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

[JillJessie1997]

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.

Your projects sound awesome. Two of my mares, my grade broodmare and one of the Arabian mares I purchased for my project, just gave birth at the same time. So exciting

I don't keep my grade's foals though, I start their stamina training the minute they drop then put them up for sale at 1 month and keep training them until they're bought or rehome them at 6 month 1 year. Don't ask why I chose that pattern, I just did

[JillJessie1997]

Okay, so my Arabian project is going very well already Two of my Arabian mares have both foaled. One is a 5* filly with two golds, one green and a 59,804 GP. Here she is:



The second foal is also 5* and a colt. He has ALL golds, a GP of 67,390 and best of all, some color! OMG I'm going to breed him with the filly when they're older to hopefully add more all golds. But right now I'm just ecstatic. Can't wait until I can get the Belgian project up and running. But here is the colt:



EDIT: One more foal for the night! Another 5* colt with 2 golds, 2 greens and a 65,555 gp. I'm on a dang roll

[Malakai10]

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 :D

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 :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 :)

They're called Chilabothrus angulifer or Cuban boa.

That's great! Only riding bareback takes a lot of confidence and knowing one's horse.

Whoa. Gunpowder? How can someone... how was he not arrested for animal abuse? Surely feeding gunpowder to a horse should count as such?

Okay - so she's just excitable and a bit hotheaded like Teal? Only difference with Teal is that he has to be ridden with a Portuguese gag and he hasn't bucked once since I've ridden him.

[JillJessie1997]

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

They're called Chilabothrus angulifer or Cuban boa.

That's great! Only riding bareback takes a lot of confidence and knowing one's horse.

Whoa. Gunpowder? How can someone... how was he not arrested for animal abuse? Surely feeding gunpowder to a horse should count as such?

Okay - so she's just excitable and a bit hotheaded like Teal? Only difference with Teal is that he has to be ridden with a Portuguese gag and he hasn't bucked once since I've ridden him.

I googled them - they look awesome!

Yep it does take confidence. It's great for developing balance too. And if your horse is hard to fit like mine (dang high withers) it's another way to ride. I've 'met' people who actually don't care if their horse's back gets messed up by an ill fitting saddle, seriously, they ride them with those saddle anyways....poor horses have white scarring all over their withers and back . Their reasoning: they can't afford another saddle atm and they're too scared to ride without a saddle. So I'm like, uhhh, either wait until you have money or get a bareback pad with a grab handle?
I have a bareback pad I don't use often, I cut the handle off it, but it's rigged up for a western cinch and you can tighten the cinch as you would using a saddle, so it doesn't roll. Anyway, rambling done

As far as the gun powder feeding neighbor goes, cops would not do anything about it unless we caught him on video. We never could 'cause the minute he would see us coming he would take off back into his house. Luckily this guy doesn't live by us anymore (he moved).

Exactly! She is very excitable and hotheaded. When I got her she hadn't been rode or handled for a while, so that had a lot to do with it, but being with me she has had a lot of handling and riding done (obviously, since I've had her for 5 years). She doesn't buck as often as she did, just sometimes during a feel good gallop or after a really nice jump. She's more of a push through the one rein stop and GO horse. The worst bit I ever had to ride her was a Dr. Bristol slow twist full cheek with another flash bridle I had before it fell apart. She works best with a flash, so this bridle was ordered with a detachable one, and I don't ride her in such a hard bit.

I was able to ride last night and I figured out that if I squeeze the outside rein, keep her on a slight bend, then point her at the jump, she doesn't 'charge' at it like she usually does.

[Malakai10]

I googled them - they look awesome! :D

Yep it does take confidence. It's great for developing balance too. And if your horse is hard to fit like mine (dang high withers) it's another way to ride. I've 'met' people who actually don't care if their horse's back gets messed up by an ill fitting saddle, seriously, they ride them with those saddle anyways....poor horses have white scarring all over their withers and back :evil:. Their reasoning: they can't afford another saddle atm and they're too scared to ride without a saddle. So I'm like, uhhh, either wait until you have money or get a bareback pad with a grab handle? :roll:
I have a bareback pad I don't use often, I cut the handle off it, but it's rigged up for a western cinch and you can tighten the cinch as you would using a saddle, so it doesn't roll. Anyway, rambling done :mrgreen:

As far as the gun powder feeding neighbor goes, cops would not do anything about it unless we caught him on video. We never could 'cause the minute he would see us coming he would take off back into his house. Luckily this guy doesn't live by us anymore (he moved).

