is left open all day so they can go in and out as they please.

My Quarab is a little bare on her legs but no where near as bad as the other two. My Mustang and Paint are shedding out fine.

It doesn't look like rainrot or anything. Should I call the vet? Is it emergency or just get them out when they can?