BOGOF ponies - common?

Skyebald

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I bought a mare last summer and my suspicions were confirmed by the vet today that she is in foal which means whe was when I bought her .:eek:

A friend has also recently bought a pony to find out it was in foal at the time of sale and being sold as a ridden pony

Got me wondering just how common this is these days ? I bought mine from a sale and hers was through a dealer

It's not what I was planning and is causing me a few headaches - Admittedly it is all very exciting too :D

So who else out there has had to adapt to the sound of tiny hooves
 

rhino

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Seems to be fairly common, yes :rolleyes:

Not my pony, but we had this 'surprise' at the yard a few weeks ago - pony was showing no signs of being in foal!

DSCF0085.jpg


I think people need to be made more aware that testing for pregnancy is NOT included in any prepurchase veterinary examinations; I know a few people who have tried to blame their vets when they found their purchase was a BOGOF.

Good luck with yours :)
 

Skyebald

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I hope I get a few signs of foaling :eek: Bet that was a total shocker :D

My only worry is not knowing the size of the sire :rolleyes:
 

Lady La La

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I bought a mare last summer and my suspicions were confirmed by the vet today that she is in foal which means whe was when I bought her .:eek:

A friend has also recently bought a pony to find out it was in foal at the time of sale and being sold as a ridden pony

Got me wondering just how common this is these days ? I bought mine from a sale and hers was through a dealer

It's not what I was planning and is causing me a few headaches - Admittedly it is all very exciting too :D

So who else out there has had to adapt to the sound of tiny hooves

I had a BOGOF, although I wouldnt call the foal 'free' as the little critter ate me out of house and home until she was sold :rolleyes:
Horse was bought from a private home that bought her from a dealer that had her shipped over as part of a job lot from Holland, supposedly.
At the time I felt like it was all one big headache, I just wanted to ride and I had to spend my time reading through foaling books and crapping myself every time she lay down for a kip, but it was magical. The mare turned out to be my best ever horse & the foal was a little cracker. I did spend some time worrying that something resembling a shetland was going to pop out, but I was lucky and the foal was rather marvelous.
Sadly the mare is no longer with me which is a bit of a heart breaker, but the foal is 3 now and doing very well. :)

Here we all are together
mewillowandstarla.jpg
 

Little Alfie

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I hope I get a few signs of foaling :eek: Bet that was a total shocker :D

My only worry is not knowing the size of the sire :rolleyes:

Same here again ;)

We have been told it could be one of two.
One nice black cob beastie ;) or a coloured cob :rolleyes:

Dont really mind as long as foal and mare are ok.
 
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Lady La La

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Not my pony, but we had this 'surprise' at the yard a few weeks ago - pony was showing no signs of being in foal!

My girl didn't. I felt terrible, I just thought she was an odd shaped coby thing!
In fact I still feel bad to this day, I rode her right up to the month before she foaled, when I called the vet out because her belly had suddenly dropped :eek:
...It was a real testament to her character that she let me flap about on top of her back whilst she was so heavily pregnant.
This was her about 5 weeks before she foaled:

GEDC0128.jpg

GEDC0122.jpg


To look back now I look at her tummy and kick myself for not noticing, but she honestly showed NO signs of harboring a baby! I jsut thoguth she was a funny shape bless her heart :(
 

rhino

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In fact I still feel bad to this day, I rode her right up to the month before she foaled, when I called the vet out because her belly had suddenly dropped :eek:

I can beat that. I was asked to school the pony as she was too 'much' for her novice child owner. The pony is 12hh :eek: :eek:

I only did a few minutes walk and trot, and hadn't had time since before Christmas, but she was still doing lead rein work with child up until she foaled. There are photos somewhere of the last time she was ridden and you honestly couldn't tell, the pony did not have a big belly (yet the foal was huge and very healthy).
 

Amy567

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Someone I know bought a horse that was unknowingly in foal, and they competed the mare the day before she gave birth, because there was honestly no way of telling she was in foal! The owner they bought her off was then called and said "Oh, well it's by a GP Dressage Stallion, I caught him in her field with her, but thought nothing of it".... ermm, Stallion in mare's field.... yeah! haha
 

Skyebald

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Same here again ;)

We have been told it could be one of two.
One nice black cob beastie ;) or a coloured cob :rolleyes:

Dont really mind as long as foal and mare are ok.

Do you know when yours is due?

I have absolutely no idea of sire so really will be a surpise, just hope the birth is easy for her, she's such a kind pony
 

Skyebald

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I can beat that. I was asked to school the pony as she was too 'much' for her novice child owner. The pony is 12hh :eek: :eek:

I only did a few minutes walk and trot, and hadn't had time since before Christmas, but she was still doing lead rein work with child up until she foaled. There are photos somewhere of the last time she was ridden and you honestly couldn't tell, the pony did not have a big belly (yet the foal was huge and very healthy).

Oops !!
 

