We're Getting Goats! 

Penny knows that Gabby is the leader. Horses need a partnership where they can trust the rider.

Laura, I think maybe you are a bit confused about being relaxed and sitting straight when riding. Yes you need to be both, but relaxed doesn’t mean limp. You have to remember that your horse is moving under your seat, so when sitting straigt, you also have to move ( =you can’t be stiff, or you are telling your horse to slow down). Hold yourself up and follow the movement of your horse with your body. If it’s difficult, maybe try do some mobility exercises! Hope this helps 😊

Why don't you drive the truck and trailer? Just imagine the freedom you will have to be able to go whenever you want. And when Sam has his knees done you can keep on riding.

You simply can't have Chino living in mud. He has hoof problems enough already. The ideal thing would be to lay screenings and then sand or footing. You would have a chance to grade it as well so you could eliminate standing water and lakes at the gate and enterance to the barn. You could also grade it agaisnt the barn so water runs away and lessens the chance for flooding. I know you know mud is an enemy!

To check western saddle fit: 1. Put the saddle on bareback 2. Find the end of your horses shoulder and put your hand on it 3. Then pick up your horses front leg while holding the back of their shoulder. It is best to do this with 2 people. Be sure to hold the same leg and shoulder 4. Take note of where her shoulder ends with the saddle on 5. Remove the saddle and see how far back her shoulder goes without the saddle The saddle should not effect how far her shoulders go back. If it does than your saddle is too narrow.

Hello there! Little goat owning tip, dont feed the goats feed on the ground, always use a little pan. Parasites / worms can occure if you feed on the bare ground! Goodluck with your goats!

Laura, I can't wait for your class. Penny might not like being at a strange barn. Hope she doesn't think you are getting rid of her. Take treats for her! If memory serves me correctly; the arch of the pommel should be directly over the highest point of the horses withers. The saddle will go behind the shoulder blades. You know how it's done. Good luck!

You need to get a gaited horse saddle, it will leave her shoulders free so she can gait without any rubbing. The Western saddle you have is on right it's just not good for Penny. Also, you can sit up straight and not be tense. Just imagine that there is a rope holding your back straight and the rest of your body is relaxed.

Laura relax your sitting stiff everywhere. You can sit uo tall can still be relaxed just enjoy riding and stop trying to make sure everything is perfect just have fun.

As someone who has ample experience with laminitis horses, the rehab takes a long time. The walls of the hoof need AT LEAST a year to completely renew themselves through growth and that is counting from the moment your horse has successfully overcome a spell of laminitis and is sound again. So ideally, even if your horse is 100% sound after a bout of laminitis, you'd wait a full year to ride them again because it takes time for the internal structures to be securely embedded again and for the outer angles to adept to the new position of the coffin bone/for your ferrier to undertake frequent, gentle corrective trims to correct the angles. If the horse is obese, it might make sense to start training before a year is over (in addition to a new diet, of course) to help weight-loss along and eliminate the cause. However, in any case, starting to ride your horse within weeks of overcoming laminitis, even if completely sound, is very risky and likely to backfire. PS: Sophie and Storm looked fantastic in the show hack. Makes me wonder why she never frames him when she's riding him English at home. They make a good team, Storm is definitely the right horse for Sophie so long as she doesn't want to jump him. Regarding your seat, I think the problem is not that you're sitting up too straight, but that you are tense in the hips. You want an engaged (but not tense) core and relaxed legs with hips that follow the horse's movements. My hunch is that your hips and legs are too tight, gripping the horse and blocking its movements, that would also explain why Penny moves forward freely under Gabby but doesn't under you.

For the girth, generally the girth straps (when girth is undone and done up) are supposed to hang straight down over the girth area, otherwise the saddle may move during work. Obviously it's hard to see these things through a video, so this might be irrelevent haha, but I thought I'd share just in case! If you're really unsure about the fit of the saddle then I would highly recommend getting a specilised western saddle fitter out to check it, even if it just takes the worry away! If Penny isn't showing any signs of discomfort then that's usually a good sign that the saddle fit is okay for the time being, but alays good to be on the safe side! :))))

Hi Laura, in a western saddle the concho on the front of the saddle should sit behind the shoulder blade, if your girth isn’t lining up in the girth groove you may need an anotomic girth . Seems like the girth you have my be affecting the way your saddle fits. Go on line and look for a a girth that is anatomically correct for her( usually bigger part under the sternum ) that should help. If your saddle is moving foward or backwards at all during riding the saddle does not fit. The front of the saddle should match her shoulders angle( not the either angle but the shoulder angle) to ensure she can rotate her shoulders up and back under the gullet the saddle) saddle fitting is a whole can of worms for sure lol

Yay for old lady night it sounds great, and you have so much land I’d be like sorry goats I’m using all these fields for a cross country course 😂

Laura relax your back and tighten your stomach like your bracing to be punched. That's what my coach tells me to do. Shoulders back hands down lol. Let your hips move with penny's body.

For chino you can get him something called a munch and dune. It's a mesh grazing muzzle but you will need to have a halter on.

The saddle is to far forward. Shouldn't be over her shoulder blades it hinders movement. I know this from having issues with my horse an saddle being to far forward made his shoulders sore Which caused all kinds of issues body wise. Had to be adjusted by chiro an 10 days off.

