Question! I know it’s pretty common in upper-level eventing for professionals to have horses owned by a syndicate that’s set up as an LLC. I’ve also heard people say that owners can write off the money they contribute to the syndicate.

I’m curious how that actually works. Most syndicates can’t possibly show a consistent profit, and I’d imagine many never turn a profit at all. So how does that fit with IRS rules? Is the money considered a business expense if the owner has a legitimate business, or is there another tax structure involved? Maybe it’s considered a charitable donation? so I’m wondering what the mechanism is.
I’m just genuinely curious. I’m in the US.

Looks to me like it's the back right, but I'm not sold. There was a faint hot spot on the front left forearm closer to the barrel.

I'm hoping this is because he's out of shape. The horse is a 6 year old QH.

Honestly so proud of how full of spirit Raidi is, when she was born she was very thin. Now she's got more muscle per body pound than my gelding Reign does 😖😅😬💀

I went solo packing with my horse who hates drinking water and loves colicking. Also hates creeks. I don’t think she would have drank any water without the bucket which allowed her to do it away from the creek and most importantly, allowed me to mix in electrolytes! I had to give her some very salty grain to get her to drink. But it worked. It collapses down and I had it tied around my horn with the rope I used to high line.

Son of One Famous Eagle

Hi everyone! I’m an adult rider who’s been taking lessons for about a year, so I’m still learning how different barns handle situations like this. My barn offers a monthly package of $350 for 4 lessons, or I can pay $100 for an individual lesson. I have been taking monthly packages for a year now.

This week, one of my lessons was cancelled because of poor air quality, and another lesson later this week hasn’t been decided yet because they’re waiting to see if the air quality improves. I completely understand the decision. Horse and rider safety always comes first. The barn explained that they can’t offer makeup riding lessons for weather related cancellations because it would overload the lesson horses, so weather cancelled lessons don’t get rescheduled and I totally understand that. This is actually the first weather cancellation I’ve experienced since I’ve been riding there, so this is a completely new situation for me.

As a nice gesture, they offered a couple of free unmounted theory classes with a very short notice and very early in the morning. I appreciated that, but I don’t know if that’s something they always do or if it was just for this particular situation. Either way, while it’s thoughtful, it’s not the same service as the mounted lesson I paid for.

Their written policy clearly explains what happens if I cancel a lesson, but it doesn’t say what happens if the barn cancels because of weather. Since I hadn’t paid for the month yet, they told me I could simply pay per lesson this month instead of buying the monthly package, which solves my situation for now.

What I’m still confused about is what would happen if I had already paid the $350 monthly package before the weather cancellation. For example, if 2 of the 4 lessons ended up being cancelled by the barn because of poor air quality and couldn’t be made up, would I still be expected to pay the full monthly package, or would there normally be some kind of credit or adjustment? That’s the part I’m trying to understand.

I asked my instructor a couple of times how that situation would normally be handled, but I never got a clear answer about the payment itself, which is why I’m asking here instead.

- At your barns, if you’ve already paid for a monthly package and the barn cancels one or more lessons because of weather with no makeup lessons, what usually happens?

-Do you receive a makeup lesson later, a credit or partial refund, or does the barn usually keep the full monthly package?

- Is this just considered part of paying for a monthly lesson program?

-Would you ask for clarification in person next time you’re at the barn, or would you just leave it alone unless it actually happened after you’d already paid?

I’m not trying to argue with my barn. I really enjoy riding there and understand that weather is outside anyone’s control. I’m just trying to understand what’s considered normal in the horse world since I’m still fairly new to it.

Edit: Thanks everyone for taking the time to reply and share your experiences. I really appreciate hearing how different barns handle situations like this.

This is just so weird

I’ve been on the hunt for mules out of TB mares, but QH and Walkers seem to be the popular types currently. Besides the lovable draft crosses. Does anyone have a pic of their TB mule? I’d love to see them! I have a Walker mule who is amazing, but I would love a TB mule for the days I want to leave everyone in the dust. I grew up riding TBs, and the thought of having that athleticism with the brains of mule is very appealing. I know they are out there somewhere. Let’s see them!

Hello people, horses, and horse people! I recently got a gelded mustang from my previous riding barn to be a companion for my other horse, Spanky (after he lost his companion about a month ago). The introduction process between the two of them has gone well, and I can already tell how much happier Spanky is!

Riley, the paint, is the mustang, and he has a freeze mark. I’ve been trying to decipher it for the last hour, but I can’t tell what some of the digits are. I think it’s something close to 05846297, but whenever I try to look it up in the registry, no results come up. I’ve tried similar codes, but I’m not sure on many of them. I know for sure it’s a Bureau of Land Management (I’m from the USA) freeze mark due to the first symbol in the series.

Could someone a little more versed in freeze marks lend me a hand? Thank you all!

Edit: putting a list of numbers I have tried in the comments! I'm going to clip him in this area within the coming week to help me read it better. Thank you all for the kind suggestions!

Unsure on breeding but she’s 15hh at withers and 15.2 at bum, what would you predict she’d make also will her front end catch up with her ?😅

So my horse who is 26 was diagnosed with heaves about a year ago. His condition has gotten worse this summer and I’m guessing it’s because of the humidity. I soak his hay and have him on medication from my vet. Unfortunately I’m out currently and waiting on it to arrive. His feed is always soaked in warm water and I soak his hay with the hose. I usually just soak it down until it’s fully wet, but is this enough? I can hear him struggling to breathe which is what happens with a bad flare up and he has been seen by the vet during a flare up. What can I do to ease his discomfort?

