Recent content by soloequestrian

Still laying at 9 is pretty impressive! Mine has just been a pet for about two years now.

My old hen turned up her toes yesterday. She was 8 and I was pretty chuffed with getting her to that age (most of the others have gone around 4 years old). Looked online and the worlds oldest hen is 21. 21!!!! How does that work? Mine had a relatively easy life - free range, hatched a few...

Horse had great feet in winter but in summer her white line is always weak, she gets bits of grit stuck and occasional abscesses. Her feet are a good shape but the white line sort of opens up in the way, it's really weird. Other than the white line issue her feet seem really healthy - she's...

Thanks everyone. So imagine a part loan situation (this is all imaginary!) Scenario 1:Horse injures itself in the field, don't know why, owner has insured it for vet fees so insurance pays out. Scenario 2: Horse is being ridden by owner, spooks into traffic, injures itself and there is damage to...

Years ago I put an older horse through an operation for septic pedal ostitis. She had been very healthy her whole life so it seemed like a good thing to do. I would never do it again - she got laminitis as a result of either the anaesthetic or the stress of being in horsepital and she was...

I've seen recommendations that the owner should always insure the horse, which is sensible in that you know it's actually insured BUT what happens in a loan scenario where the horse gets injured and the loaner was the cause of that injury, for instance taking the horse out in unsuitable tack, it...

Thanks, I will look into CCC insurance. I currently have a companion horse who I look after but don't own. She is a pretty rubbish companion and I don't get any payment for her keep. This new livery may be able to replace her and I would just be doing the same for it as I do for her. No...

I'm in Scotland. Looking to offer a livery space - year round turnout with haylage in the field in winter, tracked grazing in summer. Access to good hacking without going on any roads. 20 x 40 sand school. One feed per day, checks and rug changes as necessary so the owner wouldn't have to...

Maybe it's just coincidence that I've not seen many recently then. I'm around mainly barefoot horses, I wonder if that has a role? Feet can balance themselves so less stress on the limb above.

I saw someone a while back with a blue jacket, fairly dark tan breeches and dark brown boots. I covet the look and plan to copy it if I ever actually get myself back to competing.

When I was younger pretty much all horses had one or more splints. None of my three do now (touches wood) and my friend says none on her yard do either. Is this just chance or are splints actually less common than they used to be? If so any idea why?

Looking for tips on how to improve balance really - my warmblood mare is finding her paces but at the moment the big trot is downhill and heavy in the hand - she sort of clunks into it and goes. She has a great half-halt response in walk; not bad in smaller trot but once I ask her to go...

Thanks, I should add that my horses never live in unless there is something seriously wrong - they just come in to be tacked up or fed. If I had liveries I suppose they might want stabling. Six boxes sounds sensible.

At the moment I have a really run down three-stable block. I don't think it's worth refurbishing but it might turn into a field shelter. I want to build something new - minimum three stables, max 8 (I have 8 acres and might go into livery at some point). Would it be cheaper/easier to have a...

I use a buff under my hat all year round because I can wash it and also I have the worlds most sensitive ears. In the winter I add a fleece band that I made to velcro around the harness of my hat. I like the look of the press stud ear warmers earlier in this post too though!