So what is your project(s)? [Friendly Discussion]

[JillJessie1997]

The system sucks. People do too just to a lesser extent Horses are better than either one though

Horses or dogs..lol

Horses, cats, and snakes for me Not into dogs much lol.

[Malakai10]

Horses, cats, and snakes for me :P Not into dogs much lol.

I'm so sorry to interrupt this conversation but I am so happy to 'meet' another snake enthusiast!

And, I suppose since this forum is to discuss our project(s); I am breeding race-horses that are good at harness, sprint, steeplechase and regular racing as well as saddleseat.

[JillJessie1997]

Horses, cats, and snakes for me Not into dogs much lol.

I'm so sorry to interrupt this conversation but I am so happy to 'meet' another snake enthusiast!

And, I suppose since this forum is to discuss our project(s); I am breeding race-horses that are good at harness, sprint, steeplechase and regular racing as well as saddleseat.

You're probably the second person I've met that doesn't get freaked out about snakes. Unfortunately I only have one snake right now, a ball python who I've had since a hatchling and who's now 1 year old as of this month I do plan on expanding my collection when I have a source of income. I even want to get into breeding red tail boas. I've got like one to two whole pages of research on that very topic, sitting here right in my notepad on the laptop

Your project sounds awesome as well. My Arabian project has gotten off the ground. I'm still aging the two Belgian fillies I've got here. I found perfect studs for them that is some kind of progression to the spotted coat goal.

[Malakai10]

I'm so sorry to interrupt this conversation but I am so happy to 'meet' another snake enthusiast!

And, I suppose since this forum is to discuss our project(s); I am breeding race-horses that are good at harness, sprint, steeplechase and regular racing as well as saddleseat.

You're probably the second person I've met that doesn't get freaked out about snakes. Unfortunately I only have one snake right now, a ball python who I've had since a hatchling and who's now 1 year old as of this month :P I do plan on expanding my collection when I have a source of income. I even want to get into breeding red tail boas. I've got like one to two whole pages of research on that very topic, sitting here right in my notepad on the laptop :lol:

Your project sounds awesome as well. My Arabian project has gotten off the ground. I'm still aging the two Belgian fillies I've got here. I found perfect studs for them that is some kind of progression to the spotted coat goal. ;)

Aww! I hope you get the snakes you want soon! I, unfortunately, am unable to have snakes as my mum is petrified of them (she's nearly been bitten a couple times by rinkhals, puff adders, etc. and she had a near heart attack when I came face to face with a many-horned adder at the age of about five.) But she did get me two tarantulas and I'm going to get a scorpion, which I really appreciate her for.

Sounds great! I'm sure you'll succeed! Chestnuts give better spotted coat than other colours, if that helps. Also, from a bit of past experience, try breeding your horses to ones with the colour you want and not necessarily the breed nor the body type - those are relatively easy to breed back in but it is harder if you don't use inbreeding.

[JillJessie1997]

You're probably the second person I've met that doesn't get freaked out about snakes. Unfortunately I only have one snake right now, a ball python who I've had since a hatchling and who's now 1 year old as of this month I do plan on expanding my collection when I have a source of income. I even want to get into breeding red tail boas. I've got like one to two whole pages of research on that very topic, sitting here right in my notepad on the laptop

Your project sounds awesome as well. My Arabian project has gotten off the ground. I'm still aging the two Belgian fillies I've got here. I found perfect studs for them that is some kind of progression to the spotted coat goal.

Aww! I hope you get the snakes you want soon! I, unfortunately, am unable to have snakes as my mum is petrified of them (she's nearly been bitten a couple times by rinkhals, puff adders, etc. and she had a near heart attack when I came face to face with a many-horned adder at the age of about five.) But she did get me two tarantulas and I'm going to get a scorpion, which I really appreciate her for.

Sounds great! I'm sure you'll succeed! Chestnuts give better spotted coat than other colours, if that helps. Also, from a bit of past experience, try breeding your horses to ones with the colour you want and not necessarily the breed nor the body type - those are relatively easy to breed back in but it is harder if you don't use inbreeding.

