phoebe.and.bonnie
Well-Known Member
It's far far far from ideal but my beloved mare Bonnie has been living solo since October. An agreement I had to keep her at a private yard turned bad (not mine or Bonnie's fault) and I was given 2 weeks to move her.
A 3 acre field to herself was the best I could do, and the field owner refuses to allow another person to bring a horse to be a companion (he's had bad experiences with renters in the past, and only seems willing for myself and my family to be on the property). She needs year round turnout as she has arthritis and doesn't enjoy being stabled, and all local livery stables I've tried can't offer me this. She lived out all winter (except for when snowing), fat and happy in her Tristar munching through large hay bales!
If anybody knows of anywhere offering grass livery/grazing rental in Standon/Puckeridge/Buntingford area Bonnie and I would be eternally grateful! She's never seemed particularly fussed about being in the company of other horses, but I just don't think it's right and feel guilty every day about her current living situation.
For the moment, does anyone have any ideas to keep her amused? She seems cheery enough with her current regime - being loved on/lightly ridden for an hour or two, couple of sections of hay (field is not exactly lush, although she has got some grass to nibble on), fed chaff/balancer/supplements in the afternoon, and given a feed ball full of high fibre nuts daily. Problem with this is, she has got far too skilled at rapidly emptying her food ball, but I still feel like I have to give her something to amuse herself while I'm not there to entertain her. Have tried offering her swedes to roll about, she doesn't seem keen. All the tree branches are too high for me to hang things on. Any ideas appreciated
A 3 acre field to herself was the best I could do, and the field owner refuses to allow another person to bring a horse to be a companion (he's had bad experiences with renters in the past, and only seems willing for myself and my family to be on the property). She needs year round turnout as she has arthritis and doesn't enjoy being stabled, and all local livery stables I've tried can't offer me this. She lived out all winter (except for when snowing), fat and happy in her Tristar munching through large hay bales!
If anybody knows of anywhere offering grass livery/grazing rental in Standon/Puckeridge/Buntingford area Bonnie and I would be eternally grateful! She's never seemed particularly fussed about being in the company of other horses, but I just don't think it's right and feel guilty every day about her current living situation.
For the moment, does anyone have any ideas to keep her amused? She seems cheery enough with her current regime - being loved on/lightly ridden for an hour or two, couple of sections of hay (field is not exactly lush, although she has got some grass to nibble on), fed chaff/balancer/supplements in the afternoon, and given a feed ball full of high fibre nuts daily. Problem with this is, she has got far too skilled at rapidly emptying her food ball, but I still feel like I have to give her something to amuse herself while I'm not there to entertain her. Have tried offering her swedes to roll about, she doesn't seem keen. All the tree branches are too high for me to hang things on. Any ideas appreciated
