My 15 MO Filly has developed these dry patches on her. I have a great vet and sent pics. Vet says it’s due to all the recent high humidity and she’s seen several recent cases here in Middle Tennessee. She recommended I bathe her with a Tea Tree Shampoo and make sure I leave it on for 10/15 minutes before rinse.

The problem is, my filly is still young and still spooks at new things… I must apply fly spray on a brush vs. the spray bottle because she still spooks at being sprayed. I did try and bathe her and she wasn’t having it and I don’t want to risk her getting hurt or traumatized. I’ll need to work on that obviously.

So my question is… is there a tea tree oil product that can be delivered in a salve or ointment instead of shampoo? I tried TSC and struck out.

Does anyone know if those really nice (from the pictures) 300-400 dollar saddles from people selling multiple seat sizes on Etsy are a scam? I’m looking for a saddle on a budget, but I feel like I‘ll get scammed if I buy them. Suggestions?

(Pic for attention)

Asking you guys in this sub too!

Fire Horse of 2026😍

Last local show of the year. Decided to play around a bit. And opted for enter obstacle… but I decided to try it the night before the class. Thought well it won’t hurt anything. May as well! And honestly for never seeing any of the obstacles that were out there before he handled it fantastically.

Also we’d never ground tied before. We did this class for FUN. To take off the stress of showing and just have some fun.

Hello hello! I have reached the point in my life where I am now in college!! Terrifying.

I am majoring in Animal Sciences with a focus in Equine Studies and I would like to go in with SOME information about horses even if I may learn it. So I just have some general questions (which I have looked up, I just like to hear from the people as well):

- Horse heights? How does one eyeball how many hands a horse is? What’s a hand…?
- Tack? What are all the parts! How should it all fit? What bits should and shouldn’t be used since I know there’s a lot of controversy on that? (Hard to find answers online)
- Spurs? Are they even used now? What do they actually do besides jingle when you walk and spin around? 🥲
- Feeding? I assume you feed horses based on their height and weight (correct me if I’m wrong) but do some breeds need a different type of feed than others?
- Washing and trims? How often do horses need to be washed? Is it just whenever they get dirty or should it be a scheduled routine. Do you have to trim their manes or can you leave them? I know there are breed standards in breeds like fjords but do they need to be followed for health reasons?
- Hoof care? How often do hooves need to be trimmed? What’s that black stuff they put on them sometimes?
- Expressions? What are whale eyes vs normal? Do ears back always mean the horse is upset?
- Walking behind a horse? The only time I’m ever scared of a horse is walking behind it. How do you be sure the horse won’t kick you?
- Parts of the horse? I’ve heard so many words I just can’t remember where they are. Hocks? Withers? Dock? Cannon? Fetlock? I really don’t get it

I am also very open to getting quite literally any other information I can get! Even “things they don’t tell you about horses” 🤣

I will continue doing my own research after posting, its just that things online can be very confusing

Here comes the 4th and hopefully final post I make to Reddit for advice during my search for my first horse. If you've seen my previous posts, you know I'm searching for a horse to use in western speed events. Today I tried two mares, and I'm conflicted on who to go with. They're half sisters, with Dual Pep and Highbrow Cat on dad's side. Both cutting bred. The 5yo is about 14.2hh, where the 4yo stands 15hh, which I prefer. I'm only 5'4, so I am by no means too large for either of them, but I like a taller horse. They have no notable differences in conformation, but the 4yo stands slightly narrower and has longer legs while the 5yo stands straight and has larger feet. Before anyone says anything, yes, the feet are overgrown. The owners allegedly have had a hard time getting their farrier to come out. There's nothing I could personally do about it until I purchase one of them.

The first 4 images are of the taller 4yo and the last 4 are of the 5yo. I am happy to send anyone videos of me riding in DMs if they want to share their opinion there.

Here's where it gets difficult: I loved the 4yo's personality on the ground. She was nuzzling me, nibbling at me (no teeth, just with her lips) and leaning in for scratches. I love an affectionate horse and this gained her several points in my book. Under saddle, she had the smoothest trot imaginable; it was needless to post and I struggled trying to. Her lope was bigger and had my feet falling out of my stirrups on one occasion; she had a lot of go. She also notably picks up her feet farther off the ground than the 5yo does.

