HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: fks@vax.ftp.com  (Frances K. Selkirk)
Subject: Re: IN SEARCH OF RIDING!
Nntp-Software: PC/TCP NNTP
Reply-To: fks@ftp.com
Organization: FTP Software, Inc., Wakefield, MA
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 14:07:00

In article <1992Jul29.110621.22686@hemlock.cray.com> axtell@cray.com (Maureen Axtell) writes:

    For all you so_experienced_I_don't_need_a_guide folks:
    
This was NOT the original issue. The original issue was that someone
said - quite forcefully - that the _only_ reason people want to ride
without a guide is to "run the s*** out of the horses." This is patently
absurd.  I understand that stables have good reasons to require a guide
with anyone but a trusted regular. That doesn't make it pleasant!
Personally, I gave up on the local places years ago. The horses are
usually awful anyway, and most rental stables only do western. I was
finally able, this summer, to trail ride again, with the woman who owns
the horses my husband and I lease. Again, she wanted to be with us the
first few times (trail riding is _not_ like riding in a ring) which I
suppose made her a guide of sorts, but that was okay.  The only real
problem I had with it was that we went faster than I would have liked.
Galloping through the woods is a bit scary.
    
    Why don't y'all amble down to the local stable and offer your
    services as a guide?  When I ran a rental stable, we were always
    in need of safe riders to guide our trail rides.  Free riding     
    privileges were more than a fair exchange. Goddess, people who
    whine about their situation and expect somebody else to fix it
    irritate me!

You want people who don't have time to keep a horse to pick up another job?
Again, I don't think this is people "whining" about a situation they're 
not willing to do anything about, but more people responding to being 
insulted.
    
    But to be honest, most of the rental clients were were not safe out by
    themselves - and I don't care how many lessons or years experience
    they had.  I've picked up one too many experienced rider that     
    couldn't cope with a deer or stumble or whatever.  My reputation, 
    business and method of supporting my family were at stake; that's 
    too much to risk for the sake of a customers ego.  And, yes, we
    required that our guides be curteous and pleasant.

I'm not disputing the wisdom of your policy (you can't magically tell
who can handle a trail ride on a strange horse); I'm disputing the
general attitude towards people who would prefer to ride without a
guide. I doubt this is frequently a matter of ego, either. Guides are
frequently unpleasant, and guided rides are usually the horsey
equivalent of a forced march. Why should anyone want that?
    
--

Frances Kirk Selkirk		 fks@ftp.com	           (617) 246-0900
FTP Software, Inc.		 26 Princess Street, Wakefield, MA  01880

Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
From: blythedr@infonode.ingr.com (Dennis Blythe)
Subject: RE: THANX (was: Need a Friend)
Organization: Intergraph Corporation, Huntsville, AL.
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 03:04:17 GMT

    I would like to thank everyone that had responded to my previous
questions on donkeys. It has been a tremendous help, and I nearly fell 
of my seat laughing at some of the stories. Thanks to your help,
we know more of what to look for when we are ready to buy one.

 One last question... Does anyone know if donkeys are known to chew 
wooden fences. I'm sure some do, however I was wondering if all 
donkeys tend to do this?
 
                                   Thanx again,
                                   Pam
From: 6175190@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: Re: Airborne Horse-Eaters
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 92 20:32:09 GMT

>In article <1992Jul28.232707.28398@morrow.stanford.edu>,
>XT.JGC@forsythe.stanford.edu (John Claudy) writes:
>>I missed the initial post on this, but I can add hangliders
>>to the list.
>> . . .
>>After about 200 yards he slowed down and (this is the truth)
>>a man stepped out of a phone booth and caught him as he went
>>by.
>Ha!  I ride regularly in the same park.  My horse is not and
>has really never been afraid of hang gliders.  The civil war
>reenactment sort of got to him, though.  What REALLY scares
>him is the phone booth.  He saw it eat somebody one day.  I
>finally got him to walk up to it and, believe it or not, the
>phone rang!  It was pretty funny.  He seems to be over the
>fear now.
>Linda
>
I ride at Ed Levin too! If you go up in the hills North of the Lake area,
chances are the hang gliders will come up over a hill. That's fun! :-)
Truthfully, have never had a problem with one of my horses; but I just
keep telling them, "They're just big butterflys!!!" :-D
From: donnag@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Donna Griffiths)
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 02:56:34 GMT
Subject: Re: more on equine species...
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian

Please send me a copy!
Note that the Jemez valley in New Mexico is believed to have been
one of the "cradles" of horse evolution. (as I have heard!)

