I'm in the process of trying to convince DH that a pony is doable for us. We rent land 5 mins away from home ( by car) for sheep and have more than enough for a pony as well. DH is self employed in agriculture and visits the land at least once a day, and is there all day sometimes working. Im a SAMH ( possibly returning to work part time next year) to two under 2. The problem is he is a typical farmer and is wise to the (expensive,"field destroying" !) ways of horses.. so im struggling a little. I (and DC's) visit the land regularly and it breaks my heart that we could easily (IMO!) have a pony there. DH is knowledgable about horses, had his own as a kid, so could easily feed, check pony if i was unable to.
Pony would have to live out ( with rugs, shelter etc) but we have buildings for stabling if required. So tell me please how you manage your grass kept ponies (with kids!). How much time do you spend just sorting them out, doing the basics in winter?How much do you spend on hay/feed etc? I am looking at natives from about 13.3 upwards ( DH doesn't know obviously!).
I'm just trying to build my case at the moment, he's not opposed completely and appreciates that if the DC's like horses he's stuffed and there will be ponies, but he just won't agree to me having one, yet :(
sorry this is long and i'm waffling! x
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tell me about your routines for grass kept ponies please...
ruckoff · 18/04/2012 15:32
Would the pony be kept alone?
They much prefer abit of company being herd animals, so is there a possibility of a friend sharing the field too. Although sheep are better than nothing. But something to think about.
I have had a New forest who lived out. Checked twice daily.
In the winter,(twice a aday) chuck hay over , check water, pony, rugs, fencing etc. Possibly can be done in 15-20 mins depending on how far away field is from hay storage etc and how well you have your routine sorted.
As for kids, they make everything harder work. It will take longer, kids will want to stay and play with the ice 
mud etc. But it can be done!
As for the cost of hay. It varies year by year and who you get it from. You could be spending up to £7 a bale 
but if you look around then it should come in cheaper than that. A 13.3 pony would probably get by on 2-3 bales a week, again depending on the weather and grass etc.
Unless the pony is ridden I find that most native type manage compleatly fine without any hard feed, but sometimes it is nice to give them a bit extra. That's up to you.
Feet will need doing every 8-12 weeks, I would compleatly recommend bare foot. Cheaper and better for said pony. My farrier used to charge £15 for a trim.
Our new forest lives out with a field shelter. Routine is:
Dd1 goes and checks on him in the morning and probably gives him a tiny hard feed (even though I have told her not to and that he doesn't need it ). He wears a rug and she checks it and changes it if it is soaked. Checks his water. Fusses over him.
We bought 10 bales of hay in November and still have 6 left!
In the holidays she spends most of the day with him riding etc.
When she is at school I check him early evening late afternoon, don't do anything, just go and say hi.
Our paddock is currently divided into two with an electric fence so we are resting the other half.
He really doesn't need either the rugs or the hard feed but it is quite nice for dd1 to have soemthing to do with him. He is 6 and a good doer.
To be honest, he's easy (famous last words...)
Dpony is a welsh cross 13hh and lives out all year round.She is rugged in the cold and wet ,mainly for our convenience so she can be ridden.She has hedges and trees,but no shelter and will not be stabled.This year it was late Jan before we had to feed hay,but by the end of last month she was getting through 1 1/2 bales a week.We bought hay straight from the field at £2.80 a bale and loaded and stacked it ourselves .
Three weeks ago we turned her out into a fresh paddock,but only overnight as I don't want her getting fizzy or laminitic.She is 1 field away from our house and I go down in the morning to put her back in the starvation paddock,then down again after school for the dds to ride,then she has her tea whilst I poo pick and she is back into her new paddock overnight.She has no company at the minute,as we can't find a suitable pony,but she has some beast next to her whom she likes and was kept with goats before we bought her.
On the day she isn't ridden,it takes me 5 minutes in the morning,and about 15 minutes at night.The dds are 8 and 6 and if they poo pick it takes a lot longer and they are a bit slapdash,so I usually do it whilst they play in the menage.
My dad is a farmer and doesn't like horses,I've yet to meet a farmer who does.
thank you all! i grew up riding native ponies who got fat thrived at altitude, in all weather,on very little on a moutnainside, so im hopeful that if DP ever materialises that he/she will have a similar constitution! DH has had experience of sports horses, hunter types who were kept in and needed more looking after, im trying to get him to see that keeping hardy natives is a different ball game ( as long as they don't get ill/hurt...) but he's still being stubborn....
On the plus side im back riding a friends horse after a 2 year break, and it is brill, this horse is too far away for me to ride more than every couple of weeks, but will do very nicely until i force persuade my husband! there aren't any decent riding schools within 25 miles of us, we live in a very un-horsey area!
we don't have a very set routine either, both out all the time now (one had to live in for a while because of bog burn) pony is neither rugged nor fed and he's still fat, horse has a tiny feed (just to deliver supplements) and rug check/change whenever - after school usually, am trying to spend more time brushing them instead of just getting straight on when I bring them in 
daughter spends almost all her time there at weekends, evenings and holidays if she possibly can but we are a bit spoilt because the water is automatic, all winter the farmer kept the haylage rack full and the field is too big to poo pick (plus am scared of the cow who shares it) so gets harrowed as and when - there is little actual work, I do ride round the perimeter every so often to check for escape routes, sometimes they go in the field next door to kick play with the sheep!
love how easy living out is but it was quite nice to do the mucking out/cosy bed thing too for a while :)
Natives the way to go ..... I have a welsh d and a 1/2 shire . they share fields with another welshie and a dales.
Summer routine is easy peasy really ..... if not riding then we just give a check over, put fly stuff on, give handful of chaff with vits ( they are are on restricted grazing) , move the leccy fence and poo pick . NOt every day but do do tasks like clean out trough/ check fencing etc if got more time.
Winter is the bugbear due to frozen poos , frozen drinking water, hay to be put out, feet need more checking, hard feed done ( two of them getting a bit older) and one has a rug when weather gets real bad. At the worst of the winter had to take water from my house miles away in large containers to the field ( that is however rare lol)
Children do of course slow up the whole process 
even when they are being "helpful"......
Hay in our area is £4 .50 a bale but i Have heard of friends in east and southern england paying up to £8 a bale when hay was in short supply.
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