SFWG Study Hall

Hi, Lady!
I would love to help you learn about horseback riding and what you can and cannot do on normal every day riding horses. Let me spend a few moments addressing it.
Below is a beginning, but I think I need to actually set up an info site on horses!

I have been riding since I was a kid and I'm 53 years old. I spent a year managing the stables at a private high-school (around 40 horses) and 5 years managing a horse farm with 30-40 horses, including stallions, mares, geldings and babies. I've trailered horses to the high desert in Arizona, the mountain forests of New Mexico and ridden for pleasure and in competition throughout the central Texas area.

I've been on fairly long trailrides and spent the night outside with horses, so can also give pointers on when to take feed and ways to tie groups of horses. I've done all types of riding, classical, bareback, English, jumping and Western pleasure. I've worked with breeding programs and a lot of different injuries.

1. Always remember that most horses range in weight from 800 pounds for a small to medium horse, 1200 pounds for a quarter horse or heavier built standard size up to probably 1500 or so for draft horses.

2. Lots of Celts and other mountainous terrain people rode/ride mountain ponies. They eat less, can carry huge loads and are hearty. The ones who have lived with humans a long time have been bred for surefootedness and can pick their way through difficult terrain, if the rider gives them a chance. Injuries happen in the rocks when the rider is in a hurry. Lots of riders get off the horse and pick their own way through on unfamiliar places where the horse could slip or fall. It saves a warrior from rolling down a hill with a horse under or on top of them.

3. If you are carrying or wearing any kind of armor that adds substantial weight, you are going to want a heavy duty draft style horse. The perfect example is Goliath in the movie Ladyhawke. He was huge and elegant and could carry a lot of gear. He was also pretty well-balanced and had some speed.

4. There are lots of lighter-build horses that are perfect for riding and pulling carriages and carts. For show, pulling your carriage, you use fine-boned high stepping horses, preferably mares and geldings, since many stallions are impossible to manage without individual attention. The stallions and riding horses are not often used to pull anything, so they end up following the carriage, tied by a halter, never by the reins. The bit in the mouth can injure a horse, so keep the bit out until you have a rider or driver who needs contact with the horse in order to control it. Horses can't eat with a bit in their mouth very well and you want to warm an ice cold bit against your own tummy or some other way before shoving it in their mouth.

5. So, about terrain. Flat is easy, but sand or dirt is best, even there. Rocks are hard; big slabs of rock like limestone can be hard to negotiate. A horse can slip, especially if they are wearing shoes. The shoes are put on them to keep their feet from splitting if they travel on anything except prairie type land. Speaking of prairies, watch for holes. The foreleg goes in, the horse goes down, the rider goes flying; worse case scenario, the horse falls on the rider or drags them when their foot is caught in the stirrup but the horse regains its balance.

Mud can be treacherous, especially swampy mud, but quicksand in the desert can grab a horse and rider very quickly, as well. If you have the time, let the horse pick its way, especially if it an animal you are familiar with and terrain you are not familiar with.

Rock can cripple a horse quickly. In a lot of stories you read, the rider is always checking the horse's feet. If they get a rock wedged into their foot, then run or even walk on it, they can bruise their foot. The hoof is not solid. It is like a gel pack with a very tough nail around it. Hooves have to be trimmed and kept in shape, blacksmiths are valued and well-known for horse care as well as weapons creation and maintenance. Get to know your blacksmith (a specialist on horse feet and shoeing is a farrier).

If the terrain is bad, get off and lead them, if you have the time. Sacrificing a horse for speed is stupid, since you may get to wherever it is faster, but you won't have a useable mount to go any farther! Duh! A lot of bad guys ride their horses past endurance in books and movies. Good guys take care of their weapons, their horses and themselves.

Okay, you now know more. Please let me know if I can help with more info. I think I will put together a reference page, since I have read a few things about horses on this site that show it would be useful!