TL/DR: Tater is the mule laying his head on my big red Clifford of a gelding, Chester. They have a cute bromance ❤️ also, go love on your equine like a pony crazy little girl. You both need it.

These two dingbats are absolutely inseparable, and have been since they met ❤️

The roan mule's name is Tater, and the red gelding he is resting on is Chester (mostly called Bub). Their relationship gives me so much joy 🥹.

Chester is 24 and Tater is 21.

They are both retired pack animals. Tater was ridden and packed his whole life until he got arthritis and couldn't keep up in the mountains. His owner had raised him from birth and absolutely adored him until his very last breath. When his owner passed away, Tater was essentially willed to my mom because he knew she'd spoil him and give him a great retirement.

Chester was a pack horse (and who knows what else) until he was about 7, when a nice lady rescued him from the utter neglect and abuse he was put through. He was a bag of bones, covered in old scars from improper pack usage, and infested with fleas. She cleaned him up, got some meat on him, and broke him to ride. Little 12 yo me then bought him (a giant 16.3 hand doofus that was green but a very chill guy) off her. He has been my best friend ever since.

Chester lost his friend 2 years ago, another retired work horse named Red. He was absolutely devastated like the rest of us so we tried to find him another older guy to be his buddy for a year. Then, Tater came into our lives. Don't worry, Chester did end up having a friend about 6 months after we lost Red. He's a donkey named Jonah and he is good friends with bub. They just don't have the bromance like Bub and Tater.

At first they weren't so sure about each other, but now they are attached at the hip. They both live on my family's property where my mom oversees their care on the daily (medical issues make that impossible for me now, but I still get to enjoy seeing my boy multiple times a week) and she tells me that she has caught Tater using Bub as a pillow much like this.

These photos are from a recent grooming session Tates was really getting into it 😂 itchy boys are prepping for that winter fuzz. They seem to enjoy their retirement full of love and laziness.

I think every equid deserves to be loved by a little girl, but being loved by someone that loves their ponies like a little girl will suffice. So, go love on your horse like a pony crazy little girl, no matter what gender you are. They need it and I'm pretty sure you need it, too.

After losing Dobi I’ve basically been in bed wrapped in one of his rugs for two days, but I had already agreed to this ride and felt that I should just get on with it. I’ve never ridden an Icelandic before (and it shows), but the fact he was so completely different from Dobi made it not quite as hard as it otherwise would have been. Still cried though.

So been out on a Saturday hack today, the normal for our yard is to put a blanket message out and invite everyone on the yard chat.

Anyway a new livery asked if she could come along, as ever no problem, riding 17yo TB, briefly gave her the rundown of the route, 6 miles, road, field and track, through sheep, etc etc, yes she was fine, walk, trot,canter.

She said no problem they were fine with all that.... fair enough.

Anyway on penultimate 500m of the hack i was told by this lass that most of her riding has been on a riding school cob, that she never got to canter out of. She was glad today had gone well, and she haven't fallen off and she she didnt think she had done that badly for her first canter out in fields. My hart about dropped out of my boots.

Conclusion. If Your a new person going out with a new group of riders please please be honest with them, dont wing it, or pretend that your ok. 99% of riders will plan events/hacks to your level. If u havent done somthing but want to try, let them know, we will talk you through it. Dont traumatise yourself or your horse.

And in reverse remember every horse and rider has to lern, so if you have someone with you that is struggling, be patient, just because u can do it dosnt mean they have to be able to do it without blinking.

Oakley, 9yo Quarter Horse mare

Here he is over the years 💕 he's a Welsh d and a cheeky chap and I couldn't be without him ☺️

It’s so wild to me that people are just advertising their rides with no helmets pictured. It certainly doesn’t make me feel like it’s a place that values my safety.

One of my favorite times at the barn is right after we have finished feeding. All you can hear is some chewing and an occasional snort!