Exactly! She is very excitable and hotheaded. When I got her she hadn't been rode or handled for a while, so that had a lot to do with it, but being with me she has had a lot of handling and riding done (obviously, since I've had her for 5 years). She doesn't buck as often as she did, just sometimes during a feel good gallop or after a really nice jump. She's more of a push through the one rein stop and GO horse. The worst bit I ever had to ride her was a Dr. Bristol slow twist full cheek with another flash bridle I had before it fell apart. She works best with a flash, so this bridle was ordered with a detachable one, and I don't ride her in such a hard bit.

I was able to ride last night and I figured out that if I squeeze the outside rein, keep her on a slight bend, then point her at the jump, she doesn't 'charge' at it like she usually does. :mrgreen:

Honestly, humans... things like that are why I sometimes want to be a different species.

Brilliant! If it does happen again, you could try to pretend to leave and hide where you could video the culprit or you could have a hidden camera set up.

I've never encountered a bit like that before. What does it do that makes it stronger than a snaffle?

Teal used to rush at jumps too but then my new instructor told me that he was panicking because I would take my legs off and drop contact just before and over the jump.

[JillJessie1997]

I googled them - they look awesome!

Yep it does take confidence. It's great for developing balance too. And if your horse is hard to fit like mine (dang high withers) it's another way to ride. I've 'met' people who actually don't care if their horse's back gets messed up by an ill fitting saddle, seriously, they ride them with those saddle anyways....poor horses have white scarring all over their withers and back . Their reasoning: they can't afford another saddle atm and they're too scared to ride without a saddle. So I'm like, uhhh, either wait until you have money or get a bareback pad with a grab handle?
I have a bareback pad I don't use often, I cut the handle off it, but it's rigged up for a western cinch and you can tighten the cinch as you would using a saddle, so it doesn't roll. Anyway, rambling done

As far as the gun powder feeding neighbor goes, cops would not do anything about it unless we caught him on video. We never could 'cause the minute he would see us coming he would take off back into his house. Luckily this guy doesn't live by us anymore (he moved).

Exactly! She is very excitable and hotheaded. When I got her she hadn't been rode or handled for a while, so that had a lot to do with it, but being with me she has had a lot of handling and riding done (obviously, since I've had her for 5 years). She doesn't buck as often as she did, just sometimes during a feel good gallop or after a really nice jump. She's more of a push through the one rein stop and GO horse. The worst bit I ever had to ride her was a Dr. Bristol slow twist full cheek with another flash bridle I had before it fell apart. She works best with a flash, so this bridle was ordered with a detachable one, and I don't ride her in such a hard bit.

I was able to ride last night and I figured out that if I squeeze the outside rein, keep her on a slight bend, then point her at the jump, she doesn't 'charge' at it like she usually does.

Honestly, humans... things like that are why I sometimes want to be a different species.

Brilliant! If it does happen again, you could try to pretend to leave and hide where you could video the culprit or you could have a hidden camera set up.

I've never encountered a bit like that before. What does it do that makes it stronger than a snaffle?

Teal used to rush at jumps too but then my new instructor told me that he was panicking because I would take my legs off and drop contact just before and over the jump.

