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Adventure time with Snickers

28K views 336 replies 21 participants last post by  Saranda 
#1 · (Edited)
Instead of posting tidbits of our live over various discussions, I decided to move into a separate thread to tell our story.

Where to start! I guess I will just split this into several parts, so that the novel doesn't get TOO big. :-p

Here I am - This is me!

About me first - I'm 26 years old, living in Latvia (that's in Eastern Europe), riding since 2010 and dividing all my free time among my three cats and my horse. I'm also an aspie, for all you fellow aspies out there to know. Horsemanship is my passion and I strive to live my dream ever since it started. I used to dream about horses as a little girl, but was never allowed to take up riding as my mother was extremely afraid of them. Later in life, I tried out different hobbies, but none really caught my attention for long, and everything seemed to be too expensive, too far from home, too demanding. One day, I was chatting with a friend who mentioned that she had been riding for a while and it all came back to me. I found a local lesson barn where I started my lessons and, although it realistically was more expensive, farther from home and demanding than anything else, I was happy at last.

Now for my brave steed - as some of you may know, Snickers is a carriage type Latvian Warmblood gelding, now a 7yo and spunky as ever. He's an extroverted, very dominant and joyful character, who values fun and games over anything else. However, beneath the carefree surface, he's extremely intelligent and demands lots of respect to even consider turning his attention to a person. Gets bored easily, can be very food motivated, enjoys galloping, jumping, playing, destroying stuff and exploring new trails. He's always up to an adventure and, as he's an imaginative one, he'll make an adventure himself, if I fail to provide him with one!

And what would be a journal introduction without at least one picture.

 
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#3 · (Edited)
Thanks! :)

Yesterday evening turned out to be a very busy one, but now - on to the next part.

The Beginnings

When I decided to take up riding I did a lot of reading to understand, what style I'd enjoy the most. We don't have any Western riding in Latvia, which is a shame, because I'm really interested in cutting, so it was English all the same, but exploring the equestrian sports field in my country left me disappointed. All I saw around was just gaping mouths, sore horses, human ambitions above horse needs. I also thought back then that bits are evil by default - yeah, I knew no better as a complete newbie. So I found a local NH barn, the only one here at that time, and thought it was paradise, although I later learned of how bad my riding habits from those times actually were.

But NH was not the only thing why I chose to go to this barn. It has a homepage with pictures of their horses, and this is where I first saw Him.



Snickers was described as a freshly backed 4yo with a unique, cheeky and intelligent character. I fell in love instantly, although I even hadn't touched a horse for years at that time, and I fancied myself by fantasizing of meeting - or even calling this little guy my own. Funny, though, as I had always thought, that I'd dream of an impressive, flashy horse, a Friesian, a Trakhener or an Arab at least, and DEFINITELY not a bay. :D

The first months, however, I didn't meet him, as he was sent to a pasture boarding place far in the countryside to grow and mature a bit. After that, he was given me to learn groundwork with. I was ecstatic. And it was a disaster. :D I was uncoordinated, lacking timing and body language. He was dominant, pushy, easily distracted and easily annoyed. We were too green for each other and I didn't get him for lessons for several more months. In the meantime, I petted him in the pastures, visited him in the barn and generally speaking, continued on dreaming. Others didn't understand me - you see, Snickers wasn't really his owners' favorite horse. They hated his curiousness, called him "the Jerk", chained him in a small standing stall for nights to make more room for more favored horses, fed less, ignored minor health problems and considered him worthless, although they still kept his price unreasonably high. Snickers wasn't doing good in this atmosphere and gradually gained the fame of a horse "who always walks with his eyes closed". He was apathetic, got slower and slower, and his character was getting broken day by day.

Later, as my skills grew, he was again assigned to me for several riding lessons and we met more often in groundwork. My dreams grew bigger, although I didn't even hope for ever buying him. Getting and keeping a horse seemed like a seriously expensive business, out of my limits. Then, rumors started that he could be sold soon to a riding school in Sweden, and for that summer Snickers was sent to a riding camp far away from the barn. I tried my best to oppress my emotions for him, as I believed it would be worse for me if I get attached to a horse I could not hope to afford...

