Skip to the end if you don't want to read the rationale and idea behind this.

I am in progress of going 'more reputable' seeing as coming back after 5 years there is a lot of difference in the horse market and community than when I left. One hand I am very glad to see more welfare coming into the forefront but also a little concerned with the anthropomorphism that is around the edges and social media push for the abolishment of sport in general with horses. As well as the public shaming for people doing the best with what they have. All of that aside, lets go make myself a devil.

I am pro-brand vs microchip but also double up on kinds of identification and tracking. I am working towards registering a brand with the state^(Oregon) researching legalities, and requirements, so that horses that I feel are solid and good to go out into the wild beyond have a in-your-face identification to be able to be traced back to me later on.

I have seen the power of this in these forums, and elsewhere that someone trying to find information on a gift horse, an auction horse, or rescue "Does anyone know this brand" usually it ends up good. The information on the animal is documented such as age and original owner. Unlike papers, a brand cannot be lost unless you're a monster that slices the hide off a horse. Unlike a microchip, it cannot migrate and even the most rural people have one eye to see a brand vs even knowing that people microchip horses.

Those kinds of people, will own horses and as bad as it sounds we can't stop them. They also likely won't want to buy equipment, know anyone who has a scanner, or want to take the horse to a vet because that 'costs money' to get an appointment and trailer them there, they don't want to invest. But, they likely will have google, and again---trace a brand back. These are the kinds of people that sometimes end up with your horse no matter how good you try to home them, once they leave your hands you don't have control any longer. Forever homing isn't something I plan on doing, I want to help more than just one for the next 20 years.

I don't breed my own, though I might someday with a mare or stud that I really, really, like mean REALLY like that hit all the right marks have my own singular foal but I can't even think of a horse even in the last 30 years that made me go "yeah lets breed that".

So most of the horses I get are market cast offs, usually mixed breed, heinz 57, no history that you can track down, plain, bay chestnut. Back field for 10 years. Cheap, under 1200 dollars I usually aim for 500$. So these aren't usually someones well bred AQHA or exotic Warmblood with a breeder in the wings somewhere hoping the best. They are probably someones personal emotional pairing baby, or just a 'what if COLOR?' pairing that didn't pan out. Effectively, no name no care horses.

TLDR;

So while I am almost 100% sure I am going to go forward on this, I do want to hear what roadblocks people could think of that I haven't found yet. Pros and cons that you can think of that aren't about 'its ugly, or its abusive, or selfish. I have the LLC, it was perpetual anyway, and I have the website that needs to be taken off hiatus, but going the step further with a brand is a new one. Curious what things I could be missing here, or insights that I haven't considered yet.

End TLDR -- LOL This is just conversation starts.

The biggest ones, is branding a horse and then finding out months, or years later that the papers do surface and legality gets involved. Has anyone dealt with this? Or if the brand inspection office might have an answer here? ^{(Ill find out shortly when I start my first rounds of calls.})

What kinds of shows are you familiar with that a brand would negatively affect the horse's ability to show well? I don't see a cow hocked, pig eye'd mare with no mane for example showing up in a halter class. But she might show up in a pony club hunter over fences. Would this negatively impact her, and the owner?

When looking at brands, if there is a choice of placement, (I am not keen on under saddle, or on the face) would you prefer hip, shoulder, top of hip, or beside tail?

Thank you for the discussion anyone who chimes in! Picture for attention.

** EDIT

I thank EVERYONE that has commented in on this, I really, really appreciate every bit of information that has been brought forward, I am going to get back out to the barn now that its not 90 degrees and humid, but I will try to respond to anyone who answers during that time. Please take care of yourselves out there, and I appreciate it so much to get the different perspectives.

Hello! I have a medium Troxel liberty black duratec helmet, from back when I rode horses. However I didn't take lessons for long and never even used it. I only wore it to try and fit it to my head.

The manufacture date says Feb 2022. So I'm wondering if this is safe to sell? And for how much?

Is there anything I can do besides toss it if it isn't safe?

Edit: A bit too lazy to reply to everyone, but don't worry, I'm going to cut the straps and toss it. A bit sad since I was hoping to get some money for it but oh well. I also didn't know it was on the cheaper end of helmets (at least according to some replies), it was a gift😅

I would like to become certified in equine massage, equine chiropractic, and saddle fitting. I live in an extremely rural area and would like to do online if possible. I know very basic skills in each of these areas, but I just be more proficient!

Any recommendations for online courses are welcome!!

