Types of Mane Braids

1. Banding is a way to keep your horse’s mane looking neat and secure while showing in western classes. How to band is probably the simplest out of all the braids and styles that you can choose to use and I will talking about in this post. It is straight forward, so all you need to do is make sure your horse's mane is free of tangles, and then you can start my picking up a little bit of hair and tying a small rubber band around it. If you pull the hairs in the back of the band, you just made then it pulls it a little flatter to the horse and makes it sleeker. You will just need to do this all the way down the mane and put one or two in the forelock and then you are done.

2. Braiding is just like banding only takes a little more time to do and practice. You will normally see this done for English shows. You split up the hair into equal parts as you did with banding. Then you will braid a section and tie it at the end. With some string or yarn, you will pull the braid up under itself to have a flawless finish. After you make a knot and it feels secure, than you can move onto the next section. Continue this process until you have the mane all braided and pulled up. You will need to make sure that the string you pick matches your horse’s mane, so it is not noticeable and it looks like the braids.

A Must Read Blog

A blog that I found to be helpful and extremely personable that made it easy for me to relate to in many ways. The blog called, She Moved to Texas, which is the journey of a lady named, Lauren Mauldin. She shares the good and bad times of her life with horses and her posts are deep and full of truth. She talks about the financial struggles she has had while owning two horses and the hard decision it is to sell one, which I have had personal experience with, so I can fully relate. As far as showing she explains how she feels before during and after a show and says what she learned from it and how her and her horse, Simon, will grow their partnership and get even closer to their goals. Her blog doesn't just have posts on horses, she also shares her beautiful photography and vacations. The area I love most is not just how real and relate able she is for me, but also how she includes videos of her jumping and riding in shows. Jumping horses is something I love to do and seeing someone enjoy the same passion and excel at it is truly encouraging. I hope to be just as confident and strong of a riding as she is when I can ride more consistently again. Here is the link to her blog and I encourage all of you to go check her out. I know every single one of you will get something out of it. http://www.shemovedtotexas.com/

Check Out My Post

Hello everyone!

A couple weeks ago, I made a post called, Tack and Show Clothes Needed for English Versus Western Riding, regarding the necessary tack that you would need, whether English or Western, for showing and the different types of riding you may be interested in pursuing. Overall, I went into detail about what tack you will need and the clothing that is customary for show classes. I brought up several examples of different disciplines of riding and what tack you will need for each. The western riding examples I included were Barrel Racing, trail riding, Western Pleasure, ranch work, roping, and every day riding. For English riding, my examples included jumping, dressage, English pleasure, and even every day riding just like western. Bridles and blankets are things I discussed and listed, because I know those can be sometimes confusing on what kind is preferred for the riding you think you will be doing. I wanted to share this information and link to the post with all of you again, because in my opinion it is very valuable information that some of you may not know or want to get another refresher. Learning this information and having resources to utilize in the horse world is never a bad thing and I encourage all of you to check my post out and.  Here is the link that will take you back to my post, so you can get further information on the items you will need to purchase depending on the riding you are interested in. http://lifewithequine.blogspot.com/2017/02/tack-and-show-clothes-needed-for.html

How to Introduce Objects to Horses

As a lot of you may know, horses can be spooked from unfamiliar items that they may not be used to or have seen before. Horses are naturally fight or flight animals and have prey instincts, this makes them very wary of new objects. Items that I have played around with to help my horses get over their fears have included tarps, umbrellas, and large bouncy balls. This post from the blog Learning Horses explains the steps thoroughly in getting your horse used to objects in a safe way for both you and the horse. I love how she describes that this is not breaking the horse to the point where it is so deathly afraid its spirit is broken, it is merely slowly introducing objects and showing the horse there is nothing to fear. The horse's head is the most sensitive part of their body and they tend shy away from things close to it, especially if they fear it will hurt them. She stresses patience and to approach the horse and then retreat with the object. I completely agree with introducing foreign objects slowly. I have used it countless times with my own horses. It really works and I love reading about another person's experiences. I hope that all of you can try it out with your horses and have a much better relationship with them that is more than just fear and force, but instead is trusting and a partnership. I highly encourage you to check out this post by this amazing blogger. Here is the link: http://learninghorses.blogspot.com/2010/01/how-to-approach-and-retreat-little.html

Resources for Horse Shows

Hello to my fellow equestrian!