The camp eventually ended. Snickers came back. And my heart leaped, all the emotions, the dreams, the hopes were still there. After a few days potential buyers were booked to come and try him. I spent that time almost frozen in fear that he could leave. He didn't get bought, though, and I, knowing I have to take at least SOME action, made a full lease agreement with the barn owner.

The morning we were going to sign the contract, I went to the pastures and met Snickers, who was just standing there as always, with his head low, eyes closed, completely uninterested in what the day could bring. I told him what I was going to do and that he is going to be mine, at least, for a while. Although he was a "hard" horse, he seemed to enjoy my company nonetheless.

This is what he mostly looked like at that time, October 2011:



When I came back to the pastures after signing the contract, a completely different Snickers was waiting there for me by the gates, away from all the other horses, the Snickers I always believed in and waited for to emerge from behind the thick walls he had built around himself. His head was up, his posture was proud, his eyes were wide open and bright, and he neighed his heart out. At that same moment I realized I'd regret and suffer for the remaining life, if I ever let this horse go again.

Two months later, I had arranged a loan, made the necessary payments and Snickers, then a scruffy 5yo, was finally mine. I moved him instantly to a temporary barn, and not long after to a very nice, private, strictly NH place where we spent a happy year. He started opening up and soon the horse who always had his eyes closed looked like this:



This April we were forced to move again due to an increased boarding fee and reside in a more traditional showjumping barn, but are happy nonetheless and have learned tons an heaps of valuable skills.

So, this is our "Black Stallion" tale, which I would not believe in if I hadn't experienced myself. :) From the next post on, I'll just tell about our daily progress and, of course, adventures, because a day with Snickers does not go with at least one new thing to explore. :)
 
#5 ·
Thanks, TL! You seem to be much more confident in my riding than I am. :D

This, I hope, will be the last part of our introduction.

What we do.

Snickers was backed as a fresh four year old. Quite soon after that he was put into 2h daily work as the trail guides' horse for guided trail rides and, as a 5yo, he started working as a lesson horse. His dominant character proved to be a challenge, as he soon learned that, if he persists in not doing anything, the human on his back will soon cease - that applied to the riding students. If the rider was persistent enough or if the saddle fit badly, he'd try out bucking. I was told that in trails he first was very eager to go first and fast, and, if the way home was what we wanted, try spinning, but it was taught out of him, in process losing lots of his natural forwards movement, in my opinion.

When I bought him, he could:

* Do WTC, basic steering, stopping in a rope halter - that was all he was ever ridden in -, stand to a mounting block.
* Go in trails as a fearless leading horse or anywhere in the line - first preferred, though.
* Jump small obstacles. He also went through a beginner jumping course once.
* Do all the 7 basic Parelli games in a basic level.

I had been riding for 2 years at that point and my equation was not that good, to be honest. My seat was clumsy, I tended to lean forwards a lot, I held my hands mostly straight, my feet were always up and I seemed to make horses crazy in canter. When I bought Snickers, I was mostly lazy and didn't want to address my problems, until it was pointed out to me and until I understood it myself, how my riding affects our partnership. Since then, I've been taking every lesson I can (though not as often I'd like to) from several instructors, a Dressage trainer and now - a jumping instructor. From just steering lazily around the arena or, more often, out in the trails, we, in our almost 2 years of partnership, now:

* Working seriously on our rhythm, impulsion and balance - I believe, I've regained much of his forwards movement at last.
* Working on my seat and overall position as well. Slowly improving, but lots of space for further improvement!
* Riding bitless and sometimes tackless, or with a cordeo.
* Jumping grids, bounces and, since two weeks, simple courses.
* Working on the basics of lateral movements.

We also spend lots of time by just taking walks in-hand in the trails, doing NH based groundwork and learning some tricks for the sake of fun. Snickers knows how to do Spanish walk, bow, lie down, sit, stretch, climb on different objects, carry an object in his mouth, self-load a trailer and rear.

This Sunday, we're participating in our first showjumping competition together - we'll be jumping the small jumps along with kids, but hey, it should be fun! :)

Here's a small video of some things we've done this summer:

 
#24 ·
Thanks, TL! You seem to be much more confident in my riding than I am. :D

This, I hope, will be the last part of our introduction.

What we do.

