Re: Timothy Hay
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] The interesting thing about me dropping the j from Fjord is that I then replicate exactly the way my 4 year old grandson refers to my equines. "My Grandpa has two Weejan Fords" would be an exact quote. Anyway, what do you comedians think of Timothy Hay? Thanks to Roberta for weighing in. R.J.
Timothy Hay
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] What is the general feeling about timothy hay for Fords? R.J. Stewart
Re: ?fallis balanced ride saddle
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've ridden a Monte Foreman Balanced Ride Saddle off and on over the last year. Monte Foreman designed the saddle originally back in the fifties and Fallis produced it. The saddle I have was made recently by Gary Foreman, Monte's son. (Actually the saddle was made by Bob's Custom Saddles in Scottsdale, Arizona and marketed by Gary Foreman.) It's identical in design to the Fallis saddle. It fits my Fjords but started causing white hairs on my fox trotter's withers. It also caused me some hip pain but I'm sure that wouldn't be true for everyone. I still use it on my Fjords occassionally when I'm riding in a group and one or more of my other saddles is being used by some one else. Neither Gary Foreman or Fallis offer different tree sizes. However, it does fit my Fjords. A criticism I've heard a lot about the Foreman/Fallis saddles is how the bulkless rigging is accomplished. That narrow ride comes with a price according to the critics. The in-skirt rigging pulls the saddle down into the withers so if the saddle isn't a perfect fit it will damage the withers more than most bad fits, or so the critics say. The saddle fitting video from About the Horse explains this theory in detail. Before I wrote this email I searched for Gary Foreman's website where he was selling his version of the Foreman/Fallis saddle just a year ago. It's no longer available. I'm not sure why. Probably the world didn't need two people producing the same saddle. Or maybe there was a rights issue between Foreman and Fallis. The bottom line: I still feel my Balanced Ride Saddle is a good fit for my Fjords and comfortable enough for me for rides less than three hours. For longer rides, I prefer a wider twist. There's a designer of endurance saddles named Boz who modeled his saddles after Monte Foreman's design. I've heard his saddles are very good for wide backed horses. R.J. Stewart
Narrow Twists on saddles and sore hips
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I've made a discovery concerning narrow twists on saddles. Certainly they do relieve pressure on the inner thighs and the groin and if that's a problem area than a narrow twist is something one should look for. But my problem area is in the hips. And I find that a narrow twist, by taking the pressure off the groin and inner thighs delivers more pressure to the hips. There are different types of hip problems and I suppose one type is having your hips spread too far apart and if that's the case than a narrow twist would help. But for me, when I'm riding a saddle with a narrow twist, my hips begin to hurt after three or four hours in the saddle and it's because the narrow twist takes the downward pressure delivered by my upper body off the thighs and groin and on to the hips. Another factor effecting hip pain is the radically sloped seat. A flat seat is better for hips, I'm sure of it. Also radically forward stirrups as in hunt seat saddles or some plantation saddles are bad for old hips. The most hip friendly saddle I've ridden is the Torsion treeless. I have Fjords and a wide backed fox trotter and the treeless does put alot of pressure on my thighs but little on my hips. I also ride an About the Horse Western Trail that has a wide twist. Of course, everybody's body is different and my discoveries re the narrow twist may apply only to me, who knows, but if your problem is sore hips and you've found that the narrow twists don't help, you might want to move away from them. R.J. Stewart
Kirk Douglas, Vikings and Fords
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Ibm sure a lot of you on this list have seen the Fjord horses in the old Kirk Douglas movie, the Vikings. Ibd like to pose a couple of questions re the Fjords in that flick. A. How do they look re the discussion on what a Fjord should really look like. Keep in mind the movie was made in 1957. B. Kirkbs horse in the flick has a very bushy mane. I think it looks great. Why are Americans so uptight about how the fjord mane should be trimed. Thanks. RJ Stewart
Re: San Diego County Fjords for Sale
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I really do believe I have the perfect horse for your mother. 8 year old mare, Tindra. 14.2. She's a sweetheart. Drives, rides, neck reins, etc. She's a beautiful horse. Circumstances are focing my hand. It breaks my heart to part with her but to the right home I could let her go for 5000. Considering her training and breeding that is an extremely good deal. Where in San Diego county are you located? RJ Stewart
San Diego County Fjords for Sale
This message is from: [EMAIL PROTECTED] I too live in San Diego County and own three Norgwegian Fjords. They're beautiful and we love them but my son is very ill and we need to down size our herd (we have 5 horses right now) because of time limitations. So I'm selling the three Fjords. They're all trained to ride and drive and all are so sweet. I'm located in Chihuahua Valley off the 79 a little north of Warner Springs. I'll gladly give more details to whoever is interested. RJ Stewart
