In the first pic I’m trying to push my thigh down and feel like I’m REACHING for the stirrups. But when I do that the pommel punchs me in the vulva

In the second picture I’m completely relaxed and not trying to do anything.

First saddle is an M Toulouse, second is a verhan Trustin.

It’s mind blowing to me how much a saddle that isn’t built for you can fuck you up.

Also can we get some attention for how wonderful and willing and kind my (6 year old thoroughbred! ) mare is during all of this?

Any suggestions for preventing hair loss on knees from rubbing? I think it is from when she is laying down (she is in a dirt paddock). I’m considering getting some sand for her to lay on instead of hard ground but where she lays is quite soft so I’m not sure if it would actually help :/

What's going on with my boy? He was a little lame on Wednesday but very happily moving along. There was no swelling, no heating, no pulsing on the hooves or legs.

He has not been worked since Wednesday and seemed fine with his daily long turnout. He lives in a nice, calm herd and they spend their whole day grazing, so there's very little movement and I've never seen them trott or gallop together.

Now, 7 days later, he's very lame. His caretakers just sent me this video. There still is no swelling, no heat, no pulsing. The farrier was out on Saturday and didn't find anything that would cause him pain.

I live in East Africa and finding good vets, let alone the necessary equipment to do proper checks, is a big challenge. That being said, any ideas what this could be or what we could look for? Thank you!

PS: He's also on ulcer treatment right now. His topline and fur should look better in a month again.

For context I have tried multiple dressage saddles and this is the only one that fits me like a glove without going the custom route. I struggle with scoliosis so finding the saddle that works is huge. I bought it used a few years ago and now on my new boy it seems slightly wide.

His comfort takes priority over my preference hence me asking. Thank you so much. My saddle fitter says it works but I should look into other saddles just in case.

I have a horse at a boarding facility that I used to work at. And since I quit, my ex boss who is also the owner of the business has been making some.. interesting choices. She got upset when I brought my friend that also used to work there with me. She said I shouldn’t be bringing someone to the barn who got fired for “being sneaky and stealing”. The stealing? I paid my friend privately to hold my horse for me when he got his hooves trimmed, while she was clocked out, with no policy against it. After that happened the barn owner then told us it was a no-no (news to us) and demanded the money I paid my friend for the holding fee the barn employs when the horse owner can’t be there to hold the horse. My friend was never told a reason for her termination, just that “we don’t align anymore”. So to hear her being accused of stealing was a shock.

She then told us we had ten minutes to leave the property.

An hour later I got a text from her “You will have to schedule supervised visits to see [horse name] until other arrangements can be made for him.”

I haven’t responded because I have no idea what to do. It’s so ridiculous and I have no idea how it would even be enforced. To me it’s obviously a power and control move. Has anyone experienced this type of… prison level visitation treatment and what happened? There’s nothing in the contract about this, just barn hours.

I’ve been looking for other places to take him but I need to go out to see him before I move him…

I've been on a search for high waisted, full seat breeches made from THICK, substantial fabric. Think 90s breeches, the kind that didn't show every bump on your body.

I've tried Kerrits (rise is too low), sync (too thin), free ride (also too thin), and Hadley (good fit, but too thin).

Any ideas?

I’m currently riding a western lesson horse that respond better to squeezing than kicking (and bumping). My instructor talks about squeezing and almost lifting the horse to ask him to increase speed. Collecting him with my legs… I imagine it almost as squeezing and rolling an exercise ball between your legs… but I’m really struggling. I find my toes pointing outwards a lot when I start to squeeze… and maybe I just don’t have a lot of leg strength… any tips on getting the mechanics of this down? My instructor is great and we talk a lot about heels and toes. But I find when I start thinking about those aspects everything else falls apart.

Also. Doing this right is hard. Or at least to me it is. And I don’t mean that in a negative way necessarily. Just saying.

This is my sweet boy Milo

What’s everyone’s thoughts on how much handling a yearling should have?

Obviously, I think most of us would agree on the basics: haltering, leading, picking up feet, standing for the farrier, grooming, etc.

I’ve been thinking about doing some hand walks around the farm. Maybe taking her to a friend’s property, walking around a low-key horse show, ponying off another horse, introducing some “scary” things, etc. Nothing intense, just getting her out and exposed to different environments and experiences.

