LauraWheeler
Well-Known Member
In the summer of 2009 I desided Lucy was getting older and may need to slow down in afew years time. I started looking for a youngster to bring on. That way once Lucy was ready to retire they would be ready to take over. 
I realy realy wanted a conni but even the young ones were out of my price range. Especialy as I desided after all I had been through with Lucy I wanted something without behavoural or health issues.
In late 2009 Lucy started showing strange symptoms and no one could work out what was wrong with her. The search for a pony haulted. Then on Friday 13th November I got the devistating diagnosis that Lucy had a very very rare illness and was given a less than 50% chance of making it passed xmas.
Devistated was not the word for how I felt the bottom fell out my world. I was no longer intrested in looking for another pony but everyone around me knew I needed another one before Lucy went or I was likely to just give up.
My boss found an ad on a website for a 13.2hh new forest pony. The photo was awful and the description even worse but he was cheap. I wasn't intrested and barely looked at the ad but justto keep her quiet I agreed to go and look.
Well when we arrived we didn't find a 13.2hh pony. We found the saddest looking 12.2hhish living in someones back garden.
The owner explained to us how she had "rescued" him from his last owner. How he used to buck all the time, but she had sorted all that out now. We asked why she was getting rid of him and she said she didn't want to ride anymore
I caught him in from her garden. The owner refused to ride him when we asked her to 
So I ran him up and down the drive afew times then tacked him up and got on. I rode him round the wood next to the house. He was sooooooooooooo lazy. I could barely get him to walk. I think this was due to him being doped. (You can tell when a gelding has been doped 
) When I got back we stood chatting to the owner who again told us how she rescued him paying £1500 for just him (yet after sorting all his problems she was selling him for £550 inclu tack and rugs ), She said she had sorted him useing Parelli and who ever bought him would have to carry this on, I looked at his passport, he was 8 and had had atleast 6 owners already, he had been a stallion till he was 7 and this owner had only owned him for 6 months, the owner before her had only had him for 5 
It broke my heart and I wanted to put him in the boot of the car and take him home there and then. My boss said we would think about it and get back to the owner, but I cried on the way home. So when we got back she phoned the owner and said we would pick him up in afew days.
When we went to pick him up the owner let us have the tack, except for the stirrop leathers and irons, As she knew these fitted her (Odd for someone who is apparently giving up ) We loaded Herbie up and took him home.
I was relieved to get him out of there but once we got him home the extent of his problems became clear.
He wouldn't load in a horsebox or trailer, When he was groomed he would bite and kick, When you tried to lunge him he would come in and attack you, If you tried to ride him he would buck, rear, leap and spin so you would get off, He couldn't live with other horses as he would just attack them, He would live with a mare if she was in season and he would spend the whole time mounting her.
None could belive what I had bought and everyone sugested I get rid ASAP.
I started working on lunging. To begin with it took over an hour to get one circle of trot on one rein. I battled on and kept trying. Slowly he was improving. One day there was a jump up in the school so I desided to put him over it. He loved it. He wasn't realy shore how to do it but I had atlast found something he seemed to want to do. Lunging was getting easyer all the time and even grooming him was becoming alittle less risky. So I desided to try riding him out. I would get on him in the drive and he would refuse to move. I tried everything to make him go but it all just resulted in him rearing, bucking, leaping and spinning. I even tried riding him out in company but he didn't care if the other horse dissapeared into the sunset he still refused to move. The only way I could get him to go was to get off and drag him up the road. Get back on and try to get him to move. If he still wouldn't go I had to get off him again and drag him some more. Things slowly started getting better when tragedy struck and I lost my beloved Lucy to the illness I couldn't believe she was gone and my whole life came to a stop. I couldn't bare to look at Herbie and he was left in the field for about a month. He wasn't my Lucy, I just wanted her back.
Then one day a "friend" told me to just take Herbie to beaulie road and hope the meat man bought him. He was never going to be any good. I was very upset by this comment and ran down the field to see Herbie. I stood at the gate looking at him. I desided to get himin and give him a brush. While I brushed him I was thinking about Lucy and started crying. Instead of trying to bite and kick me Herbie was licking my face. Asif he was trying to lick the tears away. In that moment I vowed to Herbie that we would show them egsactly how usless he was. I worked on all his issues and slowly he got better and better.
I took him to a show and did two inhand classes. We came home with a 5th and 2nd place
At our second show we came 1st and 2nd Lunging was now easy and riding was getting better and better all the time. My plan was to do ridden showing with him so I took him to a dreaage show to see how he was ridden at a show. He was realy good and I was shocked when they announced the results and we had come 2nd I took him to another one and he won that one We have also done inhand at two county shows. We weren't placed but he behaved like a star and had lots of admireres and this summer we have even been showjumping afew times getting a 3rd and 2nd place. Not bad for an unridable pony and a terrified rider 
And last month we did our first Prelim dressage test, The first time Herbs had been in an indoor school and we got 59%
I'm so proud of my little pony. I'm so glad I didn't give up on him. I knew he could be a lovely chap if someone gave him the time to trust them. I hope he knows he's safe now and he's stuck with me forever. It's been such a journey over the last three years but I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.
wow thats a momoth post thankyou if you read to the end and thankyou to all those on here who have supported me over the last three years. It's been one hell of a ride but so worth it in the end. xx
Here is a little video with pics and clips from the last three years. Hope you enjoy.
