Bored bolshy pony....grumpy grouchy owner

cassiebird

cassiebird

Member
Jul 4, 2009
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hertfordshire
Pointless thread but just need to rant somewhere so thank you in advance xxx

My 3 and a half year old fjord was living out 24/7 just being a horse and growing and maturing until two weeks ago when after a couple a weeks of a well meaning but totally stupid livery kept feeding him treat balls, sugar beet, carrots and apples everyday as she felt sorry for him when she took her horse out of the field:furious: She then moved him into the winter field despite me saying that there was plenty of grass left in the field they were in, resulting in him being blooming footy with lgl and needing total box rest:cry: Sorry for the waffle....the long and short of it is that i have another horse on assisted livery at another yard and just couldnt manage having him stabled and needing to be there at least twice a day and at the other yard once a day so I had to move him to be with my mare. now I would have thought that I would have been pleased to have them both on the same yard but im not:cry: My mare cant bare the sight of him so they cant be together which means it is is a bit of a pain in managing grazing and poo picking in the two fields but the other ladies are pretty darn fantastic so I am lucky, he has got over the footyness really quickly and has dropped loads of weight which is great, he looks fantastic but having him there means i just spend my time rushing around mucking out bringing in and thats it......my lovely cassie is definately feeling it as am i and i am beginning to resent him and its not his fault.....

Also he is feeling good, the reason that he was living out was that it suited him as he isnt in work and has nothing else to stimulate him as he is a youngster, he doesnt really like being stabled more than a couple of times a week and at the current yard he has to be in everynight, they are currently going out at about 9 and in at 5.30-6 and he is protesting......

Alf has been sat on and lead round but I had planned on turning him away and going back to the beginning next spring and starting the whole groundwork and then starting longreining with him, but my hand is being forced to do something now to keep him stimulated, It is not his fault but I am just so frustrated as me and Cass have just kind of got going and have a really good relationship and now he is on the yard everything is having to change and i dont have time for her:cry:
I wish someone who i know and trust would come along and just take him away and love him forever and a day cos that what he deserves ....
 
I really feel for you, I've been there, torn between two horses, trying to make time for them both, and there just isn't enough hours in the day.. It's why I sold Bailey.. he needed to be started, and at the same time, I was in the process of re-schooling my other boy, and felt like I was drowning so to speak.. I couldn't find the right person to share him, or put him out on loan, despite trying really hard to..
It's not a good feeling, resentment towards an animal you love, he's getting to that age now, where you obviously had planned out what you were going to do with him, then some one came along and ruined everything.. I think you need to sit back and have a good think about where you go next with him.. He has to come first in your final decision, and you have to do what's right for him and for your mare, whether it's getting help in to take the pressure off you over the winter, and to give you some breathing space, or the tough decision to move him to pastures new.. Hugs (((((((((((((()))))))))))))))
I have to add.. despite my quibbles when Bailey went, I've now got to the point where I no longer have any regrets, and my other boy is getting the very best I can give him, our relationship has improved massively, and he no longer feels on the side lines, a much happier horse..
 
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Oh CB, this is a horrible predicament. I really hope you can feel more hopeful as I remember you worrying about choosing which pony to sell in a darker time and I don't think you wanted to do that. This is just a low point and I hope things get better. I just dont' think this time of year helps us feel enthusiastic about any hard work. Its time for cosy fires and early nights!
I don't think at his age that you could be doing much with Alf anyway so maybe ten-fifteen minutes of work a day would be enough to keep his little brain working. Maybe just very simple ground manners that could be done in a stable or just in the yard? Then hopefuly that would still free up enough time to enjoy Cassie?
I feel for you with the situation that precipitated this change. I have been trying to diet my horse because of vet orders and lameness. I've just learnt today that while I had been placed in charge of extending the electric fence to allow them new grass, because I check the horses at night, I haven't noticed that my mate has been extending it in the morning aswell. It wasn't until I looked at my horse this morning in the cold light of day that I realised how fat he's got. He's putting on weight not losing it. Vet is going to be very unhappy. I could get very annoyed at my friend, but ultimately the blame is with me. But then she told me she's been feeding him apples as well because she has a heap of them and her horse doesn't like them. :help:
 
Lol, FM, How the Hell does the blame lie with you............:unsure:

Tell your friend in no uncertain terms that you don't want Flip having her apples and you only want the fencing moved ONCE...............

