The Big Black Freight Train - GOING HOME

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The Big Black Freight Train - GOING HOME

Postby Tuddy » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:47 pm

If you didn't read it in the Goals Thread already, I have decided to make use of my 14 year old Canadian horse, Lucas. This thread will be a little bit of a journal, yet I know I will be asking all of you on this board for advice.

Background (bear with me please)....

I was browsing Kijiji one day, and stumbled upon an ad stating "Registered Canadian Gelding, very well broke to ride and drive, $3500" with a nice picture and not to far from home (3 hours). I had already purchased my Tuddy, and wasn't really on the look out for another horse, but you know, window shopping never ends.

I print out the ad and take it to my husband who promptly informs me that unless I can get the owner to sell him to me for what I paid for Stetson (my daughter's QH), then don't even think about it. I paid $1200 for Stetson. I knew that there was no way I could get a rare breed, well broke gelding for $1200. But, I still called the owner.

I call the owner, a nice lady, but Lucas isn't really what she is looking for. She wanted something a little more sportier. I tell her that I would love to help her out because he was exactly what I was looking for when I originally had been looking when I purchased Tuddy. At that time though, well broke Canadian geldings were in the $5500 + range. I tell the lady, that I wasn't trying to low ball her, and that I would totally get it if she hung up on me, but all I had was $1200. She said, "Can you come get him this weekend with cash?" :shock: :shock: :shock: Still in a state of shock I sputtered out the word, "Sure.."

I then go tell my husband what just happenend. He hung his head and said, "Oh hell :roll: ".

We hook up the trailer and head out to go see this horse. I overthink things, and have anxiety to begin with, and all I could think of is, "When we get there, is there going to be some crazy ex-boyfriend, saying it was his and that he bought Lucas for her as a gift?" (Hey, you never know.) "Does this horse have three legs?" "Is this horse even healthy?" "What would possess this woman to take a $2300 reduction in price?"

We got to the town the horse was at late at night, so we parked and motel'd it. Next morning, around 8 am, I call the lady and say we are going to grab a bite to eat and head over to where the horse was boarded. She replies, "Oh, can you come now, I have him caught and saddled already." RED FLAGS EVERYWHERE! My husband and I go over there and we find Lucas tied to a hitching rail, saddled up. I scope the place out, waiting for the imaginary ex boyfriend I have come to believe is part of this super fast sale to jump out of no where, but nope, just her and the horse. We chat, I look Lucas over, he seems healthy and sound and well mannered, so I hop on. He was totally cool with it, definately a strong arm steering horse with no idea what legs mean except go faster and had a good whoa. I stop, hop off, we pull the tack off him to get a better look. All four legs attached, strong hooves and seemingly well put together.

Then the money part of the discussion comes into effect. I ask her if she had his registration papers. She pulls them out and I read them, she only owned him for 18 days. Hmmmm..... She never even submitted them to the Registry to have him signed over to her from the breeder. I tell her this, as now I have to pay for two transfers of ownership, and she says "Okay, just take the cost of it off the price". I just took one payment off. She signs the bill of sale, we shake hands, and is all happy that Lucas is going home with me. I load him up in the trailer, shut the door behind him, said good bye and literally told my husband to haul ass outta here because I am still determined an ex boyfriend is gonna show up.

We got him home and he has been sitting in pasture ever since. I pull him out to see if he still remembers that he is a riding horse, and he is always good about it. One of those horses that is always broke. The last time I rode him was two summers ago, and then this summer he was wandering around my yard, so I caught him and hopped on. Yup, broke. ;)

But now, life is changing for him. He was hauled to my trainer's place the other day and now we have three months to get our act together to do the Pattern component for Team Canadian at the Battle of Breeds at the Equine Expo in Saskatoon in February. I think it is an attainable goal, no, let me rephrase that, I know it is an attainable goal!