Thanks,
Donna Griffiths


donnag@hpfcpup.hp.com
From: china@vaxc.cc.monash.edu.au
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: yawning ?
Date: 26 Jul 92 15:27:11 +1000
Organization: Computer Centre, Monash University, Australia

In article <1992Jul23.141039.16646@pbs.org>, mdresser@pbs.org (Melanie Dresser) writes:
> 
> I just read something in a magazine last night and I
> just had to post and get comments.  it said that horses
> can't yawn.  But I know that when Quest is bored and
> is forced to stand and wait for something (like the
> farrier or braiding) he starts yawning--and he yawns
> really big too.  Could this be something other than yawning,
> or could it be that horses really do yawn?

My horse also yawn. Especially when I'm talking to them!!!

> Melanie
>    and Quest

Ross
From: ckw0@aber.ac.uk (Carl Keri Williams)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: How mature is a two year old? (was: advice needed on training)
Date: 30 Jul 92 09:07:36 GMT
Organization: University of Wales, Aberystwyth

Last year I visited a major training yard in Newmarket as part of a college
tour.  We watched about 40 horses in training being walked around the paddock
prior to being sent out on the gallops.  About 80% or more of these horses
were two year olds, most of the rest were three years old and I don't think 
there were any over five years old.  Just before they were sent out, they 
were trotted up round the paddock so that any that were not sound enough to
gallop would be noticed and withdrawn from the training session.  The trainer
mentioned to us that we 'may be a little shocked' just before the trot up. 
We were!  We reckoned that out of those 40 horses there were about two sound 
ones, and the trot up was instantly christned the hobble up.  

These horses are worth thousands of pounds and their training costs thousands 
of pounds.  They have everything money can buy for them, except time to grow 
up and grow strong.  I saw three year old ex-race mares retired to stud.  My 
own mare was three years old at the time and in foal, but that was before she
started her ridden career, not after it!  Train their minds at two by all 
means, and let them run free in as much space as you can find for them with
as much suitable company as possible.  Take them out for walks to let them 
see the world and to strengthen their bones and tendons and joints.  If you're 
too embarrased by all the comments thrown at you for leading them instead of
'jumping on his back' then maybe you should have bought an older horse in the
first place.  This isn't meant to be a flame to anyone, I just can't bear to 
think of the number of racehorses in Newmarket that must be crippled each 
year by impatient owners and then to hear people say "It must be ok to ride
them at two, as the race-horses are!"

Just my two pence worth...

Esther 
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
| "If God had meant for us to work, then I'm sure he  | ckw0@uk.ac.aberystwyth|
|  would have given us jobs..."  ...                  | ckw0@uk.ac.aber.cs    |
| "Sign on you crazy diamond" - Half man half biscuit |      tardis ?         |
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: 2x4 eating animals.
From: sbishop@desire.wright.edu
Date: 29 Jul 92 18:29:40 EST
Distribution: usa
Organization: Wright State University 

In article <1992Jul29.180027.8400@morrow.stanford.edu>, AS.GGG@forsythe.stanford.edu (Gwyn Gordon) writes:
>>>I use Carbolinium.  You can buy it in brown or clear.  It tastes
>>>terrible (so my horses say).  It is non-toxic as well.
>>
>>I thought that Carbolineum was the German name for creosote. In any
>>case, they're very similar, and *they are poisonous*.
>>
>>Now I wish I knew an answer to this problem. Ours is that we use
>>thicker wood and replace it when it's been eaten.
> 
> What about using "Chew-Stop" or "Stop-Chew" or whatever it's called?
> It comes in a tin can like Repel-ex (I think it's by the same
> company) and is available at tack, feed and some hardware stores. It
> works great, isn't poisonous and is expressly to stop the little
> monsters from destroying their homes. Environmentally, I don't know
> -- it probably says something on the can, since we live in the Green
> Age, and all.
> 
> -gwyn.gordon@forsythe.stanford.edu

Maybe I've been lucky but I've never had much trouble with chewing.  A
vet told me once that most wood chewing is due to worm infestation.  Any
time my horses showed any sign of chewing I'd hit them with a double worming
(I'd give one type of wormer then another type a week later).   They would
always stop chewing wood after that.

