The 5 Day Challenge – Day 2
Another fun day of Tracy‘s 5 day challenge!
6. Favorite equestrian book and movie
Oooo, that’s a difficult one. I kind of have the same answer for both… Black Beauty! For those of you who haven’t read the book, you really must. There’s a fantastic section in there about humans pursuing fashion in terms of horses, and the horses hate fashion and don’t understand it. The book was written in 1877, and the exact same sentiment holds true today. It’s a free download on Kindle since it’s a classic novel, so just go do yourself a favor and start reading it if you haven’t already! As for the Black Beauty movie… I cry every time the kids say goodbye to Merrylegs. Every. Time.
7. Most common riding misconception
I think for me, I have always thought that no matter how slow I am going… all the other horses are going slower. I can be doing the double ads, and I still feel like I’m “too fast.” I blame this all on my first 4H show that I was unprepared for, and thought my OTTB mare was galloping when really she was just doing the stride.
8. 2 riding strengths and 1 riding weaknesses
My lower leg is usually pretty strong. I’m not saying it’s unflappable, but it doesn’t swing and sway all over the place when I ride. Which is good… because I’ve worked really hard on that! I also have a decent feel when it comes to riding and getting my horse to use himself properly. With instruction, I can usually feel what’s correct pretty quickly and do my best to emulate that when I school outside of lessons.
My biggest riding weakness is that I looooooove to go slow. I love to add. I love the tiny distance. I love the tiny jump. That’s all fine and dandy with 2’0″ fences, but as I start to move up I really have to tell myself to GO FORWARD.
9. Least favorite thing about horses and/or riding
I hate how expensive it is, and I hate that horses often break and when they do… it’s expensive. Really I wish riding cost as much as soccer or baseball, because sometimes I give myself a hard time about the financial hardships it costs my little family unit. Oh, if money grew on trees!
10. What do you feed your horse?
Bad owner alert here… I don’t know? I mean he gets a pelleted feed my BO/trainer feeds and he gets coastal grass hay in the form of round bales and square bales. He used to get supplements but I noticed zero difference in him. I keep an eye on his condition and talk to my trainer if I see a problem, but he looks great so I have left well enough alone. You may now cast your stones at me!
Am I the only bad horse owner that doesn’t know exactly what their beloved ponykins eats? Don’t let me be alone here guys! 🙂
12 thoughts on “The 5 Day Challenge – Day 2”
No worries….I don’t know the exact, either. 😉 My BM puts all kinds of great supplements in there and I can’t remember. We can be bad horse owners together!
You are most definitely not a bad horse owner! I know what Connor eats because I work at the barn on Sundays, but my trainer doesn’t run feed changes by me first, and she knows I know my nutrition well. I like it that way, honestly, I mean, we’re paying for full care board, we’re paying for someone to take care of our horse as if he were our own, they SHOULD be astute enough to make appropriate feed decisions.
Ahhhhhhh, Black Beauty! The scene that gets me every time in the movie is at the very very end, when Beauty recognizes Joe at the auction and he’s trying to reach him and…I cry like a baby. In the book, it’s rediscovering Ginger on the streets of London that unhinges me.
I only know what Tristan eats because I am That Neurotic Horse Owner and I’m not sure that’s a good thing! I think as long as you keep an eye on condition and maintain a relationship with your barn manager it’s ok not to know precisely what your horse is getting.
I used to never pay attention to what my horses were eating b/c they always “seemed” fine. When Loki lost all that weight last winter I started paying much closer attention to what he is getting. I know what he is “supposed” to be getting now and try to keep an eye on his weight more carefully so I catch any changes earlier.
I never knew what my horse ate at my last barn, but that’s because the barn only fed one kind of grain. You didn’t have a choice, and I didn’t know enough about feed at the time to make any different decisions. At my new barn, there are a few different options and I pay to give Walker the fancy stuff, so I know exactly what he gets (and how much it costs me!). But I’m not entirely sure how much hay he gets since it’s actually haylage and comes off a round bale. As far as I understand, he gets a giant armful. I have no idea how they measure it that way.
Ummmm…I’m with you. I have no idea what my pony eats! Since individual owners control supplements, I know what I give her on the side. Other than that, not exactly sure! I do feel bad, but since it’s never been an issue, I’m okay with being oblivious for now.
I love Black Beauty!
I always know exactly what all of my horses eat. This is mostly because no one feeds them apart from me, but even if they were being fed by others I would make sure I knew exactly what they were eating.
I love black beauty 🙂
Oh man, if horses cost as much as softball…I could have two!! Haha.
I know what River eats, but that’s ’cause I’m the one who feeds him every day…if it’s working and your horse is happy and healthy, no reason to change IMO! One less thing to worry about! 😉
I know exactly what my horse eats:
1 flake timothy, 1 flake local, 2 flakes timothy (breakfast/lunch/dinner)
2 cups rice bran pellets at dinner
1 smartpak at breakfast (Matrix5+HA and Daily Omega Plus
But, that said, I really don’t know anything about nutrition and if he’s getting what he needs. He never has any problems, so I haven’t diverged from this formula in over a year – but it’s what more knowledgeable people suggested he be fed. Knock on wood.
Glad you joined the challenge! I am also struggling with correct pace for the bigger jumps — it’s tough!
Had to comment here because we were visiting my sister-in-law over Thanksgiving and she and her husband drive a Mercedes and Porsche. I was lamenting to my husband about my Honda Civic and how uncool I felt- he reminded me that leasing Polly is the car payment for those two combined.