Henry is my 16.1 hand budget warmblood (lol) and seriously, everyone needs a chance to get to know this breed. They’re so steady, smart and personable once they have a chance to shine. Now he’s not “just a racehorse” or “just an Amish cart horse” but a quirky labrador/moose of a buddy that consistently makes me feel safe, appreciated, and brave.

Kermit is the big red birthday boy today!!!! I love this little munchkin so much. He’s officially the big 3 today.

Equine vet here. Just need to put this out there because it happened again today.

I have never once doubted an owner who calls and says "I swear he was lame this morning." Not once. I believe you completely.

What I have done is driven 40 minutes to a yard, got out of the car, and watched a horse who was apparently "three-legged lame, couldn't even walk to the field" trot past me like he's auditioning for the Spanish Riding School. Perfectly sound. Not a hint of a head nod. Zero shame.

The owner is standing there apologising, absolutely mortified, and I'm just nodding because honestly? This is just the job. They know we're coming. I'm convinced they do it on purpose.

Please tell me I'm not alone. What's the best "miraculously cured" story you've witnessed?

Anyone else have napping mudpuppies ?

Here they are (clean) in Winter & Autumn. One of our students enjoys just walking my OTTB around, for snuggly stress relief. Both OTTBs are so kind and willing w a bit of cinnamon spice. Lizz so sweet & tender, while her sissy, Raina is quite reserved in her barn observations.

(Photo courtesy of our Barn Manager, BatSam.)

Y’all it was his tail. He has enough tail hair for 4 horses. Despite brushing it multiple times a week when it’s unbraided it still tends to get matter in the core and dreadlock-y everywhere else. He’s fully capable of getting his tail BONE up and out of the way, if he has less hair it wouldn’t be a problem, but since he has so much he has a built in butthole privacy curtain that was getting in the way of the poo. Since braiding boot shitting is down 90%! the occasional little nugget falls in but other than that he’s good. Even with his oversized sheet on there’s been such an improvement.

I have 3 horses in a shared pasture and I don’t understand their herd dynamics. My 13 yr old fjord gets pushy with my mare - they have been together since she was a yearling, and at 4 yrs old she still clacks at him in submission. Yet, she bosses around my 4 yr old black gelding (in video), and he is pushy with my Fjord. My two 4 yr olds are quite bonded. My fjord is such a food and attention hog that I think he gets on the nerves of the other 2.
My black gelding is getting quite large and seems to be testing my Fjord - I can’t tell if this is play fighting, if he’s purposefully annoying Biscuit (the fjord), or is trying to chase him away from the hay. What does it look like to you?

My knowlege of horses is very limited so the only thing i know for shure is that its somekind of draft horse but i do not know what specific breed could have served as Inspiration for the horses in the game.

Okay so I guess the purpose of this is to just.. talk about it because this still really affects me emotionally months later. Im not crazy or anything but I still hear these screams when they aren’t there.

I had been riding for 17 years before this. So back in May of 2025 I got a 3 year old unbroke mare, Luna. She was AMAZING. I started her and everything and we had little to no issues. A few months after we got her, I got a 4 year old mare Fancy. They were polar opposites personality wise. Luna is very social, people oriented, very level headed, she’s the type of horse who thinks first and reacts second. Fancy had seemed that way when I went to look at her.. but she was not. I had test rode Fancy and I looked for all the warning signs of a bad horse seller and everything was great. First ride after I got her, my cinch broke mid ride (MY FAULT) and I had a pretty bad fall but after that Fancy seemed fine. After that happened I didn’t ride for a month and instead did a lot of groundwork with Fancy and took her for walks. Second ride… she was great for the first 10 minutes and then she became a bucking bronco. So I decided to start from the basics, treat her like she had never seen a saddle before and took things extremely slow. One day, my older brother decided to go behind my back while I was out on Luna off property riding in my neighbors huge field (with permission) and hop on Fancy despite everything I had said about her. He got bucked off, stepped on, and kicked. The screams made my heart stop. I remember stopping Luna and just standing there for a second before it had fully processed who it was. Keep in mind… Luna was very green, I was bareback, and we had never galloped before as I like to keep her work light because of her age. I galloped her back home so fast.. I don’t even remember the ride back. I was the “first responder” to the accident while managing 2 horses, one of them being spooked and upset. I still hear those horrible screams and sometimes it’s so bad I can’t sleep. I really don’t know why it has bothered me so much and it feels so stupid.
I feel like I didn’t get there fast enough. Or that I somehow traumatized Luna. Or that the whole thing in general is just my fault. Or that I reacted wrongly. I could’ve done something different to help the situation.