Sue
From: gordo@uhunix.uhcc.Hawaii.Edu (Gordon C. Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Gate design: horses through, NOT motorcycles.
Summary: Any ideas on how to do this?
Date: 30 Jul 92 20:57:44 GMT
Organization: University of Hawaii at Manoa

Hi,

I need to find plans for a gate or other contraption that will 
allow equestrian access but will exclude all motorized devices 
(motorcycles).

Has anybody ever seen such a thing? It would have to work very 
well and be of reasonable cost.

I'm trying to get the HI Division of Forestry and Wildlife to
consider putting in such a gate at a natural area reserve that
has recently been opened for public access. Right now they say
horses are OK but they won't open the gate because of the
problems with off road vehicles.

If you have any plans, drawings, or good ideas please post, e-mail
or fax me the sketches!

                     (808) 637-6678

                       Gordon Smith
From: jespah@milton.u.washington.edu (Kathleen Hunt)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Books on horse behavior
Date: 22 Jul 92 06:01:39 GMT
Article-I.D.: u.1992Jul22.060139.15486
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle

>From: locke@4ccvw54.scg.hac.com (Anne Locke)

[request for info on horse behavior]

Several people have already mentioned _The Body Language of Horses_,
which is nice though it does have a TB racing slant.  _The Horse's Mind_,
by Lucy Rees(?) is also pretty good.

I'd also check out Robert Vavra's beautiful book _Such Is The Real
Nature Of Horses_.  It's a lush coffee-table type book with great
photos of horses at liberty involved in all kinds of behaviors.  Not
only is it gorgeous to look at, but the very high quality of Vavra's
photos gives you a really good view at some of the more subtle postures and
behaviors.  (For instance, it was only after reading that book that I
started noticing muzzle and lip tension in horses.)

Kathleen

-- 
"And this is a tiny radiotransmitter.  It transmits tiny radios through
 the air to this tiny radio receiver."
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
From: cbrand@cac.washington.edu (Carol Brand)
Subject: Re: western riding and helmets
Organization: UW Networks and Distributed Computing
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 16:49:24 GMT

In article <666538.14959@gneiss.bmr.gov.au> pmiller@topaz.bmr.gov.au (Peter Miller) writes:
>kcarver@nmsu.edu (Kenneth Carver) writes:
>> ...  All I object to is someone
>> dictating to me that I *must* wear a helmet, and that I may *not* wear
>> a western hat.  ...
>Here in Australia skin cancer is a real problem.
>There is a good reason for wanting a broard brimmed hat,
>but given a choice between a banged-up head and facial skin cancers,
>I wear a helmet, despite quite large peer preasure not to.
>I just wish the *^%$#$% manufacturers would come out with a broard brimmed
>crash helmet.
>
>Sounds weird, doesn't it?
>But I am serious, something which could be simply attached and
>detached (for judged events or washing) and soft so that it wouldn't
>injure you (more :-) in a fall.
>


A hat like this does exist!  When I worked at a ranch in Colorado one
of the Wranglers, who was from Virginia and swore she would not ride
without a helmet, wore a hat that was part real hat, part helmet. The
inside of the crown was a helmet, but the rest of the hat looked like
the one the hero wore in "Man from Snowy River".  The brim was wide
enough to shade her face and deflect the rain.  It really came in
handy though the day she fell off during grand entry practice.  The
only draw back I could see is that the hat was really not well made. 
Has anyone contacted Resistal (sp) to see if they make something
comparable?

-Carol
From: hannah@pomponio.ai.sri.com (Marsha Jo Hannah)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: Need a Friend
Date: 21 Jul 92 17:29:10 GMT
	<1992Jul18.203850.2958@desire.wright.edu>
	<1992Jul19.033510.18254@midway.uchicago.edu>
	<1992Jul19.213831.22625@cbnewsj.cb.att.com>
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA
In-reply-to: rudy@cbnewsj.cb.att.com's message of 19 Jul 92 21:38:31 GMT

In article <1992Jul19.213831.22625@cbnewsj.cb.att.com> rudy@cbnewsj.cb.att.com (avram.r.vener) writes:

      Did the fertile mules produce viable offspring?  Has there been 
   any effort to breed from these mules and keep the lines alive?

