What is the smallest field you could keep a pony in?

[Enid]

I am seriously thinking of turning part of our garden into a field for a Shetland.

it is small though.

He's stinky, tho .

DD1 likes horses and dogs and all manner of smelly beasts.

I despair.

but you are going to get her some chickens, aren't you?

AREN'T YOU?!

Shetlands are awful for kids, though. Too fat to get their legs over to ride properly, and it will bite the villagers and make you unpopular. And bite the DDs and make them hate ponies forever (aha - that is your secret plan, n'est pas?).

Get rabbits if you want something cute, anti-social and bankrupting.

I love horses

as a child me and my sister used to go to the farm and muck them out and ride on them and generally get filthy and fall off

farmer would not doubt be charged under H&S nowadays...

we begged our dad constantly for a pony and he said no. Probably wanted to say ffs we live in a council house, sod off, where would it go?

oh I love ponies

always wanted one yada yada

cant abide rabbits or the like

I must say I really hate shetlands blu, never met a nice one

even the ones that people say are nice "no, but Pixie is different! such a character! marvellous with children!" are all bad tempered bitey old fleabags

and yes, much too barrel stomached to be comfy to ride

My father wants to buy her two laying hens. He's mad!

I was thinking a hamster or a guinea pig.

Chickens smell, too.

oh we had rabbits

v cute

do you have and iglo or whatever for chickens?

Me and my sister too, oliveoil.

Now I am a confirmed urbanite and she still lives in the country and has a horse.

oh god I erally want your pony pph

will walk out the size of the field tonight

its got fruit trees in - what about all those windfall apples??

I live int eh country

and always bleat on about how I hate it

so am thinking of things that are GOOD about the cuotnry - one is PONIES

Blu, yes!

They are SO bitey!

At first I thought they were cute.

They lull you into a false sense of security and then bite you.

And it hurts.

what you want is to live NEXT to the country

then you get the best of both worlds

Yes, definitely. Have you got other animals already?

shetlands always look like a really good idea for kids but are generally rather bad tempered if I remember rightly. plus all the aforementioned fatness and buggered feet problems.

PPH your pony sounds absolutely gorgeous.

yes the shetland in the village bites

dd1 is superbly brisk about it 'now dont you bite me you horrid old thing' she says fondly

How about a miniature donkey?

Think they are fab and seriously considered breeding them-still one of my dreams.

we have one cat
who I really dislike

would like a dog but...they live IN YOUR HOME so somehow mroe of a pain than a pony

How about a goat or two, Enid?

There are usually some goats kicking about at our house in Ireland and the DSs love them.

Ah I have a shetland who is about 25 years old and she has never shown any signs of nastiness, ever. She lets dd pat her and sit on her and I trust her 99%.
She could live on nothing in the summer,i,e a bare paddock, but has access to 5 acres in the winter, but about 1/2 an acre march till november. She is prone to laminitis, and has to have hooves trimmed regularly.
I would like to add though, that having a pony is a huge responsablilty, and there are cost implications to be considered. If you dont know what type/area/size of paddock is suitable for a shetland, I would question your knowledge of looking after a pony, to be honest, thats not me being nasty just truthfull. Children are notorisouly fickle, and we had pony before dd! and in my opinion, horses should have company. I have 2, and once when my horse went away to the vets for a while my shetland was miserable. Please think carefully about this.

expat you will be such a convert to hens, they are no bother and the eggs are out of this world

and if you hate them, wring their necks and eat them

its a no-lose situation

we have arks for ours (serious fox problem around here)

enid you need to befriend the horsiest woman in your village/school, and get her to come and look at your land and ask her opinion. this will have several benefits

1. horsy women are always very bossy and opinionated and she will be delighted to be able to opine on your land
2. horsy women won't spend 5p on anything if they could spend 4p, so she is bound to think it is all fine and will tell you the bare bones of what you need
3. the only way to get a good pony is to inherit one from someone (or get it on loan). the only people who will know about this are people like the horsy woman. she will bump into fenella crosby-lawrence at the farm shop and say "you know enid has a little patch of ground and three mad keen daughters, why don't you give her Snowy on loan, get him off your hands, you know he hasn't been used since Cordelia went to Heathfield, I know she's looking for something bombproof"

bob's your uncle

rofl

Ooh, you are making me want to move to the country now.

Shame DS1 has a chronic allergy to stables and straw really.

goats have mean little eyes and rabbits are shite pets for kids IMO

ponies rock