I’ve noticed a lot of western trainers, many of whom I really respect, seem to have the philosophy of teaching the basics and then pretty much leaving them alone until they’re 2 or ready to start under-saddle.

I’ve always leaned toward the idea that more exposure (within reason) is better, especially knowing my horse will eventually be 17h and 1,500+ pounds. I’d much rather introduce new things while she is young and smaller!

But I’m genuinely curious about the other perspective and the reasoning behind just “letting them be horses” for the first couple of years.

Where do you draw the line between beneficial exposure and doing too much with a young horse? Would love to hear everyone’s experiences and thoughts!

He's been back in work for about a month and I wanna make sure that I’m muscling him correctly. Thank you so much.🙏

Does anyone have any good pole patterns, especially ones that work on bending and adjustability? I have a jumper that tends to get overstimulated (small things stack up, and then he explodes). He is very experienced and does much better when I keep him busy, especially with bending and lateral work.

I'll be there soaking it all up for a couple days; haven't picked all my events, but I want to be there for sure on the 11th and won't miss the WE speed trial finals on the 14th. I've never been before and hope to suss out some English-speaking folks to hang out with, like I was able to do at SICAB. Have you attended this feria in the past? Are you going to be there this year? If so, can you make any recommendations to a visitor who doesn't speak Portuguese? I assume there are events that attract Brits and normal multilingual folks, but I'm an American with linguistic limitations, shall we say.

Of course, there's shopping involved. My mare needs a new mosquero, and who knows what lovely items I need... Can't wait to see the ride up bars in town. Reddit r/Equestrian meetup?

My niece is interested in taking riding lessons and wants to visit some local stables and farms with horses. She has been talking about it for a few years now but is also nervous (received some stuff for her bday) so I may need to also try riding to help her conquer this.
Any recommended websites or stores (SE Michigan) to find gently used apparel, boots and gear? (I’m on taller side so as long as it fits I’m happy!) Any tips in general are appreciated. 🙏
Thank you!

Do bridle brands actually matter? I am trying to buy stuff slowly but not things that need to be sized to a particular horse. I see a huge range in price in bridles and did not know honestly if it matters.

Hi all, I have a new Arab mare. She is very smart but is extremely spooky and unsure.
I have never had this issue with a horse before, my other 2, a mule and my stock horse are literally bomb proof and would walk through fire if I asked. They came to me this way and I had no part in creating these traits so this is a first time challenge for me.

I have her booked with a very reputable trainer March next year which and I’m happy to wait but I would like to work on helping her in any small way I can before then.

She is mostly OK in the arena and at home, she will spook a little at a rabbit running out or a loud bang if there is machinery near by.
As soon as we leave to go out on the trails alone, it’s a nightmare. She’s constantly stopping, trying to turn around, pulling the reins out of my hand, snorting, spooking pretty severely, most of the time at nothing and bolted once - while bolting also spooked and nearly sent me flying.

So now I’ve decided it’s lowkey unsafe for me to ride her alone I’m just going to be working her in the arena unless I have another horse with me to trail ride with.

I have introduced her to plenty of different items to desensitise her with and she gets used to them very quickly and all is good but as soon as we go out and about she turns, would this be a confidence issue for her? Where do I start on fixing this issue? If you have any tips, recommendations or videos PLZ let me know! TIA.

So idk if this is the right flair or not but I’m 15 and my current horse is a 19 year old morgan/QH cross and Ive always enjoyed jumping and such for the large majority of the time ive been riding (almost 5 years) the current issue ive come across is that my passion is really in eventing and cross country but my current horse is both not cleared to do any jumping but also just doesn’t enjoy it. Shes much much more of a trail horse then anything and by far prefers it - Im just wondering if my dream of being able to do lower level eventing in a few years once i can afford to lease/buy another horse to do it with is even feasible and if there anything I can do with my current mare to improve my riding and skills that can help with my goals of doing more jumping? Ive jumped very little so far because of my mare having some health issues the past few months and all i ever did on her was little cross rails and logs out on trails but I’m only able to do lessons on lesson horses every two weeks right now and im currently planning on getting my mare back in shape to be able to do things like flatwork and more trails.