Snickers was backed as a fresh four year old. Quite soon after that he was put into 2h daily work as the trail guides' horse for guided trail rides and, as a 5yo, he started working as a lesson horse. His dominant character proved to be a challenge, as he soon learned that, if he persists in not doing anything, the human on his back will soon cease - that applied to the riding students. If the rider was persistent enough or if the saddle fit badly, he'd try out bucking. I was told that in trails he first was very eager to go first and fast, and, if the way home was what we wanted, try spinning, but it was taught out of him, in process losing lots of his natural forwards movement, in my opinion.

When I bought him, he could:

* Do WTC, basic steering, stopping in a rope halter - that was all he was ever ridden in -, stand to a mounting block.
* Go in trails as a fearless leading horse or anywhere in the line - first preferred, though.
* Jump small obstacles. He also went through a beginner jumping course once.
* Do all the 7 basic Parelli games in a basic level.

I had been riding for 2 years at that point and my equation was not that good, to be honest. My seat was clumsy, I tended to lean forwards a lot, I held my hands mostly straight, my feet were always up and I seemed to make horses crazy in canter. When I bought Snickers, I was mostly lazy and didn't want to address my problems, until it was pointed out to me and until I understood it myself, how my riding affects our partnership. Since then, I've been taking every lesson I can (though not as often I'd like to) from several instructors, a Dressage trainer and now - a jumping instructor. From just steering lazily around the arena or, more often, out in the trails, we, in our almost 2 years of partnership, now:

* Working seriously on our rhythm, impulsion and balance - I believe, I've regained much of his forwards movement at last.
* Working on my seat and overall position as well. Slowly improving, but lots of space for further improvement!
* Riding bitless and sometimes tackless, or with a cordeo.
* Jumping grids, bounces and, since two weeks, simple courses.
* Working on the basics of lateral movements.

We also spend lots of time by just taking walks in-hand in the trails, doing NH based groundwork and learning some tricks for the sake of fun. Snickers knows how to do Spanish walk, bow, lie down, sit, stretch, climb on different objects, carry an object in his mouth, self-load a trailer and rear.

This Sunday, we're participating in our first showjumping competition together - we'll be jumping the small jumps along with kids, but hey, it should be fun! :)

Here's a small video of some things we've done this summer:

A Midsummer Dream - YouTube
Of course you would show this wonderful video to the music of Enya - (One of my fave songs) "Long, long journey".... :)
 
#7 · (Edited)
Thanks!

So, it was the big day yesterday - our first show! We entered a basic equation course (I don't know the correct name for these in English, but it's basically being able to show WTC, stopping, steering and jumping a couple of cross rails, and it is evaluated by the seat, by how you handle the horse, etc.) and a ~2ft showjumping course.

A teenage friend of mine volunteered to be my groom and did a fantastic job on grooming Snickers' tail and mane. Soon it was time to enter the warmup area for the equation course. Snickers was baffled about why I'm not letting him to go and say hi to all those new horses, but he soon settled and then it was our turn to enter the arena. Snicks continued being a champ, was calm and responsive and we had a great time! In the end, the judge gave us an "Excellent" evaluation (the scale was "Fine", "Good", "Very Good", "Excellent") and complimented our partnership. She said that, no matter if the rider is a low level hobby rider or pursues high competitive goals, she is always looking first and foremost for a harmonious understanding between the rider and the horse. That warmed my heart! Of course, my seat and cues are not ideal, I see lots and lots yet to improve, but it was nice for a first-time competition.

Not too long after that we had to enter the warmup area again to get ready for the showjumping course. The area was now swarmed by more anxious riders who often jumped the warmup jumps without calling them out or just rode around without really thinking about others, but we somehow managed not to get in anyone's way.

We were then to enter the arena and trot a little along the fence to get used to the setup, while the rider before us would run the course, but, unfortunately, the rider hadn't arrived at all and hadn't warned the judges about it! So I was suddenly called to the start line without being able to take a good last look at the course. The first jump was a bit clumsy and I certainly didn't know what to do with my hands, but then we went on just fine, until the fifth jump, where I understood that I have completely forgotten where to look for it and did a lazy canter around the course until I spotted it. :D From there on, it was fine again, and I let Snickers canter slowly on purpose, so that I could just get used to the atmosphere. He continued being a champ and did whatever I asked in a very well mannered style, so, although we finished within 130.5 seconds and with 4 penalty points (for messing up at the fifth jump), I was very content of him and of our first results.

