HORSE OWNERSHIP

Well where do you begin?? This is such a big issue whether you have a children’s pony or a top class show jumper or dressage horse; they all need the same. First, after you have spent hours looking on the internet and at hundreds of adverts of horses for sale and been and tried several horses then spent all your hard saved money, what are the main things horses need??

This may seem a silly question of course the obvious things like tack, rugs, a place to live, hay to eat and other feed and something to sleep on but what else do you REALLY need?!

Well the list is fairly long and we will go in to all the parts in further articles so here goes.

1, Worming – this is of prime importance to the care of your horse with so many types so many brands what do you go for? Is cost relevant or is what your mate at the yard using on their horse the way to go? Do not worry, this will be our first feature and we aim to help you by getting through the jargon and making it simple.

2, Vaccination- generally carried out by your vet but what are they, why do horses need them, how often and are they crucial to your horse?

3, Feet and shoes- how to make sure you horse or pony has good feet that will hold shoes if he/she is to wear them. How to find a good farrier.

4, Insurance- Do you need it? How to get the best from your insurance and not to be ripped off. We will give you some of the key questions to ask when looking for cover for your horse/pony.

5, Saddler- Some people may not realize how important it is that the saddle fits the horse and not the other way around! We will try to help you find a good saddler and also point out some of the main problems that can occur with ill fitting tack and equipment.

We will also try to help with some other areas of owning a horse/pony, anything from the dreaded Laminitis to how much feed is too much feed. What items you really need and those you could really do without. We will go out and meet people who have all the designer gear and try to see if their horse is happier than a bob a job horse who’s mum just has the necessary gear for the job!

Also bedding straw V paper and shavings who do you think will win??