Your Sada looks good to me some people will pull their western saddles back an inch if they feel that they’re in closing on their shoulders but I always go with the rule the saddle pad should come to the midpoint of the shoulder so if it was a line it be drawing a line down the middle of the shoulder and usually your western saddles when you set them on your horse he just got a slightly rocket a little bit and not set themselves in the place good luck use are doing amazing❤

For penny you should get a gaited specific saddle they make them. You have the saddle on correct for sure. I don’t know much about gaited. You should just have a fun ride where you stop thinking so much and if you have to go bare back do it you can put a bare back pad do it it will not effect her at all. Goats sound so fun make sure you do lots of research on current research for goats and don’t get them impulsively. Gabby is a good instructor since she does have a job as far as I know you could pay her you train Sophie in back to teach her some more responsibilities with money and that sort of stuff.

Laura, you need to learn how to drive the truck and trailer yourself so you can take your horse places without relying on Sam! What if one of your horses is sick or injured and needs to go to the vet hospital for care and Sam isn't around to do it. It is a valuable skill for all equestrians to learn. My dad is even teaching me to drive the truck and trailer so I can do it myself when I move out. If you're scared about having a horse in there start with it empty and just drive around a parking lot you until you feel ready to go out on the road.

Gaited horses need gaited saddles. Least that's what I've been told. Mines 5 gaited. So I can use a normal western saddle

Gabby would make a good riding instructor. Because she does good for Sophie so I feel like Gabby would make a awesome riding instructor

Im soo in love with your new farm and all its land!! It really has the potential to be something very special for gabby and sophia as they grow into their older teens! Love the old ladie classes only i wouldnt class you as an oap 😂😂 cant we rename it 'mature ladies lessons' cant wait to see, it sounds so much fun! ❤ I all 10000000% vote for the goats 😊

I had goats for a little while just be prepared that when you think you’ve got something close then they will get out of it they are the biggest escape artist I’ve ever seen in my life and the first thing they do is eat your garden and walk all over your car lol

I love goats...as long as someone else owns them 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

What if you used the barn with the horse stalls as a winter horse barn? It seems to have better insulation.

Find a western/4-h show normally they have open divisions and they have some gated western pleasure, trail, and showmanship classes that would fun to do

Ur cinch with gaited horses is supposed to be further back then with non gated horses so they can have better shoulder movement

Forgot to add about your riding. Gabby is riding Penny the way you should. You need to just relax, you are to tense. You don't need to sit straight. I ride Western and have for over 40 years and ride my horses Western. They are reign trained, left means right and right means left. So they know what i am asking from them. She is your please horse for riding. I'm sure Gabby could be your trainer 😅

Also goats won’t eat grass, they will only every eat grass if they’re are absolutely no weeds left. Goats hate grass.

15:02 Um, all those tall plants are overwhelming insanity!!!! I just want to get rid of all of the plants except grass. Oh wait, I'm just thinking about my own mess that needs to get mowed down! I I Mowing is like never done (except Winter)! Are you thinking goats will take care of your weed eating??? It's insane to me that goats can actually eat poison ivy with no ill effects.

Where are you going to put all the hay? My suggestion is to NOT put it in the same area as the stalls, find somewhere else in another barn. I have another barn where it's all stored. There have been a few barn fires not far from me that had the hay stored where horses were, unfortunately many horses parished.

Some dressage shows will offer a western dressage class and/ or a gaited dressage class. You and Sophie would have fun doing that.

I hope you guys get the goats 🐐 Laura. It will make great addition to the new farm. All my 💗💗💗❤ to all.

You should get a saddle fitter out

The black & white goat in the picture looks like the mini that my little grand used to have. That goat loved me & called me Nana. 😉 Spoiled rotten! All of my life growing up & after I left home my daddy had goats. He loved raw goat milk.

I have goats, they are NOT easy keepers. They require a lot more maintenance than horses, they have to be worked every 4 weeks, if they get sick you have 24 hours before it becomes serious and goats will hide it. Would recommend getting weathered, (casterated male) because they aren’t gonna smell bad like bucks will. And does will come into heat and have no need for does if you won’t breed them. Don’t get bottle babies, they are horrible for first time goat owners. I’ve had goats for over 10 years and raise show quality Nigerains and Nubians.

One thing I noticed or at least in seemed like it from my perspective, is Sophie's stirrups seemed short. If she is doing flat then the longer her legs sit on the horse the better her posture and balance will be. Just a suggestion I know we all feel comfortable in different ways.

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAY IM SO EXCITED FOR YOUR GOATS ❣️🥰❣️ Can't wait to meet them ❤❤❤ I just picked up collars for my two goats tonight in case they happen to get out I want them to have name tags like the dogs 😊❤

It does look like a bell on the barn

Well done Laura , for old lady night , and keep up with it ,

I have a TWH. My saddle is a haired one. Imus is the brand. Your saddle looks a little forward🤷‍♀️. Hard to tell with not being there.

Tornado warnings .. stay safe!!

Your saddle looks to far forward

Great video!! See ya's in the next one!! ❣❤❤❤❤❣

Horses definitely get on well with goats. I've known goat accompanying race horse before.

Can't wait to see, storm, penny, chino, willow, Gracie and honey at the new horse farm.

YOU are very tence Laura not yr vault but drop yr hands a bit and put yr weight down into yr heal its like if you trying to stop someone from pushing you over I learnt this doing marsh arts yr gravity must go into yr feet but Rome wasn't built in a day

How about beef or dairy cows? Like one each? Jersey and Turn says are friendlier than most. Not real big.

Dad had Farm all anD John Deere tractors.

Could we see your daughters ride penny?

Little dog funny. swim then dirt

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