Please feel free to offer advice, comments and tips to help us along our journey. Our first step is to get back into working shape. Right now, we are getting used to our new surroundings and about 15 minutes of walking in straight lines and such in the arena. He is pretty overweight, but will always be a big built horse, but he is smart as a whip and I know he will take to training quite well. Wish us luck!!!
Last edited by Tuddy on Tue Jan 05, 2016 2:12 pm, edited 4 times in total.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Chancellor » Tue Oct 27, 2015 8:13 pm

Well, you are braver than I! But I look forward to hearing more about this story. Do post pictures soon. So we can see his progress.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby PNG_Pony » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:16 pm

Thanks for sharing! And yes, pictures!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Tue Oct 27, 2015 9:20 pm

I have no real current picture of him, I will take one tonite or tomorrow when I am at the barn. It can be our "before" pictures like you see for people starting a weight loss or body building phase. I will take front, sides and behind pictures. He is very overweight. How he hasn't foundered yet is beyond me, and he is starting to get a cresty neck.

I am really excited for this journey as I have never used him except for ditch riding, really. I don't know what to expect from him, he could just be a "Nope, I wanna be a pasture puff for life", or he could be, "Finally, you are going to do something with me, it's only been 5 years!!!!"

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Chisamba » Tue Oct 27, 2015 11:39 pm

he sounds like a good natured freight train :) i too would love to see him

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby piedmontfields » Wed Oct 28, 2015 12:48 am

I want photos of this adventure on the freight train! What a great story, and yes, it really does happen like that sometimes folks.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:13 am

How do I attach pictures? I get told the file is too large! Bah!!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Feder » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:54 am

Oh great story. You never found out why she had for 18 days and sold so cheap? I bet you have come up within lots of stories!!

Sounds like a fun project and I look forward to your updates. Pictures are required!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Wed Oct 28, 2015 3:03 am

Watching with great interest as I am the happy owner of a small black freight train (little Canadien mare). She too is very smart and trainable. She loves having a routine (like all horses, but more so). I will say she benefits from days off, and some variety. If we do the exact same thing every day, I'm pretty sure she'll do it for me after a week or so :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Chancellor » Wed Oct 28, 2015 11:30 am

Tuddy, you just need to downsize the picture. Assuming Windows OS, you can use paint to make the image smaller. Alternatively, host it on photobucket and link to it here.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:27 pm

Okay... did this work? I took this picture of Lucas last month.... As you can see, he is a fairly big fella, yes, overweight, but we are really gonna work on that! Please don't judge me! LOL!
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:30 pm

How about this one, you can kinda see his face. Not the best images, sorry, I will get better ones.
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Chisamba » Wed Oct 28, 2015 1:31 pm

it worked!! look forward to seeing you on your newly svelte horse working on patterns :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:06 pm

Feder wrote:Oh great story. You never found out why she had for 18 days and sold so cheap? I bet you have come up within lots of stories!!

Sounds like a fun project and I look forward to your updates. Pictures are required!


Once I got the papers back from the registry and I seen my name as owner on it, I called the breeder. Once I told him the story, he heaved a sigh of relief. He was downsizing the herd when she bought Lucas, and I guess her eyes were big as balloons when Lucas stepped off the trailer, he figured she was pretty intimidated by his size. I guess she called him while he was on his way home with the empty trailer, asking him if he would take him back. His hands were tied for personal and financial reasons, and could not take him back. He was pretty happy to hear from me. I don't judge him or her at all, Lucas is mine now, and will live out his days with me.

vkitty wrote:Watching with great interest as I am the happy owner of a small black freight train (little Canadien mare). She too is very smart and trainable. She loves having a routine (like all horses, but more so). I will say she benefits from days off, and some variety. If we do the exact same thing every day, I'm pretty sure she'll do it for me after a week or so :)


Cute! I wanna see pictures!!!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Kelo » Wed Oct 28, 2015 2:44 pm

Wooo boy, that is a big black freighttrain of a horse. Should be fun to see his progress!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Kyra's Mom » Wed Oct 28, 2015 7:46 pm

:mrgreen:

He is one mighty hunk of black horse flesh. Keep us updated on the BBFT. He looks to be very sweet...doing what he does best :!:

Have fun with the weight management.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby onetrickpony » Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:35 pm

Cute! And yes, he looks huge! How tall is he?

