Selfsufficientish.com

we bought ourselves 2 horses for xmas (not to eat, my whole family keep making that joke!)

anyone else here got horses?

Not currently, but I have owned them in the past. What breed, size, age, etc? If I can help in anyway, please let me know!

19 year old bay gelding... 16.2... ex trotting racehorse from holland
12 year old chestnut mare arab... quite firey!!

do you know about illnesses, problems etc? ayla (mare) has recently started making an odd clicking noise in back leg... no swelling or heat... just a loud click sometimes when walking...

i have been advised it may be arthritis?? any experience of this? any advice?

How's the ex-trotter to ride? I love Arabs (even chestnut mares!) but yes, they can be firey - luckily, unlike the thoroughbred, they have brains and can be taught so many things (including pulling trees from woodland and ploughing!). About the leg, unfortunately, without Xrays I would only be guessing, however, these are expensive... You might want to try a nutraceutical - something like Glucosamine or even cod liver oil. Keep an eye on it and note any changes. Normally you can phone a vet without paying a consultation fee, so pick their brains...

daan is fantastic... he likes to trot VERY fast... but if you can get him into a canter he is even faster!!! he seems to be a teacher horse... he knows if you are a child or a newbie... then he is 100%, but if you think you can ride he tries you out... i love him sooo.
and i find him very comfortable... but my wife doesnt like going downhill on him, he swaggers and is so careful...
we decided this evening to phone a vet (we are in portugal, but have an english speakin vet)
about her legs.... she is coool...
we dont have a ring, and are trying to buy our neighbours land... so we can teach her/them new tricks..
and daan is reliable... i have only been riding 6 months.. but i seem to have an empathy with horses... they are a great pair...
a vet website said it may be arthritis... but it has come on so fast... and their diet is the same as last home...
well, like i said, i will be phoning a vet tomorrow...
thanks
andy

Cool - Daan sounds lovely... And I am not at all jealous of you living in Portugal, a beautiful country. I have ridden there - twice. The second time was on a 16hh horse with 1 eye - who was amazingly fun and careful the other time was on a small mare who just kicked everyone!

daan is beautiful... and mares do kick... but she likes me now :)
(i have a broken small toe where she jumped on it, when she first met our electric fence)
i was scared of her for a while, and she started pushing me and trying to bite me... but i learnt how to be gentle but firm very fast :)

we have been having fun discovering the 1000s of forest tracks around us... planning to go shopping on daan soon, he is so cool.

it is a beautiful country, come take a holiday?!! check out our home website and see what we are doing:
http://pureportugal.co.uk/abelhas/

all the best
andy

congrats on your purchase
with the clicking I did a search on the net a while back and knowing it wasn't arthritis (it was occuring in some calves that were quite yoiung through to older cows) I read on a horse site that it could be caused by worms. after drenching the herd we found this to be correct. we do follow a program for drenching.

Hi i have 2 , 1 small pony sandy and 15.3 rolo, up at my parents house , they just eat grass all day.only used for there manure.
I still do night foaling at a stud farm, will be over in a month or 2 , hoping
to buy sleeper for raised beds with the foaling money.

jessica

Did you speak to the vet, Catalyst?

Are these your first horses? I'm thinking of getting one but first got to find a field. It will be my first horse - wanted one since I was a kid!

3M - pweeeeeze don't get just one? They pair bond with each other and it makes them happy - I in my ignorance, kept three ponies one after the other on their own and had loads of problems..... Make sure they have company (and sheep/goats etc really don't fit the bill....)....

A pair of ride and drives would be great fun, wouldn't it!?

this is the first time owning horses for me, but my wife had several when she was younger...

we've ordered feed supplements, having looked into it...

didnt realise they were so much work though :)

andy

Tigerhair - I probably can't afford one horse, let alone two! It may all remain just a dream as finding land could prove impossible, but we'll see. The neighbour's horse that I'm riding is really mean to the pony he shares a paddock with.

our mare ayla is really mean to our gelding... its a herd life!!

couldnt you find someone who will share a horse... they are so much work and expense, you get a lot of adverts on horsey websites looking for co-owners... or even your neighbour may be happy to go shares... to have someone to help with feed costs and mucking out in exchange for riding is invaluable... we spend at least an hour every day clearing up poo...

and 100 euros a month on hay, 50 euros on concentrates, 80 euros every 6 to 8 weeks on shoes, and we have had to just start buying feed supplements for ayla maybe £50 a month?
is expensive, but still cheaper than what we were paying to hire them every week, and we have to go riding at least 3 times a week now to keep them fit :)

good luck with the search for a field etc

Well you see, I have a plan....... if I gave up smoking and bought a horse I would probably be better off - and if my husband gave up too......

I need an incentive like this, carry on smoking, no horse.

And it's not so easy to smoke whilst riding, grooming, poo picking etc either, so lots of things to take one's mind off the ciggies!!!

You see, there is method in my madness!