Ask me about horses.

Greetings! My name is Alisa and I'm originally from the eastern U.S., but now finally live in Arizona. I've been learning western horseback riding since last 2011, and although never raised with horses, I'm always trying to learn more with magazines and books. Since I recently acquired an IPad, do you know of any apps that are good for horse knowledge? Thanks!

 

Great, I have several questions. What is the speed of the horse when you are traveling on its back for weeks? How many hours a day a horse can carry a man of an average size? If the guy is big does it affect the horse much? Which things you are taking with you to take care of the horse?

 

Jousting? IJA?
A few people I have met have been involved with IJA. (International Jousting Association for those that don't know it)
International Jousting Association - USA - Home

SCA has very modified jousting using balsa and card board tubes, but I wasn't involved with that, it was not allowed yet in my area back then.

 

Hi, I#ve raised horses all my life too, and I doubt you'll be able to answer this question, but do you know anything about the harness that was used with Chariot driving? I'm trying to research it and getting no where.

 

If a team of 15 had 30 horses and 5 pack mules, and none of the animals were carrying too heavy of a load at any given time, how far might they be able to travel daily, along well-kept roads, provided they intend to travel each day as long and as fast as they may?

Not trying to trip you up with a tough question or anything. I just want to pick some realistic numbers for speedy travel of a mounted troop.

Thanks!

 

Hello there, I'm Sia and I ask about handedness. I have this little minor detail: For whatever reason, my world's leftie:rightie ratio is flipped as compared with the real one or our world or whatever. What does this change regarding breaking/training/riding, the feed and care of horses and so on?

 

@ Sia:

Well, for one thing, the side your riders mount on would be flipped--most horses are trained to allow riders to mount from the near (left) side, not from the off (right) side. This is because in olden times, calvalry wore their swords on their left hips so to keep from getting their swords tangled in their saddles they mounted from the left. Some horses are trained like this to the point that they will throw a fit if you try to mount from the right (at least a few I have had experience with).

Horses are also usually led from the left side on a halter and tacked up from the left side of the body. Also, when riding at a lope or canter, most right-handed people feel most comfortable cantering on a right lead, and vice versa, as the horse leads with the leg on your dominant side.

 

Could you tell me more about horses throwing a fit if you try to mount them from the wrong side?

 

When you mount a horse, the horse shifts to counter your weight, in a horse not use to being mounted on either side, it won't feel right, and it will balk*. The biggest problems with horses is they panic quickly and can't figure out how to correct problems they aren't ready for. Simple things like leaning the other way, might be a problem for a horse that been trained to "think" properly. (Left brain right brain thing, fear and panic is one side of the brain, reasoning and learning is the other)
*Balking can be as little as a verbal objection or a side step away, or as much as a kick or a jump away from the offending rider. Any time a horse isn't happy it can react or over react, bite, kick, charge, jump away, buck, head butt, etc. (The more the horse is conditioned to think(reason) rather then react(fight or flight), the less the overreaction will be.)

A well trained modern trail horse should be mountable from both sides, as you might need to remount the horse next to a mountain or a cliff, which would prevent you from mounting "properly". You could turn the horse around if you have room, but for my horse, all I had to do was expose it occasionally to mounting from the other side.
I really miss my horse.

 

I have a grudge against a horse at the stable I used to work at. He hated being mounted and would sidle up to the fence on his left so you couldn't mount. So one day, I finally lost patience and tried to mount him from the right. Bad idea!

Oh, another thing that just occured to me is that you'd need to reverse the hardware on your saddles and bridles. Most saddles and nearly all bridles have their buckles and cinch fasteners on the left.

 

Hi Tom, thanks for this thread! I ride horses myself, and so i know how to stay on and control one but i don't know to much about them. Just wondering, how would a horse do in the desert? Saying there are oasis every 10-15 miles. Would it be able to walk in loose sand? Withstand the heat? I know there are many different breeds, and some would most likely do better than others but in general, is a horse in the desert a good idea?

 

Arabs are the best horses for the desert. They have small, incredibly tough hooves that are perfectly adapted to walking on loose sand, and their coats are very fine, almost like mesh, which allows their skin to breathe. They can survive on very little food and water and can withstand temperatures above 100 F. A good Arab could give you a lot more than 10 miles in a day, so you wouldn't need to worry about dehydration between oasis. They're a small, light-boned breed, so they don't need that much food.

Just a note on Arabs, though--they're extremely flighty and hot-blooded.

 

If this is related to mounting on the other side of the horse, you only mount on the other side occasionally to keep the horse use to it. You can still saddle normally.
I have seen a horse not react kindly to a person getting on the wrong side, no one was hurt but they won't forget which side to get on.
Personally, I don't see a need for mounting a horse next to a cliff or narrow trail. But it was nice the few times I did it. (a couple times just to show others I could.)

 

So if you knew about a horse that verbally objected to being mounted on the wrong side but didn't actually do anything about it. besides 'complain'....what sort of training would you expect it to have had?

 

Sia! You're back!

So...let's see. Rodeo horses are always trained to accept a rider mounting from both sides, as are most working cow horses. Cowboys need to be up and in the saddle quickly if there's a problem, and a horse that objects to being mounted from one side could be dangerous. I'm not sure about the English discipline's training practices; I mostly rode Western.