Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with horses

The left side is the right side, and the right side is the wrong side.

anderjen — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 09:59:49 -0800

[Possible Pipe Dream Filter] I used to ride horses competitively, and recently am longing to hang out with horses again. I'm not looking to compete, nor do I want to take lessons or go on guided trail rides, since I already know how to ride. I just want to get back into riding for the fun of it. What are my options, if any? My mom and I used to own multiple horses and I competed in saddle seat equitation for several years. However, that was a dozen years ago (I'm now 28) and I'm out of touch with the riding community in my area. I don't know anyone who might let me ride theirs, and I don't have the means to purchase, lease, or board a horse of my own.

I know my way around stables, tack, grooming, etc. and am confident that I could ease back into it quickly, but I don't know how to make this happen. Would my best bet be to look for opportunites to work in a stable, in exchange for riding time? Other ideas?

I'm in the Twin Cities area—St. Paul, to be exact. Thanks!

Buying a stuffed onager?

historybuff — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:56:34 -0800

Where can I buy a stuffed onager toy? I have a niece who is really into horses of various types. She is really taken with onagers--a kind of Asian wild horse (Equus hemionus) that's smaller than a regular horse (about the size of a donkey). I am trying to buy her a stuffed onager as a present. However, all my searches have led to 1) generic stuffed horses; or 2) toy onager catapults.

Anyone have a suggestion for a good place to purchase (online or brick and morter stories) unusual stuffed animals? I'd like to do something not-cliche. Thanks.

Is there an equine insurance agent in the house?

COD — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 08:23:38 -0800

This may be a longshot, even for the diverse crowd here at AskMeFi. My daughter's horse was diagnosed with Lyme Disease in January. We caught it very early and the horse has made a full recovery and is back to normal in every way. However, the annual renewal on our Life/Major Medical policy for the horse includes this clause. An exclusion for any loss or expense due to Lyme disease or any underlying related condition will apply to all coverages. Diagnosing Lyme is a bit of a judgment call as it is, and this seems like a huge get-out-of-ever-paying-any-claim-again loophole as pretty much anything that may ever affect the horse in the future could conceivably be blamed on Lyme Disease. The question for anybody that may have experience with this...is there any reason to maintain a policy with that loophole?

Perhaps washed down with some Pepto-Bismol

Cantdosleepy — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:45:08 -0800

Thought excercise - How many horses are there in the world? Statistics, insights, ropey conjectural maths and bent statistics all welcome! My friend made an idle boast the other day; he dislikes horses, and intends to eat every last one of them in the world. I doubt his ability to do this. I want to throw a figure at him of how many horses he'd have to eat at each meal to get through every last horse over the course of his natural life (assuming a natural-length life can be achieved if you are eating ~60/~1000/however-many horses a day).

Anyone want to have a crack at estimating how many horses there are currently alive? I'd love to see your working. Rigorous-ity is no barrier, bad-stats fans. Feel free to factor in reproduction rates as well, if you so wish. Or don't.

No need to include donkeys. They're cool, and so escape the eating.

Why does this riding stable give me the creeps?

Joleta — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:55:14 -0800

Am I right to have a bad feeling about the horseback riding stable where I'm taking lessons? I signed up for horseback riding lessons through the park district, held at a local stable. I don't have much experience with horses, other than a few tourist trail rides. I've had a few lessons, but the stable depresses me. I realize that it's a stable, but it seems dark, cramped, and not terribly clean (piles of horse dung in the walkways, cobwebs all over the stalls).

Most of the horses have box stalls, but these stalls only open to an interior walkway, not to the outside. A few horses are in stalls too small for them to turn around in. There is no outside paddock area; the horses don't get to run around outside, although some of them are turned out in the inside ring at night.

The people who run the stable seem to be nice, caring people. The horses don't look abused or neglected. We're learning how to brush and care for the horses, not just how to ride them. Am I being too sensitive? Do horses not need to go outside regularly? (Full disclosure: I have two indoor cats and would never think of letting them roam around outside, so call me a hypocrite if you want.)

If this stable situation is unacceptable, what should I do?

Bay Area (horse) Riding School?

penciltopper — Fri, 25 Jan 2008 14:43:11 -0800

Looking for SF Bay Area equitation schools (wanna make with the horse-riding). I have pretty much the same question as this one.

