Recent content by celia

Looks like a sarcoid to me. It might now stay as it is or it may continue growing. Treatment can be pretty expensive - depending on what you use - but whether it's necessary at this point is something you need to talk to your vet about. Could you give them a ring and maybe send them the photo? I...

Hi, thank you all for your kind comments. I've only recently started drawing again after a fairly long break - I discovered pastel pencils and am finding them a lot more enjoyable than the coloured pencils I used to use! I haven't done any commissions before so don't have a website or much of a...

Our welsh mare is just under 13hh and takes a 5' 3" rug.

Personally, I'd always use the panacur 5-day course if I didn't know the worming history, as it's a bit gentler on the system - if he does have a large worm burden then using e.g. equest pramox might increase the risk of colic as so many are shifted all at once. You can then worm for tapeworm...

Personally, I would be charging her exactly what the hay, straw, etc is costing you and nothing more. I would however expect that a good friend would be happy to return the favour - and would bring you something nice back from her holiday!

I think that here the work load is irrelevant (although personally I'd put her closer to light work than medium). Are you happy with her current condition and energy levels? And is she getting plenty of forage? If you're worried that she is losing weight I'd look at making sure she has ad-lib...

^^ This exactly. I agree with sarahw123 as well. If I were ever looking for someone to ride one of mine I'd probably be fairly strict with my weight limits - not because I have anything against a bigger rider but because I care about the comfort of my horses in the short-term and also their...

I wouldn't. We have two boys the same age as yours. They live out together with our neighbour's elderly shetland and are always running, playing, grooming together, etc. It's quite comical watching a 15hh cob play with a teeny shetland! They moved fields a couple of weeks ago and are now next...

If he is a good weight, has plenty of forage and seems warm and happy to you then I would stick with what you're doing. The weather is pretty mild at the minute and horses are pretty good at keeping themselves warm as long as they stay dry. If all you have at the moment is a no-fill rug I would...

I'd make sure he has hay or haylage ad-lib before putting him onto any conditioning feeds. Adding oil or micronised linseed to his current feed would help too, without fizzing him up.

I'd always rather do more preparation than may actually be needed and avoid encountering problems in the first place so this is possibly overkill but anyway.. I'd pick a couple of short-ish circular routes (if you can) and take her out in hand and/or on long-reins a few times before doing any...

Mostly. They all do in winter but in summer it depends. The two youngsters pretty much always do but the other three are usually too busy stuffing their faces!

It depends on why she's doing this, but if you think it's an evasion (and as long as the school is big enough and you feel she's balanced enough) I'd probably try a different tactic. Instead of insisting she stays in walk, as soon as she starts trying to go faster than you want put your leg on...

We have five at home - one thoroughbred, two cobs and two natives - and they cost me around £750 per year each. We grow our own hay which saves a lot but I buy bespoke minerals which probably makes my feed costs quite a bit higher than most!

Two cobs and two natives all still naked. Thoroughbred wearing a 40g rug during the day if wet and/or windy, naked if sunny and naked when in at night. All unclipped. You have to go with the individual horse - my thoroughbred is a fairly warm type but I know others that do seem to feel the...