Gypsy cobs

I have one and he does have arthritis but he’s 22. His medical ailments have been few. He’s never had mites although does have sarcoids.

The biggest shock to me was how much mud he makes compared to a lighter horse. It’s also a never ending job keeping him clean. I’ve found my standards have slipped hugely over the years as it’s just not possible to keep him as clean as I’d like. His feathers are amazing and require very little care. If you part them in the depths of winter his skin is clean and bone dry!

Temperament wise he can be lazy but he’s very laid back and quite a mummy’s boy. I like that he’s never unreasonable about anything. He would also do literally anything for food, so that makes things very easy.
 
As others have said... Mites, mallanders and weight control!! You also spend ALOT of time grooming to maintain all the mane and feather in good condition. In other aspects I find them never sick or sorry, good natured though opinionated.
 
I have a traditional with all the hair and feathers and haven't had any mite trouble or mallenders/sallenders. I spray a bit of conditioner on the feathers weekly and thin them out twice a year. Nobody ever notices, but it makes them a LOT easier to comb through and stops matting in winter. He lives out with a shelter and is pretty clean, considering he's mostly white. He's ridden barefoot and rarely struggles with any surface. I thin his mane and tail, too - again, nobody else notices, but it makes a HUGE difference in the summer. I clip him with an Irish/variation thereof year round, as he's a very hot boy. I still have a brand new 100g rug that I bought when he arrived home, still in the bag! Doesn't seem bothered by flies much, either. His fly rug is rarely used - more hassle than it's worth as horseflies get trapped in it. No fly mask required!

I did loan a gypsy cob years ago that plaited and as result broke my teeth in a fall where he'd tripped over his own feet. I was careful to check current boy's gait when I viewed him and he's pretty straight.
 
I have a 14.2hh gypsy cob who was competitive up to 90 (BRC, XC) until he was 13 but then broke down - unfortunate field injury that could have happened to anyone. He's now a reinvented dressage cob, but I can feel his hocks are weakening and he's only 16, so seems to be following a similar route to many other sporty cobs on this thread. He also "ties up" if fed anything other than chaff/hay and in hard work (but PSSM negative) ... never had a problem with mites and he is fully feathered but where we live is very exposed sea view and I think that does help. He lives out on a chalk hillside. My 15hh cob mare had arthritis diagnosed when she was 8 and we kept her sound and happily hacking for another 10 years but then had to let her go :( .. I gather this is not uncommon for cobs that are very athletic and I'm personally unlikely to have another heavy one (even though this is the best horse I have ever had!). I'd consider a cross ...
 
I part loan a cob. He has suffered with mites and is clipped and hogged to help with this-though that not be the aesthetic you want if you specifically like the feather and hairy look. He also, as gloi says has a touch of arthritis in the hock- he's 18, unsure how long that's been going on. He's the kinda horse who needs work little and often to keep him loose. He's the kindest most laid back horse ever, and he definitely has a brain. I will never tell someone to not buy a cob though, so I say get one!
 
I'm on my second gypsy cob!! (profile pic).

After I'd lost my old boy and was back in the "looking" market again; I swore blind I'd never have another as they were a nightmare to keep clean! No feathers I said, no hairies, and deffo no coloureds with lots of white. Also no mares, and no youngsters, and deffo not a pony. And guess what I came home with!! But it's been great! These little coblets are great fun & wonderful characters - and are actually very intelligent indeed.

Ditto everyone else's problems of mites, mallenders & weight! In the summer I'd also say sun as mine has a white nose & pink skin and she burns incredibly easily! In the winter wet mucky feathers and a horrible muddy tail are your issues. I will confess to having had really had serious tail-envy issues over a friend who had an Arab............

I bought mine as a youngster so knew what she'd done and I brought her on very slowly indeed, but if I was looking I'd be very chary of anything going on ten years plus, as unfortunately some of these cobs are asked to do too much too soon and their bodies just can't deal with it when they are youngsters. Oh dear, can feel myself going on.......... this is one of my pet rants but I've seen too many heavy cobs who've obviously done far too much far too soon and come 10yrs plus they're unsound!

