Washingtonians welcome!

[DrakeMaiden]

Maybe you'll meet someone from Back Country Horsemen (I think that is the name of it?) who lives close and has a trailer that you could ride trails with. Sounds like fun to me! I'd love to go riding with my neighbor, but I suspect that unless you trust the horse to be well-trained that it would be a legal mess if someone got hurt on your horse. :/ So I am afraid to even ask.

 

[miss_thenorth]

No, unfortunately I don't own a horse. That is one of those things I have always wanted to do, but when I grew up and realized how expensive they are . . . well, I'm not so interested. I think I would have a heart attack over vet bills. LOL

I do love horses though.

The previous owner had horses on our property, so our barn had two nice stalls.

Your hot steamy Texas summers would probably kill me. LOL I am a certified heat wimp.

There are some great trails in my area, if you have a trailer. Actually, my wonderful neighbor is a member of an organization for backcountry horse riding. (The name of the organization is escaping me right now). If you want more info, you can pm me.

I'm glad your horses made it through the winter, and I do hope you manage to get your barn together before fall! Poor horsies!

Vet bills, including a home visit, for my two horses, are less than half of what my bill is for two dogs. Not trying to sway you--just sayin....

 

[big brown horse]

Also, when I am in a pinch I give all of my own shots. Except the rabies shot. In TX you could not buy rabies shots ONLY vet administered. I don't know about here though. They are up to date on everything. I only had to pay the vet for the yearly coggins.

I ride mostly bareback with a halter and clip on reins ...so really you could skip buying tack if need be. My dd rides English and I purchased her saddle for 100 bucks off ebay 2 years ago. Irons and all!

I am way out of practice since I had my daughter, but I am a certified farrier. Hot shoes, cold shoes barefoot whatever, I could do it, and probably still can with a freshener. I lean more toward natural barefoot now. None of my horses have shoes.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Not trying to sway you--just sayin....

Yeah, sure.

With all the free or nearly free horses available these days, don't think I'm not tempted. My husband would throw a fit! :/

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I am way out of practice since I had my daughter, but I am a certified farrier. Hot shoes, cold shoes barefoot whatever, I could do it, and probably still can with a freshener. I lean more toward natural barefoot now. None of my horses have shoes.

Really? That is cool. What a good skill to have! I was wondering JUST last night why people shoe horses . . . I mean you have got to think they don't need it in the wild, right? Is it because of man-made terrain? What is the reasoning? Do tell!

 

[big brown horse]

Oh Boy!! Did I just open up another can of worms? This can be quite controversial but here we go...

First of all I want to say "To each their own", and yes we (humans) are responsible for the domesticated horses looks right down to their feet. Some say they are not like wild horses feet anymore. I do agree that some horses need shoes due to injury or confirmaion etc. I'm not against shoes at all. Sometimes I think that horses are shod for no reason though. Constant shoeing can damage the horses hoof wall too depending on the horse.

Wild horses travel a lot of miles a day and wear their hooves down naturally. The hoof may not look pretty, it will look jagedy, but that is natural.

Most people like their horses hooves to look nice, some may see jagedy hooves as not taken care of. This is true if the hooves are long and jagedy throwing off the horses confirmation like high heels do to us.

Chipping back is a natural process. But domesticated horses dont get miles of travel/work in a day so this is where trimming them is needed. The natural trim best mimics the trim the wild horses give themselves, without the jagedyness.

Now my horses; well, because two of them were unwanted rescues they have feet issues. One due to injury and the other due to bad confirmation. The third horse who wasn't a rescue (I just bought him from a very distressed friend) is club footed and turned out in the front like a ballet dancer. Well none of them are in shoes. Their feet are trimmed and shaped according to their issue. Big Joe my big brown horse rides in special "tennis shoes" (Old Mac's) designed for horses because he has tender feet, funny because he is over 1200 pounds and looks so tough!

Hope this helps you understand a bit more.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Oh yes, that is a lot of information, but I appreciate it. Thank you.

I suppose a jaggedy hoof could get infected? That is my pre-conception anyway.

 

[hennypenny9]

Just thought I'd pop in and say that I'm from Washington! I'm up north almost as far as you can get, and not be in Canada. Bellingham is nice. Within driving distance of Seattle, Vancouver BC, many picturesque farms, Mt Baker hiking/skiing, and lots of water of course.

As soon as this house sells I'm moving to my home town of Gig Harbor. My mom and step-dad live there, and my real dad lives in Tacoma. I like Gig Harbor, too. My grandparents live on Sunrise Beach, and my great-something grandparents actually originally bought the land from the government before the turn of the century. There is a street named after them, so I can actually say that I have a street. Got lots of crap for that in high school. It would be like writing your address,

Emily Plate
234 Plate Drive.

Just odd, you know? (haha, names have been changed to protect... me?)

Anyway, I like Western Washington enough to never bother leaving it.

 

[miss_thenorth]

Oh Boy!! Did I just open up another can of worms? This can be quite controversial but here we go...

First of all I want to say "To each their own", and yes we (humans) are responsible for the domesticated horses looks right down to their feet. Some say they are not like wild horses feet anymore. I do agree that some horses need shoes due to injury or confirmaion etc. I'm not against shoes at all. Sometimes I think that horses are shod for no reason though. Constant shoeing can damage the horses hoof wall too depending on the horse.

Wild horses travel a lot of miles a day and wear their hooves down naturally. The hoof may not look pretty, it will look jagedy, but that is natural.

Most people like their horses hooves to look nice, some may see jagedy hooves as not taken care of. This is true if the hooves are long and jagedy throwing off the horses confirmation like high heels do to us.

Chipping back is a natural process. But domesticated horses dont get miles of travel/work in a day so this is where trimming them is needed. The natural trim best mimics the trim the wild horses give themselves, without the jagedyness.

Now my horses; well, because two of them were unwanted rescues they have feet issues. One due to injury and the other due to bad confirmation. The third horse who wasn't a rescue (I just bought him from a very distressed friend) is club footed and turned out in the front like a ballet dancer. Well none of them are in shoes. Their feet are trimmed and shaped according to their issue. Big Joe my big brown horse rides in special "tennis shoes" (Old Mac's) designed for horses because he has tender feet, funny because he is over 1200 pounds and looks so tough!

Hope this helps you understand a bit more.

sorry to be highjacking your Washington thread, but i shoe only one of my horses (QH), and only during warmer weather. He has a nasty split in his hoof that, when ridden alot, continues to split up. He doesn't get ridden much int eh winter (too cold and WINDY), and it;s safer to not have him shod in the winter due to ice etc. any advice on how to keep up on the split??? Other than that, i won't shoe my other horse, unless he needs it.

 

[big brown horse]

Big splits are so hard to treat. My natural farrier (the one I left in Houston) would actually "dip up" the hoof wall where the split was so the split would not make contact with the ground. It looked kinda like an upside down v except it was shaped like a half moon more. This kept if from the stress that a normal hoof wall would make when striking the ground. The rest of the horses hoof wall would easily support this 1/2 missing section. Make sense? Then the crack just grew out.

edit: I am certified in "Normal and Corrective" not in the "Natural/Barefoot Trim". Although part of my training was to learn about the "wild horse trim". I do lean toward Natural/Barefoot Trim now, but I get certified farriers to do it for me, because it is their speciality not mine.

This summer however, I plan on becomming certified in the "Natural/Barefoot" trims because I believe in it.