Bridles & Books

Devin (me) talks about horses. I'm a collegiate equestrian with a B.S. in equine science and working on a M.S. in horse science. I'm happily owned by a pony named Kaiser, and interested in all things equine.

[bridlesandbooks]

A friend and her cute pony, a national show horse, taking on their first crossrail hunter classes. Love them. ❤👏🏼👌🏼🐎

[craigslisthorses]

i love TWHs but i don't know much about their breeding history. do you know of any resources about it? like lineage prominent in performance/big lick versus country pleasure, grade TWHs, the "forefathers" of modern day TWHs, and so on! is there a horse one can find in many TWHs the way you'd find Secretariat or Impressive? thank you very much!!

Inbreeding/line breeding is really prominent in the TWH just like TB’s and stock horses. You’ll see Pride’s Generator, Midnight Sun, Pride of Midnight, and a few other classic horses in about every pedigree you see. 

Houdini’s pedigree (90%) we know the sire, just unable to get him tested because the stud was never DNA’ed /-.- 

Like, he’s very linebred but more in the later generations. Still got his club feet from Pride’s Generator tho. 

This is the pedigree of the top leading sire in the industry, sire of 4X consecutive WGC I am Jose. Note the linebreeding in him as well. But his babies are exceptional and very level headed. Jose produces exceptional offspring in both padded performance and flatshod so he’s an all around sire. 

There isn’t really a particular stud who’s babies do better in one division over the other. People seem to breed to The Dixie Lineman, Hocus Pocus Jazz, Deal for Real, and Jose for some good flatshod babies but that’s because all those studs deliver a hell of a back end and that’s what flatshod people want. 

 People breed for very loose horses, which produces a back end like shown here-  (A Dixie Lineman baby)

But unfortunately breeding for a horse that is TOO loose has given the TWH an issue with wobbles. I’ve seen cases where it has gotten so bad the horse had to be PTS due to it’s condition/they stumble and walk like they have EPM. 

Some Pictures of the older “legends” of the breed (aka in every pedigree) 

Pride’s Generator- Sire of the year for 7 straight years (Jose Jose recently passed him in the amount of offspring that has been produced which is over 2,000 .-.)

Midnight Sun-

Hey an actual video of him too 

Jose Jose- Today’s leading sire

an overall site of information, classic walking horses, the entire list of all the WGC’s since Strolling Jim, and all sorts of information- TWH Resource 

more articles- 

Pride Of Midnight 

Gaitedhorses.net

TWHBEA (conformation, gait, class types, ect)

Breed History 

Sorry, I get so into the TWH subject sometimes haha but if you ever want to know a horses full pedigree lemme know, i got full access to Ipeds haha

[bridlesandbooks]

Wobbler's syndrome is caused by compression/malformation of vertebrae in the neck and has nothing to do with a loose hind end. It's caused by trauma, rapid growth, or developmental malfunction that cause spinal cord damage in the cervical vertebrae. The most recent research is leaning towards a genetic cause (inbreeding or linebreeding) being what predisposes certain breeds (TWH but also TBs and QHs) to developing wobblers.

[horseblrpositivity]

If you’re a horse blog

I know there’s about exactly one thousand of these, but please reblog this post. Trying to set up a nice, sweet little corner of horseblr to celebrate the successes of the community. I need to follow everyone :D

[mother-of-friesians]

for everyone!!! heads up! 

[forests-in-neverland]

Aw yay! I haven’t actually seen one of these blogs before!

[bridlesandbooks]

Nothing more peaceful than a trail ride in the shade by the lake. Miss these people, these horses, this place. Camp Walden 2016

[bridlesandbooks]

He holds my whole heart. ❤️

[bridlesandbooks]

I have a Master's in Horse Science now. It's weird. We'll see how it goes.

[bridlesandbooks]

My three favorite horses, at least at MTSU. Plus they love each other which is nice. On the left is Tico, a young warm blood with a lot of potential and a tendency to scare off most of the collegiate riders with baby antics. But one of the most comfortable horses I've ever ridden. In the middle is Kai, of course. And on the right, Bandit. Supposedly a breeding stock paint with papers but looks more like a Trojan horse complete with stand up mane - super adorable, super talented, super green. Will try anything you ask him to!

[bridlesandbooks]

Rides on my two favorite camp horses while I was helping prep horses for camper & staff arrival. This isn't going to be my home for the summer sadly, but it holds a piece of my heart and some of my dearest friends. Left - "gallop" (she's not that fast) trail on Muffin. We're getting left behind, lol. It's the best a welsh cob cross who is as wide as she is tall can do, I suppose. 😂😭😍 Right - Trail ride on Piebald. He's a quarter horse according to the owner but since I've gotten him to gait before I'm quite convinced he's part gaited horse - he's got that look to him. Oh and he's not piebald, he's a palomino pinto. We suck at naming.

[bridlesandbooks]

Devin & Kaiser Spring 2016

Our crowning achievement? Well I hope not but it’s the highest we’ve ever jumped. I’m proud to have taken this dude from “can’t trot xrails at 9 years old” to “fearlessly hopping over 3'6”, even if it’s been a slow process filled with lots of other obstacles.

[theruby-redmare]

Loch Moy Cross Derby, 3/13/16

[app-uh-latch-un]

It’s so alarming to me that we let children use gag bits etc

[ridingthegraintrain-blog]

I’m pretty sure that’s Courtney Sendak’s old advanced pony. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was pretty hot over fences.

[app-uh-latch-un]

Shouldn’t be in the hands of a child then.

