Any MNers with horses out there?

[Longlegs1972]

and how do you cope?

I'm getting really down cos I never get the time to spend with mine....

I should add that his limb conformation is superb and considering the state of him, he moves beautifully (does a smashing half pass down the fence line to get more carrots!)He has a nice body shape but a poor neck, no ewe but a bit scrawny. That will improve with time/feed/work I would imagine.

The woman who owns him is (as far as I know) a dealer/breeder at the lower end of the spectrum.

He sounds just like the 3 yo Irish cob we've just bought, also from a small-scale dealer. He'd just been backed, is a lovely big-boned gangly lad with gorgeous paces and very friendly too. The difference is he was in excellent condition although unvaccinated and without a passport. We paid £1500 for him if that is any help.

Hmm. That's more than I was hoping to pay for this chap.
How did you get past him not having a passport? I was under the impression it was illegal to sell without one and subject to up to £5000 fines!

Just looked at your pics again Pixel. Your pony is lovely and he is in far better nick than the ones I'm looking at.

I know, I wondered about the passport as well but we had absolutely no trouble getting him one so he's all legal now. Certainly no-one asked why he didn't already have one. His last owner has been in and out of hospital having chemo (the main reason she sold him) so I suppose she thought she could use that as an excuse if need be.

I will have to try and put some more pictures on as those were taken at the dealer's place when we first saw him. He's already two inches taller and starting to fill out a bit. Also we've pulled his mane and trimmed his tail which looks lovely when it's all brushed out.

£1500 sounds a lot (which is why me and mum went halves) but we were shocked at how much the prices of ordinary horses have shot up. We spent months looking for a nice middle-aged cobby type, temperament more important than looks sort of thing and couldn't find anything for less than £2500 which is mad when you consider that the last pony we actually paid for (other 2 were given to us) was £300 including good quality tack!
On the other hand, I can see why you wouldn't want to pay over the odds for a horse that is probably going to cost you a lot in farrier and vet fees to put right. It sounds like the woman wants reporting for neglect rather that being paid good money but I can see why you don't want to rock the boat if you have your heart set on him. I'd be just the same!

If he's got rampant sweet itch then i'd offer her £500, since it's a beast of a management problem and will make him v. hard to sell, and expensive to keep.

That's pretty much what I was planning to offer her Loshad. I know if he went through the sales here the only person bidding would be the meat man.

If she rejects it out of hand then I'd up it a bit, £750 max, but any more than that and I'd have to leave him. As you say he's going to be a very expensive project. I have considered reporting him to the ILPH if that happens then at least he will stand a chance of a better life.

Doc, any news?

I'm having to hold my horses, so to speak, for a few weeks. Financial constraints will not allow a new pony this month.

He's still there. The owner knows I will come up with the cash as soon as I can (she still won't name her price and I can't really make her an offer at the moment) so for now I'll keep my eye on him. At least the sweet itch is not so bad now the weather is cooler.

Oh well, keep us informed! [nosey emoticon]. At least it's unlikely that there are other people clamouring to buy him which gives you a bit of leeway to save up. Bloomin' financial restraints! Mind you, horses keep you poor anyway, you may as well start as you will no doubt go on .

For once in my life I'm having to use my sensible head Pixel.

Until we sell our old house we are going to have two lots of out goings for a while (hopefully a short while!).

We steamed ahead and bought a new house without having sold the old one, hoping that the old house would be well on it's way to being sold by now.But of course "the best laid plans" and all that.

We can manage, but only just, and what with Christmas around the corner, and the holiday of a lifetime booked for January, I think another pony right now would tip us over the edge.

Ah that's a shame, bad timing. Holiday sounds good though!

must bump this thread!

Hi Manuka .

Hello!! How's your horsey life? I am getting closer to starting again thanks to lots of osteopathy and pilates for my knackered back! Am very excited!!

That's great! Well, I've just cancelled my riding lesson for tomorrow because my back and hip are killing me. I did something to it last week just bending over to pick something up (old age huh) and I shouldn't have ridden on monday but I had a chance to ride a fantastic dressage horse and couldn't resist. Have been hobbling around ever since so that'll teach me. Poor dpony has done nothing all week either and is looking a bit fed up.
Oh and something spooked the other two, probably fireworks, as they'd run through the electric fence. They must have got caught up as the whole fence was down, Section D had a cut heel and little shetland was hopping lame. luckily by the next day she was a lot better so big sigh of relief! I must admit my heart sank when I saw her as it was 2 years ago on thursday that I lost my old pony. He was almost blind and the fireworks going off were too much for him so I had to make the dreaded decision. Years ago we used to go and sit in the field on bonfire night with flasks of hot drinks etc to make sure the horses were ok but nowadays it's impossible since it all goes on for weeks.
Anyway, it's not all doom and gloom. My back actually feels a lot better tonight so shouldn't be too long until I'm back in the saddle. Funnily enough my mum was suffering for months with her back and I persuaded her to go riding when we went on holiday in May as I'd already booked our rides. When we got back to the yard the pain had completely gone and she's been fine ever since! Not that I'm recommending that, you stick with your Pilates .

