Anything horse related

[chicken on a mission]

I would love to do my BHS exams so I could be an instructor but it's just one of those things that takes hours and hours to complete, and I just don't have hours and hours.

Worming varies in cost as it depends which programme you follow, but we do ours several times a year at £15 a go.
Shoeing is anywhere from 40 to 70 every 6 weeks.
Insurance depends what you are doing with her, but basic is around £3-400 a year.
Vets can vary depending on injury but she will need flu jabs and stuff each year, which can be around £200.
She may need clipping once or twice a year at a cost of about £30.
You have the livery, food and haylage, and I presume bedding?
Then there's just added extras like rugs which can be as cheap as £40 for a turnout of poorish quality to around £200 for a good quality one like my Mark Todd which I parade around the yard like some kind of trophy!!!

Good luck anyway, it's an exciting time for you!

Yes I was told £15 depending on the wormer used at the time.

Shoeing for Joy is every 6 weeks at 70 quid a throw.

Thanks for the insurance info - that was bothering me

I had bugeted £250 for jabs so I'm happy there.

Clipping is done by the yard so no probs there and a new experience to learn through

Food and all day to day care is included.

She has all the gubbins with her but I can get discounted rugs etc through the stables and 40 quid was mentioned there too

I was looking at that particular book on eBay, I LOVE eBay!


The way I look at the BHS riding/management thing is that it will be the same as learning to drive, you learn by the book but before you know it your are driving with one hand on the steering wheel and not going through all the gears when you drive in the 'real world'

 

[c2b]

£70 for shoes???
I pay £45 every 8 weeks for a full set.

My girl has mild sweetitch. She wears a fly rug during the summer months. This year I splashed out. £160 for a new sweetitch rug. It lasted 3 weeks, and that was only thanks to my seamstress skills putting it back together everytime she trashed it . She now has 3 cheaper ones ... has she damaged them? oh no of course not only the expensive one!!!
I payed £69 for vaccinations this year.
£23.50 to have her microchipped.
I have just had my insurance renewell forms. £16 a month.
Dentist cost me £15.
Back lady £30.
£60 a year for a supplement to sort out her PMT.

Can't think of anything else offhand.

 

[HorseyCarrie]

My boy gets very very bad sweet itch and it is hell to keep up with. The killitch costs about £35 a bottle and I get through about 6 bottles over the summer. Then I have just bought him a fly rug for next summer, from weatherbeeta, then there were the equimasks for riding and turnout I had to put them in. Costly these beasts! Thankfully, touch wood, none of mine get mudfever, they just get mistaken identity disease in winter: that is, they all think they are pigs and take every opportunity to roll in the deepest mud in the paddock!

By the way, c2b, my shoeing costs £50 plus a quid for a set of studs as we live in a hilly area. I have three but only two are shod and the other is just sorted out and clipped back so I end up spending around £120 for three horses! My vaccination time ends up costing more as I also have their teeth checked and rasped, and also any visits from the teeth and back men are extra on top! And as for PMT PMSL! My mare has got the right hump with me at the moment because I wouldn't give her an apple tonight for being too bargy. She is such a laid back mare though! Your insurance is really cheap, who is it through. One of mine is 270 and the other is 350ish. The little 'un is quite cheap but I don't count him lol

 

[HorseyCarrie]

I love your driving analogy. Golly, you should see me on George when I am out on a hack, one arm on the very loose reins, legs out of the stirrups sometimes. LOL. Anne, my instructor, would kill me!

 

[c2b]

My girl was barefoot then we moved yards. The plus side is we have miles and miles of off road riding.....the downside is the tracks are very stoney and she wasn't coping barefoot so she needed shoes

I am with KBIS. I have put her value at £0 which keeps the premiums low, but if anything were to happen to her I wouldn't get anything back. I just have vets fees, any rider and 3rd party liability. No tack is covered.

 

[chicken on a mission]

As long as my fugures are on the high side rather than the low I am a very happy bunny.

Did I mention that hubby has promised the £2,000 if they do decide to sell and if I decide to buy. Either way I have a budget to start looking

 

[c2b]

ooooooooh Can he send me £2k too...I have a whole list of "must have's" for my girl. I just don't have any money

Hehehehehe

 

[chicken on a mission]

ooooooooh Can he send me £2k too...I have a whole list of "must have's" for my girl. I just don't have any money

Hehehehehe

Laura the mood we are both in I think he could be persuaded but I don't want to have to tell you what you'll have to do to earn it

 

[c2b]

Laura the mood we are both in I think he could be persuaded but I don't want to have to tell you what you'll have to do to earn it

PMSL

 

[boofaloo]

Oh my goodness!!!!

