Marchogaeth
Well-Known Member
One year ago last week we bought my little Anglo Arab mare 'Pip'.
Pip was sent to my riding instructors yard on trial by a dealer based not far away, it was immediately realised she was not the horse they had described and they were more than happy to have her back.
*You can call me foolish or sentimental but I simply did not have the heart to see her returned in this state.
I hadn't been looking for another horse as I already had my beautiful gelding who I love dearly, but there was something about this girl I just liked?*
Anyway I bought her for pennies and i quickly got the vet/dentist/farrier out, and much to my relief there were no obvious health problems (yet), the feet would be sorted and well... her teeth were not great, we found out she was more like 17/18 than 13 (as pass ported) but at that point age was the least of my worries.
Our first year together has had ups and downs, early on we discovered no matter what we fed her she wasn't putting on any weight, so as you would expect tests were run and we have found out she has various underlying health problems - unfortunately the deeper we delved the more we uncovered, including; conclusive skin conditions, heart problems, mild arthritis, previous laminitis (thus a susceptibility to it), liver function issues, worm damage ect. I have a list as long as my arm and I shan't bore you with it.
But... having said that all of the above are relatively easy to manage provided she'll take her meds! (which she now does no problem)
*At this point it's worth noting Pip is not in any pain, I would NEVER let her suffer.
To be fair I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy theses things are to manage once we got into the routine of things. Our biggest challenge was and is an endocrine and glandular condition that, in short? Means she is unable to fully utilise her food, she cannot properly take what she needs from it.
In turn we had to adjust her diet accordingly and I must say on top of everything she is just about the fussiest horse I have ever known - and refuses to eat if she doesn't like it; the trouble is she likes sweet molassed things and as we all know molasses and laminitis don't mix.
Also she's particularly stressy and suffers from extreme separation anxiety, which doesn't help her weight. She will not live out and stabling a mare this stressy (as I'm sure many of you will know) poses it's own challenges.
It was this year September when I began to ride her properly, her weight is good (for her) and she's fabulous, quirky, and oddly schooled? For example she's rediculously sharp, fizzy, strong and that little bit silly yet she'll stop dead at a voice command, she is literally bombproof and neck reins like a pro? We're still figuring her out, but enjoying every minute of it!
Anyway my beautiful mare and I have every single one of her conditions now perfectly managed (if I do say so myself!)
And I chosen to tell you of her now as I am ridiculously proud of her, my vet came out yesterday...
and..
For all intensive purposes my pretty girl is healthy!😊
I get asked quite a lot why i bothered,
but when you look at her now, you'd never know she has anything wrong
...and, we'll, ever since day one she has been fighting for herself, for her health,
I couldn't help but think it was time somebody fought for her.
It didn't really matter how bad it got, she's been an inspiration, no matter how poorly she looked, we'd lead her out to the big field, and as always, she'd dance alongside you excitedly anticipating her turnout with my boy and as soon as that headcollar was off she'd gallop off up the hedge line, head and tail in the air, gelding in tow. Giving us a glimpse if the horse she really was, the one she just needed an opportunity to be.
So let me introduce you to my darling pony Pip, fondly know by her friends and the worlds most high maintenance pony!
A before and after! It's taken a year and we've tried almost everything but we've finally found something that's working.
The first steps back into being a ridden horse, I'm bursting with pride for this photo!
Pip was sent to my riding instructors yard on trial by a dealer based not far away, it was immediately realised she was not the horse they had described and they were more than happy to have her back.
*You can call me foolish or sentimental but I simply did not have the heart to see her returned in this state.
I hadn't been looking for another horse as I already had my beautiful gelding who I love dearly, but there was something about this girl I just liked?*
Anyway I bought her for pennies and i quickly got the vet/dentist/farrier out, and much to my relief there were no obvious health problems (yet), the feet would be sorted and well... her teeth were not great, we found out she was more like 17/18 than 13 (as pass ported) but at that point age was the least of my worries.
Our first year together has had ups and downs, early on we discovered no matter what we fed her she wasn't putting on any weight, so as you would expect tests were run and we have found out she has various underlying health problems - unfortunately the deeper we delved the more we uncovered, including; conclusive skin conditions, heart problems, mild arthritis, previous laminitis (thus a susceptibility to it), liver function issues, worm damage ect. I have a list as long as my arm and I shan't bore you with it.
But... having said that all of the above are relatively easy to manage provided she'll take her meds! (which she now does no problem)
*At this point it's worth noting Pip is not in any pain, I would NEVER let her suffer.
To be fair I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy theses things are to manage once we got into the routine of things. Our biggest challenge was and is an endocrine and glandular condition that, in short? Means she is unable to fully utilise her food, she cannot properly take what she needs from it.
In turn we had to adjust her diet accordingly and I must say on top of everything she is just about the fussiest horse I have ever known - and refuses to eat if she doesn't like it; the trouble is she likes sweet molassed things and as we all know molasses and laminitis don't mix.
Also she's particularly stressy and suffers from extreme separation anxiety, which doesn't help her weight. She will not live out and stabling a mare this stressy (as I'm sure many of you will know) poses it's own challenges.
It was this year September when I began to ride her properly, her weight is good (for her) and she's fabulous, quirky, and oddly schooled? For example she's rediculously sharp, fizzy, strong and that little bit silly yet she'll stop dead at a voice command, she is literally bombproof and neck reins like a pro? We're still figuring her out, but enjoying every minute of it!
Anyway my beautiful mare and I have every single one of her conditions now perfectly managed (if I do say so myself!)
And I chosen to tell you of her now as I am ridiculously proud of her, my vet came out yesterday...
and..
For all intensive purposes my pretty girl is healthy!😊
I get asked quite a lot why i bothered,
but when you look at her now, you'd never know she has anything wrong
...and, we'll, ever since day one she has been fighting for herself, for her health,
I couldn't help but think it was time somebody fought for her.
It didn't really matter how bad it got, she's been an inspiration, no matter how poorly she looked, we'd lead her out to the big field, and as always, she'd dance alongside you excitedly anticipating her turnout with my boy and as soon as that headcollar was off she'd gallop off up the hedge line, head and tail in the air, gelding in tow. Giving us a glimpse if the horse she really was, the one she just needed an opportunity to be.
So let me introduce you to my darling pony Pip, fondly know by her friends and the worlds most high maintenance pony!
A before and after! It's taken a year and we've tried almost everything but we've finally found something that's working.
The first steps back into being a ridden horse, I'm bursting with pride for this photo!