I've always loved snakes, I was petrified of them when I was younger though, but I use to be around my grandma a lot and her reaction to seeing snakes was to get scared of them, again I was a little kid and that reaction wrote off on me since I trust my grandma with my life. If she was scared of this little reptile so bad, there must be something to fear. Then my roommate/best friend got Buddy for me (I named him that because he is unlike any snake I've handled lol , like a scaly little buddy) and my fear melted away. My grandma has actually come around to my owning a snake and next time she visits she said she'll try holding him. So, progress.

I'm sorry to hear the fear your mom has for snakes, bad experiences can really ingrain that fear into you. I'm surprised you have tarantulas and an impending scorpion though. Seems like if she fears snake, she'd fear those too. I'm terrified of spiders, scorpions I think are awesome but they don't seem like a pet you can hold?

Thanks for the breeding tips! I'll be sure to try them out, I actually just saved them into my notepad or I'd forget Pro tip, don't fall off your horse onto your head a lot or it'll actually begin to affect your mental functionality, seriously.

[Malakai10]

I've always loved snakes, I was petrified of them when I was younger though, but I use to be around my grandma a lot and her reaction to seeing snakes was to get scared of them, again I was a little kid and that reaction wrote off on me since I trust my grandma with my life. If she was scared of this little reptile so bad, there must be something to fear. Then my roommate/best friend got Buddy for me (I named him that because he is unlike any snake I've handled lol :D, like a scaly little buddy) and my fear melted away. My grandma has actually come around to my owning a snake and next time she visits she said she'll try holding him. So, progress.

I'm sorry to hear the fear your mom has for snakes, bad experiences can really ingrain that fear into you. I'm surprised you have tarantulas and an impending scorpion though. Seems like if she fears snake, she'd fear those too. I'm terrified of spiders, scorpions I think are awesome but they don't seem like a pet you can hold?

Thanks for the breeding tips! I'll be sure to try them out, I actually just saved them into my notepad or I'd forget :lol: Pro tip, don't fall off your horse onto your head a lot or it'll actually begin to affect your mental functionality, seriously.

That's great! I've managed to get my mum to stroke a Rock Python and a Rainbow Boa - but she only did it if their heads were covered XD

She says that, somehow, the arachnids aren't that bad. My tarantulas are rather cuddly - they're the calmer, New World Terrestrials, a Mexican Red Rump and a Chilean Rose. I've had one scorpion before (she died via suicide by running off the counter top) and she was either a feisty Emperor or a typical Asian Forest - nasty and pinched a lot. I'm going to try to get a younger scorpion so that it can get used to me and not pinch.

I know. There're these former riders that I know about in my school - one got long-term memory loss from falling and the other got concussed so many times that she isn't allowed to ride anymore. I'm just lucky that I tend not to fall and, when I do, I automatically spin in the air so that I land on my shoulder.

[JillJessie1997]

I've always loved snakes, I was petrified of them when I was younger though, but I use to be around my grandma a lot and her reaction to seeing snakes was to get scared of them, again I was a little kid and that reaction wrote off on me since I trust my grandma with my life. If she was scared of this little reptile so bad, there must be something to fear. Then my roommate/best friend got Buddy for me (I named him that because he is unlike any snake I've handled lol , like a scaly little buddy) and my fear melted away. My grandma has actually come around to my owning a snake and next time she visits she said she'll try holding him. So, progress.

I'm sorry to hear the fear your mom has for snakes, bad experiences can really ingrain that fear into you. I'm surprised you have tarantulas and an impending scorpion though. Seems like if she fears snake, she'd fear those too. I'm terrified of spiders, scorpions I think are awesome but they don't seem like a pet you can hold?

Thanks for the breeding tips! I'll be sure to try them out, I actually just saved them into my notepad or I'd forget Pro tip, don't fall off your horse onto your head a lot or it'll actually begin to affect your mental functionality, seriously.