Ok so let me introduce Charlie. My new horse:



Lots to explain and maybe I have bit the bullet too soon but an opportunity came up and i leapt at it.
Charlie is a 14.2hh 6 yr old gelding. Absolute gem of a character with a fantastic temprament. He is good in every way but obviously still needs work as he's only a young horse.
He arrives on Saturday and to say I am nervous but very excited is an understatement!!!!

 

[chicken on a mission]

...you can't stop at that

What else do you know about him? How are you going to use him? What do you have planned to bring him on?

 

[c2b]

What a handsome chappie. He looks bigger in his photo.
Come on tell all.......

 

[chicken on a mission]

Today was my hack which was ¾ hour of leisure and exercise rolled into one and I loved it!

Joy was really forward going and excitable needing settling down in the walk and trot to give a steady unhurried working pace and holding back in the canter to stop her galloping off! She also had a little dance about and shied at some things like Robins and Mushrooms and kept eying up the X country course! I loved the unpredictability of her because she kept me on my toes. She has a bad tendency to shake her head about which I really don’t like but she is young and should grow out of it.

The hacking experience was totally different to riding in the school as she shows her youth out on a hack but is extremely well schooled although not a novice ride. I enjoyed getting the tack off her and getting her settled.

Hopefully I am riding a different horse again on Friday as I don't want to rush into the first likely prospect but want to check out all prospects. My riding instructor recommended that I try Demi, a 15h 2 New Forest X next. I can’t wait until my ½ hour schooling lesson on Friday.


..Oh and I'm off to see Tom Jones, front centre seats at Bournemouth tomorrow. Hubby bought me the tickets for my birthday which was 10 days after I started my crazy diet. I joked back then that I could throw my big knickers on stage but all that seems like an age ago and I forgot to save a pair when I had to buy more as the originals kept falling down

 

[chicken on a mission]

Damn, just found a message from the riding school on my answer maching saying that Joy's owners wanted my number as they had lost it. They have given my the owners number again because they wouldn't release my number without getting permission from me first.

I can only assume that given they are calling before the end of the month which was the timeframe they gave me that they are ready to sell. I haven't even tried out Demi yet!

To be honest, if it wasn't for the head nodding thing then I would have jumped at the chance but now I am interested to see what Demi is like given that my riding instructor keeps mentioning her to me. I think this is a not so gentle hint on her part.

When Joy started nodding her head I immediately pointed it out to Louise and asked if I was doing anything wrong because my first worry was that she was trying to escape from some pain but her ears were pricked and she seemed happy in all other respects. Louise said that all was well and that Joy was just young and should grow out of it with more hacking because she spends most of her time in the schooling ring - Doesn't sound like a lot of fun for a horse to me but she doesn't get used that much by the school which gives me more time!

I'm not going call the owners until at least tonight, probably tomorrow. If I can get her on load I'll go ahead with that. If they want to sell then I will stall and try Demi first.

 

[HorseyCarrie]

You have to remember that all horses have little quirks.... problems. If she is a headshaker she will probably never grow out of that as it is thought to be to do with the nasal passagesz or pollen allergies. There are other causes. She could just be a habit shaker though. Being young she might want you to leave her mouth alone, but the fact she does this on a hack and not in the school seems to suggest that when out hacking she is excited and fresh and everything around her is new: she's having fun! My boy is a headshaker but I've got used to it and it doesn't bother me one bit. He gets sweet itch as well. But in every other way he is perfect.

You may try out this other horse and think that because she doesn't shake her head she is perfect all the way through. But there will always be some problem with every horse. With its feet or its skin; with its teeth or back; with keeping condition on or off the horse; with keeping it going forward or stopping it tanking off; controlling it in traffic... any number of things. Joy sounds like a good horse and I would be loathe to dismiss her for shaking her head, but others might disagree. If it is something you can't put up with you shouldn't buy the horse.

I think you are doing the right thing to try demi, but always look at a horse with a critical eye.

 

[HorseyCarrie]

On the flip side, I am full of the cold and haven't had a lesson with Anne since before my holiday at start of September, when I took my horses with me and hubby, on holiday to Bodmin Moor where we go lots each year. The owners are good friends and she gives me great lessons. I usually have lessons with Anne, on my horse George, on a Sunday, but now my husband wants to have his jumping lesson on Sundays and I am having lessons one evening a week.

The yard is where we used to keep our horses until it became too far to travel, and it is a truly magical place, but it is about 15 miles away from our current yard through lanes, and in a horse lorry, that takes a long time! I have to rush round getting me and my boy ready and all booted up, hubby has to finish work and drive lorry, I go over there for my lesson and then hubby drives us back to yard, dropping me off at home on his way. He gets the horses turned out while I cook tea, and that is our mad rush. I would much rather find a teacher who will teach me at my current yard. I don't really get on with Anne's ways and I hate all this rushing around.

