Cool! What parts of the saddle would be the most helpful? 2k10h

Joken: Did you go to one of the Robart spring loaded bits? That's what we use for one of our show horses. He loves it! He uses a cathedral mouthpiece, and it really helps with headset. We use one for English, too. It looks like a loose ring snaffle, but has hooks, so its really a supershort curb bit. Anyway, we love those Robart bits. 2k10h

Sarah, My 36 year old gelding got tired of my soaking his feed, too! I now feed him his Sr. feed one scoop at a time, dry. Finiky aren't they?

Florida Horseman is correct, a horse trained to neckrein moves to the left or right depending upon where he feels the rein on his neck. Now, if he is well trained to neckrein, he was probably trained as a Western horse, and was probably used to using a Western curb. You might want to try one and see how he does. The benefits of using a Western curb are the curb allows you the rider to have "contact" with the horse while having a loose drooped rein. Usually, you use a fairly heavy rein,

I have an old horse that does that to me about once a year. He just stops eating. He's 36. I can usually find something that "he can't resist" to feed him to keep him from starving. Usually it's crimped oats. Sometimes all I have to do is change brands of the Senior feed. Sometimes he likes it soaked, sometimes he won't touch it if it's wet. I try different things to get him to eat. Usually, after about a week, he's back to normal. Good luck with your old guy!

It sounds like you know that Cowboy Magic is the best. But, I agree, it's expensive. I've also used baby oil. It's a lot cheaper.

Results from the State 4-H show: My daughter ended up 5th overall. She blew her Showmanship class, unfortunately. Went a little crooked on her long backup so that when she did the 270 turn to go to the Judge, she was too close to the cone. Didn't kill it, but she stepped around it. Oops. That DQ'ed her. (Her horse stayed inside the cone, so if she had avoided stepping outside the cone, she would not have been DQ'ed.) Oh well. Last year she won that class. With a decent placing in that

Oh, by the way, I too hate that super slow lope you sometimes see at WP shows where it looks like the horse is lame. Last weekend at a show, my daughter noted that the horse in front of her in the pen was a really slow loper. But then, she noticed it was doing a 4 beat lope, or "trolt". The judge must have noticed, too. My daughter placed first, ahead of the trolter. (I don't remember where the trolter finished.) So, there is hope out there.

I have seen shorter fenders for small fry. You replace the entire fender and stirrup assembly. Other than that, I would just tuck the excess leather under the top of the stirrup and back up the other side.. Get a big ole rubber band to hold it.

I agree with the lessons. I like Clinton Anderson's DVDs, but only an instructor can tell you what you're doing wrong (or right!) while you're mounted. For instance, you may THINK you have your heels down, but not really. An instructor would point that out, and fix it. And then you'd FEEL how it feels to have your heels down correctly. 2k10h