XxXRodeoGirlXxX - 2014-01-30 2:52 AM

My questions never seem to end! Okay first is
1. Theres a small flat just up the road from me across from a quarry, the flat is used to dump loose tar gravel for fixing potholes etc when the council is doing roadworks, but when they use it all theres still a few inches left, and when Im not working drums or mustering or whatever one of my workouts is to trot there (its about 1.5-2 kilometeres) and then do some circle work on this flat, it's small, about 15meters wide and 20 long so I use the area to work on cork-screw excercises and getting my girl on her butt in her turns. She doesn't seem to have to work so hard on this gravelly-ground and its great traction and I think its great to get her used to non-dug-up ground in an arena where they use sand or just dirt and grass in the paddock. My QUESTION is how deep is too deep for ground, there's about 3 inches of this gravel, 4-5 in some places, I was just wondering, while she doesn't have to work as hard in it because traction is better, is it too deep?

2. Second question, I only run my one mare, she's actually the only rideable horse I've got, but she's got natural ability at everything from jumping to cutting/campdrafting to barrel racing, but would it be too much when I eventually start competing every weekend-couple of weekends only using her? Is there anybody else that runs one horse all the time?

3. Is thinner or thicker better when it comes to saddle pads? I've just upgraded for the first time in 13 years and thats only because my old blanket got so rough and thread bare it started chaffing my mares back, not much but too much for my liking, this blanket also used to leave "dry spots" either side of her withers which Ive heard isnt good for the horse, altholugh it never seemed to bother her, my new one is nothing flash, but its softer, not much thicker, and it doesn't leave any dry areas after a workout, but whats everybody elses advice on saddle blankets?

Bibliafarm - 2014-01-30 9:30 AM  Common sense ...do not work horse in area gravel ..

XxXRodeoGirlXxX - 2014-01-31 8:52 PM Its not gravel as in rocky gravel they use on dirt roads, im not an idiot! it's very fine chip-like stuff that is used to fill potholes and is very soft on her hooves, (I wouldnt ride my horse on anything i wouldnt run barefoot over!), my question was an issue of DEPTH. My horse is a born and bred work horse, she can, will and has done very long, hard, hot days work on cattle, moving, mustering, etc while she lives mainly on grass and is fed chaff after working and her work outs training for barrel racing, since Ive been serious about competing Ive been adding vegetable oil to her feed for energy (it works great!) She's not given any special treatment, I made this decision as I believe coddling her like a barrel racing horse would weaken her as my work horse. For instance, there's no time to throw a hide suit or ice boots on while Im out mustering! I'm not saying what competitors do for their horses isnt worthwhile or beneficial, but I just think if I started all that on my mare at this stage, she would become soft to her main purpose as a work horse. She's given time off according to her work and training, After a big, long day working I'll give her a day off, while she's not working, and I'm training her, I'll do maybe four hours a day circle work, trotting up the road etc for 2-3 days and then spell her for a couple, this seems to work. So long as she knows she gets to go back to the paddock with her mates she's happy to do whatever I ask. But I always assumed people use more than one horse because one becomes sour, over-tired etc on the road, I don't want that to happen to my mare! What do people do with their horses when theyre travelling for weeks at a time without returning home, spell-wise for the horse??? Even if I was to arrange to turn her out somewhere along the road, if I was ever on the road long enough to need to, I know it wouldnt do her as much good as letting her go at home... A turn out at home is like a reset for her, but she never really settles or relaxes anywhere else that Ive been. When it comes to my saddle, it fits my girl perfectly, my old western saddle used to give her a sore back but i have not had an issue with soreness since i switched to this saddle, but I see alot of people saying "thats the wrong saddle blanket" or "it doesnt go with that saddle" etc and this concerned me... I just thought a blanket was a blanket!

XxXRodeoGirlXxX - 2014-01-31 7:52 PM

Its not gravel as in rocky gravel they use on dirt roads, im not an idiot! it's very fine chip-like stuff that is used to fill potholes and is very soft on her hooves, (I wouldnt ride my horse on anything i wouldnt run barefoot over!), my question was an issue of DEPTH.

My horse is a born and bred work horse, she can, will and has done very long, hard, hot days work on cattle, moving, mustering, etc while she lives mainly on grass and is fed chaff after working and her work outs training for barrel racing, since Ive been serious about competing Ive been adding vegetable oil to her feed for energy (it works great!) She's not given any special treatment, I made this decision as I believe coddling her like a barrel racing horse would weaken her as my work horse. For instance, there's no time to throw a hide suit or ice boots on while Im out mustering! I'm not saying what competitors do for their horses isnt worthwhile or beneficial, but I just think if I started all that on my mare at this stage, she would become soft to her main purpose as a work horse.