So I am dreading tonight. I don't want my lesson because she doesn't really understand my horse that well. I can get him going better on my own when I use my ways of making him do things. She tries something new each time and I feel bad to say to her that I know what works and am using these lessons to build his confidence more than anything.

Oh well. I should think myself lucky really that I have a great horse. Never mind.

 

[chicken on a mission]

You have to remember that all horses have little quirks.... problems. If she is a headshaker she will probably never grow out of that as it is thought to be to do with the nasal passagesz or pollen allergies. There are other causes. She could just be a habit shaker though. Being young she might want you to leave her mouth alone, but the fact she does this on a hack and not in the school seems to suggest that when out hacking she is excited and fresh and everything around her is new: she's having fun! My boy is a headshaker but I've got used to it and it doesn't bother me one bit. He gets sweet itch as well. But in every other way he is perfect.

You may try out this other horse and think that because she doesn't shake her head she is perfect all the way through. But there will always be some problem with every horse. With its feet or its skin; with its teeth or back; with keeping condition on or off the horse; with keeping it going forward or stopping it tanking off; controlling it in traffic... any number of things. Joy sounds like a good horse and I would be loathe to dismiss her for shaking her head, but others might disagree. If it is something you can't put up with you shouldn't buy the horse.

I think you are doing the right thing to try demi, but always look at a horse with a critical eye.

Carrie I agree with everything you said there. The trouble is that I actually know more than I thought I did but it is all coming rushing back to me now

I think it could well be down to excitement and hopefully if I were to hack her more often she would settle down a bit. I don't necessarilly think that a martingale is the answer because although it would stop her form head shaking it would be a bit like taking a pain killer in so much as it would only serve to mask the problem. I see a martingale as a last ditch effort and depite the head shaking being iritating it isn't the end of the world when your only horsey aspirations are happy hacking. If I were out on my own then perhaps riding with a little more onward impetus would help.

Anyway, I don't know what here owner is going to say. If he offers her on loan I'll take it regardless as this would suit me at the moment. If he doesn't then I'll explain that although I loved the hack today I didn't expect the head shaking or greenness she exibited and need longer to think about it. I might be able to get the price down too if Demi isn't my cup of tea

 

[chicken on a mission]

On the flip side, I am full of the cold and haven't had a lesson with Anne since before my holiday at start of September, when I took my horses with me and hubby, on holiday to Bodmin Moor where we go lots each year. The owners are good friends and she gives me great lessons. I usually have lessons with Anne, on my horse George, on a Sunday, but now my husband wants to have his jumping lesson on Sundays and I am having lessons one evening a week.

The yard is where we used to keep our horses until it became too far to travel, and it is a truly magical place, but it is about 15 miles away from our current yard through lanes, and in a horse lorry, that takes a long time! I have to rush round getting me and my boy ready and all booted up, hubby has to finish work and drive lorry, I go over there for my lesson and then hubby drives us back to yard, dropping me off at home on his way. He gets the horses turned out while I cook tea, and that is our mad rush. I would much rather find a teacher who will teach me at my current yard. I don't really get on with Anne's ways and I hate all this rushing around.

So I am dreading tonight. I don't want my lesson because she doesn't really understand my horse that well. I can get him going better on my own when I use my ways of making him do things. She tries something new each time and I feel bad to say to her that I know what works and am using these lessons to build his confidence more than anything.

Oh well. I should think myself lucky really that I have a great horse. Never mind.

Gosh that doesn't sound at all positive. Is it worth having a chat with her and explaining what your expectations are of the lessons? Hopefully things might improve after that and if they don't then maybe this instructor just isn't for you

Do let me know how you get on.

I have to take my little girl to swimming lessons now and then I am off round to my dad's and after that I need to pop into LL as I couldn't go to the meeting this morning as riding was far more important

I'll hopefully catch up with you tonight or whenever you can

 

[boofaloo]

...you can't stop at that

What else do you know about him? How are you going to use him? What do you have planned to bring him on?

Sorry!!!! Only had time for a quick post.

Charlie is an honest type, he is good on the ground and when ridden although is still green. He's not a novice ride but I felt completely safe on him - even when he spooked at thin air!!
Typical cob he is a greedy so and so!! Hes good to hack and is good with farm traffic - not seen many lorries and buses so that will need working on. He is reasonably schooled although needs a lot more in this department - somethiing i am really looking forward to!
Just gonna have fun with him, I enjoy schooling and hacking so will concentrate on taking him out and seeing lots of drifferent things and also working with him in the school.
So far it will be schooling twice a week, lunging or long lining once a week and hacking twice a week.
He is barefoot and i think i'll need him shod as it's quite rough ground where we are but i'll see how it goes.
Hopefully below is a pic of him jumping!

 

[HorseyCarrie]

Awww, boofaloo, he reminds me of my George! I don't know how to add attachments so can't add a pic, but mine are all welsh section d cobs!