Update on my Spanish boy *pics*

j1ffy said:
Apercrumbie - he has his moments and likes to keep me awake! Very very generous though. What was your boy like - what did he do?!
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Well it wasn't his fault really. I got him as a 7yr old who had no manners, ground or ridden, and had clearly been backed with an appalling saddle and just left out in a field for the rest of his life. He napped, he leapt, he bucked, he reared, you name it he did it. I stuck with him for a year and by then he had improved enormously so I sold him. I just didn't have the time to really do him justice and he needed more attention and work. I can't ride every day which is what he needed. Now he is very happy, and I have a simpler horse. Maybe one day when I am uber-rich I will have the time and money to have another Andalusian. I really miss having such an intelligent and funny horse.
 
dany said:
Did you work him straight away after the transport? or turn away for a couple of days?

Did you think about buying some alfalfa hay to slowly swap him over or did you go straight to hay?
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My boy came over when he was 2.

In answer to your questions .... when he arrived after a 4 day trip he was very tired being so young and I kept him in for 24 hours. I thought this would help him to understand that he wasn't going back on the wagon and to relax. On the journey they're on and off all the time.

Day 2 he went out for a few hours and went totally crazy. I stayed with him the whole time but he was probably frightened and had never seen such a large open space before (1 acre paddock).
He came in for another 24 hours and the following day he was much more calm.
Day 3 he was out for 12 hours and thereafter 12 in and 12 out. Never had any problems after Day 1.

When he arrived all of the fresh alfalfa that had been sent with him was gone and he went straight onto hay and HIFi Good Doer by the bucket load. I was fortunate that the field of long grass he went into had been topped 4 days before so it had a covering of 'hay' which he hoovered up over the following week. In the stable he went straight onto hay out of necessity - it's all I had.

I never had any problems with him after that. He took a week to learn the routine of in and out and 2 feeds of chaff/nuts a day and we never looked back.

On reflection, the trip was so long and traumatic a change of diet was the least of his worries. If he arrives calm and relaxed and enjoys the hay then personally I wouldn't worry about it. Obviously, keep an eye to see how he copes and adjust accordingly.

He gets fat and gassy depending on the quality of the grass. Definitely a good-doer.

He's never been shod, feet are very hard and we have sharp,flinty stones here which never trouble him. Farrier touches his feet up on one edge because he doesn't wear them evenly but otherwise does as little as possible.

Edited to say - he has very slight reaction to Midges which makes him rub his tail but it's manageable with 'Skin so soft'.
 
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Sorry J1ffy, I feel like im hyjacking your thread ever so slightly,

My boy is a stallion, so I dont have the option of turning out for long periods of time anyway, but I have spoken with the yard and we will be working towards turnout without risking blowing his brains. I will leave him to relax in the stable for 24 hours though, I was worried about stiffness, but its a valid point to let him realize he isnt going to have to get back on the transporter.

I had planned to feed some alfa a and top spec balancer, but you are all making me think thats too much? he is getting a bucket of oats at the mo lol

I was also thinking of getting the snuggy hoods sweet itch rug to keep him clean and just in case he reacts to midges, are they any good? or just the biggest name?
 
I've got a snuggy hood as well as a pagony. Both of them have ended up with a couple of small holes I'm afraid, and he did completely trash one of the snuggy hoods. He must have caught it on something as it was shredded.

One thing I do find with the snuggy hood as opposed to the pagony is that it collects mats of hair in the crease of the crest. But the fact is that without these things I know he would have lost chunks of his mane and tail, so it's the best option I think.
 
Wow. Lots more stuff on here since I posted my reply.
Agree with the fact they are good doers. Such a temptation to overfeed as they all come over to the UK as skinny as anything. Remember also that many of them don't get to graze so slow introductions to grass and being out is essential.
PRE's love to work, so if you are looking for a horse that you can do nothing with then I would say that this is not the breed for you. Their minds need to be kept active as well as their bodies.
I've not had problems with sweet itch. Once a year round about this time mine gets a slightly itchy tail and I use one pipette of Frontline (donated by my cats) and that seems to do the trick.
Mine came over as a recently cut 5 year old and yes for the first 18 months he was a g*t and had so much energy it just wasn't true. I've never been so grateful to have a lunge pen as he needed over 30 mins solid before you could get any meaningful work out of him. I reduced his feed to just a little bit of hi fi and that's all her now gets apart from hay (and a scoop of magnitude).
Now he's a great hack and has settled down pretty much but he's got the most amazing personality, is my best friend and I wouldn't swap him for anything. He loves to go out and do new things and I can recommend Working Equitation as a discipline for anyone with an Iberian to try,
Re Farriers, make sure yours doesn't try and trim too much.
Lastly, heavy castration scar tissue can occasionally be an issue. If a horse is tight in this area it can be effectively released by a good Bowen therapist.

Have fun everyone!
 
With regards feeding, I read on BAPSH website that simple systems food is good for andys. Mine is certainly very sensitive to sugar and was a nightmare on anything mollassed.
Sadly we can't get simple systems here but mine does well on TopSpec alfalfa chaff or Cool Fibre with some LoCal.
Having said that he's on no hard feed and wearing a Greenguard at the moment as his grazing's so good he's turning into a heffalump!

They are amazing creatures. Mine is so sensitive and has a wicked sense of humour, though he gets a bit hoity-toity and bolshy sometimes!

Love this thread, I wanna see more pics!!!!!
 
I do like Simple Systems feed, but prefer the availability and quality of topspec. Cool Stance had also come to mind, but he is already a decent weight, so dont need gain.

His energy is something thats playing on my mind, he is currently worked quite hard schooling wise and then can go on 5 hour hacks, so is fit as a fiddle. Before my previous horse became cronicly lame, needed a 5/6 day week, so im commited to the work they need.

Farrier wise, Im looking forward to having hard good feet and hopefully I can take the back shoes off as soon as he is home. My last horse had terrible feet resulting in £140 farrier bill ever 2-3 weeks, so barefoot here we come!!!!

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Gosh, I'm off HHO for a day and look what happens! ;). P was on poor quality normal hay and cereal in Spain, and on the larger side of well-covered (though more muscle than fat to be fair as he was entire and doing a lot of schooling). Parkers give ad lib hay on the trip anyway, which took 5 days so he was well off the cereal by then.

He was turned out for 1 hour on his first day, then 3 then built up to 8+. He was a bit excited to be out, but the real excitement came with being allowed to socialise with other horses. I intentionally chose a yard with experience of stallions and ex-racers so they are used to slowly introducing a horse to grazing and a herd, it's been a real blessing! He's in an American barn now so he can talk to the others, his hormones seem to have calmed a bit though it can still be a bit embarrassing when there's an in-season mare about, if you know what I mean...!

He's also had a dentist check and had a massive wolf tooth, worth getting him checked soon once he's over :)
 
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