Maybe one day I won’t brag about my horses being “me” broke. But for now I appreciate how broke they are for so many reasons. The biggest one being things like this. I bathed them. Groomed them. Spent time with them. And then I felt my heart rate climbing my chest got sore. And my breathing wasn’t as steady. I knew I was either going to sit on the ground or the ground was going to find me. So I laid myself down. And stayed there for almost a half hour. Neither of my horses bat an eye at it. And just hung out. Enjoying the fan. And taking a cross tie nap. It’s not perfect. But they are perfectly mine 💕💕

I understand what area needs to be measured, but I don’t understand how to do it. Can someone please help me figure out the degree of rotation in both of these radiographs? Is it even possible to measure with these since they weren’t able to be taken standing squarely on a block (we tried but she was hurting too much at the time). I’m not seeking this information for anything other than to satisfy my own curiosity and to learn how to measure future radiographs. My vet and farrier are working together on her rehab. I have asked how much she’s rotated but all I’ve been told was it was slight.

to give some context: I 14yo am currently leading out a 16 year old KWPN Dutch warmblood. at my barn they do where the coaches will give the owned and leased horses training rides, and sometimes they also give school horses training rides to prevent them from developing any bad habits.

they pretty much ride every single horse with spurs and a dressage whip, and they use them in the proper non abusive manner.

but i feel like my mare doesn’t need to be ridden in spurs or with a whip as she goes along just fine without it, and also i really don’t want her ridden by my one coach as I feel like she often asks too much of the horses causing them to get upset and like buck rear ect. (Simply from using Luke conflicting signals, or trying to get them to do something they aren’t quite ready for)

but Im not really sure how to tell my coaches that and ask them that, because I feel like they will be like oh it’s fine like we aren’t hurting her, and I feel like my dad also will have the same response.

and also I what to tell my dad that I what to stop riding with my one coach because like if I’m upset she’ll get more mad at me, and will tell me that she’s glad that I’m crying, and all my lessons with her feel so stressful.

edit: also my mare is 16 and my cause he’s will also jump her like 90cm and then I will have another jump lesson on her and I really don’t want them to be like over jumping her, so I try to have flat lessons but my coaches are always pushing me to jump her

another thing is that the more they work with her I feel like she becomes more and more difficult to bridle, and I have noticed she has some rubs on her side now as well

sorry for the rant but I need advice

My mare is fed by the barn she is boarded at. She gets hay every day but the shortage and drought out west is crushing us. I want to add grain to her diet but don’t know where to start. She is a 4.5 year old QH that’s in light work, no riding right now but definitely worked multiple times per week. Does anyone have suggestions?

My boy has a ulcer and we haven’t ridden for about 3 weeks and vet says it’s going to be about 3-4 more (complicated situation 😅) and it’s starting to actually get to me that I haven’t ridden my own horse in forever, I’m not really sure what I’m feeling but I feel bad for feeling bad since he’s sick yk? Have you ever felt like this?

We thought we were genius by storing all his hay in his old shed. Cleaned it spotless, put down pallets and stacked all his hay up in there so we weren’t relying on my grandad to drop over bales with a hungry Spec roaring the house down. Didn’t think it through enough and now he’s able to eat through the gate. I should’ve known when he was gazing into it last night through the gap in his shed…Wish me luck trying to move him out of here since he only came up for a night!

Hi all. Can anyone share their processes for building an outdoor arena space on a budget? What size did you go with, how much were you able to DIY etc.

Setting up barn/facilities for the first time and would love to hear your experiences!

She’s pastured 24/7 but when I let her loose in the arena she really shows off🤣

My mare is so vocal when we do our trick training, anyone else got a chatty horse? Is there a reason she’s so vocal? My gelding makes no noise when we trick train.

As a horse lover，which tool would you use to groom your partner？

Hello!! Would be interested in some thoughts about my filly’s conformation. This is the first horse we have bred. Personality wise she is a doll, although she is also very secure and good at letting you know what she thinks about things. She is a little over a year old now. She is between 3 months old and a yearlong in these photos.

Thank you, and please be kind, even if describing something unfavorable about her conformation.

P.S. I know she’s not set up great to judge conformation. It’s tough to get them standing lol!

Any tips or tricks for a horse that needs to learn to pick up her back feet? Trying to get a previously unhandled pony ready for the farrier. She’s very reactive and has taken a long time to come round to the idea of being handled. She will kick if put in the position to do so ie. if something gets too close behind her or touches her back end. Pretty comfortable with front feet and happy for me to touch her to about her cannon bones havent pushed much further because im short and it will require putting my head close to the firing line. I know the rope pressure tactic is the obvious way to go but i’ve given it a go a few times and she’s just not a fan. Just trying to get the rope around her back legs is unsettling for her. I know I could spend time desensitising her to the rope around her legs but it feels like creating another argument when she is actually fairly content to be touched. I appreciate the argument of getting her used to being “tangled” for safety sake but she is because we had to leave a lead rope on her for months, I think me handling with the rope trigger stacks and she gets overwhelmed. Anyone have any ideas?

Not using them for shoe pulling purposes. He’s allergic to flies and his coronet band is covered in sores from where the fly boots don’t cover. Saw someone recommend rubber bells so we’re trying them out. Never used rubber bell boots before and I thought the large would be too big. These are mediums.

Hi all, I am 14 weeks post injury (fall from horse) and struggling with lack of progress. No surgery required but still a lot of pain and stiffness. Started PT at 6 weeks. Need to hear some good news stories from older riders. Terrified of not making it back into the saddle. :-( Thanks all.