I have written several posts what you will need and what you can expect to see in the show ring and even the tack and clothing you will need for both you and your horse. I wanted to share a little bit about each one so you have better luck at finding them later and getting the information you need.

Several weeks ago, I posted about what you will need for you and your horse to be ready for the show ring and need to purchase to be ready. In this post, I went into detail about the tack you will need for to have for the riding you want to do. I also made a list of the show clothes you will need in order to look just as sleek and professional as your horse. I covered the two major riding styles, English and Western, and even gave examples of what tack and clothing to use in specific show classes and everyday riding. Here is the link back to the post. http://lifewithequine.blogspot.com/2017/02/tack-and-show-clothes-needed-for.html 

Another post I did regarding shows was about the classes you will encounter at most of the shows you will attend.  I explained a few classes that I thought would help someone who may be unsure of what they entail and whether they are for English and Western riding or either one. I explained what you would expect to see in Jumping, Trail, Barrels, Dressage, and several other classes. Here is the link to my post and I hope it is another valuable resource for you to come back to. http://lifewithequine.blogspot.com/2017/02/popular-horse-show-classes.html

Must Have Product for Your Horse!

I have tried out so many different fly repellent products for my horses that they either liked or disliked. The fly spay that I would recommend to everyone who owns a horse is Pyranha’s Wipe N' Spray.  It is in a yellow container and comes in several different kinds of containers. My favorite is the normal spray bottle, because it is easy to use and works very well compared to other spray bottles and sprays. This product contains pyrethrum-based formula that you can easily apply directly to your horse, which makes it very easy and quick to use. I have tried many variations and brands of fly sprays and this is the only one that I have noticed really keeps the flies and other insects off for a long time throughout the day. I also like how the spray bottle does not make a noise when you spray it on your horse, which makes it a great product for horses who tend to spook from the sound of a spray bottle. I have used this product daily for trail rides and for shows and it works every single time. I do recommend that if you do use fly spray for a show that it be Pyranha Insecticide, which is the same product but in an aerosol can instead of a spray bottle. This spreads an even coating on your horse without it getting the horse covered in spray marks that will not look as good in a show. It is a very popular product for show, because it leaves your horse with a nice shine when you wipe it off. I would recommend this product to anyone and it has proved itself to work every time. Here is the link to the company’s site that will let you know even more about the product and the different kinds they offer. https://www.pyranhainc.com/products/for-horses

Rope Halter Review

Awhile back, I decided to try out a rope halter (top picture) for the first time with my horses, instead of the more popular nylon halters (bottom picture) that I had grown up using. The rope halter was highly recommended by my trainer and other horse professionals that I had talked to. So, I decided to try it out and buy one for my horse Memphis. At first it was difficult for me to learn how to tie the halter so it wouldn't fall off, but after a while I got the hang of it. My horse seems to like it and he responded a lot better to the pressure he received when he tried pulling away. Because the rope is thinner than a normal nylon halter, the horse can feel the pressure of it and can ignore it or push through it like the nylon ones. I like the fact the rope halters don't have any form of metal on them that my horse could injure itself with. Especially the clip that is used to take the halter on and off. Also, the rope halter was better for my 15.3 hands tall (63 inches at the wither) horse and me who is only 5'1". After I had worked with this halter with one of my horses, I decided that it was a great halter and I needed to buy one for my other horse. This was one of the best purchases I made more my horses and myself. I have noticed that over the years, these halters are becoming more popular, especially among trainers and professionals. I am really happy with this purchase and I would recommend them to all who own a horse.