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Thu Oct 29, 2015 3:35 am

Must get some pictures of my little black mare. She is very similar in type (of course) but her neck ties in a bit lower and her sturdiness not quite as sturdy! She has the requisite white star and giant barrel. I'm amazed to see how thick her mane might be if I didn't keep it semi-pulled :shock: (As it is, she looks like a wild pony and hair always seems to be full of shavings.) I find it HIGHLY appropriate that your boy is eating in both pictures :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Thu Oct 29, 2015 1:27 pm

I made it to the barn last night to have our first ride. Since he is so wide and round, none of my saddles fit, so I hopped on bareback. Well, needless to say, more core and leg work at the gym is needed on my part, and my assumption of him not being too quick on his feet because of his size was not as such. He spun one way towards the door, and I slid off and had two feet on the ground before I knew what happened. Little bugger. But I hopped back on and one of the other boarders was there picking up her stuff from her ride before us, so she walked with us around the arena a bit. He settled down and it was all good after. It was his second time in that arena, and third ride in two years, can't really blame him for being a little confused. :mrgreen: He gets today off as I have commitments this evening and then I hop on him with my coach watching over us tomorrow. I took a picture of him tied in the barn last night before we went for our ride. Last time we trimmed his feet, we sticked him on level concrete and he was exactly 15hh. (And by the look of this pic, I think he is 15hw (hw - hands wide)as well, lol!)
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby chantal » Thu Oct 29, 2015 11:28 pm

He's adorable, just adorable!! Looking forward to updates!!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby bailey » Fri Oct 30, 2015 1:29 am

He's very handsome! Have fun and keep us posted.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby onetrickpony » Fri Oct 30, 2015 5:23 am

Tuddy wrote:Last time we trimmed his feet, we sticked him on level concrete and he was exactly 15hh. (And by the look of this pic, I think he is 15hw (hw - hands wide)as well, lol!)


:lol:

He is adorable! I look forward to future updates.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby AmityBee » Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:20 am

Tuddy wrote:I made it to the barn last night to have our first ride. Since he is so wide and round, none of my saddles fit, so I hopped on bareback.


Sounds like a good start. :) I've been riding bareback for a good two months now, lessons and all. And I'm actually really enjoying it. Maybe we should start a bareback dressage thread... :D

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Fri Oct 30, 2015 6:26 am

My little mare is under 15h seems very wide with her giant barrel. It turns out she's a M to M/W (in "good weight" and the biggest saddle issue has been front-to-back length of saddle[ She packs a good amount of movement into her short frame so what appears to fit her while standing still can get to be a mess in motion :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby angela9823 » Sat Oct 31, 2015 1:38 pm

Nice!! Those kind of butts make our own butts look small. :lol:

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Mon Nov 02, 2015 6:23 pm

Hello!

Just a quick update, hopped on Lucas on Friday and he did great!

I have never put a bit in this guys mouth since the day I bought him. My daughter's QH has/had teeth issues, so we always rode him in a Dr. Cooks Bitless Bridle. Whenever I decided to ride Lucas, I would always use the bitless or just a halter and lead rope. It was never an issue, until I rode him bareback the other day. He was not happy with the bitless, I have a call into the vet to come and check his teeth, don't worry, but until then, I grabbed the snaffle bridle that we were using on Yonka and tried it on Lucas...much happier horse! I was really worried how he would react as he never had a piece of steel in his mouth the whole time I have owned him, so I really made sure I went easy on his mouth. He was an old pro, when I went to put it on, he actually grabbed for it, so he obviously wasn't a stranger to it.

I decided my seat wasn't secure enough to ride bareback, so threw on my western saddle, it actually fit pretty good! Obviously, he is pretty round, so I bought a 36" cinch to change out the 30" one that is on it, and you can see by the pic, he is too round to use the back cinch, so I had to take it off. The breast collar is on the very first hole and he so wide in the chest, I couldn't clip it between his legs, so I just clipped it to itself. The cowgirl in me is still old school in some ways, and I left my halter and lead rope attached while I was riding.

He has had a couple days off now, because of Hallowe'en and I have a helluva tension headache, but I plan to saddle up tonite and see how it goes.

Have a great day!!!!
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Nov 02, 2015 6:34 pm

Love the Lucas shots. The "butt view" looks like something from an 18th century painting! Overall, Lucas looks fully capable of running a forestry operation on his own--what a strong looking fellow. He looks great in western tack.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Chisamba » Mon Nov 02, 2015 8:44 pm

piedmontfields wrote:Love the Lucas shots. The "butt view" looks like something from an 18th century painting! Overall, Lucas looks fully capable of running a forestry operation on his own--what a strong looking fellow. He looks great in western tack.


I agree, i thought he looked like an old painting too. he looks happy to be more in the lime light

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby bailey » Tue Nov 03, 2015 1:48 am

What a nice pair you make! He looks happy in the picture above. I totally relate with leaving the halter/lead on, you never know if you might need it!
Great work, hope you keep the updates coming.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby demi » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:48 am

What a hunk! Looking forward to more mounted pics.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Tue Nov 03, 2015 5:00 am

What a good boy!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Tue Nov 03, 2015 4:07 pm

Thanks for all the kind words and support everyone!

Last night's ride went purdy dern good! We even got a few strides of trot in, they weren't pretty but he gave the effort and I was really happy with it.

When i asked for the trot, he tossed his head, I could feel him hollow, but he did give me about three-four strides before we went back to a walk. I am going to assume 1) saddle fit, the western saddle that I am using is a little tight in the front, I am wondering if it is restricting movement. I use a fairly thick wool pad, because you know, that is what western riders use. I find that fairly sterotypical, so I was wondering why can I not just use a thin pad? I have a thin, western cut, Back on Track pad, that may be better for us to use. Thoughts? And 2) Just general lack of strength and balance.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby kande50 » Tue Nov 03, 2015 4:39 pm

Tuddy wrote:Thoughts? And 2) Just general lack of strength and balance.


If the saddle's a little tight I think a pad will just make it tighter. If it fits it doesn't need any pad at all, except to keep the bottom of the saddle clean, so a thin pad sounds like it might be an improvement.

Can you try a few trot transition bareback and then go back to the saddle to compare?

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Wed Nov 04, 2015 3:50 am

I don't know how Western saddles are built, but a little tight in front does not work well for my little Canadien with her (relatively) big shoulders and big shoulder movement :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Wed Nov 04, 2015 1:49 pm

vkitty wrote:I don't know how Western saddles are built, but a little tight in front does not work well for my little Canadien with her (relatively) big shoulders and big shoulder movement :)


Yes, I find it to be pretty restricting, that is for sure. I will try the Back on Track pad and go from there.

We had our first snowfall of the year last night, and while it isn't going to stick around, it sure is going to make for one heck of a muddy mess! :(

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Thu Nov 05, 2015 4:30 am

:(

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Sat Nov 07, 2015 8:19 pm

Hey everyone! I haven't forgottenv to update, but life kinda got in the way this week! :-(

My father in law broke his hip, so we have been dealing with that at the moment. Once we get all that under control, I will be back in the saddle!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Mon Nov 16, 2015 2:25 pm

Well hello and Happy Monday!

I had last week off of work and it was great, busy, but great. My father in law is healing from his surgery from his broken hip and is still in hospital. I think he will be there for a couple weeks yet. :(

During my week off, I rode pretty much every day and Lucas is really blowing me out of the water. I know he is broke, but I didn't know the extent of his training. I am pleasantly surprised at how much he knows and how well he is adapting to the boarding barn life. I actually think his starting to love all the attention he is getting. He had a massage yesterday and now gets a couple days off. The therapist was happy with how well he is built and only had a few things out.

While riding him, we noticed that his back end is quite weak, which we fully expected it to be, and now have integrated a pole lesson into his schedule once a week. He looks so funny plunking his big butt over those rails at a trot. LOL!

My daughter came with me last Wednesday to ride and she hopped on him when I was done and cooled him out. She hadn't seen him since we trailered him over to the boarding barn and she was surprised at how much slimmer he looked.

She looked pretty cute up there!
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby vkitty » Tue Nov 17, 2015 3:30 am

He has such a kind, intelligent eye and appears to be beaming in the sunlight :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby demi » Wed Nov 18, 2015 2:42 am

I love the big train and his little girl!! Thanks for sharing.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Fri Nov 20, 2015 2:40 pm

I am sure Lucas is hating me at the moment. He had his massage and I haven't been back to see him since! With my father in law being in the hospital, my evenings have been tied up doing other farmwork and extra errands, that I haven't been to see him.