Lots of good information there. But I'm looking for recommendations in the SF Bay Area.

I've lived in suburbs or cities all my life, so my exposure to horses has been limited. But I've gone on trail rides as described above, had a friend as a teen who was a show-jumper, etc. I've found that I like just being around horses in general.

So I'd like to spend my weekends this spring/summer learning to ride (instead of just sitting on top of a horse). Bonus for some place that would allow me to spend time there cleaning stables, grooming horses, whatever, if I wanted/they'd have me, rather than "your 1-hour lesson is over, please go home now".

(also, I don't really have the income that many in the horsey set do; so if I could cut my lesson rates by shoveling sh*t, that would be welcome.)

Do seatbelts on horses improve safety?

UbuRoivas — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 18:31:06 -0800

If you wore a seatbelt on a horse, would you be safer or less safe than if you didn't use a seatbelt?

Ghostly

Jacen — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 13:50:48 -0800

Are there any Native American stories or legends or beliefs about the deceased coming back as horses? Possibly as spirit animals?

Derby Weekend

jckll — Wed, 02 May 2007 18:47:05 -0800

Going to the Kentucky Derby this weekend, any tips, suggestions, warnings, etcetera? I've never been before, I'm pretty excited to be going as I've heard it's a great time. I'll be in the infield; I don't think the high-society folks would accept me...

Can anyone who's been before give me some advice before I go? I see that alcohol is prohibited, but I can't imagine that is a much-followed rule. How tight is the security? What's the best way to get around it? I don't really have any more specific questions as I've never been, but I'd appreciate advice from anyone who has!

Can horses die after seeing too much?

MrBCID — Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:19:50 -0800

I once saw/heard something on horses that were used underground in (coal?) mines... the reference was short and was phrased as something like this "... it's like those horses used in the (coal?) mines, they are underground in the dark for so long (years?) that when they are brought up from the mines and get to see far away into the horizon they die of shock." I can't remember if the reference was in a movie or it was something just said out loud... Does this have any validity? I couldn't find anything online about it... but I guess I am wondering 1st of all where I heard this before? 2nd Is it the light that would kill them or the sudden depth, color, or "amount" of vision? and if this does happen; is it just to horses that this happens to?

Help me buy a horse trailer

COD — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 07:33:29 -0800

Talk to me about horse trailers. I need to buy a horse trailer before horse show season starts in the spring. I'm interested in advice / recommendations from anybody that has a horse and/or trailer. What I'm leaning towards is a two horse bumper pull with a dressing room. I have a Durango with a HEMI as a tow vehicle. Ideally, I'd like to buy used, however the used market looks very thin, and these things don't seem to depreciate like I thought they would. New trailers of the two horse bumper pull with a dressing room variety appear to retail new for between $10K and $15K.

A related question if you have bought a trailer recently. How much of a discount off of list is reasonable from a trailer dealer? The numbers above are list price, and I would guess discounting is similar to the automotive or RV market.

Learning to ride horses

procrastination — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 11:29:32 -0800

How do I learn to ride horses as an adult? What to look for in an instructor, school, and horse? I am in the DC area. Over the last six months, I rode horses for the first time as an adult. All the rides were basically adult pony rides that are given to tourists (like me). They had super gentle horses that walked the same trails every day, so about all I had to do was sit and enjoy it. Most recently, another person on a trip gave me some hints so that I was able to enjoy riding at a trot and canter (the horse stopped galloping after a few steps because I think it figured out I had no idea what I was doing there).

Those rides, combined with the fact that the new Mrs. Procrastination comes from a family that has horses, make me want to learn to ride so I can join them. Their horses, however, are not ridden often so cannot be counted on to be kindly and gentle. I would like to learn to ride well enough so that I can go on basic trail rides with the relatively less-gentle horses.

I have googled and found some places around DC that offer lessons, but I don't know the difference between the styles they offer (english, western, and dressage). Any recommendations for specific places or styles? What do I need to know about horse body language? Is there anything I should be asking that I am not?

Thanks.

Why a horse in "so hungry I could eat a horse"?

23skidoo — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 06:41:44 -0800

Does "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse" mean "I'm so hungry I could eat at much meat as is on a horse's bones (without getting full)" or "I'm so hungry I'd be willing to eat something as (presumably) unappetizing as horse meat"? Basically, does the horse signify a great amount of food, or a disgusting quality of food?

polo?

mustcatchmooseandsquirrel — Sat, 08 Jul 2006 18:23:17 -0800

Where can I play polo within a four hour drive of Lawrence, KS?