Here's a video of our courses:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uSbXkRcOOOc

I can't seem to make the video show up in the post as the previous one... Oh well.
 
#11 ·
Thanks, guys!

Yesterday I had planned to go on a trail ride with a barnmate of mine. It was a lovely, sunny day, although very windy, and I felt that trails would do good to him after all the vigorous arena training before the show. However, my riding buddy's horse turned up with a freshly punctured leg and was a little lame, so the ride was cancelled. I didn't pluck up the courage to go alone, as we hadn't visited trails for so long and Snickers can be at times very strong there, if in high spirits - which he was yesterday. I used to go trail riding alone all the time in the past, but my confidence is somewhat lacking after an incident of us nearly being hit by a mad driving four-wheeler and Snickers giving me a broncing fit out of fear this summer. :oops:

So, we stayed in the arena and I decided to go for lunging him in a chambon. That is the only contraption I sometimes use and will ever use. Before I turned to seriously improving both of our skills, I just let him move with his head high in the trot, so I decided to gradually introduce him to a chambon that encourages him to stretch long and low. Hopefully, it will help him build the right muscles and a stronger topline over time. Also, this is the only training in which I use a bitted bridle, as the chambon won't give a correct pressure in a hackamore or a halter. I use a double-jointed sweet iron-copper bit with loose rings, which fits his mouth nicely, although Snickers isn't too happy about bits in general.

His teeth are floated up to date, but he has a history of bit abuse - his first owners just put a bit in his mouth one day, used very heavy hands and sawing, got him resisting violently and took it out for good, leaving him with a memory that bits mean pain and frustration only. I have re-introduced to him gradually and he will now ride relaxed in a bit on a loose rein, but he tenses up with any contact - still lots and lots to do in this.

However, he was being a good boy about the lunging, although it visibly bores him and I had to remind him several times to be more active at the trot. Sleeping is by all means his favorite gait, when it comes to working. :D
 
#12 ·
We had a wonderful groundwork session yesterday. Mostly it's me who has issues in those, not Snickers. Despite his sometimes robust and unshakeable outer image, he's extremely sensitive and hates any outbursts of hasty emotions, unjust cues or simply a too dominant style of leadership. I'm a follower of Ingela Larsson-Smith's idea of the leading (vs the dominant) style of training, and Snickers is very responsive when I get it right. Yesterday was the day. We worked on direction changes during the circling game, transitioning between trotting/walking/stopping/backing up/going sideways from mere changes in my focus and body language (no use of the leadrope or the training stick), and yielding the shoulder rhythmically in front of me, so that in the end it began looking like small sideways rears. He enjoyed all of that a lot and we had a splendid evening. When I let him out in the pastures again, he stayed with me and refused to join the herd - I had to leave, though, as I was not to miss my train home, but he has been progressively fond of my company in the fields.

Today I knew something was a bit off as soon as I saw him in the pastures. A quick checkup showed nothing, though, and he walked just fine, so we walked down to the riding arena where I checked again on his overall health, saw nothing suspicious (breathing fine, gut sounds fine, hooves and tendons fine) and tacked him up for a ride. At the walk, everything was almost ok, although he was a bit more resistant to move actively, but, as soon as we hit the trot, I felt he was going out of rhythm and dismounted. Lunging at the trot revealed a slight stiffness/lameness in his right hind leg, originating from the top part of it, and after palpating it I discovered that he had been kicked by another horse. Oh well, a couple of days off for my boy! Gave him a comfrey based remedy for bruises and spent the remaining evening with him out in the pastures. He seemed very content and chose staying with me over joining the roaming herd.
 
#13 · (Edited)
While my boy rested, I continued working with Magic, a 3yo pony mare that was trusted to me by her owner to work on her ground manners and a little bit of riding. She was backed this summer. Magic is a very clever girl, although she tends to spook and to barge in your space, but we've gained lots of progress - she has successfully learned to yield to pressure in different ways, to accept a person mounting her from a mounting block, to de-tangle herself from a rope around her hind legs, to stand quietly while I'm doing all sorts of crazy and loud things around her (she is meant to become a kids riding pony over time and needs to be as calm as possible), to ride bitless, to lead effortlessly in walk and trot and some other basic things.

