Anyone out there own a horse???

sophiesmum_2 · 2 February 2007 at 7:34PM

Hi Jay Jay
have taken lots of advice from DD's riding instructors etc and other horsey people we have met we are going Saturday to have a look at a 4 year old welsh section D gelding, 15hh. We have already discounted several other horses that just weren't what we were looking for.
This one is recommended by friends who know its history and it has been well looked after medically etc and has a good temperament,has been professionally schooled etc,

Have viewed stabling locally, several around £85 month for stabling DIY livery, we have costed everything else locally, feed,hay, haylage,insurance, worming, shoes,vacs, dental,etc.
we are looking at around £205 a month which we are happy with.

The stables we are thinking of have several turning out fields, menage, and floodlit sand school:D also there are lots of places nearby for hacking,with very little road work.They also have separate tack and feed rooms and a showering room for the horses. All the stables are also alarmed.

DD won't be able to sleep tonight she is that excited and even I am getting the bug a little. will let you know what transpires.

Turned into a very interesting thread.
sophiesmum:D

Chas · 2 February 2007 at 8:29PM

Good luck Sophiesmum

[Deleted User] · 2 February 2007 at 9:10PM

ooh lovely
you can`t beat a good welsh section D as an all round family horse. They are also very good fun horses and can jump well. The added bonus of course is that they do not need mollycoddling and they can be very very affectionate as well as confident in traffic and near all sorts of hazards

The only downside is that they are very good dooers and could do with being on a poor field when you get the spring and autumn grass flushes. Ask about laminitis when you go and look and also have a good feel of the hooves ie feel for pronounced ridges. Mine had a tendency to laminitis but once I knew about it I could easily manage it. She had her first laminitis at 3 and had several close shaves in the 10 years since. You have to be very alert to it because it can happen in a few hours

A section D would be a fab choice and maybe ask at the livery yard if they would be aware of laminitis and have facilities for you to keep her off rich grass. Take an umbrella with you when you look and see how close you can get with it and also try flapping a plastic carrier bag. I bet the horse won`t flinch much at either and that will give you an idea of how bombproof the geilding is likely to be. It is all important so that you really get to enjoy your riding rather that worrying about going past a plastic bag in the hedge

fingers crossed and I`m excited for you

Jay-Jay_4 · 2 February 2007 at 9:12PM

Ooh sounds brill Sophiesmum :j

Your facilities sound marvellous and the cost isn't so bad when you work out how much pleasure your daughter will get from it.

I presume that the horse you mention will be on loan? He sounds lovely, we have a 15hh Section D who we've had since he was a yearling, he's 14 this year

It's worth bearing in mind that at 4 yrs old he will still be growing so there's a limit to how much you can ask him to do without potentially causing problems for him later on in life. Hacks and gentle schooling are fine but long periods of intense schooling and hard road work won't be good for his still-developing bones and joints.

Also worth bearing in mind is that at 4 yrs old he's the equivalent of a 16 year old human boy....

Daft, daredevil, sometimes unwilling to listen, opinionated and strong willed. Factor in that he's a Section D..

They're the funniest and daftest breed of all, my absolute favourite! They do say that child rider's age combined with her horse's age should add up to at least 21.... your daughter is a little bit shy of that but she sounds experienced enough and presumable is completely competant and confident in her own riding ability.

I do hope you'll come back and let us know how it went, I also hope that you've been eyeing up jods and boots for yourself because you've GOT to give this a go!!!

Jay-Jay_4 · 2 February 2007 at 9:20PM

kittie wrote:

ooh lovely. Mine had a tendency to laminitis but once I knew about it I could easily manage it. She had her first laminitis at 3 and had several close shaves in the 10 years since.

kittie, I know of many people who are having miracle results with feeding magnesium oxide to help prevent lami. I'm in contact with several people involved in laminitis and low grade laminitis/insulin resistance research so if you ever want any info just ask.