Is that horse a hobby or an investment?

OmieWise — Mon, 12 Jun 2006 06:17:42 -0800

What do you know about the economics of the Grand Prix horse jumping circuit? I spent Sunday at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show where I watched the $100k Grand Prix Jumping event. The top prize was $30,000. There were horses and riders there from all over the Eastern seaboard, some had come from quite far away. The whole experience prompted several questions about the economics of the event as the costs associated with fielding a horse seemed to so far outweigh the possiblity of adequate recompense.

I think the overarching question is: Is this a business or a hobby?

There seemed to be several different types of horses entered (out of 20 entrants this year):
1) Horses owned by their riders (a distinct minority, maybe 2 out of the 20). These folks could make some money by winning with their horse.
2) Horses owned by a farm but ridden by professional jumpers. ( A couple of farms had multiple horses in the competition. This seemed like straightforward marketing.)
3) Horses owned by one person but ridden by a professional jumper.
4) There seemed to be a couple of horses owned by businesses ("The Sarton Group"--I made the name up, I can't remember the names). I thought they were groups of investors that had invested in the horse, others in our group speculated that they were businesses of some kind (although there was no identifying information about what they did or where they were located) that were sponsoring the horse for advertising and raising their profile in the horsey set.

The first three categories all seem like they (possibly) take care of themselves: owner-riders actually riding for the prize money, the farms advertising their bloodlines and various services, the single owners hobbyists (like dog fanciers) who pay someone to ride for them in order to participate in the milieu. The fourth group seemed to open up the possiblity that there was money to be made beyond the (relatively) meagre 30k first prize. There was absolutely no discussion of horse bloodlines (as one would expect were the money on the *ahem* backend of breeding), and the announcing was very focussed on the riders.

Does anyone have any more information?

How did Victorians care for their urban horses?

FauxScot — Sat, 22 Apr 2006 08:30:10 -0800

Where can I find info on urban horse care during the late 1800s and early 1900s? I'm buying a Victorian era house with a carriage barn in a little area where almost all the houses have carriage barns. My wife mused that at one time, the barn housed a carriage. But where did the horses stay? In our neighborhood with ~100 houses and carriage barns, were there 100 horses, each individually housed? Was there a collective area where they were boarded when not pulling around Victorians? What happened to 100 horses worth of horse poop?

Believe it or not, this is hard to find any detailed info about on the web. All leads greatly appreciated.

How do you use the OTB?

miniape — Wed, 19 Apr 2006 09:31:59 -0800

Help me use the Off Track Betting facility. I work across the street from an NY OTB establishment. I like betting horses casually at the track, and I've used the OTB in big races (like the derby). I'd like to pop in there at lunch, fill out a few forms and see if I can make a few bucks.

Ideally, I'd just like to fill out the forms based on the numbers and collect within ten or fifteen minutes. But the multitude of races, tracks, and betting options befuddle me. Are there constantly races going on? Can someone give me step by step directions on how to do this, from finding the races on the screen (or booklet or whatever) to filling out the form. I'm guessing it's probably a lot easier than it looks, but they certainly don't make it very clear.

Also, if you've got any strategies that don't require actually following racing and horses closely, I'd like those too. I have a goal to make my lunch money two days of the week.

What's a pacing horse?

footnote — Tue, 18 Oct 2005 16:18:18 -0800

What is a pacing horse, and why is it considered a bad thing? I just finished reading Lonesome Dove, and the book makes repeated references to Jake's "pacing horse." I assumed that it was some desirable fancy gait, but from some random googling, it appears that pacing isn't a good quality, except for a harness racer. Or is the point that Jake, as befits his personality, had a horse with a fancy-looking gait that's not very practical?

Buried standing up ?

oliyoung — Sun, 16 Oct 2005 23:28:40 -0800

Why would a race-horse be buried standing up, other than the symbolic reasons ?

Nasty English Sparrows

Daddest — Tue, 08 Mar 2005 04:56:46 -0800

Could you give me any ideas for ridding my horse barn of English Sparrows. Their population has reached plague proportion. They have driven away the barn swallows, phoebes and robins that used to nest in the barn. we would prefer a live trap as we would like to keep our native birds and bats, but we are frustrated enough with the sparrows’ mess, that we wouldn't be fussy about what traps we set during the winter.

