Have you found Mr Right?
Buying a horse or pony needs lots of considerations beforehand. You need to make sure you have enough practical experience, just reading a book is not enough.
If you have just started riding and not worked around the stables for any length of time, you need to take into consideration that keeping a horse is expensive, and also can be hard work.

Livery
You also need to take an informed decision about livery. There are several types of livery you can go for, but first you need to find a good yard. Make sure that it is affordable, clean, hygienic and that all the horses look fit, healthy, happy and well.
There should at least be an exercise arena, a stable block and lots of good grazing.

Full livery
The most expensive, but also the most inclusive option. It includes full care, feeding, grooming turning out, mucking out, so someone else does everything for your horse and you can just turn up to ride (although doing that defeats the object of horse ownership).

Part livery
This type of livery is not as expensive as full because only the horses basic needs are attended to.

DIY
The best option for experienced people, DIY is just as it says. You do it all yourself!

Grass livery
The least expensive, but also the least practical.
You rent a field and that’s that. You feed, groom, and do everything on this field, which is very impractical in winter or when the farrier or vet comes.

People with fat wallets who are still learning about horse care should go for the first or second option, while those that are experienced should go for the second or third option. The fourth option is not practical.

Viewing
If you have enough practical horse care and riding knowledge, have money to keep the horse and have found a good livery yard you can start looking.
If you are a first time owner it is strongly advised that you go for an older, safe schoolmaster who will look after you. Magazines and recommended horse websites are a good place to start.
Buying from sales is not advised, especially for a first time owner because most of the horses that end up there are there for a reason (undesirable vice, bad back, weak tendons etc). Although nice horses can be found at sales,  it is better to be safe than sorry.
When you have found a suitable sounding horse, it is time to go and view and try it out. Go and look at the horse, groom it, ask about its medical history, ask if vaccinations are up to date, pick up its hooves, check hoof condition,  tack it up, ride it, jump it, do whatever you want the horse for with it.
If the price is reasonable, and the horse is responsive and does what you want, passes vet inspection, and you like it, it is time to consider buying. When you have acquired the right horse, allow at least five days to settle in before work begins. After rest period you can slowly start to introduce work.
Once you have been working gently for a few days you can start to use more advanced  supplying exercises on both reins such as serpentines and loops and later on you can start to work on impulsion and control with lateral work such as leg yielding, shoulder in, rein back etc (only attempt to do these exercises if you have been taught correctly under instruction.

We hope that you now understand the most important things about buying a horse and choosing livery and can now make an informed decision.

Good luck!

Happy searching!

Horses horse buying, horse inspection, pony buying

During the winter while ponies splash and squelch through the mud, their feet may be picking up bacteria and these micro-organisms bury themselves under the skin and cause redness and itching.

Thrush

On the bottom of a pony’s foot is the frog. This is the place where thrush attacks, and the symptoms include black discharge, horrible smell and soft, soggy frogs.

Thrush can be treated with surgical spirit or a specially designed treatment.

Mud fever

Mud fever is caused by bacteria that enter the heels and pastern via the skin causing scabs redness and itching.

If the wounds are dry use a grease based ointment, if they are weeping use an antibacterial scrub such as hibiscrub to wash them.

In extremely severe cases the vet may need to be called and may recommend antibiotics to help infection clear up.

The ailments above are generally found in winter, while the ones below vary.

Laminitis is a serious foot condition that generally found in spring summer and autumn caused by the pony being overweight, especially from lush grass or high sugar diets. It can also be caused by alien diets such as chicken pellets nicked from the shed, or dog food.

The feet get hot and feverish and and the horse will often stand in the ‘laminitis’ stance, rocking back on their heels to relive the pain of standing on their front feet .

If your pony shows these symptoms CALL THE VET.

Laminitis needs veterinary attention because if left untreated it causes severe pain, serious effects on the foot, and pedal bone rotation.

Abscesses

If you are picking out your ponies hooves as normal and he suddenly flinches away from the hoof pick he may have an abscess under the sole of his foot.

If he has got an abscess it will require veterinary or farrier attention. He will make a hole in the horses foot and poultice it to draw out the infection. The poultice will need to be replaced daily, your farrier will show you how.

In general, hooves need good care because they carry the horse (and you) around.

Apply moisturising hoof ointment daily but keep hoof oil to a minimum (only for shows).

Horses diseaseas, horse treatment, winter foot ailments

Schooling your horse is done in six basic steps, relaxation, rhythm, contact, straightness, impulsion, collection (and extension)

Relaxation

Once you have got your horse backed and are starting to ride him, the first step to focus on is relaxation (lack of tension, response to aids etc).
On the top of neck and back the horse has a group of muscles that, when in contraction cause the horse to hollow its neck and back and a hollow back is a weak one, a rounded back is a strong one. When in the field a horse does this when alert (so we will refer to these muscles as the ‘alert’ group). When riding contraction of this group of muscles is caused by fear, resistance to an aid, confusion or heavy handed riders.
When the alert muscles contract the muscles on the underside of the horses belly and neck (the ‘relax’ muscles) relax using hollowness but when the relax muscles contract and the alert group relax the back is rounded and the head held in desired position.