   Rudy

I only have read about 2 cases.  Back in the 20's, a molly in
Tennessee (?) produced a mule foal (I'm unsure of its sex) when bred
to a donkey, and (several years later) a horse colt when bred to a
horse.  The colt later proved fertile, and bred true as a horse,
although he had a low success rate in getting mares pregnant.  At the
time, of course, there were no genetic tests, so there was some
question as to whether the molly was really a mule, or just a
strange-looking horse.

Within the last 10 years, there was a molly in Colorado that produced
mule colts (2 that I heard of) when bred to a donkey.  Genetic tests
showed that the molly was indeed a mule, and her sons were mule-like
(I never heard the details, but there were minor differences in their
genetic makeup from the usual mule pattern).  Last I heard, the owners
were going to try breeding her to a horse and see what they got.  That
was a couple years ago, and there have been no further reports in The
Brayer (ADMS magazine), so I suspect the answer is "nothing".  The
joke going around was that her colts were the only true "quarter
horses", and she also answered the old question, "what's the other
three-quarters?"  ;-)

Occasional vague reports have come out of China regarding a fertile
mule, but not a lot of details.

So far, no one has had enough fertile mules, let alone offspring
thereof, to try establishing a breed (unless you're a Heinlein fan---
one of his SciFi novels included "mules that breed true").  Part of
the problem is that john mules are routinely gelded---99.999% of them
are undoubtedly sterile, and john mules are such randy beasts that
there's little incentive to keep a lot of them entire in the hopes of
finding one that's fertile.

Marsha Jo Hannah		Murphy must have been a horseman--
La Honda, CA			anything that can go wrong, will!
Xref: sparky rec.equestrian:3567 rec.sport.olympics:1147
From: paw@coos.dartmouth.edu (Pat Wilson)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian,rec.sport.olympics
Subject: Cheated already!
Keywords: fie on NBC
Date: 28 Jul 92 01:15:57 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH

Wow!  They didn't even wait 48 hours to cheat PPV subscribers -
the 1:45 segment of 3-day dressage that was supposed to air this
morning (Monday) at 7:15AM wasn't there - instead, we were "treated"
to Greco-Roman wrestling.  I've heard various stories from 
1-800-OLYMPICS about _why_ I didn't see what I paid for (this AM
it was "technical difficulties - it'll be on at 7:15PM", tonight
it was "someone decided that the American wrestler was more interesting
than the Austrialian eventer"), but it all boils down to the fact
that I missed 1 hour and 45 minutes of coverage that was the *only*
reason I bought PPV.

Supposedly thousands have called to complain.  If _you_ got rooked,
too, try the 1-800-OLYMPICS number, but don't let them send you off
to customer service - all I got was a run-around.  I *did* get a
NY phone number out of the guy at OLYMPICS - I'd post the number here,
but I"m afraid they'll just disconnect it if they get too many calls.
(What the hell - it's 212-664-2813 - supposedly the guy's a VP.  I got
his phonemail, so...)

Geez.  I _do_ hope they'll show the full 6:30 of x-country on Wednesday -
otherwise, I'll be *really* mad.


--
Pat Wilson
Systems Manager, Project NORTHSTAR
paw@northstar.dartmouth.edu
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
From: brett@brett.intel.com (Brett Branch)
Subject: Advice needed on training
Keywords: ground reining
Reply-To: brett@brett.intel.com (Brett Branch)
Organization: Not in this lifetime
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 16:15:13 GMT

Hi folks,

I've been around horses all my life, but find myself training a two-year-old
Arab for the first time. He works really well with a lunge line, even with
the reins and me on his back. Next we had my wife stand in the center of our
arena, as if she was lunging him, but I was on him with the reins controlling
him (no lunge line). I tried, as the next step, to ride him around the arena
without my wife in the center, but then the colt seemed to get lost. As soon
as my wife left, he no longer seemed to know what was expected.
I'm hoping the collective wisdom of the net can help me find an effective
method to take this handsome, well-mannered colt to the next level. (ground
reining? how do you do it?)

		Thanks,
			Brett


****************************************************************************
Brett Branch			|	I didn't do it
iNTEL Corp.			|	Nobody saw me do it
696-4234			|	You can't prove anything...
brett@brett.intel.com		|
"Backup my hard drive? You mean these things will actually go in reverse?!?"
****************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Rubber bands?
From: sbishop@desire.wright.edu
Date: 23 Jul 92 10:22:15 EST
Organization: Wright State University 


I took my friend's daughters to a local open show last Sunday.  Mostly 
QH people there, we were a little out of place with my old grade Appy
gelding.  But he always does well, my friend's daughter Mariah was showing 
him in a Western Horsemanship Class, she had the correct tack, clothes, etc.