Littlelegs

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I've met a few, & heard of plenty too. One I remember clearest was in my teens. Woman on the yard bought a 13h pony for her kids one autumn that was typical unridden native shape. Over winter didn't lose much but at no point did it look remotely pregnant. In the spring I got asked to ride it to keep a bit of weight off & school it in between kids riding. Had a nice little jump & under owners instructions had it going over 3' courses at home. Was putting fly repellent on after one session when I noticed milk. Even vet said he thought it was phantom till he did a full exam, foal born within days. Felt guilty for ages after!
 

Skyebald

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At least I have no guilt about riding her as she's had the winter off ;) She was very under weight and immature when I bought her so I decided to let her mature over the winter ....... so glad that I did and at least she's had a balanced diet too as I was trying to get condition on her :)

She was bought as newly broken and I was planning on getting her going this summer ... oh well :rolleyes:
 

Little Alfie

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Do you know when yours is due?

I have absolutely no idea of sire so really will be a surpise, just hope the birth is easy for her, she's such a kind pony

Don't really know when, but OH saw movement the other day :eek:

We are moving to our new place on Sunday so hope its not before then.
 

smellsofhorse

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I expect the selling thinks oh dear quick sell it before it costs me anything but also it could be genuine mistakes.
11 months is a long time and the horse doesn't show many signs for a lot of it.

Good luck with yours.
 

Lizzie0682

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I did a pleasure ride (with jumps!) the week before my bogof and moaned cos she was slow, a week later strolled down field could see my mare looking a bit panicky, running back and forth to gap between fields, get there, she had after birth dangling out, and foley being 'minded' by clucky mares! I felt v bad! Biggest shock ever! Whilst I basically had a heart attack my friend had presence of mind to take mare and foal into separate field. Both of us had heard somewhere that as foals hooves were still soft when born they couldn't walk on concrete, this resulted in a frantic phone call to my dad / friends dad who came and carried foaley about 1/2 mile up to stables (he was v calm boy!), crazy but amazing times!!!
 

Lady La La

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I can beat that. I was asked to school the pony as she was too 'much' for her novice child owner. The pony is 12hh :eek: :eek:

I only did a few minutes walk and trot, and hadn't had time since before Christmas, but she was still doing lead rein work with child up until she foaled. There are photos somewhere of the last time she was ridden and you honestly couldn't tell, the pony did not have a big belly (yet the foal was huge and very healthy).

That IS impressive! It seemed to happen overnight with Starla, one minute she looked like she did in those pictures and the next minute I get her in from the field and her belly has dropped right down and she was the size of a house.
The vet stuck his arm in for a feel and said he thought she had around 4 months to go and she foaled a few weeks later :p
 

Janesomerset

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We bought a mare from a riding school in autumn 1989. I wondered why they were parting with a quiet, kind 14.3hh 8-year-old mare who was a great family horse. She was family in more ways than one! When I phoned the riding school in May 1990 to say what a lovely strapping colt she'd just had, the proprietor said, "ooh, it can't have happened while she was with us", although by then I had heard rumours to the contrary! Our mare is still alive but sadly we lost her beautiful son to grass sickness when he was 12. The best BOGOF we've ever had. RIP lovely boy; we still cherish your memory.
 

Niddlynoo

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Happened to me back in 1993. Lovely h/w mare produced lovely little colt (just that type that's in demand now! Was cross at the time as missed out on whole summers riding and the livery yard refused to let me turn them out individually so had to bite the bullet and turn out in a herd. Amazing though watching mares' boyfriends (she was a tart and had 2/3!) go one either side and 'protect' from the others. After a day or two they had all settled down and it was a lovely natural upbringing for them.
Can be lovely, but if time/money is a problem, can also be a nightmare!
 

midi

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Sadly the mare is no longer with me which is a bit of a heart breaker, but the foal is 3 now and doing very well. :)

Here we all are together
mewillowandstarla.jpg

Thats so sad about your mare shes stunning, i love black horses with markings like her! :(

Being dense here but what the hell is BOGOF supposed to stand for lol?
 

Lady La La

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Thats so sad about your mare shes stunning

Thank you :)
I will admit I've got myself a little upset after reminiscing about the foal being born & looking through all of the old photos from when she first arrived. :eek:

To those of you waiting for your BOGOF's to pop, good luck, I hope your foaling experience will be as magical as mine was :)
 

vickyb

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It happened to me with a 15.3 mare. She was my first horse when I was 17. (AND she had been fully vetted - but in those days perhaps they were not so thorough - no bloods taken) After 6 months it became obvious she was in foal. It cost a fortune because we had to send her away to foal as we didn't have the experience or the facilities, she then spent 6 months at a stud and I left the filly foal there (at livery) and had the mare home. The main thing I remember is the expense of the whole thing, plus being horseless for a long time! the filly turned into a strapping 16 hand chestnut mare.
 
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