She's given time off according to her work and training, After a big, long day working I'll give her a day off, while she's not working, and I'm training her, I'll do maybe four hours a day circle work, trotting up the road etc for 2-3 days and then spell her for a couple, this seems to work. So long as she knows she gets to go back to the paddock with her mates she's happy to do whatever I ask. But I always assumed people use more than one horse because one becomes sour, over-tired etc on the road, I don't want that to happen to my mare! What do people do with their horses when theyre travelling for weeks at a time without returning home, spell-wise for the horse??? Even if I was to arrange to turn her out somewhere along the road, if I was ever on the road long enough to need to, I know it wouldnt do her as much good as letting her go at home... A turn out at home is like a reset for her, but she never really settles or relaxes anywhere else that Ive been.

When it comes to my saddle, it fits my girl perfectly, my old western saddle used to give her a sore back but i have not had an issue with soreness since i switched to this saddle, but I see alot of people saying "thats the wrong saddle blanket" or "it doesnt go with that saddle" etc and this concerned me... I just thought a blanket was a blanket!

BamaCanChaser - 2014-02-02 7:24 AM


Pertaining to your question about DEPTH, I would work my horse in ZERO inches of the "very fine chip-like stuff that is used to fill potholes."

As mentioned in above comments, circle work is very hard on a horse's joints, they are not naturally designed to lope circles for hours on end. Four hours of anything is excessive to me. If you need her for ranch work that is one thing, but why so hard on her in your exercises? Sour and over-tired is exactly what will happen to your mare if you continue. I'm shocked she's not already. If you want her to be in great shape, then a mile or two of straight lines several days a week will have her in good condition.

Giving my horses the best treatment I can provide is not what I consider coddling, I ask for every bit of their talent and ability from them, and I treat them well in return.

I don't mean any of this in a harsh way, but I honestly feel very bad for your horse if her life is truly as you describe. If barrel racing is something you take seriously, and you want to improve, then you have to take care of your partner, you're a team.

XxXRodeoGirlXxX - 2014-02-02 6:53 PM My last post wasnt very clear, Ive got alot on my mind, sorry, but no the 4 hours isnt straight circle work!! I do maybe half an hour circle work, just to keep her balanced on both sides, she isnt as strong on her left, she has a real tight left barrel turn and drops in alot when Im just trying to lope her left, which comes from my inexperience when I first started her training, she worked better to the right, so I just always went right (sounds very stupid now but whenI started training her on barrels was the first exposure I'd ever had to any kind of "correct work"), I figure-8 to keep her lead changes smooth, and I trot up the road to where I work her and back and sometimes a bit further to get/keep her fit. I'm not really explaining clearly but the ground I work her on isnt dangerous. I've just found she has better traction on it, she slips and slides alot in the paddock when I circle her there which worries me about stressing her legs... I really didnt make much clear in that last post! But what I was getting at when it comes to her being my work horse and barrel racing horse, is I'm worried the kind of maitenence it would take to barrel race her, i.e. needing certain feed/treatment etc, would be hard to keep up when Im working her, I drove/muster/move cattle alot. And thats always been my worry, that she'll become accustomed to that kind of maitenence and then if I mistakingly miss a day of feed/ dont rug her one day it may have negative effects.

Southtxponygirl - 2014-02-02 7:21 PM How can you mistakingly miss feeding a horse that you spend this much time with? And yept your post was not very clear, here gravel is gravel and we would never work a horse in it, but if your gravel there is soft well then I guess you know what your talking about. 

XxXRodeoGirlXxX - 2014-02-03 8:08 PM

I hate ground excuses to. Sometimes I hear the pro girls talking about "bad ground" being the reason they didn't run well...more recently a barrel racer I really admire refered to the ground at my local rodeo as "dangerous"( its ploughed) her horse tripped and stumbled, a bit, but I've seen just as bad and worse trips in sand arenas too NOT BEING RUDE: I was a little surprised, I just thought "you'd be stuffed if you had to do any real hard work on your horse" I think it'd be better to be prepared to run in anything as well, for me especially, when I'm out mustering, I can't just be pulling up to walk for five miles just because the dirts a bit deep or wet, my horse lets me know what she can and cant go in and I trust her instinct but she rarely, if ever, pulls up and says "no Im not doing it", I really didn't expect to hear so much complaining about the ground from girls who have run on it all...

When it comes to getting her on her butt, Ive only been working on this particular ground for maybe a week, I do keep an eye on her legs and she doesn't appear sore or rubbed or anything, and she works much better on it, it's out in the open paddock she doesn't work so well.

