CarolineJ
Well-Known Member
So I set out to buy a Highland mare and ended up with a Welsh D gelding, as you do.... 
Finn, or Durris Fascination to give him his posh name, arrived yesterday and has fitted in as if he's always been here. I'm almost certain Merlin has met him before - M's usual reaction to a strange gelding is to snort, squeal, stick his willy out and prance up and down the fence line before trying to kick it with a front leg. When he saw Finn, he neighed, came over for a sniff and then immediately started to graze as close to him as the fence would let him
So I put them in together this morning and they've been absolutely fine, there wasn't even a punch up at supper time, they just politely swapped buckets to check the other had finished without so much as a squeal or a raised hoof.
Given I'm not the world's most confident rider (hah! Understatement!), it probably wasn't the best idea for me to tack him up this afternoon and take him on a mini one-mile hack to the end of the village to post a letter, but he was fab, just had a tiny 2-minute strop when I asked him to keep going forward after we passed Shadow's field and Shads came flying down to see who the new pony was. We nearly ended up in a neighbour's front garden, but instead of panicking and jumping off, as I would have on Merlin, I kept turning him back in the direction I wanted him to go and kept my leg on and he gave in.
Since he's not fit, the plan is to do 20 minutes of something in walk every day apart from Monday and Friday - either a hack or a potter in my neighbour's school - and then add 5 minutes a week, plus a bit of trot from week 3, until he can do 45 minutes happily. Despite being 7" smaller than Merlin he's only 30kg lighter at 420kg and is developing an apple bum, so it'll be pony WeightWatchers for him this summer.
Here's the obligatory picture - I hope this is the start of a beautiful partnership
Finn, or Durris Fascination to give him his posh name, arrived yesterday and has fitted in as if he's always been here. I'm almost certain Merlin has met him before - M's usual reaction to a strange gelding is to snort, squeal, stick his willy out and prance up and down the fence line before trying to kick it with a front leg. When he saw Finn, he neighed, came over for a sniff and then immediately started to graze as close to him as the fence would let him
So I put them in together this morning and they've been absolutely fine, there wasn't even a punch up at supper time, they just politely swapped buckets to check the other had finished without so much as a squeal or a raised hoof.Given I'm not the world's most confident rider (hah! Understatement!), it probably wasn't the best idea for me to tack him up this afternoon and take him on a mini one-mile hack to the end of the village to post a letter, but he was fab, just had a tiny 2-minute strop when I asked him to keep going forward after we passed Shadow's field and Shads came flying down to see who the new pony was. We nearly ended up in a neighbour's front garden, but instead of panicking and jumping off, as I would have on Merlin, I kept turning him back in the direction I wanted him to go and kept my leg on and he gave in.
Since he's not fit, the plan is to do 20 minutes of something in walk every day apart from Monday and Friday - either a hack or a potter in my neighbour's school - and then add 5 minutes a week, plus a bit of trot from week 3, until he can do 45 minutes happily. Despite being 7" smaller than Merlin he's only 30kg lighter at 420kg and is developing an apple bum, so it'll be pony WeightWatchers for him this summer.
Here's the obligatory picture - I hope this is the start of a beautiful partnership