The judge told her that he was taking off points because she didn't have
those little rubber bands on the horse's mane!  Since when did they become
manditory?  Is this judge crazy?  I've seen them on lots of horses, mostly
QH.  I think it looks sort of dumb.  Thank God they don't use them on Arabs!

The horse was properly groomed, his mane had been pulled and trimmed to the
correct length.  Why do they need these rubber bands?

Sue
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: gymkhanas in the States
From: sbishop@desire.wright.edu
Date: 25 Jul 92 23:23:44 EST
Organization: Wright State University 

In article <1992Jul24.110742.5886@sniap.mchp.sni.de>, Mike.Hoffmann@sniap.mchp.sni.de (Mike Hoffmann) writes:
> In article <3030332@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM> wendy@hpfcmgw.FC.HP.COM (Wendy Milner) writes:
>>- Musical chairs.  Have chairs in the middle of the arena.
>>  Horse and riders walk in circle around chairs.  When the music
>>  stops, the riders dismount and take a chair.  There is one
>>  less chair than riders.  The person who doesn't get a chair
>>  is out.  One chair is removed, and the process starts over
>>  again until only one person remains.
> 
> Which reminds of that one time, when the music stopped and all were
> frantically grabbing a chair (or rather we used strawballs - except one child
> who was absolutely flabbergasted, because it's *horse* had sat down on
> a ball! And I really mean sit - right on it's hind-quarters, with it's
> front-legs stretched!
> 
> It's moments like these, when you can bet that noone has a camera!
> 

Yep, my friend was at the other end of the arena with the video camer off,
the time my mare came to a dead stop three feet from the finish line 
during the catalog race and tried to toss me over the line first!  She was
bucking like a fiend, the saddle was standing on end and I was bouncing about
three feet above it.  But I managed to stay on and even came in second!
  
> Mike
> -- 
> Mike Hoffmann, Siemens-Nixdorf AG, SNI AP 712  
> INTERNET: Mike.Hoffmann@sniap.mchp.sni.de
> 	Save a Tree - Eat an ISO working group Today (M.Freiss)
> 	Oook! (The Librarian)
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
From: g92n3228@giraffe.ru.ac.za (MISS KL NAYLOR)
Subject: Re: interbreeding (was: help need friend)
Organization: Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa
Distribution: usa
Date: Sun, 26 Jul 1992 13:24:23 GMT

Hi all.


  learned that not>only are there 3 Separate species of zebra -- Berchelli's 
  zebra, Grevy's >zebra, and the mountain zebra, but (as most horse people 
  are 

I think you'll find that it's  "Burchell's zebra"

>also before the turn of the century an equine called the Quaga, which due
>to hunting and habitat destruction became extinct.  Now as to interbreeding,
 
and "quagga"

Sorry to be pedantic ...

      Sha-Dar
Newsgroups: rec.equestrian
Subject: Re: yawning ?
From: sbishop@desire.wright.edu
Date: 25 Jul 92 21:35:04 EST
Organization: Wright State University 

In article <1992Jul23.141039.16646@pbs.org>, mdresser@pbs.org (Melanie Dresser) writes:
> 
> I just read something in a magazine last night and I
> just had to post and get comments.  it said that horses
> can't yawn.  But I know that when Quest is bored and
> is forced to stand and wait for something (like the
> farrier or braiding) he starts yawning--and he yawns
> really big too.  Could this be something other than yawning,
> or could it be that horses really do yawn?

I've read that in a magazine also.  All I can say is, the person who originally
wrote that just didn't have much to do with horses, of course they yawn.  It
seems to be one of those urban myths that just keep getting reprinted.

> 
> Also, I've noticed this past year that Quest is getting
> a really loose lower lip--almost flappy when he's really
> relaxed.  Does this just happen as they get older, or is
> he just getting lazier as he gets older?  :-)
> 

Our old gelding also has a saggy lower lip, seems to come with age.


> Any comments?
> 
> Melanie
>    and Quest
> -- 
> **************************************************************
>           Melanie L. Dresser	  mdresser@pbs.org    
> **************************************************************
> "In this world, you must be oh so smart, or oh so pleasant.
> Well, for years I was smart; I recommend pleasant.  You may
> quote me."  Elwood P. Dowd
> **************************************************************