With the saddle, it's more on the narrow side, but so is she, she's no heavy horse, but with this new saddle blanket the fit seems much better as is slightly wider in the skirt from being used on my drum gutted little brumby, but with my new pad it doesnt seems to move(my old one used to move side to side with her gate) it sits it still.

rockinj - 2014-02-04 5:24 AM OK Rodeo Girl - Aussie to Aussie - we need to talk!!!!!! (Not in a bad way lol.) If you are moving cattle and using your mare as a station horse, there is no way in he(( that you need to ride her with a separate training program. You have plenty of time and opportunity to incorporate a training program within your mustering. There are heaps of exercises to do with her as you work. This will keep her fresh and improve her outlook and also improve your horsemanship skills at the same time. It is really important to concentrate on true collection with these work horses as it is too easy to just reef and pull to get job done without any real thought to how to get it done properly. Concentrate also on being able to move every part of her body with the least amount of cues, also while asking for true collection. This will strengthen her top line and improve her ability to cut out cattle. With the talk of gravel - I believe you are talking about crusher dust. There are plenty of dressage arenas in Australia that are built with crusher dust so I know where you are coming from but in saying that, I don't like the idea much. Maybe in an arena situation where these dressage riders are super conscious about their horses feet and check them with a fine tooth comb might work. In a situation like you describe I wouldn't be so keen on. In my opinion crusher dust is great UNDER a surface like sand or natural dirt. With feeding - if your horse is doing the work you say, she needs to be fed some sort of quality feed. If you only have the one horse, I cannot recommend Mitavite Breeda highly enough. It is expensive but if you are only feeding one horse it is an awesome simple feed and worth paying for. I have a stud and have many horses and it is not a viable option, if I had heaps of money or just one horse, it would be my feed of choice. Added to this would be Copra Meal soaked to make it swell. These two feeds together are a calm feed and will mare your mare stunning in her coat and put weight on or maintain weight depending on how much you feed. Your saddle - do you have a western saddle, fender saddle or a traditional flap saddle? If you have a flap saddle, is your mare high withered or not? If she is not, you need to get rid of it ASAP they are designed for high withered horses only and will not fit to stay on a quarter horse shape. They will also cause pressure points and damage. How many old mustering horses have you seen with huge white spots near their withers? HEAPS and these saddles are why. Have a look at Terry Hall's horses. Some of the best in the country but look at the white hairs!! I would love to help you more and am more than happy to give you advice. I have been there, done that and believe I can save time and money if you are willing to take advice and learn from others experiences.

jojammer - 2014-02-02 9:31 PM

I believe work on hard ground sometimes is important, as the concussion can build bone strength, but too much does the opposite. I like to work a horse in ALL ground types, but slow and not too tight, just so they can go in whatever. I HATE the ground excuses, mud excuses etc. So I try to be ready for whatever.

The reason I wouldn't work in any kind of gravel, be it pea gravel, shale, or whatever, is that if it's deep at all, it can burn her bulbs and fetlocks. The repeated sinking down will really burn her up and keep her sore, where soft dirt doesn't do it as much (but soft dirt will do it too if you do too many sliding stops etc). This may be a key reason if your horse doesn't want to get down and use her hiney. Her back feet/legs are sore down low. If you took off your shoes and ran around in it for 30 minutes, you will know exactly what's goin on.

I have had barrel/using horses that I have both done no maintenance on and ones I've maintained. I can tell you from experience it's better to at least keep them on an oral joint supplement and some good feed. If not, you will shorten their career. I know maintenance is expensive, but so is buying a new horse every 10 years when if you had only helped them a little, you could get 5 more years of comfortable good use out of old trusty.

Saddle pads, if your saddle is too narrow, use a thinner pad. If it's too wide, use a thicker one. Think of tight shoes and thick and thin socks. You really really need to get a saddle that fits. If not, like a tight shoe, it will cause numbness in places. When that happens over and over, that muscle in those places will die. This will cause dips behind the shoulders etc. Put your saddle on without a pad. Run your hand along the side under the bars of the saddle from shoulder area to hip area. Anywhere you feel more pressure, that's where you need more room. A saddle maker can help you match pads with saddle trees. Pads can help some, but they really aren't the answer. I would never use a pad every day that was that old.

calawso - 2014-02-04 11:20 PM This! I have to say I am a little disappointing in a few of the replies I've seen. This young lady is obviously trying to learn, and is trying very hard to take the advice she can get, even if it was rudely given. She's obviously concerned about her horse's well being as well. Yet ALMOST everyone who has posted on her thread has been extremely negative towards her. ETA after reading the last few comments I'm relieved to see a few posters sharing their wisdom and a much more positive manner :)