Edit: I am going to get a degree in Equine Science over the next few years and will be taking a few in person classes at the college that regard these things. I just want to gain a deeper understanding. I have plenty of experience in saddle fitting and equine massage therapy, but obviously none in chiropractic work.
Also I have never met an equine chiropractor who has gotten a full on degree or is a veterinarian, and my veterinarian knows almost nothing about chiropractic work and will always recommend finding an animal chiropractor.

I was told this was a “tribute knockoff” but I genuinely have never heard of a tribute feed (or any brand) with an nsc content this high, but this is why I always do my research beforehand. Is this basically just sweet feed? And here I was slightly worried about my 21% nsc senior feed…

Hi!

I would like to know how much sells a Party in the HUS or Balou du Rouet foal bred with a quality warmblood mare?

One horse at my barn is typically "staff-tack" only because he hates being groomed and tacked. This horse will continuously try to bite you over and over again and kick you if you groom him or try to pick his feet. Here's what I'm wondering: is this horse in a lot of pain, and if so, what should I do? I feel bad for him, even though he bit me and tried to kick me multiple times. I'm actually terrified of him (recognizing he's probably crying for help, poor thing) because of how he chooses to express himself.

Here's what I experienced.

• The horse is typically staff tack and groom only. I've been made to groom and tack him twice now, with two different instructors. He tries desperately to bite you the entire time; grooming, especially the curry comb, drives him crazy. He stomps, bites, and wriggles around as much as he can.
• Picking his front feet sucks; he will rip his leg out of your grip so hard that your bicep is throbbing and strained for three days after the pick. He won't even let you pick the back legs.
• At the end of the lesson, the instructor had me hold him while we hosed him off. He ended up biting me after too many bite attempts to count. That's when I noticed he was foaming at the mouth because it got on my arm.
• Then I was left to go towel him off on my own, despite the fact I had to pay for instructor support because I haven't tested out of it yet. Toweling his back legs is an actual liability; you can get a few good rubs in before he loads that sucker up and angles it to the side for a big fat kick. He hasn't kicked me yet because I'm too fast, but I do know not to stand too close to him because my foot is at risk lol.
• He's not a bad ride; he's kind of lazy, requires a crop or the threat of one, and he still tries to bite when he has his bit on. No aggressive behavior in the saddle itself, remarkably. Just on the ground.

Overall, I've never had this bad of an experience with a horse, and it really left a bad taste in my mouth, not for the horse because I realize he could just be suffering, but for the barn and this instructor. I'm not an advanced rider, but I'm not starting from zero either. I have been around enough horses to know I've never felt unsafe around a horse before now.

Are there any equine authority bodies I can report this to? How would you all recommend I approach this situation? I certainly do not want to ride him again, not because he's scary to ride but because I don't want to put him through it. What could be going on here?

I have a mare that is 17-19 years old. I bought her two years ago, and she was diagnosed with navicular over a year ago. I later found out she started having on/off symptoms 18 months before her diagnosis with me but was never treated and instead sold at auction and then to me unsuspectingly by an individual. She was declared pasture sound only by a previous vet when she was with the individual.

I was able to ride her soundly for 8 months after purchase until symptoms began to appear and she was diagnosed by my vet. I’ve tried my best to treat her for the past year. Osphos, coffin injections, equioxx, supplements, hauling to a special farrier two hours away at a major vet clinic every month for special shoes, barefoot rehab etc. In that year period, she was sound for MAYBE 2 months total, mostly at the very beginning. At this point she hasn’t been sound since January. Even in the pasture she’s tripping at a walk or when being walked in hand. Honestly I’m exhausted and financially drained. I didn’t want to give up on her. I’ve tried to bring up the idea of euthanasia to her vet twice before. The first time he pushed me to do coffin injections, those didn’t work. Second time he pushed me to try Osphos again, that didn’t work. This horse is still lame even on banamine.

I want to put her down at this point. I can’t keep watching her in pain, and I’m spending so much money to never see any improvement. The vet wants to do another complete lameness exam and possibly try adequan now. I feel guilty for wanting to put her down and thinking of money. Am I being unreasonable? If you were in this position, would you go ahead and try adequan? I’m just worried at this point she’s too far gone and I’m going to keep throwing money at her only to eventually be told I still have to euthanize. I’m skeptical the adequan will help her enough. I don’t care about riding sound, just pasture sound at this point. I’m willing to keep her as a pasture pet if she could be comfortable. But she’s always parked out in the field and now even struggling to get up.