[youtube]KpyI_NskjBk[/youtube]
I realy realy wanted a conni but even the young ones were out of my price range. Especialy as I desided after all I had been through with Lucy I wanted something without behavoural or health issues.In late 2009 Lucy started showing strange symptoms and no one could work out what was wrong with her. The search for a pony haulted. Then on Friday 13th November I got the devistating diagnosis that Lucy had a very very rare illness and was given a less than 50% chance of making it passed xmas.
Devistated was not the word for how I felt the bottom fell out my world. I was no longer intrested in looking for another pony but everyone around me knew I needed another one before Lucy went or I was likely to just give up.
My boss found an ad on a website for a 13.2hh new forest pony. The photo was awful and the description even worse but he was cheap. I wasn't intrested and barely looked at the ad but justto keep her quiet I agreed to go and look.
Well when we arrived we didn't find a 13.2hh pony. We found the saddest looking 12.2hhish living in someones back garden.
The owner explained to us how she had "rescued" him from his last owner. How he used to buck all the time, but she had sorted all that out now. We asked why she was getting rid of him and she said she didn't want to ride anymore
I caught him in from her garden. The owner refused to ride him when we asked her to So I ran him up and down the drive afew times then tacked him up and got on. I rode him round the wood next to the house. He was sooooooooooooo lazy. I could barely get him to walk. I think this was due to him being doped. (You can tell when a gelding has been doped ) When I got back we stood chatting to the owner who again told us how she rescued him paying £1500 for just him (yet after sorting all his problems she was selling him for £550 inclu tack and rugs ), She said she had sorted him useing Parelli and who ever bought him would have to carry this on, I looked at his passport, he was 8 and had had atleast 6 owners already, he had been a stallion till he was 7 and this owner had only owned him for 6 months, the owner before her had only had him for 5 It broke my heart and I wanted to put him in the boot of the car and take him home there and then. My boss said we would think about it and get back to the owner, but I cried on the way home. So when we got back she phoned the owner and said we would pick him up in afew days.When we went to pick him up the owner let us have the tack, except for the stirrop leathers and irons, As she knew these fitted her (Odd for someone who is apparently giving up
) We loaded Herbie up and took him home.I was relieved to get him out of there but once we got him home the extent of his problems became clear.
He wouldn't load in a horsebox or trailer, When he was groomed he would bite and kick, When you tried to lunge him he would come in and attack you, If you tried to ride him he would buck, rear, leap and spin so you would get off, He couldn't live with other horses as he would just attack them, He would live with a mare if she was in season and he would spend the whole time mounting her.
None could belive what I had bought and everyone sugested I get rid ASAP.
I started working on lunging. To begin with it took over an hour to get one circle of trot on one rein. I battled on and kept trying. Slowly he was improving. One day there was a jump up in the school so I desided to put him over it. He loved it. He wasn't realy shore how to do it but I had atlast found something he seemed to want to do. Lunging was getting easyer all the time and even grooming him was becoming alittle less risky. So I desided to try riding him out. I would get on him in the drive and he would refuse to move. I tried everything to make him go but it all just resulted in him rearing, bucking, leaping and spinning. I even tried riding him out in company but he didn't care if the other horse dissapeared into the sunset he still refused to move. The only way I could get him to go was to get off and drag him up the road. Get back on and try to get him to move. If he still wouldn't go I had to get off him again and drag him some more. Things slowly started getting better when tragedy struck and I lost my beloved Lucy to the illness
I couldn't believe she was gone and my whole life came to a stop. I couldn't bare to look at Herbie and he was left in the field for about a month. He wasn't my Lucy, I just wanted her back. Then one day a "friend" told me to just take Herbie to beaulie road and hope the meat man bought him. He was never going to be any good. I was very upset by this comment and ran down the field to see Herbie. I stood at the gate looking at him. I desided to get himin and give him a brush. While I brushed him I was thinking about Lucy and started crying. Instead of trying to bite and kick me Herbie was licking my face. Asif he was trying to lick the tears away. In that moment I vowed to Herbie that we would show them egsactly how usless he was. I worked on all his issues and slowly he got better and better.
I took him to a show and did two inhand classes. We came home with a 5th and 2nd place
At our second show we came 1st and 2nd Lunging was now easy and riding was getting better and better all the time. My plan was to do ridden showing with him so I took him to a dreaage show to see how he was ridden at a show. He was realy good and I was shocked when they announced the results and we had come 2nd I took him to another one and he won that one We have also done inhand at two county shows. We weren't placed but he behaved like a star and had lots of admireres and this summer we have even been showjumping afew times getting a 3rd and 2nd place. Not bad for an unridable pony and a terrified rider And last month we did our first Prelim dressage test, The first time Herbs had been in an indoor school and we got 59%
I'm so proud of my little pony. I'm so glad I didn't give up on him. I knew he could be a lovely chap if someone gave him the time to trust them. I hope he knows he's safe now and he's stuck with me forever. It's been such a journey over the last three years but I can't wait to see what the future holds for us.
wow thats a momoth post thankyou if you read to the end and thankyou to all those on here who have supported me over the last three years. It's been one hell of a ride but so worth it in the end. xx
Here is a little video with pics and clips from the last three years. Hope you enjoy.
[youtube]KpyI_NskjBk[/youtube]
