[JH]

I don't know what it means (or what it feels like) to have my horse "in front of my leg". Um, about half of him is in front of my leg and the other half is in back of my leg, and I thought that was kinda the goal.

That's just a way of saying that the horse is listening to your leg and moving forward off of it.

I can't braid a tail (yet), and I'm not quite sure how to attach a tail bag. Someone please tell me how to attach a tail bag. I know the bag has a string at the top but how is it tied on? I even had a friend show me once but I still can't remember.

[Duramax]

I can't wrap a tail without the darn thing slipping off. I get so paranoid about wrapping it too tightly. I just use the pre assembled tail wraps for shipping. I find someone else to wrap it when it's braided.

If you are wrapping w/o the tail being braided you can take a little section of hair from the side of the tail and lift it upward while doing one wrap over it. You can do that two or three times and it prevents the wrap from sliding. Although you end up with little kinked pieces of tail!

I don't know why boots have swagger tabs. They've never given me a swagger.

IIRC they were used back in the day to pull the boots on. Certainly couldn't do that with the decorative ones today! I like your explanation though!

And I've never figured out how to get a martingale stop on without using language that would make a sailor blush and frighten small children.

Me either! Although I wonder if you put it in pretty hot water for a little bit before attempting such a task if it wouldn't make the rubber more flexible??? Might be worth a try...

But the big mystery of horse ownership: where the devil are all those hoof picks I've bought over the years? I swear, you could melt down all my lost hoof picks and make an F350 out of them!

They have escaped with all my pulling combs of course! Thats where they've gone!

[Kementari]

Braid the tail (just the long part - starting at the bottom of the tail bone). Put an elastic (or your tie of choice) in the end. Insert tail into tail bag. Take one string, and bring it from the back of the tail through the top of the braid (as in, between the tail bone and the braid) to the front. In other words, you want one of the "hanks" of hair that begins the braid on the left of the string, and two on the right. Or vice versa. Tie to the opposite string. Repeat if you have two sets of strings.

That's assuming you just have the single kind of bag. If you have the triple-tube kind, well, that's a different story, and if anyone knows a relatively simple way of tying those in, I'm all ears!

I have the special ability to convince myself that my horse is off/has heat in any leg you like if I look/feel hard enough. On the bright side, I have learned that it is best to go with my first impression, which ends up being right 99% of the time. And I got one of those laser temp thingies, so I can double check my phantom heat issues!

[Dazednconfused]

Those of you who can't wrap legs - I too had this problem. I had lots of people try to explain it to me in lots of different ways. Never worked. Had to come up with my own method - when wrapping the right leg, you should be wrapping clockwise around the leg, and when wrapping the left you should wrap counter-clockwise around the leg. Maybe it will help you?

[Lauren!]

I know nothing about breeding or bloodlines. I have my horse's family tree (http://www.pedigreequery.com/without+hesitation2) but I have no idea if it's any good or what it means (beyond who his parents, grandparents, etc. were). I only did the tattoo research so I would know and be able to celebrate his biological birthday

[Dazednconfused]

That's just a way of saying that the horse is listening to your leg and moving forward off of it.

I can't braid a tail (yet), and I'm not quite sure how to attach a tail bag. Someone please tell me how to attach a tail bag. I know the bag has a string at the top but how is it tied on? I even had a friend show me once but I still can't remember.

Make your own - we arab folk tend to use Guardtex. Vetwrap is okay during the not-so-hot months and white only. Step by step -

1. Wash and condition the tail, rinse as usual.
2. Wait until it's dry, brush all the tangles out, use your favorite spray conditioner - I swear by Healthy HairCare Moisturizer. Eqyss Avocado Mist is almost as good.
3. Braid, starting slightly loosely at the end of the tailbone, tightening as you go down. Leave some of the shorter, feathery hairs out of the braid. Braid as far down as you can, secure with a rubber band (the ones made for horses).
4. Make a 'hole' at the top of the tail between the sections of braid and the tailbone, and fold the end of the braid through the 'hole' - keep going around until you get to the end of the tail - you should have a 4-5 inch long wad of braided tail with several 'loops' deep, if that makes sense.
5. Take a piece of Guardtex, and pull it through the hole, so that the end of the piece of Guardtex is at the end of the braid, at the back of the tail, with the other end at the front.
6. Tear off and hold the piece in place. Start wrapping with a new piece around the first piece, around and around and under the wad, around some more, go through the hole again if you like, until the whole 'wad' is covered with Guardtex (so that you can't see any hair through the first layer or two of the guardtex).
7. Now you'll need flyswatters - I like bailing twine. Take about 5 pieces of twine, fold it over, cut in half (now you should have 10 strings). Pull it through the hole so half of the ten strings hang on one side, and the other ten on the other.
8. Secure twine with electrical tape, around the braid/guardtex. Write down the date you did the tail directly on the wrap with a sharpie, and voila', you have a fail-safe tailwrap that is not going to knock you out if it whacks you in the head (that's always what happens to me with your traditional tailbags), has flyswatting abilities, and makes the hair grow at a ridiculous rate - plus keeps it protected and clean - to the point that on most non-grey/pinto horses that you can wash and condition just the top of the tail and easily get away with going to a show. You can leave it in usually about 3 weeks to a month in summer, and much longer in winter.

http://www.sstack.com/shopping/produ...word=tail+wrap - there's a link to where you can buy Guardtex. Great stuff!