I had been skipping work with Magic over the last few weeks due to getting Snickers fit for our first competition and having to move the barn inventory over to a different location, so I didn't expect much of this bouncy pony, believing that some things we'd have to do all over again. However, she was nothing but a pleasant surprise - Magic remembered everything as if our last session was just a day ago, and we could go further in her training. Did a little bareback riding in a rope halter and she was just a doll, also, much calmer than with a bit. She is pleasure to be around and, if I could afford to keep two horses, I'd buy her.

 
#14 ·
While Snickers was in rest, I decided to do a little trim on his hooves last Sunday, but it turned out to be a hard task. He was bored out of his wits and wanted action, also, his hip (the one which had been kicked) was okay again (Yay!) so he kept pulling his leg out of my hands. I offered him two choices - either stand quietly with a lifted leg, either work hard and fast at trot and canter - going sideways, backwards, in circles, yielding all his parts... I admit, I was more dominant than I actually like to be and I regretted some of my choices afterwards, but through this session I discovered that Snickers actually CAN go sideways at a canter (no longer he will be able to pretend that he can't :D ) and we got those front feet trimmed.

However, I am aiming to become less and less dominant over time. It is not how his mind works and he needs a leader, not somebody to pick fights with.

Then, this Tuesday, I visited him to go on a ride, but was too lazy to tack up properly, so I just used my bareback pad and my rope halter, and we went for a stroll, during which I worked on our stops, backing up, yielding fore- and hindquarters separately. We finally managed to do backing up from a slight change in the seat and I'm very content with that.

We're having a chiro from Scotland visiting us this Sunday - funny thing, we don't have proper chiros here in Latvia so foreign professionals have to be invited to come over. :D I'm glad to have this opportunity - been wanting to tune up Snickers at least once a year for a while.
 
#15 ·
And, the latest news are not happy at all - the BO decided that she needs a major change in her lifestyle and is shutting down the barn. She is currently selling all her horses, including Magic, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she is bought by a friend of mine - she'd have a wonderful home then and I'd be able to visit.

This also means I have to find a new boarding facility for Snickers and me until the last week of September. I honestly don't have an idea of where we are going to end up right now.
 
#16 ·
This also means I have to find a new boarding facility for Snickers and me until the last week of September. I honestly don't have an idea of where we are going to end up right now.
Wow, 2 weeks is not much time, the BO is not being very realistic in giving such a short time.

Hope you can find a good place by then....

.
 
#17 ·
Thanks! I have a few options, but none are perfect. I have quite a high standard of how I want my horse to be living, so it's a bit complicated. For one, I want 24/7 pasturing in winter and it's not such a popular way of keeping horses over here - not yet. There is a barn with such a possibility and with a free boarding space for Snickers, but it is quite far and the riding arena has a very hard surface, so riding would be quite limited, which is not what I want... Will see, everything always sorts out somehow.

I'm quite sad about the BO's decision, though... I really enjoyed entrusting Snickers to her and she's a good jumping trainer.
 
#18 ·
Before I rode Snickers last night, I had to lunge a horse as per request of his owner, and I just let Snickers roam in the riding arena, as there were no other riders. Snicks was being impatient and trying to "help" me by chewing on the lunge line, trying to make the other horse go faster, coming to stand by my side and generally acting like a persistent kid. :D He was clearly jealous and wanted me to turn my attention to him, but he had to wait.

After that it was getting darker quickly and our arena has no lightning, so I tacked Snicks up and hopped on for some flatwork. Just this June he was still a horse with very little "Go", but it seems I have managed to change that - he is now very forwards and this evening wasn't an exclusion. We worked on pivoting on his hind legs and going forwards from that at an active pace and on trot-canter/walk-canter transitions. Snicks was flying! I had to let him to have a good run around the perimeter at a fast canter to let his steam out, but he could have been going more and more, if I had let him. There were moments when he tried cantering when I just asked for a tad more hindleg engagement at the walk and I am very pleased to see such energy in him. He is by no means too hot, just really forwards and happy to go, which is such a relief! When we came to walking off, I worked a little on neck reining, because hey - although we have no Western riding in Latvia, it doesn't mean I can't dig up some information and do a couple of things at a basic level! He got the idea and now we have a lot of refining and tuning up to do.
 
