Advice on Fjords please!

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indiat

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I am so excited! OH has finally crumbled under the pressure and agreed I can go horse shopping!!! The bad news is, he is limiting me to a 1500 budget. :( With the cost of a vettting, transport and possible new saddle a new horse will cost us 2000 anyway, and we just can't go over that. Maybe in four years but not now and the last five months have proved how miserable I am without a horse so there is now way I am going four years horseless.

What I like is dreadfully expensive (coloured cobs with loads of feather) so we are deciding not to follow fashion and we are going to look at a very sweet four year old Fjord mare who is supposed to have a fabulous temprement. Can any Fjord owners out there let me know what they are like to ride and keep? I'm assuming they are as tough as a cob? I am talking to my riding instructor on Satruday as to whether or not I could handle a four year old without ruining the poor thing for life. At least I know I will get a lot of help where I am, so I am hoping she says yes.

Did I mention I am soooooooo excited?! Couldn't eat dinner tonight I'm like a four year old myself. And in January I was saying how sick I was of horses and I didn't care if I never rode again!
 
Well I can only talk about one Fjord (our Badger) as he is the only one I have known, but he is a darling!
We bought him for my Mum to plod around on, and he does a fabulous job of it! She is now on lead rein (due to an illness), but he really doesn’t mind.
But we also have a sharer for him (to give him a bit more fun and life experience), and he really perks up with her.

He is cheeky (typical pony) and does need a firm hand at times, but it’s never malicious.
Here some photos!
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Wouldn’t change him for the world! :)
 
He is lovely! The mare we are going to see is meant to be very calm and laid back. I've handled plenty of ponies and lord knows the one we have on loan for my daughter is not the easiest. I do worry about taking on a youngster though, which is why I am going to talk to my RI. Our last horse was 13 when we bought her and was very much , "been there, done that, got the T shirt".

Do you let Badger's mane grow or do you hog it?
 
Well Badger was only 5 when we got him (he is 8 this year), so I don’t think that having a youngster is a problem (as long as you have the right support).

This mare sounds lovely! We will need photos!

We grow Badger’s mane, Mum would kill us if we hogged it. She loves it long and flowing. He was hogged when we bought him though.
 
We are lucky as the yard we are on is part of a riding school and there are four instructors working there full time so help is always at hand! I'm dying to see her - hubby thought she looked awful and was not impressed. I know your Badger loves his pink - the first thing my eldest said when she saw a pic of this mare was "Oooh, she would look lovely in pink!". Not when I'm riding her! Ideally, I want something that my eight year old can ride when she grows out of her pony, but I want some thing really calm and easy going. This mare sounds ideal but then don't they all? What's the odds that when I call about her in the morning she'll be gone?
 
Sounds like a perfect set up. It’s Mum that loves the pink, we always say Badger is comfortable with his sexuality, lol!
We have all sorts ride Badger, even someone who had never sat on a horse before, just on lead rein. He is calm and easy going in the school, but does perk up out hacking, but only because he enjoys it so much (and only with his sharer), nothing silly just a bit more forward going.

I really hope this mare is still for sale, I think that’s a good price! We paid £2500 for Badger, probably a bit over the odds, but he was exactly what we wanted, and Mum fell in love at first sight.
 
they are lovely if i had room or money id have one in a shot a friend of mine is selling hers hes 5yrs old 14.2hh and really stunning if your interested
 
Oh, I hope so too! If I just had £1000 more we would have so much more choice but its just not there. I just finished a masters degree and OH and myself made the decision that I would work part time and have time for the children and the horses, so money will be tight for some time to come. We did think about loaning but few people want to loan out a family horse and if it gets taken back then my kids are left heartbroken.

I am so scared this mare is gone - I will let you know how it goes!
 
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I had a fjord a number of years ago I got her as a 5 yr old and lost her at38!Best horse ever so much fun,Ive never met a bad one good luck.
 
Sorry Jensheff, I moved to Somerset about two years ago from Ireland and I'm ashamed to say I still don't know local geography very well - where is Castleford, exactly? I can;t go over by £1500 budget either, I'm afriad, OH says there is no room for negotiation on that one!
 
its yorkshire area think its about 2 hours away im certain she offeded him me for 1500 without tack wish i had money and room for him hes such a handsome lad
 
I LOVE Fjords..... I have had two of them..... and considering at the time that I had my boys, there were only 55 in Australia, I figured that was pretty good odds wise to have had the two of them in my life!!! Not at the same time though unfortunately - but they were half brothers.

Anyhow, brilliant natured little horses, the only thing I found was that when they set their mind to going in one direction if they set their necks against you - you are pretty much buggered!! lol....

Mind you, didnt help that the one that used to do that to me had gotten away with murder with his last few riders!!! We soon turned that attitude around a bit!

Great all round little horses, and can do anything with them :) Go for it!!!
 
I saw that ad a couple of weeks ago, sounds like they're having real problems selling... hopefully just because people just want "conventional" horses! If the horse is sound you might get a real bargain as they've already dropped the price twice.

Good luck :)
 
My friend had one and she was gorgeous; the only downside was that she had a strong neck and used it to drag people everywhere mounted and led which I gather is a common fault.. oh and she had sweet itch, but apart from that she was an angel and I would have bought her or been very tempted if I had had a chance.
 
She's gone!! I knew it - if only my OH had crumbled sooner. :( she sounded so nice too. Back to the drawing board *sigh*.
 
Hi Jensheff, I would be tempted to come and look at your firends horse but I don't drive so I am keeping my search local as its much easier to get lifts off the OH that way! Thanks for thinking of me though.
 
Sorry you missed the Fjord. We looked at a 15hh gelding last year who was being sold by a friend of my OH's. He was a real dude.

There are horses available for your budget, I know of two local to me (North Somerset), one is 17 hh hunter type, the other a 15.2hh cob. So I would say even with limited funds there are good horses out there.
 
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