so i have had my lovely highland pony for almost 3 months and what a gorgeous boy he is, inside and out <3
My lad is just turned 6 and having had 6 months off and not done much before, is green but so so genuine and easy going
The only ‘high maintenance’ thing about him , is his weight He was so obese when i got him and I had the vet and farrier out a few times as he was really hobbling. Id brought him back into work, slowly, which suited us both as he had had all winter off, getting fat and Id had a nasty fall back in March, trying a pony for sale, which had hurt my back and wrecked my nerve However his legs filled and his hocks swelled up and within days he was looking crippled. It looks like he probably did have a touch of lami, coupled with the white line separating in his hinds. He was xrayed and thankfully they were 100% clear. The vet thinks the swelling and white line thing was actually all down to his weight. He was 640kg and only 14hh. So he had a strict regime put in place and Im lucky that my ponies are at home and although i have rubbish facilities , I have been able to give him a turn out pen as he hasn’t been allowed on grass at all. Everything is weighed out to the last gram eek. Of course, critical to losing weight is exercise so as soon as he was sound I was able to start building him up again.
I have to say I have felt really crap about keeping him shut in and he is so good natured about it, bless him. However.. it’s finally paid off as he has lost a whole 10cm off his girth and is down to about 480kg. Which means we can have the saddle fitter back out now too And he is feeling so much better undersaddle too.
this is him now
and the lovely boy has even been persuaded to ‘jump’, me doing this with is his testament to his easy going nature given he hasn’t ever jumped and how I felt confidence wise when /I first got him.
.....and one of my shetlands joined in too. She was unhandled last Nov as a 3 year old eek. Never even had a headcollar on. She’s been a lot of work but it’s really paying off now although Im not sure I’ll ever trust her 100%.
My lad is just turned 6 and having had 6 months off and not done much before, is green but so so genuine and easy going
The only ‘high maintenance’ thing about him , is his weight
He was so obese when i got him and I had the vet and farrier out a few times as he was really hobbling. Id brought him back into work, slowly, which suited us both as he had had all winter off, getting fat and Id had a nasty fall back in March, trying a pony for sale, which had hurt my back and wrecked my nerve However his legs filled and his hocks swelled up and within days he was looking crippled. It looks like he probably did have a touch of lami, coupled with the white line separating in his hinds. He was xrayed and thankfully they were 100% clear. The vet thinks the swelling and white line thing was actually all down to his weight. He was 640kg and only 14hh. So he had a strict regime put in place and Im lucky that my ponies are at home and although i have rubbish facilities , I have been able to give him a turn out pen as he hasn’t been allowed on grass at all. Everything is weighed out to the last gram eek. Of course, critical to losing weight is exercise so as soon as he was sound I was able to start building him up again.I have to say I have felt really crap about keeping him shut in and he is so good natured about it, bless him. However.. it’s finally paid off as he has lost a whole 10cm off his girth and is down to about 480kg. Which means we can have the saddle fitter back out now too
And he is feeling so much better undersaddle too.this is him now
and the lovely boy has even been persuaded to ‘jump’, me doing this with is his testament to his easy going nature given he hasn’t ever jumped and how I felt confidence wise when /I first got him.
.....and one of my shetlands joined in too. She was unhandled last Nov as a 3 year old eek. Never even had a headcollar on. She’s been a lot of work but it’s really paying off now although Im not sure I’ll ever trust her 100%.