What a cutie

Hi all!

I got recommended an osteopath to come look at my boy who really struggles with bending. He is under muscled and a bit underweight. Currently on alfalfa cubes, beet pulp, buckeye nutrition, and a few other supplements. I am probably missing a few things, so if there is something essential I am missing, he probably is getting that too!

Edit: She is worried about the level of calcium he is getting from alfalfa and sugar from beet pulp.

I really, really like the osteopath. She does not want me doing chiropractic or PEMF on him at all, said massage was fine but won't really treat, said red light would be good but isn't necessary.

She suspects a specific type of worm effecting his cranial mesonic artery and gave me a worming protocol. She also would like me to change his diet to Timothy cubes, coconut meal, and a supplement that is synthetic free and human grade (that would be cheaper than what I have him on now). She'd like to do his teeth and start adjusting a few things and do some bodywork after those changes. The worming protocol seems like a lot to me. He has been on quest plus every six months.

She knew things about him without me having to say anything and I truly think she cares for horses. She has OTTBs as well and says hers are not struggling with weight on the diet and are doing very well.

I feel like everything online is so mixed. I am a statistician so I try and read clinical research first, but even that is a mixed bag with small group sizes that aren't really significant. I also am very holistic myself and generally avoid a lot of the things I am giving him, so that is weighing on me a lot.

For a little context, he is out 24/7 with constant hay access. Not under a lot of work currently. Very worried about weight and muscle going into winter.

Would love everyone's thoughts and two cents. Would you make the diet switch? Any other experiences with osteopaths? I've searched through the sub and that also seems pretty 50/50, as is everything on here though!

As the title says I'm looking for blanket brand suggestions for a Spaniard with a fat neck and shoulders. I saw a couple brands suggested in other forums but they either didn't ship to my location or were prohibitively expensive. My old blankets were Catago* and while the quality was great the fit sucked on him and really pinched his neck/chest/shoulders :(

Looking for brands that ship to EU and preferrably don't cost over 200€ - also looking for a 300-350g. He runs warm and I keep his fleece on 24/7 when it gets cold.

First off, I want to say that I desperately love this horse and am really distraught over this. I exercise my horse around 4-6 times a week. We play low goal polo together and we usually alternate between “easy” days and medium/hard days. Easy is a set (1 lap of walk, 3 laps of trot, 2 laps of canter, 1 lap of walk) and then she's done. Polo days, we usually do some stick and ball and maybe some short work. On Saturdays and Sundays we play grass polo where she plays 2 chukkas, which she never finds very difficult because we play very slow. All of this to say, she is in great shape.

Last week rained a ton so she got a little less work, and we didn't play polo this past weekend. Today I took her for a set with her friend and everything seemed fine. She was happy to eat in the morning. Didn't seem slow or weary during the set. But as we walked back she suddenly got very short strided and her back roached up some. I immediately got off. She kept walking her front feet forward and looking like she was trying to stretch her back. Pawing and then trying again. I immediately thought it was either colic or she was tying up. I got her into the emergency vet and it was confirmed with an elevated CK that she was tying up. No elevated AST.

She has free access minerals and obviously free access water. She's not fed any grain. She has a constant supply of alfalfa (no pasture grass here because desert)

My only thought was she seemed turned off the last bale of alfalfa I gave her? It was very leafy but I just want to know why!

It’s not the hard work (although getting up at 6 instead of 5 Would be nice!)
it’s the drama. the owner operators not paying me, not fixing broken stuff, not doing the same quality job on the weekends and leaving messes for me on weekdays, all for barely above minimum wage.
I care deeply about horses but i’m not in this to work 6 hard hours for minimum wage then have to ride and teach on top of it. I’d rather just do the riding and teaching. Or be in FULL control with farm bank account access so i can buy the damn materials and fox and improve shit myself. i’m burned out being middle management when i would be a more responsive owner/operator than most of the people i work for. but i have pro status now, i have my own horse. i could get a better paying non horse job and just teach on the weekends. i’d come out ahead i think and actually be saving some money to have my own farm.

What could i transition into from barn work? I have an economics degree.