I know this must have been posted 1000x before but i'm struggling, I'm autistic and get very particular about things like this. My criteria are as follows: minimal branding (no full seat of silicone logos), full seat, high waist, wide waistband, no seam down inside of leg (i actually quite like the seam down the back of leg/over the butt i find that very flattering), zip closure. i feel like this should be easy to find but i have HUNTED and nobody seems to agree with me that this is the ideal breech. Give me ur recs PLEASE people of reddit!! (LMK if wrong flair ill change it)

Tl;dr: Looking for exercises/ideas to make working on bending and collecting more fun for my horse, because circles are boring. Also, please be nice.

Edit: Thanks, all. Sounds like the consensus is shorter working sessions and more downtime/more variety!

Honestly if you can’t have fun what are you doing? Even with my show horses I goof off and have fun with them. Like putting a blow up unicorn suit on…

So this popped up in my feed for the first time and I was wondering if anyone's heard of them (or tried them) as there's no reviews I can find when searching that are directly in their content. I personally will not use any bungee ties because I've seen horses get injured due to them breaking and snapping back at them.

According to the creator of these, they aren't bungees and aparently don't snap back if they break (I want to see video proof of that though) so, thoughts? Opinions? Experiences with them?

I just like to expand my knowledge of different equipment so I know what might be a good investment in the future.

I'm a very anxious rider, and I struggle to progress because of it. I'm interested in jumping, but I can't jump that well. I've been jumping for about maybe 3-4 years? But I still jump pretty low. I think the highest I've recently jumped (a few weeks ago) was maybe 40-50cm? Most of the time I'm still jumping really small.

My flatwork is pretty solid, for the most part. I can do sitting trot, I can trot and canter without stirrups. I've only ever galloped once though. I've had horses trip fairly badly and I stayed on easily. I don't think I'd be able to sit a buck though. I only had a horse buck with me one time and it was maybe 6 years ago, and I was off immediately. I don't think I'd be able to sit a buck. Other than that I do think my flatwork is okay. I know how to steer the horse with my legs and seat.

The issue is mainly my jumping. Some days I feel so great because I managed to do more than usual, like asking for the jump to be put up higher, or trying some sort of combination. But other days I'm pretty bad. I'd say most days are very mediocre, and I don't manage to do a lot. I always push myself, but the degree that I'm able to push myself varies so much. Some days just jumping AT ALL is pushing myself.

I'm really afraid of falling, but my fear is more that I'm going to lose so much confidence when I do fall again. At this point I'm more afraid of the confidence loss than I am the actual fall itself. I'm also anticipating falling soon because I haven't fallen for about 4 years. It's been a long time, and it feels like I'm "due" for a fall.

I also started riding a different horse because the horse I was riding is lame now, so I have switched to a different horse. This is probably also going to be something that drags back my progress, because I'm still not even fully comfortable cantering on her.

There always seems to be something that makes me drag myself back. I know I shouldn't compare myself to others, but I see other riders progressing way faster than me, and putting the jumps up really high. I see them fall, and they just get back on and keep going like normal. I take months to recover from a fall, even if it's not that bad.

The progress I do make is so tiny as well. It'll be like me trying a jump one more time even when I'm having a very anxious day. Sometimes even pushing myself to jump at all feels like I made "progress" but it doesn't feel like it's enough.

I love riding, but it's so frustrating not progressing. I don't really find dressage interesting, but I'm contemplating just going for dressage and giving up jumping even though I enjoy it just because of how bad I am at it.

I feel like progressing in jumping isn't even something that I can do anymore.

I have been riding for over a year now and I am still stuck at the trot. My cousin rides with me at the same time no extra lessons and she started 3 months after me but she can jump 70cm and I'm still at trot and I am not improving at all. After every lesson I feel like I decrease in confidence. Sorry if this doesn't make sense but I need help.

Also how do you kick the horse when your trotting 😭

I came to a realization last night with my trainer that I drive with my seat way too much. I’ve always had a very strong seat. However, I realized that I think I’m using my seat to supplement where my leg isn’t working properly.

Any tips for how to course correct? I know the answer is probably a lot of work in my half seat, but I hate my half seat. 🙃

Context from previous posts: 28 year old who came back to the hunter world last fall after a 7 year gap from riding.

Maple is a posable, weighted plush artwork, I 100% handmade, enjoy! <3

Here's some trot work where I feel like I'm getting the hang of keeping this big boy with me instead of rushing away or dragging his hooves. Amazing how much shorter the reins feel than they actually are. Feel free to tear me to shreds in comments because I'm not allowed to nitpick during lessons anymore and have come to you to get my fix.

