Geez, I'm outta here, this is too much I'm drowning in showy-ness! I don't even have a towing vehicle, let alone a float...for now...and have theoretically sent us bankrupt by eyeing off the Boeckman Floats catalogue with great zeal...!
They CAN be hard work, CAN be super expensive, and don't have to be. Lots CAN go wrong, for sure - in all sorts of silly ways that you can't plan for. Last year, almost to the day, we brought home a gorgeous TB with a beautiful nature and fabulous movement that we got for not much (had been off the track for 9 months and wasn't much good to the trainer who lived on a small block - he just wanted a good home for his country winner). Cost us as much to buy and bring him down from Kilmore combined as it cost to put him down when he broke his leg a week later
Mind you, my QH x that I still have has only seen an after hours vet once (touching wood furiously!!) for a suspected colic that resolved itself with some relaxant drugs. My horse cost me $1200 in 2000, so he's been a true bargain!
True that, Joeve - they are definitely safer kept in a herd, or within sight of other horses if they must be kept alone in a yard. Even if you got a little shetland to keep a bigger pony company, that would be good - horses need to be horses, and herding is pretty fundamental to their psychology. Brosha Park breeds the Australian Ponies and Shetlands (I didn't know about the shetties till I got there to look at the Oz...and came home with one of each!). So, if you could do with a lawn mower...
You ladies are a wealth of information, thank you!
What is reverse stabling? I am guessing it's stabling during the heat of the day and turning the horses out at night when it is cooler?
How big does the paddock need to be? We would be fencing the paddock area ourselves and also building the stables/tack room. How big do the stables need to be?
Are two horses together enough company? I don't think there are any horses on the property's of the immediate neighbours (can't be sure though!).
Am I correct in thinking horses only need shoes if they are ridden regularly on roads (or other hard surfaces)? Kateo, why is it better for the horse to be barefoot? (Which would be my preference, as it costs less and we would be riding on dirt trails. Just wondering why it is better for the horse!)
Oh, Onyx, be noice! We're also sensitive...
None of our horses have shoes - I took shoes off my boy years ago, when he was still in competition training. There's a few websites around, and if you google barefoot trimmer you'll come across Carola's website - she's in Sth Gipp, but travels everywhere, and just her site alone has heaps of info
DP has been learning to trim using the tools here at home.
Don't allow a vet or farrier to do your horse's teeth - there are dental specialists out there who train specifically in this field, not as a sideline. Teeth are too important to mess around with - it's all they have between their gut and starvation!
Yep, $5k IS a reasonable price to pay for a pony that's well bred and been there, done that. That was beyond our reach, so we went with the cheaper option that I've had some experience in, which won't be the path you can take. That's why I mentioned that if you go with something greener, it will be cheaper to buy and then cost you for training...making the horse about the same cost as a BTDT horse that you can just go on with.
One thing I won't admit to DP (but he already knows!) is that the cheapest part of horses is buying them
I'm drowning in showy-ness! I don't even have a towing vehicle, let alone a float...for now...and have theoretically sent us bankrupt by eyeing off the Boeckman Floats catalogue with great zeal...!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks