December 10 Questions

I have to tell a story before I get to L.'s questions for December.  The other day I was walking out to the pasture to feed Chrome or something.  I knew he was standing facing the gate because I saw him out my window.  I went outside, closed the door and proceeded to sneeze six times as I walked noisily through all of the fallen leaves (our property is covered in oak trees) toward the pasture.  Halfway there when I'd finally stopped sneezing I noticed that Chrome was asleep.  The donkey was staring at me, but Chrome had his ears back and eyes closed.  I kept walking, not particularly being quiet, but not saying anything either.  I got within six feet of him when he finally heard me, opened his eyed, startled in place and then started nickering this long never ending nicker.  It was sooooo cute!  It scared him, but he recognized me immediately and nickered a greeting that went on and on.  :)

Now on to the questions.

1. What size horse do you prefer to ride? I can comfortably ride horses smaller than Chrome for trail rides, but they would be hard to do dressage on since my legs would hang away from their sides.  Chrome is 15.2hh and he is about the shortest I think I could go for dressage, unless the horse was really broad.  He's kind of narrow, but fat, so my calves touch his sides and that's the most important thing.  If my stirrups are short enough my heels will touch his sides.  When I ride bareback my feet hang way below his belly hehe.  The horse I took lessons on that I was most comfortable on was 16.1hh, but I've ridden a 17hh horse that was nice too.  I'm 5'10" with long legs, so I like a bigger horse, but not too big.  I think 16hh was my favorite, but I can't complain about Chrome's height either, especially as I get older and think about how far it is to the ground.  If I was shorter all I would ride is ponies though.  I love small horses and ponies.  So fast, agile and fun.  :)  I think that long, rambling answer was about as clear as mud... we'll just say anywhere from 15.2hh to 16.2hh is my favorite depending on how wide the horse is.  :)

2. Do you school in tall boots or half chaps and paddock boots? Half chaps and paddock boots.  I've never even tried on tall boots.

3. What do you do with your ribbons after shows? I've never competed, so no ribbons.

4. Do you ride/board at a large show barn or a small private barn? I keep my horse at home, but the barn where I'll be taking lessons is a small private barn.  The owner and some of the boarders compete in dressage, but there are a lot of casual horse owners that board there.  There's usually around twenty horses or so living there.  

5. Have you ever seen a horse give birth? Not in person, no.  As a kid the pregnant mare we bought delivered during the day, but we totally missed it.  I haven't had the opportunity to be around any other pregnant mares though.

6. What is your favorite breed? No way anyone will guess the answer to this one!  Friesians!  :D

7. Favorite tack brand? Dunno.

8. Would you ever buy used tack? Yep!  A lot of my stuff (or most) is used.

9. Ever been on a carriage ride? Yep once!  It was one of my Thirty Before Thirty bucket list items and I finally got to do it this year at the polo match.  There was a guy giving rides with his adorable pony and I got to go.  It was awesome because we went down roads, up and down some steep hills, over a covered bridge.  I went with his relatives so I got a wild fifteen minute ride instead of the one or two minute circle rides that everyone else (mostly kids) were getting.  :)  You can see the post along with pictures here.

10. How often do you go to the tack store? Every weekday.  I work at a feed/tack store.  :)