Recent content by Suechoccy

Probably a daft question but do the Himilayan rock salt blocks travel all the way from Asia? Or are they English? If they travel from Asia, I'd rather use a homegrown product for carbon/climate change reasons.

My hubby gave me a pair of Atlas For Men winter padded waterproof trousers because they came up too long on him. I've been using those to walk the dog/do the horses inc riding. They are so warm they are like central heated, seem to be waterproof too. They were cheap, probably £20 o £30, as AFM...

Horses reach an age where they don't cope so well with the cold and will appreciate a rug. And our weather is reaching a point where the saturation levels are beyond a joke.

Do you need insurance for vets fees? Can you just have a liability insurance for your horses and then put money into a savings account or have access to a credit card for if you ever needed a big vet bill paid?

A quick mud/wet winter tip for ANY of you who are using wheelbarrows to cart hay across muddy areas.... use a builders sack instead (the big one tonne bags with 4 handles). Put your hay into that and drag the bag across by holding two handles. The bag will ski/slide across the top of the mud...

The current setup isn't going to work for you or your horse at the moment. I'd say you have at least two options: 1 Put him on holiday at your current yard for a few months. He may not have recovered fully yet from his trauma and he will be feeding emotionally off your fears and concerns too...

Why can't the landlord electric fence her side too. Then both sides of the rickeety fence are out of bounds to the horses.

Speak with the owner - do they hack him out? If so alone or in company? In same tack or different? What routes? What times of day? If they don't, then why should you risk injuring yourself by trying to educate their horse in a potentially dangerous environment? If you like riding him in...

Make them into bar stools.

I used to enjoy doing Bridlerides Holidays when they were in business - you stayed b&b with your horse, were given an OS map marked up, and off you went, eitehr "petal rides" (day rides, coming back to the same b&b) or place-to-place with your luggage being transferred on. These days I would...

My oldest was 33. He was in my life for 26 years, bought as a 7yo and he was in regular light work till 26, then very light work till 31, lived in a little herd of 3. He lost weight for first time in winter 23/24 but put it back on during summer 24 with help from fibre feeds. Risign 33, he...

Go on your own. You'll make friends for the holiday, be your own mistress, not be beholden to anyone. It's absolutely great fun. Done it several times, in Portugal, New Zealand and Mongolia.

If ground isn't already soft/boggy/poached then a large piece of old carpet on top of ground, and then put roadplanings or woodchip on top of it (to weigh it down). If ground is already soft/boggy/poached and you lay carpet on top (like I did last winter!) then the first hoof pushes the carpet...

Are you stabling them overnight? If not, if door is permanently open so they choose, and if you only shut them in for up to an hour at a time, then I wouldn't bother with bedding, just put rubber mats down, so that you discourage urinating and it's easy to pick up poo.

Litle tips I've learnt over the years...might be helpful to others. Builders sacks make excellent "sleigh bags" that you can fill with hay and drag along the ground easily when it's too wet/muddy/poached to use the wheelbarrow Sweep any hardstanding (inc roadplanings) daily and it saves a...