Today, my personal goal is to get out to the barn and hang out. I am going to ride!

As I was scrolling through my emails and facebook this morning, I noticed a lot of blanket sales at a lot of tack stores at the moment, and people commenting on how they need to break out the winter gear. I realized I only have a light cooler for Lucas, I guess I better break out the credit card and do some shopping! Can't have him chilled after a ride!

He has a decent winter coat, so what do people suggest?

http://www.applesaddlery.com/Rambo-Delu ... 56/Product

I was thinking this one for after we ride. I would put it on until he was dry and then send him back to his paddock with no blanket. Thoughts? (I am such a newbie at this, my horses are usually bale rats for the winter....)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby PNG_Pony » Fri Nov 20, 2015 8:11 pm

I smile whenever I read this thread and see the photos...he's one solid boy!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby AmityBee » Fri Nov 20, 2015 9:09 pm

Tuddy wrote:He has a decent winter coat, so what do people suggest?

http://www.applesaddlery.com/Rambo-Delu ... 56/Product

I was thinking this one for after we ride. I would put it on until he was dry and then send him back to his paddock with no blanket. Thoughts? (I am such a newbie at this, my horses are usually bale rats for the winter....)


I have that one in navy. It is so, so, nice. Love it. unfortunately, I never get to use it because it is way to warm around here. So it should be perfect for where you are I guess... ;)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby bailey » Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:46 am

Great pics of the BBFT & dear daughter-they are quite the lovely pair. My GF has the Rambo in the gold strip, it's warm and is holding up really well. I think she's had it 3 years now and it still looks brand new.

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby bailey » Sat Nov 21, 2015 4:56 am

I just have to ask, what size blanket is BBFT anyway? He's kinda like me, an 'unusual' shape and I'm curious.....

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby piedmontfields » Sat Nov 21, 2015 12:57 pm

I have one of those Rambo coolers and like it very much. Remember to adjust for Rambo sizing (4" smaller than "normal" blanket size).

Love the photo of BBFT and your daughter!

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Mon Nov 23, 2015 1:51 pm

piedmontfields wrote:I have one of those Rambo coolers and like it very much. Remember to adjust for Rambo sizing (4" smaller than "normal" blanket size).

Love the photo of BBFT and your daughter!


Thanks! Is the sizing thing really true?! I had never heard of that!

bailey wrote:I just have to ask, what size blanket is BBFT anyway? He's kinda like me, an 'unusual' shape and I'm curious.....


He takes a 78" blanket. Fits him well, except he is so wide, that the length from back to tummy is cutting it close! Lol!

piedmontfields
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby piedmontfields » Mon Nov 23, 2015 7:58 pm

Re: Rambo sizing weirdness. Well, it depends a bit on whether it is a Rambo or Rhino or Amigo (all made by Horseware, but the Rambo sizing is the one I recall is weird. Here is one link on the sizing difference: http://www.doversaddlery.com/blanket-bu ... ide/a/254/ )

Tuddy
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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby Tuddy » Tue Nov 24, 2015 1:46 pm

Thanks for the link piedmontfields!

And thanks to everyone for their kind words so far. Last night's ride was a tough one, I had one very grouchy boy to deal with. We are going to swap out saddles and see if it makes his attitude a little better. It wasn't a bad ride, he is very sensitive and responsive and seems to enjoy the work, but there is something physical making him uncomfortable. Going to try out my english saddle tonite.

Lucas cooling.jpg
Lucas cooling.jpg (254.86 KiB) Viewed 30134 times


Just hanging out after our ride, had to wait til he dried off before I could put him back in his pen. He didn't mind, he had other people doting on him and he got a good rub down with Absorbine too. He loves the massage to his stifle, butt cheeks and shoulders. That little lip of his just gets going when you hit the sweet spot. :)

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Re: The Big Black Freight Train

Postby greenholmeshandy » Wed Nov 25, 2015 11:15 am

I love him! kind of like a giant version of mine, I have attached a picture of her sire who is a typical Fell pony. I wonder if there is a connection way back from English Fell and Dales to Canadian horses?
Attachments
lunsdale redstart.jpg
lunsdale redstart.jpg (44.61 KiB) Viewed 30111 times
formerly UDBB user known as Brychensmum


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