I am pretty sure she knows he shouldn't be having apples IF on a diet:wink:

As for this thread cassiebird...........I honestly think part of the problem is the time of year........come Spring......which seems a LIFETIME away.....the nights will be drawing out etc., and you will have all the hours you need to spend 'quality' time with both........its just getting through this damn miserable WINTER.

Deep litter him so that you have little to do in the week..........poo pick his field every other day and just leave him be apart from that as you planned to do, Give him some whole swedes to play with in his stable to keep him busy and I am sure with a bit more time and into the routine he will settle down xxxxxxxxxx
 
DS - the phrase you use of 'drowning' is spot on and exactly how i was feeling.....i think i now have a plan of at least managing the stables , going to cost me a fortune but although my friends have been fantastic I struggle to to accept ongoing help (can never understand why anyone would want to help me:unsure:) So practical issue resolved for now

FM - It wasnt your fault and I fully understand your frustration. I had explicitly told the livery not to feed ALf all that she was as he was fat and he didnt need it and although she said she understood I found feed buckets etc several times in the field with him when she wasnt expecting me up at the yard....its soooo frustrating as life was so much better for me, him as it was!!! At least now FM you know whats happened you can keep an eye but it is just so not easy!

My OH who doesnt have any involvement with the horses has been so supportive and has even been down a couple of times and helped muck out:biggrin: He doesnt want me to find Alf a new home (im not worried about selling him, its all about the right home) as he thinks I will seriously regret it as Alf we have had him since the day he was born and he is so close to starting his journey. He has offered to buy stable mats to make life easier and help out when he can so that we can get through spring.........can hardly believe how lovely he is being....

So my lovely Cassie can survive without me fussing over her, even though i dont like to think that, at the moment Alf needs me more so he has to have that and now i have gotten over the 'poor me how am i going to cope' i think we will be ok. I stood with him yesterday and we just had a love and i remembered what a lovely sweet idiot he is:wub: Tomorrow morning he will be introduced to his new school and we will restart the ground work, fill his little brain and try and keep him stimulated.

FL - We arent allowed to deep litter on the yard but planning on getting him matting which will help. Unfortunately by the time i get to the yard its pitch black so i cant poo pick until the weekend but that will be fine now my head a bit clearer. Good idea about the swede for entertainment, Do you hang it up>?
 
CB - I know exactly how you feel!!!

I moved Inca when she was approx 18 months old to a yard where she was living out with a herd of ponies, this was fine for a while, until I found out that the kids (despite being told not to) kept playing chase with her in the field. Consequently, she had to move into a field with the horses as was then deemed to rough for the children (they didn't like playing chase so much when she got bigger), then she was badly bullied by two of the horses. I brought her in to be stabled over night when she was 3 so I could start doing a little work with her and ended up with more of the same problems with the way people were treating her/handling her when I wasn't there. The result being I was spending so much time trying to fix her issues that poor old Puz got a bit left out.

It's a really tricky balance to work out, it could be worth either sticking it out just for the winter and try to do as much as you can to reduce the workload - as FL says, deep littering is a good idea, making haynets/feed for the week at the weekend etc. Or you could look to see if there is anywhere near you that does grass livery over the winter and try him out in a new herd?

I do totally empathise with you, unfortunately there is a large number of people who just don't understand the requirements of youngsters and the effects of handling them in a certain way!

Just a thought if you do decide to keep him with you over winter, I found the Kelly Marks exercises invaluable with Inca at this age, they give plenty of stimulation without physical strain and are fab for setting up a good working relationship with them.
 
Swedes.............yes you can hang them up but they are quite HARD to get a string through...........lol........

OR just throw them on the floor and leave him to it:smoke::wink:

Maybe treat him to a mineral or salt lick that you can hang up as well. x

Sioned was stabled during Winter for her first year with me, she LOVED going in the stable for a few hours then wanted back out..........lol, she would wake everybody at the Farm with her BANGING at the stable door, however within a month or so she settled down, it was just getting her used to the routine. x
 
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bitsnpieces said:
Or a treat ball!
Click to expand...

What would i put it in ....i used to put bought treats, or carrots but he cant have either of them now, if i give him some of his feed he will completely mix his bed up....what do others use?

I have the kelly marks books and recently went to see her and monty roberts in kent so have some inspiration. Now i have sorted some of the issues around mucking out i am feeling a little more postive, as you say im sure he will settle.

He has a salt lick and a mineral lick but isnt interested ....the good thing is he never kicks the door he is just reluctant to go in initially and then just looks really miserable once in but no banging which is great x
 
You can get some low calorie/high fibre treats.....I'll check the brand when I get home, you can get a big tub for £6
 
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