One year ago today, I paid in full for my boy Gandi, and I think it was the best decision of my life. He isn’t the flashiest or the most amazing show jumper. But he is the best friend and partner

Hello, I just received my first safety vest, but seeing as no one in my family is particularly knowledgeable on the subject I wanted someone else’s opinion on wether or not this fits. I’ve put the Velcro on the sides as tight as it will go.

The model is Swing P07

The thing I’m worrying most about is the “hunchback” effect at my shoulders- but seeing as I’ve never used this type model of safety vest that could be me overthinking 😅

Someone I know said that their neighbor was looking for someone to ride her gelding because she didn’t do it that often. So today I went and met her and her horse (amazing kind, curious, lovely gelding). She did some lunging with him that didn’t make sense in my background - she cracked the whip to just make him go - but there was no communication beyond “go.” I am not a fan of the whip - I like flags and directional instruction but alrighty.

And then she whips the horses back legs, and I’m sure the horse is as confused as I am because she had given no additional instruction to him to do anything different before the whip touched him.

So I’m left with a very uncomfortable feeling when she’s done lunging. I decide that if anything the most I want is to just get a feel for him and get to know him because I don’t think I’m a good fit with the owners style of horse handling. So I get on the saddle to just see if he will listen to some basic commands - and it’s super clear he doesn’t want to ride.

He has set a boundary with me that he doesn’t want to go, and I prefer a style of riding where we both want the same thing or it’s a no. Also from the “lunging” I don’t think he really knows how to take queues that are subtle. So I decide I can just chill with him in the saddle and be gentle with him.

Anyways the owner pops her head over - grabs the whip - cracks it through the air and whips his hind legs and he bolts into a gallop from a dead stop.

I get him to slow down and stop and she gets annoyed that we’ve stopped.

I get off him, calm him down, get him to relax and tell her he doesn’t want to ride. I’m not going to force him. He isn’t responding to subtle queues and I refuse to use the techniques she employs.

Anyways I’m just at a LOSS. I’ve never experienced this type of situation and I feel so much empathy for that horse and I think I need outside perspectives on the situation?

I won’t be going back but it was a weird morning.

Hi all! Im still pretty new to equestrian, one of the horses I frequently ride during lessons is a gentle giant (1.8 m height I think!), amazing with tack on/off but the only difficulty is around brushing! He is 20 and has dense fur.

Most horses I rode really enjoy brushing and I get to use this time to really bond with them, but this giant horse hates it! He will move around, sometimes repeatedly bite his own shoulder when brushed, bit me once ( not hard though a gentle nibble) and just looks really annoyed. I tried to get him distracted and happier with some treats, but not sure if I’m encouraging bad behaviour.

Today post showering him, was using a tool to get the water off, and he got spooked by a loud noise and was kind of annoyed at a young horse nibbling his lead rope😅 So I took him away and continued brushing, he got really unhappy and started kicking out his back legs. I stopped grooming and asked my partner to give him treats, and completed grooming while he was distracted by ‘the treat man’, but now I’m not sure, am I encouraging more kicking? He is massive with huge hooves and very strong.

Im also wondering what I can do to bond with him more and have him enjoy brushing more? He is always caked in dirt when I meet him😅 Im happy to get him new brushes or more treats

We have a complicated history together. But I've been busting my butt getting my riding skills up to par, and she's a much calmer horse than she was 7 years ago. We just walked and trotted maybe 20 minutes total because she has a pinchy stifle that we have to be mindful of. It was amazing. I got a little emotional when I got off because it had just been so long and we've both come so far. I can't wait to start riding her on a more regular basis. ❤️

How do all of you folks with jumping young horse keep them in their pastures?!