That's great! I've managed to get my mum to stroke a Rock Python and a Rainbow Boa - but she only did it if their heads were covered XD

She says that, somehow, the arachnids aren't that bad. My tarantulas are rather cuddly - they're the calmer, New World Terrestrials, a Mexican Red Rump and a Chilean Rose. I've had one scorpion before (she died via suicide by running off the counter top) and she was either a feisty Emperor or a typical Asian Forest - nasty and pinched a lot. I'm going to try to get a younger scorpion so that it can get used to me and not pinch.

I know. There're these former riders that I know about in my school - one got long-term memory loss from falling and the other got concussed so many times that she isn't allowed to ride anymore. I'm just lucky that I tend not to fall and, when I do, I automatically spin in the air so that I land on my shoulder.

Before FL made it illegal to own/sell the larger snakes such as rock/burmese/reticulated pythons, I use to hold the burmese, rock, and reticulated hatchlings they sold at the pet store. I wanted my first snake to be a burmese python, then FL banned them and the other larger ones because of the idiots down here that turn them loose Ticked me off, idiots always ruin everything for us responsible people.
The pet store use to sell rainbow boas and blood pythons, I never got to hold them, did get to stare at them through the glass....I plan on having rainbows and bloods in my collection. I have also held the red tail boas, hog island boas, ball pythons, hognoses, milk snakes, and corn snakes. I'm just crazy for snakes really.

I've never heard of cuddly tarantulas, my ball python is actually quite cuddly and I'm sure you never heard of cuddly snakes either O.o. Do they recognize you? My guy had a respiratory infection that I caught early and was able to treat with a vapor bath, ever since then when I take him out he periscopes and slithers right up to my face, flicking his tongue across my nose, my cheek, my eyes. There's one spot on my one cheek that he particularly likes to flick. I've had him for a year and he has never done this before and it's just OMG so cute .
I'm sorry to hear about your old scorpion...

I don't tend to fall off often myself...I like to think I have pretty good balance. My mare is hard to fit to a saddle and so I ride her bareback any time I ride her (it rains here in FL a lot this time of year, so every 2-3 days)...I've sat her spooking, bucking, bolting, refusing the jump, jumping 3' like a rabbit and everything else bareback...so it's kinda a ego bruise when I do fall off. My roommate owns a greenbroke gelding (beautiful Palomino paint with blue eyes) and I can easily sit his antics (bucking when asked to canter...) but I came off last month because he pulled one of those really quick side steps wand dropped his shoulder, all while cantering...WITHOUT bucking too, in a perfect straight line. Luckily, I landed in dirt so no concussion.
I've owned my mare for 5 years, she is my heart horse. The worst accident I had on her that really messed with my memory was when I was 16, 4 years ago, I got hung up in the stirrup, knocked out and drug 1 1/2 miles through solid concrete. That nearly killed me. The doctor said the helmet barely saved my life...I was in a 2 day coma, albeit a short one. But that accident messed me up so bad that when I woke up I didn't know my parents' names, MY own name, the date, the time, the year. All I could remember was my horse.

[Malakai10]

Before FL made it illegal to own/sell the larger snakes such as rock/burmese/reticulated pythons, I use to hold the burmese, rock, and reticulated hatchlings they sold at the pet store. I wanted my first snake to be a burmese python, then FL banned them and the other larger ones because of the idiots down here that turn them loose :evil: Ticked me off, idiots always ruin everything for us responsible people.
The pet store use to sell rainbow boas and blood pythons, I never got to hold them, did get to stare at them through the glass....I plan on having rainbows and bloods in my collection. I have also held the red tail boas, hog island boas, ball pythons, hognoses, milk snakes, and corn snakes. I'm just crazy for snakes really. :lol:

I've never heard of cuddly tarantulas, my ball python is actually quite cuddly and I'm sure you never heard of cuddly snakes either O.o. Do they recognize you? My guy had a respiratory infection that I caught early and was able to treat with a vapor bath, ever since then when I take him out he periscopes and slithers right up to my face, flicking his tongue across my nose, my cheek, my eyes. There's one spot on my one cheek that he particularly likes to flick. I've had him for a year and he has never done this before and it's just OMG so cute :D.
I'm sorry to hear about your old scorpion... :(