[nappingonthejob]

martingale stops - use boot pulls! Wiggle them into the martingale stop facing opposit directions, and you can then either step on one boot pull and pull up with the other, or have someone grab one side and help you stretch it open. Just be careful not to let go if you're stepping on one...they'll fly up and try to poke out your eyes. Not that I know from experience or anything.

[Chipngrace]

And for the life of me, I can't figure out why cinches have buckles on both ends, leaving the buckle tongue on the tied end just hanging out to poke something.

I buckle both ends of my cinch!! My latigo has holes in it every few inches and I'll just slide it into one of those and the put the remaining leather up in the keeper in front of the pomel.

[ReSomething]

I have no clue how to properly clean a stall. I hang out and spy on the barn workers so I have an idea how it is done but I've never, ever had a horse with a stall and never had to do it. Picking manure out of a paddock I've done a lot, and I've picked out one or two piles worth from a stall but never really cleaned one.
Of course there is more, and I am also in the diagonal club. Or the can't-tell-my-diagonal club, really.

[aregard]

I don't know if a male horse has a prostate.

The reason I wonder is I have one of the most frequent pee-ers in the universe. He doesn't pee a lot (not at all like a racehorse ) but he pees every 45 minutes or so. It's weird.

[goeslikestink]

not having enought knowlede of said easy boots so i asked --

[ChocoMare]

I have no clue how to properly clean a stall.

The way I was taught in the Dark Ages:

1. Pick all the obvious big piles, sifting as you go so you can leave behind as many shavings as possible.

2. Gently rake the clean, top shavings all over to the four sides of the stall, banking them up the sides.

3. As you're banking, you can pick the golfballs (my word for single, manure balls). Feel free to use your hands

4. Dig out all the wet spots.

5. Put down a layer of SweetPDZ, focusing on the wet spots.

6. Slowly bring back the banked shavings, again getting the individual golfballs you may have missed. Put a bit more towards the center.

7. Add fresh shavings around the perimeter.

Ta dah!

[mintyfresh]

I'm pretty good with most things but....

I've never had to use a poultice and have no idea how to do so.

I don't know how to do an IV injection.

I have no clue what I'm reading when I look at low level dressage tests (training/intro) though suspect if I understood I could probably do it, lol.

[Horse_poor SS]

Remembering not to let anything medical panic the living snot out of me.
I know all the normal range stats for equines...and even know my own horses normal resp, heart rate...right down to each horses' normal temps depending on what time of the day it is. (both run a little higher normal range after 3 pm)
However anytime something is slightly wonky on either horse...I guess, second guess and third guess estimates on what might be causing it and within a short time am imagining the worst...then panic mode sets in and by the time the horse is feeling normal again I'm an absolute wreck.

I.

Know mine all too well! Called the vet the other day? her comment-

You have QUITE the imagination!

Is this a clique in the making?? Altho with my illness/accident prone beastie being in my barn, an active, necessary imagination must come into play....

I ALWAY worry that I get the tendons/ligiments mixed up, and which needs hard footing and which soft? Sadly, I know the suspensory one-like the back of my hand. Anyone for some long Loooong walks on dirt roads??

OOPS! Under my alter!!!!

[carolprudm]

My family thought it absolutely hysterical when they caught me googling Camel toe

[Jaegermonster]

I don't know how to feel for the digital pulse.

Actually it's "Distal" but don't feel bad, I can't feel it either. I know where it is, just never can feel it.

[arabhorse2]

Why the heck does the elastic part of the girth have to be on the mounting side? Never made much of a difference to me.

I eliminated that problem by buying girths with elastic on both sides!

I really, truly, have no clue what most bits are called, and what they're supposed to do. I've always ridden in either a loose ring snaffle, or a D ring.

[JCS]

I thought of this while reading the recent threads about nosebands. How the heck do you know if a horse "has its tongue over the bit" or is "crossing its jaw"?? What does that feel like to the rider?

And also, why in the name of god would a horse want to put its tongue over the bit--when I think about the underside of MY tongue, it makes me think it would hurt like heck to have the bit under there.

[Huntertwo]

My family thought it absolutely hysterical when they caught me googling Camel toe

[Ruth0552]

My family thought it absolutely hysterical when they caught me googling Camel toe

ROTFLMAO.


Isn't there something about horses aren't supposed to eat broccoli? Not sure about that one.

And I also don't know how to poultice.