I don't think I would have resisted the fancy dressage horse either!
Fireworks are a bugger for pets aren't they? This country is mental to let anyone set them off! Should be just on bonfire night and only at a proper place. (old age talking!!)
Are there any herbal calming things for horses or homeopathy stuff that might help at this bonkers time of year?
It must be great to have your own herd! I'd love to have some land and a few horses. This lady I massage has a field with horses that need exercising so I'm hoping to help out there when back in the saddle. Don't think I'm as brave as your mum though! My back's been really crap since pregnancy. Think its from the epidural and now aggravated by carrying my giant daughter!
Woman with field charges £50 per month per horse so that's quite affordable if dh says we can get one when baby's a bit older.
Have you always had horses?

Lol at giant daughter. My back is bad mainly from wrestling autistic 7 yo into the car (nothing to do with carting bales of hay honest ).
I would love a field too but we have to pay rent for ours, £65 per month per horse so your £50 seems reasonable. Depends where you live of course, we are on south coast so grazing land is expensive. We can manage it because sis pays for her pony (section D), shetland's owner pays for her in return for us looking after her (and ds can ride her whenever so good plan!), and my mum and I share our new dpony. Luckily there is plenty of grass so we haven't had to spend much on hay this year so far.
My mum was brought up with horses as my grandad had a smallholding and used to take his produce to market with a pony and trap. We have a lovely photo that was in the local paper when she was 5 of her riding the pony through Brighton whilst grandad sat in the trap. He had very bad eyesight and reckoned that he would see if she fell off the pony but not if she fell off the back of the trap! She looks very sweet in her little double-breasted coat and beret, can you imagine that being allowed now? Anyway, sadly grandad died when mum was still quite young and everything was sold off but she never lost interest in horses. We finally managed to get our first pony when I was 15 and my sister was 13. Our dad foolishly said that if we could save up half the money he would pay the rest and he didn't stand a chance after that 'cos mum was on our side! We did paper rounds, saturday jobs, babysitting and Avon and then bought the first pony we went to look at in case Dad changed his mind .

Oh and my friend had terrible back trouble after her epidural, which was why my birth plan consisted of the words NO EPIDURAL in great big letters and nothing else! Made the midwife laugh anyway.

Ahhhhh! I can see your mum sitting on that pony!! How cute!! your grandad would have got arrested by social services in this modern age though!!
So do you go riding on the beach etc? I'd love to live near the coast. I'm in Leeds so not too far from East coast but its not exactly on the doorstep.
I'd planned for a natural birth! Did all the hypno birthing cd's etc and when it came to the crunch I had every drug on the drugs trolley!!! I even had a grand finale of 3 shots of morphine!! and then they demanded I breast fed after all that! No wonder she slept more or less continuously for 3 months! Her poor liver!
Still she's a tough little bugger now and loves horses so hopefully she and I can pressure scrooge pants into getting a horse!

Never ridden on the beach I'm afraid, it's all stoney round here and quite built up so there isn't any suitable access. I could if I went along the coast a bit, a friend does but she has her own trailer. Besides, my old pony had trouble coping with puddles, I thought his brain would explode if he spotted the sea .

That's funny! Poor feller! Good job he doesn't live in the Lake District!!
I was reading an article a few weeks ago about The Horse Boy which is going to be a film soon. It was a little boy with autism who was helped a hell of a lot by being near horses. It was in the Sunday Times magazine. Do the horses help your 7yo?

Yes, I think so. His balance and walking have improved a lot since he started riding. He often used to fall over on rough ground but he's much more sure-footed. Also, he hates having his head touched. Hairwashing is impossible, hair-cutting an ordeal and a cycle helmet caused a complete meltdown. But he will wear a hard-hat because he knows he isn't allowed to ride without it!
The film sounds good, I'll have to watch out for that. I wonder if it's the same little boy I saw an article about a few years ago? He was a complete natural rider and was much in demand to ride other peoples' uncontrollable ponies. His mum was trying to get some land so that he could make a living as a horse-trainer when he got older.

Crikey, I've just found a trailer and I was completely on the wrong track! the film looks fantastic. I've gone a bit weepy now.

I really want to see that film because the article was amazing. The dad really explained how people with autism feel for example how noises can be so much louder to them etc.
I think horses are really special they really are healing creatures aren't they?