I don't tend to fall off often myself...I like to think I have pretty good balance. My mare is hard to fit to a saddle and so I ride her bareback any time I ride her (it rains here in FL a lot this time of year, so every 2-3 days)...I've sat her spooking, bucking, bolting, refusing the jump, jumping 3' like a rabbit and everything else bareback...so it's kinda a ego bruise when I do fall off. My roommate owns a greenbroke gelding (beautiful Palomino paint with blue eyes) and I can easily sit his antics (bucking when asked to canter...) but I came off last month because he pulled one of those really quick side steps wand dropped his shoulder, all while cantering...WITHOUT bucking too, in a perfect straight line. Luckily, I landed in dirt so no concussion. :D
I've owned my mare for 5 years, she is my heart horse. The worst accident I had on her that really messed with my memory was when I was 16, 4 years ago, I got hung up in the stirrup, knocked out and drug 1 1/2 miles through solid concrete. That nearly killed me. The doctor said the helmet barely saved my life...I was in a 2 day coma, albeit a short one. But that accident messed me up so bad that when I woke up I didn't know my parents' names, MY own name, the date, the time, the year. All I could remember was my horse.

I'm not surprised! They're such fascinating creatures! Did you hear about the recently discovered snakes that hunt in packs?

I've heard of cuddly snakes XD I've held a ~2m Burmese Python that stroked my leg with its tail. So sweet...

I think my tarantulas recognise me. They're certainly smart enough to! There's one thing that my elder spider does that actually makes her a bit more clever than some humans I know!

That's brilliant balance! I've oft had trouble staying on with a saddle! Miraculously, my horses have never bucked when I ride bareback.

My first horse was a bit bonkers. I ended up holding the biggest record for most amount of falls in less than ten minutes because of him. But anyway: he's a gorgeous palomino Saddler cross called Malakai. For the first two years that I had him, he would buck at least once every time I rode him. Third year, he calmed down but then he went lame, permanently. So now, he's retired and I usually just brush him and give him a few carrots after I've finished riding my other horse.

Now, I have a handsome, mahogany bay Thoroughbred called Teal. He never bucks although I've been told that he often bucked and reared with his previous rider. Sometimes, he freaks out or gets excited and bolts and once (I even have a video of it) we were meant to circle, but there was the metal-stand-thingy part of a jump in the way. So I urged Teal to go to the inside of it but I felt Teal want to go to the outside of it. So then I decided to go with him but then he decided to go with my previously command. So then he ended up having to do a hard break to stop himself from crashing into the jump. I flew off him and gracefully (and I mean that without sarcasm; I've been told that everything I do looks graceful and intentional) landed right in front of the jump, bashing my leg on it and partially knocking it over.

Another story about Teal: he's always been a bit hotheaded. Then, he started to get worse - refusing jumps (something that he never does), problems tacking up and mounting. No-one knew what was wrong. Then, we moved stables and they found that his saddle was too small (something that neither my mother nor I can pick up as we've never been taught how), his shoes were put on too tight and his back was in agony. So, we got the chiropractor, farrier and the saddler in - Teal gets a properly fitted saddle, his shoes taken off (I was told that he gave a sigh of relief and completely relaxed when they were taken off) and about a month of rest and, when I rode him again, he was a darling. I love how forgiving horses are - we had not noticed his pain and yet he still did his best for me.

But, anyway, both horses have gotten better with their behaviour and, if there is a persistent misbehaviour, get someone to check that the horse isn't hurting. More often than not, pain is the problem.

[JillJessie1997]

Before FL made it illegal to own/sell the larger snakes such as rock/burmese/reticulated pythons, I use to hold the burmese, rock, and reticulated hatchlings they sold at the pet store. I wanted my first snake to be a burmese python, then FL banned them and the other larger ones because of the idiots down here that turn them loose Ticked me off, idiots always ruin everything for us responsible people.
The pet store use to sell rainbow boas and blood pythons, I never got to hold them, did get to stare at them through the glass....I plan on having rainbows and bloods in my collection. I have also held the red tail boas, hog island boas, ball pythons, hognoses, milk snakes, and corn snakes. I'm just crazy for snakes really.