Rhythm

In riding rhythm is essential. The sequence, as well as the timing of footfalls should be correct, even and movement should be smooth.
Some ponies have naturally smooth gaits, while others have naturally bumpy or uneven paces.
For regulating an uneven pace, walking and trotting poles greatly come in useful. Ride circles, curves and straight lines using correct spacing. Using short thick poles like old telegraph poles also encourages engagement of the hocks.

Contact

Contact is how the hands hold the reins. The reins should not be taut, nor should they be slack. The reins should be held gently but firmly. Imagine you were holding two gerbils. Don’t squash them, but don’t allow them to get away.
In the more advanced stages of riding, the horse should ‘seek’ the contact.
If the pony are riding is going too fast for comfort do NOT put a constant pull on the reins, instead sit up look ahead and sponge the reins or else the pony will fight your hands and hollow his back.

Straightness

Horses are born naturally with a dominant side where the muscles are shorter, thicker and more bunched meaning that they naturally bend better to this side. On their other side the muscles are longer and weaker and stretch more easily than they contract.
Do lots of supplying exercises, and stretching exercises for the shorter side but don’t do them equally on both sides or else the horse will muscle up evenly on both sides causing one to still be predominant.

Impulsion

Impulsion is the surge of strength produced when the hindquarters are engaged, but it must never be mistaken for speed.
A young, green or unfit horse should not be asked for impulsion as they cannot produce it correctly.
Before you can ask a horse for collection he must be fit, and have completed every ‘rung’ on the training ladder(that is except collection(and extension!))
To ask for impulsion half halt then give the forward aid while the hands ‘contain’ the energy to avoid increase in speed, and the result should be a surge and lift and hind legs should be pushing off from the ground.
You can tell if a horse is moving forward by looking at their back legs. If their back legs form an upside down V the horse is using his hind quarters.

Collection

Before collection can be achieved the horse must have achieved impulsion.
To ask for collection ask for impulsion but use your hands to limit the forward movement there fore shortening the strides.

Extension

The opposite of collection, extension is produced by lengthening rather than shortening the strides.

None of the rungs in the schooling ladder should be missed out. Every single rung and all its exercises completed is the only way to go right to the top. If your horse can’t cope on a certain rung, go down a rung and redo the whole rung till there are no problems.

For more information you can read Successful schooling: Training your horse with Empathy by Karin Blignault or 6 steps to a schooled horse by Susan Mcbane.

Horses breaking a young horse, horse schooling, school your horse, trainn your pony

Grooming your pony

Grooming your pony

Besides water, food and sufficient exercise, another important aspect in horse care is grooming. Whether you own or loan a pony, or simply help out at a friends house, grooming is an important skill you need to learn beside riding.

As well as keeping a ponies coat clean, grooming promotes blood flow, stimulates breathing, strengthens the bond between you and him /her and it removes dead skin cells and dead hair.

If you think of grooming as flicking a random brush over your pony, then you are mistaken. That certainly is NOT the way to groom a pony. When you groom a pony you should do it methodically so that you do not flick dirt back on to a part of the pony that you have already brushed. Start by picking out the hooves but remember to pick them out from heel to toe as otherwise you may hurt the frog(!) (the sensitive middle part of the bottom of the hoof) if your hand slips.

Check for signs of thrush (smelly feet, black discharge) and carefully put the ponies hoof down. Next, start grooming the mane and use a body brush or your fingers to comb the mane till you can go through it without trouble. A de-tangler spray would really help.

Remove mud from the coat with a dandy brush and and then use a body brush to remove grease and scurf. After a few strokes with the body brush use a metal curry comb to remove the hair from the body brush. Note: the metal curry comb is only used for cleaning the body brush, and should NEVER be used on a pony.

Now set to work with the tail, but stand to the side to avoid getting kicked and pull the tail to the side. Use a body brush or your fingers because, however tempting it may seem to use a plastic curry comb, this is not advised as it breaks the hair and can give your pony split ends.

Now as a finishing touch, why not add some hoof shine?
Otherwise you can use effol or another well known hoof strengthening cream or paste.

Horses brushing, care, horse care, horse grooming, pony grooming

Several big screen films has been made about horses in various context including black beauty which traces the journey of a horse from the countryside field he was born to a big city. War Horse a novel by Michael Morpurgo which was successfully adapted for theatre has been a success at the West End for quite a while now, recently acclaimed file maker Steven Spielberg bought the film right to War Horse recently and he has just announced that he will be directing the film adaptation of War Horse.

War Horse is a touching story about a boy’s love for his horse and their mutual suffering amid the carnage of the First World War, the story not only explore the horrors of war from both the boys viewpoint and his horse’s viewpoint and how it affected them both.

In previous films, Spielberg has explored the relationship between children and other creatures, bringing out sides of children and seemingly dumb creature that actually have a lot to offer, his extra terrestrial film (ET) did just that; communication and understanding between ET an alien and child formed the core of the story. Spielberg also directed another film exploring the survival of a boy in the Japanese occupation of Shanghai which was based on J G Ballard’s autobiography; Empire of the Sun.

Theatre purist argue that no amount of magic Spielberg and his DreamWorks studio can apply to War Horse to make it a memorable as the stage version which is still going very strong at New London Theatre and it due to open in New York in 2011.

Horses film, theatre, war horse