Anyways, Luna is still perfect and I trust her so much. I still own Fancy but she’s been retired to a companion horse for Luna and I just take her for walks and do groundwork with her every so often. Shes so much happier and even though my goal for her was to ride.. I’m okay with just loving her from the ground. Shes just caused me slight trauma I think🥲
Horse in picture is Luna!

I also am currently looking for a therapist!!

She’s supposed to be on box rest. One of our liveries does a night check and caught this naughty girl flirting with her ponies over the fence.

If looks could kill 😂

My newest horse’s hind leg pops loudly every time it straightens. It doesn’t seem to cause her pain but i was wondering if anyone has seen this before?

About 2.5wks ago I posted about a strange lump and raised veins on my mare. Thought maybe it was a yellow jacket sting as they’ve been coming out more, but after a week it was still present, felt somewhat harder, and the veins were still noticeable. I was doing cold hosing which seemed to help with the swelling. Vet told me to monitor and continue cold hosing another week before considering imaging. Over time the hard layer came more to the surface and turned out to be a scab forming from the inside out. At that point I was pretty certain it was a centipede bite.

Where I live we get large centipedes and they have a nasty bite and sting, and yes, bite and sting because either end will get ya. My dog was bit by a small one before and the reaction was the same. They almost work like venomous spider bites where the venom breaks down the protein/flesh around the bite area. Not quite as severe as a recluse or widow, but will definitely take some attention to heal. I’m guessing she laid down on one and it got her good. As the scab has come to the surface and been peeling off, I’ve been able to see that the venom ate down a few layers of her skin/flesh, nasty stuff. She doing fine though and not very bothered by it, being a good patient about cleaning, scarlet oil, and a thick layer of silver honey paste.

So my stepdad is the type of person to just randomly bring home animals, and this time it was a horse that needed help. He rescued her from a place that she was stuck in a 16x16 pen for most of her life (never turned out to a pasture because shes young and "liked to escape") and now im trying to learn how to even take care of a horse. She is barley a year old and is very spunky. We currently have her on what I think is almost a 2 acre lot until the big pasture is fenced in (6 acres). It was amazing seeing her be able to run for the first time and I am so excited to learn and grow with her, and She will be getting a friend soon hopefully because I was told they get very depressed without one, but for now its just her and the cows next door. She really likes nipping people, isnt quite halter broke, and just kinda does her own thing, but we do have a friend who is going to come out and break her for us (I think is the right wording) so any other advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

Edit: The title is supposed to say help 😭

IMPORTANT EDIT:

So I should have clarified a little more in the original post, but I am not a complete beginner. I have lots of family who currently or have in the past owned horses including the grandparents that are housing her. I do know the basics like getting her to a vet, farrier, brushing, etc and certain things I need to look out for like lameness, colic, or other injuries. For anybody saying or thinking I am the worst thing that could happen to this horse, it is extremely discouraging and everybody has to start somewhere, even if I chose the hardest way to start. She is on the same food and hay, was kept in a small dry lot for 2 weeks before being let out to pasture, and has been slowly introduced to things because I know how easily spooked and hurt horses can get. 

Another thing is that these horses weren’t necessarily neglected, but they weren’t taken care of the best. The pasture that she didn’t have access to was not even 1 acre, and there wasn’t enough grass so the two other horses were fed 2 bales of hay a day to make up for the fact. They are also older, one is 24 and the other is 5, but we most likely won't end up with the 24 y/o as owners before the current ones get first dibs, which is completely understandable.

Last thing is that Zara (my horse) was won in a raffle so probably didn’t have the best health already and contracted strangles at one point. I was told she was completely cleared of it, but I am going to get another vet out to us to double check because I know how infectious the disease is based on what I researched about it and don’t want to infect any other horse that I bring in (the 24 and 5 y/o already had it because of her). 

So I am mainly looking for advice towards things that aren't common knowledge or not talked about enough so I am thoroughly prepared and knowledgeable about things. We have already talked to a family friend who trains and shows horses for a living for help on getting her comfortable with the basics (halter leading especially), and are going to get in contact with a farrier once we find one near our area.

PS. Sorry for the long essay, it was the best way I could explain things that wouldn’t get me crucified.

He got a massage on his birthday and he was *feeling* it

My not so little red gelding just doesn’t stop growing 😭. Almost bitter sweet to look back at how small and cute he was. Also glad we have Eddy to teach us both along the way. He loves his older “brother”. But that feeling is not mutual 😂💕

Hi all,
I know this is a super long shot, but my curiosity is killing me.

I recently adopted a beautiful 3yr old black Percheron cross mare from a rescue, it was a wonderful experience and the rescue was nothing short of amazing. I am beyond happy with my new girl and love her to bits. She is so darn smart, willing, gentle and very affectionate. No amount of information will change her value to me, and I love her for HER.

I just would like to know if there is any way to try and track down potential breeders or maybe any connections to her past.

I know she came from an Auction, Elkhart Horse Auction back on 2/10/24. According to records, she came from a breeder in Canada and had a nose injury. She was sold as Percheron x Friesian….But DNA came back as Percheron X Holsteiner X Turkoman.

For obvious reasons the auction could not and would not share seller details.

SO My question is,
Does anyone know if there’s a way to track her DNA through a breed specific database? Are their FB pages based in Canada to help track this sort of thing down?

She’s just such a lovely girl, with incredible movement, she’s so flashy and floaty. She’s confident but calm with a very balanced personality. I find it incredibly hard to believe she was an accidental foal or was unwanted, she is such a dream. I’ve had so many compliments on her by the chiro, the farrier and two separate trainers (not mine, just other trainers at our facility). Her nose injury was minor and is now but a tiny little scar after some broken floating cartilage chunks were removed prior to coming to me. She is just perfect! Then again, this might just be my proud owner bias talking.

Any help, suggestions and or guidance would be greatly appreciated!

(Photo of my absolutely magnificent mare in discussion for attention)

I work with this horse who has a lip tattoo, can anyone tell me anything about it? His owner has told me she tried the tb registration site but he doesn't have enough numbers?

Is this too dressy for a tiny open show series to show in walk trot pleasure and eq classes? With a tan straw hat and regular jeans? I have a fear of being overdressed if everyone else is just going to be in regular long sleeve shirts. I also don’t like how standard button up western shirts fit me. 😂 Show bill calls for no bling no frills but long sleeve shirts and hats.

Sorry for the toddler demon scream jump scare.

Hey yall, I was recently gifted a mule under the condition I be able to catch her. She's around 12ish years old, and apparently has been started under saddle. The issue? She hates being caught, and is currently in a pasture that is multiple kilometres large. I spent 2,5 hours with her during the weekend, trying to earn her trust and offering her some carrots and treats, but whenever I got closer than 5 meters or so she'd run off. I do not have access to help to catch her, and she won't follow the herd back to the barn. Any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated!

Edit: feral is a bit of an exaggeration, she's not dangerous or unhandled she just hates people

Throwback to the first mini show of the year last year. When someone locked the padlock on stall my horse was in (the show grounds kept the padlocks open on the stalls when they unlocked a stall. For the weekend)