[pelham-bits]

Why? There is no proof from this photo that she is misusing this bit, and if a horse is hot on cross country, you absolutely have to be able to control them, child or adult. It’s literally dangerous to put a strong horse in a soft bit just because it is being ridden by a child. There are also many children who have being riding practically since birth and could outride many adult riders any day of the week, so age is kind of irrelevant when it comes to what kind of horse she should be riding or what bit she should be using. It’s all about ability.

[equii-obsessed-deactivated20180]

@horsblr salt 

[horsblr]

I’d say it’s also dangerous to put a horse that is known for being strong in the hands of a child. Gags should always be used with two reins. To use only one on the gag is obvious misuse. No matter what bit you’re using, you should always use it correctly. In this case, I’d more blame the parents/trainer than the child, and I don’t care how soft your hands are. If you can’t ride with two reins on a strong horse, don’t use a gag (or ride a strong horse). 

[bridlesandbooks]

This bit is not intended for use with two reins... It's intended for use exactly as is, and it's actually very much a passive aid - if the horse doesn't pull hard against it, it will be soft like a regular snaffle and if they pull, it will offer the leverage to pull back. Some horses depending on training, temperament, and shape of mouth, go well in these bits. It's still more humane than a "simple" twisted wife snaffle.

[acircuitdiaries]

My biggest pet peeve is misused polo wraps.

Either do them correctly or not at all. They are great support for tendons but when applied wrong or used in the wrong situation they can be deadly for a horse. 

Please note this IS NOT a tutorial on how to polo wrap. It is just some things I see from people who think they know how to wrap but do some things wrong. I’m not claiming to be a professional wrapper and I know everyone uses wraps differently but I think these are pretty general rules.

The only way to learn how to polo wrap is in real life with someone watching and pointing out your mistakes, because I guarantee that you will make them when learning to wrap. Watching videos or reading articles is helpful but not a substitute for an actual knowledgable person. 

Okay rant over :)

[bridlesandbooks]

I agree with this post except the bit about not using polis for turnout. They can protect from interference in the pasture just like under saddle, and are often used in turnout situations. Obviously you have to keep an eye on them to make sure they stay wrapped properly but for short periods of time in reasonable weather/field conditions that is A-okay.

[swedishdressage]

Just saw someone in a Facebook group ask about a “deworming schedule”…

…. ………

“Schedule”?? You take a poop sample 4 times a year and deworm if necessary Jesus.

[dressageworkingstudent]

I think North Americans tend to be more proactive than reactive when it comes to medicating etc. When I was working for the Olympian, we would deworm on a schedule and sometimes an extra bit if the horse shows signs of having worms.

It’s a weird thing but it’s also more effective for controlling worms etc at boarding barns here where you have lots of horses coming and going and lots of owners who don’t necessarily know the specifics of deworming. It’s easier for barn owners to say “deworm your horse this week please” than to have say 60 owners all pull fecal samples etc.

[swedishdressage]

We did 94 horses with fecal samples actually, at the centre I worked at. Barn manager did the rounds herself.

It’s very, very frustrating to hear how nonchalant and random deworming is treated elsewhere when we are working so, so hard to prevent drug resistance here so there actually will exist deworming agents that work in the future as well. It’s not proactive, it’s undermining! Just the fact that people give deworming drugs without even knowing if the horse has worms to begin with? Just casually popping it in there, and they are strong drugs too! Not very good for digestive systems… And the poor horses who apparently get them EVERY DAY? Bordering on abuse that.

[dressageworkingstudent]

Whoa, who’s deworming every day??? That’s scary!

I totally understand where you’re coming from and I agree with you. I think it’s excessive. I would rather do samples etc. But North Americans do things differently and sometimes nonsensically.

[swedishdressage]

It’s in the notes, two people knew of horses who got deworming agents in their feed every day! :(

[themarediaries]

whats hard for me is BOTH places i board at have a schedule for deworming. I do fecals. But then they get mad at me for not deworming. But then I’m like but my horse doesnt have worms they just tested a fecal sample??? and yea there are like supplements to put in feed every day and I know a few people who use them. Like why? its going to be way more expensive in the long run. not to mention harmful for the environment and the horse.

[itshomolology]

My problem is that my horse lives in a field with 10+ other horses, it’s not as simple as walking into a stall and taking a sample to send off for fecals.

[themarediaries]

I don’t either but they usually poop when they are tied before or after a ride

[bridlesandbooks]

Ok but no a deworming schedule was commonly advised and also safe and accepted until very recently. It is less accepted now and we are encouraging less use due to concern over developing resistance, but not having a deworming schedule is still a major cause for concern.

Firstly, because a fecal egg count only finds certain types of parasites, and ONLY if you happen to catch the right cycle in your fecal sample and get an accurate count.

Secondly, fecal egg counts aren't accurate unless you are doing them on basically a daily or weekly basis. See above about cycles.

Thirdly, a proper deworming schedule uses many different drugs to A) treat for different types of parasites and B) prevent development of resistance.

So yeah there's science for you and we should consider it before we freak out.

[bridlesandbooks]

Devin & Kaiser February 2015

[sophiestclair]

[bridlesandbooks]

What kind of pad is this?

[bridlesandbooks]

Happy Valentine’s day, Tumblr!

Love, Devin & Kaiser

[bridlesandbooks]

This pony is an absolute blast to ride. I'm so depressed that he's only a medium and we can't use him in our IHSA show this weekend. :( Pony: Gizmo Rider: Me

[ottbs]

( @ally-wilson & kes // x )

[bridlesandbooks]

👌🏼