Fix my betting system.

Dreamghost — Thu, 16 Dec 2004 11:23:41 -0800

What's the flaw in this horse racing betting system? [MI] 1. Get some reliable tips, like 25%-30% accuracy over the last 2 years. You might want to compare tipsters for each race.

2. Initialise your "bling" score, indicating the number of currency units you want to make per bet, e.g. 10.

3. Never bet odds-on (i.e. where the first digit of the odds fraction is smaller than the second).

4. Divide bling by the odds fraction. Round up to something, e.g. half your initial bling. Stake this amount.

a) If you win, begin the cycle again at stage 2.

b) If you lose, add together your current bling, your initial bling, and your stake. This becomes your new bling. Bet on the next race from stage 4.

5. If you get a long losing streak and are getting scared by the bet amounts, start the process again and come back to the current cycle when you have some more money.

I don't know what I'm talking about, of course, but I can't see the risk with this system, as long as you have enough money to buffer with so you can get over a streak of losing tips. However, the amount is unlikely to be very much, since you are extremely unlikely to get more than 10 losers in a row, say.

Of course I don't believe in get-rich-quick schemes, so where's the flaw in the system I'm missing here?

Why are elephant and whale brains so large?

kk — Wed, 10 Nov 2004 08:58:04 -0800

Why are elephant and whale brains so large (much bigger than yours)? Their twice as big brains don't seem twice as smart as horses or dolphins, let alone humans. What is that extra gray matter doing? Pointers to scientific papers or experts appreciated.

Is her birth control medicine made from dehydrated horse piss?

woil — Fri, 27 Aug 2004 14:39:55 -0800

An ex-girlfriend of mine was telling me that she recently went off of birth control for the first time in years because she found out it was made through some form dehydrating female horses and then processing thier piss. Sounds like an urban legend to me, but I can't find anything on google in either direction. Any clues?

Show me some edges in horseracing.

RavinDave — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 02:27:54 -0800

Any horse handicappers here? What are your favorite techniques? Which race
factors do you tend to zero in on? What sort of betting strategy or angles do you employ? Do you parlay? hedge? do straight tickets? dabble in the exotics? play it ultra-conservative? do birthdates? Understand, I haven't been to the track or placed an actual bet for well over a decade. You'll have to take it on faith that although I attended regularly for 2-3 seasons – I was not hardcore in any sense of the world. I never placed more than 2 dollar bets, was quite content to sit back with my drink and skip races – biding my time for better odds, and I never took more than $20 bucks extra to the track with me. Never. The track was right next to campus and my interest was kind of academic; I was learning how to use databases, spreadsheets and general programming at the time and it was easier to learn with something concrete to code. (One can only write so many check-balancing or loan amortization apps).

Back then, I calculated my own Beyer's Speed Figures and track biases -- and did quite nicely with them. That won't work so well now that the "Daily Racing Form" supplies them for you. My former edge is diluted since 80% of the track population is now aware of'em (they might not understand their significance, but they know they are useful and so bet the hell out of'em). This can be a good thing in some regard. I can spot an inflated or flukey Beyer pretty quick and shift my attention to a better horse while the crowd is still piling money on an inferior choice. Somewhat of a consolation, I guess.

Anyway, I've starting handicapping the field again lately. Been doing it for the last month. I have not gone to the actual track – just betting an imaginary $50 stake on paper. This is not always conducive to good mental health, since I "won" and imaginary several hundred dollars on a couple of exotics. Still, the object remains the same as earlier – an ironic replay of a decade ago – I'm using it to learn some current applications and coding strategies.

To that end ... I'm curious to test other strategies(*) people might have when they go to the track. I have about three weeks of data already in MySQL and would be interested in re-examining old races using different criteria coupled with varying betting strategies.

==========
(*)Not just strategies to discern which horse will win. Though fascinating, I'm equally interested in betting strategies.

Upstream With a Paddle

luser — Tue, 11 May 2004 09:34:52 -0800

Lewis and Clark traveled up the Missouri River from the Mississippi to the Rockies, over 2,000 miles. UPSTREAM. What the hell? If you have to explore the river, why not just get some horses and wagons and walk alongside it? Why kill yourself paddling against the current for 2,000 miles?