The Funnies Thread...

[jacksdad]

The first time I can remember coming off a horse was when I was riding double with my younger sister. she couldn't hold on and pulled us both off, she landed on me and she is the one who cried...we were both pretty young probably grade school.

Next time I remember coming off was while "racing" with a buddy. it was last day of a long civil war reenactment weekend. it was hot, we were tired, and my legs / balance gave out and at pretty good pace to. we were actually going from a almost dead run to a stop in a short distance and the horse bouncing through me off...literally and figuratively. they say I bounced when I hit the ground. But I still saddled up and rode in the last "battle".

The last time I remember coming off was also at a civil war reenactment. The horse I was on went up on her hind feet for some reason, I can't remember why. Me, I just very quickly and carefully unmounted by sliding off her and pushing away. she ran for the picket line. about 6 months previous she did this also at a reenactment and the guy who actually owned her tried to stay on and her head and his meet and he was out like a light. so with that picture in my head and determined to not take a fall with a saber and rifle slung on me, I choose to dismount and walk away. horses knew where the picket line was and made a bee line for it and I walked away.

I have ridden a couple times since then, but that was the last time I came off a horse. I tired to get back into Civil War Reenacting in the early 2000's so my son could experience it. But once I got the taste for Cavalry, being "infantry" just...well its not the same. For me, working with the horses was about 80% of the fun and fortunately my old "unit" sort of got back together briefly and there was always a spare horse or two for me to use.

[thepennywhistle]

No no no pennywhistle, give it a go! Just make sure you have a good teacher and a good pony

Yes, absolutely my driving was rather 'extreme' as I was working for a dealer breaking-in, and also drove a stallion.

Never ever drive alone.
Start off with rock-steady Neddies.
Never drive alone.
Make sure vehicle and harness is tip-top and fits the pony/ies - you need everything in balance.
Never drive alone.
Wear gloves and hard hat and strong boots, and if driving in traffic, fluorescent jackets and flourescent strip on whip handle.
Never drive alone.

Thank you!!! That doesn't sound too bad. Yes, we who have been training forever just HAVE to get into the
tough end of things at some point. I can see where things would (not could, but WOULD) get a bit dicey with
what you were doing, Nettle. I don't need to run with the big international riders and ride the firebreathers
anymore. Really, I just want to communicate with a horse and have a bit of fun and fill that empty void in my
heart. I was at a local fair last month and befuddled my friends by buying a ticket to the pony ride so I could
hug a pony and smell her mane, so a peaceful little trot about in a cart would be heavenly.

Horace's Mum, you looked just splendid driving there. I would be most content with that, and I am encouraged that you
both think I might survive driving. If course, what has really stolen my heart is the Pony Scurry, to which my most
supportive friend has informed me I'm on my own

Toward the end of my horse days (2008) I kept my mare with a fellow not too far away from me. I was reminded today
that while he was an opinionated pain in the you-know-what, he was good with his horses. He teaches horsemanship classes for the local community college, and he also privately teaches driving!!!! He breeds and drives Fresians, but I'll
be learning with Buddy the unflappable Quarter Horse, and my farrier, also into driving, lives right next door to him. I'm
so excited to have this opportunity!

Thank you for sharing your insights and opinions. This is going to be great!

[thepennywhistle]

The last time I remember coming off was also at a civil war reenactment. The horse I was on went up on her hind feet for some reason, I can't remember why. Me, I just very quickly and carefully unmounted by sliding off her and pushing away. she ran for the picket line. about 6 months previous she did this also at a reenactment and the guy who actually owned her tried to stay on and her head and his meet and he was out like a light. so with that picture in my head and determined to not take a fall with a saber and rifle slung on me, I choose to dismount and walk away. horses knew where the picket line was and made a bee line for it and I walked away.

I'm glad you survived that, Jack's Dad. Your choice of actions were very wise, 'cause that could have hurt very
badly.