#19 ·
Yay for Magic! She is being sold to my friends, I will still be able to visit her and she's going to her new home this Saturday. Until that I'm continuing to work with her almost daily on accepting new situations and on riding in a halter, as she will be going to a strictly bitless home. To be honest, she is much, much calmer without a bit, I observe lots and lots of stretching long and low, chewing and licking, and being much more relaxed in general. We progressed today to trotting in a rope halter, and she was being a doll, as always. No spook, no rushing, no tension. Over these days, I've also introduced her to free jumping, going from just crossing a ground pole, then a low cross rail, and then a 50cm high vertical. Although her first reaction was refusing anything that is higher than ground, it needed just a little bit of encouragement, and, after that, everything went beautifully. She seemed to really enjoy herself while jumping and her natural jumping form is very nice. She could make a wonderful jumping pony later in life.

I will have to help her load in the trailer this Saturday and I'm not really sure how will it go. We haven't had the chance to work on this (trailer was never available), but I've been told she loaded without any problems about a year and a half ago. Meanwhile, I'm working on her being able to climb on a concrete ramp and, hopefully, that will help us with the trailer.

The chiro was a real blessing to Snickers. Although it seemed to me that his hind legs might be stiffer than I'd like them to be after last years' abscesses in his fronts, the chiro came to a conclusion that the real reason for it is a stiff front end - most likely, the abscesses are to be blamed in this, too. He worked for a good half an hour and instructed me to continue doing simple massages on Snicks' shoulders and neck for three weeks. Snickers has already showed some noticeable improvement and today I felt much more hind leg involvement than before. I am currently working on improving his stamina, so we are using endurance training plan with much more trotting (without breaking the gait). I am also concentrating on my seat and using the trotting periods for trotting without stirrups, in two-point, in two-point with my arms outstretched, and so on. I am really glad that Snickers is so reliable, because I can send him out in a canter around the arena and just go into two-point with my arms outstretched, even when there is nobody around to lunge us. It's a simple, yet a really valuable exercise for finding a true balance in the two-point, so I find it extremely important to practice it whenever I can.

Due to weather becoming chilly, Snickers is extremely full of energy and it sometimes makes me giggle, how the horse with no-go now sometimes needs a stern reminder that "stop" means "STOP RIGHT NOW", not "maybe after a few more canter paces". :D

And other news - we've decided about a place to move. It is very close to the current facility and we will be able to go there by foot. Also, some other horses from our herd have already moved there, so it will be easier for Snickers to blend in, besides, his two best buddies are moving there along with him. The owners are quite inexperienced, but they are really open to new information, so, hopefully, it will be a fine place with really beautiful surroundings where to spend at least this winter. Fingers crossed.
 
#20 ·
I've been having lots to do, so less time for writing here, but better now than never, right?

Last Saturday, Magic went to her new home. Although she hadn't been trailered in about two years, she loaded the trailer effortlessly and just followed me inside. I kissed her lots of goodbyes and finally climbed out of the trailer to watch her leave. As far as I know, she's settling in nicely and already breaking some hearts. My sweet girl. :)

Then Sunday came. Snickers, two of his best buddies, and a mare were the last to stay in the old pastures. They had observed the rest of the herd leave and not return for several days, and were quite stressed. After checking on them in the arena, we (the owners of the other horses and myself) were ready and set to go. The tack had been transported to the new barn earlier, and now he had just 3.5 km to walk until we got to the new barn. It is situated in the remote part of our National botanical garden and has some really beautiful surroundings. Our horses were already acquainted with the new herd before, so settling was easy, at least, for Snickers, unless we count the fact that another gelding took his mare. :D I am now hoping for a good winter, but, up to now, everything is looking good. Fingers still crossed.

Snicks today. I'll upload some pictures of our moving later -



(P.S. - I never leave him tied up unsupervised in a rope halter, this was just a moment to take this picture.)
 