I’ve had stock horses my entire life, my current riding horse thinks jumping is fun until about two feet. Then it’s too much work. Well, I accidentally got a sports horse (orphan filly, red milk bucket, hilarious miscommunication that made a quarter horse turn into a Selle Francis x Hanoverian). She does like jumping, high. So far it’s mostly been logs, ditched, things in the field, etc. Tonight it was the pasture fence…

Just having fun kicking up her heels, got going to fast on the slightly slick ground, momentarily started breaking but when that was clearly not going to work, she leapt! And did clear my pasture fence with ROOM to spare. She did then panic because she was all alone and couldn’t figure out getting back (there was no return jumping)

Obviously as funny as this is, it’s not a great thing for my two and a half year old to have found out… any advice for making this not a habit?

Hello! I have a Zip 2 Airbag and in search for a jacket in the winter that I can put on top. Any recommendations?

I put some hay back in the "hole" he made eating, he was not happy about it lol

I have a 7yo WB who has always been adjustable to the base of a fence, but can get a bit strong and piss off on the other side, particularly over bigger jumps. He’s never been unmanageable in a snaffle, but I realised I’d gotten into the habit of not fully putting my leg on or really riding to the fence because I was already anticipating the tug of war we’d have on landing.

I’ve always been very much on the “if you can’t ride it in a snaffle, you can’t ride it at all” train, so I was honestly terrified of bitting up. Eventually decided to give a baby Pelham with short shanks a go and… oh my god?
For the first time, I could actually ride him properly into the fence, completely release his mouth over it, and then just make a tiny adjustment on landing. And he just… listened? No arguing, no pulling, no discussion whatsoever. I genuinely think I used less hand throughout the entire ride than I ever did in a snaffle.

For context, I’m 165cm and about 50kg, so I’m not exactly winning any strength competitions against a big warmblood either.

I know this probably sounds incredibly obvious to people who’ve been using different bits for years, but I think I was so caught up in the idea that a stronger bit was somehow a failure in training that I hadn’t considered how much nicer it might actually be for both of us to have a quieter conversation rather than a constant negotiation.

Anyone else had a similar revelation? I’m almost annoyed with myself for not trying it sooner.

It’s fall y’all!

Title pretty much says it all. Seen a few really nice looking saddles on their website and fb page, they've been around since 2014 looks like and no glaring red flags in anything I've found. Just curious, I do really like the look of quite a few of their saddles, and they offer custom builds. My hang up is the price point, even their custom options are far cheaper than most I've seen

I've been taking care of this 18 year old mare with a pretty big swayback. She's been out of work for almost two years and has very little muscle. She's not currently ridden, neither is it a plan for the near future. What kind of ground exercices could I do to help build her core and topline back up? She's still full of energy and in good health and I want to support her back as best as possible as she ages.

Is it terrible of me keeping my horse for 6 years and then selling her? I can’t afford my horse on my own salary. For the next 6 years I will be getting spousal support from my divorce. But after that time I can’t afford it anymore. I feel terrible about because normally I keep all of my animals for their lifetime. I love her so much and it’s breaking my heart knowing I can’t keep her forever. I feel guilty for even buying her in the first place. She’s just 5 years old and I feel like I failed her. I just would like any advice or feedback you all can provide. Am I extremely selfish for bringing her into my life?

Hello, posting on a different acc cuz it was taken down the first time. Basically I’m in the process of getting a new saddle and I’ve been told that this saddle fits well enough, that we’ll eventually shave down some of the foam panelling at the front and add some in the back but overall it fits well and for now just to use shims. My horse doesn’t seem to hate this saddle either but I find it creates significant pressure points while I’m riding at the tree points, and I noticed a dry spot today. I’m worried that the issues with this saddle may go beyond just panelling so I wanted to gauge opinions. She is quite a hard fit with high withers, a bit of a swayback, and big shoulders so we’ve always thought that we would have to get any saddle repanneled anyways.

Edit: for those who think that this saddle does not fit well, I would super appreciate recommendations for saddle brands you’ve had good experiences with as well as saddle fitters in the Bay Area, and overall tips for fitting a horse with high narrow withers and a large shoulder