Haha, I know what you mean by wanting to be anything but a human!
I'm not too worried about that neighbor anymore - he moved. That same horse he fed this crap to was given back to its original owners 2 years ago (financial issues )

The Dr. Bristol bits are still snaffles, just stronger than your regular plain snaffle. The one that I used the full cheeks on it stabilized the bit from sliding through the mouth and aided in turning by working on the outside of the mouth. The slow twist worked on the bars of the mouth and was effective for stopping an excitable/hard mouthed horse (I hate that term, but I'm just using it to explain what I'm talking about). This bit was also double jointed and the link was offset, meaning that it would just lay in her mouth when she was behaving, but when I needed to get her attention the link would press into her tongue. I also had ordered this bit in a copper mouthpiece (optional) just to get her to salivate and be more 'accepting' of this bit, since it was the harshest I'd ever put on her. Believe it or not, it only took 3 days of riding in that set up and she absolutely loved it (she would actually come up when she saw her bridle).
The bit isn't really as bad as it sounds, btw. With the right hands, put on a horse that would benefit from it, it's a great bit. I just don't like having to ride in 'harder' bits and this was an aid when we were doing a bunch of flatwork. Here's a picture of it:



EDIT: Forgot to write a reply to your last point. I keep my contact and leg on her all the way to and past the jump. She will try to charge jumps even when you lunge her over them. I have walked outside in the morning to feed her and she's jumping all on her own, charging away. I guess it's a quirk of hers

[Malakai10]

Haha, I know what you mean by wanting to be anything but a human!
I'm not too worried about that neighbor anymore - he moved. That same horse he fed this crap to was given back to its original owners 2 years ago (financial issues :cry:)

The Dr. Bristol bits are still snaffles, just stronger than your regular plain snaffle. The one that I used the full cheeks on it stabilized the bit from sliding through the mouth and aided in turning by working on the outside of the mouth. The slow twist worked on the bars of the mouth and was effective for stopping an excitable/hard mouthed horse (I hate that term, but I'm just using it to explain what I'm talking about). This bit was also double jointed and the link was offset, meaning that it would just lay in her mouth when she was behaving, but when I needed to get her attention the link would press into her tongue. I also had ordered this bit in a copper mouthpiece (optional) just to get her to salivate and be more 'accepting' of this bit, since it was the harshest I'd ever put on her. Believe it or not, it only took 3 days of riding in that set up and she absolutely loved it (she would actually come up when she saw her bridle).
The bit isn't really as bad as it sounds, btw. With the right hands, put on a horse that would benefit from it, it's a great bit. I just don't like having to ride in 'harder' bits and this was an aid when we were doing a bunch of flatwork. Here's a picture of it:

Interesting! So would a Portuguese gag be considered stronger? And a horse coming up for the bridle - the closest I've ever seen to that was this old school master I almost leased; he would always bow his head for the bridle to be put on. But the other horses I've tacked up? Difficult. With Malakai, I would have to stand on something so that I would be able to reach his head.

Soft hands... I get what you're saying there. My previous riding instructor wanted me to use a harsher bit (I was then using a loose-ring snaffle) because, according to her, my hands are so soft that Teal didn't feel most of what I did.

[JillJessie1997]

Haha, I know what you mean by wanting to be anything but a human!
I'm not too worried about that neighbor anymore - he moved. That same horse he fed this crap to was given back to its original owners 2 years ago (financial issues )

The Dr. Bristol bits are still snaffles, just stronger than your regular plain snaffle. The one that I used the full cheeks on it stabilized the bit from sliding through the mouth and aided in turning by working on the outside of the mouth. The slow twist worked on the bars of the mouth and was effective for stopping an excitable/hard mouthed horse (I hate that term, but I'm just using it to explain what I'm talking about). This bit was also double jointed and the link was offset, meaning that it would just lay in her mouth when she was behaving, but when I needed to get her attention the link would press into her tongue. I also had ordered this bit in a copper mouthpiece (optional) just to get her to salivate and be more 'accepting' of this bit, since it was the harshest I'd ever put on her. Believe it or not, it only took 3 days of riding in that set up and she absolutely loved it (she would actually come up when she saw her bridle).
The bit isn't really as bad as it sounds, btw. With the right hands, put on a horse that would benefit from it, it's a great bit. I just don't like having to ride in 'harder' bits and this was an aid when we were doing a bunch of flatwork. Here's a picture of it:

Interesting! So would a Portuguese gag be considered stronger? And a horse coming up for the bridle - the closest I've ever seen to that was this old school master I almost leased; he would always bow his head for the bridle to be put on. But the other horses I've tacked up? Difficult. With Malakai, I would have to stand on something so that I would be able to reach his head.

