Any tips?

horsimous

horsimous

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I am about to ship my lovely mare from Cyprus to UK. Has anyone any tips for getting her used to the weather and also that strange stuff called grass?
 
Going from hot to cold shouldnt be an issue? I'd just give her time to settle in. No idea on the grass front but hopefully she'll understand! Good luck, how exciting!
 
A girl at my yard brought her horse here from Tenerife, she had never seen grass either so she turned her out for an hour a day building it up gradually until she was able to go out all day. She adapted really well, shame about the strange owner, but the horse was fine :)
 
Be prepared to rug her a bit more until she gets used to it. I would put her on quite a bare paddock or strip graze her so her tummy can get used to it. I don't know how yuo will mentally prepare her for endless rain and grey weather though :D
 
I was hoping she'd be so overjoyed at seeing grass that she wouldn't notice the rain, lol.

She'll be a real hippo mud monster!
 
horsimous said:
Forgot to say it's 35 degrees here and we wouldn't see any rain between May and October usually
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I was in Greece a couple of weeks back and it was over 40 degrees on some days. Think the first time it rains she'll be loving it. Until it gets cold and frosty...Good luck with the move. Hope she settles quickly. You could always borrow my fat boy, he'll soon show her how to be a proficent lawn mower.
 
Oh wow lucky you from an ex Cyprus Dweller who is now living in Holland and had to leave her horse behind. If you tell me yours is older than 12 I may just change my mind and see if I can get mine on the same transport!

How old is yours, who are you traveling with, where are you based in Cyp (PM me if you like)

Anyhow back to the quesion in hand I assume you have been doing the old all calories in hard feed and Sanos as bulk? and she has been living outside in a sand paddock?

I would just start off slowly give her 10 mins grass day one and just work it up very slowly in 10 minute increments every few days to get her used to things.

What are you intending eventually grass livery, stabled.

How exciting I hope you are heading somewhere where there are hills! I really really miss the hacking in Cyprus sigh!
 
She's 12

I couldn't stand the thought of finding in a few years that she'd been passed from pillar to post and then tied to a tree for months with no food or water and turned into a hat rack like I often see. She's such a loyal horse.

Yes she is in a sand paddock which becomes a swamp in the winter occasionally (hence the hippo likeness). She has trafilli and hard feed of sugarbeet, local nuts and not great chaff. The increments of grazing sounds a good idea as my friend shipped a horse from Germany and against our advice put it straight out on lush grass for an hour and it got colic - something I want to avoid. Rain - I want to go stand in a downpour at the moment but I am sure the novelty will wear off after 1 day lol.

We're shipping with a guy called Yiannis from Greece at the end of the month. It costs £2500 to ship her and it takes 10 days (some of those are rest days). I did weigh up whether it would be kinder to leave her in Cyprus but the uncertain future was not an option. I am based in Episkopi and another horse is going from another area.

I'm leaving cos it's the end of my 5 year contract. However I have applied for a job in Portugal so fingers crossed! Could be a very well travelled horse...

But for now it will be good old Dorset and I haven't been able to look at options of a yard yet. I will put her on the transport and then dash to uk to start organising everything. She only has 1 rug with a few holes in it. She won't be able to go on straw tho as she'd eat the lot overnight (horses often have straw instead of hay here).
 
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Do keep us updated on this really interesting !

I moved to Australia a while back, and there was no way I could take my beloved piebald, due to the heat. He would have just burnt up. Lucky we didn't, as had to come home anyway, but that's another story *sigh*.

Good luck, sm xx
 
Yes I think it is harder to go to heat rather than from it - I guess I'll find out! I have a horse in UK who I didn't bring here as I thought it would ruin him. Now I've lived here I think he'd have died as even the cypriot horses were getting heat stroke this year. It's horrible seeing them dripping with sweat and all you can do is hose them and the water isn't very cool. However where I keep mine they do get good food and the facilities are good. We have been very lucky to change to a farrier who didn't lame the horses too. And the good side is we never have to worry what the weather will be like. It'll be more or less the same as yesterday.
 
my horse had to have factor 30 on his nose from april to october in the uk , and the tropical flies would have been a big issue for him too. They were for me - and the spiders, snake, crocs, jellyfish........ we should have gone to Brisbane !
 
horsimous said:
Yes I think it is harder to go to heat rather than from it - I guess I'll find out! I have a horse in UK who I didn't bring here as I thought it would ruin him. Now I've lived here I think he'd have died as even the cypriot horses were getting heat stroke this year. It's horrible seeing them dripping with sweat and all you can do is hose them and the water isn't very cool. However where I keep mine they do get good food and the facilities are good. We have been very lucky to change to a farrier who didn't lame the horses too. And the good side is we never have to worry what the weather will be like. It'll be more or less the same as yesterday.
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I used to keep mine first a Drapia in Kalavassos then when I moved into Limassol I moved him to Denise & Costa at Parakilsha.

We use to use Nico who either didn't turn up as he had been arrested over in the North or turned up drunk, we kept him supplied with beer because the drunker he got the better he shod!

Mine is out on permenant loan to a good friend of mine but I still own him, so luckily he is safe, we still go out a few times a year so one of my pleasures is to hop up on him and head up into the mountains, Holland really does not compare!

Is Paul still working at Epi or has he moved on now?

One of the reasons I would not had back (even though I love it) is I wouldn;t want to take my horse I have here or my dogs having got them away 3 years ago the though of taking them back somewhere where they could be poisoned is just not an option.

I know what you are saying about the Straw!....trying to explain to English visitors that the horses were fine eating straw and we were not being cruel was a joy! Think yours may end up being a shavings girl!

All the best and let us have some photo's of her in her new home x
 
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