My last injury didn't even involve coming off the horse, though my little firebreather of a dressage horse could
have me off any time he wanted. No, he wasn't a bad horse once we clicked, and he was the love of my life,
would do anything for me. The one who really hurt my back was a Quarter Horse I was boarding. I swear he
had brain damage because he would forget how to make a right hand turn into his stall and just keep going in
the front and out the back of the center aisle, getting more and more worked up because he was missing his feed,
forget there was a back wall to his stall and run into it, etc. This daffy creature was eager to come in from
the field for evening feed, made a run for the gate as I turned to close it behind me. He slammed into me and
knocked me flat, swinging the gate open. He then trotted up up my back. One foot on the right calf, middle of
my lower back, ribs just to the right of my spine, and left shoulder blade. The others followed his bolt for the
stable, of course. One sweet old mare picked her way through my arms and legs like they were cavaletti, while
others just jumped over me. My fellow stood by me and snuffled reassuringly in my hair. But Champ of the 3 active
brain cells? He never seemed to see me. He finished off a lot of things for me that evening.

But hey, I'm gonna get driving lessons! YAAAAAY! (envision Kermit the Frog, madly waving skinny green arms
over head for this)

[wvvdiup1]

Speaking of horse riding...

[ClareMarsh]

Anyone got any ideas on how to clicker train this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKWbT0Cp ... ata_player

[WufWuf]

Honey used to do this when she first came to live with us .

She'd also "forget" to put her back legs down when she got out of her bed or went down a curb. I always thought it was a hind end awareness issue as she seems to have had a very limited life before the shelter.

She only does a little version of it now if she's super super tired, she does still kind of twist her hips when she pees so she pees on her feet. I've noticed that then more stressed she is the more twisty the pee stance is. So at home now she does a proper squat and pee but out and about it's a varying degree of twist.

[Fundog]

Funny, Dottie does an odd sort of squat while raising a foot, so she can AVOID peeing on her feet! It's really quite amusing to watch.

[ClareMarsh]

I've done a little internet reading on this now (although I'm mindful now to trust things I read on line) but there is a school of thought that says this is done by smaller dogs to mark over the scent of a larger dog or to thrown their scent further. Not sure how true that is but interesting as there are a lot of vids on you tube of dogs doing this

Ted's only just started cocking his leg (about one time in every hundred) so he's a way off these types of acrobatics yet

[bendog]

Awww I remember when Ben first started doing "grown up" wees. Though he does still wee like a girl occasionally.

[WufWuf]

Hmm not sure about the little dog sydrome as I knew a pit bull who cocked her leg every time she peed and she was a lady not to be messed with if you were a female dog that is! About a year before her death the girls who'd been under her thumb started to attack her very badly - this was when we knew something was wrong. She was moved to the old folks home and after testing she did indeed have cancer. It's amazing what they know.

[bendog]

I miss riding

I've come off horses several times, but I was still in the "bouncing" stage when I quit. Unfortunately we got a new riding instructor at the stables I was at, and she was just awful to the horses. The last time I fell off the instructor hit the horse I fell off round the face with a whip. I couldn't stay after that. Plus the fact she used to make me jump the crazy horses! A friend recently went to the same stables as a beginner rider and was put on a horse totally unsuitable for a beginner, she fell off and got quite severe concussion. Its put her off riding for life which is a real shame.

Anyway, kind of funny. I got a HUGE parcel at Uni, what was in it...a little tiny packet containing 1 millilitre of fluid!



This is the box, and on top of the box is the packet containing the 1mL of stuff I had ordered.

[JudyN]

Bendog, you know we're all dying to find out what this liquid was now... or at least I do, I'm nosy like that...

[bendog]

Not that interesting. It's just human LDL's (low density lipoproteins), which carry cholesterol around the body. I assume they are just extracted from blood samples.

Certainly didn't warrant the excessive packaging!

[minkee]

Maybe they'd just seen Ted's cave exploring video and wanted a similar one from Poppy :D

[Fundog]

Maybe they'd just seen Ted's cave exploring video and wanted a similar one from Poppy

Oh, I get it! (That was pretty clever, minkee!)