We all feed mag ox as a matter of course for internal hoof strength but a friend of mine has a mare who has been teetering on the brink of lami for 10 years since her last big attack. The mare had a cresty neck. irregular fat deposits, orbital fat pads, flared hooves and was intermittently footy even with extremely limited turnout (an hour a day) on sparse grazing and being fed the bare minimum. After feeding mag ox for 8 weeks this mare is transformed. I nearly fell over when I saw her! Her crest has gone, the fat is gone and she's STOMPING over the gravel drive now. Amazing stuff!

janeawej · 2 February 2007 at 9:33PM

WOW your daughter is a very lucky girl, but as someone else has said do remember that 4 is actualy very young for a horse, personally I would recomend getting something about 8 fir a first pony, as they should have got over most of their sillyness by then, Section D's are lovely i have a 4yr old mare, shes wonderfull but can be a handfull for the children, have a good look at her, ask if you could maybe ride her several times over a period of time maybe 1-2 weeks, any genuine seller will not mind and be pleased to let you do this to make sure she is going to a good home, maybe even ask for a 2 week trial with him to stay at his present home, spend plenty of time with it, pick up feet, groom saddle and bridle up yourselves, try hacking out alone as well as with company as some will be eager to go out in company but nap on their own, also feed him to ensure he is not nasty when being fed, remember hopefully your daughter will have him for many years so dont make a hasty desicion, good luck and let us know how you get on!!

[Deleted User] · 2 February 2007 at 9:49PM

I don`t have any horses now jay jay as we have downsized (big sigh) but what you say about the mag ox make s whole lot of sense and I wish I had know about it. My mare was 15.3 and had a very cresty neck. I prevented laminitis by bedding her on soft rubber matting and by using homeopathy and most of all by being very alert to it. She was in a half acre field and would still get it and the first sign would be her not coming to me when I called her. I always acted very fast at that point and luckily it didn`t get any worse but she still showed the ridges from time to time

I also totally agree about the naughtiness at 3. Mine was a baby at 3, excellent at 4 and very naughty at 5 then suddenly grown-up at 6. At 3 she wouldn`t hold her foot still but I got through everything by being one step ahead of her and I think that sums it up. Cobs are not dopes and they have never to know that they are bigger and stronger. What the rider puts in is what the rider gets back. I ended with a bombproof delight of a horse but it could easily have gone the other way. It was quite a lot of work sometimes but so worth it

Jay-Jay_4 · 2 February 2007 at 9:59PM

kittie wrote:

I don`t have any horses now jay jay as we have downsized (big sigh) but what you say about the mag ox make s whole lot of sense and I wish I had know about it. My mare was 15.3 and had a very cresty neck. I prevented laminitis by bedding her on soft rubber matting and by using homeopathy and most of all by being very alert to it. She was in a half acre field and would still get it and the first sign would be her not coming to me when I called her. I always acted very fast at that point and luckily it didn`t get any worse but she still showed the ridges from time to time

We're learning that a LOT of horses exhibiting footyness is down to Low Grade Lami and that restricted grazing, hay testing, magnesium oxide or Calmag, no cereals/sugar/molasses and correct foot balance helps alleviate the problems. After all lami is inflammation of the lamini and long toes, unaddressed flare and incorrect shoeing exasberates it purely from a leverage aspect while diet affects it from the inside.

It sounds like your mare was insulin resistant and so was also teetering on the brink of lami all the time.

If you get another horse you can always bear it in mind

[Deleted User] · 2 February 2007 at 10:09PM

just a bit more. Methods I used to tell my mare that I was the boss:

I always rode with a dressage whip, hardly ever used it but it was great for the odd time when she needed to act instantly, also for keeping her back end in if a lorry was coming past

I wore spurs and again hardly ever used them but I could not let her take the decision of whether to go forward or not. I am 5` and have short legs so needed a bit of extra oomph

I rode at 5am with lights, on the quiet back lanes, because I was very wary of her in traffic, when she was a baby and I stood with her for hours near a crossroad so that she eventually became bomproof in traffic

Mine was a master at the very fast spin. I fell off the first time but I learnt my lesson and I never got too relaxed on my own on a young horse

I didn`t use titbits except when training and always only as a reward

I used a waterford bit. She loved it and was always foamy but she respected it and I didn`t have to use any other device ie flash band, martingale etc

A week after I got her she tried to slam me against the stable wall. I knew she would try again so I groomed her while holding a long dibber in my left hand. When she tried again I quickly put the dibber between the wall and the pointy end towards her. That was the last time she tried

When she shot her leg back and forth instead of holding it still, I put a rope around it and as soon as she stopped I gave her some pony cubes. She soon behaved

Feed is key and if she was getting a bit too lively ie in the march winds then I would cut her food right down to only hay

oh dear. I`m pontificating. Sorry. Please let us know how you get on sophiesmum

[Deleted User] · 2 February 2007 at 10:11PM

jay jay :rolleyes:

I still have my jods, hat and boots!!!

Anyone out there own a horse???

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