I've never heard of cuddly tarantulas, my ball python is actually quite cuddly and I'm sure you never heard of cuddly snakes either O.o. Do they recognize you? My guy had a respiratory infection that I caught early and was able to treat with a vapor bath, ever since then when I take him out he periscopes and slithers right up to my face, flicking his tongue across my nose, my cheek, my eyes. There's one spot on my one cheek that he particularly likes to flick. I've had him for a year and he has never done this before and it's just OMG so cute .
I'm sorry to hear about your old scorpion...

I don't tend to fall off often myself...I like to think I have pretty good balance. My mare is hard to fit to a saddle and so I ride her bareback any time I ride her (it rains here in FL a lot this time of year, so every 2-3 days)...I've sat her spooking, bucking, bolting, refusing the jump, jumping 3' like a rabbit and everything else bareback...so it's kinda a ego bruise when I do fall off. My roommate owns a greenbroke gelding (beautiful Palomino paint with blue eyes) and I can easily sit his antics (bucking when asked to canter...) but I came off last month because he pulled one of those really quick side steps wand dropped his shoulder, all while cantering...WITHOUT bucking too, in a perfect straight line. Luckily, I landed in dirt so no concussion.
I've owned my mare for 5 years, she is my heart horse. The worst accident I had on her that really messed with my memory was when I was 16, 4 years ago, I got hung up in the stirrup, knocked out and drug 1 1/2 miles through solid concrete. That nearly killed me. The doctor said the helmet barely saved my life...I was in a 2 day coma, albeit a short one. But that accident messed me up so bad that when I woke up I didn't know my parents' names, MY own name, the date, the time, the year. All I could remember was my horse.

I'm not surprised! They're such fascinating creatures! Did you hear about the recently discovered snakes that hunt in packs?

I've heard of cuddly snakes XD I've held a ~2m Burmese Python that stroked my leg with its tail. So sweet...

I think my tarantulas recognise me. They're certainly smart enough to! There's one thing that my elder spider does that actually makes her a bit more clever than some humans I know!

That's brilliant balance! I've oft had trouble staying on with a saddle! Miraculously, my horses have never bucked when I ride bareback.

My first horse was a bit bonkers. I ended up holding the biggest record for most amount of falls in less than ten minutes because of him. But anyway: he's a gorgeous palomino Saddler cross called Malakai. For the first two years that I had him, he would buck at least once every time I rode him. Third year, he calmed down but then he went lame, permanently. So now, he's retired and I usually just brush him and give him a few carrots after I've finished riding my other horse.

Now, I have a handsome, mahogany bay Thoroughbred called Teal. He never bucks although I've been told that he often bucked and reared with his previous rider. Sometimes, he freaks out or gets excited and bolts and once (I even have a video of it) we were meant to circle, but there was the metal-stand-thingy part of a jump in the way. So I urged Teal to go to the inside of it but I felt Teal want to go to the outside of it. So then I decided to go with him but then he decided to go with my previously command. So then he ended up having to do a hard break to stop himself from crashing into the jump. I flew off him and gracefully (and I mean that without sarcasm; I've been told that everything I do looks graceful and intentional) landed right in front of the jump, bashing my leg on it and partially knocking it over.

Another story about Teal: he's always been a bit hotheaded. Then, he started to get worse - refusing jumps (something that he never does), problems tacking up and mounting. No-one knew what was wrong. Then, we moved stables and they found that his saddle was too small (something that neither my mother nor I can pick up as we've never been taught how), his shoes were put on too tight and his back was in agony. So, we got the chiropractor, farrier and the saddler in - Teal gets a properly fitted saddle, his shoes taken off (I was told that he gave a sigh of relief and completely relaxed when they were taken off) and about a month of rest and, when I rode him again, he was a darling. I love how forgiving horses are - we had not noticed his pain and yet he still did his best for me.

But, anyway, both horses have gotten better with their behaviour and, if there is a persistent misbehaviour, get someone to check that the horse isn't hurting. More often than not, pain is the problem.

