Equine Insurance

glowgirl_2

Thank you, we bought the saddle last night, unusually for ebay we haven't paid for it yet and as the seller is quite close to us we are driving down tomorrow to pick it up, its from a saddlery and the woman I spoke to this morning said if we are not happy with that particular saddle she has others we can choose from and she offered us any advice we need, dd is pretty clued up too and we are well aware of the problems with Indian leather etc - thanks for the advice, anything I can learn about the equestrian life is much appreciated:)

lostinrates

Couldn't agree more about saddles....get it fitted glowgirl, by a master saddler. Bad backs risk your dughter's saftey, if the horse reacts over time.

also, you should have a saddle checked seasnally, this all adds up. We have used a treeless saddle wih some success now....the more expensive ones look ''normal'' but are pricey, there a couple of cheaper options, but they are less conventional looking. If they werk for oyur horse/pony they are in the long run money saving: on the saddle checks/re flockings. I know a lot of people don't take care of this sort of thing, but from what you have said n the past about your daughter she is not going to want to notdo things ''right'' for her horse, and ''right'' can be expensive: keeping a horse ''wrongly'' can be done reasonably cheaply!

bouncydog1

Whole heartedly agree re the saddle checks on a regular basis. All the costs of regular saddle checks, back checks, dentists and farriers do add up - but at the end of the day you will save yourself money in the long run and ensure that your horse is properly maintained.

There is nothing sadder than seeing a horse with a person that cannot afford to look after it properly - I am not disputing that they love the animal but if they can't afford the regular checks then it would be kinder not to have it.

glowgirl_2

Thanks for all the great advice, I'll let dd have a read of this thread later as well, I have actually agonised for a long time about buying dd a horse weighing up everything over and over again, I'm confident in myself and dd that we can provide everything a well maintained and loved horse needs:)