Soft hands... I get what you're saying there. My previous riding instructor wanted me to use a harsher bit (I was then using a loose-ring snaffle) because, according to her, my hands are so soft that Teal didn't feel most of what I did.

I would say yes that bit would be stronger. Gag bits are always classified as stronger bits than snaffles, I use to know the reason for that but my memory has made me forget
I use to own this beautiful Paint x Belgian gelding...he would come up when he saw the saddle and bridle. He was in training (I had just gotten him broke from greenbroke) and my all western horse--great trail horse. I was going to train him for reining, but like with Booger (the horse fed gun powder) financial issues cropped up and I had to give him away
But for just a broke horse, he was awesome. I rode him in a Dr. Cook bitless bridle when we were training and a plain, smooth steel jointed loose ring for hacking/trails.

My mare is 15 hands, so I don't have to stand on anything . There are two horses I ride that I do need to stand on things to bridle and tack though....two of my friends' horses. One friend owns an almost 19 handed Percheron, the other a 17 handed Oldenburg.

That's basically the same deal with Jessie...I rode her in the Dr.Bristol because she literally didn't feel me in the other bits I was using on her.

[Malakai10]

I would say yes that bit would be stronger. Gag bits are always classified as stronger bits than snaffles, I use to know the reason for that but my memory has made me forget :lol:
I use to own this beautiful Paint x Belgian gelding...he would come up when he saw the saddle and bridle. He was in training (I had just gotten him broke from greenbroke) and my all western horse--great trail horse. I was going to train him for reining, but like with Booger (the horse fed gun powder) financial issues cropped up and I had to give him away :cry:
But for just a broke horse, he was awesome. I rode him in a Dr. Cook bitless bridle when we were training and a plain, smooth steel jointed loose ring for hacking/trails.

My mare is 15 hands, so I don't have to stand on anything :lol:. There are two horses I ride that I do need to stand on things to bridle and tack though....two of my friends' horses. One friend owns an almost 19 handed Percheron, the other a 17 handed Oldenburg. :D

That's basically the same deal with Jessie...I rode her in the Dr.Bristol because she literally didn't feel me in the other bits I was using on her.

I think it might be because gags put pressure on the poll?

Whoa! That's amazing! Then you have my two horses; that would sooner grab my carrot stick in their teeth and whack me with it (that has actually happened two or three times) than let me go near them with a saddle, bridle or boot.

Embarrassingly... Malakai is under 15hh, probably 14,3 or 14,2. In my defense, I was ten/eleven at the time.

[JillJessie1997]

I would say yes that bit would be stronger. Gag bits are always classified as stronger bits than snaffles, I use to know the reason for that but my memory has made me forget
I use to own this beautiful Paint x Belgian gelding...he would come up when he saw the saddle and bridle. He was in training (I had just gotten him broke from greenbroke) and my all western horse--great trail horse. I was going to train him for reining, but like with Booger (the horse fed gun powder) financial issues cropped up and I had to give him away
But for just a broke horse, he was awesome. I rode him in a Dr. Cook bitless bridle when we were training and a plain, smooth steel jointed loose ring for hacking/trails.

My mare is 15 hands, so I don't have to stand on anything . There are two horses I ride that I do need to stand on things to bridle and tack though....two of my friends' horses. One friend owns an almost 19 handed Percheron, the other a 17 handed Oldenburg.

That's basically the same deal with Jessie...I rode her in the Dr.Bristol because she literally didn't feel me in the other bits I was using on her.

I think it might be because gags put pressure on the poll?

Whoa! That's amazing! Then you have my two horses; that would sooner grab my carrot stick in their teeth and whack me with it (that has actually happened two or three times) than let me go near them with a saddle, bridle or boot.

Embarrassingly... Malakai is under 15hh, probably 14,3 or 14,2. In my defense, I was ten/eleven at the time.

I think so...it's not because they literally gag your horse like many people think

"...that would sooner grab my carrot stick in their teeth and whack me with it"

Well, that's a good defense!