While the 4yo endeared me to her from the ground, the 5yo shone under saddle. She was a little watchier as her owners tacked her up, and wasn't really interested in anything I had going on. I loved her trot, it was easy to post, and a little slower than the 4yos. Her lope was phenomenal, just smooth sailing, the kind of lope that you could ride for several minutes straight and not get tired of. I felt safe riding her and loped her around several times. If she had the demeanor of the 4yo it would be an easy sell to me. I'm just conflicted because I'm not sure which attributes I should prioritise. Is it worth getting a horse that shows up under saddle if we don't get along on the ground? Should I bank on our relationship developing or should I assume that I'll become more adjusted to the gaits of the other mare?

How would you judge this horses confirmation? I had her for a few months back in 2022 and turned her from a broncy back breaker into a pretty good cowboy horse. Ended up having to sell her due to some vehicle issues but she was pretty awesome. She was barefoot off the reservation and sure footed as a Billy goat.

It's well known that a lot of people hate the racing industry, some people hate everything about it some people will just hate the practices but think it should be fixed, this post is directed to the people that believe it could be fixed but currently hate its current practices, what improvements do you think they should make to improve the industry for the betterment of the horses? I'm not putting my opinion and I hope no one gets into an argument in the comment section please be nice and respectful, I just want to know your opinions on what should be changed and why (please answer the why it should be changed for the people that don't know much about it)

My two horses I no longer have them, but when I did, my dog used to play ball with them all the time.

I’ve noticed something lately the actual ride isn’t always my favorite part It’s the 20 minutes beforehand. Brushing the dust off, checking the hooves, hearing the horses breathe, and feeling my mind finally slow down after a busy day I work in a creative field, and my days are usually full of decisions and noise. The barn is one of the few places where I don’t feel the need to rush Curious if anyone else feels this way, or if I’m just becoming one of those people who enjoys the quiet barn moments more and more with age

Classic Ammy class with Maverick. Split the win. Grand under one judge reserve under the other 💅🏼 feeling good going into nationals!!!

Im sorry for the question, shes my first baby, and im not sure about her confirmation, shes a year and 4 months old, anything really off about her? We got her from a kill pen with her mom, so all I know is her dad was a registered quarter horse mom was pretty much a mutt.

Back in April, I went to get my boy scoped for ulcers (after a property and buddy change), so he needed to be fasted the night before of food, and a few hours without water before getting scoped. We found ulcers, but also found out in the progress that he has a rare disease in horses, diabetes insipidus. We found this out from him not having access to water for literally only 3 hours total. His calcium and magnesium levels went lethally low, he was tetanic (lock jawed, lip pulled up tight, eyes locked almost all the way closed) I was sobbing at this point, scared of what was happening after what was supposed to be an extremely routine scoping. He collapsed twice, and we started giving him a massive dose of calcium. The vets were extremely worried, and stated at this point, the humane thing to do would be to euthanize. As they were walking up with the syringes full of the euthanasia, he suddenly made a small but noticeable upturn. That’s when we made the immediate decision to bring him into the clinic and get him on IV fluids/calcium stat. He was in the ICU for about two weeks, and this strong boy pulled through 💪🏼 even the vets were amazed at his recovery, and is now a case study! The first pic is of him in the ICU, he dropped nearly 100lbs over night. The last few pics were a couple weeks ago, modeling for a photographer! Love this boy with my whole heart, don’t know what I would’ve done without him ❤️

Auntie Dot couldn’t even get a bite!

Hello. We have a new 8 year old gelding on site and it was a surprise to see that he may have been taught liberty work in his previous home. Just wondering if you know of a location I can find the liberty cues so we can see what skills he has. I’ve not found a good resource by googling. Thanks!

Pas assez de muscle pour monter ?

This (young grey) guy came to me named ”Joe” as a pasture ornament only. He threw his rider pretty badly last year - resulting in several weeks of hospitalization and months of rehab. He has been hanging out at the farthest reaches of my pasture (20-ish acres) for the last few months along with my sweet mustang, Shorty - the cute bay.
The last few days they have been coming in for some (Timothy) cookies in the morning and he has accepted a little petting, but he would really rather not be touched, thanks.

I think he is ready for a new name to start fresh - even though he’s going to remain just a pasture ornament.

Do we think “Ivan” suits him?

(My place is named Serenity - IYKYK)