The other thing with these heavy cobs is you have to really work at getting them polite on the ground as if they're not given firm boundaries right from the start they can be rude and bolshy - and dangerous. They will quickly figure out that they can use their strength against you if given half a chance; my old gal (had to be PTS last week, bless her) was a nightmare when I had her first; she wouldn't pick up her feet or move away when you were doing her - she'd come from a RS environment where she'd obviously been allowed to get away with it, but we did work on picking up feet etc and she soon got the hang of it.

I find "Mitey Feathers" from Traditional Horse Remedies is good stuff; I apply a squirt of Frontline every month in the bulb of each heel (Viovet, get the big dog size!) and I find that the mites problem is manageable with Mitey Feathers. I cringe when I see stuff like pig oil & sulphur recommended - these cobs can be VERY sensitive if you have ones like mine with pink skin and white feathers.

Love my little girl; she's a little star and although she was my first-ever youngster she's worked out very well. Wouldn't part with her for the world.
 
MiJodsR2BlinkinTite said:
I'm on my second gypsy cob!! (profile pic).

After I'd lost my old boy and was back in the "looking" market again; I swore blind I'd never have another as they were a nightmare to keep clean! No feathers I said, no hairies, and deffo no coloureds with lots of white. Also no mares, and no youngsters, and deffo not a pony. And guess what I came home with!! But it's been great! These little coblets are great fun & wonderful characters - and are actually very intelligent indeed.

Ditto everyone else's problems of mites, mallenders & weight! In the summer I'd also say sun as mine has a white nose & pink skin and she burns incredibly easily! In the winter wet mucky feathers and a horrible muddy tail are your issues. I will confess to having had really had serious tail-envy issues over a friend who had an Arab............

I bought mine as a youngster so knew what she'd done and I brought her on very slowly indeed, but if I was looking I'd be very chary of anything going on ten years plus, as unfortunately some of these cobs are asked to do too much too soon and their bodies just can't deal with it when they are youngsters. Oh dear, can feel myself going on.......... this is one of my pet rants but I've seen too many heavy cobs who've obviously done far too much far too soon and come 10yrs plus they're unsound!

The other thing with these heavy cobs is you have to really work at getting them polite on the ground as if they're not given firm boundaries right from the start they can be rude and bolshy - and dangerous. They will quickly figure out that they can use their strength against you if given half a chance; my old gal (had to be PTS last week, bless her) was a nightmare when I had her first; she wouldn't pick up her feet or move away when you were doing her - she'd come from a RS environment where she'd obviously been allowed to get away with it, but we did work on picking up feet etc and she soon got the hang of it.

I find "Mitey Feathers" from Traditional Horse Remedies is good stuff; I apply a squirt of Frontline every month in the bulb of each heel (Viovet, get the big dog size!) and I find that the mites problem is manageable with Mitey Feathers. I cringe when I see stuff like pig oil & sulphur recommended - these cobs can be VERY sensitive if you have ones like mine with pink skin and white feathers.

Love my little girl; she's a little star and although she was my first-ever youngster she's worked out very well. Wouldn't part with her for the world.
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A lovely but also helpful post.I have lost count of the number of cobs I have seen advertized as having hacked,jumped,schooled extensively and they are four!
 
I bought mine as a youngster so knew what she'd done and I brought her on very slowly indeed, but if I was looking I'd be very chary of anything going on ten years plus, as unfortunately some of these cobs are asked to do too much too soon and their bodies just can't deal with it when they are youngsters. Oh dear, can feel myself going on.......... this is one of my pet rants but I've seen too many heavy cobs who've obviously done far too much far too soon and come 10yrs plus they're unsound!
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Yup, this was the case for my first pony, a 14hh heavy mare from Ireland. Bought her at 10, retired at 13, pts at 15, Osteoarthritis and Bone spurs in the fronts from being overworked/hammered on the roads pulling a cart in her previous life :(
 
I must say I'm not convinced with the connection always being between them being worked hard young and getting arthritis. Ones I know who needed retiring early unsound had easy early lives.
 
I suspect there is more concussion and wear and tear on a heavy horse when ridden simply due to the increased muscle mass and less athletic conformation. When we bought our Ardennes mare we were advised by her breeder to favour work in walk to keep her sound. He was an old-fashioned farmer who still worked his farm with heavy horses in Yorkshire at the time.
 
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