I bought a horse - photo overload, sorry!!

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Okay, so some of you may remember my previous thread about buying Jake. I paid a little more than I wanted to, but I bought him today and I finally have a horse of my own.

I am so excited (even if I have technically had him since Jan 2nd!), and bricking it a little! Is this normal?! Sort of a 'what have I done' feeling.

Some photos of the squash-monster.


The scrawney, fluid filled, weirdly put together, hairy pony that I first took on....




The work in progress photos taken around March...





And the beautiful (imo) horse that greets me over the stable door these days...
(photos range from April to last weekend, red rug is at the sunshine tour! )

 

[paddi22]

he is gorgeous! love him!

 

[luckyoldme]

thats some transformation, he looks lovely happy new horse day!

 

[booandellie]

WOW! That really is a transformation and you both look really happy together, the love and hard work has obviously payed off- hope you have many fun years ahead x

 

[Antw23uk]

I wasnt going to comment because I hate lying about how lovely peoples horses are when they are clearly not, lol! ... but then I scrolled the the bottom photos and he is blooming lovely now, what a transformation

 

[Spilletta]

Congratulations, very pleased for you and hope you have a lot more fun together now it's official! And yes, I believe the "what have I done?" feeling is normal. It was for me, anyway

 

[rowan666]

Cant believe it's the same horse! Such a credit to you, congrats on being his official owner! Shame the previous owners didn't price at what he was instead of what he is but never the less I hope you have a lifetime of happy memories to make with him

 

[Cinnamontoast]

I was going to steal him in January and even more so now!! He's gorgeous, you've done wonders with him. Dying laughing at pony, given how tall he is!

 

[splashgirl45]

great news, you have transformed him and deserve many happy years together...

 

[cherylee]

He is gorgeous and you have worked wonders with him, I've had mine for a month and I hope I can look back and see how he's changed over time!

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

I wasnt going to comment because I hate lying about how lovely peoples horses are when they are clearly not, lol! ... but then I scrolled the the bottom photos and he is blooming lovely now, what a transformation

Haha, this really made me laugh!!

Thank you everyone for your lovely comments, I'm really chuffed that my hard work (and his) has paid off and that I'm not the only one who thinks he is scrumptious. I really am excited for the future.

Dying laughing at pony, given how tall he is!

Funny you should say that, when he first arrived no-one would believe how big he was on his passport, but now he has gone from a medium to an x-wide gullet and chunked out they are all saying 'oh he must have grown, he's massive!' (He has grown a third of an inch, measured at just over 17.3hh, who would have thunk it!

 

[VikingSong]

He was always a lovely looking lad, but he certainly does look spectacular in the recent photos. Well done, OP.

 

[mytwofriends]

What what a very handsome boy! Nice one, OP!

 

[oldie48]

Blimey, what a transformation! Good job and I hope you have years and years of fun with him, he's lovely!

 

[Equi]

He is absolutely lovely! You have definitely did the right thing. What a horse!

 

[cornbrodolly]

Absolutely brilliant - well done you. Love coloureds , and feel very envious. Can I ask why his legs were so filled and what you had to do to get him right?

 

[debsflo]

Looking fab x

 

[{97702}]

He looks fantastic, well done OP xx

 

[AShetlandBitMeOnce]

Absolutely brilliant - well done you. Love coloureds , and feel very envious. Can I ask why his legs were so filled and what you had to do to get him right?

I was advised by previous owner that leaving his legs when muddy was the best way, however as he had just been out in a field for a long while before I got him he must have had the beginnings of mud fever that I then missed getting worse as I was leaving well alone.
This ended up in box rest, huge fluidy legs and cellulitis (all before I had managed to get him insured too!) So he had flamazine, multiple cling film wraps, soaked the scabs off, an injection of something, anti-bi's and danilon for 6 weeks.
When the worst of this was over his legs (and fronts too) were always filling when he came in so I delayed starting riding and led him walking until they went down, ice booted and then put thermatex leg wraps on to make sure they stayed warm over night. Then progressed onto walking further and further till his legs went down faster and faster and I have not once had a problem with filled legs since!

 

[cornbrodolly]

Thats fantastic, I had no idea legs could fill that badly yet end up going away completely - now you have lovely horse : hope you do well in the future!