#22 ·
Instead of posting tidbits of our live over various discussions, I decided to move into a separate thread to tell our story.

Where to start! I guess I will just split this into several parts, so that the novel doesn't get TOO big. :-p

Here I am - This is me!

About me first - I'm 26 years old, living in Latvia (that's in Eastern Europe), riding since 2010 and dividing all my free time among my three cats and my horse. I'm also an aspie, for all you fellow aspies out there to know. Horsemanship is my passion and I strive to live my dream ever since it started. I used to dream about horses as a little girl, but was never allowed to take up riding as my mother was extremely afraid of them. Later in life, I tried out different hobbies, but none really caught my attention for long, and everything seemed to be too expensive, too far from home, too demanding. One day, I was chatting with a friend who mentioned that she had been riding for a while and it all came back to me. I found a local lesson barn where I started my lessons and, although it realistically was more expensive, farther from home and demanding than anything else, I was happy at last.

Now for my brave steed - as some of you may know, Snickers is a carriage type Latvian Warmblood gelding, now a 7yo and spunky as ever. He's an extroverted, very dominant and joyful character, who values fun and games over anything else. However, beneath the carefree surface, he's extremely intelligent and demands lots of respect to even consider turning his attention to a person. Gets bored easily, can be very food motivated, enjoys galloping, jumping, playing, destroying stuff and exploring new trails. He's always up to an adventure and, as he's an imaginative one, he'll make an adventure himself, if I fail to provide him with one!

And what would be a journal introduction without at least one picture.

Yay!! So good to see Snickers again! This thread is going to be awesome, I just know it, Saranda! :)
 
#23 ·
So, Snickers colicked today. I had planned to ride him and found him sound asleep in the pastures, but somehow something seemed off, so I hanged around to observe. Suddenly he started breathing very heavily, as if he had just cantered a lot, got very tense and woke up, being noticeably grumpy and apathetic. Checked for gut sounds and heard none. After consulting with a vet on the phone, I started walking him and, after an hour, he peed a great deal, after which gut sounds suddenly returned to his left side and his breathing became less labored. After one more hour he peed again, again - a great deal, after which his breathing settled completely and his gut sounds returned to both sides, although his stomach was still bloated and he hadn't passed a pile. That happened after one more half an hour of walking. After that he returned to his completely normal, joyful self and I hanged around the barn until night, just to be sure everything is okay. Not sure, what caused that, as everything in his eating and moving habits hadn't been changed. It might had been the suddenly cold night, or an aftermath of stress after the recent moving. Who knows... Just glad he's fine right now.
 
#25 ·
So glad he's o.k., Saranda - many prayers sent for Snickers.... On a side note, I wanted to mention how impressed and pleased I am that you choose to ride bit less - I'm the only one that I know of in my area who rides 100% bit less, (not that there are many people in my region anyway!), and I find it very pleasing and natural for myself and my horses :)
 
#26 ·
Thank you, Northenstar. :) By the way, Snickers was being very smart and showing how horse natural instincts work, when, during the colic episode and being walked he really pushed to be allowed to eat witchhazel and willows - both of which naturally relieve pain, tension and help with good blood supply to gut.

And, although I have occasionally ridden Snickers in a bit for the sake of education and overcoming his traumatic experience during first-time bitting, I feel that riding bitless gives us all that and more which can be achieved with a bit. I don't doubt it can be a great learning tool in the right hands, but bitless feels so much better to me individually, and there's a definite difference in Snicks' attitude, too. :)
 
#28 ·
When I was looking for my first lesson barn, I had went through huge amounts of information and understood that bitted riding just isn't for me. Felt wrong. So I found a strictly bitless barn. Although my first learning experience, as I learned later, wasn't the most educating one, and I've ditched some of the most irrational ideas since then and don't think that bits are automatically evil, bitless is still the number one choice for me. After all, if I can communicate with my horse without it, why should I put a piece of iron in one of the most vulnerable parts of his body? That's the feeling that comes naturally and automatically to me. But I'm not one of those religiously bitless persons who preach maniacally their beliefs among those who ride bitted - to each his own, after all. I'm just glad if I manage to inspire someone into believing that there are other choices, too. :)
 
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