No I did not hear about those snakes! Sounds cool, and goes against what people say about snakes being solitary animals.

The burmese python story sounds super cute. The story about your tarantulas/spiders sounds super cool, too.
It took a lot of tears, sweat, work and dedication to get the balance I have now. When I first started riding, I was petrified of even riding in an English saddle, never mind bareback! Now that's all I ride

My first horse was great until our idiot neighbor fed him gun powder...yes I'm serious. After that he went totally bonkers, head tossing (nearly broke my mom's nose doing that), extremely gate sour, occasionally bucking and rearing. We had him vet-checked, there was nothing wrong with him. We had his teeth done too, never took care of the head tossing problem. Our neighbor just totally messed him up. You had to be VERY confident to ride him, and it took me about 6 months to a year's work with Jessie (my mare) to get the confidence to ride him. We gave him back to my ex-instructor 2 years ago so we don't have him anymore.

Now Jessie, my heart horse, is bonkers in her own way. She's always been sort of a handful since I got her, head tossing, occasionally bucking, bolting out of spook or out of excitement. I got her as an all Western trained horse who cut cows and never had seen a jump in her life, so I trained her to jump all by myself. She just...loves it (besides running). She'll jump anything you put in front of her (within reason, she isn't physically capable of 3'+ courses, one 3' vertical she can do, she shines at 2'9 and under, mentally I think she thinks she's capable of it...lol The only time she refuses is if YOU are not confident) Sometimes she'll push right through that bridle, stick her nose to the sky and take off the jumps. This girl CLEARS the jumps like there's no tomorrow. I've taught her the one rein stop, we've done lots of slow collection work, trotting, ground poles, grids....when she wants to go there is no stopping her. Despite these...quirks, my mare has a heart of gold. Tons of try. She is actually very well-trained....you can ride her in anything you want, a bitless bridle, a halter, even nothing except a neck rope and neck rein her in that (she is ridden in a Mio flash bridle with a rubber dee ring snaffle right now). You don't have to use your legs to get her to transition into a canter or gallop, a simple "GO" does the job, same thing with jumping, get her in a forward canter, set her up for the jump, tell her "GO" she's off. She has been vet-checked, she has her teeth done, she is not in pain anywhere. She just loves to go and to jump. I love her

[bunnylover88]

I finally have settled on two projects that I'm excited to get started with. Both projects differ in their ways but they both have an end component of 5* scores, purebred horses, no crosses or grades (although I love my Grades and Crosses )

Number #1 has an end goal of low COI, 5* Belgians with spotted coats. This project will be for COI and color mostly--don't care if their HGP is high or low, don't want any red stats in the report though. Neutral will be fine. On a side note, I have been on the stud/sale market and it seems this one as far as the spotted coats go might be a little tricky as I have yet to find a Belgian with any color, but I'm determined to get it done one way or another

Number #2 is simple enough really, 5* Arabians with an assortment of colors (from plain to painted to spotted, lol) to choose from. I'm not concerned with high or low COI as long as there are no red stats in the report (neutral doesn't bother me, just am aiming for more greens/golds) and a high HGP (50k+).

So I actually went ahead and bought the horses that fit the criteria for these projects. Finding the Arabians I need was easy enough and mares are pregnant, so that ball is rolling. Locating the Belgians I needed was a bit more trickier, it took some shuffling through the market to find what I was looking for, and even then, I had to settle for two plain-looking fillies (one is still a foal, the other is 2 years 6 months). So it will be a while before the ball is in the court for that one. Either way, I'm excited to start these projects and can't wait to see if I can reach my end goal for each (me thinks the Arabian will be accomplished easier than the Belgian project based on the browsing I've already done though )

So, what's YOUR project(s)? I can't wait to hear them

Wow you have a lot going on!! I only have three projects I'm working towards right now...
1. Racing thoroughbreds with 5* evaluation, and green or gold speed and stamina
2 and 3 are kinda together: Trakehners and Anglo-Arabians with 5* evaluations and that excel at jumping competitions.