I randomly came across a post about this horse on Facebook, by what appeared to be its seller/broker. The post said it was bay roan, and said that the parents were red roan and bay. Is it really bay roan? Commenters were saying it looked grey or very light buckskin, it kind of reminds me of dun like Fjords. But going off the parents those aren’t possible?

Anyway I’m just really curious what would give this colour, it’s gorgeous!

Hey guys, I usually don't post things like this, but I need to get other opinions, I feel like I'm overreacting?

Recently I posted about my gelding's back hooves being badly bruised after his farrier appointment that he walked out of lame in both the front and back. He's an OTTB in 24/7 turnout with recent front shoes.
Same farrier came out to fix a nail that was too close- however, when asked, he claims it couldn't have been the nail causing soreness because my horse would've been "keeled over in the field" if it were.
When asked about the bruising and soreness, he got defensive and started telling us that "thoroughbreds should never live outside", his feet were bruised from stomping all day, and that I can either "bring him inside or shoe his back feet". This all came as a surprise since he never once suggested before that the horse should have back shoes in the year we have been using him as a farrier, nor did he ever mention/notice the bruising. We also made the mistake of saying our gelding was more sensitive recently walking over different terrain and mentioned gravel (the barn's pathways are ALL gravel) and was told "just don't walk him on the gravel then". Mind you, this horse was walking totally fine on gravel when he was completely barefoot a few months prior.
The icing on the cake is the farrier has an assistant who's always irritated about something and can't stand my horse. When my horse acts up, he is smacked in the ribs with the rasp. When my horse was in too much pain in his hind to even hold his front feet out, the farrier continued to hit him and rough him up until he could get the feet done.
After witnessing the hitting and these comments, I told the BO that I would no longer be using the farrier's services. This was a back-and-forth where I had to continue to defend why I felt that the farrier was not a good fit and finally, the only thing that seemed to be able to change her mind to let me use my own farrier was when I brought up the farrier hitting my horse.

Am I crazy? Are these huge red flags? I've had pasture-kept thoroughbreds for 20 years and never heard that kind of mindset.

Pic of my poor sweet guy for tax.

I’m considering moving my horse to field board. Ever since I’ve had him (3 years) he has been stalled during the day, out at night or vice versa in the winter.

Recently he has been showing some signs of boredom being stalled. Additionally, he’s been dealing with some lameness and being able to move could be good for him. But I’m nervous to give the stall up honestly. He does seem to enjoy it at times and it’s nice for him to be able to eat while I groom him. I also think he appreciates his own space.

I’d love to hear from you all who have made the transition for your horse.

FEI GP Dressage horse retired abruptly due to health issue that will take some time to resolve.

Am considering bringing horse back under saddle sometime this fall, in a western saddle. Anyone have any experience doing such a change? The new saddle will be a custom fit.

Horse will be doing light arena work. Trail riding, not so much. Probably loping patterns and having fun.

Hello!
I need to find an article published from 2025-present on a top level event rider talking about any sort of psychological challenge they’ve faced as an athlete. Do you guys know of any?

I need it for a uni assignment but I’m struggling to find ones within the last 1.5 years and would love to do it on a top level event rider specifically. If not I’ll consider riders from other disciplines too!

Doesn’t need to be super deep, even just a line or two saying “dealing with stress (as an example) has been a real challenge for me.”

Thank you 🙂

I know it’s almost time for my old gal, she’s summering well but I can’t put her through another winter. She has some pretty bad arthritis that isn’t treatable at this point (she’s on equioxx daily and a joint supplement to help with daily comfort). She’s 30, 26 of those years we’ve been together. For those of you who have made the same decision, how did you deal with the anticipatory grief? It’s killing me. I’m so anxious and I just cry constantly. I just don’t know how to cope, obviously making this the best summer ever for her but I’m just really struggling with it. Any advice appreciate, unless your advice is have you tried xyz bc I have tried everything at this point. TYIA

My 7 y/o mare has been at training since January and was supposed to come home in September. She’s been doing really well, but at the beginning of July she started being on and off lame. We gave her some time off, had the farrier out, and ruled out an abscess. Since that wasn’t the issue, we moved on to the vet and found out she has laminitis.
I’ve had some pretty bad luck with horses lately. I recently moved my older gelding after a neglect situation and he ended up puncturing himself, and now I’m dealing with this with my mare. It’s been really hard.
I’ll be working closely with my vet and farrier, and she’ll be getting special shoes, but I’ve never dealt with laminitis before and I’m just looking for advice and to hear other people’s experiences.
What changes should I be watching for? What helped keep your horses comfortable? Is there anything you wish you knew when your horse was first diagnosed?
I know every horse is different, but I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has been through this. ❤️