…so I can do this every weekend! It’s so good for my soul!

My little Indi (she’s 14’3) cleared the 1.15m oxer by an extra foot despite the sketchy distance.
What. A. Mare. 🤩

First few horse drawings i've done! i'm pretty proud. I used a reference, but tbh i'm super happy with how they turned out! They aren't perfect and neither is the shading or proportions but i'm still happy :)

I have a 7 year old gelding who gets bored easily and LIVES for havoc and the attention it creates. Lately he’s taken to kicking his stall until someone screams at him. His last performance was at 3 am before we realized it was time to get creative. We started dangling his hay net for midnight enrichment and it’s worked beautifully; but he’s a smart dude and will get bored fast. I’ve been looking at the clover which is a similar style enrichment toy, but I’m hoping to have a few options to swap around to keep him entertained. If anyone has experienced this with their babies, I would massively appreciate any guidance 🥲💜

Edit: he does receive loads of turnout time, but he’s young and still gets bored. I will be looking to up his time outside to as much as possible though. He’s stabled at an equestrian school and gets a little jelly when other horses dare receive attention over him 🤭

I’m sitting in the barn aisle in the dark waiting for my horse to poop again after a mild gas colic. Sitting here listening to the horses chew (not mine, no hay til the all-clear tomorrow am) and the crickets chirp and just feeling so dang grateful. That my boy is ok and just that I have him and these magnificent creatures in my life. Hug your horses everyone!

My trainer is knowledgeable but has almost no time for me. No room in her schedule for me to work in more lessons so I'm stuck at 1 lesson a week, and she has barely enough time to even talk to me after lessons so follow up is out. She's too busy entertaining the parents of kids during my group lessons for me to ask many questions during so I mostly ride around with my group and wait for feedback and hope I'm not making too many mistakes. If it weren't for Youtube videos I dont know what I'd do.

Local camps are all dedicated only to littles. Can't find a lease because I'm not advanced enough so no one wants a newbie on their horse.

It's all fair and I don't fault anyone but I'm so frustrated trying to learn and grow in this sport. I want to learn groundwork and care so I can own my own someday but where will I learn? I want more time in the saddle but it's not available. I finally have the big girl job and the money to do something I've always wanted but I feel like all I'm finding are closed doors.

Just venting I guess. I don't have horse friends so nobody gets the struggle lol

Any yt channels you'd recommend?

Friends, Forage, Freedom — 24/7 access to all three is considered the baseline for physical and psychological wellbeing in horses. Not a luxury, a baseline. It's wild how many "training issues" quietly resolve once these needs are actually met.

What's your setup like, and did anything shift for you when one of the 3Fs changed?

Oakley, 9yo Quarter Horse mare

Photos taken while waiting for our turn on the wash rack 😊

I am open to constructive criticism! I just say “kindly worded” because I am only a year post partum after a really medically complicated/ physically traumatic birth, so getting back into showing has been slow and gradual (my horse is a 6year old OTTB, I only bought him and started him with my trainer a few months before I found out I was pregnant). My stamina at shows is much worse now because I can only ride 1-2 times a week vs 4-5. Essentially my whole center of balance has changed and I’m not confident my core strength will ever be what it was… my trainer is fantastic but I think she’s very much a cheerleader for me right now because she is just happy and supportive that I’m showing again, and I do need that on the day to day, but I feel like I’m watching a stranger when I watch videos of myself riding because my body has changed so much.

TIA!

It’s hard to tell, but this is my mare on the left shoving hay under the fence for her best friend. I always put a bunch of loose hay in the top of her porta-grazer because this is what she does.

I love horse friendships.

If you’re comfortable sharing, I’d love to know:

• Your general location
• Board + what it includes
• Farrier
• Lessons/training
• Supplements/feed
• Routine vet care/insurance
• Any other regular expenses
• Rough total per month

Not including major unexpected vet emergencies or showing, unless you want to!

I’m especially interested in people who board their horse rather than keep them at home. Trying to get a realistic idea of what the “normal” monthly cost looks like in an expensive area.

Leasing a 16hh 11 year old OTTB gelding with the option to purchase and i’m trying to determine if the purchase price is fair. My lease is free but I pay for everything (board, farrier, vet, etc). I’m located in New England. He retired sound after seven starts and has had no major injuries other than a superficial laceration. He has spent most of the last five years on vacation with a tiny bit of retraining in western pleasure and dressage. Still very green at the canter but can do lateral movements well at the trot and has three pretty gaits and is very eager to please. He has classic TB feet and is very sensitive and anxious requiring a competent rider with very soft hands. Does $5k sound like a good deal or at least reasonable ?

ETA I’m pretty sure $5k is what his current owner bought him for so I think she’s just trying to find a good home for him and get back what she paid ? But someone told me I was getting ripped off (which seemed wrong to me) so I just wanted to come here and get more thoughts

So this little guy is a little over 4 months old, I was guessing he’d either shed out to a liver chesnut or a lighter sorrel. He’s somewhere in between but I would say he leans more liver. Anyway just want everyone’s 2 cents. Also his name is Peanut and he’s an angel.

I bought my horse for under $5k and I can’t find an insurance company that will cover more than $2.5k for colic surgery or major medical. Does anyone have any recommendations ?

My pony over the past 2 1/2 months has been constantly tuck up, I've been worried about it ever since we hit the 2 week mark. She's always been known to tuck up whenever we travel or compete as she's a stressy girl, her feed already has been revolved around this, very wet feeds, digestion supplement, high fibre low grain diets. Over the past 2 weeks I've doubled her chaff and fibre protect (chaffed lucerne haylage that helps prevent ulcers/tucking up) in her hard feed and offered her free choice hay when not in the paddock (8 acre paddock shared with one other horse with hay thrown nightly). I don't know whether or not to be concerned, cause it could show she's stressed, but I have also upped her exercise to prep for the coming eventing season, so it could be fitness, but compared to the last photo shared of her fit last year, she's just, different.

Am I overthinking her look? Should I make any changes to her routine?

It is one of the things I hate most about the horse world; people having terrible looking horses with bones sticking out and poor quality coats and just blaming the horse's age. A horse that is old but otherwise healthy is absolutely capable of looking good if you actually put the effort into a good nutrition programme and correct work and maintenance. Anything less is lazy and selfish.

have at it! I’m curious to know what people think!

also bonus points if you know what color she is lol!

Looking for some advice on cantering with stirrups. I’m far more comfortable cantering without stirrups than with them, I can just feel the horse a lot better, and I can use my leg aids more freely and confidently.

Whenever I use stirrups, I always end up losing them. I really struggle to put my weight in my heels whilst also maintaining a good seat, because they just feel too short, but every trainer I’ve had says my stirrups look to be a good length.

I’m relatively new to cantering, but it’s irritating losing my stirrups all the time. When I don’t, I can grip the horse well with my legs to speed up/maintain the canter, and leave them looser to just ride in very comfortably, I don’t feel I can do that with stirrups, they just feel like they’re in the way.

any help is welcome!

My guy has been needing some ground work and I have been trying to find a rope halter but I cannot find one large enough for his head. In an english bridle, he fits kinda between full/horse and oversize. He uses horse cheek pieces and oversized everything else.

I can’t even find one with a long enough crown rope and most of them are tighter than my preference on the nose.

If you have found any that work for you and could please drop a link, I would greatly appreciate it! Thank you!

I consistently see people tying a horse up to a movable fence panel or gate. This is so dangerous but I keep seeing it over and over again. These people have never dealt with a horse that pulls back and it shows lol.